Case Mod - In Progress [Completed] Nizr's W2AX - Cooltek (Jonsbo) W2

Update 7 - Sponsor!


I've gotten an incredible support from Team Group and they have decided to support this project with a whooping 16GB RAM and 2 SSDs on 480GB each, Thank you! Without the support from sponsors, there won't be as many projects.

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Let's start off with the RAM 4x4GB DDR3 2133MHZ "Vulcan". These puppies come with a black PCB and the heatsink is avaiable in many different colours.
I will, however, fabricate my own heatsinks.. more on that in another update...

The discs are two SSD Dark L3 480GB- 4K Random Read/Write: 75K/75K IOPS Max. The discs will not keep their looks for long though...

Enough text, here comes the IMAGES













I hope you like what you see, i sure do!
Next up in the project is to mount the painted aluminium plates into place. But that's just a fraction of what i have planned, alot of work with both hardware and the case remains. I hope you stay with me to the end of the project!

 

Long time since last update. I am sorry for that. I am however making progress, but I am currently without a computer, which makes photo editing and build log updated a bit.... Complicated..

But you can follow the project via Instagram: http://instagram.com/nizrcustomcomputers
And Facebook.com/nizrcustomcomputers

I'll see you there!

 

Update 8 - Proudly introduces, MSI




I am happy to announce that i am working with MSI once again, I have had the honour to work with them and their products yet again. Who knows, maybe there's more products on it's way.

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A MSI z97 Mpower will act as a base for the build. The mobo have given me 0 problem so far. I just pluged in everything, booted and installed windows from USB, no hick-ups, just go go go!

The yellow colour is a fresh breeze and something else then the "usual" black and red. But, it wont fit witht this build, the colour have to go. The heatsinks will be black with a touch of naked aluminium.






Easy accesed buttons. Power and reset gives a green light, plus/minus glows red. And yes, you can turn of LEDs







Power!



Motherboard of highest quality!

The SSDs have had a makeover. And now, that i finally have access to a computer again, and my shoulder getting better and better, you can expect more frequent updates!

What do you think of the motherboard? I think i'm a bit in love!

 

Update 9


Sponsors

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I've finally gotten some more time to work in the project. Today I'll show you some preperation of hardware before paintjob, custom vinyls and more...




I think this means warranty void..





Yellow is not the theme of this build, Be gone!.



"Be afraid, be very afraid"..I was even more terrefied then the RAM. Terrefied that i would kill 16GB RAM. BUT, tested everthing afterwards, seems all good!



But, whats the outcome?! Well, splendid! HOWEVER, It's not done yet, i have some details left and want to show you the finaly product.

Tomorrow I'll be working on the chassis side panel, cutting out the new hole for the custom windows.
I don't really know what i want to do with the RAM. I do have some options, and as safety I'll be modding the original sinks, just in case my other thought turns out cr**. So, tomorrow I'll start sanding of the anodised paint of the RAM heatsinks.

Until next time!

 

Update 10! - Hardware

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I have had sponsors engaging in this project as i progress this means that the build is a bit messy, I'm sorry for that. But i am so happy and proud of the support these companies give me, they make me want to performe even better and really put my soul to things.

I now proudly present SilverStone! Which contribute to this project with Strider ST1000-G Evolution. A 1000W is way more then i need, but i had already manufactured the cover panels and the var ST1000-G was the only option due to correct size. This was no problem for SilverStone whom sponsored me with this high quality PSU, Thank you!​

ST1000-G comes in a BIG (i really mean it, hughe) box with golden details, it gives a very exclusive impression. You also get a lot of cables with a length that should be enough for most. The PSU itself is in a matte black/grey finish and is truly the star of the box. It does however have blue connectors for PCI-E, which i will have to change, ofc



















I've also cut bigger windows in the sidepanel(s), an update over that process will be posted in just a couple of days! Right now the panels are at a company, giving them some love to make them.. well.. more exclusive, do you know what?

 

Update 11 - Saw, grind, grind and grind...


Sponsors

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Only a couple of days between update, i think its lovely! I've been siting on this update for a while now, I have been waiting for something to arrive and wanted to wait, but it did not show up. So i decided to do an update anyhow and will have to show the missing part in some other update, maybe an "update 11.2"


Time to give these beautiful panels a go with the saw. I'll be having windows on both side panels.



"Point of no return"



After the saw you have to file...



...And after filing... A lot of grinding...



I've also started to grind away the anodised paint on the RAM heat sinks..



This was really time consuming. When i had done 7 out of 8 i got a tip from Mr. Brömmel aka Moddingstylez that "sink cleaner" shoud do the trick. Now that's effectiveness, the paint just fell off.
I grinded all the sinks, put on primer and then colour, and kept the top part in naked alu. BUT, it looked like sh-t, so they went out with the trash. Lucky me my head is full of ideas, so i will make something else of the RAM. Only 5 hours of work out of the window, but hey, at least i learned something



Maybe this will give you an idea of the end result. OBSERVE! The panels on the inside are not mounted yet, only held in place with some pieces of cardboard. This image do not reflect the end result and i noticed that it was leaning a bit when i got the pictures in the computer.



I', sorry for the focus, a bit off.... sloppy of me.



The SSDs will be mounted on the black panel, horizontally. And then some light design, i have a feeling this will be great. Have you seen the end result of the modded SSDs? They will be in naked brushed alu, i might add something extra, have not decided yet.

In the next update I'll show you the star of this project. I hope you can wait!

 

Update 12 - New sponsor and cooperation!

Ocaholic.ch have decided to support my project(s)! They help me getting sponsorship for my project, which make me very greatful and happy, it is really, really helpful. For this project Ocaholic.ch and Noctua, together sponsor me with amazing fans and cpu-cooler


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I told you to have an update on my side panels this time.. I'm sorry but MR. Murphy paid me a visit, you'll have to wait

I just love fans and air cooling, which you might notice by looking at the amount of images in this post.
I might be wierd or odd who want's air cooling for such great hardware that this project equipped with.
But my "vision" for this project was an air cooled system, i did look at water from time to time... But i stuck with my original idea, and i'm glad i did.
I wanted high quality throughout this project and what other company then Noctua for the cooling?


It's the inside that counts, right? I don't mind a beautiful outside though. Lovely boxes and fans, could this get any better?




NF-A14 IndustrialPPC-2000 PWM







I don't know if NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM count's as the smaller brother








The family gathered.



NH-D14 - Beautiful piece. You might wonder "why not the D15?". Well, the D15 dont got the same looks as the D14, I wanted a rougher look and a more matte surface. And, the D15 is to tall for the W2 case











So beautiful! A cooler good enough for a king!

 

Noctua gear is solid

 

the quality of your pic is astounding...

 

First comment here, I thank you for that
Noctua really is something special, tests might show that others have similar performance... But the quality of these are amazing!

Thank you! I put a lot of time on the photos

Hope you stick around for more updates and the final result

 

Update 13 - I'M BACK!


Sponsors

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I can now finally go back to work on my modding project. I hope the two shoulder surgeries i've been through is enoug...
Those darn side panels are finally done. But, yet again, you will see them soon

I started to modify the SSDs and heatsinks on the motherboard in update 9. Heres the result.


Really pleased with how the SSDs turned out. Brushed with matte coating.


Wait, WHAT?! A GPU?


A MSI GTX 980TI Gaming 6G. A big thank you to MSI Europe whom belives in what i do and spnsored this project with this amazing GPU.
I've removed the black paint on the backplate and gave it a brushed finish and finished it by some layers of matte coating




I've also painted the heatsink black and removed the "shroud". Gives a nice contrast if you ask me. Oh, and don't mind the fngerprints...




I removed the fans. THe card will be cooled by two Noctua 120mm which will be mounted on the bottom of the case.



I might be crazy - but it's in the details, right? The NH-D14 is beautiful out of the box, But the colour on the top fin don't match with the rest of the build. I first sanded off the nickel plating. And then it hit me - When sanding between the pipes, the plating on the pipe get's sanded off. THe pipes are made out of copper... NOT GOOD.

So off i went and bought a colour that matched the SSD's - Final result is pending.
I do like the feel of the color with a rough sanding. Something for another build?



Sleeving the fans and creating some custom cables to controll the brightness of the LEDs



Time to mount.


Christmas is closing in - christmas feel mounting.

 

Hi Nizr! Again I must say, I really like the pictures and how the build have turned out so far!

It's klasvonklas here from Sweclockers. Currently i'm waiting for a response from the moderators to have my name changed to beyondthemind on Sweclockers. Just wanted to follow your build here to. Going to upload my build here as well.

Looking forward to the rest of your build!

 

Impressive pictures! I'm sticking around for the end result

 

Ah, so thats why i had a friend request from this user
Looking forward to your build!

Glad to hear! The end result is near now, i can feel it!

You relly should stick arround, i have yet to shown the crown jewels of this build

 

Update 14 - Sidepanels - Finally

Sponsors

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It's Finally time to present the side panels - they have bugged me for quiet some time, but they are finally done. I'll start of this post by posting some old pictures of the progress.


I cut open a new hole in the right sidepanel and made the left one bigger then the original.




A round with the saw and then filed the edges down.


Finished of with some sanding.

I'm all happy, finally time to soon present a major feature for this project Custom GLASS side panlens. I visit the local glazier. No problem with ordering the glass

(expensive but no issue).
Then it hit me, like beeing hit by Mike Tyson. Drilling holes for mounting is 30Usd/hole! That would be 300-400usd Just for holes. It's not worth it.
So i thought - I just have to glue the glass to the side panel - I order the glass.

One week later and the glass is done.
Hmm, but the glue, won't it be all smudged out and look c r a p? Yes it will...
So i'm thinkin that i'll just mount the glass on the inside of the panels - Won't give me the look that i want but it's good enough.
Problem again - The glass is made to be on the outside, not inside,m which means that the glass is to wide, it won't fit. So what do i do? I try to grind or "sand" the

glass down with a knife sharpening stone. After a more then 3 hours I've gotten the glass 1-2mm smaller... This won't work.

I turn to my more experienced friends Laine and MetallicAcid for some advice. Laine came up with the idea to cut the case frame to make the panel fit - so away i go.

Done with the cuttin, time for a test mount with double sided tape. The glass is "to thick" and i can't get the side panel on, the glass hits the cpu-cooler. Back to square one.
What about the right sidepanel? It was made wrong bu the glazier - to small. I do get a new peice of glass - but still, getting tired of these sidepanels now.


I undergo my shoulder surgery and can't mod for over 2 months.
When i'm finally able to work on the project again im thinkin "Fck it" and attach the glass on the outisde with glue (an elastic glue). I start of by mounting it with small points just by the edge of the glass - I doesnt show, can't thell that the glass is glued.

I then glue around the glass on the outside, creating a "frame". Yo do see the glue if you get up and look at the edge from 5cm away, but it's not smudged out, looks good. And i'm happy!


Sorry about the dust and fingerprints...





See you soon!

 

So, it's finally done and this is what's been done:
Sponsored by MSI, Team Group, Silver Stone, Ocaholic, Noctua and Nanoxia.
I wanted the build to reflect "exclusiveness, industrial and performance. So you think i succeeded?

This is my second project and the goal was to raise the bar when it comes to modding and also regarding the photography, I think I have lived up to those goals.


This project made me love working with aluminium and also made me not wanting to work with steel ever again, could be because I lack the proper tools for steel. I can't imagine it being lack of knowledge

Hardware:
Case: Cooltek (Jonsbo) W2
Motherboard: MSI z97 Mpower.
CPU: Intel 4790K Devil's Canyon
GPU: MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G.
RAM: Teamgroup Vulcan 16GB 2133Mhz.
PSU: SilverStone ST1000-G Evolution 1000W.
SSD/HDD: 2x480GB Teamgroup L3 SSD.
Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 and fans from Noctua "industrialPPC" series.
Leds sponsored by Nanoxia.

Modifications:
Case -
* re-painted the case frame in matte black.
* Cut up holes in the bottom for better airflow.
* Made the original window bigger and put in Real Galss.
* Made a new window in right side panel adding a window out of Real Glass.
* Drilled a hole and mounted a new power button in the front.
* Removed fan grill at the back.
* Custom made aluminium panels covering the motherboard tray, short side of PSU and panels which covers the cables and a mounting plate for the SSDs. SSDs are mounted with Magnets.
Everything using carefully chosen screws.
* painted the panels matte black.

Motherbord -
* Removed yellow details and painted heatsinks matte black.
* Removes all the stickers.
* Removes Audio boost plate.

SSDs -
* Removed the original black color.
* Brushes the aluminium casing to get a finish which matches the case.
* Custom vinyls

GPU -
* Removed the shroud and fans.
* Painted the heatsink matte black.
* Removed the anodising of the backplate and then brushed it to get it to match the finish of the case.

CPU-cooler -
* Removed nickelplating on top fin and repainted the top to make it match the gpu backplate.

Fans -
* Heatshrink to cover the colored cables.
* Custom vinyls.

Cables -
* New power button with custom cables.
* Custom length cables sleeved by Icemodz

*LEDs by Nanoxia.





































And some night shots

 

Congratulations on finishing your project. It looks really sleek .

 

A bit overkill on the pretty pictures of parts, but the build itself is tidy and well executed.

 

Thanks!

Could you explain more on the overkill part - do you mean the ammount of images? If so, i wanted to show the mods i made and not just "a build" But thanks for input, i'll keep that in mind the next time!

 

Photos of the mods are great. The mod itself is great. It's the 10 pictures of the stock case, 4 pictures of the RAM, 3 pictures of spray cans, 7 pictures of the motherboard, 7 pictures of the PSU, 10 pictures of the fans and 6 pictures of the heat sink that seem a bit superfluous. You obviously know how to handle a camera but the actual mod gets fewer pics! An average of eight pics for stock components but only two of the finished, lit up mod? Come on.

But that's just like, my opinion (man) and should not be taken any more seriously than the weather forecast.