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Case Mod - In Progress Project Biohazard by E.E.L. Ambiense - Completed

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by E.E.L. Ambiense, 18 Nov 2007.

  1. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    The Biohazard case started life as a brand-new (and hard to find) AMS gTower CF-1009 full-tower case. This was a rush job build for my best friend's 30th birthday, and he's been running an ancient Koolance full-tower case (that I laugh at every time I go over to his house), so I wanted to do something special for him. Hey, call me a poof, but we've been best friends for 22 of my almost 31 years! He's always loved Biohazard-themed stuff on the comp, like case-badges and that sort of droll, so I wanted to go with a "Biohazard" theme for this mod. The idea may have been beaten to death as far as case themes go, but I really don't care and neither does he ;). Note: This is just a case mod, not a total system build; I just modded the case for him. It's his job to add stuff to it!

    Stock, the CF-1009 had a single 80mm up front hidden by the acrylic plate (boo!) and a single 120mm in back and two 80mm's up top in the back. I decided I wanted to incorporate a Black Ice GTS360 in the top for a single block reservoir loop and using a fillport. The single 80mm up front had to go. So I painstakingly measured and sat down and designed a totally new front acrylic plate with a Biohazard theme to it. Measurements are within a tiny tolerance! I decided to keep the stock power and reset switches, as they were really quite nice for stock. The external ports were kept as well, in case he needed them. Also, I decided to not cover over the 5.25 bays, like I wanted to; he needs expansion. Why? I dunno! :hehe:

    I cut out the stock aluminum from the front and replaced it with a blank plate of aluminum for a 120mm intake fan. In back, I decided to cut out the stock 120mm 'grill' to open it up a bit, and inversed the direction so it blows into the case for pressure equalization. The top triple rad will be sucking air through it and out of the case, so I wanted to minimize dust coming into the case. The side panel was measured and digitally designed for a window to be cut into it (no stock window on this one; at least mine didn't). I also added a 120mm fan to the side panel acrylic as well for more pressure equalization and GPU fresh air!). Top two 80mm grills were removed also and cleaned up.

    Acrylic that was decided on by me was UV green and solid orange backing for it. I was inspired by this pic I came across while researching something unrelated...

    [​IMG]

    Ugly as all hell, but it works for the theme I was going for! :lol:

    Top acrylic grill was sketched, digitally designed and lasercut. The staggered to the left 5.25 bays actually helped me in what I wanted to do. It just jumped out. So I went with it. I incorporated the fillport into the 'O' character in the name, which leads to a Swiftech micro-res (g1/4" tapped on top for a barb) mounted inside.

    Summed up: Case was stripped to individual pieces, modded and cut (120mm front intake, top fans for rad, and fillport). Side panel measured and jigsawed out for window; cleaned up with filing to make everything straight and clean. Inside of case was sound-deadened to minimize rattle (although this case is built like a tank, so I doubt that'll happen!) but also to minimize noise (obviously).

    I left the stock finish on the case because I didn't have the heart to ruin such a beautiful stock finish! I read a little while back on one of Bill Owen's old case-logs about the paintjob on these things, but I didn't expect it to be this nice. Very nice. Sleeved all fans in UV green with UV green shrink. Designed and plotter-cut sticker for front top of case. measured, drilled and installed case handles.

    Case Specs:
    Swiftech Micro-res reservoir
    Black Ice GT Stealth 360 rad up top
    EK Waterblocks EK-Wave CPU block
    EK Waterblocks EK-FC88GT Nickel-plated GPU block
    XSPC UV Green 7/16" tubing throughout build
    Primochill UV Orange tubing coils
    Laing DDC pump acrylic top-modded for 1/2" barbs
    Xinruilian green led 120mm fans (on rad)
    Ultra 120mm UV green led fan (intake on case, side panel and rear)
    UV green acrylic-ringed mesh dust filters called Filterightâ„¢ (love those things!)

    Stock AMS CF-1009 case...

    [​IMG]

    Mockup design(s) I did for the case mod...

    [​IMG]

    Looking at the file now, looks like I did no less than 7 different versions for the front, side, and top before deciding on the ones I actually went with! :lol: Talk about overkill...

    Side window done...

    [​IMG]

    Top of case done...

    [​IMG]

    Another angle...

    [​IMG]

    And another...

    [​IMG]

    Modded case as it was...

    [​IMG]

    More updates to come....
     
    Last edited: 3 Sep 2011
  2. tranc3

    tranc3 ADHD Modder

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    wish my friends would build me case's for my birthday..
    looks good, i really like the biohazard theme (i have a cfl biohazard sing in my room) green and orange looks good to gather, the istock photo is quite a strange inspiration for a case, but glade you found it. it came out pretty spiffy.
     
  3. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    March 8th...
    Plenty of time...

    Edit: I like blue and red...
     
  4. 500mph

    500mph The Right man in the Wrong place

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    wow. it hurts my eyes. in a good way.
     
  5. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    LOL. I guess I just hate lookin' at his crap rig, I guess, lol. Yeah the iStock photo is a bit odd, but I've been inspired by more obscure things in the past. Thanks for the compliment!


    :hehe: :hehe: Thanks, man.

    :hehe: :thumb: Thanks for the compliment! It's pretty bright IRL. The photos look dark. I'm just not a photographer.
     
  6. pigme1000000

    pigme1000000 What's a Dremel?

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    looks really nice mate ....did it take you long to do?
     
  7. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Thanks, mate for the compliment!

    Honestly? Including the actual drawing and everything, I'd say it took 3 days. And my free time during the week is 5-9 p.m., so..da....carry the two.....around 12 total hours from concept to finish.
     
  8. Dreaming

    Dreaming What's a Dremel?

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    Could we have a pic with the sidepanel removed? :)

    It looks awesome...
     
  9. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    If I still had the case, I would do so! :hehe: I've been meaning to get on him about getting the system done soon. I'll get him to let me take some better pics of it 'alive'.

    Thank you kindly, man!

    I appreciate the kind words. I thought it fit well with the theme myself.
     
  10. mnpctech

    mnpctech bit-tech sponsor

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    Jeremy, I had a feeling you had some bad ass mods tucked up your sleeve :dremel: This turned out great!
    Nice case choice too.

    CPU STINGRAY was a CF1009

    I've got 2 of CF1009s left... ones still in the box, the other is a red baron theme mod I'm working on....Maybe someday I'll post some pics. I just haven't had the time from my own prjects.
     
    Last edited: 24 Nov 2007
  11. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    :hehe: Thanks yet again, Bill for the kind words! Believe me, you in particular had a lot of influence in the case-choice on this; namely your CPU Stingray. You were right; the CF-1009 is a beaut to cut on. Very solid manufacturing, and a lovely paintjob to boot. And this comes from a LiLi fanboy. I'm going to snag one more 1009 for myself this time; I have an idea for a custom aluminum front on it... :D
     
  12. Angel OD

    Angel OD Pump Killer

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    BOOOOO! That's not a worklog...(And neither is Drone I or Ambiense Studio...) That's posting pics after everything is done, which belongs in the "Modding" section ;)
    Do some more pics as it goes along E.E.L. ... It's not the end of the journey that counts... It's how you got there! ;)

    Love the work though! :thumb:
     
  13. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    :hehe: That's why I chose the 'case mod' forum tag instead of 'project log', since it's a case mod and not a project log!

    I plan on snapping more pics in the future on stuff. I guess I just don't think about it while I'm concentrating on not forcefully removing any of my digits!

    Thanks for the love, mate! :lol:
     
  14. Angel OD

    Angel OD Pump Killer

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    Stupid me... LOL

    Just saw it in here, in the "project Log" section! :hehe:

    Didn't see the tag though! ;)

    Perhaps I should change my own, on that note! :wallbash:
     
  15. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    I know. I do the same thing! But my excuse is I only have 2 hands. Is that an excuse?
     
  16. Angel OD

    Angel OD Pump Killer

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    WTF... I only have "Case mod" & "Scratch Build" to choose from... No "Project Log" ....

    I would say that's an excuse... And actually a good one! ;)

    But on the other hand... Is there a camera out there, that one could buy, which you could setup to take a pic every 15 minutes or so? Then just mount it somewhere with an overview, and let it do it's thing? THAT would be cool! (and helpfull) :)
     
  17. Cigano

    Cigano \O/

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    Case originally very beautiful, more after I saw the mods made him changed his mind was very beautiful with these colors!
     
  18. jegerjon

    jegerjon What's a Dremel?

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    wow! never thought that red and green would go together that well.
    Very nice done!
     
  19. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Thank you for your kind words. It means a lot.

    Thanks! It's actually orange & UV green though. :thumb:
     
  20. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Sept. 29th Update!

    After a bit of an absence (lol, over a year), this case has been updated. I'll get right to it.

    Finally was able to get around to finishing up the rest of the case. There are some wiring and cable management to still finish, but it's in working order.

    On to the updates...

    Originally, when the case was designed, I didn't know what my best friend was going to use in the bays, so I left them cut open. Personally, I don't like open bays. I like everything stealthed and understated, which you can tell with some of my other projects. He ended up only using one or two bays anyways, lol. So I set out to rectify the bay issue. He also really wanted a Matrix Orbital unit. I can understand that. ;) So why not incorporate the unit into the design?

    Going back to the original cuts' file, I utilized the bay cuts so I can create a bevel that would drop right into the existing cuts. Here's what I came up with.

    [​IMG]

    Nice and understated. :lol:

    And the pile of cuts...

    [​IMG]

    Let's assemble this, shall we?

    Here's what the main bay cover will look like.

    [​IMG]

    I drilled out two floppy bay covers to mount the new bay cover onto, so it'll sit securely in the bays.

    [​IMG]

    Protective paper removed...

    [​IMG]

    And assembled and ready to be installed.

    [​IMG]

    Here's the main bay cover sitting on top of the Matrix Orbital unit. The four holes are for the posts from a Sunbeam Rheobus that I modded onto a stock baycover for this case. Better control for fans versus the small floppy unit currently installed (which is ditched because of the bay covers going on the floppy bays).

    [​IMG]

    Let's drill some holes into that so it can be mounted on the unit itself.

    [​IMG]

    And paper removed from everything.

    [​IMG]

    And in their final resting place. I wrote a quick screen for the temp readings from Everest.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    You can still see the DVD drive, but it's because I forgot the front stealth panel in orange to cover that at home. It's cool. Takes two seconds to stick it on there.

    I don't have pics of plumbing anything, because the hosing was changed out for some high-quality XSPC UV green hosing with some UV orange coils and I didn't have my camera with me at the time. I also added an EK full-cover block to his 8800GTS G92 videocard, because that sucker gets kinda hot. Now he can OC it further, and it's still significantly cooler and more stable. His CPU has been prime stable for a year now @ 3.2 (it's an E6600 - 2.4 stock).

    Here's some pics of the fluid in and running.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    All in all, I'm happy with it. But it really doesn't matter what I like; it's his system! I keep joking with him that I'm going to break it all down and disassemble the chassis and paint it so it'll match the acrylic, but he really likes the stock brushed-aluminum look paintjob. Oh well. It's stock. :lol:

    And this concludes this build for the most part! Still have some cable management to take care of, but all in due time.

    Thanks to all who looked in!
     
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