Repurposing Junque (Steampunk PC Build)

[Larry Buskirk]

Well here I go, time for me to build a new PC. 

But being the way I am, I can't build anything that's quite normal. 

Doe's anyone remember the Silver Boxes I found awhile back? 

I knew when I picked them up I'd have to come up with a good use for them, but what? 

Well here we go with what will become of the first one. 

 

I'll be using the one on the left which I have spent the past few days hand sanding the old finish off.

Why? I like hand sanding, and I'm not totally refinishing the inside of the box to try and save the liner. 

Here is how the box looks so far.

I've removed, and saved the liner for future reinstallation in the box.

Here are a couple of photos of the box lid.

This one shows the liner which will be a real pain to remove any further.

This photo shows the original finish. Sorry about the bad picture but it shows how bad the finish was.

The below photo shows some of the hardware which will be going into the build.

I'll be using an AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 3.9 Max Boost, 3.6 GHz. Base, 4 Core 8 Thread Processor with Radeon RX Vega Graphics, along with a MSI B450M PRO-M2 Motherboard, a Samsung V-NAND SSD 970 EVO NVMe 250 GB M.2 Hard Drive for the OS, and 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz Memory, along with a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 32 MB Cache 7200 RPM Hard Drive for storage.

But since this is all that I've got to work with,  Hopefully this rig should satisfy my needs.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Larry Buskirk

[DuckSoup]

 This could prove to be an interesting repurpose project. The box is looking good. 

[lew]

Can't wait to see this one go together!!!

[Stick486]

2 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Doe's anyone remember the Silver Boxes I found awhile back?

yeah...

the better chisel containment facilities..

[LarryS]

Interesting.

Looking forward to seeing when you get it done!! 

[Larry Buskirk]

10 minutes ago, DuckSoup said:

 This could prove to be an interesting repurpose project. The box is looking good. 

Thanks Bob,

I'm having a bit of fun with this one.

Been going through a few old cases to see what I can come up with for the motherboard tray/backplate.

I'll have to find a small form factor power supply so it will fit in the box also.

7 minutes ago, lew said:

Can't wait to see this one go together!!!

Thanks Lew, I'll have to also build the top a little taller, so will have to go through my small wood stash hoping to find something close enough for staining purposes. I'll also be adding a beveled glass window over the hardware.

7 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

yeah...

the better chisel containment facilities..

Might end up using a chisel somewhere in this build.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by Larry Buskirk

[Larry Buskirk]

7 minutes ago, LarryS said:

Interesting.

Looking forward to seeing when you get it done!! 

I think this will be rather fun.

[DuckSoup]

18 minutes ago, Larry Buskirk said:

I'll have to also build the top a little taller, so will have to go through my small wood stash hoping to find something close enough for staining purposes.

Contrasting wood does add character.

[Grandpadave52]

I'll be following along. Lots of pictures though...easier on my brain.

[HARO50]

3 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

I'll be using an AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 3.9 Max Boost, 3.6 GHz. Base, 4 Core 8 Thread Processor with Radeon RX Vega Graphics, along with a MSI B450M PRO-M2 Motherboard, a Samsung V-NAND SSD 970 EVO NVMe 250 GB M.2 Hard Drive for the OS, and 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz Memory, along with a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 32 MB Cache 7200 RPM Hard Drive for storage.

But since this is all that I've got to work with,  Hopefully this rig should satisfy my needs

Could you translate that into English?

John

[Grandpadave52]

28 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

Could you translate that into English?

John

That's why I asked for lots of pictures

[Larry Buskirk]

2 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I'll be following along. Lots of pictures though...easier on my brain.

 

Dave, I'll be taking lots of pictures. 

2 hours ago, HARO50 said:

Could you translate that into English?

John

 

Ok John, I'll give it a try. The Ryzen 5 2400G processor is the top of the line in AMD's processors that supplies the onboard graphics on the MSI B450M motherboard. (there are only 2 of the Ryzen series processors with this feature at present) The others in the series require the use of a dedicated graphics card. The onboard graphics can be assigned up to 2 GB's of the memory for graphics use. The Samsung EVO 970 MVMe M.2 drive is the same type used in high end laptop computers, and is currently one of the fastest Solid State Drives available. It mounts directly to the motherboard. Being it is only 250 MB in size it will be the Operating System drive, with the other drive being used for files, photos, etc.. The boot time should be about 30 seconds. It is recommended to use the fastest memory possible when using the onboard graphics, but "Speed costs, How fast do you want to go" fits the bill here so I'm using 2 steps down from the fastest. The price was right with the 3000 MHz so that's what I'm using. I'll be assigning the full 2 GB's to the video which will leave 14 GB for the system memory. The Seagate 1 TB Hard Drive is a standard SATA II drive that I happened to already have. I'll explain it better as the build progresses.

2 hours ago, DuckSoup said:

Contrasting wood does add character.

 

Thanks Bob, I'm going to go through what lumber I've scrounged from drawers/cabinets/furniture to see what all I have got, and determine which I'll go with. It depends upon what I have the most of. If I do go with a contrasting wood I'll be doing them up as assemblies to make assembly, and staining easier. I will probably do so, as I've got to make a frame for the beveled glass pane that I'll be using under the lid above the components. Depending upon which keyboard I use I'll also be making a storage compartment under the box, if it won't fit in the drawer.

The drawer won't fit the one I'm currently using, and the wife likes this one, so I'll probably get another that uses a different wireless system (Bluetooth) so we don't drive each other crazy. Which means I'll also be going with another Trackball as well.

But for now I'll be using these while I get the system assembled.

The Bluetooth's are a bit pricey, so I'm waiting to see if they go on sale. (Have to stretch those dollars)

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

That's why I asked for lots of pictures

 

Don't worry guys, this is my first new build in about 10 years, and the last one was back in the DDR2, Phenom era, parts for those are getting pretty scarce, so a lot of what I'm doing is new to me as well.   This is my first build with a SSD Drive, and back then I wouldn't have even considered using onboard video, but from the reviews I read about this Vega 11 Graphics, and having viewed a few similar $1000+ prebuilt setups at Best Buy I believe it will serve my purpose well.

I don't do much gaming, and the systems I checked out were mid range gaming rigs.

(Like I said earlier the price was right )

Edited December 4, 2018 by Larry Buskirk

[Stick486]

[John Morris]

Larry is the master of re-purposing for PC parts and cases to house them, I don't remember Larry, did you ever complete that Steampunk project for your PC several years ago? You had a great concept working I do remember that.

This one is sure to be great as well!

[Larry Buskirk]

54 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Larry is the master of re-purposing for PC parts and cases to house them, I don't remember Larry, did you ever complete that Steampunk project for your PC several years ago? You had a great concept working I do remember that.

This one is sure to be great as well!

John,

The second motherboard died in the same manor as the first. I could not get 5 volts through the USB ports, nor would either board post past the Asus splash screen. I did some research and discovered this was a common problem with the Asus M3N series of motherboards. Due to their age replacement boards are getting rather scarce, the old system used DDR2 memory, and everything is pretty much outdated by todays standards. I still have it and if I locate another motherboard may revive it as a Linux PC.

 

So, I decided it was time to start over from scratch. Things sure changed in the almost 4 years we went without a PC. The hardware alone is really improved, and hopefully the quality. I didn't go with an Asus motherboard this time around due to the problems I had with the last 2 motherboards from them. 

 

@Stick486,

I used the wife's PC to research the parts for this build.

Of course the first thing she says is "I suppose you're going to take this wireless keyboard and trackball for your computer" 

So I told her "Only for setup purposes, I'll be getting another set for mine." I'll have to go Bluetooth so I don't interfere with hers.

[HARO50]

Thanks for the explanation, @Larry Buskirk. I'm STILL confused, but now I know it's about COMPUTERS! And all this time I thought you were an "Ole arn" man! It's still all Greek (or is it Geek?) to me, but at least now I know it's not about a drill press or table saw!

John

[Larry Buskirk]

2 hours ago, HARO50 said:

Thanks for the explanation, @Larry Buskirk. I'm STILL confused, but now I know it's about COMPUTERS! And all this time I thought you were an "Ole arn" man! It's still all Greek (or is it Geek?) to me, but at least now I know it's not about a drill press or table saw!

John

Sorry for the confusion John, but it is about building a computer in the old Silver box.

When I'm done with this box rehab/computer build it will be like one of the "Old Time Radios" of yesteryear with a wood case.

We're into a lot of old stuff, and this will fit in with our other old furniture, old arn, etc..

I'll be adding Victorian style accents to the box in the process of the rehab to make it look even older. 

[Gene Howe]

This is going to be fun to watch. Eagerly anticipating what your fertile mind comes up with.

[Dadio]

I will be watching the wood working part, don't understand the electronic part.

[HARO50]

53 minutes ago, Dadio said:

I will be watching the wood working part, don't understand the electronic part.

Ditto!

John