Building a Toddler-Proof PC

D

DylanAD

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Hi all

I was hoping to get some advice on a PC I’m going to be building soon (I’m hoping to pick up some good deals on Black Friday/Cyber Monday). I’d like to go for a Micro-ATX board but I plan on getting a GTX 970 so the case should support long graphics cards, though Wootware does have a mini version of the 970 so that’s not a deal-breaker.

The kicker is that I have a 15-month old daughter. I’d love to get the Fractal Design Define Mini, Corsair Obsidian 350D, or the CoolerMaster Silencio 352 but just as I’ve convinced myself to go for one of those, I imagine my daughter running up to it in a fit of jubilation and pulling it over. Then she’d climb on top - the side panel would buckle, crushing my sweet GTX 970, snapping the motherboard… A massacre of silicon and dreams…

Now, she’s never shown any destructive tendencies and she’s really the sweetest child I know, so I'm probably worrying for nothing. But I’m looking at nice, stable cube cases anyway.
I've gone round in circles reading reviews. Does anyone have any personal experience with the Fractal Design Node 804, Corsair Carbide Air 240, Thermaltake Core V21, or any other good Micro-ATX cube cases? I know the Bitfenix Prodigy M is supposed to be very good but if I was a small child those handles would be irresistible. I’d like to get a quiet case so that probably rules out the Carbide Air and the Core V21. My maximum budget for the case is around R1300.

Thanks!
 
Archer said:
Place case on desk, problem solved...? :confused:
Click to expand...

little boys are different of course but I have had to give up computing in the household.
The little guy is curious so he has learned that

Anything with a button can be pushed.
Anything with an LED is probably a button

The moment I sit on the desk he wants to climb aboard and go for the monitor.

I finally figured that u know it is really his time anyway and all computing really should resume after he sleeps.
By that time ofcourse I am tired. I also want to go to bed so ... there goes.
 
custom-computer-desk-mod-1.jpg


http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/adjustable-computer-desk-mod/
 
Haha, I like the PC-in-the-desk. I forgot to mention that my PC is going to be plugged into my TV, so no desk. If I get a cube case then it should fit in the TV stand. An upright case would have to go on the floor next to it.

When my daughter is awake I am totally engaged with her, but I've gotten to the point now where I have just enough energy after she goes to sleep to fit in some 'me' time. My wife and daughter are going to visit family in December so I've got two weeks of non-stop, all-day-and-all-night, screw-work-'cos-nothing-happens-during-the-holiday-period-anyway gaming to look forward to. I haven't played anything besides Civ 5 (on my work laptop) in years but I've been buying games during Steam sales so I've got quite a backlog to work through.
 
Disable (unplug) the power and reset button... get a longish four-core cable, and have the reset button+power button on your desk...


they love to push anything that's a button :o :D :D :D
 
AndyC said:
You don't have kids then?
Click to expand...

No, I don't have kids that I allow to climb on top of desks. Saying no does just fine (for now anyway)

Dylan, you could add a door of some kind to the TV stand with a lock? Otherwise you could also unplug all the buttons on the front and only have wake on lan (use app on phone to turn it on) so that pressing of buttons is inconsequential. But nothing will survive being climbed on and/or tipped over... Maybe you could bolt the case into the TV stand (like bolts through the bottom fan holes).
 
The_Librarian said:
Disable (unplug) the power and reset button... get a longish four-core cable, and have the reset button+power button on your desk...


they love to push anything that's a button :o :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Or one can just set the PC to boot as soon as it gets power from the mains instead of having any on buttons on the PC.
 
Ho3n3r said:
Looks like an ideal spot for overheating a gaming rig.
Click to expand...

Yeah it must run real hot considering,
- Large internal volume
- 4x 120mm (140mm?) intake fans
- 2x 240mm radiators with 4 fans per rad in push-pull configuration
- 4x large reservoirs

His poor system must be melting ;)
 
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