64 Bit on a budget

I already have: a decent steel AMS case, lots of fans, power-supply, one memory chip, monitor, an ASUS, AGP gForce 128meg video card and some other crap. I chose this particular mother board since it would accept the older components like AGP Cards. When you get a new Motherboard for new hardware, just watch the cash fly out your wallet.

This project is on a tight budget. I'm making good use of computer junk I already have laying around.

Most every thing is all left-over stuff. A Kick Ass Modded Case for Dirt Cheap.

Update:3/24/2008 For some reason the SATA chip fouled up and crashed my Linux Mint. I flashed the BOIS, played with the SATA Raid config and no luck. I took the mobile rack out and swapped the jumper from master to slave and it started working again. WTF? So I've installed Ubuntu and it's happy again. I still do not know why the chip crapped out, but it's working so it's up and running with Linux.
Runs Great!! I'm playing with my 30day Trial, XP Pro. I'll see if it's as bad as everyone ses it is. Update:04/05/2009 Yep XP64 SUCKS. DON'T BUY IT. I had Google Linux installed for my 32bit machine so it had to go to free up a hard drive. Windows is sensitive to hardware errors so I'll run it for a bit to see what's up.	1600x1200 screenshot with PC Linux OS Their update server is screwed up bad so It's Mint XFCE Beta 008 from now on. Kick ass, runs fast and stable. Processor runs at 85 Fahrenheit or 29.4 Celsius! This is about as good as any water cooling setup. I'm not over-clocking at the moment. Just wanted to see it run. It's great to see a modded computer running like a champ!! Open Arena runs nice on this. I've got a torrent running for a fresh copy of Linux Mint. It will go on the SATA drive.
Finished. I hope it boots ok.	Looks slick. I'll probably install Linux Mint.
Clean Looks. Lots of room for more stuff in the bottom. 1 SATA DVD-ROM, 1 SATA 160GIG Hard Drive, 1 Floppy, 1 ATA Hard Drive in a Removable Mobile Rack.	I had to pound the power supply in with a mallet!! I coated the power supply with car wax and tapped it in. I was able to hide most of the wiring, above the case window.
Slow process of soldering sub-micro switches and wiring the switch legs to a small buss. 1 more to go and it's Star Gate Atlantis, all day on Sci-Fi. Here I'm testing the switches and fans. The case fans are very quiet. Fans make less noise and push more air when you remove those crappy, built-in grills.	Gawd, what a Massive Heat Sink!! It takes a full size 92mm fan. My only disappointment is that the heat sink faces up or down instead of to the rear. At least my old blue Enermax power supply as 2 fans, one facing down. I'll skip my PCI slot cooler mod since this will be sucking air from the graphics card area and pushing the air-flow to the power supply intake.
Today I'm making the switch bay. It's identical to this one except for the switches are smaller 3amp sub-micro. This will control the LED's in front and the front and rear fans.	I'll post a photo of this unit after it's painted. This one is from my old screamer mod.
As I sit here broken hearted over a bad power supply, I can at least put the covers on and see what it will look like. I've ordered Screamers new power supply. I'll rotate it's old blue Enermax to this PC. I'm really happy so far. My old tired ass DC120 Kodak does not play well with fluorescent lights and Dupli-Color paint. The software interface is for Win95!! I've taken a break to work on this for THING.	I'm really impressed how it has turned out so far. This is a traditional case mod. Makes life worth living to create something with your own hands. Beats the crap out of buying another Dell/HP/Gateway pop-up toaster!! Here is my review of case in it's original form. Good looking, but not modded!
Case Lighting? So far The processor fan has LED's. I have the LED Mod on the front of the case. I have some 12volt "disco" LED's I may use somewhere. I don't want to get carried away with too many gaudy lights. The rear 80mm fans are plain black with flat black grills. No filters here as it should blow dust out of the case. (hopefully)	Next is a switch bay for controlling lights and fans. The question is to place it in a floppy bay cover or 5 ^1/4" drive cover? Both the rear 80mm and front 120mm fans will have switches. The 120mm processor fan will not have any switch and will have a filter to keep it clean. The front fan has a filter, with some spacers to give the front a little more room for intake. I'll just build my own switch bay as soon as I have more wiring done in the case.
More details, details and more details. If you have a SATA drive, a floppy is almost required to install Windows. So far, XP64 sucks as bad as they say. I'm sticking with Linux Mint.	Here the floppy is taken apart for masking and painting. The button gets painted too. The LED lens get masked with regular scotch tape. My camera batteries are dead so I took this photo with my cell. The front is in the basement with the paint drying now.
Left outside Panel is finished, with it's mesh panel and black rubber trim.	Window was trimmed and mesh attached with a thick gel, double stick tape. It's difficult to see since it's clear.
Right inside view of the mesh and filter. I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the mesh to attach it and the filter.	Just a very small window to vent behind the processor and add some interest to the "plain side" of the case.
I had this old LED controller laying around for a long time. I drilled and attached to the case with 2 small risers, included with the kit. I added "tailed" LED's and took an old tailed LED, cut the LED off and added a sub-micro switch to turn the unit on/off.	The 5mm LED's are near the numbers. This fit the existing holes in the front of the case with only a slight reaming for the red LED's. I added a left-over "chrome" loom, black heat shrink and it's ready to go.
Dupli-Color paint does not photograph very well	The color does transition from red to blue, though the photos don't show it.
I decided not to paint the case interior.	All taped up to prevent over spray on the inside.
Stupid grills whacked out with my jig-saw.	These factory grills are nothing but dust catchers since the fan frame all ready serves as a grill.
The "built-in" grill is already history.	I should cut the front, by the intake fan, but I don't know what to cut yet. It already has some small vent holes.
Tomorrow I'll cut a small window on the other side to help vent behind the processor and the buss.	I have 2 can "sets of dupli-color. That is enough for a mid-tower.
Everything is taped except 1/8 inch for the saw cut. .	Ready for a little sanding of the edge.
Start applying easy-release masking tape	Apply more masking tape, then duct tape, on both sides to prevent the jig saw from taking you for a ride.
Planning & Measuring	More measuring, more ideas.
	What to do for a case window? Clear plastic? Mesh? 120mm fan? I usually plan stuff over and over I change my mind several times before I settle down on what I want.
When I see a computer case, I think JIG-SAW!!