Project Log Update 10

HedgeBox

by Tursas
Worklog

Sometimes you build a mod based around ideas, and acquire parts for that mod. Many of us have been at that point where every time we turn around it's like we need another piece or part for this or that. So often, these parts go along with an idea that's been already in our head for some time.

Of course, other times, it works the exact opposite way. Sometimes you look around and notice parts, parts that are just asking to be assembled into a greater mod. Parts like 120mmx120mm heatsinks. Now those are just begging to become something... greater.

Tursas had just that problem, and was up to the challenge. Though he's a newcomer on our forums and to the modding scene in general, he has been hitting a proverbial home-run with his HedgeBox mod. Hedgebox was born out of the need for an HTPC and a need to use up some spare heatsinks he had lying around -- so why not combine the two and build an HTPC case out of heatsinks?



For his first mod, Tursas has been a stickler for good planning. Sketch-up models abound in his worklog as the design changes, even for things that aren't structurally defining. Along with these, he made proper cardboard and heatsink mock-ups to test for size constraints. Of course, you can do that when your basic material assembles like lego blocks.



They couldn't be permanently assembled by that method though, so there was the need for some cutting (rather inventively, I might add), some drilling and some tapping...



... And in no time at all, the heatsink retention system was born. Aluminium pins join the central heatsink to its four "wings", which are each mounted with copper rods. The side heatsinks will slide down these rods to form the basic design of the case.



With the heatsinks in place, it's easy to see HedgeBox taking shape. A couple of bars between two of the wings form the mount for the motherboard, which fits nicely in its new home. Heatpipes will connect the processor and northbridge to these heatsinks, allowing a totally passive thermal solution for the HTPC.

Will it work? We'll just have to tune in and find out. You can keep an eye on the progress in his project log, though.