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Building a G4 Cube in Australia

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Hi Kiwi, you're question is the most challenging of the entire build. I think (based on my experience) that since your Praeton cooler fins are 29mm high, I'd cut your I/O shield hole similar to my first & second cubes. You likely already realize that the closer the hole is cut to the latching mechanism, the greater your risk of the cooler not fitting.

For fitment of you four mounting posts, make sure the motherboard ports are directly against the inner surface of the cube I/O.

Cut your hole small at first, so you can determine whether you need to file higher or lower to fit the shield and motherboard with cooler attached.

Good Luck!


Ersterhernd
 
First Question: Has anyone managed to get the DQ77KB to fit and still retain the cube power sensor ? If so how?

I just got my MB and can't see how this would fit, although I haven't cut anything on the base plate.

I guess, this is impossible. The only way is to move the sensor to an other location as chaos did or to use a smaller sensor like the Edisen.

MacTester
 
Hi Kiwi, you're question is the most challenging of the entire build. I think (based on my experience) that since your Praeton cooler fins are 29mm high, I'd cut your I/O shield hole similar to my first & second cubes. You likely already realize that the closer the hole is cut to the latching mechanism, the greater your risk of the cooler not fitting.

For fitment of you four mounting posts, make sure the motherboard ports are directly against the inner surface of the cube I/O.

Cut your hole small at first, so you can determine whether you need to file higher or lower to fit the shield and motherboard with cooler attached.
Thanks for the tips, I think the above gives me enough information to proceed.

I guess, this is impossible. The only way is to move the sensor to an other location as chaos did or to use a smaller sensor like the Edisen.
I am undecided about the approach at this time, but will finish my other project first, then will get some more time to invest in this. Thanks.
 
Hi,

There are always ways to fit the original sensor if you really want to. One way is to make a new bottom plate (base of cube) and then cut the IO shield space in that. This can buy a precious few mm by allowing the mobo to be placed lower down if that helps and this mod. does not make the Cube noticeably larger but may buy you just enough to keep the sensor in the original place.

Another way is to re-think the way the components are arranged in the Cube. Looking at the options of which side of the heatsink/handle mechanism to place the board on or indeed whether to chop the heatsink mechanism/handle. are another way to go.

Another possibility is to move the sensor to be on the other side of the top plate if you have room there. Yes, it involves a little metal work but as the acetate trim sheet at the top will always hide this change any new cut will be hidden. The only indication that the power sensor is in a new location would be the engraved power logo would not be in the right place. I suspect though you could sand the logo out and polish the top plate back to erase it.

If you want to re-use it I am sure you'll find a way!
 
Hi,

There are always ways to fit the original sensor if you really want to. One way is to make a new bottom plate (base of cube) and then cut the IO shield space in that. This can buy a precious few mm by allowing the mobo to be placed lower down if that helps and this mod. does not make the Cube noticeably larger but may buy you just enough to keep the sensor in the original place.

Another way is to re-think the way the components are arranged in the Cube. Looking at the options of which side of the heatsink/handle mechanism to place the board on or indeed whether to chop the heatsink mechanism/handle. are another way to go.

Another possibility is to move the sensor to be on the other side of the top plate if you have room there. Yes, it involves a little metal work but as the acetate trim sheet at the top will always hide this change any new cut will be hidden. The only indication that the power sensor is in a new location would be the engraved power logo would not be in the right place. I suspect though you could sand the logo out and polish the top plate back to erase it.

If you want to re-use it I am sure you'll find a way!
Yes there are several ways thanks for those. I think I will be going for a simple approach, which may mean using the edison sensor, but not totally decided. The Cube is quite a challenging build (the first time) because as you make some simple decisions (and start cutting), you realise latter on how everything is interrelated, and your early decisions rule out possibilities in other parts of the build.
 
Basic Build

In the last couple of weeks I have been working on the basics of the build, cutting the heating, fitting the motherboard, etc. But I thought I would update you on the saga with the CPU cooler.

First off I choose 40mm standoffs (seen in extreme right of first picture) to mount the MB to the latching mechanism frame, my intent was to shorten these during fitting. Here are some picture shown the CPU heatsink

IMG_1767.jpg



IMG_1770.jpg



IMG_1771.jpg



The last photo was taken through the top of the case, you can see the heatsink almost touching the frame that the latching mechanism engages with.

IMG_1773.jpg



To move the heatsink closer to the centre of the case will mean the heatsink will need to be cut, which I want to avoid. So I have decided to keep the 40mm standoffs as they are.

Now I have the challenge of the IO panel.
 
Hi I go the cube installed and up and running this weekend. Here is my approach to the IO shield.

IO Ports
I took a slightly different approach to fitting the IO panel. Rather than having a front mounted surround, to cover all the gaps, I chose to fill the gaps from behind. I used the full height IO panel supplied with the MB, cutting it down to make essentially a flat panel. I had to unbend the bottom and right hand sides to remove the lip that normally holds the shield in place.

Picture showing final fitted result. Not perfect, but not a total disaster.

IMG_1798.jpg



And from the rear, not so pretty of course. You can see the two bolts that hold it in place, and the edges that has been unbent

IMG_1797.jpg
 
I took a slightly different approach to fitting the IO panel.
I think, this is a good solution, if you need a bit more room for your heat sink and your MOBO has to be moved away from the latching mechanism. Well done.

MacTester
 
I think, this is a good solution, if you need a bit more room for your heat sink and your MOBO has to be moved away from the latching mechanism. Well done.

MacTester
Thanks, I thought it turned out OK. With some more planning it could have been better. Basically by
  • creating a more uniform cutout (i.e. straight along the top edge) AND
  • creating my own plastic insert, and glueing it to the same metal backing, thus hiding the extra cutouts for WIFI etc.
  • glue the ports to the chassis (no screws).

All jobs for next time.

DVD conversion

For the DVD drive I used the top of the existing DVD Drive as normally done, but instead of sticking the drive in with double sided tape. I created a frame that allows the drive to be removed and replaced but sliding in from the top. This is similar to my Cube Inspired self build

After cutting away all the excess at the bottom, I glued strips of metal and L brackets on the sides and bottom, to create a slot that holds the dvd drive from all sides.

Pictures from top/front with drive removed,
IMG_1756.jpg


and drive installed.
IMG_1755.jpg


AND

Photos from bottom/back with drive removed
IMG_1757.jpg


and drive installed
IMG_1754.jpg


It was reasonably easy to do, just cut the metal strips to size, apply glue, then assemble everything (including the drive) and wait for glue to dry. I used cable ties on the sides of the drive to hold it perfectly in place.

... will post some more details tomorrow ...
 
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