x51 case is almost perfect!

[Doltmoopsie]

The Alienware x51 reminds me of sketches that I made for a all-in-one last year. It needed a riser to flip the video card so that it was parallel to ITX motherboard. Then I realized that I was a busy adult with job & kids; plenty of money and no time.

The x51 fails in 2 ways compared to what I would like. It should have an internal power supply. Full 250-watt GPUs and increased convenience of setup could be achieved with an internal power supply. It should attach to the back of the monitor, perhaps acting like a monitor stand.

Anyone know of any SFF monitor-stand cases?
Anyone konw of any current DIY all-in-one cases?

TIA!

 

[Doltmoopsie]

I can't find anything that is close to the Alienware case (but with an internal ATX power supply). I do not want to compromise on power, as unlimited power is the point of a desktop computer.

I bought a "Chieftec BL-01B Bravo Series Case w/VESA Monitor Mount" , and have stuffed a Intel 320 SSD, a i7-2600, and a AMD HD 7970 into the case. It is all on an ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z. Newegg used to carry the case, and sites & forums noted it when it was released in late 2008 only to be discontinued.

I would still like to find something like the Alienware X51 case, but it needs to hold my AMD HD 7970, and hold the power supply internally.


see more here at thinkcomputers.org

or here at bigbruin.com

or here at EverCase

or here on YouTube

Temps with the single 120mm intake are not the best, but they are only a few degrees hotter then with an open case. The case ends up with dual cooling zones, as the 120mm intake feeds the AMD HD 7970 and the power supply fan is venting the CPU area. No overclocking will be done until Ivy Bridge, and I may add another intake at that time.

I spent $15 in right-angle power and HDMI cables to make the case look much cooler.

 

[ElFenix]

i agree that the x51 case seems perfect. i'd been idly wondering if i could make a little lan/ht box doing the same thing with a riser cable (readily available on ebay) using material from lowes/HD. i'd really like to see some of the big boys (antec, silverstone, etc) make a copy of it.

that said, 7970 is going to be very thermally challenged in a case that small. for ideal cooling you'd want the intake to be positioned right above the blower so air sucks in from outside and is exhausted as much as possible. wouldn't be very quiet.