IBM NetVista / Lenovo ThinkCentre sleeper build

[oeuvre]

Acquired a Lenovo ThinkCentre M72e and an IBM NetVista 6578 with a faulty motherboard.



Gutted most of the M72e



This is the final result!

Specs: IBM NetVista A40 6578-TAU case
Arctic F8 Pro PWM 80mm fan
80mm fan installed in front (pulled from M72e)
SeaSonic SS-350SFE 350W SFX power supply
Lenovo ThinkCentre M72e motherboard
Intel Core i5 3470 3.2GHz quad core processor
8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 RAM
DVD/RW drive
128GB Samsung SSD
500GB 7200RPM Western Digital hard drive
1GB AMD RADEON HD6570 PCIe video card
USB 3.0 PCIe card
Windows 7 64 bit



Spraypainted the metal part of the case. Closest color I could find. Hides the scratches well.



Case is really easy to open. Push 2 buttons on each side and lift it upwards.



The rear. I/O shield is kinda just stuck on there. Plugged in cables keep it in place. Those are the original NetVista PCI slot brackets.



Front has USB 2.0 ports on the bottom right corner.



Cover removed.



The guts



Another view



Messy cables galore. Might end up using zipties to settle those down.



The drives can be flipped easily.



Samsung SSD



Front panel pins needed some rearranging and trial + error.



Closeup of the power supply label.



IBM Model M made by Lexmark 42H1292



Corsair Harpoon RGB mouse



Here it is in action, stacked on top of a complete working original NetVista with a Pentium III 1GHz processor.



Customized BIOS logo



The desktop



System info



The desk, complete with old Altec Lansing ACS 5 computer speakers.



NetVista 4:3 wallpaper



NetVista 16:9 wallpaper



Black NetVista 4:3 wallpaper



Black NetVista 16:9 wallpaper



NetVista icon



NetVista icon with IBM logo

This was a lot of fun to make! There's a cooler sleeper with NetVista here. He inspired me to do this one. https://imgur.com/gallery/8HsYp

[Thinkpad4by3]

Thats one sleeper alright. It is also sane enough that we dont need to have a machine lab and a few million dollars in funding like those crazy SLI Titan water cooled i9-XE processors, etc. I like that BIOS splash screen, was that using Lenovos utility which I think has the ability for custom splash screens?

[axur-delmeria]

I'm glad to see that OEMs have moved away from the BTX and micro-BTX motherboard form factor. It makes these sleeper builds much cheaper.

I used to make similar builds for my clients: find a Pentium III/IV Netvista/Thinkcentre casing, put it modern components.

I have particular disdain for cheap-butt PC casings with "tin-can" sheet metal.

[oeuvre]

A lot of new PC cases, even the higher end ones, still feel cheap to me. They don't seem like they're designed to last.

Yeah I used the latest BIOS for the M72e to change the BIOS logo.

[RealBlackStuff]

I have this superb aluminum case: Lian Li PC67.

https://cdn.staticneo.com/neo_image/571 ... image3.jpg

Paid over $200 for it back in 2001.
Over the years it has seen quite a few upgrades.
The last upgrade by now is 8 years 'young', but is still running as strong as ever.
- Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 motherboard
- AMD Phenom II 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz CPU
- MSI GeForce GT 730 with 2GB VRAM graphics card
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD with W7-64bit
- 2TB Seagate HD for storage

I use this desktop as my during-the-day driver, it gets switched off every day around 5pm (Apero-time )
In the evenings I currently use my X230 for checking emails etc.

If you want more info about this case: https://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hard ... kpc67case/
(except mine does not have the top- and side-panel fans).

[jeffbaichina]

This was a lot of fun to make! There's a cooler sleeper with NetVista here. He inspired me to do this one. https://imgur.com/gallery/8HsYp

Hey thanks (that's my build)!

Though could you enlighten me on how you managed to fit that back exhaust fan on there? I think there's no obvious mounting point at that location...

Also, what parts did you use to fit the front USB ports? I thought the original USB harness uses a proprietary connector.

Thanks in advance... I'm going to upgrade that machine with fully modern parts (probably Ryzen with RX580 graphics), these tips will be useful!

EDIT: l see you mentioned that you fitted an 80mm fan at the front... The front can fit up to a 92mm fan.

[oeuvre]

Thanks! This is the USB cable I got. https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-NetVista-D ... 1652583507

Had to trim the two closed holes and poked out the last one on the other side with a needle. Otherwise it should fit fine. Only thing is the cable itself is short so you gotta get some kind of extension. In my case, I just got a USB 2.0 to 3.0 converter and plugged it into the PCIe USB 3.0 card.

For the rear fan, I just used those pre-existing slats. You can see it here https://i.imgur.com/LiskRhL.jpg

I know the front fan can fit a 92mm one but I didn't have any 4 pin 92mm fans lying around.

[jeffbaichina]

Thanks! This is the USB cable I got. https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-NetVista-D ... 1652583507

Had to trim the two closed holes and poked out the last one on the other side with a needle. Otherwise it should fit fine. Only thing is the cable itself is short so you gotta get some kind of extension. In my case, I just got a USB 2.0 to 3.0 converter and plugged it into the PCIe USB 3.0 card.

For the rear fan, I just used those pre-existing slats. You can see it here https://i.imgur.com/LiskRhL.jpg

Thanks for the information!

[gfuller]

Nicely done. There is a video on YouTube where someone did something similar, albeit with an old Aptiva case. He even made the "floppy drive" functional by hiding a SD card reader in it and placing an SD card into an old floppy disk.

I like it when people go all-out. Sure, it's not the original machine. But, it's still interesting to keep the "branding" and try to make everything look authentic - besides the fact that it's running a modern version of Windows, of course.

Great job!

[axur-delmeria]

I added front USB and audio ports to a Netvista (Type 6049) casing:





This casing I gave to a friend.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Wow, that is well done. It looks factory and all, especially with the red and green audio jacks straight out of 2002 and the white USB ports from 1998!

[axur-delmeria]

Wow, that is well done. It looks factory and all, especially with the red and green audio jacks straight out of 2002 and the white USB ports from 1998!

Thanks. It looks good mostly due to the grainy image (VGA resolution camera from an ancient Sony-Ericsson phone, K320 I think).
I can't remember where I scavenged that USB + audio panel from. Might have bought it somewhere.

[oeuvre]

Aha yours looks great! I've seen a couple Aptiva sleepers done too. https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/c ... per_build/