i plan to build my own computer case soon, as i cannot find one online that meets my requirements. i was planning on building what WOULD appear to be an overgrown desktop case, similar to the style of GX MANS dell, 'cept big enough to fit that dell inside. the dimensions will be no larger than

24 x 22 x 18.5
width depth height
in inches

the motherboard will lay flat in the bottom of the case, i plan to use a coolit thermoelectric CPU cooler, and a standard water cooler for the GPU and chipset. the hard drive(s) will be air cooled, with filters, of course, the PSU will not he filtered, for the simple fact that the fans that are supplied in them do not have enough power to hardly spin, let alone pull air through a filter. i plan to mount a cheap LCD MONITOR into the front panel, no larger than a 17", whatever i can ebay.

so, knowing this little bit of info, does anyone have any suggestions as to what to build it out of? i was thinking half inch square steel tubing, with brushed aluminum panels, even though thats overkill for a frame.


wow, that's an intense case. What's it for?
If I were making my own case, I suppose I would just buy some sheet metal and weld it together to make the box. hmmm. diamond plating might look cool.
Just make sure your motherboard doesn't come in contact with the sheet metal. its for my gaming rig, just replaced the motherboard in it, but i have to get a splitter for the power supply, four pin to eight pin. its to give me room for expansion, and, as theft protection, i doubt someone is going to steal somethin that weighs 100+ lbs. when i upgrade to a C2D 6750 soon, im getting two gigs of ddr2 800 to replace the one gig of ddr2 667 i have, i only have a 7600GT for a GPU at the moment, its does great for me. Oh, i was thinking of painting it a high gloss midnight blue, and putting a half-life LOGO on the window. it'll match the inspiron im getting next month.Sounds like fun. Did you say you were going to mount a LCD panel directly onto the case? If so, the 1/2" steel tubing frame would be a smart idea. And if you weren't using weight as a theft security , i would say 1/2" alum. tubing would be just as durable. Speaking of aluminum, can you TIG weld? Anyways sounds like fun and I actually had the same idea, i'm just lazy. Yeah, i plan to mount an LCD monitor into the front of the case. so it will look like an overgrown oscilloscope or somethin maybe. I'll probably take a trip to the local junkyard and get a used tranny cooler radiator for a GPU and north bridge radiator, just have to flush the tranny fluid out of it, and make sure it doesnt leak. i can get it for next to nothing if i can find one. oh, my temporary computer case untill i get this THING built will be this:


Yes, i actually built that, though its no where near done, i plan to modd a window and a couple vents into it. i still have to do some dressing to the case to make it look nice. i may end up just using that case for my computer case if i can make it suite my needs. theres more than enough room to fit a tranny cooler radiator in there, i could even fit a water pump out of a car in there if i wanted to go overkill on the coolant pump, but i wont. i'll make a jpeg diagram of the coolant system i plan to setup
heres the layout of the case:


i will cut a hole in the motherboard pan and side panel to accommodate the radiator, some mesh will be installed to cover the panel hole. i am also putting a door on the side to allow access to the CD drive from the right panel, so i do not have to remove it and the door that hinges off of it to properly mount a CD drive, and of course, i'll install venting for the hard drive(s) in the panel. if all goes well, this may end up being my computer case, and i will still figure out a way to put an LCD panel in it.