Arcade/Hyperpsin PC Rebuild

Steve X2

So I've decided to do a rebuild on my hyperspin pc. I recently replaced the motherboard and arcade vga card after they were damaged.

While I was waiting on the parts to arrive I installed a backup pc inside the cab so I could still play away. This was a small form factor pc and took up very little room so was ideal for it.
Now, I have temperature sensors inside the cab to monitor the levels and have a detailed log of the temperatures from this backup pc(which is in a small form factor case with the side door removed) and also from the main hyperspin pc i was waiting on the parts for(which is installed on a piece of MDF as is the case for a lot of arcade pc's).

I'm a technical sort of person and the idea of mounting a pc on the MDF was perfectly fine with me and seems to make sense as it is just another arcade board when you are using jpacs and the cooling benefits of having it out in the open made a whole lot of sense to me.
But after using the pc that was in the small case(more or less the same specs as the main hyperspin pc) and checking all the levels it seems there is basically zero difference in the temperature between the two and with it inside a small case it was very easy to just hide it in a corner of the cab. The noise levels also measured a few dB less with it in the case(I've sensors for that as well).

So I'm thinking that I might install my main hyperspin pc in some sort of small case(its a small system board) and leave it that way. It would free up a bit of room as it can sit on the opposite side of the cab as the main arcade board section and there will be less wires visable inside the cab as most of it will be inside the pc case.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
For people with a full size cab(as in not countertop or similiar) is there really any benefits to having the pc mounted on MDF or is it just for the techy coolness factor?

Thoughts?

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Myrddin

Your new setup is going to generate a bit more heat, assuming its going to be a fair bit more powerful than that barebones backup you had running....coz ya know, its you like

A case may lend itself well to a point, because being enclosed, it'll be easier to generate air currents in the case as opposed to a big open space outside it. I'd imagine there reaches a point though where excessive heat build up cant be exhausted fast enough if its a powerful pc without adequate airflow. Though, it's unlikely to make any huge difference.

Personally speaking I went the mounted MDF route because I simply had no spare cases, & wasn't buying one just to put in the back of a cab. Nothing to do with how it looks at all, because 99% of the time you'll never see it anyway.

From what your describing, if your new pc won't generate too much heat, I'd say put it in a case if its quieter. You could also duct in cool air via a small tube, if there's a hole in the back of the cab just run it to the pc's intake ports

Steve X2

To be honest the only real difference between the backup pc and the main pc is that the main pc uses the arcade vga card and the backup was running on integrated graphics. So the extra heat from the arcade vga will be the difference , and I'll be replacing the crappy fan on that with an after market job to reduce noise and temps.

I'll see if I can find a decent small case for the job that wont cost the world.

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Myrddin

Steve SI wrote: »

I'll see if I can find a decent small case for the job that wont cost the world.

Just keep the cost of the new case to under a grand, anything more would be slightly excessive

Steve X2

EnterNow wrote: »

Just keep the cost of the new case to under a grand, anything more would be slightly excessive

I'll see what I can do but if you're limiting my expenditure like this it won't even have any Swarovski crystals on it.



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Optimus Prime

I have a PC in its case in mine, I thought about mounting it onto mdf but didnt bother in the end. so far ive had no issues with overheating or anything, there is plenty of room in there. Ive a monitor and the marquee light is LED so i dont think that gives off as much heat as a normal tube light would. My cab would be on for hours at a time at home, as its in the kitched and Gemma uses the jukebox on it constantly during the day.

having said that, i only have a pc in there i dont have consoles or anything in it.

Andrew76

I have my HS PC mounted to MDF mainly because I didn't have a small form factor case to fit the components inside and because I have the JPAC and Taito Stereo Amp PCBs also mounted to the same MDF - it was handy to have everything on the one board.

I'm not using any additional fans other than the stock CPU and Arcade VGA fans, there's a smallish opening at the back of my cab (you would have the same) and I've had no issue with overheating so far. Although in fairness I don't have it running for huge lengths of time every day etc. Couple of hours a week if I'm lucky. That would be PC and 360 running at the same time.

Do you use your HS PC that often or have it running long hours? I presume you still have the JPAC mounted to the MDF? I can't think of much advantage either option might provide, either inside a case or mounted to MDF, maybe if you wanted space mount a PCB or MVS 1 slot to the MDF then go the case route?

I would always leave my pc in a case inside a cab if i could, provided it has sufficient ventilation. As well as the convenience, and ease of moving it, you'd be surprised how well designed those things are in terms of air flow, and when you lift the lid off the case all that goes out the window. Honestly though, unless your overclocking your PC or pushing it to the limits of what it can do for hours at a time, you will probably be ok either way.

Mine is stripped down and mounted, and has a bunch of extra fans and air intakes to make sure it keeps cool, but that was purely because of lack of space in the cab (it's a bartop machine).

One good thing to do if you can though, if you're not stripping the PC down, is to use air ducting (from any plumbing supplies shop) and run any existing air intakes or exhausts on the PC out to the body of the cab. Just drill a hole in the cab's back panel, run the duct up to it, seal it up with duct tape or whatever, and stick an air vent or a grille over the outside to tidy it up. If you do this, your machine will run perfectly happily, as if it wasn't in a cab at all, as it's still got access to all the external air flows it always had.

Steve X2

I think I'll go with a case this time and see how I get on.

I wont be cutting any holes in the candy though, thats fine if youve got a woody or bartop but you can be messing with the art piece that is a Japanese candy cab
I think the metal construction of the base of my candy helps a lot with dissipation the heat anyway and I've got fans I can use if needed.

Now the fun part, time to find a nice case online

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Steve SI

Steve SI wrote: »

I think I'll go with a case this time and see how I get on.

I wont be cutting any holes in the candy though, thats fine if youve got a woody or bartop but you can be messing with the art piece that is a Japanese candy cab...

Ah, i didn't realise we were talking about a candy. That would be sacrilege. Definitely don't cut any holes then.:p

FYI, you can still use ducting to route airflow from your case if you want to. There's a type of duct that starts in a circular tube shape, but tapers down to a kind of letterbox shape, for underfloor ventilation. It's kind of like the attachments that go on a hoover tube. Again you can get it in plumbing places, but it means you can route a pc fan out a fairly narrow slit or gap if you have one available anywhere on the candy. Duck tape is a life saver for that kind of stuff too.

Anyways, good luck, and let us know how you get on.