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My First Sleeper Build

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First post, by tegrady

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I just completed my first sleeper build.

Specs:
Addtronics 7890a Server Tower Case (circa 1999 or so).
EVGA 750 GQ Power Supply.
Asus Prime X470-Pro motherboard.
Ryzen 7 2700x 8-core CPU.
16GB G.Skill DDR4 Ram, 3000mhz.
500gb WD Black NVME drive.
Asus Radeon 5700 XT GPU.
Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler.
5 Noctua 80mm case fans.
1 Noctua 92mm case fan.
LG Blu-Ray Writer/Player.
Front panel USB 3.0.
Original 1.44mb Floppy drive connected with an internal USB 2.0 adapter.
I also added a white Monoprice mechanical keyboard (which is the most old-school looking modern keyboard I have ever seen) and a white Logitech G203 mouse to complete the retro look.

The chassis of the case was starting to rust, so I sanded it down and repainted it with Rustoleum winter gray spray paint. It's not an exact match to the original color, which was a bit lighter, but it's pretty close and looks "original" to me.

I also had to spray paint the face plate of the Blu-Ray player and the USB 3.0 Front Panel with Rustoleum smoky beige spray paint. I would say that this is the perfect spray paint for that old school beige look.

I did my best with cable management, but this case was not designed with cable management in mind. That being said, it is a very large case for its time and I was able to route most of the cables in a way that doesn't make the interior look too cluttered. There were some cables that just could not be managed too well though. I was also pleasantly surprised that the Noctua NH-D15 actually fits quite well. I think this is the largest air cooler out there and I have a good 1/2" to 1" of clearance from the side panel.

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome. Other than the front USB 3.0, you would never know it's got modern hardware inside. I am also very happy that this amazing case gets to live on in a useful form.

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Reply 4 of 12, by tegrady

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hiroshima wrote:

Hi,

Really nice build. What about that floppy to usb adapter?

byz

Thanks all.

What are you asking about the floppy to usb adapter?

Reply 5 of 12, by tegrady

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D3FEKT wrote:

wow that is awesome, I'd kill for a case similar to this! Great job!

I actually bought this case when it was new, back in the late 90's.

It is extremely hard to find one of these server towers now. Glad I held onto it.

Reply 6 of 12, by hiroshima

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tegrady wrote:
hiroshima wrote:

Hi,

Really nice build. What about that floppy to usb adapter?

byz

Thanks all.

What are you asking about the floppy to usb adapter?

Hi,

Yep, how did you connect the floppy to the internal usb port?

byz

My system

Reply 7 of 12, by tegrady

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I have a floppy to USB adapter I bought on eBay for about $11. The adapter connects to the back of the floppy drive and has a standard USB-A output/input. I then bought a USB 2.0 header to two internal female USB-A connections. Then you just connect the two and it just works.

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Reply 8 of 12, by chinny22

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tegrady wrote:

I have a floppy to USB adapter I bought on eBay for about $11. The adapter connects to the back of the floppy drive and has a standard USB-A output/input. I then bought a USB 2.0 header to two internal female USB-A connections. Then you just connect the two and it just works.

Admittedly I hadn't put any research into this so didn't know the floppy to USB adapter even existed, but that's a great idea and connecting it to the USB headers is nice and tidy as well 😀

That massive case looks likes it was built for big modern heat sinks, nice

Reply 9 of 12, by oeuvre

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SLEEPER BUILDS ARE MY FAVORITE

This is really well done! Awesome job. Now you just need to run some SkiFree on that bad boy.

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif

Reply 10 of 12, by SSTV2

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Nice, that full-tower case looks very clean, is that a NOS? I think you should add some sort of suspension for the PSU, it probably wobbles when AC power cable gets inserted or case is moved. If I am ever going to build a sleeper, my case of choice would be that of IBM XT 😉

Reply 11 of 12, by tegrady

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SSTV2 wrote:

Nice, that full-tower case looks very clean, is that a NOS? I think you should add some sort of suspension for the PSU, it probably wobbles when AC power cable gets inserted or case is moved. If I am ever going to build a sleeper, my case of choice would be that of IBM XT 😉

It's not NOS. I am the original owner for the last 20 years or so. It's been in storage for the last 12 years or so, and I take care of my stuff.

As for the power supply, there is a little shelf it is sitting on, you just can't see it. It's very secure.

Thanks.

Reply 12 of 12, by Anonymous Coward

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You should build the opposite: a machine that looks totally rad with an XT motherboard and a 10MB hard drive inside. Make sure there is a camera that records the disappointed looks on people's faces when they power-on expecting some FPS action.

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

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