Scratch Build Project: Strobe - Update 15th June: Time to start working again!

[Evenge]

Why hello there. And welcome to my second case project. Planning thread for this case can be found here. It should explain some things and most likely will repeat everything I have to say here...

Project name comes from the song made by Deadmau5

So the idea for this case came when I was discusing case building in general with my friend over our TeamSpeak server. One of the things that we discussed were things I'm unhappy with my first case "Discovery". One thing was the compromises I was forced to do just because I didn't consider everything while planning it. Other thing was noise: Hard drives resonate with the case a lot and Corsair PSU was nowhere near silent or even low noise product. I also had small itch to try watercooling but Discovery was not designed with that in mind. The final thing was the size of Discovery case; it's not big, but I felt I could have been able to squeeze the whole system even in smaller case. Then my friend proposed why I wouldn't build another case?

Since I like to have my computers on my desk, one goal for this build is to have small footprint. Cases like Fortress FT03 would offer this but then I remembered Case n project. It's small, has relatively small footprint and in my opinion it just looks awesome. When I saw it for the first time I wanted to have something like it on my desk. So I fired up SketchUp and examined if it was possible to build something like Case n.

Here's what I draw up (the pink box is a 120mm slim Scythe fan )



After this I started building:



Aluminum pieces were cut to size by local blacksmith firm. Sadly pieces were not square, so some filling work was requied.



Some drilling and fixing.







I'll post update later today, now I have to leave for work. I'll also update project goals here bit better.
Until then, Bye

[Evenge]

As promised I'll show how far I've advanced with this build. But first some addition to the wall of text.

Goals

Before I even knew what to build I just had the need to mod something. Like they say, when modding bug has bitten there's only one cure...

So before I even started planing anything I asked "what I want it to be" and settled on these goals:
- It must have small footprint and take less space on my desk than my previous project.
- Also the overall physical size should be as small as possible.
- It should be relatively quiet.
- Black and red color theme.
- It should have proper wire management.
- Case should be both sturdy and lightweight. Thus building material is aluminum.
- Modded PSU. I've already replaced fan from my Corsair TX850v2 psu and atleast all the wires should be shortened.
- Atleast all visible wires should be sleeved or some other way tided up.

Hardware and cooling

CPU: Intel 2500K
MB: Asus Maximus IV GENE-Z
RAM: Corsair Dominator
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX570 Superclocked
PSU: Corsair TX850v2
Storage: One or two SSD drives + One or Two Laptop HDD drives.
And no optical drives.

Cooling
Radiator: XSPC RS240
Pump: Laing DDC-1T + Watercool DDC-Case LT
CPU block and fans will be decided later.


And now for the actual modding!

Work has been quite straightforward this far so there's not much to say. Let the pictures do the talking

Front and back plates and base and roof plates are attached with aluminum L-profile. Base and roof plates are fixed by threads and front and back plates are fixed with nuts. This is cause nuts give me some room to adjust the case so it would be as straight as possible.






After this I started work on the motherboard plate. As I imagined there was some excessive aluminum in one corner so some filling work was needed.





After that it fitted perfectly







And this is what it looks like right now. Radiator is there to give some size comparison. Next job is to fix motherboard plate to rest of the case.







Oh, and dont hesitate to comment!

Until next time, Bye!

[Evenge]

Double post

[Del.irious]

Very nice. I too am designing a "small footprint" water cooling case, so I applaud anybody that manages to fit it all in a small area. Everything looks awesome for the most part. I just have one question, so I looked at your planning thread to see if it was already discussed, but couldn't find it. Have you considered fittings and hose sizes and how much room they take up? It looks like it is going to be a tight fit with the fittings coming off the CPU block. Case n looks to have a custom CPU water block.

[Evenge]

Originally Posted by Del.irious

Very nice. I too am designing a "small footprint" water cooling case, so I applaud anybody that manages to fit it all in a small area. Everything looks awesome for the most part. I just have one question, so I looked at your planning thread to see if it was already discussed, but couldn't find it. Have you considered fittings and hose sizes and how much room they take up? It looks like it is going to be a tight fit with the fittings coming off the CPU block. Case n looks to have a custom CPU water block.

Thanks for feedback Del.irious. Case n is actually air cooled using custom made heatpipe cooler.

About the fittings. There should be bit over 5cm space between PSU and motheboard. I'm going to use these angle fittings with these EK fittings. I just measured the combined height of those, and it is around 2cm. This would allow me to use CPU block that is under 3cm thick. I have red alphacool 3/8"ID hose which I'm planing to use.

[monkeyfun]

Subscribed. I love small form factor scratch builds as well. I'm almost finished with mine but look forward to how you handle some of your bumps with implementation over planning.

Good Luck, we're watching!

[Del.irious]

Ok cool. Sounds like you are good to go! Good luck on your build!

[Evenge]

Originally Posted by monkeyfun

Subscribed. I love small form factor scratch builds as well. I'm almost finished with mine but look forward to how you handle some of your bumps with implementation over planning.

Good Luck, we're watching!

Thanks . Well there is still some things I haven't thought much, like SSD and HDD placement. Good thing laptop hard drives are quite small so they are easy to hide somewhere

And to be honest, I like to improvise some things like where to route cables, where to place HDDs and so on.

Originally Posted by Del.irious

Ok cool. Sounds like you are good to go! Good luck on your build!

Thanks.

[Evenge]

Quick update before I go to bed.

Firstly, my parents gave me a birthday present: A new Bosch power drill and good quality metal file. And to complete the set I bought some drill bits meant for metal working. So modding this week has been a joy!




For fixing the motherboard plate I used same aluminum L-profile as before.





And my first action shot ever!











And the plate attached. I'm not entirely happy fith those countersinks but they suffice.





I did some work with radiator mount today but I ran out of time so lets see what tomorrow brings.


Until next time, bye!

[Attila]

Nice start, getting those countersinks centered can be difficult, particularly when doing them by hand. You need to go slowly and make corrections as you go.

And just a bit of advice, never wear gloves when using a drill. You are in much more danger from the gloves getting caught than the drill doing anything to your fingers.

[Evenge]

Originally Posted by Attila

Nice start, getting those countersinks centered can be difficult, particularly when doing them by hand. You need to go slowly and make corrections as you go.

And just a bit of advice, never wear gloves when using a drill. You are in much more danger from the gloves getting caught than the drill doing anything to your fingers.

Thanks for the advice Attila! I actually realized my mistake for wearing gloves when I browsed through the pictures last august.

So let's get this log moving again . I halted this project last autumn when I moved back on the other side of the country to continue my university studies and have not been able to continue modding until some weeks ago when I got back at my parents place and at my workshop. I have managed to progress with the case quite well but much of the work is still unfinished so hopefully I’m better prepared to show something after the weekend.

I have to mention that some of my previous plans got altered but this should not affect too much on the end result. One of these alterations is new PSU. Main reason for this is my current psu, which is a non-modular version. I could mod all the cables to match with the new case but this would also mean I would not be able to use this PSU any more in other cases, at least not without some able extenders. Also it just feels much easier to shorten and sleeve modular and cables instead of fixed ones. And lastly it will make detaching the PSU from the case a lot easier when you can just unplug all power cables from the PSU unit itself. Making PSU detachment as easy as possible will make system maintenance easier too, since PSU will be covering major part of the motherboard and other components.

But now for the update itself: The radiator placement. I started this by printing some ready templates. I believe I found this from mnpctech website so huge thanks to them for providing helpful things like this for free!







After some filing radiator mount looked good....



... And worked great. Still some finishing work to be done.




So this was it. Hopefully I can post another update soon. Have a great weekend!