Most expensive part was the case.. in hindsight I should have used a G5 case to even further reduce my costs.
Notable Components:
ASUS P5B-VM SE uATX (micro ATX was important!)
PC Power&Cooling Silencer (front to back airflow was important!)
ASUS 8600 GT Silent (fanless)
2xChassis fan (1xAntec w/ Molex connector, 1xEnermax w/ mobo connector)
Epoxied bolts w/ steel/plastic flange nuts so i could make micro adjustments to the board height if necessary
(as the bottom pegs were right on the case lip this was necessary to keep the board perfectly level):
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PS: No need for JB weld steel/epoxy [although it would look better] just avoid any fast set or marine epoxies and you'll be able to lift the entire case from any bolt;)
Dremelled the usual places for mobo and power supply:
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Reinforced the power supply w/ two internal screws (into existing taps)
This is the most "natural" airflow for the P/S (vs. a P/S with vertical air)
Click to view attachment
Also dremelled a small opening behind the 4th HD bay for the mobo/CPU/GPU and SATA power cords
This way I'm not pulling a crap load of cables through the bridge and to the front of the case and down
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Used vamp clips to tap 3.3/5.5/12/ground leads for the front panel
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roughing the USB and Power leads (Firewire used a regular fw800 cable)
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Tapped new guides for a rear chassis fan (blows out)
Testing the cabling and airflow (decided to disable rear fan led)
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Connecting everything and cleaning it up w/ zip ties, cable covers, case clips
Epoxied another chassis fan to a strip of aluminum then epoxied that to the front/base, added plastic sheeting to ensure cold air is drawn 100% externally
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Used a Pioneer 217DBK (should perhaps have used a white 217D? whatever, ejects flawlessly once the pioneer's plastic tray/cover removed)
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Front panel at work, cat absorbs any stray EMF;)
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