Gizmodo: pc case

Acrylic Cowboy Revolutionizes the PC Case by Eliminating the PC Case

Dan Nosowitz — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:30:00 EDT

This is as barebones as PC cases get: A small piece of plastic with just enough room for the essential PC guts. Observant types will notice that sides and a top are not included.

The "Acrylic Cowboy," which seems like kind of a self-aggrandizing name for a slab of plastic, includes space for a ~~small~~ motherboard (ATX and Micro ATX only), power supply, hard drive, and optical drive. It's available for only 7,500 yen, which is about $75.50 USD, and the seller warns that all included parts are in Japanese (so if you're not up on your Japanese lessons, good luck). It doesn't warn that geeks who balance their Big Gulps of Mountain Dew on their desks should maybe look for a case that's, you know, enclosed, but that's probably because they're aiming for the Japanese market. [The Raw Feed]

Mineral Oil-Cooled Aquarium PC Kit Now Available For Purchase

Sean Fallon — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Custom PC maker Puget Systems has decided to capitalize on their wildly successful YouTube video demonstrating a mineral oil-cooled "Aquarium PC" by actually selling a DIY version. Puget claims that they have been running the system for over a year now with "no ill effect on the hardware," which may or may not help ease the mind of anyone willing to void all of their warranties.

Each kit includes:

•Aquarium tank and cover
•Motherboard tray and IO panel
•Power/HDD LEDs
•Power switch (mounted to top panel)
•SSD hard drive mounting bracket, and all necessary screws
•Power cord and extension cord to bottom of the tank
•Kit does not include light kits, however, lights are available separately.

You could probably put this same setup together for less that the $312 Puget Systems is charging for the kit—but it may be worth it if you want to save a little time. Also available in a $375 version with an external radiator for high-powered rigs.

Puget Systems Brings Aquarium PC Kits to the Consumer Tech, Enthusiast PC Market; “As Seen on YouTube”

Puget Systems’ Do-It-Yourself’ Aquarium PC Kit Enables Users to Replicate Mineral Oil-Cooled PC as Seen on YouTube; Puget’s Online Video Captures Over 1 Million Views

SEATTLE, WA (October 28, 2008) – Puget Systems (www.pugetsystems.com), a boutique integrator of custom PC systems for enthusiasts, gamers, consumers and SMB markets, today announced the launch of the Puget Systems ‘Do it Yourself’ Aquarium PC kit, enabling personal computer enthusiasts to replicate their own version of an aquarium-style PC, a technique made widely visible by Puget Systems on YouTube. With over 1 million views online, the Puget Systems Aquarium PC YouTube video demonstrates, with some innovative thinking, how easy it is to create a unique and fun new look to a personal computer.

As part of the development, testing and quality assurance process for the new Aquarium PC kit, Puget Systems has been running their own Aquarium PC — a plexiglass enclosed, mineral-oil submerged PC — for well over a year and with no ill-effect on the hardware. Puget Systems’ team of engineers have devised a unique new way of combining the non-corrosive, cooling benefits of mineral-oil submersion with a fun new look of an aquarium on the desktop.

“The widespread notoriety of our aquarium PC video on YouTube confirmed one thing for us at Puget Systems; there are a lot of people out there very interested in this idea,” said Jon Bach, president of Puget Systems. “We saw this as an opportunity, for everyone from PC enthusiasts to interior designers looking to add a fun new twist to an office or home decor, to put together a powerful desktop system that will surely be a visually stunning and highly functional conversation piece.”

The Puget Systems Aquarium PC ‘Do It Yourself’ kit ships with all the components you need to build your very own mineral-oil submerged system. The kit includes:
Aquarium tank and cover;
Motherboard tray and IO panel;
Power/HDD LEDs;
Power switch (mounted to top panel);
SSD hard drive mounting bracket, and all necessary screws;
Power cord and extension cord to bottom of the tank;
Kit does not include light kits, however, lights are available separately.

Puget Systems also provides online tips and advice, as well as helpful suggestions of things you may need for easy, successful assembly of the Aquarium PC.

Important disclosure: Submerging your hardware in mineral oil will void your warranty. Do this project only at your own risk. Puget Systems is not liable for any hardware problems, or damage to your personal property. Mineral oil is very difficult, if not impossible to clean from your components once they are submerged.

Pricing and Availability
The Puget Systems Aquarium PC ‘Do It Yourself’ kit is available immediately and is priced at $315.

[Puget Systems]

If You Build a PC Case Out of Duct Tape, Geeks Will Come

Sean Fallon — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT

We all know duct tape has a million uses—but did you know that the actual figure is a million and one? It's true—a bunch of geeks confirmed it when they succeeded in building a PC case entirely out of the sticky stuff. You laugh because it's stupid, but you have to be impressed with the amount of thought these guys put into the project. They even managed to keep all of the components and the structure itself secure using rolled up duct tape support beams. If you would like to do the same for some reason, complete instructions are available on the project site. UPDATE: Video added.

[Icrontic]

PC Stands For Portal Case

Kit Eaton — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:51:09 EST

Much more tech-y than some case mods we could mention is this Weighted Companion deal from Magnus Persson, based on those handy crate-like things all you Portal players are fond of throwing around. Magnus designed and completed the 7.9-inch-wide case in the space of a week. Still, he managed to successfully squeeze a VIA Epia EX1500G motherboard in there along with a PicoPSU, 2GB of memory, a 250GB HDD and WLAN, which makes it pretty capable for its tiny dimensions. Shame about the cutsey hearts, but we've got to blame the game designers for that. [Bit-tech]

Scythe XCLIO A380: PC Case or Jet Engine?

Charlie White — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 12:48:26 EDT

This is one wild-looking PC case from Scythe Corp. in Japan, the XCLIO A380 ATX with an LED-lit 10-inch fan up front that looks like a jet engine. Don't be scared away by that fan's imposing size, though—at its lowest speed the thing and its side-mounted twin put out just under 28dBA of sound. Crank them up to 1000rpm and you can overclock to your heart's content, especially with the more-efficient and cooler-running Intel Core processors.

There's plenty of room inside for drives and such, with a standard complement of drive bays, with five 5-inch bays and a 3.5" bay, along with seven 3.5" shadow bays. Of course, there are external connections for a couple of USB 2.0 ports as well as a FireWire port, too. Shipping next week in Japan for $130, we're hoping this radical-looking case might find its way across the big pond sometime soon. – Charlie White

Scythe XCLIO A380 ATX case [Newlaunches]

Antec Fusion PC Case

tgrumet — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 07:47:02 EST

Better than a PC tower for sure, the Antec Fusion PC case is a nicely-designed product with noise reduction and thermal management capabilities, perfect for those of you ready to add a PC to your living room, but not stoked about the usual form factor. With a vacuum fluorescent display, 430W NeoHE power supply and clean interior, you'll like the triple chamber design that actually isolates the power supply, hard disk drives and motherboard into separate cooling zones. The four expansion slots and three drive bays also make sure you'll be able to easily expand your system, and the two external USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire port and audio connectors are certainly convenient. Should be about $200, available later this year.

Antec Fusion HTPC Enclosure [Bios Magazine]

Selection of Antec PC cases [Amazon]