Case Mod - In Progress December project - unnamed

About the picture quality for now, I try to make them appropriate for the time period about 2010-2013 when this hardware was new.

I was a Mac user back then, so there is a gap in my hardware knowledge this build is going to fill out. Its only the past 3-4 years I have been back to PCs where I belong.

 

16. December

Started the day by laying down some "pipes", only 1 leak so not so much drama.



Have I by the way said im using UV lights?



Also been playing with my toy car, its not the correct blue hue, so am changing it up a little




Follow along tomorrow for more mods

 

17. December



Have started to fabricate the new top panel.
Have come a little to a standstill as I think its about time I take my painting seriously and need to find a face mask with a good filter. Had quite the headache yesterday so that was not much fun.

Not sure when next update will be, as im a bit dependant on the mask for now.
But we are not far from the goal so stay tuned

 

18. December

Sorry I have been little afk, but had some Christmas stuff to do.
One of being, buying myself a present, a painters mask:

 

19. December

Are doing what I can day by day, yesterday I received some stickers to cover a few mistakes on my painted sidepanel:

 

20. December

Spoiled my moods by getting a bike stolen.

21. December

Got introduced to the game Ring of Elysium and ended up playing it for pretty close to all day with friends getting a good amount of wins.

22. December

Last christmas shopping done

23. December

Picked up a free chriatmas tree, wrapped presents and a lot more

24. December

Pleased with I named this thread December project, and not christmas project.
Everything did not go as planned, but the month is not over so I might actually still be able to turn it on before new year.

Taking a small christmas break with family, so no work will be done the coming days, but Ill be back later with more mods.

Merry Christmas

 

Almost made it possible in December, but not fully finished. Hit a few roadblocks on the way and now the family is back home from their long holliday, so im again workerant, houseowner, family dad and husband - bit of a puzzle to be modder on the side, so I will return with more progress whenever possible.
Its not like I actually need this pc, this build is purely because I can sort of thing...

See ya'!

 

modding is art, it's not answering to a need, unless needs of pure creativity, happy new year for modders...

 

Agreed! Wow surprised actually someone gets my point of view too mad props to you

 

I still have not given up on this project, it just takes quite a while, mainly because a lot of it is disassemble, paint/mod, assemble - and that alone takes tons of time...
Beside that there is still a job to deal with, a family and some stuff because we own a house, so everything takes time.
I think its about time you guys get a proper update.

One of the things I have done, is to disassemble one of the graphics cards and change thermal pads - and that alone was surely about time!



The blue ones are the new ones, I switched out one pad before I took the picture, oops.

This graphics card is pretty insane...
MATRIX-HD7970-P-3GD5. Disassembled and its build like a tank!




No matter all the work, it was sure worth it.










By the way, I still dont know if any of the hardware is faulty. But I have taken the chance and installed the best old-school CPU I have laying around, I just hope the BIOS can handle it without a BIOS flash.



I even lapped it as it was not really equally flat in all corners.




I guess my luck with hardware is greater than most, have not really been measuring a lot in this build, I just wing it, and see here how close it was that the CPU block would not fit, damn.



Seriously, there is 1mm of space!




It is after all an AIO, så the tank is build into the rad, but it was too boring.
The build is car inspired, so I have wrapped the rad in gold heat shield like you do with engine parts on track cars.




I dont know when next update will come, by now this build is more art than practical, so its even a surprise to me if it actually runs when I first time turn it on... but honestly, at this point I dont really care if it dont, its just pretty to look at.



See ya!

 

By the way, most of these progress updates have also been showed off on my Instagram, if interested then there is more to show in there, I only collect and do a bigger update here when I feel there is something interesting enough to show

https://www.instagram.com/_at0mac_/

 

I know its been over 1 month since last post and the thread have been dead silent, I have been really busy with "real life" and ideas evolve over time and changes the original plan a little

Oh, and I've started playing a "new" game - Sea of Thieves, that takes a load of time too

So, what I wanted to update you on is, I have painted the new toppanel like 7 times, 2 black layers and 5 blue, with a little sanding in between for total smoothness, takes a really really long time too
My radiator is only 240mm for the CPU, so looked bonkers having a 3x120 space in the top panel on the 800D cabinet, im sorting it by remaking the top, it will be all worth it, just wait.


Sneak peak:




I'll Be Back.....

 

Came to think about during test-fitting of CPU loop that its almost impossible to fill liquid in that loop...

• I can't unmount CPU block because of the way the GPU radiator is mounted.
• I can not mount the CPU radiator full of liquid, because I cant measure the CPU tubes correctly before the CPU radiator is placed where it should be.
• I don't want to mount and unmount everything more than I have to.
• I want to mount the CPU rad so its res is facing towards the front, the res is an eyesore and the CPU tubes will be shortest this was for maximum pressure on the CPU

There is standard G 1/4 in the res on CPU rad, but its placed almost all up against the front, right above the DVD drive.
Im thinking of making a fillport somewhere with some standard water cooling parts...



It just got even more complex and expensive... Let me remind you, I still don't know if the hardware is actually alive (its dang old, and I forgot to test it before I exploded it all to pieces and am trying to make it into a full build again), also I don't really need this PC, its just a hobby when I await some other newer tasks to hit me


Come back later for more............

 

Came to think about, I have not shared the latest pictures other than on my Instagram (I'm @_at0mac_), sorry

There was the day I cleaned fans and soldered a broken one



And there was a day I mounted the top panel and test fittet the CPU rad with fans on




The new flat top in metallic blue and chrome air filter looks soo mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm imo. Most likely you have never seen a Corsair 800D like this before

 

Hehe another thought, did you know this thread is on 4 different pages at the same time?
I can almost fit all 4 in a reasonable resolution on my 32" monitor at the same time.



Tweak.dk

Overclock.net

LinusTechTips

Bit-tech.net

Daily I converse and write in both English and Danish, so why not share the tech enthusiasm

 

Solution for the filling issue? - use more hose!

But need some fittings to do so, these look a lot like im going to do plumbing on some kind of house issue with the design/colours these have



Am now waiting for a package before I can continue...


C'ya later...…..

 

Sorry but I been a little silent again, for those who follow me on Instagram you know I lately have been struggling with a eye injury, and today I remembered that I totally forgot to update!
So here goes, mega update:

Have drilled the holes bigger in rad, so I can use M4 screws instead of the funky size Swiftech originally used, I even wonder where the original screws are, well never mind....



Mounted the first fans and fill port adapter, true gold digger



When this was done, I realized there is actually not enough space for it all, the fill port adapter is hitting the end of the DVD drive. So what to do, lets mod it! Problems arise, the drive is build like a tank and dont want to come apart, so I have to mod it with whatever tool possible and ended out with a not so great hole, but whatever, will not be seen in the end result.







Fill port finally installed!



Reinstalled the cooling tubes for the CPU AIO, but now much much shorter (the black tubes)





At this point, there are so so many details in this build, its a huge task both in term of work and in size.








No doubt about this PC is heavily car themed, here a picture of the front, top and backside as it looks now:





Next step is to deal with a lot of wires, there are SO many!
Also need to install the light, finish building the psu shroud and mount all the last stickers.
Actually, if all end out working I have a new investment in mind for something really cool to add, but will only do it if everything pans out so maybe you will see it in a later update.


Continues at a later time...

 

To give an idea about why there is so many tubes in the system - there is 3 individual loops!!



Red - CPU AIO, the unmarked one right under rad it the fillport, yes a AIO with a fillport. Technically not a part of the loop and therefor unmarked.

Green - one of the graphics cards I got for free, came with an EKWB waterblock attached, so have to watercool it.

Blue - chipset, because Gigabyte back in the day decided this board should be able to be watercooled, so lets do it 10 years too late

A true old school system where looks is not nearly as important as todays builds


...C' ya

 

A status update of where im at now, the mod is actually DONE now - but the first time I turn it on, something starts smelling bad...
I suspect that the GPU I originally got for free is actually broken and I think it has somehow broken the motherboard too, as it is now it dont boot and just keeps turning on and off.
And yes I have tried 2 different CPUs and other RAM, no luck.

To be honest, I dont trust my chinese psu extensions, I might think they have broken the PSU as well, the PSU is afterall about 10 years old so the slightest little thing and it will not work.

I have to get all parts out of the case and test one by one.

In the end maybe I need to replace:

• Motherboard
• One GPU (or dont run with Crossfire)
• Powersupply
• Extensions

I'll return when I know what to do from here on out.
(I have build PCs for more than 20 year, but I have never build anything this old, so I should for sure have tested it before putting it inside the case, but I trust hardware too much)

 

I am this kind of guy who trust hardware too much as well , sad thing what happened to you... I know you put a lot of attention in your builds