PC mod: mini-ITX machine inside GTA 4 Special Edition deposit box

PC mod: mini-ITX machine inside GTA 4 Special Edition deposit box - Image 1The world that some of us revel in away from games is the same place where we do what people would call impossible. But what is it that we often say when faced with such pessimism? “Nothing is impossible with a Dremel, bub.” Modders at mod enthusiast site mini-itx.com managed to fit a machine into a small deposit box using just that. And better yet, he used the deposit box that came with the Special Edition of Grand Theft Auto IV!

PC mod: mini-ITX machine inside GTA 4 Special Edition deposit box - Image 1

It shouldn’t be all of a surprise, given the size of the mini-ITX form factor. But a safety deposit box – and a Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) Special Edition one at that? That’s what mini-ITX’s modders squeezed a VIA EPIA-M series motherboard into on their recently concluded modding project dubbed “The GTA PC.”

Mark Harris, who would usually throw away unneeded extras from collector’s edition packages, plucked a VIA EPIA-ME6000G from another ITX chassis and found it to be just one centimeter short of the shortest edge of the GTA 4 deposit box collectible.

Another big plus was that the longer side was especially longer than the board’s other dimensions, and would leave enough room for other essentials. With appropriate cutouts from the box, he snugly fit the 600 MHz, silent code-cruncher close to the rear of the box (where the fulcrum of the flip-top cover was).

Just above the motherboard, underneath the cover and to the back of the box, lay the a teeny power circuit that would feed the PC with much needed juice from an external power supply. That left plenty of room at the front of the box for Harris’ mini-drive and wiring for the board’s packaged connector headers.

The mini-drive – a mod of a 1 GB compact flash memory card slotted into an IDE circuit – was placed near the front end, but due to the length of the header cables, the header was mounted to the right, and on top of the board. A hole for a 20-mm AC DC fan is cut out at the front, left portion of the box to serve as ventilation.

And just in case things get warm inside, additional cooling as attached on top of the fanless CPU heatsink. You can plow through the rest of the visual aids at the source provided below. Wicked sick, huh?

Buy: [GTA IV (PS3)]
Buy: [GTA IV (Xbox 360)]

Via mini-itx

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