Thinkpads Forum

Hey all.. Haven't come around very often because of failing hard drives, having to move, work, etc..

Welp, I have an IBM NetVista here (Type 6339-26U) and the motherboard is toast (Was [censored] cause it worked for like 10 minutes then the motherboard started smoking from it's capacitors)..

Anyway, I'm thinking of an IBM workstation themed PC build.. A concern I have is cooling this baby.. Here are some thoughts:

(I am keeping the picture as a link for anyone on a slower connection)

NetVista Idea

Basically, what we have here, is a basic layout of what I am going for..

The area in red I am thinking of cutting out and replacing with a mesh grate of some sort (Painted black of course) and installing some sort of fan behind it..

The Blue and Yellow is the stock USB ports out front still in service, and the area immediately to the right in yellow is where I would like to add a card reader for all my camera media.. The green X is there because the case I have has a panel for no fdd, and I would like to keep it like that.. ANd fially, the gray boxes are where I would like to mount Laptop style DVD burner and DVD reader.. THis case also has a blank panel for the optical bay, and I would like to make that lift up in a spring loaded fashion, hiding the drives when not in use, and revealing them at the push of a button.. (I am actually thinking this for the card reader in the 3.5" bay)..

My biggest concern is keeping it cool.. There are holes along the RH side (Looking at the front, opposite the power supply) I am fine with adding fans to.. And I can probably add an array of 3 small fans to the back above the IO panel.. Of course, for the sake of how cramped it is inside there, water cooling may be an acceptable option as well..

Here are the specs of what I am going with as far as hardware is concerned:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Widsor
Asus Mini ATX board
2GB RAM i DUal Channel
The smallest power supply I can get in there over 200w
300+ GB SATA 3.0 GB/s Seagate (West. Dig. failed on me)

And of course the slew of other little things which make up a PC build.. It's not going to be easy, but I have sourced all my parts already, so it's simply a matter of getting them..

I'm re-building a PC300GL with a bad power supply, and it seems that the case size is comparable to yours (mATX form factor) The power supply I just bought is the Coolmax CM-300: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=T13-1070

I've been burning it in for about a week and so far no problems. It's a "real" 300 watts, and it's the same height and width as the supply that was original in mine, but about 1-1/2 inches shorter. "mATX" is not a standard size, and in my case the screw holes don't line up, but that's a small price to pay IMO. Seems well made, good connectors, etc, even has a little user's manual that lists the power at every pin of every connector.

As for cooling, I think adding fans on the back blowing out is a good idea... if they'll fit.

Great price.. Bookmarked that one. Thank you Leo!

I am reading up on water cooling.. Seems viable, however I believe rigid cooling lines (such as copper) custom bent may be a better choice as far as fit and finish goes due to my limited space.. I will be getting that power supply after I get the necessary 'guts'.

Sounds like you've taken on quite the challenge, fitting all that processing power into such a small case. I like challenges, too.

I have no experience with liquid cooling. The very idea of circulating water thru and around a live circuit board makes me nervous... I guess leaks aren't too common or else people wouldn't be doing it.