Atari st series computers conversion PC

[calimero]

My MegaFile 30 mod.

Inside:

- intel i5 2500K
- 8GB Ram
- AMD 6770 1GB
- 2TB WD Green
- 120GB SSD
- some kung-fu PSU

there is enough space for two 3.5" HDD but I put one HDD and one SSD.

Next mod will be similarly to this but without separate graphics card and instead with 4 HDD! It will be used as home NAS

btw Problem is that case cannot be 100% close since fans at bottom right are 1-2mm to high!
I try to put fans at top of case but than they need to run at high speed = lot of noise.

With fans at right side whole computer is 95% silence at idle - if I play games than I run fans at full speed (I add small switch at back of case) but they manage to cool down i5, AMD 6770 and PSU!

[wongck]

WOw... packing alot in. Would it not over heat?

[calimero]

WOw... packing alot in. Would it not over heat?

not

there are two fans blowing air into case (directly to PSU). when computer is in idle, they work at 7V and they are almost 100% silent.

if I work something, eg. playing game or run Futuremark 3D benchmark for an hour, I switch them to 12V and at screenshot you can see temperatures after few hours of playing DeusEx Revolution

Green is temperature on motherboard
Red/Pink are CPU temperatures
Blue are GPU temperatures

[wongck]

Green is temperature on motherboard
Red/Pink are CPU temperatures
Blue are GPU temperatures

That's good.
An iCore5 sure better than those Atom of a year or two ago.
Seems like a good time to convert my STFM.

[spiny]

more pics of my ST-PC:

no lid:


with lid in place, it doesn't close properly at the moment at the keyboard sits on the RAM, I'm -still- looking for some low profile ram to go in, then it'll be 99.9% complete



this is the board for converting the atari keyboard to USB - I socketed the 'teensy' as i might want to use it in something else some day the board has pins for the internal ST keyboard (used here) ands also an RJ11 socket so i can use my Mega keyboard too, if i ever decide to re-case my Mega or something



fuzzy photo of the layout, the 2.5 HDD is mounted properly now on the left, motherboard in the middle, small PSU board on the right.



back of the case, red button is ATX power / reset and the DC jack is the 12v 5A input for the power supply. the odd looking wire is the aerial for the wireless card, as this means i only need video and power cables going to the back - just like a real st just needs




motherboard details:

http://www.attro.com/motherboard/G5M100-N.htm#


just need the low profile ram now ...

[calimero]

That's good.
An iCore5 sure better than those Atom of a year or two ago.

like 40 times better

http://blog.tabletpc.com.au/2010/07/09/ ... tablet-pc/

I can bet that you can pack i5 with dedicated graphics, PSU and at least two 3.5" in ST case

[wongck]

more pics of my ST-PC:

Whoa Spiny... good going there. Another nice conversion

[wongck]

like 40 times better
http://blog.tabletpc.com.au/2010/07/09/ ... tablet-pc/
I can bet that you can pack i5 with dedicated graphics, PSU and at least two 3.5" in ST case

Great link.
If that can be done, will be great, I don't need a big tower box for my graphics.
But I think it will be much years longer before that happens.,

[AxelG]

Hi Calimero, (hi again thread)

nice mod!

Just where did you get the 90° raiser card / extension between AMD grafix card and main board?

And which tool do you use to display cpu/gpu temperatures in the task bar?

Thanks!!
AxelG

[spiny]

Hi Calimero, (hi again thread)

nice mod!

Just where did you get the 90° raiser card / extension between AMD grafix card and main board?

And which tool do you use to display cpu/gpu temperatures in the task bar?

Thanks!!
AxelG

I was just about to ask the same questions

[calimero]

Hi Calimero, (hi again thread)

nice mod!

Just where did you get the 90° raiser card / extension between AMD grafix card and main board?

And which tool do you use to display cpu/gpu temperatures in the task bar?

Thanks!!
AxelG

PCIe Riser I bought in Serbia - it is around 25euro (to much) :/ but you can easily find it in any computer shop that sell mini itx components... good place to start is: http://www.mini-box.com/site/resellers.html (all PicoPSU resellers are specialized in miniature PCs) or just type "PCIe riser" in google - search for PCIe 16x! 16x is needed for graphics cards.

for temperature in taskbar I use Aida32 (ex Everest) http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Sys ... AIDA.shtml

btw regarding graphics card: all today powerful graphics card are usually double sloted and to big to fit in Megafile case. I found that AMD 6770 from MSI and PowerColor are only one that will fit in megafile case (or ST case presumably) :/

this is MSI card - it is smaller than PowerColor 6770 and fan on MSI push air outside while fan on PowerColor push air inside case! (and PowerColor Fan wont work in opposite direction...)


about PSU:
first I put LC Power micro PSU http://www.lc-power.de/index.php?id=185&L=1 and it is a piece of crap.
everytime when CPU and GPU do something intensive PSU will start to produce squiiizeeee noise!
beside - it is not so small.

than I found some old chines noname kung-fu PSU - it works great!

[AxelG]

I found that AMD 6770 from MSI and PowerColor are only one that will fit in megafile case (or ST case presumably) :/

Hi!

Rather not, I should think. The card and the board will probably collide with the keyboard, there.
The space is really quite constricted. Even I had a headache or two. And I just used two tiny netbooks.

Most people I know, of used an Zotac Comboboard (Mainboard + incl. Geforce) to fit it in:



Edit: So I downloaded Everest Home, which is the final free home Version of Aida 32. Same Program, same GUI. I can only show lists and tables of hardware info.

Just how did you configure the multiple temperature display in the task bar?

Thanks in Advance,
AxelG

[calimero]

wtf is that cooler? Zotac Comboboard (Mainboard + incl. Geforce)?

it looks like space ship!

anyway: you could put motherboard right, to the end of case and than use PCIe riser card (with some MiniITX board with PCIe 16x slot like: http://www.alternate.de/html/product/ZO ... E)/837970/?) and put AMD 6770 MSI left to the mainboard.

Than you should find smaller PSU so you can fit 2 x 3.5" HDD between AMD 6770 MSI and PSU (or maybe HDD can be fit under keyboard?)


regarding AIDA32: File > Preference > Sensor Icons

[calimero]

hm... I made fast drawing with proximity dimensions of Atari ST case (inside).

and it seems that there is no room to fit PSU, GFX, HDD and motherboard in same line. I am not sure if HDD could be fit under keyboard... I would need to open my STe to measure this.

[wongck]

wtf is that cooler? Zotac Comboboard (Mainboard + incl. Geforce)?

it looks like space ship!

A Cylon new heavy raider...

[AxelG]

Hi,

first of all, I`d be blown away by a *really* powerfull and still quiet Atari ST PC. The ones I got are both Atoms. Which is *very* nice, but not to strong, either
Full HD Video is ok, but new Games are rather not.

As far as i remember, the 1040's ST main board just sat beneeth the keyboard anyway. So there`s enough space for a slim (or rather flat) notebook hd. I think it would fit quite well.

The rest however...
I do think that even the unconnected side by side placement of the main board and the vga (esp. the fan) would collide with the keyboard. As several people mentioned, you even have to use slim ram.
Not to talk about required raiser card and stuff.

Edit:
The image above came from here:
http://www.atariturkiye.com/en/retro-mo ... t-mod.html
These guys started the thread, but did it in a rather over the top way by modding the keyboard itself.
Joskas Arduino/Teensy is much more efficient and versatile

Edit2:
Regarding Aida 32. I wanted to make sure there`s no difference, so I used aida 32 3.94.2, the latest free version:

aida32prefs.jpg

Best Regards,
AxelG

[calimero]

here is screen shot of my AIDA - it is 64 bit and you can see version number and option for icons with temperature in taskbar

[wongck]

BTW, are those microATX or FlexATXZ form factor?

[AxelG]

There you go, Calimero.

You first said: "for temperature in taskbar I use Aida32 (ex Everest) http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Sys ... AIDA.shtml"

So I couldn't find it for sure. That seems to be a new feature of the current, commercial Aida 64.
Thanks a lot for your help!

Bye,
AxelG

[calimero]

sorry.

I did not pay attention on version of Aida... I forgot that I downloaded 64

[gilles504]

A bit late but here are the photos of the finished project:

My atari-server running with my xDSL box on top... this "atari" is running 24/24 since the 26 October as a webserver.


note to Mr Starck (french designer of this xDSL box): a 3 pod case is not stable enough... it needs some help...


back is not totaly finished, it needs a better motherboard protection...


Keyboard is functional with the teensy/usb interface, but not used very frequently...

[spiny]

nice

[gilles504]

@spiny: your keyboard seems to have some holes... if you don't care about french "AZERTY" layout, my spare incomplete keyboard may complete yours

[spiny]

@spiny: your keyboard seems to have some holes... if you don't care about french "AZERTY" layout, my spare incomplete keyboard may complete yours

thanks, but I have a nice clean keyboard to fit when the project is finished, this is juts my 'test keyboard

[Robson]

Hi,

Update of my "old" config. You might notice the extra item on the picture, a converted SF354 with a slot-in DVD burner and there is also a 120GB external 2.5" IDE drive inside to extend the space of my Mediaportal config. Takes 3 USB ports in total.
Enjoy.