Anapan wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2024 12:36 pm
Lobster Bisque and Clam are some my favorite flavors AND colours.
Well I just sprayed 3 coats of Yarn on the metal top cover as well as the front plastic bezel. Now only time will tell if Magnolia Home ultra matte chalk paint is a good choice. I will have to wait for it to fully cure, which always takes a while in the summer on Long Island. Even thought I have it drying in a relatively small room with a dehumidifier running on continuous. That room is like 82°F and 35% relative humidity. But even still, things seem to take forever to cure. I hate pressing fingerprints into things, or picking up fibers because the paint was still soft, so I very much want to be patient with the drying.
I used the Magnolia Home ultra matte chalk spray paint (the Yarn color) to spray the bezel and outside of the top part of the case. I'm not entirely pleased with the results. I really like the color, but not the finish. It just didn't lay out as flat as Krylon Fusion or Rust-Oleum always does for me. It has a sort of fuzzy roughness to it. It's not too bad, passable maybe, but I want better results.
I have the 5.25" bay cover to this case that I've been using to test things with, since I wont actually need it for this build. Right now I have it sanded down enough to get rid of the roughness but not enough to wreck the natural texture of the plastic, and I sprayed over it with the Krylon Fusion Matte Clamshell. When it dries, if I like the results, then I think this is what I'll do for the front bezel.
The outside part of the top cover to the case, I don't know if I feel like doing the same thing to. It's pretty much common to see the metal case a lighter color than the front bezel lol, so if I left it the lighter Yarn color that would actually look natural. It's just that if I want to go over it with Krylon Clamshell, I will have to mask the under side of it again. I might be too lazy to do that. But either way, whether I leave it Yarn or respary it with Clamshell, I think I'm gonna go over it with Rust-Oleum satin clean enamel. Matte just doesn't look right on the metal part of the case, and the extra protection wont hurt either.
Yesterday, while I was waiting for paint coats to dry, I worked on the PSU situation a little.
Some ranting regarding the model PSU I have and power requirements...
Back during Black Friday sales of 2022, I was able to score 2 Thermaltake 500w "Smart Series" power supplies for really cheap.
They're not even expensive when they're not on sale, but IIRC I was able to get them for $25 each. I thought they would be good to pick up for general use as well as an XP build I'd like to eventually do. So being that this is what I have on hand, I thought I might just give it a shot.
So obviously there will be no -5v power rail, but I don't ever plan on needing it. And even if I do, there's various ways to handle that which are not complicated or expensive. So this is a non issue IMO.
The other potential issue that people point out is that modern PSUs have a very weak +5v rail compared to what you'd find on an AT or earlier ATX revision PSUs. Old PSUs could have 30, 40 or 50 amps on the +5v rail. Modern PSUs have stronger +12v rails, but usually have just 20 amps on the +5v rail. The Thermaltake that I linked above is rated for only 18 amps for +5v! But looking at the sticker on the PSU that came with my AT case, that +5v rail is only 20 amps. So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Is this a problem? For this 486 build, I don't think it will be. Looks like my 5v DX2-66 is 4.88 watts, and I've read 6.3 watts max. Amps = Watts / Volts. So just to round everything up, let's even say 2A for the CPU. My CD-ROM drive lists 1A on the 5v rail. I couldn't find a hard figure for FDDs, so I'm just figuring 1A for both of those as well. So if the CPU was running at max, and I was reading/writing to all three drives at once, that might be 5 amps. At the worst case scenario, that leaves 13 amps left for the mobo, RAM, video and sound cards. Doesn't sound like a lot. That's why I'm not planning on leaving it up to guess work. I used this as an excuse to finally get a clamp meter. I'm sure the mobo and RAM don't pull a lot, but I have no idea about the video and sound cards.
Normally to test current, you have to splice into the wires and run it through a meter. Or I suppose I could make custom adapters to avoid splicing, but either way that's annoying. With a clamp meter, you have a ring that loops around a wire and can measure the current that way, without having to splice anything. I've been wanting to get another DMM anyway, not to digress too far, this need finally pushed me over the edge to get one.
So anyway, with the clamp meter, I should easily be able to measure the current draw on all of the 5v leads from the PSU. I've already used this Thermaltake to test the board and VLB video card, and it POSTs just fine. I'm sure it pulls no where near 18 amps just idling, probably not even while installing DOS. I'll just slowly ramp up in tasks until I'm sure the 18 amps is fine.
Maybe I should have waited to measure the current draw of all the parts in this PC before modding a PSU, but I decided to go ahead and mod this Thermaltake anyway...
One thing that I wanted to do was remove any unneeded connection, like the CPU and GPU connectors. Above is what I found when I cracked open the PSU. Multiple wires are crimped together, and that is soldered to the PCB. I guess this makes it easier from a production standpoint, but it was more of a pain in the ass on my end. I cranked up the temp on my soldering station using the (relatively small) tip that I usually use and that didn't even make a hint at melting the solder even after holding it on there for a few seconds. I was too lazy to switch to a larger tip and temp, so I decided to just abandon that idea. Those yellow wires are 12v, most of which go to the CPU and GPU connectors. Being that they were at the edge of the PCB, I just used some side cutters to snip them off close to the board. One of the ground crimp connections was grouped in the middle of stuff so I couldn't cut it out. I ended up just twisting it out. I used some hot glue to insulate things just in case.
This model PSU has one branch of 4-pin Molex connectors, which is the standard 3 Molex and 1 floppy/Berg connector. Then it has two branches of SATA connectors. So I cut the leads of the SATA connectors off and spliced on Molex/Berg branches that I stole from another PSU.
There's the end result.
It occurred to me that I maybe should have left the CPU connector on there in case I ever want to use this in another system. But to be honest, with that weak of a +5v rail, I don't think I would.
Another thing occurred to me... If I pick up a crimp tool for Molex pins, then I could do this sort of thing much faster, easier and neater. All I'd have to do is cut off the SATA branch and then crimp it to a new Molex branch. And then that made me thing, I could have even cut off the 24-pin main power connector and then crimp the appropriate wires to the AT style P8/P9 connectors. Effectively, I could take a modern ATX PSU and turn it into an AT PSU. And maybe I will do that down the road.
This was the first chance I got to use this little wire hold I 3D printed just for this sort of thing...
I found that model on Thingiverse and it looked perfect. It was definitely a lot easier to solder these wires than using my little helping hands thing.
Just take a look at the wire gauge difference. On the left is the wire coming from the Thermaltake PSU, which is noticeably thinner. The wire on the right is from an old ATX PSU that I had, circa 2000. Both wire jackets are stamped 18 AWG, so why is one thinner? The one on the right might be tinned, but still.
This AT case has two vertical 3.5" drive bays, but it's missing the cage as well as the cover plates. My resolve was to just take a flat piece of plastic (I ended up 3D printing it) and spray it black (to match the black drives I was planning on using).
Alternatively, I could spray it the same color that I sprayed the case. I actually 3D printed a second cover, but I forgot to spray it. Does anyone think a beige cover would look better than the black one? I could spray it and mock it up, if anyone feels like it's worth exploring.
Anyway, below are some pictures of what it will look like. I took pictures at different angles to show that it's recessed. I'm asking specifically if that area being recessed looks OK? I'm not sure how I feel about it. I could 3D print something to fill it up and come flush with the front of the case.
Yes, there's a ding in the case to the left of the 5.25" FDD. I think it knicked it with a drive when I was putting them in, and the paint is still soft. Fuck!
Yes, the drives aren't sitting straight. I didn't screw them in, so they're sagging. This was just to get a visual.
And yes, it looks like an orange peel. That's a result of the chalk paint, now it has some extra texture. I don't want to talk about it. The pictures make it looks worse. You can notice it with bright lights if you look real close. But otherwise it's acceptable I think. Shoulda just went with Krylon from the start. Live and learn.
2. What order should the drives go in?
VERY important question. I feel like there's an answer for functionality, and maybe a different answer for what looks best. I think I'm interested in what looks best.
Functionally, whatever drive is on the bottom kinda gets screwed. It's so low to the surface sometimes it can be a pain to access. And if I end up keeping a keyboard and mouse in front of the case (there's a good chance of this) the bottom drive becomes very annoying to access. So for this reason, I think it's wise to put my least used drive on the bottom. Which would be the 5.25" FDD, simply because I have the least amount of media in that format. So for this reason, I think I might have to go CD-ROM on top, then 3.5" FDD in the middle and 5.25" on the bottom. I shoulda taken a picture of them set up that way.
Some other small random updates...
The ATX-to-AT power adapter that I got came with spade terminals, presumably to fit onto an AT power switch, but my power switch has solder lugs. The spade terminals would not fit. For some reason, instead of getting male spades, I decided to go with bullet connectors. So I soldered a pigtail onto the switch, and then crimped the male and female connectors to their appropriate wires. Only I ended up soldering them as well, because I hate crimp connections and they never work well for me (maybe because they're cheap ones). I tidied it all up with some zip ties, and I have a bunch of ferrite beads on hand so I figured why not add one.
This may be stupid, but I was able to save the sticker on the back of the case. I didn't want to risk taking it off and damaging it. So I just masked it, and it worked out perfectly.
1. I think the recessed area looks fine in black. The drives are black and carrying it over kind of balances it out.
2. Your plan is fine. It's not a beauty contest. Put the drives in the order that makes the most sense for your needs.
edit:
I'm kind of curious - what do you even have on 5.25" floppies? Any games that still work?
Dating myself a bit here - I never even used 5.25" floppies. 3.5" was still in style when I learned any computer applications.
(Not trying to make this about me, just curious what you have planned for this setup!)
opa wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 6:46 pm
edit:
I'm kind of curious - what do you even have on 5.25" floppies? Any games that still work?
Dating myself a bit here - I never even used 5.25" floppies. 3.5" was still in style when I learned any computer applications.
(Not trying to make this about me, just curious what you have planned for this setup!)
No, by all means. I was hoping these threads would be a means to open discussions on such things.
Yeah, I have a few games on 5.25" floppies. Most of them are boxed with both 5.25" as well as 3.5" but I know I have at least one game that is 5.25" only. Rise of the Dragon. I also have a sealed box copy of MS-DOS 5 that is on 5.25" floppies. And now that I'll have a 486 machine, I might be more inclined to collect more games from the early 90s. So I might end up with more 5.25" disks at some point. Previously, I had a 5.25" FDD in a Windows 98 PC, and that always seemed weird to me.
I actually didn't own any games on 5.25" when I was a kid. My family's first computer was a Windows 95 machine that had a 3.5" FDD and CD-ROM drive. But predating that, I did use a heck of a lot of 5.25" floppies at school and the library. I didn't take note back then, but I wish I could know what computers they were!
I can remember my fourth grade classroom having a computer in the back, which was extremely novel at the time. Pretty sure it was some sort of Apple, but I can't be certain. It had an external 5.25" FDD, and there was one of those drive caddies with a bunch of edutainment games in it. I use to play some sort of platformer, where you had to solve math problems to get past obstacles. My elementary school had a computer lab, but it was rare to have a classroom with a computer in it. I think we only did because my teacher was a computer nerd. Tangent: Remember Scholastic Book Club? We use to get flyers that had books you could order, pretty sure it was Scholastic. When I was in fourth grade, the back page always had a couple of computer games on them. I got my Mom to order me SimCity Classic. And I remember handing in the order form to my teacher, he told me he was jealous LOL.
My elementary school's computer lab was filled with all identical IBM desktops. They probably had PC-DOS on them. I struggle to remember if they had 2 disks drives or just the one. But I can remember having to insert a 5.25" disk and type in the DOS commands to launch a word processing program. That's about all we ever did in the computer lab, type in a word processor.
My local library had computers that you could sign up for a time slot to use. All I can remember doing is playing The Oregon Trail on it, I don't think I ever used the library computer for anything else LOL. Pretty sure there was a spiral book with laminated pages that was like a cheat sheet how to use the computer.
You need to put some kind of animated LED array in there instead of that black panel. Not a modern LED screen. Like a tiny version of the kind of think you’d see outside of banks and churches.
Does anyone think a beige cover would look better than the black one? I could spray it and mock it up, if anyone feels like it's worth exploring. 
