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Case Mod - In Progress Xenomorph

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Akira749, 16 Jul 2014.

  1. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    [​IMG]
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    After many builds in the last 2 years I tought I would take a break after my last build (Hurrikaine) so it would ease my wallet a bit.

    But things don't always happen like you think they will...


    When I started doing watercooling builds I always told myself that each build would have a theme based on whatever comes to my mind. But from day one I always had one special theme that I had in mind but since I didn't have all the ideas and inspirations to do it I always ditched it so I would not ruin it with a bad result.

    Since I first saw the 1979 Alien movie, I've been amazed by the creature created by H.R. Giger. In may of this year we were celebrating the 35th year of the release of the movie. So in march, I told to myself that I should push myself to do the themed build to celebrate this but I was already in the process of the Hurrikaine build so the pace of this possible build did come to almost a stop. In fact at this time I was only looking at THE case that could host this build.

    Then on may 12th, H.R. Giger passed away.....That striked me so hard that at this moment I knew I had to do it....not to honor the Alien franchise but to Honor the man behind the creature.

    In life, things mostly happen for a reason. Just 10 days before, I had started communicating with a possible case manufacturer for the build. I wanted something different...and since I was following James Walt "TitanFall" build, i fell in love with the small British company known as Parvum. The idea of a multi-layered acrylic case with some edgy lines is awesome and it inspired me with new ideas.

    During our many communications, I explain to Justin from Parvum my theme idea in the first place to be able to figure the right acrylic colors...I had a few ideas and he helped my to figure things out. When everything got "almost" setup, I asked him if it would be possible to have a custom backpanel since I wanted something different there. He agreed on the customization and then told me something I didn't expect. Since he did like the theme of the build by being an fan of the movies, he told me that he would work something else on the case to match the theme. I was stunned by is offer and agreed right away.

    And recently I had the surprise to see it appear on their Facebook page....my jaw dropped. It was superb!


    This build is called Xenomorph in rememberance of the Alien creature. I will not spoil anything here about the concept since there's still small parts that could change but one thing I can say is that I want to use the inside of the case as a diorama in some ways...some 3D printing will be implied and maybe some acrylic modding too.


    The color scheme is not entirely set up but the case contains black, green and blue parts...I want to create a dark gloomy ambience...you might see some other colors pop I don't know but it should be subtle.


    As always, I hope some will jump on my crazy bandwagon for yet another build!


    Build setup/parts listing :


    Case and accessories
    • Parvum S2.0 mATX case (Black and green color combo)
    • Swiftech PWM Splitter plugged to one motherboard CPU fan header

    Components
    • MSI Z87M Gaming Motherboard
    • Intel i7 4790K CPU
    • G.SKILL TridentX 16GB DDR3-2400 RAM
    • EVGA SuperNOVA G2 Series 850W 80PLUS Gold PSU
    • MSI GTX 780 Lightning
    • Samsung EVO 500Gb SSD

    Cooling
    • Enermax Twister Pressure 120mm PWM Fans (4x)
    • EK-CoolStream PE 240 (2x)
    • EK-Supremacy Clean CSQ - Acetal+Nickel
    • EK-RAM Monarch X4 Clean CSQ - Acetal+Nickel
    • EK-RAM Monarch Module - Black (2pcs) (2x)
    • EK-FC780 GTX Lightning - Acetal+Nickel
    • EK-DDC 3.2 PWM X-RES 140
    • EK-DDC Heatsink Housing - Black
    • EK-HDC Fitting 12mm - Black Nickel (12x)
    • EK-CSQ Adapter 90° - Black Nickel (10x)
    • EK-CSQ Adapter 45° - Black Nickel (2x)
    • EK-HD Tube 10/12mm
    • EK-CSQ Plug - Black Nickel (2x)
    • EK-CSQ Extender 8mm - Black Nickel
    • EK-Ekoolant EVO CLEAR Coolant with Mayhems Blue Dye

    Sleeving and Lighting
    • Sleeving job done by Ensourced.net with Paracord 550
    • GPU cover from ColdZero
    • LED lighting will be provided by Darkside with there amazing RGB LED strips

    Xenomorph

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 18 Nov 2014
  2. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    One little tease...some minor mods will be done to the final product ;)

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Hi Everyone!

    While I wait for the case to arrive, here's the hardware I have for now.



    First, the Power Supply. I did go with the EVGA SuperNOVA G2 850w. My decision was driven by the fact that it looks awesome in it's rugged finish and also because it receive a 9.9/10 from JonnyGURU!!

    [​IMG]


    Second, the CPU. I did go with the brand new i7-4790K instead of the i7-4770K only because I was disapointed by the overclocking possibility of my current 4770K in the Hurrikaine. So I decided to try if the 4790K would be better...and the price was almost the same.

    [​IMG]

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    Followed by the RAM. Like my 2 previous build, I did go with 16Gb of G.Skill Trident X DDR3 2400 CL10. This RAM is simply amazing and curiously very affordable!

    [​IMG]


    And "the piece de resistance" the Motherboard. This is always the part where it's harder to choose the right one. At the end, my last 2 choices were the Asus Z97 Gryphon with the Armor Kit or the MSI Z87M Gaming. I choose to sacrifice the Armor Kit look for the all black motherboard of MSI. What's left not being black will be painted...

    On the motherboard...the dragon reminder appears on all the heatsinks...but only the head....and this head could be a look alike alien head too...
    [​IMG]

    We can see here that the black cover can be unscrewed from the red heatsink....so it can be painted :)
    [​IMG]

    The red part of the mosfet heatsinks is also removable
    [​IMG]


    That's it for the hardware photo flood!!!

    One last picture before the end of this update...

    As you might have seen on the motherboard, there's some red accent here and there...obviously the red won't match the theme so I will airbrush them so they match the theme better. As for the red on the RAM, it won't be there since the RAM will be under water.

    After some discussions with Hanoverfist and also because of the amazing work this paint can produce, I did go with House Of Kolor as my paint choice.

    Here's what waiting for me to create what I hope will look good!

    [​IMG]


    Take care everyone until next update!
     
    Last edited: 17 Jul 2014
  4. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Fewer pictures of parts, moar pictures of modding please.
     
  5. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    Really interested in this! *subbed* That case looks amazing! :jawdrop: BIG congrats to Parvum on that part of this build! If I hadn't gotten myself a 250D, i'd be right on their case asking if it's possible to have an Orange version of it! :hehe:

    But as Nexxo said, we've seen the hardware for now.. Modding! :thumb:
     
  6. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Sorry for the frustration, I edited my post :thumb:
     
  7. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Ok everyone!

    A little tease!!!!!

    I RECEIVED MY CASE!!!!!!

    The backdrop is some white towels because I didn't had a big enough real white backdrop...


    Here's all the parts! Sorry for the awful background but I didn't had a lot a space where I was able to display all the panels!
    [​IMG]


    From here I will show you the custom work done by the Parvum guys! They are phenomenal!!!
    I've seen things that I didn't even know they did...you little secret keepers lolll


    The front of the case with the wide open mouth ready to eat anyone who dares to come close!
    [​IMG]

    The back of the case where I had all 3 80mm fan holes removed and the addition of the Parvum logo!!
    [​IMG]

    The awesome side panel with the surrounding acting as a reminder of the Xenomorph tail!
    [​IMG]

    The top of the case with some subtle spike in the fan grills! Lovely!!
    [​IMG]

    The right panel of the case with the PSU breathing grill again with some subtle modification to keep the theme even there which I find awesome!!!
    [​IMG]


    I'm really happy so far and can't wait to assemble it!!!!

    Take care and see you soon!
     
  8. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    Woah... That casing is AMAZING! :jawdrop: But I have to ask.. Your PC is Green/Black.. But the USB plate is frosted clear/white and the midplate is blue? Interesting...
    But you know a project is good when you get an update notification and you're suddenly excited to see it! :thumb:
     
  9. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Yep, the midplate is blue because blue will be a little color accent in the build. Also the blue midplate appear almost black with all the panels in place. We won't see much of it with all the components in there. Of course on the PSU side it will be more visible. :)

    For the little USB plate, it's the same tinted acrylic as the window side panel and it's only visible in the middle of the fan opening. :thumb:

    I will have the pictures on tonight :D
     
  10. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    OK Here's the assembly in pictures!!! :)

    ENJOY!!


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    Here are some pictures I took in the tent a few minutes ago.
    Natural light with long exposure....not bad

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Take care everyone!
     
  11. Impatience

    Impatience Minimodder

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    Woahh.... (/*.*)/ I wants it! That blue work a lot better than I first thought in the separate shots! I'm so looking forward to the final pics now, that case is AMAZING! (Sorry for repeating myself again, but WOW!)
     
  12. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks :thumb:
     
  13. imersa

    imersa Parvum Princess

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    As you know. Can't wait to see what you do with this!

    Great to see nice camera work, always makes it a pleasure to read.
     
  14. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Imersa!

    Now I have to figure what the watercooling components will be (still waiting for some news) but in the meantime, I have some painting to do :D

    Update will come soon :thumb:
     
  15. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Small update today

    I received my SSD a few days ago. Again I did go with the Samsung EVO since I love them! This time it's a single 500Gb.

    [​IMG]


    Then yesterday, I received my Darkside RGB LED Strips from Dazmode! I did a few trial run last night without any pictures. I will do more serious tests tonight and take some pictures. So far, I like how some colors/brightness combos turns out.

    [​IMG]


    One last thing, I started brainstorming about the sleeving colors and I need your inputs here....and I mean any inputs bad and good.

    The green on the case is awesome but not easy to match... here a shot with some Darkside Sleeving...let me know what do you think. I will also look at some Lutro0's and some MDPC's colors too but I don't have them in hands.

    [​IMG]


    For the rest of the day it's time to test the mobo, cpu, ram setup because after that the motherboard will be stripped and the parts that need painting will be prepped.
     
  16. AlderonnX

    AlderonnX Minimodder

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    Awesome... /speechless
     
  17. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks!

    Sorry for the little lack of updates. I had to RMA the motherboard so the progress should resume soon as my RMA as just been approved
     
  18. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    I received my second order from CoastAirbrush.

    I will have to check the tracking route on the UPS website because I think they made a "detour" in Kabul with my order... :miffed:

    I mean....when the UPS guy gave my the box it was smelling so bad that I knew something did spell in the box.

    The result....a nice bump in my Adhereto Quart (but no spill there) and my bottle of RU311 was soooo beaten that it spilled in the little bag it was in with the blue paint...so I must have lost an ounce and the labels on the bottles are wasted (reason why there's a green tape with RU311 written).....I love (NOT!!!!) UPS. :wallbash:

    Here's a picture of my new stuff!

    [​IMG]


    I will be out of town for the weekend so I will test it on monday :D
     
  19. Akira749

    Akira749 What's a Dremel?

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    Ok time for a little update!

    Sorry if it looks like this build is lazy it's just that i'm still "debating" on my choice of watercooling parts and I also wait on some sleeve to arrive to do some test.


    First update isn't totally PC related but build related. Since I catch a wierd disease called the "Hanoverfistosis Paintocyclosys" lately, my "doctor" suggest me to buy some tools that could cure this dreadful disease. So last week I ordered a new Iwata airbrush that I should receive this week and on friday I bought an HVLP spray gun...

    [​IMG]


    Also during last week I did contiue to work on my test plate to catch the right colors for the build and also to "learn" how to work with HOK products. This steps is still in progress lollll
    On the picture below, the final green is the one on the top left corner and the blue that I might use (not 100% sure where for now) would be the one on the bottom right corner. It match the blue mid wall of the case pretty close!

    [​IMG]


    Now that I received my new motherboard from RMA I had the chance to check it and it work perfectly so it was time to disassemble the board. The 3 red parts will be painted green. On the second picture below I give you an idea of what it should look.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Last update but not the least.....Some Fans!!!!
    I'm not 100% sure that it will be those fans but so far it looks like it. They are the Cooler Master JetFlo PWM 120mm fans no LED's. I choose those fans because I want to go PWM since there is not a ton of space in the case to place a fan controller so it might end up being controlled by the motherboard. My other choices would have been the EK-Ascendacy if it would have been ready or an AQ 5-6......all the other choices would mean that I have to deconstruct a bay controller to only keep the PCB and hide it in the PSU chamber. That idea is still on the list but we will see.

    So for now I will try those fans and to try them I bought a Swiftech PWM Splitter. I have 2 CPU Fan Headers on the MSI board so one would go to control the pump and the other one for the fans.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    That's it for now but don't worry some bigger updates will come soon!
     
  20. MODZERO

    MODZERO Minimodder

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    Updates updates updates! haha, this is gonna be awesome!

    J.
     

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