HTPC "Case" Mod

The final piece to the cabinet is the Home Theater PC.  In our current set up we a have PC hooked up to our TV, so there definitely needed to be a place for that in the new cabinet.  I decided that, with all of the venting I put into the cabinet, instead of just throwing the PC on shelf, why not consider the cabinet to be the case and mount the components directly on one of the shelves?

So I modified one of the shelves.  First, I added a raised platform for the motherboard.  This platform sits about an inch off the shelf.  The reason for the raised platform is so that I could run all of the PC wiring under the motherboard instead of on top for a cleaner look and better air flow.

Shelf with raised platform

Raised platform from the side

I mounted the motherboard standoffs right to the wood platform.  I drilled a slightly smaller hole than the standoff and screwed them in.  They fit pretty snug, hopefully they'll hold.

Then, I mapped out where all of the components would go, again using Google SketchUp.  I actually used a couple of old Steel Tec sets (these came in really handy) to mount the components to the shelf and make a small rack for the hard drives.

All components installed

View form the top

Lastly, I wanted to put a face on the front that would hide the components and tie into the cabinet.  I made the face with some of the 1/4" plywood I used for the back and dyed it to match the cabinet.  I had an old Dell case lying around, which just so happened to have a great front panel that I could incorporate into the face.  It was the exact shape of a hole you could make with a router so I measured and cut the hole in the face and it turned out to fit perfectly. 

I also thought it'd be cool to disguise the DVD drive and make it look seamless.  I wasn't sure if it would actually work but I thought it was worth a shot.  I cut another hole in the face then took a separate piece of plywood for the DVD drawer and rounded the sides manually using a Dremel tool.  Finally, because I couldn't think of a better way, I super-glued the drawer piece to the DVD drawer.  It came out better than I expected. 

Front panel and DVD drawer

The HTPC case mod is complete.  As for the rest of the cabinent, I have finished varnishing and everything is assembled.  All that's left is to bring it up from the basement and wire in the components.  The plan is to do that on Monday and then finally be done.  Stay tuned for the unveiling!