Oookaaay... another update.
Bit of a scary one this time.
( Try to think of some appropriate music )
So, keyboard sent was the wrong one - I'm still awaiting
a reply from the 'supplier'.
( I'll post a list of helpful &
not-so-helpful 
peeps I've
delt with during this build... )
I'm now waiting for one I've bought from Cherry. Yes,
I'm going to have to butcher an expensive keyboard! So
much for an on-the-cheap case-mod!
Here goes:
A brand new Geforce 7600GT + AGP riser snuggling up!
Hoorah!!!
This is the best GFX card I could find that has a chance of
fitting the space. So much for an on-the-cheap case-mod!
The AGP riser was a total swine to locate, so much so I
came close to giving up.
But a very nice company came
to my rescue.
Time to attach the motherboard:
The plan was to hold the
spare motherboard in place, drill
holes through the base, then use nylon M3 nuts + bolts to
attach the lot. An extra nut between mobo and base would
suffice as a spacer.
( More of this later... )
The Beast:
Do you like the nice little low profile cooler? Another bit
that was hard to find. Weell, if you want one that does
some genuine cooling!
Another view:
Yummy!
Yet another view:
Notice the highlighted auxillary power connector? I was
sooo pleased with myself. Not only had I found a good
GFX card that would fit. I'd got one with a small PCIe
connector and found an AGP riser of just the correct
height so it wouldn't foul the keyboard!
-DAMN I'M GOOD AT THIS!!-
The lid on:
Ah! That's got a bit of a bulge to it!
Maybe I didn't get
the measurements quite right! Looking inside not only was
the case bulging but the GFX had a seroius bend in it!
-I think now would be a good time to remind any readers
of Charlton Heston's big scene at the end of Plannet of the
Apes-
No, this was not a good situation...
Yet more Dremmeling:
For orientation: The bottom is the rear of the lid, the top
is, er, the top.
-Away with a Dremmel,
No room for that bit.
I think that this project,
May well turn to sh*t!-
Dremmel marks at the top are for the end of the GFX
card, and to the right for the top of the AGP riser.
I also had to remove the spacer nuts under the modo
to help make room which ment much tedious work
with the Dremmel to make space for all the lumpy bits
you get on the underside of a motherboard.
I would have just cut a big hole, but with all the parts
removed so far the case would have got a bit 'wobbly'.
I suppose I could have claimed a clever Lotus-like
stratergy of using the mobo as a 'stressed-member',
but never forget, Lotus stands for:
Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious!
I can see clearly now..:
Hmmm, that will be about as much plastic as I can
remove...
Does is all go together now?
Does it buggery!
( Not quite so 'blugy' now... )
Ok - I'm angry now. Nothing will prevent me from
seeing the fruit of my loins burst forth in all its glory!
As my brother would say: "Sh*t or bust time bro'."
Out with the Dremmel again:
'I love the smell of burning fiberglass in the morning...'
Oh-yes! I did it allright. I cut about a 1/4 of an inch off
the end of my
brand-new GFX card!
Not content with that, I then set about the AGP riser
with further reckless abandon, chopping of the end of
the AGP slot & then some of the offending PCB too!
And...
It all fits! Good God in Heaven, it fits! Thank the maker!
Once the euphoria had cleared my head of the 'red mist'
that had caused me to purpetrate such wanton vandalism
my next question was: 'Do I now have an increasingly
expensive paperweight?'
-I have to admit many of my projects start with good
intentions, move through unexpected expence, and
finally end with me going crackers with a power tool
of some description-
Well, the butchered + bleeding AGP card + riser were
transferred to my older PC...
I flicked the power switch, and...
I'll tell you next time.
