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First post, by x0zm_

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Thought some of you guys might enjoy this.

I'll start with the case. For those that don't know, there's been a rumour going around of Intel releasing an i7 8086K, a 40th Anniversary commemorative CPU for the June 8th, 1978 release of the original 8086, which is slated to be slightly better (higher clocks and better binned) than the existing 8700K. In search of an upgrade for my main PC, if this turns out to be true, it will be my CPU of choice, but I wanted something special for it.

I was originally going to build a case themed around the IBM PS/2, but it proved too impractical. I settled for the IBM PC XT instead, for the reason being it is easy to fabricate something themed around it. It's not a 1:1 copy, it merely takes the design aspects of it.

The heart of the case will be the spare Corsair 570X from my watercooled PIII build with everything stripped off, so it's nothing more than a place to mount hardware. No glass or anything of the sort. I then designed a replacement U-Shell for the case, and a custom front panel which will be either machined from POM/Acetal or aluminium (around the same cost). I replaced the floppy drive area with a fan grill, made the slope a bit smaller so it costs less to fab and added some extra ventilation but tried to keep the spirit of the XT there.

3D renders below, because I'm not making it until I know if the CPU exists or not:

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And though that project is a big "IF" based on a rumour, this is my immediate next project - display stands for my favourite hardware. I'll be doing CPUs too, and I've sourced the bare sockets for them. I just haven't decided how I want to display them. I'd like to do ISA too but still need to source those slots.

PCI:
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AGP:
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Need to wait to get the actual slots in hand before I can finalise the slot to acrylic mounting mechanism but it should be as simple as using the though-board mounting stubs and some glue. CPUs will be a bit more difficult but nothing I can't figure out. I'll be doing Socket 5/7, 370, 462 (maybe), 478 and 775. Not a big AMD guy but might do it all at once anyway just in case. Might do some for the 8086/8088 as well.

Slot 1 is on the table too, but will not use a slot since those are expensive so I'll come up with something else.

Reply 3 of 3, by x0zm_

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spiroyster wrote:

Awesome design on the XT case. You really kept the 'feel'. How are you going to get the sandblaster surface of the plastics?

Thanks 😀

Honestly not sure. I'll ask the guys who fabricate it, I'm sure they'd know how.

snorg wrote:

This is a really nice design, shame it is not an actual product. No disk drives?

Need that airflow unfortunately. I originally designed it with space for two 5.25" floppy drive front plates to give it that look, but that would have restricted cooling too much for modern components. Settled for the black grill instead.

And for sure, I wish it was an actual product. I don't think IBM would appreciate it though 🤣

Either way, hoping to hear whether this is even a real CPU soon or not. It's approaching June after all 😀