
Weirdest Case Mod You've Ever Seen 409
mattman writes: "Here's the stangest case modification you've ever seen. Someone assembled a pile of computer parts, hooked them up without a case and covered the lot with quick-dry spray foam. The result is a light-weight computer ready for LAN parties." This is wrong.
This is wrong (Score:5, Funny)
I really like when there is a good explanation like that because...
Re:This is wrong (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, it runs Windows.
hair gel? (Score:5, Funny)
inflammable (Score:5, Funny)
This is such an unfortunate word [dictionary.com]...
Re:inflammable (Score:5, Funny)
- Dr. Nick Riviera, The Simpsons: "A Trilogy of Error"
Heat-Conducting Carbon Foam from last Friday (Score:3, Informative)
Would work nicely if they used the foam from this [slashdot.org]
article.
Re:Heat-Conducting Carbon Foam from last Friday (Score:4, Interesting)
Now what would be cool would be someone running a system in a fish tank full of pure de-ionized water (hint : that doesn't conduct electricity)
TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
Re:inflammable (Score:2, Insightful)
--
Evan "Sheesh"
Re:inflammable (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:inflammable (Score:4, Informative)
Chris Mattern
Re:inflammable (Score:2, Funny)
another one (Score:5, Funny)
One hell of a case for LAN parties
Occasional refreezing will be needed though..
Re:another one (Score:4, Funny)
-Rick
Re:another one (Score:2)
Re:another one (Score:2)
You know, this is really something you oughta take over here [stileproject.com].
Leinie's (Score:5, Funny)
It was great -- everything fit in nicely and it was easy to move around. I was constantly a bit worried that it'd catch fire, but it didn't. The thing lived for about a month until I put together enough money to order my current case (a bit-ass SuperMicro with a mess of drive bays and fans).
Oh, and I got to drink the beer, too. That was the best part.
Re:Leinie's (Score:4, Funny)
a nice bit of heat at the roots should bring it on a treat. Have to be careful not to overwater though
Uh huh (Score:2, Funny)
Hello lower insurance rates. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hello lower insurance rates. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hello lower insurance rates. (Score:2)
Re:Hello lower insurance rates. (Score:2)
Bottom of his page reads.. (Score:5, Funny)
No, really, please let me order one. Please...
Shux.
looks like... (Score:5, Funny)
Save on foam packaging though.
Re:looks like... (Score:5, Funny)
It looks more like the hairball a dragon would cough up after devouring an unwary geek on his way to a LAN party...
Top six (Score:5, Funny)
1)Use your CPU as a life raft forthose all night on the water LAN parties
2)So tacky looking, no wonder it's unique
3)iJabba
4)World first PC designed to be shipped UPS
5)Theft proof!
7)Excellent copy protection
Re:Top six (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Top six (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Top six (Score:2)
This is crazy (Score:2, Informative)
Mirror here [jorune.net] if this gets slashdotted.
its been done before (Score:2, Interesting)
Though their computer would not boot after they filled it with foam.
This guy's got issues (Score:2, Funny)
He's running Windows [g-news.ch] (cheap shot)
It's an Apple HDD [g-news.ch] (look carefully at the label)
Is that a Voodoo in there? [g-news.ch] (check out that classic loopback cable)
That's an old NIC [g-news.ch] (planning on using a transceiver?)
Yeah, I know his specs are listed at the top of the page, but I guess it was just kinda fun to point the out.
Odds are good... (Score:3, Funny)
Let's hope the Microsoft gestapo doesn't get wind of his little project and decide to investigate.
Re:Odds are good... (Score:2)
Dude, that is so funny. Too bad your trollness posts at -1 :-)
Oh the gems one occasionally finds when reading at a -1 level.... Tis a shame moderators don't read at -1...
Re:This guy's got issues (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This guy's got issues (Score:2)
More likely it's a DVD decoder card, they use loopbacks too.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these (Score:2, Funny)
Bringing that case to LAN Parties (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bringing that case to LAN Parties (Score:2)
this is just the beginning (Score:5, Funny)
(assuming that's possible (the part about Chihuly having a sense of shame (I know Seattlites will understand me here, but I've heard he's left his mark elsewhere in the world too (and on behalf of all Seattle, I apologize))))
Re:this is just the beginning (Score:2)
But I do like your "creative shapes" ideas. It would be sad to fiberglass over it, though, because I take it a part of the point is that it's "shock resistant" because when you bump it, its deformations absorb a lot of impact energy. It might be cool, though, to find a huge condom or surgical glove and latex over it...
Funny as hell. (Score:2)
Looks like he just plugs in a HDD and goes. Wonder if he has had any trouble with it slipping? Drive is external to the blob making it a little more delicate than pictured. (Still cool though.)
Still he gets plenty of credit from me just for the creative effort if nothing else.
Bizarre...
Re:Funny as hell. (Score:2)
what? how can it be more delicate? the pictures show the hard drive balancing on a pen!
chia 'puter (Score:5, Funny)
The only computer that requires a weedeater for maintance.
Looks like (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Looks like (Score:2, Funny)
Actually... (Score:2, Interesting)
There might just be another way to look at this... don't take it as a "finished" deal, more as a proof of concept to be extended further.
I have a PC running inside a Wizards of the Coast cardboard box (K6-2/300), and have been considering other wacky ways of doing the case for it (no, I will not just use a spare PC case
The PC isn't going to be upgraded any further, as it's already just a linux development workstation and test web/db server. I could take the assembled components, build a basic cardboard frame around the assembly to keep a rectangular (1 PCI card height) form factor, and then simply fill the interior with spray foam. This would yield two benefits: (1) The exterior cardboard frame doesn't actually support the components once the foam has solidified, so it doesn't have to be strong (and could probably be removed afterward), (2) the PC is still a rectangular form factor and *very* stable (no cards coming lose in this thing!).
Yep, this is definitely a go. I'll be headed to a hardware store in the morning, and my finished result should at least be more aesthetically pleasing than the "sheep mound" these guys built
Almost there... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Almost there... (Score:5, Funny)
WinTurd computers - "we're #2 in computing"
hahaha (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hahaha (Score:2, Interesting)
My new favorite Mod! (Score:2)
Take it to the next level (Score:5, Interesting)
Surely the next step is to create a nice mould for the case, and inject the mould with the foam. I've done pretty much the same thing using cans of insulation foam (used to fill large holes in walls). I took large balloons and filled them full of foam, then cut the balloon away from the foam. This gave a really nice teardrop of hard foam, that was very light.
Off the top of my head, I fugure the same thing can be done using a styrofoam cooler box with a PC in it, fill the thing full of foam after blanking off the internal guts with card, and when it's set crack the case off and shape with carving tools.
The beauty of doing this is that you could, with some serious planning, create some amazing looking designs that had built in air ducts that forced the cool intake air to spiral around heatsinks and hot components. I imagine a nautilus shell would be easy to do - you'd end up with a PC that looked really cool and would be built with great cooling capabilities from a single fan or set of fans.
Shell shaped quiet PC anyone?
Re:Take it to the next level (Score:2)
Re:Take it to the next level (Score:2)
You could cut out drive bays and a power cord hole, then jam all the guys in there and top it up with foam. Spray any extruding bits orange.
.. leave the sucker running on the doorstep for trick or treaters, running some suitable halloween screen savers or whatever.
Laptops (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Laptops (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Laptops (Score:2)
--
-stubbie
This may not be completely crazy after all (Score:2, Interesting)
Try searching google for "E-PAC" EPP foam.
The URL for an article on the subject is http://www.cconvergence.com/article/CTM20000515S0
The EPP design guide that I originally found is a pdf file that can be downloaded from http://www.tuscarora.com/components/epac.htm
The Elephant Case? The Merrick Case? (Score:2, Funny)
Best disclaimer ever seen so far: (Score:2, Interesting)
C'thulu's box (Score:2, Funny)
EMI? (Score:2)
Is it only me, or does this also remind you of one of the Roger Dean designs for Yes [yesworld.com] tours in the 70's? No, I'm not that old, I've just seen the pictures and loved the music...
Re:EMI? (Score:2, Funny)
Umm... (Score:3, Funny)
jrbd =)
Better yet..... (Score:4, Funny)
I wonder if it gets them better insurance rates?
Look out, eBayers! (Score:2)
(Hey, what the.... this video card is covered with some sort of bubbly foam! Doesn't he know he should package things with foam peanuts, *not* spray foam, before shipping!)
Plus, it floats! (Score:2)
Sure, it's ugly (Score:2)
Ugly as heck... (Score:2, Insightful)
Why don't this guy spraypaint it shiny brown like a giant freshly laid turd?
I'm at a loss for understanding what made him do this. What a wreck. Not only would it be nearly impossible to fix or upgrade anything, the case seems as much impractical as it is an eyesore. Happily it seems to have been mostly put together as a joke, and the $40 pricetag is agreeable.
Re. casemods, was it ever a good idea to strip these machines down and removing the shielding in order to install big plexiglass windows? I'm sure there was a good reason why we wanted the cases to shield against RF interference. Cutting big holes in the cases or omitting them entirely seems like a questionable practice to me.
quick-dri foam = the new duct tape. (Score:2, Insightful)
For the handyman of the future, quick dry foam (aptly called 'Good Stuff' in the cans I get) is the answer to all your maintanence problems.
Throw out your duct tape -- the future is now!
Looks like (Score:4, Funny)
I Approve. (Score:2)
Man where do I put my beer on this foam terd (Score:2, Funny)
An appropriate name.. (Score:2)
Re:wonder if it over heats? (Score:2)
If you were going to try this with anything faster, water cooling would be a good idea, just remember to hook up the ends of tubing sticking out of the foam to a water source before you turn it on.
Not water... (Score:5, Interesting)
Picture a thin plastic duct leading from one end, to the CPU, to the GPU, and to anywhere else on a given modern system that would get particularly hot--northbridge on some systems, perhaps. *Then* with the ducts in place, one could encase the whole thing in foam and have an intake on one side and an out-take on the other, with a high-capacity fan on each side to keep the air moving and pump the heat out quck.
Then of course one could power on the PC and hope the thing doesn't overheat anyway.
Re:Not water... (Score:5, Insightful)
So was he. Only he used cardboard to set up the duct system instead of plastic. Why are there so many "bet it overheats, he-yuck!" comments here when he very clearly states that he considered that and took steps to prevent it.
--
Evan
Not really... (Score:5, Informative)
If airflow is directed very efficiently and driven by both an intake fan and an exhaust fan, even a modern CPU and GPU should be cool-able, whereas with this design the guy specifically warned against just doing the same with a newer, hotter machine. The hard part would be configuring a system of ducts to provide the most efficient airflow possible for at least 3 and possibly 4 components, but it could be done.
Re:Not really... (Score:2)
From the comments he makes (no one specific one, just the general tone), I get the idea this is not his primary system, but more of a "hey, look at *this*".
--
Evan
Re:Not water... (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, I'm applying Occam's razor (simplest answer is usually right) and assuming they're idiots. That and the fact they probably didn't read the article.
I can see it now; in years to come, we'll no longer have the phrase "shoot first and ask questions later" it'll be "post first read the article later".
Re:Not water... (Score:2)
~z
Re:Not water... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've seen this material airbrushed to look like organtic "Aliens Cocoons" or "Metroid walls" stuff - including a really nifty wall at a comic book store with mannequin parts embedded in it. It can really look good with some paint - but it's still pretty fragile and crumbles with a relatively light poke of a finger.
--
Evan
Re:Not water... (Score:3, Interesting)
You could hook up to a common water source (if some maniac builds a party sized water chiller) or just hook one to a faucet, and let the other run down the drain if you don't mind being wasteful when you have the system away from your normal water source.
Then again, I'm not the person to pntificate on overclocking/cooling techniques. I've tended to underclock processors more than I've overclocked them...
Re:wonder if it over heats? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:wonder if it over heats? (Score:2)
Re:wonder if it over heats? (Score:3, Interesting)
I make racks out of hand formed portland cement and newspapers mushed together into a slurry and then pressed into shape with nothing but gloved hands. I can easily stack four PC units along with room for a few audio amps in this kind of rack that goes up to the ceiling taking up the floor space that one ugly ol' PC case would take up.
I just lay the boards out on the racks with the PSUs and HDs off to the side and the ethernet cables dripping off of one end. It's a far cry from portable, but if you tend to collect quite a few machines, a rack is the way to go. I have way less problems with boards laying out open on my hand made racks than I do with the few machines I still have in conventional cases. And, when I do have problems they're way easier to fix and swapping parts is a breeze. Cheap cases suck and expensive ones are . . . expensive. I say build your own racks.
By the way, I got inspired to make these racks after I made a squashed spheroid sub-woofer encloscure out of the same cement/newspaper mixture about three feet in diameter and weighting at least a hundred pounds. It's the funky jelly donut from hell. This thing thumps big time. I highly recommend it although my downstairs neighbors mourn the day I built it.
Re:Reminds me (Score:2)
Way back when I interned at Cray, I had an idea to build an aquarium case filled with Florinert, complete with some fake goldfish and one of those little bubbling pirate's chests at the bottom.
The problem is that Florinert is pretty expensive; one of the techs estimated $200 a gallon.
I'll bet mineral oil would work dandy, though, assuming you could keep and condensation out of the tank...
Mineral oil (Score:3, Interesting)
It was covered in on Slashdot [slashdot.org] However, use the previous link, the story's link is no longer valid. You've been warned.
Koolance display at 2001 comdex (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Reminds me (Score:2)
Re:Careful kids (Score:2)
Or he could just use a saw to cut the foam into a rectangular shape. He left it as-is deliberately, for the fugliness factor.
Re:Insulation (Score:5, Funny)
I'd hope it would be obvious to most people, but I wouldn't want to use this for any mission critical computers
Oh no! I wish I'd read your comment earlier; I've just moved our high-traffic e-commerce sites across to these (it was a real bitch pushing them into the rack, I can tell you!) So you think the dual celerons overclocked to 1.9GHZ might overheat when serving 500,000 hits per day??
Back to the drawing board...
Re:Oh man. (Score:2)
Re:Shaped cases! (Score:2)
Re:Don't Quite Know What to Think (Score:2)
Re:Don't Quite Know What to Think (Score:2)
According to this site a Pentium 200 MMX's maximum power is 16 watts [sandpile.org]. Some of the very hottest 8-) newer CPUs expend quite a bit more. A 2 gigahertz P4 maxs out at 100 watts [sandpile.org]. Ouch! But 16 watts is still quite a bit.
It's too bad the author didn't take a close up picture of how he arranged the cooling channels.
Re:Wow! that's plain amazing! (Score:2)