Case Mod - In Progress LAN Cubular/Stacker Build - New Reservoir- 6th Jan 09

ALL COPY AND PASTED TO SHOW PROGRESS SO FAR

Hi there..

No one will probably remember me as I neglected this forum after completing my project log a long while ago

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=105024

I love the look of it and it was a blast to build but every time I want to hook up with some mates for a mini LAN party I have to lug this huge steel full tower

Therefore I want to play it at the other end of the scale a build a Matx form factor gaming rig

The spec of my blue baby may not be top notch but it runs all my fav games well enough so my plan is to fit as much as possible of it into my new cube case that is going to be delivered tomorrow.

Spec:

OCZ Modstream 520w
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3
Intel Core2Duo e6300 1.8ghz (stable at 3.1Ghz)
OCZ XTC 1GB (2x512) DDR2 PC2-6400
Western Digital 250GB Sata2 (16mb cache)
Gainward Bliss GeForce 7900GS PCIe

Hopefully I will only have to replace the mobo and CPU cooler as I doubt my Tuniq 120mm tower is going to fit.

Anyway I will upload pics of the case tomorrow

cheers!

~~~~~

Ok the case has arrived

I won't bore you with lots of pics of a case you have all seen 1337 times!





Next thing to do is find out if I can mod my new case to get the Tuniq to fit

~~~~~

DUUUST












Used an air compressor (with a moisture remover) to blow all the crap off before installing most of the parts into the new case.


Old ATX and new mATX S-series mobos




The section that had to be cut to fit the Tuniq heatsink




Had to cut around 7mm off of the copper base as the caps prevented from sitting flat as I had to mount the cooler slightly offset to avoid the PSU, also wet-n-dried the base to a smoother finish for better thermal contact


Sexy blue thumb screws, need to order more though


for now all the cables have just been thrown in as there is no point organising them untill my cable braid arrives wednesday


The installation of the Tuniq prevented me from using the HDD rack so for now im using a 5.25" bay and the floppy bay untill I hack the chassis a bit more



~~~~~

I collected my parcel of a few A.C. Ryan parts and decided to fit them right away, I also managed to sort the HDD issue.. woop!




I really like the look of these, I have a 120mm for the rear and a 80mm for the front (soon to be two up front)


The only part of the fans that dissapointed me really


might add a switch in here later


quickly nibbled out the majority of the stupid restrictive hex mesh, will cut it out properly later







I simply mounted the drives the opposite way around (PCB facing out) so the connectors were at the top and drilled new mounting holes to set them further back, still need to sort out the ends of my braiding though.

Taking this case further


The front Bezel comes apart very easily and I now plan to mod this a little so my case isn't so generic




removed the good-for-nothing handle and I will use filler to fill the sides of the old handle recess



Other plans for the front include removing all of the front connectivity apart from the power button (getting an illuminated Bulgin) and the USBs, also going to add a lot more ventilation in the form of mesh so my dual 80mm front fans will have something to suck through

MODS!! please move this to the project log section, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

~~~~~

I don't really need to write much for this post, all the pictures speak for themselves but feel free to ask any questions


filled the recess so there was an even platform to work on (even if most of this was removed later)


3 pilot holes


3 holes with the holesaw in the bench drill


The filler seems to be holding this bezle together lol


aluminium pipe (75mm)






a small amount of filler just to hold them in place for now




a custom aluminium plate will sit behind the three intakes to mount the three 80mm fans. Yes this will probably be noisy but im getting a fan controller and I love the look of it reminds me of one of those external mounted engine blowers hahaaa


4" UV cathodes, 3 meters of 'U' channel, 10 UV blue cable ties, green illuminated switch, body filler and some arctic silver 5.


all of the above was from Kustompcs apart from the filler which was from Motorworld, costing £5

going away next week so expect some updates the week after that!

 

nice start!! those fan holes are gunna look stunning!!

 

I agree with [xXx] ãÇè_ƒr€áK (that was a copy and paste job haha) those fan holes are going to be awesome.

As for the dust, how did you manage that? Did you use the intake fan to hoover your room or something?

 

lol wow lots of dust, looks really cool so far those fans are gonna be sik

 

Looking good,i do like that front

 

Looks like you may have been slightly inspired by E.E.L.'s MicroFly Project

I really like the cutout for the Tuniq Tower. It'll be interesting to see what you end up with for temps. Are you gonna heat-shrink all the cables as well along with the sleeving you already put on? They just look a little unfinished is all. I'd say if you don't have the time/tools/patience for properly heat-shrinking them you could always do a couple wraps of electrical tape on the ends to cover up the frayed bits. And yes, they do in fact sell blue electrical tape

I'm not sure where you'd buy it in the UK, but I'm sure there's a store somewhere near you that sells 3M product. Good Luck!

 

yep, Motosave definitely sells 3M products... but I have a mechanic friend, so he gets all my modding stuff on the cheap (like 3M stuff)

Can't wait to see what the outcome looks like

 

I had a search for "E.E.L.'s MicroFly Project" and its very impressive indeed, nice to know that 3 80mm fans are going to fit (joking, I have actually measure.. honest!)

The Tuniq should be going soon hopefully... watercooling calls ahh The green braiding came as part of an A.C. Ryan cable modding kit so I have the matching green heatshrink to hand I just haven't applied it yet


Thanks for your replys everyone! I really appreciate it.. sorry for the lack of updates but I promise some progress in the next 7 days!!

Cheers guys.

 

I hate not having time to mod!! lol

anyway ordered a few bits for Lan Cubular:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700
OCZ 4GB (2x2gb) PC2-6400 Reaper Edition Memory
Optiarc AD-7633A Slimline 8X8 DVD±RW/DL/RAM LabelFlash Slot Loading
Laptop optical drive to IDE converter
Samsung HD502IJ SpinPoint F1 500GB Hard Drive (to replace my current 250GB storage drive)

 

This looks cool. Your old Dirty rig is good. The Idea that you will build this cube is cool. And the 3 Intakes LOOK JUST HOT. I will keep watching this .

Well done buddy, keep it going

 

The intakes remind me of this:



Too cool. Too cool.

 

HOLY COW!!!!!

 

Haha me and my Dad lol'd at that picture comparison thanks for the comments! It's good when people take interest.

Expect some update worth looking at in the next few days!!

 

Been busy so I haven't had time to mod due to a 2 day mini LAN party hehe







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Instead of using a huge blob of filler to fill the unwanted holes left by the USB ports a small alu plate was made to patch it.


Alu fan plate.. still needs sanding.






Lots of work left to go into the front intakes but its starting to take shape.

 

With patience, that front panel will turn out amazing. I can visualize it painted already Keep up the great work!

 

Cheers paint wise im thinking.. Orange, Hot Rod Green or Purple. Meh.. thats not important right now. Suggestions?

 

Is that a Trust mouse in the first picture because I think I have the same one.

 

Awesome work, man! Microflys are fun to hack on!

 

It is, well spotted although I now have the red gaming version with the 1600/800dpi switch after the wire wore through on the old one

Cheers man, I admire your work on the Microfly

 

Very nice, I love the way that you play with your pc in lanpart with no worries well done buddy well done