Case Mod - In Progress ASRock M8K : Finished and final pics

Hello members and friends of our great mod community.

Here the beginning of my attempt to do some nice things to a great system: A beautiful ASRock Z97 M8. The challenge is to transform it into a barebone mod with water cooling.

When ASRock contacted me and asked me the question "do you see potential in modding this one" I couldn't say no off course. Then they did me an offer to actually do this, when I said I wanted to put this one under water

Big thanks goes out for this beautiful deal to Red Hung "ASRock HQ" and Peter "ASRock Benelux"



Also big thanks to Niko and Peter from EKWB



And big thanks goes to Harry from Corsair



It all started with the ASRock box that was delivered at work and was transported safely by me to the MbK modcave.



First unboxing on the dining table



And a great case emerged designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA



The M8 is sold as a barebone system, which only includes a chassis, power supply, mini-ITX motherboard, fans and optical disk drive.

- Intel® Z97 Motherboard Inside
- Supports 5th, New 4th and 4th Gen Intel® Core Processors
- A-Command with G-sensor integrated
- Creative SoundCore 3D 7.1 CH HD Audio with Nichicon Fine Gold Audio Caps
- 2T2R WiFi 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0
- SFX 600W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
- XSplit 3 Months Premium License
- ASRock Cloud, ASRock Key Master


Nice specs:



And time to open the small beast Rear side is already great



The front and quickly installed a GTX780 TITAN... see if it fits



Perfect!!! And still space left





Beautiful semi-modular 600W power supply in it



Then it was time to disassemble everything



Good overview at the heart of the M8... The Z97-M8















Looks good!!!

It's possible to install a total of 5 SSDs, or 1x 3.5 "HDD and 4 Pcs 2.5".
In this one will come 4 SSDs





After a night of brainstorming I decided to go up. For this I've used aluminum tubes with acrylic tubes and made a bracket in the middle. And not to forget placed some custom sized acrylic plates.





Also used some Banchetto rubber feet.





And there it is!!!





To be continued!!!

 

Following of course
The case is a really great quality.

 

Thanks and yes it is.... A lot of fun modding this one

 

Will it still be able to stand on its side or is this the position it will be used from now on?

Imagine your last name being "hung". I bet he gets all the girls.

 

It is not the intention to place it vertical again, but itwould be possible yes

 

OMG!!!! another kier mod

gonna be epic as always and always interesting to see, how much better one can make an already awesome product

 

What a lovely little case,lots of potential there.

Personally,I would of kept it as a free stander but rearranged the guts but I look forward to the result.

 

Exciting - I like the look of what you're started here.

I'm particularly interested in how similar the look will be at the end to the original - I imagine they want you to keep the look they are selling it on, but at the same time a mod will always take on some personality from the builder.

 

Thanks man, It IS already a great system yes... just for me the challenge to put some nice WC in it and add nice details.

Thanks B, rearranging the guts will not have the result to create more space (for the water cooling) So I needed to create my own space.

Thanks
Think my style of modding is to keep the case always to be recognized when finished. This is for me and sponsors very important.

 

+1

+1

+1

 

Update!!!







First of all, a few nice shots of a new CPU block from EKWB: The EK-Supremacy EVO

A very nice block onto a not too big mobo looks like a full cover block, so saves money !!!







Looking for the right color regarding the bars: Titanium gray or glossy red





What do you guys think?



Remember there will be rigid tubing, with red liquid (no pastel this time) in it.

I was also trying some stuff with a custom cover for the section beneath and in this an aquatube....



But don't like this. So delete!!! Bottom remains open now, with all the WC stuff in sight.



I did drilled some holes in the aquatube to place red LEDs. What gives a pretty nice effect.



Finally I want the PSU turned the other way for future ideas

Original position:



Made a custom plate which is mounted onto the bracket for the optical drive.



Turned the PSU, made another bracket to secure the PSU.



More to come!!!

 

if you had stuck with that bottom panel idea, incorporating that 'maze' design on the corners of the M8 onto it, would have looked good

 

Think you're absolutly right, but i want to have a full sight now onto the rigid tubing and res. I will add some custom brackets and stuff to make it look better

 

Followed, how could I not?

Finally found a log in the early stages, and a kier one at that! Today's my lucky day

Will look at the log a bit closer tomorrow. Too braindead to comprehend such awesomeness at this hour

 

Thats a strange looking case, but that said I do like it. I like the idea of jacking it up on legs as well.
Not to sure about the bright red legs though. I think the silver looks way better. Much more subtle.

 

Neat!

 

A Kier mod?!?! IN!!

 

Lucky you, and lucky me thanks!!!

Think you're right Jeff, Most of the people on FB and forums liked the titanuim color more.
Thanks mate

Thanks

Thank you

 

Wow Kier I like it from the start!
What about a different kind of red for the "extensions" a bit more purplish maybe...
Silver are ok too, I'm just nitpicking..
Ciao