My PC mod idea....seperate into 2 parts

[Doom Machine]

trying this idea in a few forums to get some general insight. alright heres my idea....sorry long post, feel free to knock any holes in it or apply suggestions so i know how worth while the idea is.

a 2 part PC
consisting of what i call a PC station (housing all the main components)
and a PC control base (houseing only dvd/usb ports/power and reset switch)

the main accessed things of a pc on a daily basis is the disk drive/usb ports/power and reset buttons, right? ..correct me if you disagree

so with that thought i imagined the benefits of seperating those main things from the typical tower case idea.
bare with me if you will

i would use a USB dvd drive (perfromance of a dvd drive isnt often a necessity)
a USB hub and some standard power and reset buttons.

i would use extension cables like this:
http://www.xpcgear.com/sabrentusbexc2.html
they also have sleeving and lots of good mod parts i may include, i'd also port female connectors onto control base for quick disconnect if i need to move it around.
or maybe something wireless...not sure how that could be implemented
for power/reset, i'd use 22 guage copper with female connector ported onto case and male for external wire for quick unplug
a dvi 16ft extension
http://www.cablestogo.com/prod...at%5fid=3315&sku=29530
and sound card 1/8 plug extensions shouldnt be hard to find

heres the benefits as to why i think this is a good idea.

1. tons more desktop space...imagine using a PS2 case to house your dvd,usb and power buttons, or other sleek, small units

2. far less noise. you wont have to hear your PC fans, hard drives..etc right there so close to you, maybe with up to 80ft worth of extenstions you can put the pc station in a closet or something.

3. much easier to open and close dvd drive and plug in usb slots...seriously how many of you have to reach, duck, bend sideways from your chair to access usb slots or your dvd's? even a mid tower right next to your monitor is kinda tall, takes up fair space and noisy just to have ready access to what you need.

4. makes desktop space much leaner, sleeker with less "seen" wires, imagine your friends suprise when you load up a game like fear at max graphics and all they see sitting on your desk is something like a PS2 or whatever housing you use causing one to wonder how your getting all that power from such a small PC.

on my tower side i'd use an empty slot cover, drill a hole in it big enough to run the power wires to the mobo again with female/male connectors integrated onto the slot cover, dvd drive of course to an empty usb slot

with up to 80 feet potential of usb wire extension (as marketed at xpcgear.com) it should give alot of freedom as to how it all gets setup, i'd likely use my old PS2, gut it, to house the control base devices.
i've always been kinda envious of how small and sleek the mac mini is and other ITX cases, plus i've always hated the case noises, so to keep a powerful gaming rig i think this might be the best bet

so how doiable do you guys think this might be?
any other cons or pros i'm not thinking of?

 

[WoodButcher]

80'?,,,,,,,
no.
10' or 15' is do-able, at greater lengths the signal degredation would be horrendous. Otherwise I think it is a fine idea, keep us posted.

 

[Zepper]

Not a new idea - but I'll look over it more carefully when I get some time. There is a whole computer in a keyboard out there - not super powerful, but will do the job.

.bh.

 

[Doom Machine]

Originally posted by: WoodButcher
80'?,,,,,,,
no.
10' or 15' is do-able, at greater lengths the signal degredation would be horrendous. Otherwise I think it is a fine idea, keep us posted.

look at the link to the usb extender...its amplified, so it can go beyond normal up to 80ft and carry the full bandwidth
the DVI normally will be about 15', they do have ampifiers for those too but for me i shouldnt need beyond 15' so i'll likely limit myself to that for right now, if in the future i want the tower farther away or in a closet or something i'll look into dvi amps then and should be a simple upgrade from there

These are M/F extension cables which feature a booster-box on the end, and when strung together, can achieve a new maximum of 80 feet.

There is a whole computer in a keyboard out there - not super powerful, but will do the job.

yes but i'm more of in the lines to have as powerful of a rig as i want, with the aesthetics and silence and sleekness of something like a mac mini if you will

my kb,mouse and speedpad all are usb and so my idea is to use usb hub inside the controller unit for those, so for the most part my desk will look like my PS2 is my whole PC, or whatever case i decide for it.

Not a new idea

depends on what the old idea was but i'm not marketing a new idea. unique maybe
its just an idea that could have quite a few benefits if it can happen, so far i cant see why it wont work but thats why i'm here.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Not a bad idea. Go for it. Don't worry what others say, your idea do it. Just use a powered usb hub, coming from the computer, and then another one at the "control box" so that other usb items can be plugged in.

And here is allot cheaper DVI-D cable, if you need 15' just buy two of them.

10'
6'

And if it does not have to be an extension cable you can always get longer cables.

25'
35'
50'


There you go, i hope it helps.


Tyler

 

[Navid]

I use this for my monitor,
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

I use three of these to connect my monitor hub, printer and scanner to the PC.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=
My monitor has a USB hub. So, the mouse and keyboard are connected to the monitor hub.

Three of these to extend my speaker cables to connect to the sound card in the PC.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

This to extend the UPS cable to connect to the PC.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

This to power the PC from the UPS.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

A few of these to connect the PC to the router and the router to modem and the phone adapter to the router ....
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

My PC is about 12 feet away from where I sit when I use the computer. My purpose was to reduce the noise I hear. And, it works.
I don't use the optical drive very often. When I do, I don't mind walking to the PC.

The problem with longer cables is not the USB. It is the audio cables in my case. I do not have digital speakers. The longer those analog cables are, the more noise they will pick up.
Even digital signals get attenuated over long tracks. So, I am not sure if a 50-foot DVI cable would be flawless. But, it exists.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...&seq=1&format=2&style=

 

[us3rnotfound]

Interesting, I like the idea of this very much. Definitely keep us posted, I'd like to know if you can tell any negative difference in mouse pointer response time or monitor lag or anything ugly like that.

 

[Doom Machine]

thanks, all those links are very helpful

i also found sata extension cables, also an internal sata with slot bracket, which would be perfect for internal use in both stations..that way i could use my current dvd drive since its sata and save that much more money, i'd just have to find out how far sata data can travel, 6ft cords is the longest i found so far. all reasonably priced, so off the top of my head that route would cost somewhere around $30-50 depending

Originally posted by: us3rnotfound
Interesting, I like the idea of this very much. Definitely keep us posted, I'd like to know if you can tell any negative difference in mouse pointer response time or monitor lag or anything ugly like that.

probably no way to say 100% for sure one way or another unless someone here uses a mouse with a very long usb, if this supposed amplified usb cable does in fact have full bandwidth up to 80ft then there should be no lag. i think the DVI without any amplification is my biggest problem if i go beyond 15ft which i would prefer, but even 15' away is alot quieter than 3 feet

i wont be doing it right away, but definitly my next mod project
subscribe this thread, might be a couple months or so, and when its done i'll include pics and how well or not well it worked out
its reletively inexpensive so i wont be out much if for some odd reason it doesnt work too well

The problem with longer cables is not the USB. It is the audio cables in my case. I do not have digital speakers. The longer those analog cables are, the more noise they will pick up.

i'll definitly keep that in mind, i only use a razer 8 speaker headphones, it has built in amps so hard to say if noise will come through or not, some shielded cables should work
again thanks for the links, good prices there

 

[JRich]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Not a new idea - but I'll look over it more carefully when I get some time. There is a whole computer in a keyboard out there - not super powerful, but will do the job.

.bh.

C64