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Case Mod - In Progress NZXT Phantom - The Ghost (finished)

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Shayper09, 8 Jun 2011.

  1. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Hi guys!

    This is my first project log on Bit-Tech, so, err, woot!

    The build centers around a modded NZXT Phantom, with a few hardware changes along the way. So let the trials, tribulations and terror commence. I think.

    So, first things first, We have the case in all its brand spanking originalityness. At this point I have an i7 860, and a couple of 6950's. Nothing really exciting, especially the CPU cooler, an Antec Kuhler 620.

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    PS ignore the poor quality images, if I could afford a decent camera then I would have spent it on PC parts, in which case I wouldn't be able to afford a camera. Or something.

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    So yeah, so far pretty bog standard really. "So where is the mod?" I hear you cry! Well, who am I to disappoint!

    Well, I got bored of ridiculous Xfire temps, so I decided to dismantle the lovely little GPUs. And reapply the thermal paste.

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    And then I got REALLY bored, and decided to steal my mum's Dremel. Now, NZXT made a huge booboo in my opinion by failing to produce this case with a decent side window to start. A 200mm fan space is all well and good, but you cannot use it with a decent sized CPU cooler. And if you take the fan off it is **** ugly. So I cut a **** off sized window into it.

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    Now these pictures were before filing, so please, laugh at my ineptitude with rotary tools. Anyway, I was at this point staring deep into that money grabbing abyss that is watercooling, and decided "Who on earth needs that many HDD bays? Surely 2 is enough? You can chuck an SSD anywhere in any case!" So I mutilated the case some more, removing one of the hard drive caddies completely, and dremeling the other in half.

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    And then realised it was night time. And that I had a lot of blue LEDs. And a brand spanking new side window. So my iPhone decided to be a little ******* and take god awful pictures. In exemplis:

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    Which is all well and good, but after looking at the Kuhler for a while, it is pretty easy to realise "Damn, that thing is **** ugly! And it's pretty shite at cooling!" Which led me to jump. Into the aforementioned abyss. So I went and gave Specialtech quite a bit of money. And what did I get in return? Nothing for about a week, as I had given them the wrong postcode :wallbash:. So, one week later, and this fanbloodytastic package arrives.

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    Now this is separate, ordered from OcUK after the lovely people at DX Secure decided that giving me the package I had paid for was probably a good idea...

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    Those people at XSPC really do think of everything...

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    And now for all of the lovely shiny new stuff to be displayed in one of those clichéd shots with a personal belonging. In this case, my sunglasses...

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    Block installed:

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    And all piped up, along with my good friend Guy

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    And so the evil iPhone camera strikes again with it's completely terrible low light capabilities:

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    All well and good, I hear you cry. But no! ATi decided that the drivers they produce were going to be a massive embuggerance, and prevent crossfire from ever working ever. Ever. So, I decided to sell my two little pieces of fail and buy one beast of a card, and overclock it like a biiaatch. So, one GTX 580...

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    Ordered the OcUK Value model and received the MSi TF2, go figure...

    And as I ordered a GTX 580 block, thought it would be a nice idea to get plumbing again.

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    Nice red Xilence fans and 360 rad, courtesy of OLDPHART over on OcUK :)

    Note the tightness of this pipe, I shall return to this later

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    Some legal pr0n

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    And the best picture I have ever taken. Not saying much but hey.

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    Needed a replacement for that POS corsair, so got a 1200w courtesy of Ace Modder from OcUK

    240 Rad

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    Cozy

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    Again, tight tubing is tight.

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    And the rear of the case

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    MY EYEZZZ!!111 TEH CABLEZZZ!!!11

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    Another nice picture

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    And the best GTX 580 I have seen

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    But came across a bit of an embuggerance that night, in the shape of a Slightly very major leak. Due to the fact that I may have put that pipe on a bit too tight. So, redone with slacker piping.

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    Teh Funnelzzz

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    And it's The AwfuliPhonecamera Strikes Back!

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    And my thumb.

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    So, there we are, hope you enjoyed the ride, and I shall try to acquire a better camera and some actual photography talent. In the meantime though, Let me know what you guys think, and if you have any suggestions, ideas or just insults at my lack of skill, please don't hesitate to share.

    Many thanks for both your initial interest, and the time taken to scroll through the many MANY pictures and the drivel in between :)
     
  2. mars-bar-man

    mars-bar-man Side bewb.

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    [​IMG]

    For the love of gad get some claps on those hoses! That;s just a few nudges away from popping off!

    It's a nice build though man! Congrats!
     
  3. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Haha gonna have to, when a place actually has them in stock. And when I have money. Both at the same time would be nice!

    Cheers for the comment mate :)

    Edit: just noticed you have rather a similar build to me :) spec wise anyway!
     
    Last edited: 8 Jun 2011
  4. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Well, the mosfets on my motherboard blew up last night... Anyone know how good msi's RMA service is? And what would be a good cheap interim board? :(
     
  5. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

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    Depends; were you Overclocking at the time? Warranties don't cover damage caused by OC'ing (So if the VRM's on my UD3H explode; it's my fault alone)

    On a side note; Go with Bitspower fittings, ATM you're one vibration away from a wet, costly mess.
     
  6. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Decided to sell my 860 and two of my monitors and buy a sandybridge setup :) thinking about the asrock extreme4, as I ain't gonna touch an Msi product with a barge pole for a while, and the asrock seems to be good value for money! :)
     
  7. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Well, this is the damage to the motherboard... Nice one Msi, nice one...

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    And the scorch marks in my phantom :(

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    Got a few things for sale, so hopefully will have my sb system soon :)
     
  8. bagman

    bagman Minimodder

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    damn that sucks, can you just wipe the scotch marks off or has it properly tainted your phantom?
     
  9. bulldogjeff

    bulldogjeff The modding head is firmly back on.

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    Normally they just go pop and leave a small hole. That thing has blown itself to bits.:jawdrop:
     
  10. Theoroshia

    Theoroshia What's a Dremel?

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    What the hell happened? Looks like your motherboard declared war on the rest of your system >.<
     
  11. itrush07

    itrush07 Minimodder

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    Looks cool to me. Is this working fine already? Hope to find one like that here in our place really.. can't wait to see it.
     
  12. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Yeah it pretty much exploded :( there was rather a large fire behind the MOSFET heatsink, I was lucky it didn't melt the tubing or damage anything else tbh...

    The scorch mark wiped off pretty easily, and hopefully I shall have my z68 system at the end of the week :)
     
  13. p0Pe

    p0Pe gief cake?

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    LOL! Now thats an explosion :D

    Good luck with your future components lol
     
  14. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Well, good news on that front :)

    Just sold my i7 and one of my monitors, and ordered the ASRock Extreme4 :)

    Now just gotta wait for the other one to sell and a nice shiny 2500k will be on its way :)
     
  15. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Well, the Extreme4 Turned up today. All I can say is ZOMG SO MANY ACCESSORIES!!!

    And there are 6 fan headers. 6! And two of them are full 4 pin PWM :D

    Should be ordering my i5 tonight, hopefully will arrive monday :)
     
  16. TeenGeek

    TeenGeek Worst touch typing ever.

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    Explosions are fun... until it happens in your PC... :(
     
  17. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Yeah tell me about it...

    Unfortunately I won't be able to purchase my i5 till the end of next week at least. Which sucks.
     
  18. Shayper09

    Shayper09 Swimming in Deionized.

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    Roight. Some updates! (Even though the 580 has decided to be a bitch :()

    So, my new CPU arrived today, So I decided to do a total rebuild! Focusing on cable management, and rad security, not to mention aesthetics :)

    First off, a couple of shots of teh partzzzzz (note that a lot of these pictures will also be used in the watercooling sticky :)

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    My new mobo

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    My case, stripped completely bare and the scorch marks cleaned off

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    The new motherboard in situ :)

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    Sound card and wireless card installed, and front panel wired up

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    360mm Black Ice rad

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    With fans

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    And installed

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    (note the failed mounting here, this is rectified later)

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    Bottom of the case marked up for new screw holes to fully secure the bottom rad

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    And drilled

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    Top of the case redrilled for better mounting

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    Much better :)

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    Rear 120 installed

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    Front 120 installed

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    As the motherboard has so many fan headers, I could connect all of the rad fans to the top of the mobo without the cables being obvious :D

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    GPU in place

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    Nom

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    Rear USB 3.0 bracket placed

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    Getting a bit busy back here :)

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    Bottom 240mm rad mounted, with fans in Push rather than pull this time

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    The new mounting holes doing their job

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    Drives and res mounted

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    Cable management starting (lolworthy picture on this later :D)

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    24 Pin extension connected

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    HDDs and SSD mounted

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    And connected

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    Power supply in

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    And starting to plug everything in, to work out cable management

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    And my EPIC cable management. Warning: may contain sellotape :D

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    Looking nice and tidy :)

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    Hidden a lot of the cables behind the rad, where they won't restrict airflow, and can't be seen ;)

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    Top and front panels replaced

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    And starting to pipe up

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    Lovely CPU block

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    Nice and shiny ;)

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    More tubing connected (note: block is hanging loose due to lack of CPU on sunday night, received it monday :D)

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    GPU connected. Used a lot more hose clips this time, cheers OLDPHART for sending me a couple :)

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    Floor rad connected

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    And all piped up

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    See? You can hardly see the cables this time :D

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    Mocup of where the CPU block will be placed

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    Aaaandd.... Look what arrived yesterday morning? :)

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    TIM

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    Another shot of piping

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    And the CPU and block installed

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    Loop filling :)

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    The res, filling up nicely

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    PSU bridger connected, ready to commence leak testing and bleeding :)

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    And of course, my coolant of choice:

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    Proper cheap stuff, 5 quid for a 5l bottle :D

    Leak testing

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    And all finished :)

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    Well, that's it until I get my 580 problems sorted! Not overclocked yet, still getting used to this UEFI black magic thingy :D.

    Thanks guys for staying with me till now :)

    edit: apologies for some of the more awful pictures, my phone really doesn't like low light :(
     

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