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The "Humidor PC"
By Jamie Burke - Posted on June 4, 2003
Introduction
Can you fit a: 933Mhz
Pentium, 256MB DDR Ram, DVD ROM, 10GB HDD, 145W PSU, 64MB
AGP TNT2 (equivalent), 5.1 DD DTS out, USB 2.0 and 1394 all
into a 10.25" length x 8.75" wide x 4.25" depth
box? I did.
This brings us to my latest mod: The
Humidor PC.
I want to start off by thanking Jeffrey L.
Stephenson for the idea. To my knowledge, this is his original
idea. I just wanted one of my own. I would like to thank Peter
Frank (my brother in law) for his help with the preparation
and construction. (I have very limited carpentry skills!).
Also I would like to say that the interior is by no means
as intricate as Jeff's humidor
projects. My humidor was designed to be enclosed within a
home theater and has a finished exterior design.
Now let's get down to business.
The Humidor PC
The Humidor PC is a home theater PC. This
will be pumping into a ½ T-1, S-Video to a flat I-Art
JVC TV then 5.1 DTS to the sound system. All this is controlled
via a wireless mouse and keyboard. I chose the VIA M9000 main
board. This board runs at 933Mhz, 266 FSB, full DDR support
and video is shared 64MB RAM - broadly equivalent to a TNT2
Ultra (speed wise). The board also supports S/PDIF for "coax
optical" and S-Video, I will be using both. These features
enable us to watch ANY format of media. Therefore, I am not
limited to the boundaries of the "standard DVD player".
The HDD is a 10GB Fujitsu notebook drive,
along with an IDE converter. The DVD is a slim-slot-load drive
that came from an IMac notebook, again using an IDE 50 to
40 pin converter. Power is derived from a 145W E-Machine PSU.
The nice thing about the VIA is it only requires 60W of power
for the integrated C3 Pentium
• Humidor: $25.00, 10.25" x 8.75"
x 4.25" (L x W x D)
• 145W ATX mini PSU: Free, traded somebody for a 250W
standard size
• Notebook 10GB HDD & IDE adaptor
• Slimline slotload DVD drive & IDE adaptor
• 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR
• Windows XP Pro
• VIA EPIA-M9000 933Mhz
• Chieftec wireless keyboard/mouse in silver
• Four 40mm fans, one 50mm
Preparation:
I arranged the parts on an ESD smock to reduce
static.
When I received the main board, I first removed
the sinks from the processor and the north bridge. Once detached,
I removed the cheap "conductive pad" and replaced
it with Artic Silver III. I also included Artic Silver III
on the south bridge. Once the grease was situated, I replaced
the sinks adding one to the south bridge as well. Being the
hottest chip, I do not understand why VIA did not include
a sink standard on the south bridge. Four drops of super glue
on each of the chip's corners and it's stuck down tight.
Once the board was geared up, I was ready
to begin the Windows XP install. Because this PC will be an
"almost always ON" unit, I formatted in NTFS. Since
this is not a gaming machine - I did not go with FAT. I would
have used Linux, but ultimately decided against it.
I installed the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers,
NV DVD, Divix, and Nimo codec pack. I also included WINAMP
light for radio, WMP9, and Quick Time. Diskeeper, Zone Alarm
and Ad-Aware 6 were incorporated as well. The RealTek drives
allow me to run both S/PDIF digital 5.1 and analog through
the same cable simultaneously.
Planning and fitting:
We constructed custom brackets for the
DVD drive. They were formed from scrap PC rails. I wanted
an "ON" indicator so I included bright red LED's
on the DVD drive, which also deliver a custom look. The back
of the slim DVD drive- next to the 40pin connector, there
is a little fold in the metal case that prevented me from
attaching the IDE adapter smoothly. I had to bend that out
of the way. Once the adapter was flush, I attached a small
piece of electrical tape then a large piece of duct tape so
the adapter would be secure. I wasn't sure if duct tape was
conductive or not thus is why I used electrical tape in the
middle.
The HDD is attached on the inside/front with
double-sided tape.
The PSU was small to begin with, but I wanted
it even smaller. So, took it out of the metal chassis (I do
NOT recommend taking apart a PSU - we could all die!). This
reduced the overall size of the power supply to approximately
half of its original size, although it is not as distinct.
I shortened every main board power connector, twenty total.
I have a solder gun, but have no real solder skill and patience,
so electrical tape was used (I know, I know maybe later).
There is no molex connector in this box at all. I just hard
wired everything to safe space.
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