Subachad Modular CryptoMining Case

Part 1 – Introduction

For my first mining rig after doing all sorts of research on cases, I knew I wanted something stack-able, easy to manage and available. This lead me to the gpuShack Open-Air Frame case displayed below. I don’t regret starting with this case as it allowed me to put together a rig and focus on the learning curve that is building a mining rig. After using it, I noticed a couple of issues to address when developing my own CryptoMining Open Air Frame case.

  • No mount for the hard drive
  • Can separate if you pick it up by the top bars
  • Not everything fits within the case
  • Shipping time
  • Price – $250 can take a while to recoup.
  • The cards are supported by the front and back, but I wanted them supported by the bottom

 

Part 2 – My Subachad Modular CryptoMining Case 

My solution to this to use the Target 3-Tier Shoe Rack.

The size is great and the square tubing allows for easily re-configuring the case to support up to 14 graphics cards. It’s also stackable and comes with little tabs to help secure the cases together. With a wifi card installed, its very easy to simply move this into a room, plug in the power and as long as you setup your miner to start with Windows or whatever OS you are using, it will simply start up.

7 Videocard Configuration

Parts:

  • 3/4″ Aluminum Angle Cross Bar – 24 3/4″
  • 3/4″ Aluminum Angle for Power Supply – 3″
  • 3/4″ Aluminum Angle for hard drive – 4″
  • 1/4″ Irrigation drip line for motherboard standoffs
  • #7 screws

Build:

To build the case for 7 cards simply cut the aluminum angle to 24 3/4″ then screw it to the case. To do this, I make holes larger than the screws in the aluminum angle which allow for slight adjustment. I also recommend a punch so the drill bit doesn’t slide around all over while you are trying to drill into the case. In the picture below, it shows about how it would look with a 7 card setup. Difference being the main shelf doesn’t actually need to be lowered as it is for a 14 card setup.

14 Videocard Configuration

Parts:

  • (2) 3/4″ Aluminum Angle Cross Bar – 24 3/4″
  • (2) 3/4″ angle short cross bars – 11 3/4″
  • 1/2″ U Shaped cross bar – 23 1/4″  (1/2″ Aluminum plywood trim panel
  • (2) 3/4″ Aluminum Angle for Power Supply – 3″
  • 3/4″ Aluminum Angle for hard drive – 4″
  • 1/4″ Irrigation drip line for motherboard standoffs
  • #7 screws

Build

The 14 card system is a lot more involved of a build. First lower the shelf by drilling new holes about 6 1/2″ above the lowest shelf bolt holes. This should allow enough room for all the cards though you might want to go lower if you are using very large cards like a 1080. Once you set the middle shelf, you can measure out where to mount the first angle arm for the lower set of cards.

The next upper set is much harder, especially if I don’t get back to updating this post with measurements. The U shapped plywood trim channel should be about two inches higher than the angle arm for the lower set of videocards. To mount the U shaped plywood trim channel, I used 2 11 3/4″ angle to support the 23 1/4″ plywood trim chanel.

So while this might be a terrible explanation of how to build the case, it should at least put some ideas out there and the pictures should help.