[ali B]

Background
I've been running XBMC on Xbox for a few years now, and we all know, it's a fantastic combination as long as you don't want to run HD content or high bitrate h.264...
this wasn't a problem for me til I got my HDTV.

So I waited for the perfect storm of Xbox appliance-like abilities and some spare cash to come along.

In february I bought an Asus P5N7A-VM 9300 IGP and a Q6600 to run as my main machine, until such a time that all the other parts fell into place.

well that time has come, and this is going to be my journey of stuffing the mATX board into the old Xbox case... just for a laugh ;)

first the answer to a few whys:
why not mini-itx like to zotac 9300 board?
the first I saw of that was after I bought the P5N7A-VM

surely an ION?
same as above...

both products were launced around the time i bought my hardware... and I didn't think ION's would actually have come to market so quickly :(

why not use a proper HTPC case?
size mainly... the decent small ones are very expensive, and the Xbox already has a place in my living room.

SO... ONWARDS! I'm sure most of you know the specs of this baby... HDMI, DVI, VGA, Display Port and ESATA on the back plane. Mmmmmm......

(sorry for the pics, phone... I'll use a real camera for the next batch)

Xbox Stripdown

So far I've dismantled the xbox to give me an idea of what I'm working with

Here's the system board, PSU, Hard disk, DVD-ROM, cooling fan and controller ports


system board on its own


xbox case parts - base at the top, lid, then front panel


controller ports up close


Asus P5N7A-VM with some temporary RAM and CPU (2.8 GHz Pentium D 820 B0 stepping - yeah, a hottie! 95W TDP)

I have an alternative CPU on offer to me - a 1.8 Celeron Conroe-L with just 35w TDP. NICE! should be powerful enough ;)

[ali B]

Asus next to a broken junk micro ATX board which i can manhandle without worry


the Asus is slightly smaller than most mATX boards


The Asus board in relation to the Case base


From the top the case is about the right size for the board, however there is a step which will have to be removed for the board to fit


I also have an Xbox 360 Universal remote that came with the 360's HD-DVD drive, and an HP IR receiver for it. (or I could use the original DVD IR kit...)

Ok, that's all I got for now.
I'm going to start the butchery soon, but it doesn't look too much needs to be done: chop out a section for the back panel, and take out the step at the front so that it fits in.
the real question is if I spray the case up and do some work on the Jewel.

Cheers.
Al

[mojo6911]

One thing I did when I put my Xbox guts into an old DVD player case for XBMC, so it looked like a normal DVD player, was use plexiglass as a motherboard tray. I used the stock holes to fasten it down, and then drilled small "starter" holes to allow motherboard risers to screw into it. It is pretty easy to use with a dremel, just keep it on low power.

[ali B]

@mOjO - nice idea for the guts that come out (it will still be used, just not where my HDTV is)

what did you use to cool the CPU and GFX? iceberq's? (i'm looking around but haven't found any yet)

my standoffs and other bits and pieces arrived yesterday, but i still have no dremel so no cutting has taken place yet (also been away so not had any time to do it...)

[ali B]

OK it's been a while coming, but the thing I've been waiting for (a friend to lend me his dremel so i can actually start hacking up the case...) has happened, so butchery has begun

First I hacked away a slot in the rear panel for the PCB of the mobo to protrude slightly in order to give maximum room at the front for the mobo to fit in.

then enough of the back panel hacked away for all the rear panel I/O ports to poke through.


it's not pretty atm, but it does the job for getting everything in place.


then the cross member at the front had to be cut out


which also acts as support for the front panel and joypad ports. all the clips and supports on the front panel also need to be cut away to clear the ATX and other connectors along the front of the board

[ali B]

the resultant space is a little tight...




so then I marked out and drilled some holes for standoffs, (2mm drill plus a little easing meant i didn't need to tap them, just screw them in directly) however of the 6, only 3 are in the right place...
this is the worst one:


That's it for now, still to do I have a slot loading optical drive, IR receiver, USB/joyports, fans, power and internal storage to mount

[thebitjockey]

I applaud your efforts. Especially since they further justify my decision to simply purchase a Zotag MAG. While I love to hack away at just about anything, this just seems like too much effort and one more thing that my wife would use to send me to the looney bin.

[ali B]

heh, yeah.... If I hadn't already bought the mobo before ION's became readily available, then either this mod would be a lot simpler, or i'd have just bought an acer revo....

[ali B]

if you're going to edit my thread title, at least spell chassis right...

and perhaps something a little shorter?

edit:never mind i tidied it up...