Like Tribbles, Lego seem to have an uncanny ability for multiplying in my house at an almost exponential rate. First, you build models, then it’s Star Wars, then it’s your phone, your jewelry. Before things are said and done you’ve got nooks, bins and chests full of them. I’ve been addicted to Lego for longer than I can remember, so when the opportunity comes up to work on a new project of some sort the question that invariably arises is, “Can I use Lego?”
When I first looked into building my next computer I had no intentions other than taking the system and speeding it up. The once venerable overclocked Phenom quad-core system, with its dual Raptor HDs in a RAID 0 and other hardware was starting to show its age. I decided that this time around it was time to start a new platform. I had been making upgrades to my AM2 based AMD system for a couple of years and it seemed like the platform had served admirably but was reaching the end of the road.
Around the time I began my planning I beginning to be involved in Grid Computing. I liked being able to use one of my geek hobbies in a way to help try and benefit others. Grid Computing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_computing) allows for using your home computer (through the addition of a small free downloadable program) to use its CPU and or GPU for the purpose of processing data in the form of research problems, equations, and more. Normally, it takes a supercomputer days, weeks, or months to works its way through some of this research. Grid Computing leverages the power of hundreds of thousands of computers whose users donate their processing time to make this happen.
Since I was going to be building a new computer anyway it seemed like the perfect time to maximize my build for Grid Computing (Crunching). My first plans were to focus on a multi-GPU setup that would be a dual purpose crunching/work machine. I encountered a problem in that my Grid Computing program of choice did not offer any GPU compatible projects, only CPU compatible. My main goal was Grid Computing with medical research and humanitarian projects in mind. For this reason I chose to go with IBMs World Community Grid as it offered a lot of these types of research. (Cancer, Aids, Muscular Dystrophy, etc.) http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
My plans changed when I realized I wouldn’t be able to make use of a GPU folding farm. The type of Grid Computing I wanted to do required CPU power in the form of multiple fast CPU cores. My first plan was to build a dual CPU Xeon based platform with a EVGA SR2 board. Some of the SR2 based systems I was finding were jaw-dropping; the performance was out of this world. But such performance comes with a high price tag. I had planned on using my normal budget of $1,500-2,000 and doubling it when I decided to build a Grid Computing computer. I decided that the money was a small donation in terms of trying to help a much larger cause.
My initial goals with my new system were as follows-
$2000 budget goal
100,000 Points Per Day (Points are used as a rough estimate of computational power)
Energy Efficient as possible
After pouring through and reading for hours in the forums I started to realize that the SR-2 monsters I had seen huge numbers from were also somewhat fickle beasts with RAM and some other settings. At that point I realized I wanted to go a different direction. I started looking more carefully at the computers I already had in my household and also looking at the electricity costs to run all these systems in addition to adding the new Folding computer. I already had a quad core workstation computer and a slightly lower end intel Core2 system running a touchscreen in my kitchen, and a server. Adding a fourth machine gave me pause.
I began thinking a little harder about the whole project. I wanted this to be efficient, at least relatively speaking. I turned my direction briefly towards building a multi-CPU setup based on a server board. This would have satisfied my requirements for multiple CPU cores. The downside of course was the cost. Server CPUs are expensive, as is the motherboard that supports them.
I was stymied for a couple of days on this whole project. I knew what I wanted, but couldn’t formalize a plan to pull it off. As I was working on other people’s computers and staring at the pile of pulled motherboards sitting on my bench I got to thinking, why do I need to have a bunch of separate cases and power supplies? Why couldn’t I build one system that housed multiple motherboards and CPUs? I could use desktop parts that were cheaper and consolidate all of my PCs into one.
Based on this I started to put together a parts list-
3x Motherboards
3X CPUs
3x CPU Coolers
2x GPU (Only 2 of the systems needed video, the third is remote operated)
3x Power Supplies??
3x Computer Cases??
Multiple Hard Drives and SSDs
Now that I had a plan I started doing some research. I wanted to use the highest rated efficiency power supply available, but I did not want to buy multiple power supplies since that seemed inefficient with the power loss I would have per power supply. When I calculated out the power requirements of each sub-system it seemed like I was going to be right around 350 watts. This started me thinking, why can’t I just get one power supply with output around 1100-1200 watts and wire it for all three systems? This would give me the efficiency of buying the best Gold rated power supply along with saving some money. After a little more research I found what I was looking for; the Antec 1200 High Current. According to reputable online power supplies sites and reviewers this was the bad boy I wanted.
Cases presented my next challenge. I had an idea in my head what I wanted the case to look like, but after researching I couldn’t find something to fit my vision.
This takes me all the way back to the beginning. With every project I do I always invariably arrive at the same point, “Can I use Lego?” VOILA! YES! Lego! Lego and computers definitely sounded like a good combination. In reality the structure of a case built from Lego was going to require a fair bit of thought. I needed to get my case laid out correctly and able to support the weight of all the components without Legos buckling or falling apart.
Now that I had a solid plan I got underway with buying parts for the project-
3X Sandy Bridge 2600k CPUs
3x Thermaltake Frio Cpu Coolers
3X Asus P8P67 Micro atx motherboards
1x Antec 1200 HCP Power Supply
2x Corsair SSD (System 1/Workstation)
1x Mushkin SSD (System 2/Touchscreen)
1x WD HD (System 3/Folding Only)
3X DDR3 for each system
8x Aerocool 140mm Case Fans
1x Metric Crapload of Lego Bricks (Technically it was about 2,000pcs)
Through careful timing of Newegg sales, along with promotional codes and rebates I was able to get all the computer parts for right around $1,800. As far as Legos, I already had a lot of the black pieces I would need for this build, and I purchased the others I thought I would need in addition.
I eagerly awaited all of the goodies in the mail from Newegg. On the day the first batch of parts arrived I quickly tore into them and started tinkering.
My first step was bench testing all the parts. After that I started working on modifying the harness of the power supply to fit all 3 systems. After a little bit of work I finally had everything plugged in and ready to be test fired. I hit the button and all 3 systems lit up! I used my test stand to then test each system to ensure everything was running as it should be.
Power Supply & Motherboard Test
Multiple Systems with Single Power Supply
All Systems Running
Case Design
Once the testing was done I quickly moved my focus to building the case. I had a veritable mountain of Legos before me to work with. I slowly started to piece together the design that I had envisioned in my head. I had planned to incorporate some clear Lexan windows into the case. I purchased some Lexan and cut it down to what I thought was the appropriate size. The next step was mounting of the motherboards. I wanted to stick with a basic design philosophy; loading in a downward direction only. The outside walls of the Lego case actually support the load and weight of the components. Trying to hang anything of a significant weight from Legos will pull them apart. This is why the weight must always be pushing them together.
Lego Computer Case Level 1
In order to accomplish this I used a couple of thin pieces of aluminum bar, cut them to size, and drilled and tapped them to accept the motherboard screw pattern. These aluminum bars have the motherboards attached to them with regular PC case standoffs. The bars span the case and rest on each of the Lego walls and are encapsulated by Legos. This arrangement uses the weight of the components to apply a compressive force on the Lego walls and ensures that everything is stable. There are 4 of these aluminum bars. The first set at the middle section of the case supports the lowermost motherboard which hangs upside-down, and also the motherboard that sits directly on top of them right side up. The second set of bars sits across the top section of the case and supports the upper-most motherboard that is hanging upside-down. This arrangement of inverting the two motherboards allowed for me to pack a lot of components in a very small space.
Lego Computer Case Level 2
Motherboard Support Bars
Another thing I carefully considered was the overall airflow of the case and the layout of the components. I wanted a short, direct path of airflow from the front case fan directly into the CPU fan/cooler. Behind that, another open section leading to the exhaust case fan. Each CPU/cooler has its own intake and exhaust fan directly in front and behind. The power supply also has this fan arrangement. The space between the motherboards was designed to allow for airflow over both the top and bottom surfaces of the motherboard to ensure maximum air cooling of the PCB and components attached to it.
Another thing I took into account was air pressure. Cases that have a lot of large air spaces, and voids tend to have low pressure over the components they are supposed to be cooling. Air takes the path of least resistance, which means given the option of flowing through a heatsink or around it, air will flow around it. I attempted to avoid creating paths where air could flow through dead space without cooling anything. This is part of the reason that the components are spaced so close together. I also made sure to buy case fans that had a higher pressure rating to make sure I had adequate pressure to correspond with the airflow.
I attempted to do my best to cover and hide wires. This was both from a standpoint of appearance and also for avoiding possible interference to airflow. Many sections have wire hidden or concealed under Lego panels to provide a cleaner look.
Power Supply Wire Concealing
Testing
After getting the majority of the case structure done I moved onto wiring. To say I had ten pounds of wires in a two pound basket is an understatement. It was tedious work ensuring all the wires were out of the way of the airflow paths and components, especially with having the wiring of all 3 systems crammed in such a small area.
After getting everything setup, I worked on installing Windows 7 on the first system. The install went very quickly and before I knew it I was in Windows configuring the SSD RAID 0 setup. I then moved onto the other 2 systems and did the Windows installs and configurations on them also.
Once I had all 3 systems up and running I went to work on overclocking. The new UEFI BIOS was a bit unfamiliar at first, but after some tinkering I got the hang of it. I played around a little with the settings and soon enough I was staring back at a 4.7Ghz number for each of the CPUs. I setup each system running an instance of Prime95 and let the machine go overnight to test my stability. When I returned the next morning I was happily greeted by all 3 machines still running without errors and with temps right at the 60-65 degree mark.
Seeing that the overclocked systems had all performed without error, I pulled up the World Community Grid/BOINC program on each system and started crunching. After a couple of days it looked like my average points per day was about 43,000 to 47,000 points per system. With all 3 systems crunching as a team this gives me a per day average of around 135,000 points. Given that my old system used to average about 10,000 or so points a day I would say I’m very happy with these numbers. I’ve managed to increase my folding/crunching performance by a factor of about 13 while only increasing my power requirements by about double.
Since my UPS has an LCD readout that displays wattage consumption I used it to compare the differences in power between my old system and the new folding farm. Not exactly super-duper accurate, but close enough for comparison sake.
AMD Phenom Quad Core System- (4 CPU Cores, 4 Threads)
Full Load- 350 Watts
Folding Farm Sub-System- (4 CPU Cores, 8 Threads)
Full Load- 270 Watts (Including all case and CPU cooler fans)
Entire Folding Farm- (12 CPU Cores, 24 Threads)
Full Load- 600 Watts
Instead of having 3 separate computers taking up my desk space I now have one system that functions as three. I sold off the two other computers I had to recoup some money from this build as well. In the end the most important thing to me though is that I feel like I’m doing more to help contribute to a good cause in humanitarian and medical research. I know it’s just one system, but every little bit counts in finding cures and solutions.
Lego Computer Case Design Upper
Lego Computer Case 2nd Level
Mounted Upper & Lower Motherboards
Lego Computer Case Upper Design
Numbers
Folding Farm vs. Old Workstation PC
Folding Farm-
Crunching Points Per Day Average- 135,000
Power Consumption Full Load- 600 Watts (UPS Measurement)
Old WorkStation PC-
Crunching Points Per Day Average- 10,000
Power Consumption Full Load- 350 Watts (UPS Measurement)
Lego SSD Mounts
Upper Systems Installed
Top Case Windows
Finished Upper Lego Case
Lego Computer Case Front Layout
Front Fan Case Mounts
Front Case Fans
Lego Computer Case Doors Open
Lego Computer Case Doors Closed
Notes
Operating System
I choose to use Windows 7 as the operating system for all 3 systems primarily because I already had copies I had bought and installed on the other computers. There was no added cost for me to keep using it. Additionally, I have a Windows Home Server that plays very nicely with all the other Windows 7 machines and wanted to keep it that way. The remote desktop function native in Windows 7 also makes it brain-dead easy to remote in from any other computer to keep up with the folding progress.
If you were starting off from scratch and the operating system cost was a factor you could very easily repeat this setup using Linux instead. This would save the cost of the operating system and give you a lot of the same functionality.
Lessons Learned
The entire build process had me looking for solutions to problems that arose during construction. As I look further in detail at certain areas I think there are changes I would make with future builds.
Add lower, middle and upper layer between sections about 1″ thick that would have openings for all the wiring to go into and be concealed. This would allow for an almost complete elimination of wiring to work around and organize.
Get more rounded Legos and other shaped pieces that would allow to create more aerodynamic surfaces for airflow in certain parts of the case.
Heatpipe Coolers
One area of concern I had initially was the orientation of the CPU coolers. The reason being that the coolers I chose to use are a Heatpipe style cooler. This type of cooler uses tubes filled with a liquid that go through a phase change from a liquid to a vapor to release heat. The issue I thought I might have is that if you invert the cooler (by installing the motherboard upside down) that you would not allow the cooler to function properly because the liquid was moving in the heatpipes as a function of gravity.
I made some calls to Thermaltake which put my fears to rest. The cooler uses a capillary action inside the heatpipe in this model that allows the liquid to move back to the base of the cooler no matter what direction it’s mounted. Keep in mind that there are motherboards which use heatpipe coolers on the PCB directly and these may not have this same internal capillary function.
Z68 versus P67 Chipsets
When I started this build I had wanted nothing more than onboard graphics, which are native and built into the Sandy Bridge CPU architecture. However because of the way that Intel was offering chipsets at the time you only had two choices, you either got a H67 with onboard graphics capabilities and no overclocking ability, or you got a P67 with no onboard graphics but with overclocking ability. Because of this I was forced to go with a P67.
Fast forward to the present and Intel now offers the Z68 chipset which offers both onboard graphics and overclocking. This is definitely something I would have preferred since there would’ve been fewer components to worry about and, more importantly, less wattage required.
Power Switch
Testing out the multi-system wiring and the power supply I found that if you just used one power switch it would turn on all the systems and shut them all off at once. However, it would not turn on every portion of each system, just the main power and fans. Missing was the triggering to enable graphics and a few other things. I had to wire the switch to activate all three boards at once in order to get correct operation. You could accomplish the same thing by having three separate switches and turning them all on, but I went ahead and just wired it with one switch. Granted, this system runs 24/7 so it will be rare that I will ever be turning it off and on.
Airflow
I’ve been experimenting with adding Lego pieces in various parts of the case to alter airflow paths and try and focus the air more on the things I want to cool and less on the dead space of the case. After trying a couple of different variations in air dams and directional vanes, I’ve noticed the temps move around quite a bit. So far I’ve managed an additional 2-3 degree drop by adjusting and optimizing airflow. I plan to continue using this system as a test-bed for further airflow and case development.
Future Upgrades
When I built the case I tried to keep the design fairly symmetrical in the upper level that houses the two motherboards. My goal was to be able to add another level at some point down the road and add an additional two folding only sub-systems. For this reason I intentionally chose a power supply that was larger than I needed. The power supply needs to operate somewhere between 50-90% of its peak in order to run at maximum effciency. I should have enough power in reserve to add more sub-systems down the road. I also drilled and tapped the upper most set of aluminum bars with the micro-atx motherboard layout on the other unused upper side. Hopefully when the time comes this will simplify adding another level on top.
Lego Computer Technician
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It is great and rare…
The most bad ass computer case I’ve ever seen. I don’t suppose you have a rough estimate on the cost of the Lego’s to actually build the case? I know they can actually get fairly expensive in large quantities.
Although I’d probably never build 3 systems into a single case (though that makes it all the more amazing) Seeing this really makes me want to consider building my next case out of Lego’s at least. (Although I’d probably want to find a way to maintain a vertical motherboard layout)
Thank you very much!
I don’t have an exact answer on the cost of the Lego because I had a fair amount of bricks around my house from other projects. If you purchase them with the Pick A Brick option on the Lego website you can buy large quantities of bricks for pretty cheap as compared to buying them in a store. They cost like .10-.50 cents for the regular bricks and a little over a dollar for the big/odd pieces. Since the case is built with 95% regular bricks (2×2, 2×4, 2×8, etc.) it allowed me to keep the Lego cost really low. If I had to guess on a price if you had to buy all the Lego and had none I would say around $300-350ish
Good luck in your Lego build. Post some pictures of it so we can all get a look. 🙂
TY 🙂 Yeah, I added up the 8×8 vent pieces you have on the sides alone, and they were a bit over $50 on Pick A Brick.
My next build isn’t going to be until Ivy Bridge comes out, so it’s still months away, but lots of pictures will be taken for sure when the time comes. 🙂 I’m sure planning out how to properly support the motherboard/video card for a standard tower case will take some time though.
Yeah, those grid plates are one of the more expensive pieces. I lucked out in having a lot of them already from a bunch of older space Lego sets.
Cool! An Ivy Bridge build sounds awesome. I look forward to seeing it.
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I always wonder, what do people use to make it work. (maybe) being the youngest here and played with only legos a few years ago, I remember that lego’s aren’t the sturdiest of blocks, although a computer case built with legos now looks really cool and really fun. you do anything else to make sure the blocks don’t break or anything?
Nothing really needed to keep them together. No glue or adhesives of any kind, just regular Lego construction.
The key to ensuring that everything is stable is to always ensure that the weight and load is forcing the Lego bricks together and not trying to separate them. You want the load on the Lego to be compressive as this keeps the bricks tightly forced together.
It’s also important to build in an overlapping pattern. This means assuring that you don’t end up with multiple joints where the bricks meet ending up right on top of each other as this is a weak point. You need to space the joints away from each other. Using this type of construction method allows all of the bricks to act together and evenly distribute the load as opposed to having weak spots and joints that will flex.
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Quite possibly the coolest case I have ever seen.
feel free to flame me for asking a dumb noob question but …………
what software is used to link the 3 units – could this setup be used to run a cpu intensive app like photoshop or other multi-threaded image s/w where batch processing can be very slow?
Not a dumb question, no worries.
Each of the 3 systems actually functions independently inside of the farm. Because I use BOINC (program/client) for managing the grid computing portion of processing I only need to have it running on each of the systems. They can operate separately without need to function as one.
By using the BOINC software I’m able to have each machine work on 8 individual WU (workunits). This gives me a total of 24 WU being processed at once. By having a large number of units being processed very fast this allows for the system to generate a lot of results quickly.
I can’t remember right off hand how many CPU cores Photoshop can access at once. The software might not be able to take advantage of more than 4 cores at once. I don’t really recall though.
Wow, thats the most fantastic creation ever, blows me away, stunning, feel free to make me one!
Glad you liked it! I would be glad to build you one, as long as you buy all the parts. 😉
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Awesome! Well done, you’ve inspired me to re-think my next build!
Fantastic! Good luck with your next build.
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After spending all weekend trying to stabilize a home built system I’m envious of your work! I am running an old quad core Phenom set up and I can’t get it stable (recent power problems/cpu fan errors). But it sounds like even with building your case around this folding system you had a great outcome on the first try. Bravo for thinking with both sides of your brain – creativity and ingenuity go hand in hand!
Good luck with that Phenom. I spent long hours messing with my 940BE trying to get everything I could from it.
Thanks!
After spending all weekend trying to stabilize a home built system I’m envious of your work! I am running an old quad core Phenom set up and I can’t get it stable (recent power problems/cpu fan errors). But it sounds like even with building your case around this folding system you had a great outcome on the first try. Bravo for thinking with both sides of your brain – creativity and ingenuity go hand in hand!
Brilliant article. I particularly liked the detail and the post build analysis.
Thank you very much! Glad you found it informative.
@Mike Schropp…perhaps i will contact u someday, because i really Love This CPU prototype, i persived it will help some day…bye!!!
Wow …this is one of the best self made CPUs that I’ve ever seen and i love it…keep it on Guys
Thank you!
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Quality.
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Which LEGOs did you use for the fan grates on the doors?
I used the 8 x 8 Grid Plates. They are Lego Element ID 4299022
If you go to Lego.com you can buy them through the Pick A Brick section.
Great build and documentation. I am just curious how you were able to wire three separate systems with one power supply? I understand that it has the capacity to but what I am curious about is how you physically wired three 20+4 (the large plug that goes into each motherboard for power) into one power supply unit. Even modular units don’t have the ability to support this on the PSU side. In other words, there isn’t a way you could plug the two extra plugs in.
Thanks!
Correct, the PSU itself only has one 24 pin connector. I chose this specific Antec PSU because it came with (2) seperate 8 pin CPU connectors because it supports motherboards with dual CPUs that require two 8 pin connectors.
I ended up going through though and getting molex connectors online and building my own wiring harness from scratch using these ends. Going through and soldering, testing resistance, voltage drop, etc. before finally testing the PSU on boards.
I did find though with further research that there is no need to solder or build a harness at all. The reason being is that you can just buy premade cables that are splitters that take and split the 24 pin power connector as well as the 8 pin CPU connector. These pre-made lines have the correct male/female arrangement and make the whole thing basically plug and play. I purchased some of these to test my system out and found that they work just as well as my harness. I think in some of the pictures you can see these adapters.
So bottom line is that for like $50 in pre-made splitters you can create your own plug and play harness and do the same thing. You don’t have to solder a thing. 🙂
Would love to see a specific shopping list. I’m considering building a 2 motherboard arrangement.
Sure, not sure how much detail you are looking for but here is a summary from what I ordered from Newegg
I added some of the Newegg numbers for items that I already had and didn’t need to buy, that way the list would be more complete.
3 x ASUS
P8P67-M (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel
Motherboard
1 x Antec
High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
Modular Active PFC Power Supply
3 x Intel
Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
3 x Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9AD3K2/2G
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKX 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5″
Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
3 x Thermaltake Frio Overclocking-Ready Intel Core i7 (six-core ready) & i5
Compatible Five 8mm Heatpipes Dual 120mm Fans Intel & AMD Universal CPU
Cooler CLP0564
1 x G.SKILL
ECO 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
F3-12800CL8D-8GBECO
2 x SAPPHIRE
100293L Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Low
Profile Ready Video Card
2 x Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5″ 128GB SATA III MLC Internal
Solid State Drive (SSD)
What’s happend with is the Mushkin SSD?
Sorry, forgot about the Mushkin SSD. That was a part I pulled out of an older system and re-used, so I forgot to look up the part number and include it in the list. It’s a Callisto 40GB unit.
Which set of memory is for the Grid computer? I am assuming Kingston and you left 8gb for your workstation.
Correct, the Kingston kits are for the folding only PC (2GB) and the Touchscreen PC (4GB). The workstation got the G.Skill (8GB)
Very cool. I had been trying to figure out out how make a compact file server for myself. I require a lot of hard drives (my vast TV/Movie collection) and the only cases I could find with lots of space for them were gigantic that just wasted space. I had considered Lego but I was afraid they wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the weight or that the internal heat of the components might be enough to damage the Lego blocks themselves. Since neither seems to a be a problem I’ll put some more thought into it.
Two questions though.
1.) How thick are your outside walls. From the pictures it looked like it was 4 pegs or 3 pegs where you put in the windows.
2.) How are your hard drives secured in there? Are they just lying on Lego’s or did you rig something up for them as well?
Thank You!
I did some temperature testing on the Folding Farm and found that my inlet temperatures just before the fans were at 76F and coming out of the fans I had 86F so about a 10 degree rise in temperature.
*For reference all of my overclocking temperatures quoted are with an ambient room temp of 76F or 24.5C*
Using a temp gun I then checked the surface temp of the Lego inside the case and found that the temperatures really only rose a couple of degrees at most. I think the large amount of air flowing through the case really gives the Lego almost no time to heat up.
From a strength standpoint I tested adding on a 3rd tier with a simulated 10 lb increase in weight and the case seemed just as solid with no signs of movement or shift. So structurally it seems like this type of design will easily support 3 levels and at least 5 total systems and motherboards without issue.
The outside walls are 4 pegs thick. the window sections are 3 pegs thick with the window being the middle peg worth of space and the outside two being Lego
The SSD drives just sit in the trays on small rubber pieces to dampen any vibration. Honestly that is probably overkill though because they really don’t need to be isolated from anything. Otherwise they are just contained by Lego that surrounds them. The mechanical HD in the bottom sits on SSD rubber mounts and is secured inside a mini Lego framework to keep it in place.
If you are wanting a file server os, you should consider FreeNAS I setup a server @ my work has been solid for months.
This is truly impressive. We’d love to talk to you about your future builds as this is one of the most excellent applications of a HCP-1200 that we’ve seen! Contact me a vip at antec dot com when you have a moment!
Jessie Lawrence
Internet Marketing Manager
Antec Inc.
Thank you. I will contact you to discuss further.
Hook the guy up with some parts he is going to make you guys some money. 🙂
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Legendary!
Legendary!
Legendary!
Thanks!
wow. just absolutely amazing. as a lover of legos and computers/building, this is sheer inspiration!! My next build may just feature a K’nex case 😉
Thank you!
Fantastic! I’m glad you liked it. I would definitely be interested in seeing a K’nex case. Sounds pretty cool. 🙂
Thank you!
Fantastic! I’m glad you liked it. I would definitely be interested in seeing a K’nex case. Sounds pretty cool. 🙂
Hmm. I believe most, if not every heatpipe cooler works by capillary action. the only concern relating to orientation might be efficiency (i.e. working with vs. against gravity). Anyways, would it be possible to elaborate on the multi-system wiring?
I had trouble at first finding a lot of detailed information on heatpipe coolers. I thought that they all worked on the principle of capillary action but then found a couple of sources that indicated they might not. That got me a little worried so I decided to call Thermaltake and get the info from them since it was their cooler.
A good comparison that I think I have the data for would be comparing the inverted systems to the run that sits right side up. I can compare the temperature data and look to see just what the differences are between the mounting of the cooler. I will try to get that data and post it up for you.
On the multi-system wiring I found that each system needs its own switch in order to fully initialize. At first I made a switch that was nothing more than one switch with leads that went to each motherboard to fire them all at once. But during further experimentation I found that I liked having 3 separate switches that allowed me to operate the systems independently. Granted I almost never turn them off, but I still like the flexibility of having 3 switches.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. 🙂
totalgeek. BRAVO!!!
I would love a little tutorial on your wiring? Could you elaborate on (little drawing) and components used (like what kind of switches). I want to add a mobo to my 1000W PSU, and what you have done is exactly what i need. Be able to power each one individualy.
Thanks!
The wiring is actually pretty straighforward. The actual power switches are just switches I pulled out of old junk systems I collected from people that were throwing them out. Each one connects to the power switch of the motherboard.
These switches are just inside one of the Lego pieces in the back of the case. I just press the outer piece of Lego to actuate them.
As for the power supply itself you have two options. You can get the Molex ends (from other junk PSUs or buy them) and then solder and create your own splits of both the Main power harness 24 pin connector and the 8 pin CPU connector.
The other option I found was that you can buy pre-made splitters that have the correct female/male ends already on them and just add another 24 pin and 8 pin that way. Both are viable options.
Let me know if you have further questions. 🙂
I love the idea of collecting switches from old computers. Very Green, and just makes sense. I will start doing that regardless.
I can see how when I power the mobo it will get the power from the PSU. What about turning off the PCs? When they all turn off, does the PSU also turn off? Last but not least, do you happen to have any links to where I can buy these pre-made splitters?
If you wire all of the motherboards into one power switch then that one power switch will turn them all off at once if you press it. (If you have the OS configured to shut down upon pressing the power button)
I changed my wiring back to having one switch for each motherboard though so that I had more flexibility with each system. With this arrangement each board is powered on and off by its own switch. So if I just want to shut down one system for some reason I can just shut that one system down.
Here is a link I found for splitters-
http://pcpartsandmore.ecrater.com/p/5737969/eps-24-pin-power-y-cable-adaptor-12
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Mate, you are a serious inspiration. This is one of the most innovative and creative things i have ever seen. And kudos to you for assembling it all for a good cause.
Thank you very much. 🙂
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Nice comp. I would put there linux and create cluster for MPI parallel computations 🙂
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This is the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen. It is people like you who make the world go forward.
Thank you! Glad you liked it. 🙂
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That’s one of the most beautiful creations I’ve ever seen — very nicely done, sir 🙂
I now have an urge to head into the attic and pull out my box of legos…
Thank you!
Get those Lego out of the attic and start building. You will be happy you did. 🙂
I was hoping you’d make the fan blades out of lego, but….
Now you got me thinking… Maybe a wind turbine for generating power for the folding farm. I think I need a couple hundred thousand more Lego. 🙂
Question — how big (width/height) is the final creation? And how much does it weigh (if you know).
The dimensions are as follows-
16 x 16 x 20
Width x Depth x Height
The weight is around 35-40 lbs I would say.
Ha, my estimate was spot on 🙂
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/91230-the-three-motherboard-workstation-made-out-of-lego
Fantastic write-up! (Good guess on the weight too)
Thanks a lot! 🙂
Ah… thanks, but the compliments should be all yours.
I actually looked up the weight of a standard 2-by-2 Lego to calculate my estimate. I have to admit, I made me feel pretty nerdy.
If only I had a pair of scales and I could’ve weighed my own Lego…
Let me know if you end up doing anything with Antec, by the way!
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Yay! That’s just awesome. Actually looks GOOD, not just geeky or cool. Really impressive. Good job!
Author
Thanks a lot!
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Soon as I saw this, I thought, heat. How does he deal with the heat? Your design is clearly very effective. Excellent job!
Author
Thanks! 🙂
You are a God amongst men, my friend. I am admittedly a little jealous that I have never undertaken such an endeavor… 🙂
Author
Thanks! Appreciate it.
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