Playstation Three Case Mod

Hi there - this is my first post, so hopefully I've put it in the right place.

I’ve been using Hackintoshes for a while. Five years ago I’ve done my first attempt but that wasn’t working flawlessly like current hackintoshes, thanks a lot tonymac people you’ve made this so affordable and very easy with software and helping people with hardware via buyer’s guide and tons of help guides through the forum.

This is my 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] hackintosh and I want to make a machine able to play HD videos (any format not just a bunch) on the TV using the PS3 BD remote.

I decided to make a custom machine after reading a lot on tonymacx86 forum and following lots of threads.

Apple cases would fit perfectly, but a lot of things have already been done here so I want to do something different, so I started to search something else.
Found an old DVD player on my shelf and start thinking to converting it.
This one was not looking pretty enough and way too big in my opinion.

So after thinking a lot I decided to use a FAT PS3 case.
The case looks pretty.
It is not too big and doesn’t look like a “regular computer” case.
In my project every thing must fit inside the case including the PSU.

I bought a dead PS3 (YLOD = yellow light t of death)

A very wise man decided not to include Blu-ray discs player inside his cases so this project is not going to include Blu-ray discs playing capability but it will be able to play ISO backups of my already owned discs.

Here are the specs of the project:
Fat PS3 Case (bought last week 25 Euros approx. 30 US$).
Gigabyte GA-H97N-N-WIFI
Intel i3-4350T CPU
SAMSUNG 120 GB SSD Seagate 40GB from the PS3
FSP-270-60LE 80PLUS FLEX ATX, PSU
Noctua NH-9Li CPU cooler
Noctua NF-A14 FLX case cooler
Crucial 8GB DDR3 RAM (already owned)
Home made touch switch PCB to power ON the machine.
PS3 BD remote.

Software:
Yosemite (Multibeast / Unibeast)
KODI (XBMC)
Remote Buddy (didnt found free software to use the PS3 BD REMOTE, any advice welcome ).

Project spoilers:
“Original” case cooling system.
Outside look of the case should be kept.
Silent machine.

Any advice is welcome and thanks a lot !


Here is the "dirty" stock machine !

Edit 1:
Changed specs since I received the hardware.
Edit 2: Changed the OS X version from Mavericks to Yosemite.
Changed the HDD, using the PS3 original HDD instead of the Samsung SSD.

Many thanks to rehpotsirhc following your advice decided to had the i3-4350T CPU to the project.

There is T model i3 in the haswell lineup that only draws 35W but it has the less desirable 4400 graphics. http://ark.intel.com/products/77481/Intel-Core-i3-4130T-Processor-3M-Cache-2_90-GHz

Thumbs up for rehpotsirhc, thank you !
I haven't done my homework correctly, you’re absolutely right.
I’ll probably choose the i3-4350T 35w TDP with 4600 graphics.
Considering it is 19w less than i3-4330 it’s a good choice.
I focused on 1155 CPUs T versions and didn’t look at 1150 T versions (shame on me ) and discovered they aren’t much more expensive than regular 1150 CPUs.

Cleaning up:
First thing I cleaned outside the PS3 with a microfibre cloth.
Fat PS3 model plastics are glossy and scratch really easy.


Unmounting the PS3:
To unmount my PS3 I followed this video step by step, just in front of the video.
[video=youtube;tKV8uz1liJM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKV8uz1liJM[/video]

One T10 Torx Screw driver and one Philips screw driver is required.


It’s important to keep each screw and write down somewhere where it fits.


Under the hood


Case bottom and dimensions.

Purple crosses show the parts I’ll remove later.
Then I’ll keep these small cylindrical parts to attach the motherboard.

Any advice is welcome

Case top offers extra room.





PSU and motherboard will fit in the case bottom.
Done some measurements and made a real scale mock up of the PSU and motherboard.
Everything should fit inside easily but I have to cut some plastic parts to get extra room.

Applied real photos to the real scale mock up.


Next post: cutting and sanding

Hello everybody
I cut some plastic parts inside the case bottom using my DREMEL tool, to install (later) the hardware and the “cooling system”.
This was achieved easily and everything went smoothly.


Before


After


SC456

575


952





First I removed the plastic parts using the DREMEL SC456 disc+ DREMEL 575 (Right Angle Attachment) then I sanded the case using the DREMEL 952 tool.
952 tool was very useful to sand in the angles.
Case plastics didn’t warm up during cut and sanding operations.

Removed parts have been kept for later use (attaching motherboard?)

It was the first time I used this tool; it’s necessary to proceed carefully using face shield and gloves.
I also removed any plastic that wasn’t smooth enough.


The back plate is not attached to the case and can be removed easily.
I don’t plan to use it later.


Yesterday I received the hardware (Christmas time again on January 8, YAY ) and will post some photos next time.

Comments or questions are welcome

Hello everybody,
As promised on the last post here is a photo of the hardware.
Very hard to take a photo of the CPU so you wont see it on this one.
Bought a i3-4350T



Last weekend I spent almost 2 days cutting, drilling and sanding Plexiglas (5mm Plexiglas) and the PS3 case. I can tell Plexiglas is not the perfect material for drilling holes. It warms up faster and melts easily. It is almost impossible to drill this with regular “metal” drills. What about sanding? Well used my favourite DREMEL this didn’t work fluently but did the job at least. Best tool availaible for sanding Plexiglas is a soft metal file, this tool does the job almost perfectly on Plexiglas.

I plan to build a box inside the PS3 case and put on the top a 14cm big fan. Only one side of the box will be open so the fan will push the air trough the box and exit trough the only exit available. This will cool the components like a regular case fan and also replace de CPU fan to keep this mod very silent.
This mod should work with only 2 fans, one for this box and one inside the PSU.

So I drilled the case bottom and glued the motherboard mounts.


Then I cut some Plexiglas and sand it. As I broken one drill trying to drill Plexiglas and another one is covered with melted Plexiglas I decided to glue this parts and recycle some saved original case parts. Previously I bought 2mm diameter screws but I wont be able to use them.


Here are some results, more to come next time.
CPU fan should be removed next time.




Don’t hesitate to ask and / or give your opinion.

Looks awesome!, Im planning to eventually get my mother a new computer, perhaps this is a idea for it

Hello Uwillparish, thanks for your comment.
I choose this PS3 case because of the size (small) and because it looks pretty good to me.
This PS3 mod doesn't look like regular PC cases another choice would be the G4 cube which is so sexy (love it lol).
Also a YLOD (dead PS3) case is unexpensive and easy to find "on the neighborhood" because YLOD is a defect of many PS3.

In the other and you have to consider some "work" is required to cut, drill, sand, unwanted parts inside the case. While reading many posts on tonymac I didn't realise it was so fun but also a lot of work an sometimes unexpected work

Stay tunned for the next episode.

Back from work I decided to work on the top of the box.
So here is the top of the box with the 14cm fan.


Next time I'll give more details about the size of the box and tool I used to make it.
Comments and questions are welcome, don't hesitate !

Very cool so far but it's almost a shame not to have a discrete graphics card in there to use it as a gaming machine, not that it would fit.