Hello guys... First thing... Introductions. My name is Sebastian, I go by xXSebaSXx here ant at some of the other modding sites. And now for the good stuff. I have this idea in my head for a new PC that I will start building in a week or so. It's going to be a budget PC (just about $600 not including HDDs and Optical Drive that I already have). This is the hardware list: Case: CM 690 II Advanced - Ordered and on the way. MoBo: MSI 870-G45 - To be ordered this coming Saturday. CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555BE - To be ordered this coming Saturday. RAM: Mushkin Blacklines 2x2GB @ 1600MHz - To be ordered this coming Saturday. GPU: XFX 5670 1GB - To be ordered this coming Saturday. PSU: Corsair 550VX - To be ordered this coming Saturday. This list comes up to $519 + S&H. This is what I have planned for the case. * Paint -> The mesh parts and some internal accents. i haven't decided what from the inside will be painted yet. Spray order: Primer -> Duplicolor Metals Specks (Red) -> Duplicolor Shadow (Translucent Black) -> Duplicolor Shadow (Clear Gloss). I haven't tested it yet and will of course do a test spray on some scrap to see if the desired effect is achieved. I want the final color to look almost black, but also show the hints of sparkly red behind. This is a compromise that I've come up with. I originally wanted to use Alsacorp Killer cans in Ghost Chrome with Blood Red candy on top, but those are $40 per can and that would bring me to over $200 just in paint. Not in line with the budget build! :shock: In contrast; the Duplicolor cans are just $9 a piece so I can easily get 2 of each and still come in under $80 for the entire paint job. * Mid Plate -> There will be a mid plate above the PSU that will separate the MoBo area from the bottom of the case; just like in 800D or TJ07 but not as expensive ... This mid plate will be manufactured using aluminum U channel to form a frame and with acrylic to create the actual plate. I'm still not sure how thick this thing will be, but My guess would be the U Channel would be 10mm x 10mm with a thickness of 2mm. I gotta go to Home Depot and see what the have. The U Channel would be painted in the same scheme as the mesh parts and the acrylic would be either black or mirrored smoke. I'm also thinking of illuminating the acrylic with LEDs around the edges (maybe a LED strip). This is a cross section of how the Mid Plate would look: * MoBo tray -> Not sure if I want to paint this or not, but I know there will be lights behind the MoBo... Maybe just a couple red LEDs to give a subtle glow behind the MoBo when turned on? * HDD Cage -> The HDD cage will be relocated to under the Mid Plate. It will probably be painted in the same color scheme as the mesh. * Fans -> The case comes with 1 x 120mm and 2 x 140mm. The front fan comes with a blue LED and will go out as soon as the case arrives. All fans in the case will be replaced with better quality fans (probably yate loons or scythe) and the fan blades will be painted in the same color scheme as the case. The front 140mm fan will be moved up so it sits above the mid plate and brings in through the now unobstructed area where the HDD cage used to be (should help in getting more air into the GPU and CPU areas). * Side panel -> The CM 690II Advanced comes with a stock door without a window (it has a small perforated area on the top left of the case for some intake fans, but that will be cut out). CM does sell a windowed version, but the window is boring and I want something different. I've put together 3 different designs in sketchup. Design One - The simple look Just a simple two part window. Simple cuts... quick and painless.... But boring. Desig Two - Nice and curvy Same two part window, but this time we throw a bit curvy lines in there for a more FUN look. Design Three - Industrialized Again; a two part window, but this time it's more squared and with hard straight cuts for a more industrialized look. For all three desings; the acrylic would not sit behind the aluminum. I'm planning on having the acrylic machined from the same pattern as is finally chosen to do the side door (but on the negative so that they both fit together nicely). The acrylic will not be flush (level) with the outside of the side door. I want that to come out about 1mm and the protruding edges to be beveled at a 45 degree angle. The look I want for the acrylic is basically the same I want for the mid plate... Preferably some sort of mirrored (smoke) look so that when looked at from outside the plexi looks black and once the lights are turned on inside all the beautiful goodies inside come to life. Maybe a cross section can explain it better... I'm leaning towards Design 3 for the side panel, but am open to any suggestions or design ideas you guys can throw at me. Important Question: How much do you guys think it would cost to have the acrylic machined that way? I was talking to djayness from epicpccases about this, but shipping to/from Australia alone would bring this way over budget. So if any of you US based modders know of someone that would do this; feel free to spam me some contact info. Maybe Bill from mnpctech? Do they offer this kind of service? I'd need to have the door cut and the acrylic machined as well. And if this turns out to be too expensive, I may just have to settle and leave the acrylic to seat on the inside of the door like a normal side window.. Ok... that is pretty much what I have so far. Sorry about the crappy renders... They are straight 2D exports from SKU... The old Celeron I have at my disposal right now would not be able to handle a decent renderer... I guess I need this new PC in order to be able to render designs for the case!!!! Call for suggestions: If you guys have any suggestions as to any part of the design; please don't hesitate to post them here. I'm open to new window designs and/or what to paint inside the case. Cheers Sebastian
Yep... I'm going with design three... Already got almost all the HW except for the GPU... the case will be getting cut some time next weekend and I'll be ordering the plexi at that time as well.... I did some checking around and getting the plexi machined to fit into the cuts of the side panel would cost me an arm and a leg, so I'm leaving that part in the pending bag for now. It will just be a flat sheet of smoked plexi placed inside the side panel for now, but once I get some more funds; it will definitely go into the machine shop for some trimming. I made a few changes to the HW selection, but nothing too drastic.... just have to get a GPU (6870) and I think a new PSU since the 450VX only comes with one PCI-E power output and the 450W would struggle to power the whole computer with the 6870 installed... so there is a TX650W in the future of this build as well. I can't wait to get all the HW into the new case... It's sitting all naked on top of my desk right now... Well; I have to say that it does win the most ghetto build award for now!!!
Haha, I've had running PC's sitting on my desk like that many times, but a new development is the high tech retaining mechanism for the fan.
@ Attila LOL... Yep that fan structure was my second attempt actually. The first one didn't work quite so well and that Delta tried to take flight on me; I grabbed in time to prevent it from ripping the fan header off the MoBo, but my thumb paid the price.... Incredible what a fan blade going at 6K rpm can do to human flesh. I hope to have all the parts for the build ready by next weekend and if weather permits will start painting the case bits next Sunday. I'm really hoping the paint scheme I picked works out the way I see it in my head.
Nothing is cut yet; so it's not like the design is set in stone. I do like #3 for its industrial look, but #2 also looks very sexy to me. I may just have to do some playing around in SKU tonight and see if I can come up with a design that incorporate both looks...
If you're not sure Seba perhaps you should make a few more designs. It's better to be absolutely certain before committing to the final cuts.
I am working on a few more designs on SKU right now... just hitting a bit of a mind block, but I'll make some progress this week for sure. I really would like to find a way to combine the industrial look of #3 with some of the curvy look of #2.
Yup. I like #2 as well. That's not a scat joke! If you need the metal panels cut, your best bet is to find a local water jet cutter. If you can find it, go for DARK red.
@ Cheapskate... The door will be water cut for sure... Already found a local shop that offers the service. I have to go there this week and see how much they'll charge me for the cuts, but before that I have to finalize the design so I can bring it with me for them to figure out cost. Here are two more concepts I've come up with for the window cuts... Just trying to combine #2 and #3 in a way that doesn't make me puke. Design #4 Design #5 --> This one is the same as #4, but with some extra cuts to divide the window into 3 distinct areas.
Part of the charm of design 2 was that it broke up the square angles while masking the ugly bits under the window, (drivebay, etc.) I think the thin cutouts were a key part of that.
