Modding Wanting to build a case from scratch... need help

I've finally decided to get my own computer cuz our family one sucks. but..... I wanna build my own case instead of buying one. Many materials I can get fairly cheap anyways I think so I could build one for the same price as a bought one.

But to build one I first need to have the plans and dimensions of everything and know exactly what I need to get so I can buy the stuff and whip it up.

My idea of how I want to build a case is sort of a HTPC type design. I am going to watercool it. At first just the CPU, Mobo, and GPU. Maybe more in the future which is another important thing. My case needs to be futurproof in a way. I would like it to be able to be taken apart completely to make future modding easy. I Would like there to be room inside not everything all bunched together. I am building a desk with plenty of room.

Some features I would like to have is stealth cd drives which I dont know how to do which is why im asking for help.

I would like to have some lighting in it. Some UV stuff.

The case will be black and im thinking I would like the watercooling and UV and light to have red and blue in them. Probably red liquid and some blue UV or whatever.

Id like the case made so I don thave so much garbage cable all over, which is why I will use a PSU with modular cabling.

Another cool little thing I thought would be cool would be to have the motherboard tray on keyboard tray slider type things so and have the back plate for the motherboard be unscrewed from back case panel and then the whole motherboard can just slide out the back.

I also want to use gas struts for the top panel which will have a latch or something and be on a hinge and when the open is opened the panel just lifts up automatically.

Now some things I need your help with is what to do fomr a hard drive and cd cage. I can just use cd drive cage and use adapters for the hard drives instead of having extra stuff in the case.

Just so you have an idea of what im putting in the case. Here is a basic list of what I am thinking about using.

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
2X Seagate 160gb Sata HDD's in RAID 0
ATI HD2900XT Video Card
AMD X2 5200+ CPU
NEC DVD Burner
bluegears sound card

power supply I what I dont know what to get. I want one that is quiet. under $150 and with modular cable support.

maybe some suggestions on it would be great.

next is what parts to use for water cooling. I was thinking about have the radiator on the side and 2 fans blowing into it and then having to fans blowing air out of the case on the other side of the case.

but which parts to use for water cooling is what I dont know. What water blocks to use, tubing, pumps, radiator, reservoir. I dont want to be spending a ton of money as I am on a fairly tight budget. Maybe you guys could give me sort of a list of some stuff that will work well.

And in the future if I do even more water cooling in the case on more parts should I add another radiator or water pump as this needs to be considered when I build my case.


Now back to how I build my case. I want my case fairly quiet, look very basic on the outside.

My first little design plan I had figured the case to be 18X18X10 inches. I started doing it in Google sketchup and it just wasnt working too well as it seemed crowded which didnt make sense as our current pc we have is smaller then that. I just dont know how much space to give everything.

I know basically how I would like to build my case but I just cannot figure out how to do the layout. I want to make I look very clean inside with cables have nice sleeving on them and not in the way and such. But because I have never done this I am asking you guys for help on how to arrange everything.

Now I am not looking for you guys to do everything for me but to maybe give me tips on where to put parts where and stuff like that.

Also another thing is where to get some of the parts I will need like a motherboard tray and rear motherboard panel thing. Also a cd rom cage. Or are they things I can just make myself easily without fancy equipment that I dont have?

For the most part I think the parts I need I have covered so far but what about the finer details. What they are dont ask me as Ive never built a PC. lol I have no clue what other tiny cool things I might want or need or even where I get them. lol

I just want to make this case as nice as possible.

Sorry for makign this into such a huuuuuge thread. I just like to be very thorough when explaining and asking for help.

Now if there I any other information about what I want and how I would like to make my case and put inside it just ask. I have no clue what is all involved. you guys are the experts.

now you guys dont have to go all out for me and do it in google sketup and stuff just some basic pisture maybe how to layout everything and stuff. That for the most part all I need for the design. It's mainly how to do alot of it and all those finer details that I dont know.


Thank you so much for the help I hope to receive. I had posted on another forum before I left for my trip on the 6th and no one replied even so Im hoping for more help here.

 

try modding a new case makes ot much easier but u won't have the full potential of a MODDER

 

i was thinking about buying a case and modding it but then I cant have everything how I want it and it will probably just turn out costing more money.

 

making a case out of acyrlic is always a good route. With IPS weld on, gluing them is a breeze.

 

whats IPS weld? like JB Weld? I was at first thinkin that cuz I can get it fairly cheap. And for windows it be even easier i think. I would just use clear acrylic for everything and then paint it all except for what I want as a window. But I will make it all screw together so it can be taken apart.

but what about a power supply. I think the other parts I have chosen are real good but with a power supply there are so many different brands and different types. I dont want to spend more than $150 and want one with modular cable support.

But for my case layout, with the type of things I want my case to have and to be fairly roomy and not too cluttered, what kind of layout should I be thinking about setting up. And can I just build my own cd rom cage? What about motherboard tray and the back I/O panel thing where the cards stick out? Can I buy those somewhere?

And another thing. To me quick removal stuff isnt important to me. Im not removing my hard drives and cd drives everyday. I dont care if it is screw.


Thanks.

 

go to your local recycle depot to get a donor case or two. making a back panel/motherboard tray is a pain in the ass. making your own cd cage isn't too hard, but if you can get a donor for that too it would make things easier.

 

Check out my Built from Scratch worklog (linked in sig); maybe you'll get some ideas.

In terms of H2O gear; For waterblocks stick with DangerDen, Swiftech, or EK-Waterblocks; for Radiators go with Hardware Labs or Swiftech; and for pumps stick with Liang or Swiftech. I love the LIANG D5 (Swiftech MCP-655); but the DDC with petras top is also good.
Petrastechshop.com is a great place to shop; they'll also ship outside the US but you have to contact them first; btw, they're also very knowledgeable so don't hesitate calling/emailing them if you have questions.

Edit: if you need to make any glue joints I'd use a polycarbonate solvent cement; rather than the stuff in a tube; as it provides much better results.

 

OK, i got a design of how i want the case to look like. i have been working in Sketchup planning it an such.

a few questions i have before finalizing my plans and start drawing blueprints and ordering.

as of right i only plan on Water Cooling the CPU, Mobo, and Vid Card. in the future I will be W/Cing the RAM and HDDs also.

So what i need to know is how powerful of fans do i need. I will not be overclocking and if i do it will be very little overclocking. And also what size radiator(s) should i use? Ive seen people sticking in 2 120mm rads and a 80mm rad to just cool the CPU and Video card but then other people just use a 120mm or 240mm to w/c everything in the case. so what is really needed?

also with me only w/c the CPU, Mobo, and GPU at first should i have any extra fans in the case for more air cooling?

currently as you will see the the pictures below i would like to have the rad on the side and on the other side of the case maybe 1 fans blowing air out which i havent yet done in Sketchup.

now with my deisgn i will have the mobo able to slide out the back of the case for easy access. the top will open up with gas struts.

i havent yet put in the dvd burner or hdds or fan controller yet or even the water pump yet.

now the dimensions of the case are:

width: 18"
depth: 18:
front height: 7"
back height: 14"

one thign you may ask is what the panel just above the bottom one is and it is to hide cabling and will be
reflective.

but now onto placement of components. i am having a hard time trying to figure out where to place all the components. whether i should have no space below mobo or have something underneath like water pump and res and PSU. i dont want things crowded and also want good airflow because even though i am water cooling the things that are hot bad airflow results in turbulence which means more noise as i am going for silence.

anyways here is 3 pics of what i have so far. i hope you read through all of this and can hopefully help me as i have never built a custom pc or even built a pc.

 

BTW i the case will be black. i just have it in x-ray mode.

oh and i bought a dremel online yesterday so i know what one is.

 

nice design!

and either go for a 240mm rad or 360 a thermochill 120.2/3 are THE best rads available. but tbh your temps wont vary that much between rad manufacturers.

 

so a 240 like i have in that picture should be good even when i w/c everythign in the case?

 

If you WC everything (GPU,CHipsets, CPU, MOSFETS etc.) then you'll need more than a 240 rad, two of them on ether side would do very nicely.

 

For H2O cooling everything you'll certainly need more than a 240.

I doubt the people using a 120mm (and claim to be OCing) have a stable rig (8hrs prime95 stress test).

 

ok so i should leave room for another 240 on the other side.

also, should i have fans sucking air through the rad or pushing air through the rad.

and with the vid card being so big will it affect the airflow in the case to not be good? and with just w/c the cpu, gpu and mobo do i need more fans other than on the rad and on the other side?

but with those pics i posted do you guys think the layout is good or should things be moved a little?

im gonna work some more in sketchup yet to improve it more and have all the components in it.

and a ? that wasnt answered. how powerful of fans do i need? i would like a fairly silent pc as i have a PS3 and not a 360

remember i am not OC'ing and i dont know much about this watercooling stuff so i have lots of ?'s.

 

Interesting design... Is there a reason for the wedge shape? Have you decided on acrylic or aluminum? I just completed a custom case from aluminum, it is actually pretty easy with a minimum of tools required... here is the link to my build log.
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=264867

I purchased a motherboard tray and a 5.25 bay on line... it worked very well.

Lee

 

Some people claim to get better performance with the fans pulling the air through the RAD; if there is a difference, then it'd be very small. I just place the fans such that they're visible from the inside of the case.

As long as you balance the number of intake and exhaust fans you should be fine (just don't place an intake right next to an exhaust fan).

Any of the standard or silent 120mm fans should be fine; just don't skimp by using cheap fans, get quality fans such as the Yate Loons. If you're worried about noise, you can put them on a fan controller.

 

i have decided i will use 1/4" acrylic. ill use black and for the window i would like it to seem opaque with lights off then when lights on its see thru.

i decided on the wedge shape as it will make it seem smaller and not so big on my desk. i think i will expand the width a few inches longer.


one other thing.. can you make a sheet of acrylic glow with leds some how by drilling holes and putting the leds inside.

as i said i will do more in Sketchup to finalize everything once i got it you guys can make sure it will actually work proper.

 

yep; you can embed LEDs into the acrylic to make it glow; or just backlight it.

 

or just use UV acrylic with a UV light i guess.

im not so sure about use acrylic for the whole thing. would it be strong enough? i was thinkin 1/4" but would 1/8" be good too as it is much cheaper.

it seems colored acrylic is more epensive can it be painted well? like i would get clear acrylic for the whole thing and then just paint it black?

or how about MDF? can i get a super glossy finish on MDF?

 

If the acrylic is going to provide the structure of the case (like mine) then you'll need 1/4" Acrylic. If you're going to build a frame and just attach the acrylic the 1/8" could work; but it's still prone to cracking if you bump it.

I've never tried painting acrylic; so I'm not sure how that'd turn out.

I'm currently working with some MDF as part of my project and I'm trying to achieve a high-gloss (piano-like) finish using Lacquer paint.