Case Mod Project: Ever-So-TightLi (06/01/07 - Project has been shelved)

[blackflag]

UPDATE 06/01/07:

Well, it seems to be my luck...

Some components in my server died over the long weekend so I needed to steal from this project to get my system partly functional (and it's still not 100%). As a result I'm stuck with an incomplete pile of parts.

As such Ever-So-Tight-Li is on indefinite hiatus...

When I get more time (and money for parts) I will be back...

Until then...



------------------------------------

Hello all,

I've been out of the mod game for a while now since my wife and I found out we were having a little boy. Now that he's here I've been dying to get a proper project going, complete with log. My last project, a dual loop Aqua Computer cooled Lian Li V2000 didnt have a project log because I was scrambling to get it finished.

Now that my boy's here, I don't have a ton of time to work on mods, but at least that slow pace will allow me to take pictures, and actually post.

So, in the spirit of getting back in the game, I'm starting not one, but two project logs, this one being the first. Here's the link to the other one so you can check it out when you're done here: Think Outside the (X)Box. Somehow I always start more than one project at a time... damn ADD!!

So, with all that guff out of the way, the project I'll be chronicling here is based off a Lian Li V300. I haven't seen a lot of projects based on this case, and being a big fan of the V1000 and V2000, I liked the look and the small footprint.

I wanted to transform my v2000 from my gaming machine to a server to store all my DVD ISOs. This is what it looked like before:







Not really conducive to any LAN-ing (if I find the time to do that again soon).

It was running an AMD 4400+ X2, 2GB Corsair XMS, BFG 7800GTX SLI, with a 74GB Raptor and 4 x 250GB Western Digitals in RAID-5. I mentioned there was a dual loop, so essentially I had double the watercooling parts. I removed one loop, the X2 4400, the RAM, and vid cards and replaced it with an Opteron 144, 2GB of generic **** RAM, and an eVGA GeForce 7300GT.

These are the "after" pics.

I replaced the Cuplex XT I had on my X2 with a Cuplex Pro.



I swapped out the Aquabay from the front and replaced it with ventilated Lian Li drive bay covers.



To the server I added 4 x 500GB hard drives, and a 160GB boot drive, for a total of 2.41TB (before formatting). Should be enough to tide me over until my DVD collection gets completely out of hand and requires more space.



I ditched the windowed panel and put the stock one back on.



With cover off:



Closer:



Ok, so with the stage set now, we're about up to speed. Having my entire desktop match is important to me, so with a silver Apple 20" Cinema Display, I needed to make everything go in the same color scheme.



I bought a Logitech G7 recently because I couldnt stand the cord on my G5, and it's got that faux-carbon fiber finish to it.



Great, I love carbon fiber too.



If you recall back to the PC-65 days, Lian Li cases used to have that fake carbon fiber strip on top, so this will all fit in with the overall color scheme.

I have a G15 keyboard that could be tied in closer with the scheme if the black areas were CF. I suppose if I find the time I'll get around to doing that with the CF vinyl.



With the hardware and watercooling parts I yanked out of the V2000, I was almost set for the V300 case. Finally, I'm sure you're thinking.

So here it is. I stripped the fans, power button, and USB ports out.



Sorry about the dust, it's been sitting on my desk for a couple of months now.





I'm not a huge fan of that black strip (it looks too plain) so I'm currently waiting for some carbon fiber strips (genuine) to arrive. I figured that by doing this it would give the case that "retro" vibe from the PC-65.

I'm going to reuse one of my AquaTubes from the other case, so I went about mounting it in the top of the case.



Not sanded/filed yet:



Filed/sanded/drilled:



Test fitted:




Lookin' pretty nifty, if I do say so myself. Don't mind the mismatched socket cap and button head screws, they will all be button head in the end.

Now, I know what many of you may be saying: 7800GTX's won't fit in the V300 because of that 3.5 drive cage. How right you are! Lian Li really screwed the pooch in this department. In an ordinary circumstance the video cards wouldn't fit; this isn't even taking into account the 2 7800GTX Aqua Computer blocks I've got on the cards.

[blackflag]

I set about cutting out the drive bays and these are the results:







After I did a mock up I saw that despite my careful cutting, the loop between the two video cards will still get in the way of the remaining support braces and hard drive rack. I'll most likely have to cut those out too and get creative with mounting the hard drive, pump, and DVD-RW .

There were still some items I needed to pick up for the V300. Since I'm running SLI with a socket 939, there's only one choice of motherboard: EVGA. In addition to the motherboard I picked up the following:

PSU:


Slot load DVD+/-R (since space is at a mucho premium):


Tubing (Tygon is MUCH more flexible than A-C or Mazzer):


Cuplex XT chipset block:


Alphacool pump:


2 Fans:


Originally I was going to use a BIX2 radiator, but found that it's just a few mm too wide and the case sides wouldn't fit back on. So, I'm waiting for 2 Black Ice 120mm GTS's to arrive.

Speaking of the side panels, I have plans to deal with the pre-cut drive faces. More on that in the next update...

This is what everything looks like on the board:







So, as you can see everything is really tight. Also not pictured is the Audigy 2 ZS I'm putting in the PCI slot... I also have a Bulgin anti-vandal switch to replace the one I ripped out. I like this one a lot better than Lian Li's because the feel is a lot smoother.

More to come as I make further progress...

Till then...

[Dustin]

Looking forward to this!I'd love to see the v300 finished.Watercooling should be indeed a tight fit in a v300!
Good luck

[axscpu]

sweet mod...... so I asume that your old hardware in the lian-li v300a right?
how do you plan to place the 2 gts in there, or are you going tomod hte facial of that sweet case???? can't wait to see what you come up with

[M_D_K]

Nice start to the v300 , you have the same mobo that i just ordered except mines on tis way from the USA not bad for £40 posted haha bargain for a mATX SLI board.

I see your going for 2 120s i'll be using a Single 120.2 rad you can fit it on one of the doors.



Morgan.

[trig]

looks great so far...look forward to more

[blackflag]

@axscpu:

Yes, my X2, Corsair RAM and 7800GTXs are going into the V300. I feel weird not putting brand new tech in there (as I usually do with my mods) but I don't really have a reason other than e-penis extension to get new stuff just yet. I have to be responsible now that I'm a dad . I'm going to stand the radiators up flat against the grill. There are several holes pre-drilled in the chassis where the 80mm fan panel was mounted. I will need to fabricate some bent mounts to secure the radiators in place, and then use a bridge between the 2 radiators (similar to an SLI bridge). It may be aluminum, but I also have some carbon fiber pieces laying around (bent and flat) that may do the trick and look pretty cool in the process. I have some flat M3 tapered bolts that will fit in there perfectly.

@M_D_K:

Are you using a V300 as well? To fit the components in the way I want, things are too tight to fit the rad on the side panel (too much water cooling gear there already). That and I want to keep the sides nice and neat, and able to easily be removed. I'm not even 100% sure if I'm going to have a windowed panel or not. One thing I know for sure, I will not be using any lighting other than 2 white LEDs in the AquaTube.

[M_D_K]

Originally Posted by mj007

@axscpu:

@M_D_K:

Are you using a V300 as well? To fit the components in the way I want, things are too tight to fit the rad on the side panel (too much water cooling gear there already). That and I want to keep the sides nice and neat, and able to easily be removed. I'm not even 100% sure if I'm going to have a windowed panel or not. One thing I know for sure, I will not be using any lighting other than 2 white LEDs in the AquaTube.

Plan so far is to put it on the Left hand panel, remove the Floppy and CD bays, make a support for the PSU and Laster 2 new Stainless sidpanels with grills for the rad matching the front design to keep in with the case.

It should all fit with a DDC etc... got 2 6800s and an x2 going in want to keep it clean as poss .



Morgan.

[ReFredzRate]

Niiiice... I'm sure as hell gonna keep my eyes on this one

[blackflag]

Yeah, I had considered getting the panels cut to match the pattern of the front, but thought it may look too "hole-y".

I have a blank silver PC-60 panel that will be the source of the aluminum for the side panels, I just have to decide what the sides will be before I send them out to be cut.

Thanks for the compliments so far guys!

[Tile]

Deleted

[calib3r]

Thread subscribed.

[airchie]

Yep, I like the look of this, subscribing....

[guysy1110]

this is clean work ! cant wait to see the progress

[sirkillalot617]

I like your work very much so far. Those Hard drives must suck up alot of power.

I was going to do something like that for my movie collection but then I heard a 1tb hard drive was being released So Il wait for that

Watching closly.

[unanimous]

Great mod man.


Im workin on one, almost the same, but my dremel kinda broke........



Lawl

[unanimous]

My dremel was only $20...... crappy peice of shiit

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by mj007

I set about cutting out the drive bays and these are the results:







After I did a mock up I saw that despite my careful cutting, the loop between the two video cards will still get in the way of the remaining support braces and hard drive rack. I'll most likely have to cut those out too and get creative with mounting the hard drive, pump, and DVD-RW .

There were still some items I needed to pick up for the V300. Since I'm running SLI with a socket 939, there's only one choice of motherboard: EVGA. In addition to the motherboard I picked up the following:

PSU:


Slot load DVD+/-R (since space is at a mucho premium):


Tubing (Tygon is MUCH more flexible than A-C or Mazzer):


Cuplex XT chipset block:


Alphacool pump:


2 Fans:


Originally I was going to use a BIX2 radiator, but found that it's just a few mm too wide and the case sides wouldn't fit back on. So, I'm waiting for 2 Black Ice 120mm GTS's to arrive.

Speaking of the side panels, I have plans to deal with the pre-cut drive faces. More on that in the next update...

This is what everything looks like on the board:







So, as you can see everything is really tight. Also not pictured is the Audigy 2 ZS I'm putting in the PCI slot... I also have a Bulgin anti-vandal switch to replace the one I ripped out. I like this one a lot better than Lian Li's because the feel is a lot smoother.

More to come as I make further progress...

Till then...

In my v300 the HDD rack is in the way for tubeing to run over the Videocard. I'll be interested to see how you get around that.

[blackflag]

Originally Posted by Fozzy

In my v300 the HDD rack is in the way for tubeing to run over the Videocard. I'll be interested to see how you get around that.

You are correct. I will most likely be hacking that HDD rack up or running the tubing through the holes in the rack...

[Evenge]

wow now I noticed that you got 2 logs running at the same time!

What can I say about this? Cool...