Case Mod - In Progress Project, Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evo - 7/1 Finale!!

awesome work so far looks excellent sorry about the res holders breaking like that and also the fact that they (company) is so cheap that they cant send you a replacement for something that if they would of given in the first place it wouldn't have ever happened...anyway can't wait to see that new coolant in action

 

As I said before I had some pictures of my failed fan cover mod..

I used a single 120mm fan to trace an outline of what would be a 220mm fan cover with tabs that bend down to cover the sides..



After the cut..



Initial sizing of the holes for the fans was a little small, but the second time around it was just right..




Single 120mm fan cover once cut out..





Everything looks like it is lined up like it should, after some painting prep I added a coat of primer and matte black paint..






Now here is things went awry. After bending the tabs I had then realized that the single 120mm fan hole was off center by about a half an inch and the 220mm cover had been about a half an inch too long. I decided to put them under the knife and try to fix it, since the only thing I had to do was make a few simple cuts.

With the 120mm cover I ended up turning a circle into come oddly shaped circle and the crease on the side of the 220mm cover snapped..




This all happened last weekend and I haven't had the chance to remake them, which is the plan.

On a very bright side of things I have finally recieved my replacement reservoir..



Compared to the old which crack and eventually the cracked pieces broke off..



Also I have recieved my quick-disconnect and compression fittings, along with some extra hose and some wire clips I plan to mess with..





To top off recieving some important parts, the new Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 finally became available, so with that I order a EVGA 790I Ultra motherboard and two gigs of Corsair DDR3 1600!!!! FINALLY!

My goal now is to attempt to finish this case mod by next weekend. I have everything I need except the red acrylic sheet which should be here tomarrow. This might not be realistic with a busy schedual but I will see what I can manage. Until the next!

 

Good luck with the final stages, keep up the good work

 

I had the same problem. I had 2 coolplex res's which are similar to the one you have and the clips broke as well as the plexiglass filling port. BS

 

You should swap your bottom fans. Unless I am mistaken they are intaking the dusty warm air from the bottom of your case and recirculating the heat back into your system. They should go the other way.

 

That's how I originally had them, where they were blowing out, but then I was told by having them blow out through the bottom created 'heat soak' by pulling warm air from the hardware and blowing it through the radiator? Is this incorrect?

As far as the reservoir holders that came with it, yeah total junk, those replacements ones though are pretty heavy duty. Shouldn't have an issue with it again.. I hope!

 

Another update..

Mini-update..

I haven't been able to get any work done for five days now as I've had a combination of the ebola virus and bubonic plague.. But on the bright side I recieved my Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 and my 2"x 2" piece of transparent red acrylic..

 

Another mini-update..

Aha! So another wonderful delivery day today, I've recieved my memory and motherboard, now the only thing left to recieve is my new waterblock.. New waterblock? Yeah, seems the Koolance quick-disconnects for my watercooling loop I purchased are too wide for the D-Tek Fuzion cpu waterblock, so I ordered a Swiftech Apogee GTX to replace it, which will be here tomarrow. I have also made the outline for the 'blood' cutout I will be using the acrylic for..








You can probably expect another update tomarrow.

 

Not quite the finale yet!

After many ups and downs, good times and bad times with this project mod it seems I have made it to the final stretch. I cannot honestly say I will ever be 'finished' with this case mod, but my original plan has now been achieved. For those who have followed this project I hope you enjoyed your time, I sure have and it's exciting to see an idea take form. So without wasting more time..

My Swiftech Apogee GTX cpu waterblock that came a few days ago..



The Koolance quick-disconnects fit like a glove..





Cpu placed into the motherboard..



I had decided this time around I should put a little more effort into leak testing, so I put the waterblock on the board, without thermal compound, so I could get the right lengths for the tubes..




It seems like it was forever when my eyes fell upon my Asus Crosshair.. she will be missed..








It was quite tedious wrapping the anti-kink coils around the tubes, but it definatly gives it some pazzaz..



For maximum saftey during leak testing, I pulled out the board, since I installed the quick-disconnects, it made switching up parts a breeze..





During leak testing I took the time to make the blood cutout of the acrylic and remake my fan covers.. silly me forgot the camera though so I do not have pictures of those processes this time.. but both projects went smoothly. This time around with the fan covers I decided to not cut out circles around the fans.. yes they may restrict air flow a little, but this is not regular modders mesh, the holes are bigger so I don't feel as bad about it. Gives a more sleek look to the bottom of the case as well..




After leak testing without any leaks I through the system back together.. epic. Then I prepared for the second leak test..




Oh noes! A Leak!



Problem was resolved with a quick application of more thread tape and problem gone..



Sucessful boot upto Windows



And a lot of pictures of it all together..



Bleeding the system..











You may note here, as different from previous inside snapshots of my computer while running.. there is a red light missing at the bottom. I had two of them, but as soon as I powered the system up this time one of the lights shorted out.. : / I'll replace it once I get a chance.












Do not fret my friends! This is not the end, as I still have a few minor tasks. One I need to replace that light, two I need to clean the case, as in dust and such then I will take a set of pictures truely gallery worthy. So hang in there with me just a little longer and we can wrap this baby up in no time.

Until the next!

 

Looks great! Just a quick idea. I'd give the sides of the acrylic a sand down. Will make the edges much more cleaner and less bumpy.

 

Yeah with a flame polish.

 

Looking good mate

 

Nice! Shame about the res. Nice to see more people still getting into w/cooling. I wish I could afford even a small setup.

 

Oh right I forgot to mention that is one thing I will be doing asap, those edges need work still.

 

Oh man, reading your log reminds me in every single way of my first mod (B&W Wavesmaster) Complete with the coolermaster case, 2 color motif, poorly focused pictures suspended reservoir, leaky reservoir, and the list goes one. lol

Good work though, I like it, very simple yet effective. wipe off the case every once in a while and focus the camera and you're as good as gold

 

Thanks for the comments guys, keep an eye open as the final touches are being made.

 

Mini-update..

Well it's been a very busy week. Since I built the pc(including the new hardware) I have spent most of the time trouble-shooting random hardware and software issues. I think now I have finally gotten all the kinks out, so that gives me more time to finish up the small touches.. soon, almost finished.

 

Busy, busy.. I havn't been able to finish the actual mod just yet as I have been super busy including troubleshooting issues created via bad memory sticks which I had to RMA. I have a slot of free time in a couple days to work on the mod and hopefully, you can all see the finished result. In the mean time I have a couple of minor updates..

I had to buy another CCFL light and replaced that..



I also decided to pick up a second EVGA 8800GTS 640mb graphics card, adding to my first card making the SLI setup.






And that's all I have until this weekend.

 

Sorry for the delay on my final gallery of pictures of my finished case mod. Here they are.. As you can see I have switched out the blue's for the red's, minus the activity LED. This is what I'll call a 'finished' project.













With no lighting...









With lighting...














Any my desk area..



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Well again sorry for the delay on these pictures and thanks to all who gave it a look. I put a lot of work into this and it's turned out as I hoped for. This is just the start of my future in case modding, so look forward to new and exciting projects! Enjoy the eye candy!

 

Very nice