Spent yesterday (my birthday!) doing THE worst job imaginable. Having removed the large patch of Akasa noise dampening foam from the top of the case, I was left with a disgusting sticky residue. Note to all: if you ever plan on using it, be prepared to throw the case away if you ever decide you no longer want it there - its easier! Time to don the rubber gloves and pay a trip to the shed to hunt for the white spirit. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr 2 of the worst hours of my life!
Ok, did my first proper bit of modding today. Got the new soldering iron out (which produced a worrying amount of smoke when first turned on), and replaced all the LEDs from the front panel. Fortunately there are a total of 6 spaces, allowing me to have 2x LEDs for each of the two systems inside the cube (and two left over - anyone have any ideas what to do with them?) Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr My first attempt was spectacularly poor, but by the second and third LED I had become fairly adept. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr What I ended up with. Strangely there are only 5 cables, but 6 holes. If I can think of something to do with the other two indicators, I'll fill that last hole.
Nice to see your progressing. Heads up for removing the residue - if you can lay your hands on a bottle of 'goo gone' its a piece of cake. Also little tip for removing that akasa foam - hair dryer on the case side opposite to actual foam heats the glue and let's it peel away with less residue. Granted a little late for the advice after the job is but least you know now
At the moment I'm facing two main issues. First of all, the 360mm rad just about fits, and I mean just about. There is probably about 2mm clearance between it and the end of the case, couldn't have made it any tighter! This led to the removal of one of the pins holding the front of the case on, not a problem since there are a lot more in that area and its still fairly secure. However, to get the Rad in there, I have to take the fan off, and then re attach it once its in place. The second part of this process is going to be incredibly hard, due to the fact that the non removable 5.25" drive bays are in the way. Is there a tool that lets you screw in screws from 90"? Second issue, is the job I'm looking forward to the least - tapping motherboard mounts. However, through the wonders of Bit Tech I came up with an alternate solution. No, not double sided tape! What I was thinking was just drilling a normal hole into the motherboard tray, and then using a washer, 4x nuts and a bolt to secure the motherboard in place. This means I can avoid having to tap a screwthread into the motherboard. See below for what I had in mind
There are a few different 90 degree drivers around. I've got one like this in my work toolbag - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolfcraft-degree-Angle-Screwdriver-Tool/dp/B0002YYTVU There are a few electric or ratchet models which make life easier. I'd be very tempted if going down the 'just drill a hole' route to maybe get some pan head type screws, then by drilling the hole though the board you can go from the HDD / CDROM side of the case --> motherboard tray --> plastic spacer (or nylon nut) --> motherboard --> nylon washer --> nut. Or you might get away with drilling the holes, then finding a nut to fit the thread on the standoffs. Post the stand off though the hole and attach with a nut on the back. Not 100% on motherboard try thickness so don't quote me on that solution
Looking good mate. Nice to see this case getting some love. Was used as a fileserver for a bit and then ended up in the outhouse for years. Will def keep watching this space to see what happens next. P.S. Sorry for all the sound proofing.....
Oh as for the secondary MB mounting. Back in the day of AT and early atx, MB standoffs where actually plastic. If you can get your hands on some of them (I will look in the back), its light work to cut of the thread part and then just stick them to the MB tray. Link here to explain what I mean. http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...S&cid=41148&lid=1069637&acd=23975883724507269
Fantastic idea! Thanks Nimbu! Found some at ebuyer here I'd say I'd still need a 6/32 hole, as I can't think of a reliable way of attaching them to the chassis but I could maybe do it with a nut at the back.
Have you ordered them, Tom? If not, how many do you need? I'm sure I have a few in my "box-of-many-things". I may have some flat standoffs too, which would probably be better if you plan to epoxy them in place. I can have a look tonight and bung some in an envelope for you.
Ah, well very kind of you Spreadie but I ordered some from ebay in the end, they were only £2 so no drama! Again though, many thanks!
Ok so today, I assembled my workbench which was just as hard as any modding. Someone over at Black and Decker needs some instructions on how to draw instructions. Using said workbench I spent about an hour filing an M4 Grub screw down to the correct size in order to fix the door. Job done (I know, it needs some dusting!) Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr We also have a new arrival. A few weeks ago some of you may have seen my request for help finding a Rad grill that fit flush with the case, instead of being stuck on top. Nate from E22 mentioned he was working on a design which would fit my needs, but hadn't put anything into production yet. He offered me a prototype for testing, and of course I accepted. You've probably seen a few pictures in E22s thread but if you haven't....
Ok, so had the chance to get a little more done today. The morning started out very productive. I fired up the dremel for the first time on my 'test case', and practiced cutting a line! Not a bad job. This gave me the confidence to take it to the Cube. I needed to remove the VGA holder at the front of the case, as it was getting in the way of where I wanted to mount the front Rad. Job done. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr Now, I spent a while messing out with various cooling configurations, and I really like the idea of having the res on show, so I've ditched the bay res, and I'm going all out and using a second hand EK X2 250 res I got on the marketplace for £16. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr I need to pick up a 90" compression fitting for the bottom of the 120 rad. I've decided that on the PSU (non visible) side of the case, I'm going to use barbs as I already have a load and I find buying compression fittings painfully expensive.
Ok! In light of the changes in res, I have a new loop layout. Black thing at the top on the back side is 360mm rad, at the bottom is the pump On front side, 120mm rad at the front, res next to it.
And.... a new design for the case window. It should show off the most important parts of the interior, including GPU, CPU, Res and Rad and hide the empty and ugly bits (for example, reservoirs often get condensation at the top).
The modding continues! Spent the first part of the afternoon marking up the cuts for the flanged radiator (more on that in a sec) Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr First cut was made half using a hole saw, which blunted itself after about 30 seconds of cutting through steel, and half using a jig saw which went through it like a warm knife through butter. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr Finally, after an age I finished the other two Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr Bit rough around the edges..... and that is where the problem lies. Because I don't have the proper equipment to cut perfect circles, I found that basically the metal between the two circles bent upwards. This means that there is no real point in me using the flanged rad grill, as while it will fit fine underneath the surface above it is in such bad nick that it'll look a state. I guess that is why people don't use these more often and a radiator placed on top is the more common technique. Doing a mod is a lot of hard work, but I know it will be very rewarding at the end. Ups and downs, just like everything in life. More to follow.
Got a few more things done today guys! First up! Fitted the IO backplate for the ITX board. Also, drilled the holes for the bolts that will act as motherboard standoffs. Did all that work freehand using a dremel. In hindsight I should have used a jigsaw for a cleaner cut, but it turned out ok in the end. 20000101_013056 by Penderyn, on Flickr Next up - cutting out the side panel. I had to change up my original design, as I've now opted for an SLI setup, and I want the second card to be on show. Marking up using a tin of Baked Beans for the corners 20000101_051813 by Penderyn, on Flickr Cutting 20000101_054428 by Penderyn, on Flickr And the finished article, which looks great! 20000101_061016 by Penderyn, on Flickr As I said previously, I've now opted for an SLI setup. I was thinking 680 + Full Cover block, but that was going to cost me in excess of £470 so I reconsidered. Chris_Waddle on the marketplace was selling 2x GTX 480 with Full Cover EK blocks for £250 - which is a hell of a lot of horsepower for not much money. They should easily be OC'able to 580 speed and under water should be a little more friendly than they are with air. I just hope my 850w PSU is up to the task. I'll get some shots up when they arrive.
Not much of an update, other than to say that this project now has a name! Blue Caldera I recently learnt the word while visiting Lake Mininjau – a Caldera in West Sumatra, Indonesia. From Wikipedia: “A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Spanish caldera, and this from Latin CALDARIA, meaning "cooking pot." In some texts the English term cauldron is also used.” Given the furnace like SLI GTX 480’s at the heart of the build, I think the system should live up to its name.
