Case Mod - In Progress The Powerful Pretty Pink Processor (aka, "The PPPP")

Oh yeah. Made in the USA baby. And it's safe to say that this S8 is unlike any you have seen before.

Pictures tonight!

 

Not your everyday CaseLabs S8......

 

How to assemble a CaseLabs Mercury S8 in less than 15 seconds.....

 

As promised...some better pictures of the case. It only took about 90 minutes to put it together, and that included the time necessary to take all the shots for the animated gif in earlier post. This little (when compared to my TH10) case is absolutely awesome. If you want to use a full size ATX motherboard, this case really hits the sweet spot for size. It's amazing how strong it is while being so light. The benefits of an all aluminum case I guess. I could stand on top of this thing and it would support me just fine. I'll take more pictures later of some of the unique features of the case, but for now...here are some shots of it in all its pink glory.....





Mine is a two-tone with black on the inside and pink on the outside. I'll keep the inside mainly black and add pink accents with the coolant and some small pink painted parts....









I'll probably put a 240 rad here in the front....along with a fan controller up top and maybe a panel for some switches for lighting.....





Pink Panther wanted to get in on the picture action here. Such a poser....





It has windows on four sides....left, right, front and top. I'll really be able to show off components in this with all the windows.













Left side of the case.....









The only difference in this picture is I added the side mount radiator accessory. I'll probably have a 240 rad here also. I think I'm going to pass on a 360 here so that I'm not cramped at all behind the switchplate. I want to keep that space available.....





Right side of the case....







Back of the case....







One of the reasons I fell in love with this case initially was the option of the window on top. Just love love love the thought of having a view of the components from up here also. I'll probably do a 240 rad here on top also on the right side. It will hold a 360, but again, I want to keep the space free and available behind where I'll put the fan controller. Don't want to feel cramped.
















CaseLabs already had a slew of amazing cases to choose from before they released the S8. But I really think they hit a sweet spot with this one. Beautiful design. I'm pumped about a horizontal motherboard layout, because I haven't done that before. As I start building in it, I'll take some more pictures of some of the unique features.

More later!

 

Sou fã da pantera cor de rosa aqui no brasil, adorei seu trabalho. parabéns.

 

gracias, douglas!

 

Got some more Corsair goodies to show off. Thanks Corsair!





What's the only thing sweeter than a brand new Corsair Neutron GTX SATA3 240 GB SSD?





Two of them.





These are the flagship line of SSD offerings from Corsair. You can link here to read all the detail specs. I'll do some benchies after installation. I'm planning on running them in a RAID0 array. Nothing critical will get stored on this computer. The BBBB has some shared storage on it's RAID5 array. The PPPP is just about finding FaceBook friends as fast as you can. I think it's universally agreed that RAID0 is a must-have for Pinterest machines also. That's just science.





This is the first 7mm SSD I've played with. It is striking how slim it is if you are used to the more traditional thickness.




Time to void that warranty.....





It comes apart very easily for mod options.



http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r622/cpachris/Corsair SSDs/0007-_MG_0257.jpg



The whole PCB can come out of the case with just a few screws. Takes maybe 30 seconds to go from fully assembled....to a warranty-less PCB laying in front of you. But don't you feel good anyway??!!









Mod options here are many. The SSD case is a nice aluminum, so I could have that powder coated to match either the pink or the black in the case. Exact match. I also love the window mod that L3p did on some SSD's a build-log or two ago. Although I don't think those were the 7mm SSD's...so it might be tougher to pull off. I'd have to get some real thin plexi so as not to bother any components in there.

But if I do a window mod, I could even put an LED inside the SSD case to light it up from the inside. That would look sweet. There is plenty of room on the top end of the case. The PCB doesn't even extend to the last inch or so of the SSD case.

Another option would be to shuck the aluminum cases that they came in, and put both SSD's together into one little acrylic casing. You could join the PCB's for both SSD's together with standoffs, and they would still make a very slim package.

Whatever I end up doing...I think I want to really show these SSD's off. I need to find a prominent spot in the case where these can really be seen....and then do something special with them.

 

Awesome job! Congrats!

 

gracias again!

 

Very nice project!
That pink S8 is amazing in 2 tone.
And this is the first 1500i I have seen.

Nice.

 

The pink and black combination does look rather good.

Well, when you explain it like that, it does make sense.

Should have told them your wife uses Twitter as well.

 

I saw a BMW Z4 whilst I was out in town the other day. It was painted pink and black.

It looked incredible. I wish I'd had my phone with me I could have got some pics, but basically the parts (mirrors and so on) were all colour coded. Very bold thing to do to a Z4 but man, whoever owned it totally pulled it off.

I might be back in town next week. If it's still there (was with a Merc parked outside a private off street garage) I'll get some pics for you

 

Ouch, that's smth bad with your fotos

 

Had an issue with too much bandwidth being utilized from my photo bucket account. Apologize if you had issues with pictures there for awhile. I think I've rectified the situation.

 

Thanks Hukkel! I think I might have gotten the first one.

Thanks Nexxo!

Glad you enjoyed my lame attempt at a little humor.

Would love to see it! Yes, that take some cajones to paint your $50k sports car pink. But I like his style.

 

You were outside? Without your smartphone?!? Hand back your geek card NOW.

What? I thought you were serious?

 

It's just so bloody big. The weather was warm so all I had on was joggers and a T. Didn't want it getting lost

 

Can't be that way, Nexxo-I don't even own a cell phone, much less a smart phone, yet nobody here doubts my validity as a geek.

Case is looking better than I thought it would-which is a testament to your refined taste in choices. My wife is watching this build-she's doing white and purple, but she's still watching nonetheless. She also hardcore games on hers. She doesn't even know what pinterest is, and neither do I, really. We'd rather play GW2 or Goat Simulator.

I love the combination, and I'll continue to watch to see how it all works out. Maybe my wife will want me to start a log for her. But this is definitely gonna be one to watch.

 

All right. It's time to test paint some fans. But first, I need to pick a pink paint. Say "pick a pink paint" three times really fast...puh-lease. My powder was prevoiusly picked, but I plan to pursue pink paint for plastic parts.

Any-who.,.,..I'm actually going to have one more small batch of parts that I use the same Rosette Pink powder on. Small things like faceplates, SSD casings, etc. That works for anything aluminum. I can have that powdercoated. But there will be some plastic parts that also need to receive the "pink treatment", so I need to find a pink paint that is a good match. And fans will be the major plastic part that gets painted.

I started by heading to my local Hobby Lobby and picking up all kinds of shades of pink and flourescent pink paint.





I didn't shy away from picking up some of the smaller tubes of paint. It's a heavier medium, and I would probably never brush this on to fans for fear of not getting it evenly spread....but I can always thin it down and put it in a spray gun if I find a tube of pink that is the best match. I decided to put down spots of color on a black piece of cardboard, since the main thing I'll paint is the fans, and those are black.

I started with the two samples that were rattle cans.....




Then used a brush to paint circles of color for the rest of the paint samples....






and a second coat and third for some spots. I really looked like a pre-schooler at this point with all my bowls of paint out and circles of pink on my board.





None of the flourescent pinks were anywhere close to what I needed. I didn't even get out a UV light to try them, because they look so off in normal light.

There were several colors that were close....but this one was the closest. It's called Medium Magenta and is from Liquitex. It also had a very cool finish to it. Nice paint.





In the case....





Liquitex is actually available in rattle cans also....so now I just need to go find some. Hobby Lobby didn't carry the spray can version. But I believe Michael's does....so I'm off!

 

Yeah, they do, just make sure it's still the color you want when it sprays. I've had a time or two of wrong shade (close, just not there) so I'll pass that along. Otherwise, I do prefer Liquitex for a lot of paint work.