Case Mod - In Progress Project: Hutch (Qmicra v2) The reservoir v.2! Aug 16

Hey, thanks man! I trust you are going to post a full worklog? I've often thought about doing an SG03 mod, but always got sidetracked with other ideas. I'd certainly love to see what you can pull off!

Yeah, the house modding was great fun, but I'm glad it's done. I've got other things to occupy my time now. The shop was a big deal to me, because it's in the house. I do have a full garage, but it's always too hot, or too cold.

Since this mod is for a friend, I'm not entirely sure which direction he will go. Most likely Asus though. I'm getting some of the parts for my OSIDIAS project today, and I'm sure I can convince him to get the same hardware...

 

Well guys, I didn't get much done over the weekend. I've really been pushing to get some planning work on OSIDIAS done for the MNPCTech Case Design Competition. I really don't stand a chance against some of the awesome builds in there, but I figure it's worth a shot. Unfortunately, I also had to work at my regular job on Saturday. That took a whole day's worth of modding away from me...

So, what did I get done? Well, I managed to get Vista 64 installed on my new Asus Rampage II Gene mATX and i7 920 combo. I'll tell you this, I've never had such a flawless install. Either in the OS or software. It's also the smoothest and most responsive system I've ever used. It simply feels amazing. You move the mouse, and it's like it already knows where to go. I've really never experienced anything like it. In addition, it's the first system in recent memory that will go into standby, and actually wake up when prompted! All in all, I'm beyond happy with it. My experience's so far, have convinced me that Hutch needs this board... (the board is actually for OSIDIAS).

 

Glad to hear the Gene (someone so needs to do a KISS tribute computer with this board), performs so well. The 'Egg got them in stock sometime last week, so mine is on its way (I have no other components yet, save the PSU, but I didn't want to chance the board slipping away). Not sure if I want to invest in Vista or hold off until Windows 7.

 

Yes, it's an excellent board. I can't wait to get the chip on water. I'll try overclocking with the stock cooler, but the temps will likely be high. You should have got in on one of the combo deals... I didn't myself, because I was impatient, but I've got no regrets. Although, now I've found that I'm completely distracted...

 

Since this is still talking about components of the system, hopefully this isn't off subject. The only combo deal I saw was with the i7 965 - which is a little more nuts than I care to get considering the 920 overclocks so well (read, I would rather spend the extra 1k on GPUs, if I had it lol). But the pricing is righteous at $250 USD considering the features added over the DFI.

One thing I did see mentioned was that the NB gets extra toasty. Is Hutch (and OSIDIAS) getting a watercooled NB as well?

EDIT: Nevermind, there are some combo deals with RAM that I might been into (darnit!)

 

Yeah, the 965 would be a bit much, and honestly not practical, since the 920 is such an awesome chip. I don't recall what they had for CPU combos, but they had some pretty decent ones on memory.

EDIT: You ninja edited me! Lol.

The northbridge does get toasty, but no water on it for OSIDIAS anyway. I'm really pushing it with a single 240 radiator. That's right on the border of being acceptable, but luckily I'll have my San Ace's moving the air. However, even though there will be no water, it will get supplemental air cooling.

 

Who wants to hop on board the crazy train? I've been doing a little thinking... Ever since I started this project, I've been looking for it's 'wow' factor. Sure, it's a clean little project, but it didn't quite have the insanity of my previous work. Well, I think I've finally found it... I'm currently looking in to adding a 3rd radiator. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that will make for a total of 3 240 rad's in a SFF case. To make this work, I'll have to mesh most of the cover, and add a second pump. I also plan on keeping room for 4 hard drives. Insanity has just kicked in...

 

LOL now you're talkin! I knew you couldn't just do a clean SFF build without having some sort of over-the-top holy-crapness worked in. But will this affect your initial plan of not compromising existing features?

 

Haha, thanks Brian! You're right, I just couldn't help myself. So, what do I have to compromise? Well, I'll lose 2 slots on the motherboard. It wasn't in my original plan to do so, but there's simply no way around it if I want to keep it all internal. I'll still make room for 4 hard drives, which was one of the priorities as well. I spoke with Hutch, and he's most likely going to use a 4870x2 or 295 GTX. So, the loss of unused mb slots was an easy sacrifice to make. We'll end up being able to watercool both an OC'ed processor and video card. That right there is no small feat considering the amount of heat they can produce.

 

Yeah I was right, you just love getting yourself into tight spaces lol, good luck, I'm sure it will work out just fine .

 

You got me. The tighter the better...

 

thats kewl man . finished my qmicra v2 build not long ago. did you buy the one that werent quite painted yet? also where are you going to replace your hdd light, and power button? was thinking of modding mine but not so sure yet. an idea i had was to cut the top of it, and make it have delorean doors on it.

 

Thanks man! Yeah, I did get one that hadn't been painted. I'm not sure where I'm going to put the power and HDD light yet. Hutch and I have differing opinions on this. Mod yours! Delorean doors would be pretty sweet...

 

If your using a Bulgin switch you wont have to worry about where the power LED goes lol. I would try and have them central on the front, looks much better if things are symetrical IMO.

 

Looking really great. I love small cases!

Any updates?

 

Um... pay no attention to the amount of time that has passed between now and my last post... The date's are a lie, or the cake is, or something like that...

Part of the goal in modding this case was to ensure plenty of airflow. The radiators are only as good as the amount of airflow that moves through them. Once that air moves through them, it needs to have someplace to go. That led me to what you are about to see next. I'm going to cut out the sides of the case, and prepare to put mesh in it's place.

I'll be using the same mesh as the front, and have even copied the front's pattern for a fairly consistent look and feel.

Here is the first side taped out and ready for the dremel. The stock mesh will soon be history...




A little bit later, I'm left with the rough opening in the side of the case.



Here is the same side after being filed and sanded.



With one side cut, I can begin marking out the second side. Notice it's slightly different in layout than the first. The protrusion on the far side, will have a cut out for power and reset switches, as well as a USB port. The preceding items will be mounted to a panel on the case itself. That will allow the cover to be removed without the need to disconnect any cabling.



Up next will be the finished cutting on the second side, and some mesh placement. That also means I'm about to bring a new technique to the table. Stay tuned for the debut of the 'torch'...

 

Flame on brother

 

Oh, I like fire lol . Nice clean cuts Craig, I can't wait for the mesh.

 

Thanks man!

Who doesn't love fire? Thanks! I do seem to have a pretty steady hand when it comes to cutting. I guess it's just something I've gotten better at. A few years ago I wasn't quite as good, and spent a whole lot more time filing, lol. I should have the mesh update for you tonight hopefully.

 

The last update left off with me about to cut the second side of the case cover. So, that's where we'll pick up now. In the following picture, I've cut the hole, filed, and sanded it to a finished state. You can see the cutout behind which the power and reset buttons will find their new home.



Next up is to get the AC Ryan mesh cut down to size. Let the sparks fly!



All we need now is a little filing... I thought I'd show you something else as well. These slots are cut in to the top of my workbench with a few specific purposes in mind. It makes cutting and filing a breeze. All work is well supported, and there's even a tray underneath to catch all the filings and cuttings. This has made a world of difference compared to hanging work off the side of a bench.





With the mesh cut to shape, I now need to bend it to match the angles in the case cover. So, I pull out my little bending brake that proved it's worth during Project: Rogue's construction.



Finally I've got the mesh sitting in place. It fits well, so no further modifying is needed.



With the mesh all ready to go, the next update will find it attached to the cover a little more permanently...