Scratch Build – In Progress (FINISHED) "Dark Matter" by Envious Mods •3D Printed Parts•

looks like letters are cut with thin acrylic?...really accurate if it's so

 

If your referring to the lettering on the Gskill Trident Z ram it's actually a specialty type of vinyl. I love the way it looks and the effect but it's extremely time-consuming to work with. Thanks for checking out the bulldog as I appreciate it.

 

Gigabyte GTX 960 Xtreme Ed GPU Backplate Changes:

The first idea I had for the backplates didn't give me the look I really wanted. Im the type of person that will redo something as many times as it takes to get it perfect. The new idea I have really focuses on the shape and design of the GPU and backplate while carrying on a combination of design elements.

I decided to try this concept using acrylic for the backplate sides. I am extremely happy with the way this backplate addition turned out. It leaves enough of the stock Xtreme edition backplate while taking it to another level. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.




Cooler Master Front Badge:

In honor of the Cooler Master Case Mod World Series that I am participating in. I felt that it was only right to put a cooler master badge on the front of the case. I used the new special vinyl that I ordered. I love this vinyl but, it takes 10 times longer to make anything with.

 

Building Passthrough Plates:

Currently I'm working on building the pass-through plates that go on the front and backside of the motherboard tray. I started by cutting foam board in order to make a very accurate template. If any of the holes for the past through fittings or even slightly off it will be very very noticeable.

Once I have the first play cut out of acrylic I will make an exact duplicate for the other side. That will sure that everything lines up perfectly. Due to my lack of sleep lately it is taken me a bit longer than usual to make this but, its all part of the game. In the picture below I show the foam board and acrylic water path plate so you can get an idea of what I'm doing.




Last Cables & GPU Cable Combs Arrive From Ensourced:

When the sleep cable were made for dark matter I didn't know exactly which GPUs I would be using. At that time I just had them make a single 8 pin for each GPU. Once the gigabyte GTX 960 Xtreme edition GPUs arrived I realized that I needed another 6 pin to go with the 8 pin. I also requested that Ensourced send their new GPU cable combs due to all the requests to see them. The best part about these GPU cable comes from Ensourced is that you don't need to unpin your cables to install them. They came up with an awesome solution that is a breeze to install.




Finishing The Front Panel:

Im starting to get very close to being finished with the front of the case. I just need to do a little vinyl work, permanently mount everything and finish up a few small details. I figured I'd give you a sneak peek at what it looks like since it's primarily together. Using a filter on the image lets you still enjoy the surprise during the final pics I am extremely happy with the changes made to the front.

Originally I was just going to use a expanded aluminum grille insert to cover the fans. Once I saw mocked up that way I decided it needed more depth so I changed it up and it looks sick. Once the LEDs for the front are on it'll look even better.

 

Final Assembly: It Has Begun

The time has arrived! I am finally ready for reassembly and wiring of all the parts, hardware and case. When I designed the case I took the fact that I would be taking it apart and putting it back together a bunch of times into consideration. This made it a lot easier to put back together for final adsembly. As mentioned earlier in the build log the entire top portion of the case slides off on a track system. This gives you full range of motion throughout the top of the case to the inside.




Mounting Passthrough & Plates:

Thanks all my carful measurements the mounting of the pass-through went together rather well. In between the two plates it's about a 30 to 50 mm.




Bending Hardline & Custom Loop Install:

Now that I have the pass-through all finished and remounted; I can finish bending the hard line for the rest of the system. Going from the acrylic water path to the pass-through was relatively painless due to the use of 90° fittings. After the tubing gets to the motherboard side it starts to get a little bit trickier. I had to do several bends and I ended up free styling the bends instead of using a mandrel set that I 3–D printed / designed myself '.






Adding Vinyl: EKWB Coolstream 480mm Radiator

I designed and custom cut some vinyl pieces for the radiator. The first piece has the Dark Matter logo in green and the second piece is the EKWB logo. I mounted them on the side of the radiator so that they could be seen when you look in the case. Some carefully placed LEDs really make them pop.

 

love your green special vinyl work...and now, with that pretty mobo, the water path and some of the hardline tubes coming along, it starts to be a real sexy machine...thanks again to share your work...

 

Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind words. I'm taking some of the final pics for the Case Mod World Series today. Unfortunately I am unable to put coolant in the system for about a week. The water paths o-rings had to be special ordered and the wrong ones arrived so I have to wait for new ones to arrive. I'll post some of the final pics here and update then once I put that beautiful green EK coolant in. I can't wait. Thanks again for checking out the build and log.

 

Pics For Cooler Masters Case Mod World Series:

These are some of the pics taken for the Case Mod World Series. I had some issues with getting the correct parts (o-ring cord) for the large acrylic water-path. The entire system is assembled and everything been leak tested except the water-paths. I had the option of trying to use acetone to permanently glue the block together but, I later decided that I wouldn't do it. I designed the water-path to be a bolt together setup and I refuse to cut any corners on this build.

I will be taking full on final pics when the parts arrive for the water-path. In the meantime I have taken the photos (posted below) to show my current progress and submission to the competition. Ive also come up with a really neat idea for the mobo 8–pin and the GPUs power cables. It will give it a much cleaner look in my opinion. As many of you who follow my builds know; I will not call this build, “finished” until its up to my standards. Finishing up these few little pieces will get me to the final pics.

 

waaouuh...final result is amazing, and it puts you on the small podium of the most original modders...it puzzles me to see how you managed to give life to all those little designed parts, and how you can have so many original ideas for each part of the mod... your "Dark Matter" is really a unique masterpiece. Bravo...I'm excited for final pics, when you will consider it finished of course...

 

Wow. Thank you so much. I am very happy to see that the things I strive for; show in my build. I always aim to be creative, original and create something new. Pushing the limits is what makes me happy when it comes to fabrication/case modding. I've learned to look at the big picture during my builds which helps to mold all these ideas into one cohesive piece. I really do appreciate the thoughtful comments.


Check out our current scratch build for Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series: http://mod.coolermaster.com/en-us/modder/19?filter=viewed

 

Here are some more updated pictures from the Case Mod World Series:

If you like the Dark Matter scratch build you can also vote here:

http://woobox.com/8dhvpg/gallery/3aiZmLkCD08

 

Since I had some time while I wait for the replacement o-rings I decided to move ahead with a few things I wanted to try on this build. These new additions will be in the final photo shoot.


BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 11 Vinyl Work:

I felt that the front side of the power supply was a little too busy so I decided to remove some of the parts and replace them with some custom vinyl work. We will see how it turns out in the end as I will use whichever one looks best. I really like the layout I designed for the vinyl. It has been cut out of the specialty green vinyl used throughout the build. I took a picture during the design phase as well as after it was weeded. I'll update as soon as its mounted.




Cable Management:

I put a good deal of thought into the cable management for the Dark Matter scratch build when I designed it. Originally I had designed it for 2 X 8–pin for the SLI GPUs. The Gigabyte GTX 960 Xtreme edition GPUs use s 6–pin and 8–pin each. This started to add too much wiring for my taste using the original routes. I started thinking of ways to make the cables inside the case a feature instead of hiding the majority of it.

My idea was to bend some aluminum and make a sort of patch panel where I could plug in the cables coming from the 1,200 BeQuiet Dark Power Pro. Now that I have all the cables where I want them; it was time to come up with a cable comb/clamp that would hold all of the cables together. After playing around with ideas I decided to cut some aluminum strips that are bolted on each side. As you can see I have them roughly mocked up and I still need to shape them. I will do some sketches on hard stock and then transfer that shape to the pieces. My next update will have all of these prices shaped, painted and the last couple sets will be built as well. The pic will give you a sneak peek until then.




Final Photo Shoot Planning:

I have invested a good deal of money into photography equipment including various forms of lighting, filters, stands, diffusers and a camera for the final shoot. My two new diffusers had to be re-sent as the first set never arrived. I will be using all this gear for the final photo shoot. These pictures will be sent to my sponsors, used for this build log and I will also have them for future reference. I have two locations planned for the final photo shoot. One location is inside and the other is outside (weather permitting.) I am excited to be able to take my time to take quality photos. It takes a handful of photos to see the entire build due to there being so many details involved in it.

 

Water-Cooled By EKWB:

I decided to design a Water-Cooled By EKWB badge or piece that will more than likely go on the rear water path (distribution block.) I also came up with a neat mounting spot on the front of the case but, to will take more time to do as a mount will have to be made. I tried this out today in between finishing up a couple other pieces. This is a nice addition as EK has sponsored all of the water-cooling components for this build.






Finished Cable Management:

I managed to finish up the paint for the cable management pieces that I shaped. I painted them a light grey so that they would match the sleeving on the cables. It gives it a much more sleek look as they blend in well. This new setup for the GPU cables and 8–pin for the mobo works great. It allows me to easily access the cabling and manages to keep everything nice and organized.

 

Get EK to send you a GPU block. The fact that the GPU isn't underwater is driving my OCD crazy! Looking awesome man!!

 

It'll be under water eventually. I made an agreement with a sponsor for this portion. My next build is starting in a couple weeks and it will focus more on modding hardware. It'll have watercooled CPU and GPUs.

 

Updates Throughout The Build:

I managed to get the white bolts mounted in the water distribution block. I now need to finish replacing some of the tubing that goes between the front and rear of the case. I added a little bit longer standoffs to fit the cover plate better. Ive also added a terminal block under the floor on the inside of the case which simplifies and slims down the height of the wiring.



I took the opportunity while waiting for better weather to finish a couple details on the front of the case as well. Once I have the new pieces back into the case I will add fluid again and leak test everything before adding the sweet EKWB coolant. Hopefully the weather will clear up when these details are finished.



New Vinyl Mounted On The PSU:

As I mentioned earlier I decided to remove that amperage label on the power supply. I custom-made a new label that is a lot more fitting for the build. Now that I'm getting ready to re-leak test everything in the case I was able to attach the vinyl to the power supply while it was out of the case.




Color Change On SLI Bridge Cover:

I wasn't 100% happy with the look of the SLI bridge cover so I decided to paint it gray to match the rest of the components. I also took this opportunity to swap out the vinyl for the matching green found throughout the build. The combination of this green and gray look absolutely killer in my opinion.

 

And so it comes to an end:

Its time for the last of final pics for the Dark Matter scratch build. I would have had them up earlier but, I had some health issues I had to take care of.

I am very grateful for all of the praise and support I have received during this build. Most of all I am thankful that I have inspired a long list of new modders to take the plunge into the wonderful world of case modding.

I will continue to add more pictures to this post as they are finished. You can also check out the other photoshoot pictures a few posts back.


A Special Thanks To The Sponsors:

I would also like to thank the top notch sponsors of this build and I cant wait to work with you all on my future builds.

- Gigabyte

- EKWB

- OCZ

- Be Quiet

- G.Skill

- Supermicro

- EMI Designs

- Ensourced Custom Cables

- Printrbot

- RantoPad USA


Final Pictures:

 

mate that is a lovely build. A lot of hard work has clearly gone into this.

Well done mate, well done.

Where do you live again...

 

Thank you very much and yes a lot of hard work. I'm getting very close to a 1,000 hrs into it. I could have built it in less time but, I wanted to push myself into building as many parts as I can from scratch VS buying it. I learned a bunch of new skills and met a lot of awesome people so it was well worth the added time. I'm just about to get started on my next build called, "IKONiK" I'll be using the new Dark Base 900 Pro from Be Quiet so it'll be a neat case mod for sure. Thanks again for checking out the build and I hope you check out the next one also.

 

Great News: Bit-tech MOTM

The Dark Matter scratch build has been nominated by Bit-tech to be in the running for Mod Of The Month. I appreciate everyone who voted and supported this scratch build.

Make sure to vote for the Dark Matter build by going to the address below or go to Bit-techs MOTM voting page.

Voting Link:

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=307441