Case Mod - In Progress Passive GTA IV PC by widmod UPDATE: 9.April 2015

Hi my name is Paul. I'm a Computer Programmer.
I did some cutting today so it belongs to project logs now
Before i did some planning in the Planning Thread
This Mod is Because i bought GTA IV
It didn't work on my dual core tablet-laptop so as i thought before i now build a new computer. Specs in the planning thread.
Colour theme will be Mat Black spraypaint with dark red and black plexiglass.
GTA IV is the game I'll play on this computer but the case theme will be industrial looking with water cooling rads, res, hoses and PSU on top and right sidepanel
There will be 2 emergency fans in the system: one on a 120 radiator and one in the PSU which i can tun off if i want.
As mentioned in the planning thread: This is my first watercooling mod so i'll not void the warranty on my 400€ GPU

Teaser Pic


How it all began

Holes drilled in the side for proper Jigsawing

Another one the mat black rattle can spry paint can be seen in the back

The Side panel i'll keep the lower part and add some meshin the upper part for ventilation of the Motherboard area

The drill got hot so i used oil cooling

The first side cutted

After that i ate something and then i spent the whole evening with presenting photos from my ireland trip to my parents

thanks for commenting and help in the planing thread dave. I was pretty sure somebody will make this first comment after i accidentally hit enter while writing this post

Good to have the first subscription before all pictures are in the first post


Sorry

 

I see none Where did you post them?
I'm intrigued to see this after your planning

Edit: Whoops, I thought you said you had uploaded them, been a long day

Very nice, can't wait for more, will definitely subscribe to this

 

got some more things done: the side is cutter i'm no on the run to met with friends
so some theaser pictures more tomorow


former (car) handset cooler for hdd cooling


side cutte fully the small peace is already removed
note to myself: upload less blurry pics


random stuff i MAY use in this mod (the clock is allready in parts now and i need to get a new battery perhaps

i may get the cool stuff on the startpage
Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 1,792MB & Quad SLI
and the glasses too?

Updated parts list links to myfavorit price bot will follow:



The Parts list:
Device Product Name Price
Motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe € 265,98
PSU passive with turnable resistor for the fan
(see planning thread)
Graphics BFG GeForce GTX 280 H²OC, 1024MB (alternate) € 505,95
Probably the GPU and glasses from the start page
Prozessor Intel Core i7-920, 4x 2.67GHz, tray € 299,00
Harddisk Western Digital Caviar GP 1000GB SATA II (WD10EACS) € 93,86
Memory Corsair - DDR3 1333MHz 3GB 3x240 DIMM 3x1GB € 98,60
Total (hardware) € 1.458,29

Cooling will be passive with 4 Cora passive radiators and a resevoir with cooling fins
a additional 120 radiator wille give soe extra cooling while it's pasive and also will have a fan for hot days
I hope i'll find a cheap pump/fan controll wich starts the fan at a certain water temperature
i need a inline temperature sensore for that of corse

Watercooling
Fan Papst 4412 F/2GL – 120mm € 15,90
Rad Aqua Computer Airplex XT 120 € 29,90
Pump Laing DDC 12V Pro + plexitop € 74,90
Cpu Watercool HK CPU LGA1366 Rev. 3 € 62,99
Rad passive Cape Cora Pro 442 Konvekt schwarz € 79,90
Res passive XSPC 150mm Passive Aluminium black € 33,99
Fan/Pump control Yet to be desided €
Total (watercooling) € 297,58

Both together; € 1.755,87

What do you think of that stuff? Good to find my list from last month on the bit-tech start page in "what hardware schould i buy" now.

Ninja handset edit: sorry pics and modding tomorow after "le parkour".

5 o'clock in the morning now: good night! Note to myself: don't fool around in the forums at this time

 

New post old one got too big

some new stuff done now


random computers to write on bit-tech


my pen
hard to take good pictures without a decent kamera


saw and vac


workshops vacuum cleaner

 

to many post by me
please feel free to make comments
sorry i didn't got anything done this weekend i hope i'm now motivated during the week
Hardware list with links to my favorite price roboter geizhals.at (means cheapskate)

PSU passive with turnable resistor for the fan shop: http://www.alternate.at/html/product/details.html?artno=TN7D10

Motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe

Graphics BFG GeForce GTX 280 H²OC, 1024MB (alternate) no shop listet that sells it hope it'll come back
Prozessor Intel Core i7-920, 4x 2.67GHz, tray

Harddisk Western Digital Caviar GP 1000GB SATA II (WD10EACS)

Memory Corsair - DDR3 1333MHz 3GB 3x240 DIMM 3x1GB ???

Watercooling

Fan Papst 4412 F/2GL – 120mm

Rad Aqua Computer Airplex XT 120

Pump Laing DDC 12V Pro + plexitop ? may be to loud look for something more silent

Cpu Watercool HK CPU LGA1366 Rev. 3 new blocks availablle?

Rad passive Cape Cora Pro 442 Konvekt schwarz

Res passive XSPC 150mm Passive Aluminium black
fittings tubes and stuff
Fan/Pump control yet to be desided didn't get more done

 

I like the idea of a totally passive system, would be nice, I hate fan noise, good luck, I'll be watching!

 

I probably use this GPU if the BFG one doesn't coe back in the shops
it looks good too
I'm trying to find better looking CPU and a northbride block for my new motherboard too
i like the look of copper with a clear plexi top
Mobo without OC
Mobo with OC "Palm" where is the difference? the just sell it more expensive cause of different jumper settings or is it overclocked by ASUS

 

The Palm version comes with a little overclocking gizmo thing that is apparently quite good. See this for more information: http://overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/cpu_mainboard/asus_p6t_deluxe_x58_oc_palm_edition_motherboard/2

 

looks sweet i think i'll get it instead of a fan control
which (silent) pump can be speed controled trough a 3 pin motherboard header?
good night its nearly 2 in the morning now

 

just to be a pedantic ass, watercooling is still active cooling even if the radiator has no fans on it. it would only be passive cooling if you didn't have a pump or fans.

i like your HDD cooler.

 

yes fully passive is something diffenent
have seen that in some other mod
but that would include heavy chunks of pure copper
an most heatpipes (in such mods) move gas inside anyway

 

thanks for all the comments
i finally got motivated and found the time to get more done on the case
started with dremeling and jigsawing the cutout for the meshed window:


Blurry overview pic


the edge "cleaned" with the jigsaw


fotographing with one hand while dremeling with the other


the cheap dremel-wanabee bits aren't as hard as compaq's old computer cases


the head of the bit fell of so i had too use another one
i think i'll get some bits made by dremel to finish the filing
then: prepearing the side for painting:


the other tool works fine


again i forgot to control the images after taking them
i think i'll use one of my webcams next to see te pics in full size
this will hopefully be replaced with a better pic of the power tool soon


preped the other side too will try the rattle can spry paint here soon


marks and dust from filing the old paint down
i will paint it when its more light and less outside

hope i finally deside on the hardware and can order it soon

 

I took a loooooong break with this mod but now I have some time/money for it
Sadly i have the time because i lost my job, but I hope to find one till next year.
I did some work today on the chasis making a hole, where i assumed the CPU will be (measured it on my current motherboard). I may need to expand the hole in the future.
So on to the pictures of jiggsawing and dremling through heavy compaq steel
(excuse some of the bader cellphoneish pics)

tools of the day: drill and jiggsaw

shoot some holes in

a sawblade later

snip

worn down bit from my dremel-wannabe

dremeling and photographing

2nd bit competly down

how many bits left? After that i use the blurry bit in the front ,which just has a rough metal surface but tends to wander of from the flexible shaft i used

oil cooling the steel helped a little

thats it for now, wear your savtey googles kids!
next to do:

the PSU will reside on top of the case just above where it normally would be cause it's half passive so i'll cover this with some stell sidepannel leftofer with ventilation holes in it

Another one for measurement
thats it good evening so far
I'm lurking for hardware now

 

you might want better lighting for your photos. Copper chunks WOOT

 

I might just use my girlfriends camera insteadof my mobile phone. But yes these pictures are all taken in a dark cellar

 

What I'm saying is not in any way meant to put you down, it's just something you (and many many others) should think about.

First, read this: http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2007/09/17/zen_and_the_project_log/1
It is a brilliant piece on how to make a successful build log...

I must admit that my interest cooled off pretty quickly when I saw the grainy mobile phone photos, and it's a shame, because this mod of yours has potential.
An old cheap 3 Mpixel pointy-clicky-cam beats a super-cyber-terapixel phone-cam hands down, and it makes your build so much nicer to look at.
Don't let bad image quality ruin the project log

Now, back to the mod itself, I'm really going to look at this thread more to see how you're going to do this.. Looking interesting, and it tickles my technical curiosity

 

I actually made some progress with my mod but cadly its on my girlfriends camera to which i have no acess atm
But i have some sort of update on the hardware side:
I was looking for PSU and found these two semi-passiv ones:
psu from a shop in austria
or this external unit but it would cost much more beside looking better
which one should i buy?
I plan to have one high end graphic card and the usual setup of motherbord, ODD, Media HDD and a SSD and of corse some memory

 

soory for double posting
hereare the promised pics:

first i start with a sie project: unmounting a laptops broken screen i may use some stuff like the sceen backligth an clear plexi plate in this mod


the screen without bezel


the dark black spots are around the broken lcd panel


the backside of the screen


loads of mini screwshold it together thankfully all of them where philips-head screws


the broken screen decased so i can see trough it


the backlight still works, but the descreened laptop doesn't so i had to reinstall ubuntu on it


the laptop without its screen, it will be use for downloading (only linux distros of corse )

so on to the main project:


the cutout with the plexi from the laptops screen over it ( yes there's a plexi over that hole)


it very transluscent but the edge can be seen here


i may add the metal trim from the laptop too


measured and marked to be cut


should cover the psu hole


clamping


it fits!


marked for cutting ventilation holes


drilling holes for the jiggsaw with the drill press


some drilled


first one cutted: no in progress of cutting shots cause its impossible to hold a camera and a jiggsaw that is stuck in a wobbling metal plate


more cutted


all sawed very roughly


sawing off the starting points, some got off though


the hand filing fun begins


closeup


looks a little better now


the endpoints didn't line up: fixed with my dremel-wannabe


on the case


marked the backside for cutting


bigger hole:may look like a PSU mounting hole but the PSU will be mounted on the top of the case directly above from its usual position


more filing and dremeling waiting for me


all the decals removed the came of quite easy


case mocked up


the back: here you can see that the pannels overlap on the back to be mounted the with screws
i forgot that so i have to make my PSU cover plate much smaller the plate isn't recangular anyway

EDIT:
oh i forgot to say: please feel free to comment
and i ordered most of the hardware and watercooling-parts today

 

most of my hardware and water cooling kit arrived
i found out that the treads birthday will soon come it really been a long time now but now with all the nice hardware i can't wait to get it up and running.
I haven't photographed much of the hardware so i have "just" motherboard cheesecake for you:


asus p6td deluxe


i thought i have a standard atx case but it was smaller


the 3.5" tray was hindering the motherboard to fit in the case


its just holded by some rivets


which were drilled out easily


next problem: the backplate has almost nothing to hold it and the hole is bigger too


another hole is missing for the pci-e 4x slot but i don't plan to use it an acard there would also be hindered by the water block i will install instead of the finned aluminum cooler. i have another 2 pci-e slots left and if i ever need the 4x slot i could still use a riser cable or fit a low profile card in somehow


next i fitted a extension card (ignore this old ******* its just a stunt man) to see how the expansion card slots align, i had to push the board up to make it fit.


sadly the ps2 and 2 usb ports now are over the edge of the old cutout and recessed shroud so the backplate hole is just to long in the wrong direction


closeup of the said area. i thought about leaving them just there but this would mean i have to destroy the nice asus backplate. so i might just cut a hole there and bend the cut metal inwards to hold the backplate


next thing not fitting was the motherboard risers. many things have changed since the 66mhz 486 cpu motherboard that had its home in here before


the riser on the backside


it was quite hard to get them out: trying to hammer them trough the backplate, screwing a screw in an making the hexagonal hole in the back round with much force, then it was rotating freely but didn't come of, screwing another screw in from the back and trying to push and pull with pliers, going back to the hammer and hit them from the side, woot it fell of, getting the others of in under a minute with ease


the hole that got round

please feel free to comment
pics of the hardware as soon as i come home again, which may be on Tuesday or Friday(specs in the planning thread)
and yes i got a new job so financing this project should not be the problem

 

those little pinks grinding stones are not for that job, there for sharpening blades, although you would be mad to use them on a good cutting edge, or any cutting edge ever.

I suggest you find a steel straight edge that is thick 1/4in would be a enough and use it as a filing guide.