Case Mod BORG COSMOS II - Update 03/02

[ASPHIAX]

Here is my new build !
Its my personal system this time that is getting a facelift !

BORG COSMOS II

And back to Star Trek, my first love ! My favorite badguys were always the BORG. Half man / Half machine, NO merci, Adaptive shields and a killer one liner : RESISTANCE IS FUTILE !!!

here are some pics that i used for inspiration.

Man that case is big ! I just love the quality and design of the COSMOS II










I have got some idea's but nothings fixed on this one. No sponsors again so no rules , just having fun and thinking it all up as we go!

Now to post some work pics
Let me know what you think !

[ASPHIAX]

OK, I am not going to bore you with taking apart a Cosmos II. That has been captured so many times now !

My plan was to put 2 x 480 radiator in the bottom of the case. But the PSU was posing a problem. I was planning on making a false bottom to house it but the i stumbled upon Vandalo's BRILLIANT idea! This is so much more stylish and completely takes away all the problems I had. I think we will see this configuration many more times! (I only think its fair to credit him with the link to his work here ) Only thing I did was to place a additional layer of plexi for some bling !






I was able to squize a couple of 480 rads out of the budget. Also the John Lund reservoirs just stuck in my mind from the first day i saw them over 2 years ago. I just had to wait for the right project to come along to use them !




On to the next job. I want to continue the green UV reactive plexi line I created with the PSU. So after a couple of hours of sawing filing and sanding it was ready !


Here I lit up the plexi with a front cathode. The idea is to cover it up with a vinyl sticker and place a UV led strip underneath.




Placed both the radiators and made a couple of coverplates. Again a lot of sawing and filing but Aluminukm is such a great material to work with!




Perspective ..
















To place the SSD's I use the bending bench to work a piece of alu. Fits beautifully !




Cause I am paying for it all and not using any sponsors, i had to take out the UD7 and 2600k out of the EURISKO. Still pretty good hardware and with this cooling power It will clock nicely !






HA , that is why I NEVER throw anything away (to my wife's delight!) I had to find a way to cover up the fittings of the reservoirs. That's where the pile of old HDD platters come in.




And sometimes you just have to be a little lucky. How is this for a perfect fit?








Just a quick couple of shots with a large UV cathode.










Also was able to score a third 580 gtx and a old line EKWB block. Just have to think on something for the SLI bridge that sticks out like a sore thumb






On to the next job, placing the UV led strip underneath the front grill of the COSMOS.




Just had to slightly dremel the inside to make it wedge a little and keep it into place!








Placed the Antec proquiet fans on the 480's


Sticker Time !!!








And that was it for this update !
More to come soon !

[ASPHIAX]

Thanks ! Yeah maybe I should add Star Trek or something to the title to make it more clear.
The green UV plexi and the dark stature of the CosmosII is gonna probably make this my favorite machine in my house.

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by elAwesome

Awesome work so far!
The reservoirs and the way you installed them is really cool.
I also like the front with the UV Acrylic

Thanks! It will bring challenges with the doors as they are 3 fanholes only, but I have a couple of idea's for that!

Originally Posted by krussellusaf

This thing looks great. Everything flows well. I can't wait for the finished product.

I have got to find out how well it flows when i hook up the pump, lol, but thanks !!!

Originally Posted by Vetalar

ecxellent work here!
i'd took green neon cord and wrap it aroung those reservoirs.

There's gonna be uv green coolant! Also the mobo will have several green UV accents.

Originally Posted by nagyizom

One of the best Borg themed case that i ever seen!

Thanks man !

Originally Posted by Pfaffen

Great job! I really like the front acrylic work!

Thank you! The idea is to have several "layers" of uv plexi that will change the design according to the way you look at it. Well, something like that, lol

[ASPHIAX]

Challenge for this week : How to fit 5 green lasers, a piece of UV plexi and a Vinyl BORG logo sticker into the sliding door of a COSMOS II ..

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by NavidsonRecord

Parallel wont cause any impeded cooling because "cool" water flows into each GPU at an even pressure. It seems like a weird concept but once there is no air in the lines pressure is equal in all GPU blocks and flow to each is only slowed slightly.
The short circuiting concern makes no difference in series and parallel config as they have the same water loop contacting all the GPUs and CPU, ect...

What he said ^^ LOL
As far as I know it does exactly that and no possibility of thortage too!

Originally Posted by timerhan

It looks great!
I love UV acrylic and UV light)))

Thanks! I love working with lights and UV!

[ASPHIAX]

Here is another update from the work I have so far !

For the 2 x 480 rads in the bottom I need more air into the case. The front will have a 120mm fan pulling freshair in from the front and I cut a whole into the bottom so the 8 x 120mm fans on the rads can suck clean air in from the bottom.


I also received the vinyl BORG logo sticker and cut a piece of UV reactive to the right size.


I cut the SSD holes into the plexi and placed a piece of alu behind it.
I already have 2 x 90Gb in Raid 0 for max performance and am looking to score a 240 for storage.


This needs a lot of detail filing but I will not bother you with it !


I will hook up the led strips to an arduino so I can adjust the light strength. Way to bright now!


The BORG logo for in the door.


That was it for today !
Laters!

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by Ripitup121

Holy mother of all things pancake... keeping my eye on this one for sure, epic work so far mate

Thanks ! Will have another small update tonight

Originally Posted by timerhan

SSD nice look)))

Thansk! I do want to dim the leds a little as its to bright right now !

[ASPHIAX]

Just a quick couple of pics from the front as it is now !
Next post will be with the BORG logo in the door!

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by elAwesome

Definately one of the best case mods I've seen so far.
So simple yet so great.

Thanks but there is so much better work around!

Originally Posted by quizz_kid

Another Asphiax mod, YAY!!!

Thansk bro! Seen you've been busy also! Signature growing quickly !

Originally Posted by Blarte

I really like this, just read through the log, like any thing you enjoy, I was disappointed it ended so quickly ..

I aint finished by a long shot , so be prepared for some more lengthy posts !

Originally Posted by Vandalo

really a good job

Thansk man !

Originally Posted by Pranja

It has a right feel. Well done.

Thanks ! I will be making the same mesh and plexi work around the bottom fan to make it more symmetrical. That should improve the overall design more !

[ASPHIAX]

Here is another update !

I started on cutting out the rough shape of the plexi plate with the vinyl sticker.


Then after endless filing it finally fitted perfectly !






Mounted back the front onto the cosmos. It just needs some lighting now !




Mounted the top led strip and the "rib" led strip for a quick fitting.




I will make the bottom section like the top with the plexi strip around the psu.
The purple glow will disappear as soon as I lightproof the door.
Also the lines around the logo will be clean as I lightproof it.


Let me know what you think so far !

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by kelmannen

reeeaally nice! the shining edges is really making it glow!

Thanks, I am using normal blue leds. The same power as the UV but they dont fade as much!

Originally Posted by The_Crapman

Lovin the build so far. I really like the purple hue, i think you should keep it to some degree.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by kelmannen

yeah, i think ur right, the purple (in the right degree) looks awesome with the green! =)

Thanks! It wasnt on purpose the purple but its growing on me also. Maybe when I hook it up to the arduino The brightness will be less and its will blend in more.

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by Pranja

OMG,looks awesome.

It only needs BORG Queen next to it.

Thanks, maybe i could score one on Ebay.

Originally Posted by k.3nny

+18 rated log spotted!

Good job!

LOL, thanks but what do you mean ?

Originally Posted by whyte

Amazing job! I wonder if you could replace the psu fan with one of the led enermax (or whatever you're using) fans so the front is more uniform looking. Anyways, loving watching this build.

Thanks. The PSU fan needs to be turned around anyway as i need to suck air through the PSU instead of blowing it into. 2 problems with changing the fan out. 1. Its a 135mm fan, dont think anyone makes them with leds. 2. becausse I need to turn the fan around the leds will be pointing inward. Good idea though! Keep em coming!

Originally Posted by perplekks45

Usually not a big fan of those light-it-up-like-a-Christmas-tree type of cases but yours is pretty cool.

Keep up the great work.

Thanks! The lighting needs to be balanced as I do like lighting but it needs to blend in not dominate.

[ASPHIAX]

Here is another weekend update !

Made the alu cover plate and a plexi strip around the mobo




The reflective properties of the HDD platters are gonna create more depth and angles into the design!




Cant decide if I am going with the black or uv green tubing.


I am leaning towards green so I will leave it in for now.




That was it for this weekend. Maybe a small update tomorrow.

[ASPHIAX]

Ok, guys. I was getting a little worried about the amount of green in the case.
With the green tubing (still havent decided yet) and the green coolant and the green plexi. It might just be a little much.
Also green tubing with the BORG. never seen that before.

So I tried this.
I got a box of PE flexible hosing normally used for electriocal work and cut it open.


Dont look at the exact cuts yet, just did this in like 10 minutes or so, just to get an idea for the effect.






What do you think? Changes the whole feel of the case doesnt it ? But does it change it in the right direction ?

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by Stem83

Oooh i see what you mean, the borg is mainly green accents and lighting, as far as the borg race goes there all black silver n gun metal. I guess the tubing does look a bit biohazard, but really cool!

I think with green lighting, acrylic sections and seeing the green fluid in the blocks, i think there will be enough green for you to safely use all black on the tubing... or spray the tubing a gun metal/dark silver colour.

Thanks man ! I am researching a more natural cracking of the tubing right now. I might airbrush a little silver on the edges making it look like torn metal, but that is just an idea right now!

Originally Posted by Pranja

Yo done great thing with tubbing,it looks like Borg implants on drones.

Don't forget to put some red lasers for scanning.

LOL, got 5 green lasers planned!

Originally Posted by Ra6

A big case made even bigger! Tha'ts a perfect match for the colors! And this black tubing in combination with the green ones is amazing! But be careful with the cut

Thanks ! LOL, i do cut the cable hose before putting it on the tubing !

Originally Posted by Parge

This is awesome!

I've used flexible PE hosing before, for a couple of wires I couldn't be bothered to sleeve - it worked very well.

In your case, it does look cool, but on a couple of the bends its gone 'fat' and makes it look a little unprofessional (probably only noticable because the finish of the rest of the build is so good).

I wanted to ask you by the way, what do you use to cut the aluminium (and how thick is it?). I've been loving acrylic recently, but that's just because its so easy to work with.

Thanks ! This was done with a tubing cutter and took exactly 10 minutes. Will make a more natural design and use a dremel for precision. That will make it look better. Also by placing the cust "strategically" the fatness will disappear. Or i might have to put a "tension band" on the backside to force it into place (do you understand what i mean here ?)

Originally Posted by SilveR_172

Like what youve done with the cable tidying trunking , Very good idea =)

Thansk! It often the most simple idea's that work best !

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by Waynio

Very nice ASPHIAX.

Thanks man !
ps Gave you a +1 star as per request, but it should have been a +11 mate !

[ASPHIAX]

Maybe this picture will help.

At the white arrows all the pressure is the same as the tubes are all connected together.
At the blue arrows all the pressure is the same they are all connected together and no collant can flow back into a block .
(this is where I need to test out the config as I have not yet seen anyone integrating the SB block also and the restriction might be different)

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by timerhan

ASPHIAX, try use clear tube and UV water ... I think under the UV light is very cool!

This is uv reactive tubing !

[ASPHIAX]

Originally Posted by The_Crapman

Had a thought about your excess of green, you could use clear non-uv tubing then mix black dye with uv green. That way you get the subtlety of the black with a sneaky peak of green.
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...-pid-3414.html
Plus
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-16820.html
Plus
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-16817.html
Equals awesomeness

Yeah! I reached out to Lee Woods to request the best way to get to the right colour.
He suggested the UV green and emerald green dye so i already tot that in House.
But mixing in black is also a good idea. If the emerald doesnt deliver, i'm going to try that!
Thanks man!