Sunbeam Rheostat Fan Controller I am going to have a white bezelled fan controller and DVD drive in the white 5.25" bay, so I think that there would be too much white with the grilles as well. When the fans are running, it's like a solid wall of white, and it does look much better with the purple grilles when running. Anyways, here's a quick update: Right , I had to nip to the post office this morning for delivery I missed the other day. Turns out it wasn't what I was expecting and it was the Sunbeam Rheostat fan controller. I am going to be modding the controller, to sort out the overly bright LED's, and to make the front panel tie in with the rest of the case. It's my daughter's 3rd birthday today so I won't get time to get it all done today though, but I have managed to strip the controller down, give the panel a sanding and coat of primer. Here's what I have just done: Out of the box: Stripped Down: Masked Up: Sanded: I will post back with more pics of the paint job and LED mods when I get a chance to finish them. I have given the panel a few coats of primer, just need that to go off before I put the gloss on.
Nope, it's a rheostat controller. Well, the kids all went home a couple of hours ago from my Daughter's party, so I got started on a few more jobs. I got the gloss coat down on the fan controller, and am stuck on that now till the paints hardened. So I decided to start on the 9 fans I have that need braiding. I also had to daisy chain them so I could use all the fans on the one controller. I now have a 3 fans daisy chained for the 360mm radiator, 2 fans daisy chained for the 240mm radiator, and another 2 daisy chained for the roof. That leaves 1 fan for above the mobo on the rear panel on it's own. Here's some pics of one of the x2 daisy chains: Before, as you can see the cables would look a right mess if left like this. I cut off the ends, I am only using one of the yellow (sensor) cables as using more than one can make the mobo get false readings on fan speed. The one I wasn't using was just trimmed back: Soldered the cables from the fan to the extension pieces: Used some heatshrink to cover the joins: And voila, braiding done: Close up of the 3pin with heatshrink: Finally, how it will look when the fans are fixed in place. It looks a hell of a lot tidier, and it means I can control 9 120mm fans with just the one controller.
Not much been happening on the build as of lately. I have been busy with other stuff and not had much chance to get alot done. I have been taking a closer look at the case though and decided to swap out the HD & PWR LED's. They were white and looked out of place, as the fan controller LED's are blue. I'm going to get some blue LED's tommorow and fit them. I wouldn't mind trying a different panel mount on the LED's too, the ones that were fitted stick out like a sore thumb. I am also considering using acrylic behind the wire mesh on the panels. I really like the idea of using mirrored acrylic, the stuff you can see through when a light is behind it. Not sure how well it would work on this build though or if at all. Looks like I will be experimenting on that this week too. Hopefully, over the next two weeks, I can get alot more done with the rig. As always, I will post back with the latest updates.
I still haven't had time to get much done with the build. I replaced the HD & power LED's as mentioned in my previous post. I have also ordered some LED's to replace the ones fitted on the SunBeam Rheostat fan controller. The original ones are way too bright for my liking and they need to go. I am expecting delivery of those today, so I should be able to get some pics up of the new LED's when I have fitted them. I have also decided to go with the white fan grilles, instead of the purple ones. I have been dithering over which to go with for a few weeks now, but I have finally made my mind up. I also got the first of my radiators, a PA120.3 and have test fitted it. I will edit this post later with all the latest in pics. EDIT: I dropped a bollock with the new LED's for the fan controller. They are just as bright as the old ones, and apart from the originals being clear lensed and the new ones being diffuse, there is no difference. I'm just gonna stick with them as they are now with the new ones. The new blue power and HD LED's, which replaced the old clear white ones. The new LED's fitted in the SunBeam Rheostat fan controller. Up to 7v the LED's shine red, over 7v and they shine blue. New look with the new LED's and white fan grilles. This is the first rad to be used in the build, a Thermochill PA120.3, with 3x 120 Nexus Real Silent fans daisy chained. Jobs left to do: Sort wc loops out, still need to buy pumps, 1x PA120.2 and fans, res's & wb's for CPU & GPU Sort cable management out Sort lighting out Sort out the DVD drive bezel Thinking of fitting a 20x4 LCD screen, as I will have a spare bay on the 5.25" rack
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was considering using an LCD screen for the build. Well I done some digging around and found a mod guide on using a PSOne screen. So I managed to get hold of a screen a while ago, but have only just got around to sorting it out. I think it's turned out pretty well. I still have to finish the internal wiring and put some sealant around the screen. I have managed to get the screen running, and I will be creating a config file for Samurize. The LCD will have system info on it (updated real time) with some nice graphs etc. Here's what's been done so far: I stripped the screen down and removed it from the plastic casing. As the screen is PAL, a little mod had to be done so that the backlight would function I had some spare 5mm white acrylic that I used for the bezel. It takes up 3x 5.25" bays. The bezel is fixed to the drive cage by some cut off bezel sides that I screwed on to the rear of this bezel. Here the screen is after being secured to the bezel and plugged in. Works a treat and looks the mutts nutts As I said, I will be filling the gap around the screen with some white sealant. Excuse the paw prints The build is starting to take shape now, and I am looking forward to finishing the little jobs left on the screen and starting the watercooling. I've still got to sort out that damned DVD drive bezel too
Thanks I got the DVD bezel finished, so the front panel is done at last!!! YAY!!! I still ahve to finish off creating the config file for the Samurize screen which is shown on the LCD. At the moment I have the temps, CPU & mem loads, and C drive space showing. I will be adding more tonight. Here's how it looks:
Looks good.You could make the opening for the lcd smaller to cover the silver surrounding too.I think it would better.
Thanks. The screen sits inside the acrylic, with the outside flush to the outside of the acrylic, so I couldn't overlap it to hide the sliver bezel. I purposely done it like this because I didn't want the sceen to be recessed behind the acrylic. There is a 1mm-ish gap around the screen and the backlight from the LCD shines through which gives a nice white glow around the outside edge of the screen. I am still in two minds whether to fill this gap with some white sealant, but my Missus says it looks cool as is. It looks cool in a darkened room, but not so hot when in daylight. I also like the silver bezel showing as it ties in with the chrome thumbscrews and pwr/reset switches.
I got another job out of the way last night and finished the screen display, using Samurize. It's a nifty little piece of software, which allows you to create system info in a nice way. I'm still not 100% happy with what I have done but the colours tie in with the case and there's enough info on there for now. The screen is running at 1024x764, so I had to make the text and images pretty large to make it readable on the 5"LCD. Here's a screen capture of the display: I may have another mess around with Samurize over the weekend if I get time.
Thanks, the rigs still on air at the mo, so I should be able to shave some degrees off when I get off my arse and plumb the wc loops in.
Another quick update - Finished the Samurize Configs!! I have finished with the samurize config at last. I was struggling to get the sceens to rotate so that I could use more than one screen at a time. I also wanted the media info to be on a seperate screen, and to kick in only when music files were being played then revert back to the other info files when done playing. It's taken me a long while to sort it out, having never used Samurize before but I have done it at last. Everythings working great now, and it may not look brilliant but I am chuffed with it. Here's screen one, which the screen starts with when the rig is switched on: This is screen two, which fades in after 60 seconds. I may add to this page, with more network related info: This is the media info screen, which kicks in when a media players starts up. This page took me friggin ages, as the 18 band spectrum analyser was a git to do. I really like this page though. Here's how it looks on the LCD, minus the dodgy lines etc. The quality of the images is much better in the flesh. My camera makes it look crap. So that's the screen done and dusted now (maybe a few tweaks here and there), so onwards and upwards to the watercooling next. I might add a few more pages if I can think of any more info I would need to be shown or would look good.
Mountain Mods make some really nice cases but you have taken it and made it awesome, very nice work. I love the colour scheme, works very well. With the fan grills I would either keep them white of stock silver, the purple ones don't look right. Amazing work on the LCD, very nice profile. You used Serious Summarize right? I have only ever worked with LCD Studio, I must give SS a try.
Thanks I agree on the white grilles, it took me some time to make my mind up about it though The LCD profile was done in Samurize, and it wasn't too bad to pick up. I did look at some other apps before I tried it and found Samurize did exactly what I wanted it to do, I recks it's deffo worth a look.
Just looked at that Samurai, and it seems really cool , might hook up a 2. monitor with it to my main computer.
I have just this minute ordered some more kit for the build: 1x XSPC DDC top/reservior 4x 12" UV CCFL's 2m XSPC 1/2" hose 1x Feser View purple UV dye 1x 12v Car Adaptor for the LCD screen 1x Arctic Silver 5 I have ordered this lot so I can get the CPU loop done. Once the order comes in, I will have everything to get it done. It will consist of the following: Modded Laing DDC Pro (modded from 10w to 18w Ultra) XSPC pump top/res Thermochill PA120.3 Rad EK Supreme waterblock 1/2" tubing Distilled water with Feser UV dye and water additives. I still have everything to buy for the GPU loop, but my GTX280 started crapping out last week, so I am leaving this until I decide which GPU to go with. It will be a ballache working around the CPU loop when fitting, but it's going to be a while till I know what's happening with the GPU itself. I currently have an ATI 4850 installed but this is only temporary. Pics will follow when I get the gear (hopefully tomorrow or Monday). I need the car adaptor for the screen because it is currently running of the mains adaptor. So I will be modding the car adaptor to run off a 12v molex from the PC's PSU. Then I will be boxing the LCD, it's circuit boards and the modded car adaptor in somehow so it doesn't look a mess.
The screen is a great addon; but i dont think you should make the borders (metal borders) of the screen visible.
