Project: The Chrome Goat... total system mod (May 19th, 04 update)

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Leds

I love the idea of a white panel with hidden lighting...

But what about using R.G.B. Leds instead of "red" or "blue" ones? Imagine your panel bright blue at night, flashing red when the hard drive works... Or better, a nice "rainbow" effect, color smoothly changing from red to purple, etc...
I'm even sure there's a way to make a small electronic thingy, serial bus connected, to control the color of RGB leds from the OS : imagine your full tower changing color upon your MP3 beat??

Nice job dude... Greetings from France (you know, the country 12 millimeters away??), I'll keep an eye on your mod!

 

Hell yes. That's a damned good idea.

 

I mentioned this in the post... RGB lighting is a big possibility, just not for this case. I'm sticking with an all white, all blue look. The comments about etchings and multi-colored lighting were made to keep anyone else from doing this and claiming originality. This way, if someone comes up with a better case that cycles through 256 colors and makes mine look like ass, I can pull the "I THOUGHT OF THE IDEA FIRST!" card and walk away a WINNER. hah!

Actually...

I first wanted to do RGB (the 3-in-1 variety... the kind that can display all 3 colors at once) and have it integrated with an equalizer... Blues for lows, greens for medium notes and red for highs. There are plenty of kits available for this... wouldn't be hard at all. That would look pretty cool... the case constantly modifying its appearance based on the music.

MORE ideas! I thought of them all!!!! I AM AMAZING!

Aaand, back into reality...

The reason I didn't do this is because I couldn't find 3-way LEDs in the 3mm size. I think that they exist but are likely $50-60 a pop. My case will have about 22 million LEDs in it (rough guess) so... that would be almost a THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! I kick so much math ass.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Although I already know how amazing I am, the comments help inspire me to keep going. I'll get home tonight and have some sort of motivation to press plexi again... so... thanks =p. Also... don't mind the ego thing... it's just a sham.

Or... is it?

 

That's one of the funniest things I have ever read. Thank you for brightening my day!

 

Damn!! I want to see that mod complete NOW!! I looks so ****ing cool!! Gimme, gimme gimme!!

Btw: You are the best dude!

 

LOL I'm with the other guys, great case, and a great writing style to go with it! You ever considered writing articles for a site?

 

Subscribed!

I dont post much but this log is a great mod and a cracking read. Keep up the good work!

 

Howdy howdy...

Update cometh. I've decided to shoot for the QuakeCon for my target 'finish' date... although I'd like to have it completed long before that. We'll see! That will be my first LAN party ever. I hear it's got a few people, no?

Anyway...

Some of the more devoted from among my legions of fans have been pestering me for some kind of explanation as to the component logistics. Apparently, I haven't been clear enough... which in itself seems quite odd - my writing style is pristine, but hey... you can't please them all. Actually, I can please them all, but MOST people can't... So, in an effort to accurately illustrate my divine plan, I threw together a motley of components for this once-in-a-lifetime photoshoot.



Here you have a very basic picture of The Way It Is©. It should be noted that the end result will look slightly more impressive than this... and as a side bonus, it will function (somewhat) as a computer. I'll go in order...

1. This is the location where the TEC chiller lives. When it was operational (sometime last October), I was able to bring my coolant down to -11°. If I went past this, the universe would be destroyed. Am I not merciful? This was without a source of heat, using a miniature pump and a whole lot of love. Straight water (hetero water) freezes VERY quickly... it's a lot of fun. The only downside to it's location is the amount of heat that it dumps into the system. Fortunately, there is an awful lot of airflow. I'm hoping that the chiller will heat up the room I'm in by about 10°. This will surely make me a popular person at LAN parties.

2. This is where my pumps and most of the plumbing will go. You might notice a small (92mm) fan grill behind the pump... it also looks sort of like the throne room from Return of the Jedi. The combination throne room / pump ventilation area will ensure quiet, leak free operation.

3. The dual radiator setup. This is sitting on top a piece of plexi... it *so* will not look like this. This piece is currently at the plastic shop. The most detailed bending and shaping will be on the shroud. The whole top panel will be two pieces... if I measured correctly. This is the most visible area... so... it has to look perfect. I'm guessing that this will take up more time than any other piece, besides the thermometer... I think... anyway... yeah... a pair of single-pass rads... high-flow, lots of surface area, plenty of airflow... fun.

4. The big blower. This is an old picture. You can see the motor braces are chromed, but that's the only thing done 'at that time'. The fan looks VERY different now... which... is actually going to be the very last thing ya'll see. The meaning behind the name of this project will be discovered at that time. It will be sitting off center... well... actually, the 'center' of the outlet will line up directly in the center of the case, but the blower itself will 'look' off center. Very 'muscle car' appearance. Big, beefy engine popping out of the hood... that's the goal.

5. This power supply isn't chromed... it's just a shiny supply that was nearby when I took the pic. Not much to say here... you won't see any cables... I guess that's it. It's a power supply. Whoopee.

6. You can somewhat see the back of the sides in the pic. This was taken a while ago... so the sides are still 'under construction'... but... there it is. Another side will be up front... the chrome skeleton will be tastefully visible but the majority of the case will remain white. Fun.

7. The Lambda regulated power supply was in the pic... I kept it there for size comparisons. There are a pair of these... 480 watts each. The chiller loop is seperate from the standard water-cooling circuit. The chiller power conduits will have an external port and switch. As a result, I will decide if I want to bring the power-supply setup with me if and when I travel. They are heavy... this computer will be heavy as hell... so... more than likely, the chiller will be non-operational while I'm away. Bleh... there goes my hopes for gaining popularity with my mobile heating unit 8(.

8. This is the area where the actual PC will go. In comparison to the rest of the computer, it seems rather small. This is a big illusion that I've created with the use of magic. The focus of the system will be on the cooling... not the motherboard. So... yeah... video card... motherboard... microwave oven... boring PC stuff.

9. The bottom of the case has about 1" of clearance from the floor. There will be another plexi layer down there (the sides are about 2" taller than the skeleton... you'll see what I mean. This will be a great place to hide most of my electronics... wiring... stuff like that.

10. I have no idea how to remove this stain from the carpet. It must have some sort of mystical properties to it... I've tried everything... blood... red wine... sulfuric acid... you know, typical carpet-cleaning solvents. It looks sort of innocent in the picture but this thing is *quite* menacing. Help?

The 'next' update will be done soon... The left side of the case is next... followed by the mounting bolts... and then the front. The radiators are still at the chrome guys... the front is almost finished at the plastic people... the shroud just got started... blahblah.

Oh... here's a fun thing. LEDs. Back when I took the pictures of the side all lit up with a massive FIVE LEDs, I was using a few LEDs that I picked up from Fry's. I wanted to see them... didn't want to wait on my order to arrive from Hong Kong... so I freaking spent $3.99 a PIECE on these lame-ass dim pieces of crap. In the pic, the side lights up decent enough... I was happy when I saw it... I guess I assumed that the blue LEDs from a retail store were going to be just as good as the ones in the mail... you know... $15 for a 100-pack. Thanks Ebay. (the seller was awesome... if anyone wants the name, I'll share... quite the bargain, no?)

Well... anyway... when the envelope arrived with my little lights... I had to test them out. Holy freaking hell they were soooo much brighter than my previously tested ones. Behold!




Now... the picture of the sides was taken using 5 of the 'dim' LEDs. Imagine what it will look like with 20 of the BRIGHT ones installed. Yay! Happy day!

They are *quite* bright... this little array lit up my whole room, which is about as big as Germany.



yeah... so... more stuff coming. I hope this update gives you an idea of the cooling system... the location of components... and how amazing I am. The next update shouldn't be too far away.

 

I'm really impressed by this case. It will be massive! Aren't you worried about it being a little top heavy though?

Eager to see how this one turns out.

 

Actually... yes. Very. I have to use large Shaquille Oneil feet to help balance it... SO much weight is at the top and I really don't have much to put in the bottom. Fortunately, everything I do is perfect... I'll have to count on my track record to see me through.

If anyone has any ideas, please offer them... depending on their brilliance, you might escape a flogging.

 

WOW! Now THAT is one HUGE fan!!! lovin' it! but doesn't it make a **** of a noise?

 

I don't know what "**** of a noise" means! Mods, help me! He could have said, a "walrus of a noise" for all I know. I'm CONFUSED. This might prompt me to start clicking smilies out of frustration.
"hellalot of a noise?"
"plethora of a noise?"
"whambamzimzamkablam of a noise?"

Hmm... ***** ***** **** **** curse **** *** ***** word **** **** **** filters! I **** ***** ***** you ***** die *****!!!!! *****!!

I'll just assume you meant to say, "Walrus of a noise." In which case, the answer is no. I recently answered the prayers of another similar question asked on the overclockers site... it read like this:

Bless you.

 

You are SO walrus funny
furthermore the case looks great
what is that CPU?? celeron or P4?? it might very well be one nice clocking chip, i tell you.. but i guess you tested that

 

looks real sweet man

Good luckk with it all.

 

wow nice work. I'm confused as to why your running rads if your gonna Tec chill the water. If the Tec puts the water below ambient wouldn't in fact the rads just warm it up? Plus wouldn't the loss of flow rate from using 2 rads be more harming than the added cooling power?
sorry for sounding skeptical maybe I'm seeing something wrong here. Anyways cheers continue the good work

 

where in hong kong did you buy those LEDs?

 

I think that the rads first cool the water down after it comes from the coolers and then the tec will put it below ambient

 

yup
edit: well, sort of... the rads cool the coolant after it hits the water-blocks... bringing it back down to about ambient temps (slightly higher, of course). The TECs bring the ambient water much lower.
The TEC chiller can handle my current CPU(AMD 2500B) to about 2550Mhz. The rads alone can do about 2750.

 

uh. what? wouldn't the TEC chiller bring the water temps lower than the rads such that you'd get higher overclocks with it? is there a typo or are the tecs not as good as i thought?

oh, and subscribed (have been for a week, for the funny writing along with the kick@$$ mod )