Sometimes it seems odd that we would spend hundreds (or thousands) on PC components that demand oodles of airflow, and stick them in a little box, out of sight. The fine folks at Corsair apparently agree, because they’ve released files for an open-frame pegboard PC case on Printables.
According to the write-up on their blog, these prints have held up just fine with ordinary PLA– apparently there’s enough airflow around the parts that heat sagging isn’t the issue we would have suspected. ATX and ITX motherboards are both supported, along with a few power supply form factors. If your printer is smaller, the ATX mount is per-sectioned for your convenience. Their GPU brackets can accommodate beefy dual- and triple-slot models. It’s all there, if you want to unbox and show off your PC build like the work of engineering art it truly is.
Of course, these files weren’t released from the kindness of Corsair’s corporate heart– they’re meant to be used with fancy pegboard desks the company also sells. Still to their credit, they did release the files under a CC4.0-Attribution-ShareAlike license. That means there’s nothing stopping an enterprising hacker from remixing this design for the ubiquitous SKÅDIS or any other perfboard should they so desire.
We’ve covered artful open-cases before here on Hackaday, but if you prefer to hide the expensive bits from dust and cats, this mid-century box might be more your style. If you’d rather no one know you own a computer at all, you can always do the exact opposite of this build, and hide everything inside the desk.
In the 1990s I made this using nails and drywall. It did not look as nice. No RGB either
RGB was barely a thing in 1990s. Blue LED was invented in mid 90s and they were still a bit expensive, I remember spending $1 per blue LED. A tri-color LED were available by end of 90s but smart LED wouldn’t be around for many more years.
Yup. I’m not quite old enough to remember when LEDs only came in red, but I remember how rare amber was early on. Then later, green appeared, and we had an embarrassment of THREE colors.
Took forever to get to blue. Then once it happened, manufacturers went completely crazy with it and EVERYTHING had blue LEDs.
Bet it worked great though.
I never did that, but I’ve hosted more than one PC inside of a cardboard box…
Why would anyone want their computer out in the open like that? They must not have cats.
Or radio receivers.
The cases with a side window are bad enough for RFI. At least PCs are a lot quieter now since most of the signaling is differential and voltages are a lot lower.
A 32×16 steel sheet metal pegboard cost 29.99 at lowes why the ever living crap would it buy a crap desk at a premium (cause gamer) then spend the next 6 months printing pegboard out
And yea no shit a “case” that supports atx will fit an itx bboard guess what it will also fit uATX and some mini AT boards as well … just like every ATX case ever
You… you don’t print the pegboard. You print the various doodads that mount the components TO the pegboard. Most PC parts do not come with pegs attached. Corsair will sell you an expensive desk with pegboard attached, but as the article says, nothing stopping you from using your own pegboard.
i just think it’s so awesome that my pc is in the basement and i never have to see it and it digests basement dust instead of human dust. (there’s a lot less dust and it’s a lot less sticky / fuzzy)
over the moon that i have a pile of small computers in my livingroom that are completely hidden behind and under crap
Day 670 of telling people to use ThinITX PIO motherboards.
For $80-100 you get a 12th-14th gen motherboard with a “Parrallel” PCIe slot at the top of the board (no risers needed for vertical mount)
Also 20v input and 12v output (up to 160w GPU) built in.
I was running a 12500t and 4060 from a 240w Gallium Nitride Alienware laptop brick in a 2L case, with enough empty room I could have fit the brick inside too.
I already have my 2 PC box on a sitting on a shelf from:
https://www.wallcontrol.com
And I need to upgrade my PC anyway…now I don’t need to buy an expensive case?
Or will I be tempted to accidentally use the interior of my PC as a shelf itself?
haha i have one of the 2003 antec ‘full tower’ style cases with some modern tiny micro-atx?? MB in it
and i do indeed use the inside of my pc as storage…a little nest of leftover cables and crap. something for my ssd to rest on
OK, but why was it photographed in someone’s (very nice) garden?