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

Painting time! It has been beautiful outside this weekend here in Edmond, OK, so I thought it would be a good time to paint some sample fans. I found the Liquitex spray cans in the color I was after. While picking up paint, I also got a metallic nickel color from Velspar. I've mentioned this before, but I'll have a lot of nickel plated blocks in this build, so nickel will already be an existing color. Not sure I want it on my fans, but the whole point in trying out some sample combinations of colors is to see what looks the best. So I'm playing around with pink, black and nickel on the fan painting.

I grabbed one of my Corsair fans and told it that he was going to be sacrificed to the test painting spirits. Another fan immediately called out...."I volunteer myself as tribute!" I decided to sacrifice them both.





I promise more pictures of the fan prepping when I do it for real. This is just for testing. But I popped off the blades. Popped off the accent rings. Removed the stickers. Taped up the privates. And removed the rubber corners from the fan frames. Now we are ready.....





A quickie painting booth in the backyard....






You can see that there are three parts in each booth. The blades, the frame, and the accent ring. That gives me lots of combinations to try. I've already taken the photos up in the faux studio....so I'll post them tomorrow after I've had a chance to play with them. There are some pretty combinations! Pretty pink combinations! Pretty pink powerful combinations! Plenty of pretty pink powerful combinations! Plenty of pre......ok. I'll stop.

 

In the first post when you are comparing shades of pink I thought to myself, "I personally would go with the Rosette Pink" and you did!

Of course, that's without seeing it in person, but I still think you made the best choice. The case looks awesome.

And for the pink haters, here's a video showing why pink is awesome:

 

Lol....the video is awesome. Who knew that when I picked pink, I was picking all the colors of the universe that we can't even see!

Thanks for the kind words!

 

Here are some shots of the painted fan combinations. I have three parts that I can swap.....the frame, the blades and the accent ring. And I was playing with three colors.....pink, black and nickel.


Here are three with pink frames, nickel accent ring, and all three blade colors....









Here are three with black frame, pink accent ring, and all three blade colors.....









Here are three with black frame, nickel accent ring, and all three blade colors.....









For some reason I missed taking the shots with the nickel colored frame. Not sure why. I do have some shots of those in the next group I'll post, which is of the fans in the case. I also passed on taking shots of combinations that had the same colored frame and accent ring. It just adds more contrast and depth to the fans when the frame and accent ring are different colors.

I'd love to know which ones are your favorites! This is a democracy.....everyone gets to vote! But Jenn's vote counts as 50.

You'll see after I post the shots of the fans inside the case, but my favorite fans outside of the case, are not necessarily my favorites inside the case.

 

The first pic, but with the Corsair sticker on the fan!

 

There will definitely be a sticker on at least one side of the fan (maybe not the blades), but I usually do my own. It will say Corsair, but I need to incorporate the right colors and my own personal touch also.

 

Here are the photos of the fan combinations behind the pink hex mesh of the case. For each combination, I have a series of two pictures. First I show the fan without the case cover on (so you can tell which one it is), and then a second picture of the exact same fan with the pink cover on the case. If you're like me, my favorite fan combinations changed once I saw them behind the pink hex mesh. That's why I'll probably end up with two different combinations of fan colors in this build.


Black frame, nickel ring, pink blades:







Black frame, nickel ring, nickel blades:







Black frame, nickel ring, black blades:







Black frame, pink ring, black blades:







Black frame, pink ring, pink blades:







Black frame, pink ring, nickel blades:







Pink frame, nickel ring, black blades:







Pink frame, nickel ring, pink blades:







Pink frame, nickel ring, nickel blades:







These next ones have the nickel frame, and were not included in my solo fan shots. Purely by accident.

Nickel frame, pink ring, black blades:







Nickel frame, pink ring, pink blades:







Nickel frame, pink ring, nickel blades:







Find your favorite fan from the previous shots in the ones above, and see if it is still your favorite fan when it's behind the pink hex mesh. For me...I think the nickel and pink colors provide lots more contrast and pop when behind the pink mesh. I like to see the shape of the fan behind the mesh, and with the black color, you really can't. It just blends away like it's not there. I like to see them! For the ones behind the mesh....I think one of my favorites is the black frames, pink ring and nickel blades. I like how the frame disappears into the black...and you are left with the pink circle that really pops, and then the more subtle color of the nickel blades that show up well behind the pink hex mesh.

For the ones inside the case/radiators (not behind the pink hex mesh), I'm not sure which ones are my favorite.

I know Jenn is peeking in and looking at pictures, so now is your chance to influence her decision with wise counsel.

 

I liked Black frame, nickel ring, pink blades on previous post and so I do under the mesh. Perfect for me

 

All pink for me. Fans are ugly SOBs and being all pink helps them to blend in more.

 

Yeah, I like that one too. Waiting on the wife-y for her final selection now.....

Lol.....all perspective I guess. I've always loved fans and how they add to the aesthetic of a build, and I spend a lot of time on them in each of my builds. Here is how my last build's fans came out....



I painted the blades crimson and the frame white. I shortened and sleeved the cable, and replaced connector with a white one. Custom vinyl stickers also. Original fan on the left....modded fan on the right:




I even replaced the standard screws with some allen bolts that I had copper plated....

 

I personally like the black frame, nickel ring, black blades option, but this is because I think it helps the fan stay hidden with the side panel is on. I might go with black frame, pink ring, nickel blades since it's kinda cool to see just the pink ring through the mesh.

If you plan on having the side panel off a lot, then I'd go with black frame, pink ring, pink blades. I just think the pink frame is too ugly when viewed through the mesh.

 

Definitely the pink blades, nickel ring, and black frame

 

My opinion would be Black frame, pink ring, nickel blades. Gives the nicest effect when the case is closed I think. Other than that, awesome build!

 

Thanks for all the comments, observations, opinion and suggestions guys! Jennifer has narrowed it down to just a few combination possibilities...and has requested to see them spinning.

I'm working on that right now....so I'll shoot video as I do it and post it here.

I also have an exciting new sponsor to announce....but I want to take some pictures first. These guys stepped up in a major way to support this build, and I can't wait to share it!

 

What would a Corsair sponsored build be....without some Corsair memory? My friends at Corsair REALLY came through for this build. They are sponsoring it in a big way. I've already shown you the AX1500i, all those gorgeous SP120 and AF120 fans, the amazing little Neutron SSD's....and now....the memory......







Corsair packaging is always amazing for their flagship products. Still can't get over how nice the PSU packaging was....and now look at this RAM package. Each stick is enclosed in the normal plastic casing....but then the plastic casings are embedded in this nice little rubberish cutout. The shape of the cutouts is consistent across the entire line of Dominator Platinum memory....and even some of the accessories. Very nice touch. When you spend top dollar on components, it should come in nice packaging. Corsair understands that.





He asked what it was, and I told him "memory". He said, "I just take Ginkgo Biloba".





Pink Panther suggested that this RAM is so good looking....that we should really just let him get out the way and shoot some glamour shots with the sticks. I obliged.





These sleeving colors are not being used in the build....but I thought they looked nice with the RAM.





I like the nice muted reflection of the sleeving on the light bars in this pic.....







You can see the Corsair Link connections well in this shot. I'll tinker with that for this build probably. Haven't used that monitoring tool before. I'd like to see what it's like.













I used 64GB of Dominator GT's in my last build. This will be my first experience with the Dominator Platinum line. I purposely chose 4X4 GB for 16GB total. I found that with my last build, I had trouble getting 64GB to overclock....or even get up to the XMP profile settings. I could overclock them when I used just 4 sticks (32GB), but not at 8 sticks (64GB). Just too taxing on the IMC I guess. Well.....Jenn should have plenty of Pinterest power with 16GB of memory, and this let me use less dense sticks, ....and just 4 sticks instead of 8. I think this is the optimal setup for this build. It is still utilizing quad channel memory configuration....but hopefully has enough headroom for some overclocking. This is rated at 2133 MHz and a nice tight CL9. I'll see how far I can push it.

 

Build log index and hardware list updated in the opening post. Three weeks in and it's still up to date! This is so unlike me....

 

I'm really pumped about adding this next sponsor to this build. A hint.....

 

Here are pics of the last of my Corsair sponsored items. The Dominator Platinum Light Bar Upgrade Kits!





These come in the same awesome packaging as the actual RAM modules do. Again....Corsair knows how to package their flagship line of products.





The kit requires you to replace the aluminum cover that comes on the light bar, with the ones in the kit. The ones in the kit have the cut-outs on top of the light bar. So....not only do you get that soft glow going downward that the regular light bars give you...you also get a glow of light showing through the cut-outs on top.





There are two different color inserts that come with the light bar upgrade kit. Blue and White. My goal with these is a little color modification. I think I want to take the black aluminum heat fins and have those powder coated in the same pink as the case. Then, I would take the aluminum light bar covers (the upgrade kit version), and have those powder coated the same black as the inside of the case. For the actual light...I'd like it to glow pink instead of white. I think that would look really boss to have the light bar cover be black, but a soft pink glow coming out of the cut-outs.

I've got a couple of different ideas. First idea, is I've picked up some pink lighting gels in a few different shades, from a local studio lighting store here. I could cut the gels to fit the lightbar. That is one option. The other idea is to use the same dye process I did on the sleeving in my last build....and actually dye the light bar and inserts to be pink. I'd have to do some samples and see how much light is transmitted both ways.

I'll take a lot of pictures of the trial and errors here as I get started on it. But I'm excited about the idea of having the only black and pink set of Corsair Dominator Platinums around. It will be a fun mod. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to replace the stickers on the RAM with some custom ones...., leave them as-is,.....or just remove them altogether.

 

Three awesome major league sponsors is worthy of a sponsor plaque. Introducing.....




That is three companies that really know a thing or two about computer components. An incredible trio of power. I still can't believe that they are all sponsoring this build. Quite humbling actually. For those of you that followed my last build....you are probably painfully aware that I'll do a little photo shoot of each component I get...before the real assembly/modding starts to take place. But be patient....that day will come.

Plus...I think I may be on the verge of announcing another sponsor. Or two. Stay tuned!

 

Check out the bounty which springs forth from Slovenia.....





Of course there will be a series of shot for each major item group coming up over the next few days. Some of this stuff is bea-u-ti-ful! Thanks EK!