Case Mod - In Progress Project: Yin & Yang

I have nearly finished my new project, just got some finishing touches to do. Basically, I had a Gigabyte 3DAurora laying about in my workshop, which in it's current form wasn't going to be used. As it was, there wasn't enough room for an internal wc loop, and the airflow through the case was crap due to it's design. Me being me, I hate throwing any hardware out, so I decided to see what I could do with it. Here's the initial ideas:





Here's a few shots of after sanding and removing the drive caddy. I kept the side window cutout as it was, so I could keep the door handle and lock. I also cut a hole on the top panel for the 240mm rad.







At this point I didn't know what finish to give the case, but after a bit of web crawling, I finally decided on an aluminium and gloss white theme. It seems as though alot of people are going for dark colours lately and I wanted something which looked clean and fresh. I also decided what to do with the front panel, but more on that in a bit. I finely sanded the aluminium up to see what it looked like, I also had 2x AC Ryan rad grills spare so I fitted one to see what they looked like:







I liked the finish on the aluminium so decided to go with that. Next up was the spray painting. I sprayed the internal case (apart from the drive cages) and the side window plastic trim gloss white:





I really like the white and aluminium, I think it looks really good. Next up was deciding what to do with the front panel. As it was, the original one wasn't very nice. Having chosen to go with a clean and fresh look, I wanted something simple that would tie in with the overall design concept. I went to my acrylic suppliers and got some scrap pieces, I chose gloss white 6mm. Now I had the externals nearly done, it was time to concentrate on the components. I was going to be using parts from my existing rig for this build, with the exception some of the wc loop. Here's the run down of all the components:

Components
Motherboard: Abit IP35 Pro
CPU: C2D E8400
Mem: Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4gb (2x2gb)
Gfx: Inno3D 9800 GX2
PSU: Corsair TX650
Opt. Drive: Philips 20x DVD RW DL
HD: WD Sata II 250gb
2x 120mm fans pulled from Antec 900 modded with red LEDS

WC Loop
Tygon 1/2" Clear Tubing, 1/2" Barbs & Primochill anti-kink spiral
Laing DDC1+ Ultra with XSPC Delta Top
Swiftech Micro Res (temporary till I get a Aqua-Computer res)
Danger Den MC TDX 775 CPU block
XSPC RS240 Rad with 2 x Blackfire4 Kameleon Fans (120mm)
Primochill ICE coolant (with blood red dye).

So after ordering and receiving everything I needed, some bits taking longer to get here than others, I set about getting on with the first fix. Here's a few snaps of the rig as it is at the moment:













There is still loads to do with the rig:
I have to install some lighting
Tidy the cables up
Add the PC ICE dye (when it gets here)
Set the DVD RW flush with the front panel
Fit a front 120mm fan
Polish up the aluminium and apply laquer.

There's probably more to do, but I am hoping to have everything done by the middle of next week. There is one other thing I am considering, and that's having some text laser cut into the side panel and backlighting it, or maybe havfing the acrylic etched, but I haven't made my mind up yet. I chose the name 'yin & yang' because I wanted a simple exteroir and a quite high spec interior, it's the best I could come up with at the time Anyways, I would appreciate your opinions on the mod so far!

Cheers,

Stu

 

Looking good! Keep it up!

 

the whole thing has came along very well, very subtle and clean looking. im looking forward to see how the inside turns out.

 

I don't like your new front panel, it's too plain IMO

 

Thanks fellas.

That's the idea! There are too many rigs that go OTT, I wanted something simplistic and stylish looking but still a great performer. Regards design, I went with less is more! There will be a 120mm fan with LED's fitted behind the grill, to give a glow, but I haven't decided what colour yet.

 

I got the cable routing finished last night, it isn't perfect but it's alot better:





The cable management was alot harder on this rig than my old Antec 900, mainly because I'm not using a modular PSU and also because the space between the rear of the mobo tray and the side panel didn't allow enough room to route some of the spare cable like I did with the 900. As I said though, I do think it looks alot tider now so that's that job crossed off the list:

Cheers,

Stuart

 

stealth optical drive

i liked your new front panel, but the drive spoils the look of it....

try stealth it.. by fitting a peice of white acrylic on the tray

something like the following



image courtesy:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-18095.html, sladesurfer

 

Yeah, I like the sound of that idea. I did originally want to put a slot loading DVD RW behind the acrylic with just the slot and a button showing on the front acrylic, but I couldn't get hold of one. I know the DVD lets the look down, so I will give your suggestion a try, thanks!

 

Maybe the grill on the front rotating 90 degrees??

After you polish the aluminium i wouldn't bother clear coating it as it will stay really shiny for years with just the odd quick polish every now and again

 

i think this will look ok in the end, as long as the bare aluminium is polished up and all the finger prints are gone! lol!

 

still cant figure out what that thing on the tray is....

 

what he has done is to mod a 5 1/4 in drive bay cover to fit on the tray via means of double sided tape.

i believe it first started with shuttles, i did it with mine many moons ago.

 

looks good. wish i had the skills to do something like that

 

i like it but like said before the drive needs to be stealthed!

 

Yay, I figured it out, it's the bottom of the dvd drive showing up through the hole in the middle of the slot.

 

i was thinking it was some kind of cool cd holding thing....

 

Thanks for the feedback!

The grill was temporarily fitted, I knew it needed turning I will be fitting a fan behind it. What about finger prints though, I have two young un's who love touching anything shiny, thats why I was going to laquer it.

I will be polishing it up when the projects finished, but as it's still a work in progress there's no point at the mo.

I was always going to be doing something with the DVD. I am still not sure what though. The way I see it I have 3 options open:

1, Stealth the drive, as shown by OverQloker

2, Use a slot loading DVD RW mounted behind the acrlic, with just a slot cut into the front panel and fit a push button

3, Mount it flush and paint the existing bezel.

The 2nd option is my favourite at the moment, but I have been trying to find a laptop slot loading DVD RW at a good price (cheap!), without much success. I have another piece of acrylic to work on once I have made my mind up, so any comments/suggestions really would be appreciated as usual!

Cheers,

Stu

 

make it load vertically, or to the side.

 

I absolutely love the smack white plain front... Clean and Sleek.

Keep up the great work.

 

I fitted the lighting the other day, but haven't had time to do anything else. It's been mayhem at work!



I noticed a spot thats crying out for some mod loving in the case, just above the mobo. There's a whole section of dead space, which will need something to bring it to life!

Cheers,

Stu