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Geforce Garage Spotlight

Build Log

Intro

This is my personal build. This was also my submission into the 2017 Quakecon Modders Inc Case Modding Championship - Scratch Build Division. Man that was a mouth full. I'm elated to say that I took first place in the scratch build category! My build White Widower took first place in 2016 in the Classic Case Mod division. So it was very exciting for me to win back to back in a different more difficult category.

When coming up with the idea for this build, I was in the middle of trying to get back into woodworking. I use to build cabinets and wine cellars back in high school to help pay for college. So I thought that hey, I should build a wooden case to help me hone my skill in wood working and modding at the same time. And this is the result.

If you have questions about the mods please don't hesitate to ask! I'll be linking the most relevant mod questions here in the description to make easier for new viewers to find the information they are looking for.

Breadbox? Why That?

This build was more than just a personal build. I started this with the idea of potentially making this a production case. So this is my prototype of sorts. Also during its construction I had to learn a lot about low voltage circuits to do the custom LED lighting and dealt used breadboards to mock up my circuits. So as this is my prototype, I thought that Breadbox in light of breadboard would be a good fit. And I could be a really fancy breadbox if you take out the internal frame :p.

This case was built and designed entirely by myself using multiple types of tools in my garage.

Temperatures

So I know one thing a lot of people will talk about is, "its a wood case, its going to get soooo hot omg, so dumb, wood blah blah blah". Thermal design is key and yes while wood is a better insulator it doesn't mean you can get rid of the heat. . When running both the CPU and GPU at full load the loop equalizes around 60C to 65C at 75% fan speed. While that is warmer than my white widow build, these temps are achieved with a 360mm x 25mm thick radiator with a fin density of 20 FPI. Which is almost half the total TDP White widower can dissipate and its doing pretty well for the heat that is being thrown at it.

The case uses a 100% positive airflow design, with all 3 120mm rad fans pushing air up through the case while the front 2 x 120mm fans force the air out towards the back of the case. I drilled the holes in the top plate and the rear of the case larger than normal to allow for better exhaust airflow as well as counter sinking the holes on both sides to reduce air resistance as it passes through the holes. I've put a lot of thought into this thermal design and it works better than anticipated.

Mod Talk

The entire case is made from scratch. And I mean everything. The internal frame is made up of aluminum angle and aluminum sheet. For the aluminum sheet I'm using 5025 aluminum which is a lot easier to bend with out it breaking.

The exterior shell is made out of walnut and maple. The panels are assembled with a joinery that I came up with that can be cut on the table saw instead of using super expensive router bits. I'll be going into more detail on this in my build log. I'll also expand on this section once the questions start coming in.

The case has built in rear I/O lighting using white 5v LEDs. These LEDs are tied into the power supply's 5v standby rail, so that when you plug in the power cord they illuminate to show you your I/O. It also has front panel RGB LEDs that shine through two acrylic strips on either side of the front, as well as the vandal power switch. All the connections are passed to the internal frame using an 8pin CPU power connector with a corresponding male connector on the exterior of the case. So when you slide the internal frame into the wood shell, it makes its connections.

I really hope you enjoy this build. I certainly had a lot of fun building it. Even though it nearly cost me my finger! Yes you read that right, I almost completely severed my index finger during this build. But rest assured I've made a full recovery.