Project: Enter the Blue Dragon (STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN)

GA-7N400-L. Why?

 

****ing awesome!! I giv 5 stars from that case But im wondering a litle why u din't do those crawings by green? It will seen much better cause those uv cathodes is pretty bright blue, or do ur camera lying a bit?

 

damn nice job u did on this one need job on sleeving also. continue the good work. all this for your girl? i know who gets lucky tonight
keep on modding

 

whooo very clean and tidy really like it so far, keep up the good work

 

This is really starting to turn beautiful...dude, I'D be your g/f if you made something like this for me! I can call a surgeon, gender changes don't take that long!

Seriously, though, very nice. I might be inspired to do some of my own etching after seeing the job you did here! Looking forward to seeing this project when it's finished up.

 

Things have been very busy at work and Ive been studying for the A+ exam so I havent really had a chance to do much modding.

Last month I primarily focussed on the stealthing of the two drives. The top bay will be unoccupied followed by a DVD, a CDRW and the bottom bay will be a surprise!



So, we start off with the stock 5.25" bay covers. I like these compared to most bay covers because they have a different locking mechanism. On the left is a screw hole and

on the righ are two round tabs that snap the bay into place. This is much easier than the conventional bay cover but I have no clue why Im telling you all this because in the

next 30 seconds, that cover gets MODDED!



We need just enough metal to cover any openings behind the cover so about 1/4" should do the trick.

The first rule of Modding: Measure twice, cut once!





My trusty jigsaw handles aluminuminum very well.



So far so good:



Some dremel work to sand down the rough edges:



Followed by some hand sanding wih 1500 grit paper:



And voila!



Thin profile shot:



Here is the first drive that is going to get stealthed:



You get the idea right?



This is what will be used to attach the cover to the drive. It is 3M's dual-lock velcro. Its not like normal velcro, that scratchy fabric crap. Its made of a rubbery material

that has interlocking phalanges that stick together.



Two strips of equal sized dual-lock on the DVD drive lip.



Can you guess what happens next? Yup, two strips of dual-lock in roughly the same spot as the first two to line up and hold the

cover to the drive.



BADA-BING! Perfect fit!



Here is the fully stealthed drive in the case. Beautiful!



Repeat the steps above for the other drive and you get...



Hey, whered they go?!!!?!



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Cleanliness is next to Modlessness!



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I have no idea how this happened. The filament in my ccfl snapped in half but the tube remained intact. Just like that. Pop. Weird. Trust noone.

 

Were did you source the dual-lock velcro from? Is it available from HD? It looks clear...woo...I could use this stuff (I have crappy white fabric stuff).

Good job with the stealthing.

 

You might be able to get it from HD but I always buy mine from Target. Should be no more than $3.00.

 

Quick question
(and totally n00b one) but with them stealthed, how do you open them? Do you just press the corner with the eject button or what?

Otherwise, great job!

 

Yup. Thats why the double stick tape is there. On some cases Ive had to triple layer the double tape because not all eject buttons and drives are made the same.

 

you could always right click the drive, and hit eject also (in windows) nice job, looks great!

 

That takes too long. Pushing the bottom right corner of the cover works fine. I might be re-wiring the eject buttons to a few bulgin switches if I can find them in black.

 

Mini Update

A few goodies came in today. Coolermaster CoolDrive 4 and a SamSung SpinPoint UltraQuiet UltraATA133 HardDrive. This is the quietest harddrive on the planet, you dont even know its there!! My stupid harddrive sounds like a freakin marching band . If you'll noticed, I took out that generic 4 fan controller after I added the CD4.

Anyway, on with the pics...

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The CoolerMaster CoolDrive 4, one of the best bay devices ever!





Looking good!



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Since all drives were in at that point, the final setup of the cables was done. Remember, the idea is a clean and organized look. Many zip ties were harmed in the making of these photos.





These unsleeved wires are from the fan extensions used in CD4. They will be sleeved next week because I ran out of sleeving.



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I will be changing out the Vantec Aeroflow (very noisy) and putting in a CoolerMaster X-Dream III (very quiet) when it comes in. Im hoping by Friday.

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Sweet!

I found some more sleeving so I was able to finish the wires for the CD4!





The finalized hidden wiring!





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Gotta get some studying done!

 

excellent job of hiding your wires, looks s00per clean. About how much those cool drives cost?

 

Anywhere from $40 to $50. Its a great bay device!

 

Nice job m8

Pretty much how my new system is gonna look.


**BUT, better! lol **

 

Im starting all over

Unfortunately Ive had to RMA the mobo. After loking at it for a few days, Ive decided to start all over. There are too many imperfections for this case to be a gift. I want it to be impressive and near perfect.

Ill be keeping everything but the case and the psu i.e. all the sleeved cables, the stealthed drives, fans, etc..

The new case should arrive in about a week. Until then...mod on.

 

What are some of the imperfections? Were they manufacturing/design flaws or something you did?