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Custom Case "AlumiCube"

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by th3madc0w, 21 Mar 2004.

  1. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    Well, I have been reading these forums for a while now, so i decided to put up a log for the new case i'm building. It will be an 14" Aluminum cube with windows on 3 sides, and seperate sections for the drives and mobo. There will be 6 120 mm lighted fans, and lots of cathodes. (mebbe like 4 or so, depends, i'll add em till it hurts :D ). My current hardware will move to this case:
    AMD 3200 athlon 64
    Zenith nforce3 150
    512 ocz 433
    2 hitachi 80gig raid
    16x dvd
    8x dvd-rw
    5900 ultra
    Matrix Orbital lcd

    Here are the sketch-ups so far:
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    Should be getting the alu cnc'd this week, and start building next weekend, let me know what you think
     
  2. 1st time modder

    1st time modder What's a Dremel?

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    it looks excellent, and calls for an insane watercooling setup because there are plenty of open spaces for radiators, reserviors, and pumps :dremel: .
     
  3. TekMonkey

    TekMonkey I enjoy cheese.

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    Sounds good, I see you've taken advantage of the sketchup collection thread. I'm sure jazzle will be glad to hear that its been useful :D
     
  4. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    Yes, thos files saved me a lot of time, and thanks to everybody who has submitted something. as far as the water cooling, i will be adding it, keeping the rad , pumps , and res on the drive bay side, but that will be later ( gives me an excuse to tear it down and put it together again :D ) Not really needed yet, though as my 3200 does 2350 on air at 235 fsb ( my ram dies at anything over 470, but when i borrowed my friends 533 ram, my 3200 ran stable at 2500 at 48 c.)
     
  5. Ducarii

    Ducarii What's a Dremel?

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    looks almost BTX capible when that comes out. :rock:
     
  6. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    ALL mobos are BTX and ATX, you just mount it upside down, i like it because it keeps my video card heat off of the proc, and it puts all the cables at the bottom of the case, which look better if it's sittin out wher u can see the back of it., good eye to notice that though, most people haven't seen that until like the 5th time they look at it.
     
  7. Ducarii

    Ducarii What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah, I mean the side on witch its mounted in your particular case, I gotta research BTX for some history project so I guess I've had that in my mind all day. :lol:
     
  8. SoulkeepHL

    SoulkeepHL What's a Dremel?

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    What the hell? ATX is nothing like BTX, not to mention that I've yet to see a BTX case or a BTX motherboard, even tho intel released the spec last year to have goods availible 2004. But back on topic, the layout shown is most similar to WTX, WTX was loosly based on the ATX specs (where as btx is a completely new spec, ie the difference between at and atx in terms of layout) allowing for much larger boards for "workstations," hence wtx. Its claim to fame, so to speak, or really the only thing anyone remembers about wtx anymore is the upside down placement in when compared to atx, as it is in your design.
     
  9. SJH

    SJH Minimodder

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    That's complelely untrue. The physical layout of the motherboards are completely different between the two form factors.

    If you mounted an ATX board upside down you'd end up with all of the rear connections at the front of the machine ;)

    -Sam
     
  10. Rain

    Rain What's a Dremel?

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    Looks nice BIG & Shiny :D

    Hope you will use the Lian Li Alu removable hdd caddies to match the rest of the case
     
  11. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    Actually, i will be using a cooler master cool drive 4 for one drive ( to control all the fans and monitor temps) and a cool drive 3 below it so they will match. and wtx is what i had in my head, not btx, thanks for pointing that out(up late guess i had a brain fart). i just meant the orientation was the same as what i'm doin with my board, and i also like it because my comp sits to the left of me on my desk, so i'll be able to see it instead of just a solid case side.
     
  12. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    also i have come up with a way to mount my windows, my alu is 1/8 inch thick, and i will use 1/4 inch plexi and mill a rabbit in it around the edge so it sits flush on the outside, and be held in by channels on the inside so there will be no fasteners on the outside. the front, top, bottom, and back of the case will be permanent and the left and righ sides will come off with hidden fasteners so the outside will be completly smooth, no screws even on the fans.
     
  13. RotoSequence

    RotoSequence Lazy Lurker

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    Sweet! That looks like it has some real potential :D You know, you COULD turn that into a box for two computers... Actaully, I bet thats what you are aiming to do. :) You stole my motherboard mounting idea too :p I like the case design! Keep it up! :D
     
  14. BlueMax

    BlueMax What's a Dremel?

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    That is looking seriously awesome. :rock: One suggestion: Perhaps reduce the fan near the motherboard and graphics card down to an 80 MM, then move it up some, so you have room just in case you want to add some more PCI cards later.
     
  15. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    What's a PCI card? :hehe: lol. Thats why i use nforce boards, no need for a pci card at all, i have 7.1 sound, 6 usb2, firewire, gigabit lan, tv in, tv out, no need for anything else in a gaming rig, and as far as 80 mm fans, i can't stand the noisy little things, i want my comp to be seen, not heard. i am usin antec blue led fans at 17 db each, should be nice and quiet
     
  16. metarinka

    metarinka What's a Dremel?

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    I for one can't take the onboard audio, and Installled a soundblaster live in my project (check the sig)... but tvin and out sounds nice...
     
  17. TekMonkey

    TekMonkey I enjoy cheese.

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    Really? I have onboard 5.1 and it suffices. I don't really have an ear for sound. 5.1 onboard and and 5.1 from a sound card sound the same to me :D (I guess I'm kinda lucky that I don't have to buy a sound card lol)

    But, I was actually thinking about getting a card soon b/c with my current mobo, I can't hookup my microphone w/out loosing surround. Also, I have Logitech Z-640 5.1 surround speakers, but they're only 70watts. I wondered why they were so much cheaper than the Z-680s (500W). Is it worth upgrading to a more powerful sound system?
     
  18. metarinka

    metarinka What's a Dremel?

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    Really you can't? I remebered playing on a nice sound blaster and then on an onboard 5.1 the onboard sounded very tinny in the midrange (this is with headphones) and had no bass.
    AS far as upgrading. The only reason you would get a higher wattage system is if your current one cannot handle the sound levels you want to play it at. Basically if it starts distorting at high volumes and you still want to go louder then you need a higher W sound system but if plays fine at what ever volume your using, theres no need to upgrade
     
  19. TekMonkey

    TekMonkey I enjoy cheese.

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    Ok, thanks. And if I do get a sound card, is it worth spending the extra money to get a 7.1 card (b/c they advertise that they simulate 7.1 on 5.1 and 6.1 speakers?
     
  20. th3madc0w

    th3madc0w What's a Dremel?

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    i'v been hijacked!!! :p lol. actuall, i use the optical out on my mobo to a seperate decoder at home, and at a lan, who's gonna hear the difference in headphones?
     

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