Thanks guys anyway. No idea yet what I'm doing with it.. Took me this long to officially discontinue this project since I was expecting/fearing reaction like this.. But really, I'm not very fond of ATX form factor nowadays and will 'downsize' to smaller ones. I can't justify buying new hardware that I won't need just for this project.. And I currently have only very little hardware - no another machine where to steal parts to this one. Passion for modding and building is still here and possibly stronger than ever, but I won't waste my time finishing system that doesn't work or would go straight to the darkest closet.
Why not using this project as a base of new one? It is half done,and it is such a waste of beautiful mod. So chop it and make it smalle for the FF you like. C'mon don't give up.
It is perhaps a little extreme to question your love of modding. I will be sad not to see this one finished (maybe send it to Keir or alain-s or someone to finish if it youre REALLY done with it).
Little bit more background behind this just for you guys. I probably thought this way too much so this is also to clear my own thoughts.. Not as much work is wasted as it might seem.. I think that the motherboard 'tray', logos, PSU bracket etc. can be reused in later builds. Might be even possible to reuse heatsinks from the CIVF! I was going to use this system through 2013, but hardware chose differently. I could buy used motherboard etc, but I rather sell what's left and get a kickstart onto a new project with more modern hardware. Another exciting thing is that it's about 8 months to Assembly Summer '13 LAN-party. I wasn't going to build another system and just take ZOE to LAN-parties next year. But now I might aswell build a new LAN-party (+HTPC) system! I do have some old liquid cooling hardware and thinking about Mini-ITX with liquid cooling.. All this just means I'll have to start sketching a new system..
Awesome work man, sorry to hear its cancelled its looks so clean. I do understand though, sometimes there is just no salvaging a build, no matter how hard you try. Respect to you for making a clean cut and moving on !
Lurker here Zesti, I LOVE your craftsmanship! You somehow put grace into metal. As someone who has never worked with materials like aluminum and who is inspired by what you do, could I ask some advice? What kind of tools do you think are necessary to start out working with aluminum like you have? I'm wondering what your cutting tool is, but I assume metal files, a hand drill, some taps, and sandpaper? Looking forward to the next thing you decide to create.
Thank you guys! Twisthem488, I'm using very basic tools: jigsaw, files, drill, taps, sandpaper and that's about it. I'm really happy my small mod got nominated. And that really forces me to continue.. I ended up dropping my Crosshair IV Formula to RMA even after hearing all kind of a horror stories. But everything went really well - no even compalints about missing stickers etc. Took a little over two weeks and now I have repaired motherboard. Nice bonus too - new 3029 BIOS seems to have support for the FX8350. So all in all, I just have to continue. Can't let you guys down after being nominated for mod of the month. Luckily I have long weekend because of Finlands Independence day. New photos coming asap. Some changes can be expected too..
such a good build while it lasted, but i see your point of view, i have a few month old 600T in the closet which im most likely not gonna use anymore and its too cut to pieces to sell
Amazing work! I finished reading about Project ZOE, and just went through this one. Though I'm glad this project is now active again, I do agree with discontinuing a project you know longer have the need to continue (or interest, or resources, or whatever). The quicker you realize a project is heading nowhere, the sooner you can scrap it and move on to something else. Again though, I'm glad to see this project is alive again! -Tad
Wow, you came close to canceling this one, would have been a shame to cancel this, it's a very nice project mate, glad asus replaced it for you.
Thank you guys! Tadzilla, yeah, I don't have any real use for this system, but all the components are now just sitting here.. I might as well build a working system. Plus my parents could use a HTPC. For HTPC use I need to get some new parts like WLAN USB-thingy etc, but those won't affect the looks at all. However for colors I'll go for black and silver - those will work well with the interior and AV-hardware. Even dark'ish wood like oak could work and it would be rather easy to add into this system. Hmm. Cleaned motherboard a bit.. Again. No more barcode stickers etc. Mounting graphics card is a bit interesting since memory, 6pins and 24pin are so close to each other. I might need to modify 6pins for 90° angle. I will soon order a new low profile memorykit - old one is 'Black Edition' memory and still has lame green PCB. I'm also rethinking CPU cooling. Custom loop would be cool, but there's hardly any space for pump. On the other hand H100i would work very well if I just get tubes routed nicely.. And if they are long enough.
A lot of people have modded their h100 to add longer tubing or a res. The posts i have seen seem to imply it wasnt too difficult.
In fact, it's not a bad idea, since the hoses leaking or the coolant drying up is 90% of what makes the sealed units fail. Glad to see this re-started.