Case Mod - In Progress Project: LEXA

Oh tru. Bummer dude. I picked up 1 from Dicksmith for $20 and it had sum bits with it also. I still have it and used it a lot as its smaller them my normal dremel.

 

Well guys I have a 2 part update for you all, the first part is the completion of the RAM cooler and the second part is the installation of the water cooling.

Firstly I marked up the piece of plexi for cutting:

I then printed out the piece of text which would be engraved:

It fits perfectly on the plexi:

I then cut out the plexi:

I glued the text to the plexi and was ready to engrave:


I was just about to start engraving when my Dremel crapped itself, yet the variable speed was stuck on max. I sent it away for repairs and was forced to use this old engraved I had laying around:

Absolutely gutless haha.
This is what resulted from the attempt of engraving:


Not bad for a first shot I must admit.
I touched it up and about 20 mins later I was left with this:

Turned out pretty well I think.
I then glued the plexi piece in place and now a fully functioning RAM cooler:


I know you can't see the engraving too well in that pic but it looks much better in the PC with the rest of the gear.

This concludes part 1 of this update, onto part 2.

 

Ok time for part 2 of this update, water cooling.

Before I could do anything I needed to install the PSU into position:

The PSU cover plays it's part perfectly, it looks great.
I installed everything to the mobo and then installed it into the case:


I had a few problems while installing the motherboard but nothing I couldn't overcome. The first problem being the fan grill on the rear fan interfering with the on-board Karajan audio, simple fix, remove the grill lol. The other problems were with he thumbscrews I was using to attach the motherboard. 1 of the thumbscrews interfered with the southbridge cooler and the other with the graphics card slot. I left these screws un-installed, simple fix.

The next thing to do was install the GPU block to the graphics card and the heatsinks to the graphics RAM:

I did encounter a problem with this stage. The Swiftech RAM sinks are utter crap, the thermal pads which are installed on the base can not keep the heatsinks attached to the RAM chips. Even if I heated up the pad with a hair dryer there was no adhesion. Even the Zalman sinks (blue ones) stuck first time. Very disappointing for Swiftech. I fixed this problem by putting a small dab of Arctic Silver 5 on the base of each sink, instant adhesion.
Once I fixed this problem I installed the graphics card along with the rest of the hardware:

I then attached all my hoses and started to fill the loop:

Loop filled and leak testing:


This first batch of leak testing went flawlessly, no leaks at all. I went away for a few days (leaving the system off) and when I powered up the system for the first time I immediately noticed a leak on the GPU block. This resulted in the draining of the loop, a whole new piece of hose and another run of leak testing.

Everything is running beautifully now. Here is a final pic of the water cooling:


Currently my Q6600 is idling at around 30*c and my 8800GTX hovers around 30-31*c.

Well that's the water cooling done and the end of this update. I still need to do some cable management on the mobo tray then I will clean up the case and (tttttooooooo many finger prints lol) and do a proper photo shoot. Until then...

Happy Modding.

 

Very Very nice.That green plexi is amazing.

Nice temps for a GTX. I can't get mine under 50*c ,but I'm running a 9800 GTX Black Edition on stock fan

 

Nice work man the last photo with the lights on looks mint. Just about finished it then ?

 

@ROB - Thanks very much, Yeah I was very surprised with the temps, I was expecting the 35-40*c mark.
@icute - Yeah I am very happy with how it looks with the lights on. The only thing I need to do is some cable management (I can't get the right side panel on lol) then I can clean her up and do the photo shoot.

Thanks for the comments.

 

hey dude, im a big fan of using acrylic in a case mod, done one or two mods myself ( ) . Im liking what your trying to achieve and what you have done but i can see too many parts that i dont like, unclean edges, not straight lines etc etc. But we all improve out skills with time and practice.

Liking it dude...good luck with the motm.

(ps. my last build. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=1871990#post1871990)

 

woo that looks great. nice color scheme

 

@sock58 - The If you read the entire log you would know that I left the edges unclean (not perfect polish) so they defuse the light better. Complete polished edges are way to bright for my liking, rougher edges make a fainter glow. Also all the edges and lines you can see are straight, it's just my poor picture taking ability.

@tranc3 - Thanks very much.

Thank you both for your comments.

 

oo that final shot looks awesome I really wish I had the money for watercooling, the colour scheme looks great!

 

Thanks ry@n, loving your mod also. I am waiting for a sunny day then I will take the final "glory" shots.

 

Pat yourself on the back Jason, Great work dude!

 

Thanks a lot Bill. Can't wait to get some good pics taken of her, just gotta wait for a nice sunny day.

I have 2 more mods in the works, cash is just a little tight. I will keep you posted.

 

Looks great, very very nice

 

Thanks skullen.

 

Well guys, today I come to you with mixed emotions. I am very happy because the mod is now 100% complete standing proud on my desk just to the right of me. However I am also saddened. The mod that you know of as "Project: LEXA" is now complete and this shall be my final update.

After a long yet enjoyable 16 months and 14 days "Project: LEXA" is complete and as I promised, here are the final pics.




























There you guys, LEXA is all her glory. You may have noticed the absence of the fan on the side panel. It was in the way of the water cooling so I decided it was best to remove it, no major loss. I do intend to eventually put a fan grill on that rear fan but for the time being I think it looks fine.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout this mod. Thank you for your kind comments, helpful hints and ideas (thanks Sean ) and ongoing support and most of all thanks to those who have taken the time to read and post a comment, it means a lot.

Once again, if you have any questions feel free to post them and I will try my hardest to answer them.

Well until my next mod...

Happy Modding.

 

Nice work man. lots of photos. Looks nice that last photo setup.

 

Thanks icute. Yeah I took a lot of photos lol, i got carried away lol. That setup has taken me almost 2 years to get lol. I still wanna upgrade to a 24" LCD and a 5.1 Altec Lansing Speaker set. Oh well, when I have a spare $800 lol.

 

Congratulations! (now, on to the next one! )
It looks great! Very clean! I really like that res, and the green fluid filled tubing. The green and blue combo looks fantastic. I may have to get a blue lighted top fan to match the temp display on mine, as it looks perfect. Lots of great pics of the interior as well. What's the external display you have under the monitor?

Sorry to hear about your dremel. My Generic Rotary Tool (aka GRT) is working great for me, and I got it for about $30. You might want to look into a non-dremel option, just to save some cash for other modding expenses. (oh yeah, and make sure you're not covering the vents! )

Oh yeah, and how did you feel about the engraving? I'd thought it was best to reverse the image, and do it from the back (dirty jokes aside... ) so that the front side was smooth. I'm going to try some soon, so any tips would be helpful!

 

Grat's b4oz.,
A monster job for a monster result.
Looks terrific.

Now onto the next one.