Mount pi4 inside pc case

[bfg-e]

Hi, i want to mount a pi4 inside my pc case (so i can run a little server) and I think the best place to mount it is inside a hdd slot. My question : there is any 3d-printable case i can use for this ? (i will get power from molex conector)

[hippy]

My question : there is any 3d-printable case i can use for this ?

Possibly and a Google search and perusal of 3D print sites may turn up something.

It may however be easier and cheaper to use traditional hand-crafted DIY solutions, sticky tape, cardboard, balsa wood or plastic off-cuts.

You could put the Pi 4B in some official case and suspend it on bungee or elastic straps, bolt it somewhere convenient within the case.

The problem with any 'put a Pi in a box' project is figuring out what connectors you will expose to the outside world, what extension leads you will need and where those will go. No matter how you do it you will need to find something which suits what you want.

[ejolson]

Hi, i want to mount a pi4 inside my pc case (so i can run a little server) and I think the best place to mount it is inside a hdd slot. My question : there is any 3d-printable case i can use for this ? (i will get power from molex conector)

If I were mounting only one Pi inside the case I'd try an HDD mounting bracket.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005OJFASY/

I'd use M2.5 standoffs to attach the Pi to the tray. It might be a good idea to wire up a reset button, to the outside of the PC's case and set the Pi to network boot so there aren't any SD cards hidden inside to fumble with later.

With a 3D printed bracket, you may need a fan to prevent the heat from the Pi making it soft in an enclosed space.

[Imperf3kt]

If you use PLA you may have to worry about 3d prints going soft from the heat a Pi generates, may... (In my experience you don't)
But if you use ABS, then you won't.


What sort of computer case do you have, does it still have 3.5 inch drive bays?

[LTolledo]

is the PC case a tower or mini tower type?
the last time I've assembled a desktop w$ PC (that's over 10 years ago), I remember there are numerous holes on the HDD rack

if I were to do the same thing I'd get several standoffs to mount the RPi to those holes (and probably drill a few to match the RPi's hole pitch).
the RPi will be mounted on its side for better airflow to its "heating unit"

for your reference this is my NAS in a mini ITX case:

RPi4B-2GNAS_top.jpg (253.41 KiB) Viewed 824 times

[Imperf3kt]

is the PC case a tower or mini tower type?
the last time I've assembled a desktop w$ PC (that's over 10 years ago), I remember there are numerous holes on the HDD rack

Computer cases no longer have hard drive racks, nor optical disc bays or anything. They've been replaced by NVMe SSD slots and NAS devices. The space is now used for liquid cooling and RGB LEDs

[bfg-e]

is the PC case a tower or mini tower type?
the last time I've assembled a desktop w$ PC (that's over 10 years ago), I remember there are numerous holes on the HDD rack

Computer cases no longer have hard drive racks, nor optical disc bays or anything. They've been replaced by NVMe SSD slots and NAS devices. The space is now used for liquid cooling and RGB LEDs

My case have both hdd rack(2 actually) and a optical disk bay

[ejolson]

is the PC case a tower or mini tower type?
the last time I've assembled a desktop w$ PC (that's over 10 years ago), I remember there are numerous holes on the HDD rack

Computer cases no longer have hard drive racks, nor optical disc bays or anything. They've been replaced by NVMe SSD slots and NAS devices. The space is now used for liquid cooling and RGB LEDs

My case have both hdd rack(2 actually) and a optical disk bay

In that case, maybe you should put more than one Pi inside. I put 16 in a 2U server chassis along with a standard mATX PC and some network switches.

viewtopic.php?p=1690607#p1690607

Everything is powered from the same ATX power supply and it's been quite reliable.

Note, if the photographs in that thread don't load, it's because they are hosted on an unencrypted server and you have disabled mixed content in your browser. It seems there is no way to enable this in Chrome or recent versions of Chromium but that Firefox works okay. Even with Firefox I had to explicitly enable mixed content for it to work on my mobile. You can also click on the links separately to view the images.

The TLS certificate for the server has been requested, but it seems I have to take a training course regarding accessibility and and the American Disabilities Act first. As soon as I catch my breath from all the distance Zoom and this and that, I'll try to sort out that server.

[bfg-e]

Computer cases no longer have hard drive racks, nor optical disc bays or anything. They've been replaced by NVMe SSD slots and NAS devices. The space is now used for liquid cooling and RGB LEDs

My case have both hdd rack(2 actually) and a optical disk bay

In that case, maybe you should put more than one Pi inside. I put 16 in a 2U server chassis along with a standard mATX PC and some network switches.

viewtopic.php?p=1690607#p1690607

Everything is powered from the same ATX power supply and it's been quite reliable.

Note, if the photographs in that thread don't load, it's because they are hosted on an unencrypted server and you have disabled mixed content in your browser. It seems there is no way to enable this in Chrome or recent versions of Chromium but that Firefox works okay. Even with Firefox I had to explicitly enable mixed content for it to work on my mobile. You can also click on the links separately to view the images.

The TLS certificate for the server has been requested, but it seems I have to take a training course regarding accessibility and and the American Disabilities Act first. As soon as I catch my breath from all the distance Zoom and this and that, I'll try to sort out that server.

I just want to have a tinny server that can run 24/7 without a big impact on my power consumption to host my crappy websites and to do some light computational thinks

[ejolson]

My case have both hdd rack(2 actually) and a optical disk bay

In that case, maybe you should put more than one Pi inside. I put 16 in a 2U server chassis along with a standard mATX PC and some network switches.

viewtopic.php?p=1690607#p1690607

Everything is powered from the same ATX power supply and it's been quite reliable.

Note, if the photographs in that thread don't load, it's because they are hosted on an unencrypted server and you have disabled mixed content in your browser. It seems there is no way to enable this in Chrome or recent versions of Chromium but that Firefox works okay. Even with Firefox I had to explicitly enable mixed content for it to work on my mobile. You can also click on the links separately to view the images.

The TLS certificate for the server has been requested, but it seems I have to take a training course regarding accessibility and and the American Disabilities Act first. As soon as I catch my breath from all the distance Zoom and this and that, I'll try to sort out that server.

I just want to have a tinny server that can run 24/7 without a big impact on my power consumption to host my crappy websites and to do some light computational thinks

The good news is that I have passed the ADA training. The bad news is I still don't have a TLS certificate for the web server.

Back on topic, you should be able to power a Pi 4B from the 5V and ground wires in one of those molex connectors used to power oldstyle IDE hard disks and DVD burners. For an easy to service installation I'd repurpose the socket on a Y adapter or similar. Make sure to use the red and the black wires and check they really provide 5V before attaching them to the Pi.

It should possible to place the Pi 4B in a full sized bay with the end that has the network and USB sockets pointing outwards. This would allow easy network connection and the ability to plug in a thumb drive for whatever reason.

Please post pictures when you're done!

[emma1997]

I put 16 in a 2U server chassis

Maybe you could have managed to fit 17 if you had trimmed one core from each Pi as our friend suggested?

[ejolson]

I put 16 in a 2U server chassis

Maybe you could have managed to fit 17 if you had trimmed one core from each Pi as our friend suggested?

For a while the Pi's were booting with only three cores enabled. In not sure whether it saved any power. Then Raspberry Pi fixed the kernel and firmware.

I think 32 would have easily fit if the mATX motherboard was removed. Unfortunately, the Pi computers were only cheap while the motherboard was free.