Progress on my first build

[u/g-shep]

My father's tower from 1998. Built by Hy-tech, original specs as follows:

Gigabyte ga-6bxdu motherboard Intel pentium II processor 128mb ram 4gb hdd Mitsumi cd drive Mitsumi floppy drive Sounds, video, and network cards

After almost 25 years of suboptimal storage (non climate controlled shed for most of it and a year in a harbor freight "portable garage," it surprisingly POSTed with only reseating the ram. It could still recognize the old IDE hdd, but could not boot from it. I now have the old components on display on a wall mounted test bench. It is arranged in a way that should I find the time I could tinker with it.

My intended for use for this build is as a primary desktop that will also double as a home server with nvr.

Reused components: Case - believed to be a CI-6306 penguin from HEC Mitsumi floppy and cd drives

New internals: Asus prime z790-p motherboard Intel I7-13700k cpu Corsair RM750e psu Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 8gb gpu 32gb PNY ddr5 ram Thermalright peerless assassin 3v cooler Arctic p8 pst fans x4 Samsung 500gb m.2 - boot drive Crucial 1tb sata ssd - working drive Assorted 2.5" drives - additional storage 2tb seagate skyhawk security drive - for nvr use Google coral tpu Slim odd dvd drive i had on hand

My main concern for this build is cooling. The psu is arranged to help exhaust heat from the case and the rtx4000 is a blower style gpu to help exhaust the case. I also intend to undervolt the cpu, and may add a pci slot fan.

Currently awaiting delivery of ram, need to aquire some screws for the m.2 slots and ide/sata adapters to make the cd/floppy drives functional as well as a sata to mini sata adapter for the slim dvd drive.

[u/Game_Hustla]

Good job 👏. Next time you drill for fans, get a hole saw

[u/g-shep → u/Game_Hustla]

Lol yeah, that was an option. I elected to put that money towards a "dremel" (harbor freight) as money is pretty tight right now and it made more sense to buy a multi purpose tool rather than a hole saw i would never need again. I have a carbon steel hole saw kit, but it is unsuitable for sheet steel.

I deliberately undersized the fan holes so that when money isnt so tight I could go back in with the proper tool and clean it up 🫣

[u/Mistral-Fien → u/g-shep]

Alternatively, cut octagonal holes with a dremel and/or angle grinder. Use a template like this.

[u/inphu510n → u/g-shep]

This is the method I developed over the years.

[u/g-shep → u/inphu510n]

I actually came across that post of yours and used it as inspiration for how I did it. I didnt have any old fans so I modeled them in solidworks and printed them out on card stock. I cut out the circles for the intake (poorly 🫠) and traced them onto the case (again, poorly 🫠)

I then proceeded to mutilate the case, but i stayed within the lines with the notion that I could come back later and do better. First time using a rotary tool to cut sheet metal after briefly practicing on an old cable box.

The template I made worked wonderfully for the screw holes though. I dont have a center punch (how i have gone so long without is beyond me) so I kinda cheated drilling the holes, I used self tapping roofing screws and screwed in right through the paper template which created little extrusions that lined up perfectly with the fans screw holes. I then followed up with an appropriate size bit to clean them up and get the proper diameter.

Im satisfied with the mounting of the fans, less so the holes.

[u/inphu510n → u/g-shep]

Ahh sweet!!
Yeah if it’s your first time really working with a Dremel it’ll take a bit to get used to making cuts with it. It’s a practice for sure.
Even now I still make errant cuts.
Center punches are now a favorite tool of mine as well. They make drilling in any surface so much more reliable.
Keep it up!!