I'm planning to do some MINOR MINOR MINOR exterior mods on my first custom built PC. The case I plan to use is a (Lian Li) Lancool PC-K9WX. These are all from Google Images, as I do not have the case or the components yet (Damn pricetags...) For those of you who are curious, here is the hardware I intend to put in the case. Intel Core i5-2550K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe/GEN3 ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP Corsair Vengeance 8GB Thermaltake Frio Corsair Force Series GT 120GB SSD Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200 RPM HDD OCZ ZT Series 650W Any ideas? I intend to cover the external drive covers in a navy blue Di-Noc-esque carbon fiber film, and use to accent some of the internal components. However, I want to add another color to the outside of the case. I've been think about gold or silver, but I really have no clue. Again, any ideas are welcome!
Look at cold cathodes, they're pretty cheap on ebuyer and really easy to use. You could fit them inside your case to help illuminate your components through the window, then replace the stock fans with LED ones. That's how I started, shouldn't cost more than £20 for it all. Next I'd say look at things like fan speed controllers and temperature sensors to mount in those front bays. Something like this should work. Search on amazon for "lian li fan controller" and you'll find one for like £25 inc. p+p. It also has 2.5" mounting bays included for your SSD. After a while, maybe look at fabricating/modifying individual panels or maybe respraying it, but as an entry level project it's a good idea to get to grips with the layout of your case and with the techniques of working in confined spaces. Also, di-noc can be a bitch to work with unless you have a hairdryer with you. Make sure you cut sections of material slightly larger than what you need, then carefully apply it to the (clean) surface, then heat it up with a hairdryer and use something stiff to flatten out any bubbles or creases and secure it around edges. Hope this helps
Thanks m8. I'm actually thinking about getting the windowless version; its $20 cheaper, and i'm not exactly rolling in cash. but respraying it sounds cool. any ideas on color?
Ah you're in the US, my bad. Um, respraying a black case may be hard due to the previous coating so maybe look for a bare metal one, my PC-G50 is aluminium so I'm sure this one will be too. But in terms of your question, I'd just look around your room and pick whatever colour you think will fit in best and get it powder coated. If that's out of your budget (which it kinda sounds like), then maybe get the black one and work on your spraypainting skills and get some stencil work going on it. Don't hold me responsible for the outcome though.
I forgot to mention, I want to do a custom fan grill over the mesh on the front panel, and incorporate my avatar. I'm working on that.
Lol. Sounds good. I also realized how much I want to show the internals off, so the windowed version is BACK. Is there a particular brand that makes good cold cathodes, or should I just go by price?
ebuyer is a website that I used to get mine, I can't remember the brand that they were but a pair of 30cm blue tubes cost me ~$5 and for that price, you can't really go wrong.
what are YOU looking for in a CUSTOM PC. People here on Bit-tech could tell you to do many, many things. but at the end of the day, you're making it and you've gotta live with the end result. Do you like Cars? are you a FPS player? do you prefer Pie to cake? What in this world fires you up? makes you sad? would trade a family member for? Completly random questions i know, but need a starting block before you can really talk about what to mod you're diving in with cathodes, LED fans and fan controllers, do you really need them? What colour LEDs are you looking at For example, let's say you're interested in Ferrari sports cars. immediately, i'd be suggesting a red paint job, black mesh grills and Carbon fibre panels. Cliche i know, but it's a start. you may decide later "no, i don't want a Red case, i'd like Ferrari Yellow" so then you'd look at your lighting choices "no, red LED fans wouldn't look good with yellow, how about white LED" See, 2 choices you've made, based on starting off with a theme. so go on, before you ask us what to do. what do YOU want to do. PS: Blue and Orange look good.
so i think i'm going to stick with the gold. as in black and gold with carbon fiber accents. i wanna do the external bay covers (or whatever gets put in there) gold, as well as the frame. and i'm going to accent all of the internals with carbon fiber. and i'm going to make a custom fan grill out of aluminum or steel to go over the on on front. i'm thinking about using a few standoffs to make the grill stick out, and then cover the front of the grill in gold and the back in carbon fiber. (and because of the fact that my parents don't like me using rattle cans, i'm going to use di noc and a gold vinyl film, also from 3m.) EDIT: and i'm going to light the thing, of course.
As the tweeter people say, #$W@G! Can't wait to see the progress log (if you're gonna do one, try and watermark your photos cos theres talk of scammers using photos from here on other sites).
so i've been doing some research, and i just found this place right by my dad's office called techshop. its basically a diy garden of eden. long story short, i have access to powder coating!! so i might do that for the gold pieces. if i go with the film i'm just going to do the psu and the motherboard tray in gold, as the motherboard tray is the only chassis part you can really see. and the psu because i like the gold. EDIT: The bay covers and fan grill will be gold no matter what.
