Case W/Removable Motherboard Tray

[King Speedy]

With Suse 10.1 right around the corner and xgl support on the way, I decided to piece together a new machine for it, rather than simply upgrade the installation on my current linux box. As I was grabbing this and that and laying it all out on the workbench, it occurred to me that this would be a great chance to give the whole "wall-mounted PC" idea a try. I've had everything running in open air for the last few days, and it doesn't look like overheating will be an issue, so I'm start to map out how this'll work. Right now, I'm stuck on mounting the motherboard.
I considered just drilling the 9 holes in ATX fashion and calling it a day, but I then realized that the video card would be lacking any real support. So, I came up with the idea up picking up a cheap case with a removable motherboard tray (the kind that slides out the back of the case and still holds the PCI/AGP cards, and simply mounting the motherboard on there. I started digging through pages and pages of Newegg search results, closely eyeing each picture to see if the case might match my specs, until it occurred to me that someone else may have at some point or another run into a similar quandry.

So, I leave it to you. Anyone have any recommendations for a cheap case with a removable motherboard tray? Or, even better, a place to buy simply the tray itself? I'm eyeing a few on Froogle, but before I order one, I think it's best to consult an informed body of users.

 

[Zepper]

Welcome to the AT Forums.

Places like Newegg and Dealsonic have been selling Sky hawk cases at a low price that have mobo drawers. Other than those, drawers are usually reserved for the more high-end cases. OTOH, you could just take a hacksaw to an old desktop (horizontal) case.

.b.h.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Hi Speedy

For well built but not cheap http://www.performance-pcs.com/ might offer Lian Li trays.
They do offer other case parts for this brand. Email them, they will respond quickly.

Two vendors I know of that sell cheap SkyHawk cases w/trays are http://www.mwave.com/
and http://www.dealsonic.com/ I have a SkyHawk here but don't recall the model number
might be 4160, it has a slide-out tray.


...Galvanized

 

[King Speedy]

Wow. Great responses, guys. I think I'll go the performance-pcs.com route. They've got a Lian-Li replacement motherboard tray that looks perfect for what I've got in mind.

I considered going the route of the dremel and rotary tool to just gut a case, but in the interest of safety (and laziness), I'd rather stick to my trusty drill and keep the flying metal shards to a minimum.

 

[Zepper]

Yes. mwave does have one of the MSR series Skyhawk cases with mobo drawer for $29.+sh. I see the LL drawer alone is $24. You will get the mobo standoffs with the Skyhawk case while it looks like you'll have to come up with some (metric thread) for the LL (or order separately from PPCs).

.bh.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Looked at that LL tray. My PC-60 uses clip-in stand-offs for it's removable tray.
The one at Performance uses screw in type.

Good luck on the mod Speedy.


...Galvanized

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: King Speedy
As I was grabbing this and that and laying it all out on the workbench, it occurred to me that this would be a great chance to give the whole "wall-mounted PC" idea a try. I've had everything running in open air for the last few days, and it doesn't look like overheating will be an issue, so I'm start to map out how this'll work. Right now, I'm stuck on mounting the motherboard.

Best of luck with your project.

Would you mind keeping us updated? Perhaps some pics?

I've been wanting to mount a motherboard underneath[to the bottom of the top] my work desk for years and this seems like a good way to do it.

Thanks.

 

[King Speedy]

Provided it get's off the ground, so to speak, I'll definitely document the experience. I might be holding off on it for a month or so, though, until my younger brother finishes up his semester. He'll probably want to have a hand in this. Before I order anything, though, I want to lay out all the components and figure out how I'm gonna cable the whole thing up. It ain't gonna be pretty, but it'll work.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: King Speedy
Provided it get's off the ground, so to speak, I'll definitely document the experience. I might be holding off on it for a month or so, though, until my younger brother finishes up his semester. He'll probably want to have a hand in this. Before I order anything, though, I want to lay out all the components and figure out how I'm gonna cable the whole thing up. It ain't gonna be pretty, but it'll work.

Excellent.

Your own pace is always the best, no?

Again, good luck!