Modding The Big Black Beast Mod - CM ATCS 840

[HardstylerDK]

Then I got the chance to get started with a new casemod, my first sponsored casemod.

The case which is getting a overhauling' this time is a Cooler Master ATCS 840.

First of all i want to thank my sponsor CoolerKit


Besides my main sponsor, I would also like to give a big thanks to all my other sponsors.

Bitspower - Bitspower !
Phobya - Phobya - Fear it !
Akasa - Akasa Thermal Solution !
Alphacool - Alphacool !
InWin - InWin !
Bitfenix - Bitfenix !
CoolerMaster - Cooler Master !
Aquatuning - Aquatuning !


As I said, it's Cooler Master's ATCS 840 case which is going to be modded to it fullest with various water cooling, lighting, plexiglas / polycarbonate and way more stuff.


I've named the casemod BBB, BBB stands for Big Black Beast.

Here's a list of the hardware which is going to be installed in the final casemod.

• Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Rev.2
• Intel Core i7 920 D0
• 12GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600Mhz CL9
• Sapphire ATI-AMD HD6950 2GB
• OCZ XTC Memory Cooler
• Kingston SSDNow Vseries 64GB
• Intel X18-M 80GB SATA SSD
• Corsair TX Series 850W
• Alphacool NexXxoS Xtreme 360
• Phobya G-Changer 480 Ver. 1.2
• 1x240 Radiator - Unknown Brand
• Swiftech Apogee XT
• EK FC6950/70 Acetal Fullblock
• EK NB/SB 6 Acetal Waterblock
• EK NB/SB 5 Acetal Waterblock
• EK Mosfet GA 2X Kit Acetal Waterblocks
• Koolance Fill Port / Drain Valve
• 2 x Swiftech MCP355
• Bitspower Matte Black 19/13mm Push-on Fittings
• XSPC High Flex 19/12,7mm UV Blue Reactiv
• 2 x Phobya Balancer 250 Black Nickel
• 2 x Phobya Laing DDC Top Black Nickel

I hope you can read what im writing, as english is not my indigenous languages, as i from Denmark.

First i will start of with some 3D drawings i've made in Google Sketchup which is my first time playing around with 3D drawing.

Now that we got the 3D drawings done, it's time to get to the actually work.


First i will start with removing my hardware from the case, and as it is my "every day" computer i needed to make a "benchtabel" for it.











Now i finally got to do some dirty work and went to my local metal pusher to buy some things i needed.











As you can see i had to remove the CD-Rom and HDD bay to get enough space for the Phobya radiator, but since the CD-Rom bay where stiffening the case i had to add some aluminum profiles to make it stable again.


Finally i got some of the hardware home from my sponsors. Thanks to http://www.Coolerkit.dk

















10 army green dust filters which is going to be painted matte black so it matches the overall theme, and last but not least the Phobya G-Changer 480 Radiator.

Time to get dirty

Here i am grinding the front of the case and mounting the aluminum profiles.











Here I have cut out a piece of the bottom to make place for the lower radiator, this was done using a plate scissors.





For the front i needed to get back to my metal pusher to buy some an aluminum plate to fit in the front.

I finally got it to fit.








Time to drill out the holes for the fans. I dont know what its called in English but in Denmark we call it a Kopbor.








Last but not least ive assembled it to make sure it all fitted perfectly together.








As time goes by and its now late at night and my neighbors dont like the noise from my tools a had to do something else














So i painted some flames on my slippers


Finally i can make some noise again

So i started out making a new plate to the back of the power supply.








Also made a new plate for the fan in the back instead of the "mesh" which i didn't like.

















Here is where i am planning to mount the pumps.








As i didnt want to mount the dust filters as they were, i decided to remove the filters from their "holders". After that i glued them on the backside of the front plate.








Here's a little appetizer so you can see how its probably going to look when its finished.





In the front of the top there was originally a "pop-up" thing which has some USB ports and Line Out / Mic In ports, i decided to mount a LCD Display, and 2 other displays for temps.





Just a couple of pictures of the inside of the case.








I wanted to make my own dual fanshroud for the bottom radiator. Its going to be made of 2 pieces of 8mm thick lexan.











Today i received a lot of things from Phobya.
So first of all thanks to Phobya for helping me out - http://www.phobya.com/

This is the things i recieved.

• 6 stk 90 Degrees Angle Clamps For 16/19mm Hoses
• 6m Rubber/Foam To Mount Between Radiators And Fans
• 4 x 6 Clamps
• 2 z Noise Destructor For The Pumps
• 2 z Phobya Laing DDC Top Black Nickel
• 1 x Motherboard Screw Kit Black Nickel
• 4 x On/Off Buttons With Blue Leds
• 4 x 4-Way Fittings
• 40 x 3x50mm Screws
• 4 stk 3-Pins to 9 x 3-Pins Fan Connectors
• 2 stk Phobya Balancer 250 Black Nickel

Here's a picture of all the things.





Time to get the reservoirs mounted.








Now i got my painting booth assembled.











Just a little "funny" update of my refrigerator.








I decided to remake the front.








Also got the frame for the LCD display mounted in the top.








Last but not least i glued the two pieces of lexan together for the dual fanshroud.

[sonicgroove]

Looking forward to it, Good luck!

[HardstylerDK]

Finally got the workshop cleaned up and removed all the dust so i i'm ready to start painting all the parts.











As you see i did some graffiti on my paint booth.
Now that the paint booth is ready and the workshop is all cleaned up, im ready to do some painting.





Both front plates are sanded down and ready to prime.





Here the parts got their first layer of primer. I've decided to go with Motip Spraypaint as i believe it's the best spraypaint i ever worked with.





Also sanded the actually case front down and it's ready to get some primer.





I've also decided to change the brackets for the aluminum plate.








Back to painting the parts. The parts got their first layer of matte black.








And here's my homemade dual fanshroud after it's all sanded and fitted together.





I've chosen to fill out the groove on the back of the case as i didn't like the look of it.





As you properly see, one layer of polyester filler isn't enough.











Now the backside of the case is done, all filled out, sanded down and ready for some paint.








Here's the motherboard tray which also had to get some polyester filler and sanded down.





I've made some new holes for the power supply's 24-pins connector and all the other connectors.






First things first, a big thanks to Http://www.coolerkit.dk for helping me out with this mod. CoolerKit - Vandkling, luftkling, stjdmpning, modding mv.


You may already have guessed why, and hell yeah i received another package from Coolerkit.dk with a lot of nice stuff and also some parts from a great modding partner of mine.





This is what i received from Coolerkit.dk.

• Artic Cooling MX-2
• 5 meter XSPC Clearflex
• 2 sæt A.C Ryan Blå Katoderør
• 2 stk. Åben/Lukke Haner
• 2 stk. Swiftech Fillports
• 1 stk. Scythe KAMA-Thermo Temp. Display

As i said, i also received some parts from my great modding partner Tahiti.


This is the things i received from him.

• 5 meter rubber strip for the sidewindow
• 16 stk. Bolts 4*35mm with Allen Top
• 2 stk. rubber pieces in 10mm & 6mm

Back to work
Some of the bolts i received from Tahiti is going to be used to mount the front of the case.





As you can see, it fits perfectly together.





As the new holes i've made for the cables wasn't as nice looking, i had to use some of my polyester filler to sort the problem out.





Just a little "funny" update again.
Thought i would check how my currently setup was looking after all the sanding and grinding





Is this what you call dust ? As funny as it is, my temps are still the same as before i disassembled the case and hardware.


I dont have access to a turning lathe, so i made my younger brother do some work for me
What he has to make for me is some new casefeets.

Here comes some pictures of the process.








The reason why he made 8 casefeets is because a friend of my is gonna have 4 of the casefeets for his own case.




Here's the final result of his great work











Now that the casefeets are done it's time to find out where to mount the fillports.





Damn, i marked one of the holes up wrongly But there's nothing some polyester filler can't repair





Also did some "filler-job" on the bottom of the case where the 240mm radiator is going to be mounted.





A picture of the front.





As you may see, it's almost ready to be painted.





Just a picture of the bottom of the case.





One from the back of the case.





From the top and down to the bottom.





Here's the top plate mounted.





Here you can see how perfectly the fillports fits.





I will like to thanks, Klaus my younger brother for making the casefeets for me, my sponsors for making a dream come true and finally OCTDK Http://www.octeamdenmark.com for all the help i've got from them.


I wanted to integrate OCT|DK into the "case" which is going to cover the power supply, 240mm radiator and all the cables.
Started out finding the font i liked the most and printed it out, used a scalpel to cut out the "letters". After that i just placed it on the side of the "case" and fastened it with masking tape.











After i placed the "letters" where i wanted them i drew around the edge with a magic marker.





My first thought was that i would use my jigsaw to cut the "letters" out, but because the "letters" are so small i chose my drilling machine instead.





Here i drilled all the "letters" out, now it's time to use a file to make in nice and neat.











As you see, there's a looong way to go before its finished.





Finally! It's done





Finally i got all the last parts filled and sanded down so it's ready to be painted.




















Just mounted the Phobya 480mm radiator to see if it fits.








Also order some stuff i needed.

• 3 Cans Matte Lacquer
• 1 Can Filler/Primer
• 3 Cans Primer
• 4 Cans Mat Sort
• Polishing Cloths
• Xerapol Polish
• Paint Masks
• Paint Gun For Mounting On Spray Cans
• 1 x Micro Sata - Sata
• 2 x DeWALT 3.2mm HSS Drill
• 2 x DeWALT 3.5mm HSS Drill
• 1 x Compressed Air Hose
• 1 x Air Gun For My Compressor

The paint mask fits perfectly. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO USE A MASK WHEN YOU PAINT INSIDE WITH SPRAYPAINT!





First layer of primer.





As i didn't have enough space on my paint booth i was forced to hang some of the things up in the sealing.

















First i will like to thanks Vincent from Bitspower for helping me bringing this casemod to reality. Bitspower Taiwan On-Line Shop


I just received a BIG package from Bitspower today I also received a Swiftech MCP350 pump, a set of EK Mosfet GA 2X Kit Acetal and 2 x Koolance Fillport / Draingport fittings.

Here's what i received from Bitspower.

• Mesh Radgard 240
• Mesh Radgard 360
• Mesh Radgard 480
• 3 Sets Cable Ties In UV Blue
• 2 Sets Thumb Screws In Black
• 16 x 19/13mm Bitspower Matte Black Push-on Fittings
• 8 x 19/13mm 90 Degrees Matte Black Bitspower Fittings - Male/Male
• Misc. Bitspower Stickers

As i already knew that the Mosfet blocks wouldn't fit without some kind of modding i had to figure out how to mount them.
The solution was to glue a piece of aluminum plate and a piece of lexan together.

This is how it looks after i sawed it off with the jigsaw.








After some sanding.








Here's some pictures of the "mounting mechanism" after 2 hours of fitting and sanding.








You're more than welcome to tell me your opinion whether it is good or bad

[HardstylerDK]

Here's a lot of pictures of the painting phase, i wont write a lot to the pictures but instead i will let the pictures talk for them self












































Here's why it's important to always wear a mask when you're paint indoor.





And yeah, it's OK to laugh - I am





Mr. HardstylerDK bringin' you da real stuff !





Here's my best cure for "paint-brain"





Damn, it is already Christmas time ?

Today i received my Intel® X18-M 80GB Solid State Disk which i bought from a Danish Hardware site called Http://www.hwt.dk.





From the first day i started playing around with watercooling i knew that sometime in the future i had to try, in my opinion, the best looking CPU Watercooling block ever made !
And this is of course Swiftech's Apogee XT.








Just went to take a brake from the project and went over to another project.
But as my most used saying is - Can it be modded, it SHALL be modded
But as you will see in the picture, i use a lot of my spare time on tattooing.





Damn, now i know why they sing " It's going to be a looong looong Christmas ".


Again, another big package came rolling out of door And again it was from my one true love, Coolerkit.dk

And as always when you order things from Coolerkit.dk, you'll receive a little surprise, this time i got som chewing gum Yum yum.

These are the things i received.

• EK blok FC-6950/70 Acetal Block
• EK Northbridge Acetal Block
• EK Southbridge Acetal Block

They are just laying around waiting to be unpacked and showcased





Here's one of the NB/SB blocks.





And the other NB/SB block.





Last but not least my EK FC-6950/70 waterblock.





Damn damn damn

Things didn't went as i supposed, i ran out of paint
So now i got to go buy some more paint ..

But the things that i did finish painting is now hanging in my bedroom to dry for the next couple of days.








Just as i hoped, my paint pusher had some paint i could get

So now it's time to play around with the reservoirs
Found some masking tape which i wrapped around the reservoirs in a spindle shape. After that i covered the rest with ordinary masking tape and painted the hell of of 'em





And fortunately it all turned out as i hoped





Feel free to comment any part of the process. It's always good to hear other peoples opinions

Today i received another package with some cables.

Here's what i received.

• 2 x Molex - 3 x 3-Pin With Blue Sleeve And Black Connectors
• 1 x Molex - 3 x 3-Pin With Black Sleeve And Black Connectors

Now it's time to show you the final result of the paint job of some of parts.

















After a lot of thinking back and fourth i decided to buy a bad ass looking " baby blue look-a-like Gigabyte blue " spraypaint which i wanted to paint the fan filters from the three Bitspower Radgards with.
Here's a little appetizer for you all





As the old top plate was M.I.A. i had to make a new one.
It's made out of AC Ryan Smoked 5mm acrylic plate.





The top plate i made this time also fits a lot better than the first.





As you also can see here, it fits a lot better in both sides.





As the most parts gradually are done i can quietly start the assembly phase. As you may see, is that i decided to recycle the old harddrive holders.





Also got the bottom radgard mounted.





I were also that lucky that i received my laser cut letters. Here i've mounted the " BBB " logo on the top front plate between the two holes which is made for the temp. displays.





I also assembled the "case" which will cover the power supply, 240mm radiator and the cables.

I won't write a whole essay about what's on the pictures, but instead let them talk for them self.








To all of your who don't know what i meant by "case", here's what i mean.





From another angle.





Also i thought you should see the next project in line.





May well be that someone paints their keyboard and mouse in the same style as their casemod, but I have chosen to explore new avenues and integrated my helmet into the mod


Again, again and again i received another BIIIG package with parts.

This time it's from my new sponsor Akasa, so i will take the time to say a big thanks to Akasa for helping me making this dream come true.

As you see, it IS a BIG package





My fingers was just as loose as a hand of a 6 year old's on Christmas Eve So I started to unpack.














The following things is what i received from Akasa.

• 18 x Akasa Apache Black 120mm Fans
• 6 x Akasa Sata3 Cables ( Round )
• 1 x Akasa TIM Cleaner
• 1 x Akasa SSD & HDD Mounting Kit
• 1 x Akasa Cold Cathode Case Light In UV
• 1 x Akasa Cold Cathode Case Light In Hvid
• 1 x Akasa Paxmate Noise Reducing Mats

Got the casefeets done, drilled a hole in the bottom and got cut off threads and mounted them. I think they look absolutely perfect !





Just a close-up picture from "frog-perspective".





Now that most of the parts are done and i received the parts from Akasa, i can start the assembly. Here it is the "case" which cover power supply etc. I mouted the radgard from Bitspower and my " BBB " logo.





I also mounted the Phobya radiator inclusive fans on both sides and the Bitspower radgard.





Now when i was warmed up i could easily mount some fans on the 240mm radiator and finally mount it to the bottom of the case.




Here's a picture of the front after assembly.





Here's the mentioned "case" fully assembled in the case. I did ran in to some problems with the fans because they where with PWM control, and the 1 3-pins to 9 fan connectors i got sponsored only had 3 pin connectors, so i had to cut off a little of the connectors and then of course they wouldn't stay connected so i had to glue them together.





Finally got all 3 displays mounted in the top front plate. The display to the left with be connected to the GFX loop, the one to the right will be connected to CPU loop and the big one in the middle i still haven't figured out, yet.





Just played around in Adobe Photoshop CS5 and came up with this, hope you like it I certainly do





Got my " HardstylerDK " logo mounted on the side of the Phobya Radiator, also got a piece of lexan painted white and glued to the back of the " OCT|DK " cut. Last but not least i got the Akasa Solid State Drive holder mounted.





I appreciate any feedback, whether it be good or bad


And finally this is where i'm at right now. Still waiting to receive some parts before i will install all the hardware.


But you'll get some last pictures.

After an hour in Adobe Photoshop CS5.








Before anyone erupts in screams, i know im an AMATEUR at Photoshop.

[HardstylerDK]

I know it is some major updates to give at once, but i wouldn't just leave you hangin'. So i hope you'll bear with me.

[HardstylerDK]

Weeeeeehaaa

A new tool for my collection




And of course i had to play around a little to try it out

[Blarte]

impressive case ..

[HardstylerDK]

Originally Posted by Blarte

impressive case ..

Thanks mate. I'm trying to do my best

[HardstylerDK]

Then it was time to put some ink in the skin, although the plan however was to practice myself a little in using my new dremel engraving machine. Buuut, it went in a whole other direction.

Got the stencil placed where i wanted it to be.



Time goes by ...



So for now the tattoo is allowed to heal before there should be tattoo'd some shadows etc.
You all have a nice weekend! :thumbs:

[HardstylerDK]

Time for a little weekend update. :thumbs:

I was thinking of polishing the casefeets to see how it would match the overall theme of the mod. So here's 3 pictures of them after they got polished a little, i would like to hear your opinions










Be said that if I choose to leave them polished, they must be sanded down and better and then polished again.

[HardstylerDK]

Just played around with my Dremel Engraver today, and did this in free-hand.

Remember it's not something that would be used in the mod, its just for fun and practice.

[HardstylerDK]

It's time for an update

As i looked at the casefeets my brother made for me, it got to me that they wouldn't fit into the mod with an overhaulin'. So i started thinking of how i could change them

After some thinking i came up with an solution. First of all i had to make my own lathe.

Here's how my own homemade lathe looks, it doesn't look like a million but it does the job




After I had processed the aluminum feets with various tools like a file, angle grinder, hacksaw, sandpaper and finally a polish, I ended up with this result. And yes I know that the "slots" is a little crooked here and there, but no mather what, they are made the oldschool way



I will not write a whole lot to the next images, but rather let them speak for themselves.












They lack just the final finish with a twist of wet grinding paper. This will be bought tomorrow and then they get a polish.

Im expecting a lot of exciting things to arrive over the next few days. So I wonder if not there is an update more during the week?

[HardstylerDK]

Now i took the time to play around with the casefeets and some different "designs". But out of the 2 different methods i've tested, it is this which I prefer. But i must have bought something Autosol to polish them with since the one I'm using now does not have the desired effect.

Here's some pictures for you.






What do you think about them ?

[Blarte]

funky feet, Seriously I like them, Would actually go buy them and fit on my own kit !

[HardstylerDK]

#14 - Thats my thought too .. Later i will take some pictures where they are mounted on the case.
But thanks man, it's always nice to hear other peoples opinion whether its good or bad

[HardstylerDK]

Now i took some time to play around with my Alphacool LCD-Display .. After a few minutes ... or around 4-5 hours i came up with this result, so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKl1hrad-vE


Please let me here your opinions

[HardstylerDK]

After a little talk back and forth between Nutman and I, I ended up with this result.



But i can certainly see the idea of what Nutman said.



Hugs and kisses from me to Nutman my fellow casemodder <3

[HardstylerDK]

Now it's time for a little update.

I've got a new PSU for the mod, so thanks to Nelly from InWin for helping me out.

The PSU which Nelly sent me is a InWin Commander 850w modular psu. Here's some pictures of the beast.



Various specifications.



Here's the manual and underneath it, lies a delicate carrying case in which you can keep the cables you don't use.



Here's the various rails that are included as well as power cable and some extremely attractive velcro ties.



Here you can see the military green color the PSU is powder coated in.



As we tomorrow the 19/5 rolls off against one of the year's major events / lanparty, The Blast, we of course have to pack the things we need, as my fellow casemodder Tahiti and I are going to make a Live Casemodding show.

Here's some of the things which i packed so far.




This was all for now, but as Arnold Shwarzenegger says, I'll be back!

[HardstylerDK]

Update time ..

As i am awaiting some parts and most parts are already finished, I had to find some things to mess with.

First of all, I went in struggling to create a RAM cooler.





As I previously talked about, i wanted to paint the PSU from InWin since the dark green color does not fit into the theme.







Since this casemod has been something of a challenge, both physically, mentally and personally, i thought the case should have a nice place until I can get the last parts mounted.







At last, here's some pictures of the final result of the PSU. Just a little eyecandy for the people.



That was what I had to show you this time.

[HardstylerDK]

Just wanna give you guys a little update.
As you may have noticed, there's been very quiet in my worklog over the last month. But now I've finally received the final parts.

I've taken some pictures of the mod as it stands right now, so it's not totally finished yet. As soon as i have sorted out the problem with my InWin PSU, i will take some new pictures.

Here are some pictures: