Empty SGI O2 workstation needed for PC Case Mod

donjthorpe

New member
Apr 28, 2021
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Hello,

My name is Don J. Thorpe. I am in need of any empty SGI O2 Workstation case for a future PC Build! I tried years ago under the title "Oxygen Pro", but failed in the process! Does anyone have left over parts that can spare? I just need to be able to put new PC hardware into the case! PC components have became much smaller in size! I tried using a MicroATX board years ago, but it was too big! Now there are Mini-ITX board that will even support AMD EPYC processors that are multi-threaded! I just want a classic SGI O2 case to put it all in! If you can help me in this project, I would greatly appreciate it! I hope someone can help me! Thanks in advance!
 
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weblacky

Active member
Jan 13, 2020
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Not to pass judgement here, while these kinds of things have been done before, unless you're going to mod an O2 motherboard tray to fit your PC mainboard and slide it into an O2 chassis (unmodded) and route cables where the moosehead front plane would be to protect the integrity if the original O2 parts...nobody will likely sell you an O2. A good-condition O2 chassis/Skin is hard to get, let alone one that has the original logo (preferred). I'd personally say given the fragility of the old plastics and sensibility of the community, you might want to look into 3D printing a shell design of your own making that's inspired by the O2, without actually being an O2.

Most collectors (and to an extent, resellers) consider what you're proposing not be a homage, but sacrilege and will react poorly to you wanting an intact shell, just to do this. That's why you don't see many of those mods in public. People have done them, but the moment they've posted online about it, the heavens rain down with upset collectors.

These machines are getting more and more rare in good to mint condition, so non-reversible modding of parts is considered destruction of the parts.

Personally, there isn't enough room in an O2 case for much cooling if you're going to try to use a dedicated graphics card and anything beyond a 350w PSU squeezed into it. A powerful system will have so much fan noise to overcome the small space, I doubt you'll get something you'd enjoy using.

However, you could use something like an Intel NUC or other MINI PC and create a frame to install it into the back of the O2 without damage. But it won't be "Pro" by any real means.
 
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Irinikus

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Dec 16, 2019
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I agree that it's not good taste to modify SGI machines irreversibly as PC's. (Firstly because They're becoming rare and secondly, because SGI's are not PC's!)

If you're absolutely bent on this, one thing that you could look into is fitting the innards of a Mac mini into it and then boot camping it. You might be able to fit the innards of such a machine into the carrier of an O2 without damaging or having to mod the external case. (O2 carriers aren't rare at this point!)

EDIT

This will easily fit into an O2 carrier: (But would take some proper modding to integrate a proper IO panel into the O2 carrier!)

 
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Tech&Music

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Aug 30, 2020
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Casemodding SGI shells into modern PC builds is a mortal sin in the Silicon Graphics community. By stating that's what you want to do with the case pieces, I can guarantee you no one here is willing to sell them to you.
 

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