Case Mod - In Progress First casemod: Project ROG Meets Lian Li - Lian Li A10B - Finished 30/5-12

Hi Guys

After reading and watching a lot of awesome mods on this forum I decided to post my project here as well, in hope of some feedback from you guys


The reason for the mod:
One day I came home from work and wanted to check out some hardware reviews on the web. I turned on my computer and my CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. started beeping like mad. I opened my case and saw that the display was showing that there was no water circulation. I turned it off, tuned it back on, but still no luck. I figured it had given up on me (I've had it for about 3 months, hope this isn't a common issue with these coolers so I took it out and brought it back to the dealer and they RMA'd it for me. I went back home and pulled out my stock AMD cooler, and began to mount it, now while doing so I looked around in the case and thought that it had begun to seem a bit old and worn out, and I started getting the idea to mod it somehow. I went on the web and started looking at other mods for inspiration (mainly this forum), and finally got the motivation to start doing some mods to my old case

Now I live in an apartment on the 3rd floor and don't have access to any fancy workshops or garages filled with glorious tools etc. so I have tried to come up with alternatives in ways of modding my case, without making too much of a mess (my girlfriend has already threatened to kill me, so I try to behave )

The hardware:
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 3,2 Ghz
Coolit Vantage A.L.C
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
Corsair Vengeance 8 Gb PC3-12800 @ 1,6 Ghz 8-8-8-24
Zotac Geforce GTX 580
OCZ Vertex 3 120 Gb SSD
Lian-Li PC-A10B
Corsair TX750W PSU

EDIT!
The hardware I ended up with
Intel Core i7 2700K
ASUS Maximus V Gene
EK Supreme HF block
EK 580 GFX waterblock and backplate
Corsair Vengeance 16 Gb
2 X Corsair Vertex 3 120 Gb
NZXT Sentry LX


Planned mods
Redoing the front of the case to make it look more up-to-date.
Replacing the backplate, previously removed due to dual PSU setup.
Windowmod.
Sleeving of the different cables.
Changing the color theme inside the case.
Cutting some holes with my Dremel
Better cable management.
Changing the visible 120mm fans, to something more spicy.

EDIT!
Added mods
Removing the HDD racks to make room for a radiator.
Adding new HDD rack to the 5.25" bays.
Mounting the Vertex 3's in a new visible area of the case.
Adding a new spacer plate between the top and bottom portion of the case.
Adding additional liquid cooling to the system, everything included.
EVEN more and better cable management.


EDIT!
Camera issue
A small edit on the quality of the photos in the beginning of the log. When I started this log I only had my shitty HTC Sensation phone as a main camera and the the quality was not good at all. Looking further in the log you will notice a change in the quality. The reason for this is that I actually went out and got myself a good old fashion camera from Canon, making the pictures a lot more bearable to look at

-

The case is an old Lian Li PC-A10B, which I have been very pleased with, giving me no real reason to change it, but since it's old, it has become a bit boring too look at, giving me the perfect reason to do something about it

The case:
Regrettably, I din't plan on doing a work log when I started, so I didn't take any pictures of the case before I started. I managed to find some pics online of the case though.

This is what it looks like untouched:












First thing I have started out with is the front. I was looking VERY old with the floppy drive bay still mounted, never actually having been used, so I will remove it and spice it up with a LCD of some sorts, and this is where I found the NZXT Sentry LX fan controller, which already had the same color as my case, so I thought it perfect. Order sent, and all I had to do was wait until it finally arrived:





My dull looking front:


Starting to tare it apart:


I found out that these supports were mounted, and decided that I they really didn't have any real reason for being there, so I thought I'd remove them:


To do so I had to take a look at the side and start to unscrew the whole thing, thinking I'd remove the gray plastic drive locks as well:


I think it makes it look "cleaner"


Removed the floppy bay:




Installed the Sentry:


Sentry turned off:


Sentry in action:

 

I finally received my sleeving for the PSU and started right away. Now I've never done this before, and had a bunch of ideas on how to do it, but after sleeving the ATX power cord and the additional 12V power cord for the motherboard I decided to stop. First of all the color of the sleeving doesn't fit the rest of the color scheme, it's too orange for my liking. Second of all I am a newbie at this, and like all newbies, I have to learn the hard way and learn from my mistake and quite frankly, the sleeving job I've done looks like bullocks. Thirds is the quality of the sleeving, I believe it to be too cheep, it doesn't fully cover the wire underneath it, and at the same time fraying (is this the right word?) at the edges.

I'll share the horrible job with you and let you know that I've learned from this and hope, my next attempt will be much better. I've ordered some high quality sleeving from MDPC-X along with new crimps for the ATX connector, 12V connector as well as the PCI-E power connectors, so I can sleeve without the shrink tubing for cosmetic reasons. Unfortunately I cannot show you the sleeves, because Nils, the owner of the site, closes it down, and only has it open for show an hour or less at a time on specific days. I'll try to "steal" some pictures from the site, nex time he's up and running

The PSU:


Decided to open it up for some cleaning:


Disgusting


Better:


Now since I am a noob and afraid that I probably would mess up the right order of the wires, I wrote them down, just in case:


Connector off:


My new tools for the job, and the sleeving, and as you can see, it's very orange


Sleeving done, looks like total crap I tried to do it without the shrink tubing on the connectors themselves, but they keep fraying and won't stay in the connector as I want them to. I am ashamed




Now for the more fun parts, the foiling.


Now as mentioned before, I live in an apartment on the third floor and have no access to workshops or a garage, limiting me from using spraypaint, because I don't want to intoxicate the air, for the sole sake of my 8 month year old daughter, her health is more important Also the mess would be horrific

I've had to figure out another way to mod the case inside, so I've decided to use red plastic foil.

The color scheme I am aiming for is the classic ROG theme, mainly because of my motherboard and for my future update, which I also am planing on being an ASUS ROG board.

Let the modding begin.


First of all I will be removing this ugly looking PC speaker, wonder what Lian Li were thinking when they placed it in the case


Secondly I need to remove the protection around the holes for the wires:


Mobo and protection removed and a cleaning of the surface done:



Mobo slide-able tray removed:


Ready for foiling!

The color of the foil which I am planing to use, unfortunately doesn't show quite right on the camera, I think the reflection makes it look "off", it's high gloss, very shiny it show a bit more orange/purple than it really is, I assure you it's definatly RED.

The foil:


Starting off small:


Now for the bottom... I was highly concentrated while doing this, so forgot to take pictures of the process :bang head:

After the foiling was done, I added some new edge protection, It's thicker and looks a lot better than the original.




Adding the rest:






I also wanted to "pimp" the plate on the side of the 5.25" bays:


All done:


Mounted:


I am pleased with the result


Now for the motherboard tray.

I decided it was time to experiment with my newly bought Dremel, and I must say, this is a nifty tool


Some measuring:


Now for the cutting, unfortuatly after installing the cutting blade, it broke, because I put the Dremel down too hard Oh well, change change change.


Cut cut cut, one hole done, and one cutting blade used up.


Some more cutting:


Done:


Now some filling and sanding around the rough edges, I think the result is acceptable


Now for some more foiling:


Protection added:


From the back:


Some more cutting and protection:






Tray placed back in the case:






It's starting too look like a mod

Motherboard mounted:




I've received my new red thumb screws I ordered from caseking.de, they add a little more spice to the mod:




Some more pics:


My Vantage A.L.C finally came back from RMA, they sent me a new one, which I am very pleased with So I removed the stock cooler and mounted the new Vantage:









I decided to foil up the side fan as well, but I'm thinking of removing it when I've finished my window mod on the case:



Foiling:








Hardware and fan back in the case:







Vantage up and running:






Color isn't right, a couple of button pushed later:

 

I have decided to add some more color inside the case, again I using foil, this time black.















I've managed to replace the backplate for the secondary PSU. A couple of holes drilled and some rivets added, and that's all she wrote:


The previously removed backplate:




Holes drilled and rivets mounted:


Backplate in place once again, The almost none existing aluminium, supporting the rivets forced me to mount it with a small gap of about half a millimeter, unfortunately I can't fix this



In the meantime I received a package, I wonder who it's from




The products, sleeving and shrink tubing for the PSU and SATA cables, in addition I received some other color samples:


Some closeups:




The previous sleeving I used:


In comparison I must say that there is a HUGE difference in quality and looks:




Unsleeved SATA cable:


Sleeved:


So far it's been very easy to use:


The PSU's turn:


My first attempt which didn't turn out very well:


Had removed all the wires from the connector and had them aligned for easier sleeving:


First wire sleeved:


SOME time later:


I must say thet these sleeves are something else, they don't fray and the weaved threads stay together as the should do, I would like to take this oppotunity to highly recommend these products to anyone who is thinking of sleeving. You wont regret it :thup:




Now while I wait for my new sleeves, it's time for some more foiling:

This is the part i plan on foiling:




Also gonna do something about this wire hell I've got going on:


ROG DOG!


Some foiling done:


Holes cut out:




Almost looks painted


Starting to look like something:



That's it for now folks, thanks for looking

 

Hi guys

It's time for a mini update. Unfortunately, I don't have much to post, since the new pin remover I received only lasted for 3 pin changes, before it broke I RMA'd it and am waiting for a replacement. I am also waiting for us to change the saw blade on our big panel-saw at work. I need it for cutting the plexiglass I want to use for my windowmod as well as an suggestion I received from a fellow modder on another site, more on that later The new blade will give precise cuts as well as prevent the plexi from fraying on the edges when cut.

I have since my last update, gotten a hold on a much better camera than the one I used before, which was my phone The color of the foil as well as the sleeves show much better and are near as accurate as could be to real life viewing

Some pictures to show you the difference:



















My first attempt at sleeving the PCI-E cord, but this was not a succes. The two sleeves wires connected together to one pin were to "fat" to fit inside the connector, which caused the pin to fall out.



I therefore, decided to add extra wires to the existing one and for this I "stole" some wires from an old ATX PSU I had laying around:











I think it looks somewhat better, and while doing this, my pin remover broke



While frustrated that the tool broke, I decieded to use my time to sleeve the power/reset/led cables.









Summoning it all up, my case looks like this atm:





I still need to sleeve the USB/Firewire cables (still not sure how to do this the best way) I also need to remove the white cableholder at to top of the case, hide/sleeve the wires from the top fan, but I will only do this when I receive my new Enermax fans in red and black to match the color scheme, unfortunately they are out of stock, and I won't get them until the beginning of April.

As always, thanks for looking, and any comments or suggestions are welcome

 

Well this iss coming along nicely!

 

looking good im glad you changed the sleeving on the 24pin power looks so much better

 

Looking good Subbed

 

My favourite case! I'm in the first stage of what will be a long slow mod on mine, though it'll be far less colourful than yours; it looks fantastic!

 

Cool! I like that foil, it could be just what I need. Where do you get it, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Thanks for the comments guys

Here's a link to the manufacturers webshop:

http://www.d-c-fix-shop.de/

I baught it at a local store here where I live It's very easy to work with IMO, getting it to fit around corners and edges is no trouble at all, all you need to do is make sure the surface is 100% clean and that you have a very sharp boxknife etc. to cut the foil.

 

great looking case starnge how thw color really works nice job

 

Awesome, thanks buddy

 

I'm in the first stage of what will be a long slow mod on mine, though it'll be far less colourful than yours;

 

Hey guys

As mentioned before, my new pin remover broke after only removing 3 pins, so I contacted the webshop where I bought the tool, to ask if this was normal, and they replied, telling me that it should last a lot longer than what I had experienced, so they sent me 2 replacement tools free of charge, SUPER SERVICE! I received these today, so I carried on with the sleeving

The new tools:


"New" wires for extension of the PCI-E connector (stolen from an old ATX PSU):


PCI-E plug ready to be modded and sleeved:


I have tried to take some better pictures of the way I do it, but at this time of evening it has gotten dark outside, and with the lamps my GF demanded we had to have in our living room, the pictures aren't as sharp as could be, so I hope you bare with me on this:

I cut about 0.5 cm of the existing wire on the PCI-E plug, preparing it to solder the extra wire to it:




Extra wire soldered on, and then covered with shrink tubing and sleeved, like I did on the other one earlier in the thread:




Removed this cable organizer as well:




Also decided to sleeve the visible wire from the top fan in the case:


Boring as she looks:


Sticker removed:


Sleeving done:




Now I've taken some pictures of the finished result, but due to the bad lighting they didn't come out well at all, så I've decided to wait until tomorrow and take some better pictures before I show them to you guys, I hope you are okay with that

So for now, once again, thanks for looking!

 

Update 24/3

Before I begin, here's a few pictures as promised









I received a suggestion from a fellow modder on another forum, which I have taken to heart. The holes I made in the motherboard tray for cable-management were premeditated. I didn't think things through, so I decided to correct my mistake by covering it with a black plate, and while doing this, also hiding the SATA cables which seem out of place.

5mm plexiglas cut out to fit my measurements, I made 3 just in case, luckily I didn't need them



When I cut the plates I had some plexiglass left over which I cut to fit an SSD drive, no sure I'll be needing them for anything, but I made them anyway



Measurements made for holes:



Holes drilled out:





It's hard to see, but I cut threads for M3 screws in the glass.



Time for some countersinking (is this the right word?):





For the plate mounting, I've gotten some black M3 screws from MDPC:



Like a glove:



To raise the plate to the right level, I've combined 3 motherboard spacers, which give me the exact height I need:







Threading for the spacers in the motherboard tray:









Spacers mounted:



The plate fits nicely:



Some black foil added:



mounted:







Now that I'm using black screws, I thought I might as well replace all the screws holding the motherboard:



A little extra for the looks:



Resulting in:



This will be hidden by the plexiglass cover:



Cover mounted:











I think the result turned out pretty well, what do you think?

A few extra pictures:























Next step will be adding some light to the case, windowmod and replacing the fans with new, more colorful ones, and some other minor details, but I'm still waiting for parts to arrive.

For the lighting I've gotten a hold of some LED's which I need to mod to fit the PSU's 12V molex connectors:







Thats it for now guys, thanks again for looking

 

Update 24/3

Here's a little teaser for how I plan on the window mod is going to look:

The plexiplate with the ROG logo painted on it:





This somewhat how it's going to end up looking, the paint is fluorescent btw.:





A few more pictures, where I've done my best not to shake the camera:

























Hope you guys like it, and as always thanks for looking

 

Update 25/3

Hi guys


I've now come a bit further with my window mod, I've cut the window out in the side plate, as well as mounted the LED lighting in the case. I just need to cut the plexi to fit the sidepanel, which I plan on getting done in a couple of days, as well as hoping that my new fans and some other goodies will arrive from Germany during the next week.

Let's begin with covering the plate with some tape:





Some measuring:



Now it's ready to be cut:





About 10 cutting blades latter:



Rough cut, I've only just filled away some of the worst residue from the cut:



Some more sanding required:





Here's what she looks like:















After some water sanding, the result looks much better:







As you can see in my earlier post, the LED light I plan on using is for 220V power connection, so I have to convert it to 12V, and I've done this with a simple molex plug:



Wire coating cut off and ready to be soldered:



Soldered and some shrink tubing added:





Let there be LIGHT!





























A couple from above





Thanks it for now, thanks for looking

 

A small update on what I plan on doing to the front of the case:

First of all I'll remove this old "sticker" I got when I bought my 5970's:



Sticker removed as well as the LED extensions for top power/hdd LED's behind the door panel:



The front after the small alteration:



Some color added



The plan is to pain the mesh red to fit the rest of the scheme:





I also plan of changing the power/reset buttons which at the moment look like this:



Going to be replaced by 2 of these:



The fan controller should be the only thing remaining with blue color in it, unfortunately I can't change the color of the LCD display:



Thanks for looking

 

I had my doubts at first, but this is looking absolutely excellent! Keep up the great work!

 

Same here, but it looks like its coming along to be a solid build.