Case Mod - In Progress Black and Orange: First Custom Loop

I’m building my “new” pc. It’s going to be my first custom loop and first hard line build. My current system has an old CoolIT Vantage AIO. As far as case mod, i haven’t done any case mods since early 2000’s where i cut a window into a Micro ATX case I had for a home server and then engraved the Tux Penguin into some acrylic for the window. Looking forward to customising this new pc and making it mine.

The specs for the box: i5 4670K, ASRock Z87 Extreme3, 16GB G.Skill DDR3 1333, EVGA 1060 GTX SC, Cooler Master Masterbox Lite 5 RGB, Corsair HD120 RGB fans (sold the stock RGB fans), Thermaltake CL360 Rad, Thermaltake W1 CPU Block, Thermaltake PR15-D5 Pump/Res Combo, Barrow fittings, Barrow 16mm PETG. I also ordered an EVGA 650W Gold Modular PSU and 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD.

I know it’s not the latest and greatest specs but it will be an upgrade from my Ivy Bridge and being a K cpu and a Z87 mobo I’ll be able to overclock it unlike my current system.

Planning my loop... For the drain, the radiator is the lowest point in the loop. There is a plug in the bottom of the rad but only maybe 10-15mm between it and the bottom of the case. So I’m going to drill a hole in the bottom of the case and add an 30mm extension so the port is bellow the bottom of the case.
I’ve ordered a few Barrow right angle fittings to give me some more options and slightly less complex bends.

I haven’t planned a theme yet, not sure if i just go for a colours theme or if i go something a bit more extreme, i guess my main reservation on that is that a game theme, etc tends to date a lot quicker than just a simple colour scheme.






I did a quick test on the fan lights and I’ve found I’m going to need some internal lighting, the lights on the fans don’t penetrate through a 64mm thick rad haha




Also planning on doing custom sleeved cables, i’ll have to do some research into this as i haven’t done this before.

Any advice or suggestions?

 

Plan is to control the fans led lighting via an Arduino along with some rgb led strips inside the case as well.

 

Custom sleeved cables: Don't. They are a royal pain in the *ss. Well, pulling the pins is the PITA part... You need one hand on the tool, one on the wire, and one holding the connector.
I'm not sure how the front is supposed to get any airflow in that design. If you plan on changing anything, that's where I'd start.

 

Oh really? A workmate did is cables from scratch and aside from being time consuming he didn’t think it was hard. What would you suggest instead?
Yeah air flow is something I will address, it has a large opening at the bottom of the front panel and a small one at the top in front of the io.

 

Yeah, Take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm in the middle of wiring here. There's always that ONE pin that refuses to come free, and I have two.

 

I think i have decided on a theme... Star Wars, so a black and red theme... I’ve been sketching some ideas for things i can integrate into the case.

On another note, i had a thought last night, i’m wondering if i move the radiatator to the top of the case, i would need to cut the top to mount the fans underneath. There is no where to mount it stock plus not the room inside the case, so it would need a new custom top for the case. I’m not sure if that would look any good or just making more work for no good reason...?

 

Some of my thoughts and ideas... open to suggestions as well

 

I’m not sure what to do with the front of the case, i was thinking maybe of building a new front out of acrylic and then cutting the “Morse code” patten in the front which could act as air vents and then set the fans to white to back light the grill...

I’m thinking i could 3D print a fan guard in the shape of the Imperial logo. Maybe can make the water cooling tubing look like light sabers maybe?

Open to suggestions and ideas

 

Sorry. I had a good laugh at the sketch imagining the logo with the Vader on the case, as is.
Thinking the sides with a printed tie fighter solar panel frame with the windows as a solar array. You could offset the main post/center of the design to obscure drivebays or something.
Morse vents are always good.

 

haha, it was only meant to be a concept sketch to get ideas down onto "paper".

I'm not sure I know what you mean with the tie fighter, can you do a sketch of what you mean?

Just had another idea, maybe I could something with the res like this...?

 

Keeping with the mspaint theme.
An attempt to do Vader's tie fighter design from vague memory. Big grey hexagon is the solar panel hub. You could move the center to where it doesn't obscure your hardware. Pretty sure you could find a 3d model to print with online and modify it to fit/hold plexi, etc. You could even add a slight angle to the sides.
Apologies if this is beyond your current abilities.
Like the idea of greebling up the res.

 

ah yeah i see what you mean not sure i want to replace the tempered glass though but maybe i could still do that style of pattern on the glass?

I'm thinking on the right side of the case maybe a picture of the Death Star, or maybe just panelling to make it look like the walls inside the Death Star? not sure what to put on the top of the case yet.

I had to google "greebling" but yes thats what i am thinking I can design and 3D print the bits for the details

I seem to be leaning towards the "Death Star" theme

 

Starting to mess around with modelling the water res top. I'll 3D print it once I'm happy with the design. Not sure what to do about Vader and Luke (my Fursion 360 skills are definitely not up to modelling them...)

 

nice start! I'll be watching!

 

Hmm still trying to learn Fusion 360 and learn how to do the little "tabs" around the sloped part of the cone.

 

On the picture, I would just edit out the mattresses and the guys head at the bottom... it takes away some of the magic

 

and maybe google "death star hangar" - you could pattern your build after that:
- the tempered glass could stay clear and be the hangar door (with a bright white LED surrounding the edge)
- the interior could be patterned after the walls with equipment (PC components and water cooling)
- you could even throw a small Tie fighter model inside (maybe Micro-machine scale), or have some small Lego characters in there.
- you could have different levels, or add the shield generation tower (coolant reservior?) inside...
- put some mirrors inside to make it look bigger, etc.

Just some thoughts.

 

Thanks, I love those ideas I'll do some research

 

I still haven't decided what theme to do yet...

I was looking on thingiverse for some models and stumbled across some models for the Gaslands board game which uses Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars that are modified and painted. It appears to be a Mad Max style post apocalyptic racing game.

I like the idea of using modified Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars with some scenery but i just cant seem to get an idea of how to put it into the case with the water cooling etc. Any suggestions?

Some of the models:

 

Are you fixed on making a scene? If not, a general theme to the decorations would get you moving faster. -not awake enough to get my point across yet.