Hello everybody! This is my first project here and my first scratch build ever. I wanted a micro-ATX aluminium case that would support water cooling while being as small as possible. For some time I wanted to get a BitFenix Prodigy and chop it, but ultimately I thought building it from scratch would be more fun. For the shape I draw some inspiration from the Mac G5 and the Asrock M8. So this is the SkethUp model: Front view: Back view: If you have any opinion or advice about he sketch please share. And here is the interior view: By the way, this is the hardware list: MB: Asus Maximus IV Gene Z CPU: Core i5 2500K RAM: Patriot Viper 1866 MHz 8 GB kit GPU: MSI Radeon HD 6670 (will be upgraded to ASUS GTX 760 DC Mini) PSU: SilverStone SFX ST45SF 450W HDD: WD Green 2.5TB SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB And the water cooling components: Alphacool 240 + 120 radiators Watercool HeatKiller Rev 3.0 LT CPU Block Phobya DC12-400 Pump 10/13mm transparent tubing + fittings Home made reservoir Home made GPU block So right now I'm left with 2 dilemmas: 1. I'm not sure on the shape of the side window. Here are some alternative designs I've been working on. Witch one do you like best? Or if you guys have any idea, please share. 2. I want a digital display on the right side panel for the water temperature and I have 3 choices: 1st is from a fan controller and as you can see it displays 4 temps witch is a plus, the down side is it's big and I'm low on space so the only viable placement is above the window 2nd is a thermometer witch I would place behind the window (left-top corner), this could look cool but I don't think is very visible is lighted from behind, also it's big - about 100x100 mm 3rd is a compromise between the other two, but I have no idea about the placement So witch one do you think? any other ideas? So while I get this figured out I had the left side panel and inner cage cut out of 2 mm aluminium sheet at the water jet. The inner cage is one long piece witch I bent at 45 degree angles. Next step is welding the joint of the inner cage (held together with black duct tape in the picture) and the two pieces together, so thanks for reading and stay tuned!
Mac G5 and ASRock M8 are both great cases, a reverse ATX mix of then should look awesome, especially with water jet cutting. [I'm dreaming about carbon fiber side panels...]
Looks like a great scratch mod, going to follow it. One question though, that logo, it kinda reminds me of the Mitsubishi logo.
Lookin good, can't wait to see more! I'd probably go with the third window and third temp sensor option. I've seen similar temp displays with a small opening in the side panel to see the display. You know, have it recessed so you only see the lcd and not the plastic border around it.
Of course the Lancer EVO cars. I just didn't read any reference to it in the log so I thought it was a bit odd. My bad ^^
Small update - welded parts That's right, my first car was a Mitsubishi Lancer (unfortunately not the EVO) and I liked it very much, so I chose the name and that upside-down logo as a tribute. But this is as far as I will go with the car connection in this mod. Anyhow, thank you guys for the replies and here is the next small update. Unfortunately I couldn't find a very good aluminium welder in my town so I ended up with some spot welds that don't look very good, but I think they will do the job of holding the thing together: Also, because of the heat from the welding there was some bending of the material, so there is a little gap between the edges of the tow pieces: So next step is to grind the excess weld (don't worry those ugly welds are on the inside and won't be visible after the component's are installed) and to fill that gap with some body filler. Hopefully I will do that over the weekend...
