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Case Mod - In Progress Project: LEXA

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by The boy 4rm oz, 10 Apr 2008.

  1. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Well I got my RAM, made it to the store with 5 mins until closing haha. Lucky Me.
    Well Here are some pics, as promised.
    The box:
    [​IMG]
    The front of the box open showing off the RAM sticks:
    [​IMG]
    The sticks themselves:
    [​IMG]
    I love the design on the heat spreaders (and the colour). The design is minimalistic but looks quite nice I think. The design is part of the actual heat spreader, not stuck on.
    The RAM comes with a G.Skill sticker and a slip of paper giving you URLs to the product website and with email addresses to tech support and warranty. The RAM also comes with a small aluminium case badge:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    And here is a pic of the RAM installed in my system along with my existing 2GB:
    [​IMG]
    Sorry for the bad pics, the box is weird and reflective and was hard to get a good pic of as was the case badge.
    Hopefully I can get some modding done tomorrow, may have another update then. Until then...

    Happy Modding.
     
  2. Anobis

    Anobis What's a Dremel?

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    looking awesome :D
    nice work getting along real nice :thumb:
     
  3. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Thanks for your comment Anobis.

    Just a minor update.
    I have ordered (need to find time to go and pick up) these items.
    2x OCZ RAM cooler (1 for my brother)
    2x Antec Tri-Cool 120mm Blue Fans
    1x TP-Link 108Mbps wireless card (to replace my D-Link 54Mbps one)

    I should have these items by the end of next week. Once I get the fans I will make sure the radiator fits nicely then I can get the bottom painted and ready to go.

    I also need to place another small order which is basically just cable sleeving, a few more CCFLs and a couple of fan grills.
     
  4. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Well I have a treat for you all today. I have finally finished my HDD bays. That means all the plexi I had cut in now mounted. YAY!!!
    This is what my HDD racks looked like before I started my modding today:
    [​IMG]
    This is the part I will be modding to finish them off:
    [​IMG]
    I am covering the base of the racks with a piece of plexi. This will help me keep some cables out the way, keep the air directly moving across my HDD and above all look cool.
    The piece of plexi in position:
    [​IMG]
    A bit of modification to get it to sit right:
    [​IMG]
    Perfect:
    [​IMG]
    While I had the Dremel out I figured I may as well expand this hole.
    Before:
    [​IMG]
    After:
    [​IMG]
    The hole is now big enough for a SATA power cable.
    Next I market and drilled the corner holes to mount the plexi:
    [​IMG]
    Did the same on the piece of plexi:
    [​IMG]
    The plexi bolted to the base of the HDD rack:
    [​IMG]
    I did this to save time when drilling the rest of the holes. I can drill both pieces at the same time.
    The rest of the holes drilled and bolts added:
    [​IMG]

    On to painting.
    The primer:
    [​IMG]
    And painted black:
    [​IMG]

    And here is a pic of the rack all back together:
    [​IMG]
    I also put some U channel on the cut I made earlier:
    [​IMG]

    And finally the complete HDD rack with the HDD cover:
    [​IMG]
    And with the rest of my drive bays:
    [​IMG]

    Well I think that looks quite good lol.

    Well not much work I can do now until I get my fans, hopefully by the end of the week. Until then...

    Happy Modding.
     
  5. Skidd

    Skidd What's a Dremel?

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    Im loving this black mesh against the UV plexi, looks very nice indeed :thumb:
     
  6. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Thanks for your comment Skidd. Yeah I can't wait to get it all together and under UV light, should look great.
     
  7. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    The drivebays would make a neat case all by themselves.
     
  8. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Thanks Cheapskate.

    I am going to attach the two drive bays together this weekend and then I will post some pics of them under UV light.
     
  9. Oreon_237

    Oreon_237 CHEA BRO!

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    yeah they are looking sweet az!
     
  10. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Thanks for your comment Oreon. I am glad you like it so far.
     
  11. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Update time.

    I have riveted the HDD and ODD drive bays together...finally, it has been 10 months since they were like this lol. I also riveted the front face plate onto them as well and guess what, the bays stayed perfectly square.
    Here are some complete shots of the drive bay stack:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    The bay res fits perfectly:
    [​IMG]
    And the inlet and outlet even line up (you can't see it too well in the pic):
    [​IMG]
    Alas there are still a few things to be finished up on.
    These two gaps, here:
    [​IMG]
    And here:
    [​IMG]
    Need to have mesh covers made up.

    While I am at it I will also make a mesh cover for the bay res:
    [​IMG]
    Looks a bit plain don't ya think?

    Well it's a public holiday tomorrow for us Australians so I will be doing my homework which I didn't do over the weekend lol. I may get some of this work done during the week. Until then...

    Happy Modding.
     
  12. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Well I have another update for you guys today, not modding unfortunately, just tech. Everyone loves new tech ;).

    I guess this is a bit over due since I got the items on Friday but I had a busy weekend and couldn't get the update up.

    Well here is my order:
    [​IMG]
    1x TP-LINK 108Mbps wireless network card
    2x Antec Tri-Cool 120mm Blue LED fans
    2x OCZ RAM coolers

    Here is the fan unpackaged. They come with a 3 to 4 pin adapter and it is good to see the connectors are all black apposed to white like my 80mm fans. Also the fans have a built in 3 speed fan controller, very handy. With both fans on medium I can barely hear them.
    Pic:
    http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8118/dsc02184um3.jpg
    I then attached the fans and the radiator to the floor of the case. Fits like a glove:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Here is a pic of the bits that come with the OCZ RAM cooler:
    [​IMG]
    You get the cooler top which houses the two 60mm fans, two sets of feet (you chose depending on what your RAM slots are like) and you get two thumb screws, 2 plastic washers and 2 normal screws.
    I then installed the cooler onto my 4GB of RAM:
    [​IMG]
    Powered up:
    [​IMG]
    The fans will eventually get the same UV treatment as the rest of them. I am trying to get my hands on some AC Ryan UV green black majic paint to re do them all.

    Last but not least we have the wireless card:
    [​IMG]
    I would show you some pics of it installed but it isn't working and therefore doesn't deserve to be anywhere near my rig lol.

    Well that's all for now. I need to do some modding this week. Perhaps the planning for the pump platform? Until then...

    Happy Modding.
     
    Last edited: 17 Jun 2008
  13. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    I have decided to mod my OCZ RAM cooler so I drew up some sketches:
    [​IMG]
    From left to right.

    Option 1:
    Basic cut out of the letters, may replace cut parts with black mesh, tie it in with the rest of the case.

    Option 2:
    Same as option one but with a line running parallel with the flow of the letters.

    Option 3:
    Completely different from the first two. The rectangle in the top left corner that reads "Project:" will actually be a piece of etched green plexi indented into a cut made into the cooler so it sits flat. The letters will be cut out in the same fashion as the others.

    I am kinda leaning towards the third option. A bit more challenging and holds more physical appeal.

    Also I found out what font NZXT use for their products (thanks to the NZXT forums), it's Tahoma Bold. I will be using this font for the text on the cooler mod.

    Let me know what you think. Especially you Sean. If you guys have ideas post them up and I will have a look.
     
    Last edited: 17 Jun 2008
  14. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Nice job so far, man. Aren't the OCZ RAM coolers using 60mm's, not 40's? How loud are those units to you?
     
  15. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Yeah they are 60mm's, sorry typo. Well the fans are rated at 21dba each with 16cfm of air moved each also. To be quite honest I can hardly hear them. I can only hear them at the moment because my PC isn't in a case, just on the desk.

    I am really thinking of going with the third design so I made up a better version using word real quick.
    [​IMG]
    What do you think?
     
  16. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Are you planning on cutting the lettering itself out of solid material and gluing it to the mesh background, or cutting out the lettering from a solid piece and having mesh fill in the lettering? Granted, RAM doesn't require a massive amount of air to cool them, but you'll be cutting off quite a lot of it if the air will just flow through the lettering only and possibly create turbulence noise. Not to mention the counter on the letters P, O, E, & A will be left detached, unless you planned on gluing it to the mesh behind the letters or something. Just some food for thought.
     
  17. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    The OCZ RAM coolers top is a piece of perforated aluminium. I was going to cut the letters out of that and perhaps inlay some black mesh into the cut letters (it will be flush). I forgot about those letters though. Looks like I will be inlaying the cut with some black mesh. I guess it will just make reading LEXA easier lol. Thanks for the heads up.
     
  18. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    Ah, okay. I understand now, lol. Good luck!
     
  19. The boy 4rm oz

    The boy 4rm oz Project: Elegant-Li

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    Thanks. I will hopefully try to get the cuts done this weekend.
     
  20. Slatter

    Slatter Mesh Addict

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    great work Oz...
     
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