PC in an XBOX, thoughts?

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:09 pm

hi guys, when mucking around today looking at some PC parts, and then quickly measuring my xbox, i came up with the following plan:

build a complete PC (sans opticals) into an xbox shell, and have it look stock

ive been looking at the asrock k8nf4g mobo, which should fit inside, and as a bonus has onboard graphics, so ram and a HDD and a PSU would be all thats needed, although im pretty unsure if i can squeeze an adequate PSU in there

anyone have any comments or suggestions? its been a while since i had my xbox open, so im not sure how much space is wasted by spacers and extra shielding, so im wondering how much of the outer profile id still have left to mount stuff into

kungpow12345 · Post by **kungpow12345** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:37 pm

Use a Laptop HDD for one. About your PSU, you might have to settle for an outside unit. That or if you're clever, make an "expansion slot" for that new PSU to go ala N64. I'm thinking the xbox PSU is very similar to a regular PC PSU but you might have to find some more info about it to find out. Other than that, that's about the only suggestions I can think of at the moment. You might be able to spray paint a stock DVD black or just get a black one to go with the XBOX style casing for now.

Good luck with your project!

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:51 pm

well, i figure i can fit a normal HDD in there, since i wont be using anything in any expansion slot, so there should be a whole host of space just above the mobo there

as for the PSU, i was hoping to keep it internal, if it has to be external, ill probably scrap the xbox plan as i really really hate external PSU's (the comp style ones anyway, power bricks are OK)

i could attempt modding an xbox PSU, but im not sure it has enough power for the system i plan on using, it wont be a big bad ass powermonger of a system, but i think itll draw a good few watts more then a xbox

i think ill go ahead and order up some basic parts tomorrow, and just fool around with those, see if they fit into my xbox case nicely, then i might go ahead alltogether

ninja · Post by **ninja** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:58 pm

You could always use a Mini-ITX motherboard and make something like this:

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/i64xbox/

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:27 am

oi ninja, im honored to see you here _0_

truth is, i do have a mini itx board lying around, and i know of those projects, but i dont want too, i might want to build a TV tuner into the system later on, and using a faster CPU right now would mean being able to do software encoding, which im sure those mini itx boards cant handle

mini itx is all nice and all, but it just doesnt bring the hoursepower, i have a 1 ghz C3 board myself, and i was planning on a 1.4 or 1.6 Ghz sempron, which will perform at least three times faster

thanks for the suggestion though

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:44 am

I can totally understand the novelty of putting a PC in an NES case. But since an XBOX is essentially a PC already, I don't get it. Why not just install GentooX on a real XBOX?

Prophet][ · Post by **Prophet][** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:19 am

considering you can get cases made for PC's that are smaller than an XBox I'ld say it can be done quite easily.

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:31 pm

Strapping Scherzo wrote:I can totally understand the novelty of putting a PC in an NES case. But since an XBOX is essentially a PC already, I don't get it. Why not just install GentooX on a real XBOX?

i want a media center/hybrid PC, and using the same platform ill also be overclocking a bit, so basicly an xbox is far to limited

converting an xbox to a linux based media center is a nice idea, but i want more functionality, also on the hardware side, like being able to add a TV tuner if i want

az_bont · Post by **az_bont** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:51 pm

Disheveled DrFreeze wrote:converting an xbox to a linux based media center is a nice idea, but i want more functionality, also on the hardware side, like being able to add a TV tuner if i want

I don't know if Linux drivers exist, but there are some USB video devices that are able to capture a VHS/VCD-quality image (MPEG-1 352x240/288 @ 1150kbps) over a USB1.1 connection.

rhubarb505 · Post by **rhubarb505** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:10 pm

Anyone have an ideas how many watts the xbox psu is. It seems like the psu is the most important factor right now, as external ones suck and a normal pc one wouldnt fit in the xbox case.

Ill also see what I can find.

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:23 pm

i thought it was around 100 watts, but im not sure on that figure

anyway, i think with some good retooling you might be able to git a micro atx scale PSU in there, it wont be enough to power a big bad gaming rig, but you aint got the room for that anyway

as for the project, ive scrapped it for now, i determined that the total cost of the thing just cant be justified by what im gonna do with it... if i went with it, it would probably end up gathering dust, as a lot of my stuff is doing right now..