2 months ago i built my first computer, having just had a crappy compaq before. i have already modded my sister's case and i knew that was going to be the fate of this one. i started off with a bone-stock Coolermaster Centurion 534 with a brushed aluminum bezel. a beautiful case to start off with, but it needed help. the front was missing...something, and the inside was a mess. i decided to take care of this problem (and i get bored easily while sitting at my computer ). one by one i hand-sanded and hand-polished all of the expansion slot covers, the lower bezel, the i/o plate, and the Corsair ramcooler, which is currently my favorite part. it just adds so much to the inside of the case! i also moved the fan controller to the inside of the case, which helps clean up the outside as well as tidy up the cables inside, cut holes in one of the expansion slot covers for my two Scythe temerature gauges, replaced the side-panel fan with a front-mount fan, and took out the bottom CCFL (they are being run by the fan controller, no risk of it blowing up due to a bad transformer!) overall i think it is a nice, understated look while still being badass. as the title says, this is only stage one. this is just about all i can do while being at colege without time to do anything. stage two is coming and it will be completely different. 1. the dvd burner will be stealthed behind another polished cover, 2. the case will be converted to inverted ATX (not that hard at all, i already looked at the hole placement) 3. an "L" shaped cover plate will be covering the psu/ drive rack 4. the blue ccfl will be switched out with white LED's everywhere (sticking with the monochromatic theme) 5. the cover plate will have the louvers from the sidepanel implimented on the inside face 6. a vertical airflow will be created by 2 120mm fans on both the top and bottom (intake with filters on the bottom, exhaust on the top 7. both side panels will have windows cut out of them, the left one (behind the mobo) will have a logo, the right one will be a large window. both will be tinted with mirror film 8. i will be getting a black hiper aluminum keyboard and polishing it within an inch of its life as wel as possibly casting the plastic of my mouse in aluminum, ala filimon (although, im just leaving mine stock, nothing that extreme) the overall theme is to be an upscale, tastefull, and clean mod that exemplifies great air cooling rather than liquid cooling. let me know what you think and ill leave you with a parting shot of the motherboard, one of my favorites ive taken:
i forgot one of my pictures. i modded all of my thumb-screws (8 total right now) to have a mirror-finish face: its a little touch, but i think it adds a lot to the back. i have been working through a lot of the details, and i think it is going to look really cool.
Hi itsjustacompaq, Funnily enough, we both have the same mobo and graphics card. I'm using a Pentium D805. Anyway, nice looking mod. But on point 2, the inverted atx, you might want to read matt's mod first: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=129907&highlight=inverted+atx the great satan did not have this problem as he was using a Micro atx mobo. ARM
they both were the inspiration of looking to see if it could be done, and it turns out its very possible with this chassis!
ok, the front is just about done (still not sure about the temp sensors, they may go inside), i finished the dvd stealthing and i think it looks great! until summer, i dont have much i can do other than cut out the front and rear fan grills for better airflow and less noise.
Looking nice, I like the temp monitors on the front, they look good there, and thats a slick job on the stealthing!
thanks, i am going to re-do those 2 though. i am re-locating the temp sensors to inside the case when i do stage 2 to make it cleaner (also the cuts arent clean at all, it was my first time using a dremel). also, i sanded too much off the dvd stealth, knife-edged both sides, and made it about 1/4" too short. i will get 2 more bay covers from coolermaster and do it right.
