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Case Mod - In Progress Close Quarters, 13 July

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by sebar, 13 Jul 2013.

  1. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Hello everyone, let me take a moment to introduce myself. I am known by Sebar on the forums and have started a nice little project called PirateMod to keep track of my builds and other computer/modding related things I do.

    This is my first project log on bit-tech but I have done other mods and builds in the past.
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    I am calling this mod project "Close Quarters" because I will be cramming in two 280mm Alphacool radiators into a Corsair 350D mATX case and as you can imagine space will be very tight inside the case.

    I am still undecided on a color scheme for this build but I have narrowed it down to either Jade and Copper of Black and Copper. This mod will feature a full copper faceplate for the 350D and 10 mm copper tubing inside the case.

    The hardware that will be going into the case is as follows:
    Intel 2600K CPU
    Asus Maximus IV Gene Z Gen 3
    Corsair Vengeance low profile RAM
    Undecided on final video Card, currently I have an MSI R6950 but think I will need to replace this with a short PCB card
    Corsair AX850 PSU
    Kingston HyperX SSD (120GB)
    Water cooling components include
    Alphacool XT45 280 mm radiator
    Alphacool UT60 280 mm radiator
    Alphacool XP3 light CPU water block
    Swiftech MCP655 pump with Bitspower mod kit and D5 Mod Pump Top V2
    Black acetyl push fittings for 10 mm OD rigid tubing
    Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 80 or 150 depending on space available.

    Now for the good stuff.

    Unboxing the 350D.

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    Here are some initial glamour shots.

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    Here are some teardown pictures.

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    I may end up using this MNPCTECH 280 rad grill I got from Bill Owen.

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    Here I am removing the brushed aluminum from the front panel.

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    Here is the parts order that I received from Performance PCS.

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    I was messing around in Blender and came up with a couple rough renderings of the case in Black and in Jade.

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    Wayne Bullet Butler hooked me up with some excellent renders.

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    Now it is time for the real modding to begin. As you can imagine 45 mm and 60 mm 280 mm radiators will not fit inside this case without some modification. The first thing that had to go was the 5.25 in drive days.

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    This allowed me to get the UT60 in the front but the top radiation was just too thick to allow me to install fans inside the case. Here is a test fit with both rads, motherboard, and my bench PSU.
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    I had to reposition the motherboard to allow for the top mounted rad and fans. I lose the top PCI mounting point on the case but since this case has 5 PCI slots and I only really need 4 that is not a big deal. I cut a spare PCI cover to fill in the gap left in the IO cutout after moving the motherboard down. I still have to drill and tap holes for the motherboard standoffs to mount the motherboard.

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    Last edited: 16 Jul 2013
  2. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Update: 7/19

    I got an SSD to use in the build.

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    I also finished the motherboard tray mod and can now comfortable fit a 45mm thick rad with fans in the top of the case.

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    I got some copper tubing and started fitting some of the tubing.

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    Looking to see about getting a GTX670 SC video card because of the short PCB. This will allow me to use a larger res in the case and allow me to include the video card in the water loop.
     
  3. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Update 7/24
    I have a small update to the 350D build. I have been doing some experimenting with paint. I had a suggestion that I add some texture to the paint on the case so I started looking for ways to do this and have come up with a snakeskin texture that I think works really well with the Jade paint and flows nicely with the polished copper.

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    I am about half way done with the polishing and as you can see it looks nice but there are still some scratches that I need to get out. I was using Brasso and it could not give me a ice polished shine so I started experimenting. I had some 3M automotive rubbing compound and decided to give it a try. Works great, gives a much nicer shine to the copper and was a lot faster then the Brasso. I ordered some high grade polishing compound for soft metals and will see if I can get the rest of those scratches out.

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  4. Shurika

    Shurika Minimodder

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    WOW! That's cool. I'll keep an eye on this one, nice mod
     
  5. ghostyjack

    ghostyjack What's a Dremel?

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    Very interesting. Will watch this.
     
  6. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    I took some time off from modding the case to make a custom reservoir for the build.

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    Now that I am done with the res I can get back to the case mods. :)
     
  7. Vetalar

    Vetalar *learning english*

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    nice res! how about VRM cooling?
     
  8. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    OMG, I'm always impressed to see those copper tubing. How do you guys do that ? Are they soldered to the fitting ? Do you use something between the fitting and the copper pipe to create a junstion and prevent leaking ?

    I'm damn tempted as I'm willing to use my old Lian Li PC-V1200 for my new rig. Copper pipe would look awesome.

    Great job so far mate :thumb:
     
  9. Hukkel

    Hukkel James' minion

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    No you bend them with. Pipe bender they use for central heating systems. The fittings are push fittings. The ones used here you push in with the tube and when trying to pull them out the socket closes.
     
  10. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    I am hoping there will be plenty of air flow thru the case to keep everything running cool. If not I will have to come up with a backup plan. :worried:

    This is my second build using copper, the first time I went with 12mm tube and the Bitspower crystal link connectors. This time I am testing out these acetyl push fittings, if they don't work out I will try something else.

    ^exactly :thumb:

    I got some more of the tubing routed inside the case today, I will update some pics soon. :rock:
     
  11. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    Thanks Hukkel and Sebar. I'll try this in a test case, with no hardware inside xD.
     
  12. 330td

    330td Minimodder

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    Damn, all pics are down :/

    You're running out photobucket's bandwidth
     
    Last edited: 27 Sep 2013
  13. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Should be fixed now. :thumb:
     
  14. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Finally got the tube routing finished up. Now I continue with the paint.
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  15. Furball Zen

    Furball Zen Shut up and Mod

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    I like the res :)
     
  16. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    I have finally gotten around to some painting on my 350D build. Here is a cool shot of the top panel. I modded the case, removing the stamped mesh and replacing it with an MNPCTECH BIllet 240 rad grill that I picked up from BIll Owen on the Mod Zoo forum. I use epoxy to bond the grill to the case and sprayed it with some black plasti dip. I decided that the top panel had too much black so I took the rotating slotted inserts out and sprayed them with some copper spray paint. I still need to put the snake skin texture with the jade paint on the case but I thought it looked too cool to not take some pictures.

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    Here is the window mod in the side panel, still need to cut the acrylic but you get the idea. I cut the windowed section to show the Res, motherboard and GPU. I did not want to show off the entire internal compartment.

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    Here is a shot of the case with the front panel removed. I painted the front section for the I/O and the bay covers with copper spray paint to keep the look of the case when the front panel is removed.

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    Here is the case with the copper front panel installed. It removed using the same procedures as the stock front panel, push two sections on the front panel to disengage the snaps and the copper front panel comes off as one piece.

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    I sprayed the entire case with Black Plasti Dip and will be prepping the case for the snake skin texture soon.

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  17. Marcos_Viegas

    Marcos_Viegas Minimodder

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    Beautiful copper plate, the project is awesome, congrats! :hip:
     
  18. GuilleAcoustic

    GuilleAcoustic Ook ? Ook !

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    that is pure Pron :D. Add some ebony wood and this will haunt my dream till the end of time :lol:
     
  19. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    nice, reminds me of when Langer was around. :(
     
  20. sebar

    sebar What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks guys, I have finished up the snake skin texture on the paint. It makes the case look very different.

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    Don't mind the stainless screws, they will be replaced. I am just waiting on hardware.

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