Project Redwood 3.0 -by ZapWizard -Jan 15th '05

True, but IMO he doesn't do what Macs are, sleek clean cases.

 

so, in your opinion, this case is not sleek and clean? i would say it is the definition of sleek and clean.

 

Well when I think sleek nice brushed stainless steel, but when I think wood I think a rough object that can be made pretty, but its all matters of opinions.

 

Dude Zap... this thing is just dropping beauty bombs left and right! It really is just wonderful to look at!
No lie bro... no lie.
Keep up the great work! Keep us up to date on the job hunt too! (And tell, BW congrats from me when you see him next!)

 

In hind sight I should have seen that coming

 

Just Checking -

You still alive Zap? I know you're busy, but take a minute to let us know how things are going.

How's the whole job hunt thing going? Life? The redwood? Anything else?

Thanks.

 

Ya I'm still alive.
Also still job hunting but I still have time.

I have been doing what work I can on Redwood without spending too much money.

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I added wood to a memory card reader and the MX1000 charging station.
I also changed the smt LEDs inside the memory card reader to white to match the theme of the PC.

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The PC is fully functional now as a computer and runs games great. There still seems to be a bios bug that resets the bios (the BIOS battery is fine) The board will be replaced with a newer production version.

Right now, un-tweaked the system gets 6048 in 3DMark05.
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I have re-designed the faceplate circuitry to be more compact and modular.
I will have basicly a touch sensative module with LED that will pop-in behind the buttons, rather then have the circuitry seperate.
I need to order more parts before I can complete the circuits.

As far as the watercooling I am leaning towards just getting commercial waterblocks in order to make up lost time.

 

HOO HOO! The Mod lives! Glad to see an update Zap. Keep it up

-Brad

 

Must... have ...512MB... video... card....

Glad to see yo urunning around and kickin bro!

 

<offtopic>Tech-Daddy your signature is awfully large don't you think?</offtopic>

 

So what's left that still needs wood? You may have dismissed this idea already, but using a case skin may be easier on the curvier parts if any remain.

 

USB Sound card, Ipod dock, and my iPod itself.
Yes, I have seen the commercial wood iPod docks.
No one has done a wood iPod transformation (not case) yet. (That I have seen)

Other then that I don't have anything left on my desk to put a wood treatment on. I have plenty of veneer left over if I get anything new though.

I did use a vinyl skin on my MX1000 if you look at a few pages back.

 

WooHoo! The modder lives on i see! Looking good as usual but how is the outer skin (the curved parts and top) coming. Last I saw they all looked shaped just needed to be mitered and joined together!

 

This week I helped my Dad to spec out and purchase 6 new computers for a second retail store for their business, as payment I got him to also purchase a 120mm 100% copper Zalman heatsink that I can use on this PC until I can purchase the watercooling parts.



Lets just say if you have never seen, or FELT one, these things are crazy!
120mm is the size of the fan, the actual heatsink is 135mm, and they are heavy.
I had to use a dremel and shave down two areas of the heatsink to make room for the wireless NIC and northbridge heatsink, but as you can see it fits.



The PC is now more heatsink then motherboard...dremeled but cool.

 

No pci slot.

 

Why is that a problem? With so much now 'onboard' with current mobos (LAN, sound, RAID, etc etc) not having a PCI slot isn't a big deal.

My current system has 5 PCI slots - all of them empty...

Cool heatsink, anyway! How noisy are those big Zalman coolers? I've heard conflicting reports.

 

I've got one of the 92mm Zalman ones, and I think that's huge. At full speed it's a "strong rush of air" noise level (but no motor hum really), and with the included fanmate or using speedfan, you won't hear it unless you have a solid state hard drive. Dunno about the 120's but I'd think quieter.

So... that thing must be even bigger than it looks. I'm mentally scaling it to the 92mm version (I have trouble seeing things in their "correct" size in pics unless I've seen it firsthand) so I'm not even seeing the utter hugeness of it. But going that it's wider than the whole backplate, that must say something.

Great work, I love the wood card reader. Fits right in, but you need a bigger card (I'm sure that 32mb thing is just what came stock with the camera, right?)... the back of the MX1000 base is nice too. I'll be interested to see the iPod stuff... hopefully it doesn't get all scratched up like the white and chrome does!

 

There's a pci slot hiding under the heatsink...

I've thought about a wood case but I didn't think it'd look right. This looks like it'd be right at home in Earnest Hemmingway's house.

Great job...can't wait to see it done.

 

Man zap your crazy. What drives you to build such complex cases? Everything about this project looks like it came directly from a factory. Are you not telling us something Keep up the crazy mods. Cant wait to see this one and done and see the next one start.

 

I've got one... using the speed control it is REALLY quiet... hard drive (Seagate) and dvd/cd drives are much louder in my system.

Actually, this is really cool as I was wondering if the Zalman would fit on a shuttle motherboard... now I have my answer before I open anything up and start working on it