::The Return:: I started a worklog for this mod quite some time ago but due to work, car projects and a relationship it fell to the wayside. I however have had my Lian-Li dancing in my mind for awhile and have changed my plan from the original posted many months ago. ::Introduction:: The case inspiration comes from Dopefish, this stupdi lil' fish from one of my favorite childhood PC games, Commander Keen. The Dopefish is said to be the stupidest creature in the universe, second ONLY to the horrible Bugblatter Beat of Traal. The Dopefish since its appearance has cameo'd in MANY games as well as a couple TV shows. I have carried 'Dopefish' as a screen name off and on for a couple years and decided I needed a case to match. The idea behind the case is to have key features that relate to the Dopefish, its various cameos and other related things from Commander Keen and such while maintaining a stylish and contemorary design. Quality and function are priority -- I wish to keep my standards high with my work on this case considering the efford Lian-Li put into its basis. I intend to have a stable and cool running but quite computer within that will most likely see some overclocking. ::Hardware:: Lian-Li PC60-series Antec TruPower 430w Abit IS7-e mainboard Intel P4 2.8c HT @ 3.2GHz 2 x 512mb Geil 'Golden Dragon' PC3200 DDR ATI 9600xt 128mb AGP Sound Blaster Audigy 2 WD 120GB / WD 160GB CD-RW/DVD DVD-RW DL ::Cooling:: Danger Den Maze4 Ehein 1048 Pump BIX 120mm Radiator Custom Reservoir :lanning:: I have made a few quick sketches of what I have so far, excuse the poor quality, hopefully it gets the point across. Here is an overview of my ideas thus far. I drew out a few differant ideas for the sides as far as the windows and how I'd execute them. I'm thinking a combination of many smaller windows (as opposed to a single large one) and some creative etching should allow for a clean and stylish finish. Here is the left panel, the idea of a bunch of clustered bubbles hit me when I was playing Keen and saw the bubbles floating around.. there isnt too much to work off of unfortunately so I have to expand a fair bit on what little I have. I figured instead of single seperate 'bubbles' cut out of the case side I could draw several and cut a general outline of the cluster out of the side. Then add definition to the plexi I mount behind that will make it look like several bubbles grouping together. This is the right side, I didnt want it to be left un-modded when the rest of the case was receiving changes. So I decided to have bubbles on this side but much fewer given the lower area to work with (mainboar tray is pretty boring so why show it off. I also considered etching some bubbles identical to those from the game (very simple string of bubbles) and etching 'DOPEFISH LIVES' across the bottom section. Here is the top, an area I already kinda knew what I wanted from the beginning. I cut a large area out to allow a CD-rom window to be added later as well as offer me additonal airflow opportunities with my PSU. I flipped the PSU so that I could have two exhausting fans from it. (more airflow in general out of the case + negative pressure in the PSU to *suck* air in) What evolved from this came from a flaw in my original watercooling by both not having a reservoir AND not having a highpoint service area for bleeding and cleaning. To resolve this I'm going to build a plexiglass reservoir that will sit in the small area above the CD-ROM, this will act as a high point for bleeding as well as giving a cool effect of looking through and seeing the CD-ROM spinning. What I originally was going to do was to have hex mesh across the top hole for airflow but now I am not sure what I will do as it may look far too 'busy' having a visable cd player, resevoir AND hex mesh all up top... although I can just use plexi as I need a point of escape for the PSU fan. Here is the point of my greatest confusion, the front bezel of the Lian-Li. Initially it started with 2x80mm fans, I gutted the front of the case and made a special bracket to mount my 120mm fan and reservoir. This presents a issue with the bezel as it has holes for two 80mm fans and is hardly suitable for my 120mm... besides, who mods a case and leaves the front alone? I was originally (when considering mesh for the top) going to mesh the front and cut a LOT of material away but I dont think it'd look very refined or for that matter fitting to the new design ideas noted above. Something I've been thinking about was drilling more holes on the front, matching those already existing but then drilling another set staggered off so that the end result is similar to the G5 or Lian-Li PC-777. Problems I see with this are accurately matching the existing holes placement and not falling out of alignment in the 100+ holes I'd have to drill. Also the burrs may be hard to clean without comprimising the OE anodized finish on the bezel. Below I will post some of my older images that are off the work I've done and the cases current state. I'm hoping shortly after I complete the case I can move some new hardware into it as I'm feeling homesick after going so long without an AMD processor. ~Kris
Post cutting of the top section. New bracket and watercooling equipement, I'm rearranging the fan and res as well as working on a new shroud setup. Watercooling equipement test fit and fill. Here was my original design for the brunt of the watercooling bits... I still want to have the res mounted with the pump as it serves a great place for my floating dopefish I plan to make to cram inside. I would also etch this res with the good ole' Quake font to say 'Well of Wishes'. I would still have the upper res for the sake of functionality. I have a plastic enclosure suitable as this portion of the project but have yet to modify it or worked on a good way to mount it *with* the pump. ~Kris
Project: Dopefish Lives Just decided to read the 'Project Log FAQ/Rules'... quite an interesting idea with the seperation, I really like it. ...and here I just thought no one liked what I was doing. lol Project: Dopefish Lives Worklog This is a discussion post sourced from my current work-in-progress, Dopefish Lives. I will continue to edit the initial post to reflect the latest of the worklog's efforts. That way you wont have to muddle through a bunch of posts, and any replies will be clear cut. ::Introduction:: The case inspiration comes from Dopefish, this stupdi lil' fish from one of my favorite childhood PC games, Commander Keen. The Dopefish is said to be the stupidest creature in the universe, second ONLY to the horrible Bugblatter Beat of Traal. The Dopefish since its appearance has cameo'd in MANY games as well as a couple TV shows. I have carried 'Dopefish' as a screen name off and on for a couple years and decided I needed a case to match. The idea behind the case is to have key features that relate to the Dopefish, its various cameos and other related things from Commander Keen and such while maintaining a stylish and contemorary design. Quality and function are priority -- I wish to keep my standards high with my work on this case considering the efford Lian-Li put into its basis. I intend to have a stable and cool running but quite computer within that will most likely see some overclocking. CURRENT PLANS CURRENT STATE Please feel free to comment and post ideas, I love to hear the thoughts of other modders to help inspire me. You can also visit www.dopefish.com to see more of the Dopefish and the central source of my inspiration to mod this case. I have a few questions I'm looking for opinions to which I will post here llater this evening. Thanks, ~Kris
My waterblock is in sad shape due to corrosion... Thankfully Tarn-X and a toothbrust came to my aid. Here is the potential 'Well of Wishes', I'm concerned it may be too thin but we shall see... More detail on the radiator bracket. ~Kris
Concerns I plan to have two reservoirs, atleast at this point in time. One is more or less for asthetics while the other will serve its role as the high-point in the system for filling. The first one is the 3.5" round cylinder pictured above. I want to etch into the visable side 'Well of Wishes' in referance to where the Dopefish is hidden in Quake (e1m9). I want to have this situated either directly to the inlet of the pump or have a barb on it and run a very short line to the pump inlet barb from the reservoir barb. I then want to have a barb coming from the top of the reservoir (a plexi 1/4" top I will make) that will run to the real reservoir at the top of the loop. The last barb will be opposite the pump barb at the lowest point of the reservoir to make draining the system easier, I will have a valve on the line and a access port on the rear of the case. Here is a visual of how I was hoping to have the pump attach to the reservoir, not sure if this is even possible: Ignore the top barb placement, I want it to come from the top cover now... as well as the additonal low-point barb for draining that is not in this image. The *real* reservoir will be placed in the open space above the top 5 1/4" drive bay. It will be very slim (1/2 regular drive bay height) but maintiain a 5 1/4" width and a possible 10" depth. Its only purpose is to serve as a high-point for filling and bleeding/burping. I will add a small access port to the top of it that will allow easy filling. Questions: -Will my 'Well of wishes' be too thin to use as a reservoir? -Can I, and if I can how do I utilize barbs on the rounded sides of my lower reservoir? -Is it possible to have the lower reservoir attach directly to my Eheim pump? -Will my top reservoir be too thin (volume-wise) to serve as a good high-point for my system? -Would making a small plastic model of a 'Dopefish' to have float in my lower reservoir risk blocking flow if it were to get too close to one of the ports? If so, how could I avoid this occuring; the fish is a main part of the looks for this lower res. (The fish will be larger than a barb ofcourse, planned overall diameter is 1") Thanks, ~Kris
