Please note I am relatively new to case modding so this project will be nowhere near some of the ones on here or in CPC. Hello all ! Recently I ended up purchasing a GTX 295. I don't quite know why, because I have two PCs and one of them is well sorted with the latest hardware and the other is a media PC housing a Corsair CX 420 or whatever it's called. It couldn't run an 8800 Ultra and squeaked a bit with a 8800 GTS in so there's no way I would even plug in the GTX. Here is the card. It's a plain OEM and I purchased it from the states as I lived out there for a decade before illness brought me home. I have a good ammount of friends out there (the best I have in all honesty) and one of them comes to visit once a year. He will be bringing it, and other parts, over in September. The card. I wasn't that happy about it being completely OEM (I think it was Dell surplus) but after reading reviews I found one I really liked the look of. It's the Point of view decal one. So, I contacted POV (a really nice bunch of guys and gals) and asked if they had any of the decals remaining. A few days later this came from Holland. But I was still at a bit of a loss as to what I was going to use this card for. Then the idea hatched. I had a Bitfenix Survivor with my media PC in. I also had a Silverstone TJ06 in the loft so I decided to empty out the Survivor and have a bit of a play with it. Then the penny dropped and the idea hatched.... David at Bitfenix has been crying out for some one to mod a Survivor, but no one seems to want to play. So I figured I would. I'm more of a hot rodder than a case modder, having two custom cars under my belt. However, times have changed for me due to illness so I decided it was time to cut and hack around a computer. Firstly I decided to mug the Silverstone as I never really liked it. I took out the side window and transferred (in a quick and untidy fashion) the media PC into it. I then took my hole saw set (£6) and cut in a hole. At the time I had Noctuas due to the very kind people there, but they just wouldn't go. So I sold them and replaced them with Xigmatek Crystals (green). Amazingly it literally fit in width down to the millimeter. Then I took the side panel outside, marked it up, screwed through it (the piece coming out) into 3/4 timber to stop it flapping and cut the window in. Some tapping and drilling later and my window was done. Note, the POV logo is to hide the wire.After a lot of jigsawing, filing and fettling it was done. Then I had a dig around in my parts box that resides under my bed and found a Cooler Master Megaflow (lit in blue) and ten green LEDs. I also decided that the red BF logo would look stupid, so both met the soldering iron. A quick test fit. And I was ready to move on. Then I removed them and broke the case down, removing the hard drive bays. I wanted pure airflow. NB. The LEDs used are the same, but for some reason they look different colours when photographed. They're not.. Really odd ! Then I ordered my paint. The paint is made by a German company called Montana, and the paint is from the 'Black' range. It is a non water based paint so it takes a while to dry. It comes out thick and fast, so it's not for the faint hearted. When dry it takes on an eggshell look, completely devoid of any streaks or marks. Then it was onto laying down some base. I firstly coated the windowed panel with the rust colour (these were left over from a Noctua case mod I did a while back). This would fill in any fine marks and scratches. Into the drying room (AKA the downstairs bog). Then it was onto the other stuff. For this I used beige as a base. And once again it was into the drying room. When I test fitted all of the pieces back after it was dry I noticed a problem. The outside of the case is coated in black cool touch rubber. I wanted it to wrap around the case green. Sadly to the top and bottom of the panels is a 'shut line' and this would also need to be green. Time to begin masking, and thanks to my mother's terrible taste in media publications I had this young lady to keep me company. About an hour later... Base down. The green paint was taking a few days to come, so I moved onto other things. Firstly I braided the fans, SATA cable (only one, laptop drive hidden in the right panel and no optical to keep it clean) And then the SATA extension. Note as I said I have never done this before, so you can consider me a rank amateur. Then the green paint arrived. In the meantime though I had designed and ordered some vinyl graphics in matt black. The green is a bit off as I grabbed it from the paint cap in Photoshop. Then it was onto painting with my graphics now ordered. First the shut lines. Then it rained.. Then the right panel. Then the assorted parts. Then the left windowed panel and flip side of the assorted parts. And back into the drying room.. NB 2, most of the photos were either taken outside in direct sunlight (where I let them flash) or with flash on the camera due to low light levels/crappy weather. The colour is more subtle, but I have warned my friend that he will need factor 80 and some decent shades to prevent third degree sunburns. Now the specs of the system. This is where I explain that the system has been almost made up of completely free parts. Hence why I have used what I had, and, not gone mad on paint. My other PC will obliterate it, so it was literally get it up to gaming prowess and end it there. time I have, bundles of cash I don't. CPU - Intel Core 2 E4500 (free from a dead PC). EVGA 790i Ultra SLI (free, courtesy of my pal who is bringing over the 295). Noctua NH-92 thing (have had this three years). OCZ platinum DDR3 1333 2GB (free, same friend in USA). Bitfenix Survivor (free) Nvidia GTX 295 (£96 delivered to my friend). Rosewill Green 700w 56 amp 80+ Bronze (official) (free). 80GB SATA 2 laptop hard drive (free, it only needs to store a couple of games and Windows). Fan grille, green cathode, LEDs, had them for years. Xigmatek 120mm, £10 for two delivered. Assorted braid and parts £5. Back soon with more adventures !
Off came the masking. Lots of cleaning with white spirit to remove the gunk from the tape later... And the shut lines were done. When I fitted the window a few days back I noticed a slight problem. Due to the original holes in the window for mounting it hit the frame on the inside of the case, so with the window fully screwed in the panel refused to go on. So, I put the panel on. Marked through the holes and then drilled them out. And then when I fit the window all I have to do is put those screws in once the panel is on. The nice part is should I take it to a LAN meet it will provide an extra level of security. The panel is locked in place with those six screws.
I'd call this a great first mod! (you say you are really new to the modding scene, so I'm gonna go with the thought that this is your first as such!) Looks very clean and tidy for now! Noone says it HAS to be over-the-top or insane!
Thanks Angel. To be honest it was more about ideas that money. I don't have bundles of cash to dump into getting things lazer cut or £500 paint jobs. Colour coding is important here, and I'm usually spot on with it. Anything with black (especially a nice lairy colour) will set it off... More work done. Gave it a good clean and put the top and bottom back on. It should now be apparent why it was so important to paint those shut lines. Then the front fan went in. And the back one. I'm just waiting on the vinyl graphics now. I just hope he gets them to me in a timely manner. Odd, before I paid for them he was very attentive. Since paying I haven't heard a word.. Must chase him up !
I ordered one of the first twenty. Sadly there was a problem. The manual was missing and it hadn't been checked over properly. I have a feeling it was a production sample as I had been on the waiting list for two months. When I went to build it nothing seemed to fit right at first. When I started it up the top fan spun around, made a huge bang and exploded. Two blades sheered off. At the time I was rather unwell so I was at the hospital a lot. I asked David at BF for some new fans as I really did not have the time to empty it and RMA the case. I got another case, fans, magazines and sweeties lmao. Top notch CS. Obviously I have now switched out the chassis so I have been able to completely break it down and straighten it up. I figured it was nice to cut it apart and mod it given that David has been calling for some one to put one under the chop for ages but no one seems to have obliged. Least I can do really.
I've plenty of experience in cutting things up and adding asses to them before painting them, just not a computer
You are right on the money m8! Btw. I never spent a penny on paint/laseretch/cnc etc. All I have is what I can do myself! And to be honest, some of the people in here who are only armed with dremmels, got more skill than me and a lot others! So keep on modding sir!
I think from memory (don't take my word for that, my memory is terrible) I have taken on 3 mods. Only this one will get finished. Marriage and a demanding job always won over The first one I ever did was in 2005. As I said I'm a hot rodder at heart, so I don't usually take on anything easy. This was Radiomactive, and made Maximum PC stateside. The Intel badge might give it away.... Bear in mind that that was done before braiding even existed and people were still shoving EL wire through their cases and putting on fan grilles Hilariously the cathode and biohazard grille were parts left over. It never did get completely finished as my ex wife and I moved house a week after the last pics were taken Cold Fuzion was to be the next. (insert loads of work log and pics here) It did make it to the design stage and colour scheme. But sadly that is where it ended. I became ill and just lost my enthusiasm. I sold off both of my ALX PCs after that and built into my first Survivor. And then my second, which has now been sold on.. The X58 based one has been stripped and I put my parts into an Alienware Aurora shell I got from Ebay. I do have a soft spot for the look and lights (and bright things, there is a reason for that though...)
Yay done First thing to do was mark the plain panel to fit the logo onto. The bottom marker has been cut into a point so I know where dead center is. The other two mark the sides. Note there isn't a top one, because the point is marked and the correct height to make sure the logo has the same gap top and bottom. Hands shaking it was onto the laying.. Peel back, stick down the bottom then slowly work my way up with a credit card. Off comes the top masking. Repeat proceedure on the window side. Fit the fan and grille. Now I can move onto some wiring, fitting the cathode ETC. But I'll save that for another day
More done. Braided the cathode and extended the wires. Then I took a hdd blanking holder bay thing and flipped it backward before painting it to hide the cathode ballast. Braided the ESATA and some other cabling and fired up the lights.
This is why the circular point of view sticker is there. I know some don't like it (friends have pointed it out) but IMO it's better than a cable just dangling down. This and the holster hide it completely. Of course nothing is ever final, so I may replace it with something that has been thought out a little better. Ooooo I'm such a tease
