Case Mod - In Progress Project: Way of the Warrior - Update 5/05 - Status Update and Things to Do

Will that vinyl not hold in the heat from those drives?

But then again, I suppose it depends on how hot they would get?

 

Dont no If it would. the sticker / hdd label on the hdd would to be the warmer part as its got 2 layers on it the label and then the vinyl. I would have ripped the label off and polished the hdd. I have done it before and man on man thay turn out sick.

Only photo i had i had another one with a coin on the top of the hdd showed all the details of the coin on the hdd.


You could even paint that polished part black use engine paint or another paint that can handly temp's

 

Way of the Warrior - Cross the sea under the concealment of broad daylight


@icutebluezone and NZ_mod_man: I considered the heat issue and made certain I wasn't covering any vent or other holes in the drives. I didn't want to remove any labels because of warranty issues. They're pretty new drives and I don't have the additional resources to buy replacements should they fail. It's pretty cool in the loft where I work and play, we have air conditioning for the summer and the case is well ventilated. I don't suspect there will be any heat issues for the drives. Nonetheless, I will watch for any heat spikes during sustained usage. I might polish drives in a future build, but wanted a stealth look on some of the components so as not to draw attention away from other items. Flat black paint would have been great, but again due to warranty issues, I didn't take that approach. Plus I didn't need to deal with masking up the drives and painting.

On to the update!

Received the sponsorship package from Crucial and took out the ram to fondle... er examine it. It's just gorgeous... unfortunately my photos don't really do it justice.





Was a shame to pull it out of my test rig after taking a peek at the ram lit up. Should look fantastic in the mod, however.

I did end up getting the EK Supreme waterblock and installed it on the motherboard instead of the Apogee GT. I have another build for after this project it will go into. Very nice finish and easy installation. My understanding is the block performs even better with the 775 backplate installed. I didn't purchase one of those and will only overclock this build a little, so won't worry about it for now. If I should feel the need to go for higher clocks, I may get one in the future. The backplate is supposed to allow more pressure to be applied with the block for increased contact and lower temps.



Note the great finish on the copper contact plate:


Here is the new block installed on the Asus P5K-E motherboard. Some additions besides the EK that may be a bit harder to notice: black slot protectors in unused slots, I/O connectors at the rear of the board received a "blackout" treatment with vinyl, and a few small, black heatsinks on lesser motherboard chips.



With that part done and stashed safely away in the anti-static bag once more, I moved on to the 120mm fans and grills. Cutting appropriate sized squares of the hexx mesh.



This is a great place to use the "Modding Tape of the Gods." It is easy to apply and tough as a pitbull. Trimmed up pieces and fit them to the grill reverse. Taking a few last trims to the mesh, applied it to the grill with tape and applied some pressure to assure good adhesion. Flip over the assembly and voila'!





Here is the front of the case with one grill and fan assembly installed. It is a bit difficult to see, but the screw head were all polished using a Dremel and Mother's Billett Polish. A plain steel finish wouldn't do. I did surround each of the fan holes with c-channel before installing the fan and grill. This serves two purposes: it cushions the metal and plastic against the case to absorb some of the vibrations, and hides the white case edge for a finished look to match the black of the grill.



Here is the three front fan assemblies installed, along with the red and white led indicators for power and hdd activity.



Next up the two nickel-plated momentary switches were polished up in the same manner as the screw heads.



Um... kindly disregard the old blue bikini underwear in the photo that I'm using to wipe down the metal after polish. See, there is a use for old knickers!



OMG, what did I just do to that nice polish job? I used the glue from the photo posted earlier in the log to run a bead around the edge of one switch. The other got the glue applied in the center section. They both are getting a treatment with red foil to differentiate between the power and reset switches.



The glue must dry until clear throughout, which takes one to eight hours depending on thickness. So stay tuned for more updates later on, with the finished, foiled switches. Serious cutting and filing on this end for the radiator and window cutouts. Also planning false bottoms on both sides of the case to allow for a clean look with cable management. Thanks for all your suggestions and encouragement.

 

Awesome looking mod-log, looking forward to the end result.

BTW where did you get those PCI/PCI-e covers from? or who are they made by?

 

Congrats on the sponsor! Excellent work on the log but ..................

Quit sneaking in during the day - I look forward to your posts late at night - now my schedule is all out of whack.

Just excellent.
John

 

Nice RAM mate. The mod is coming along nicely.

 

@atanum141: I happened to get those from Frozen CPU. Between them and Performance PCs that's where I get 90 pct of my modding supplies.

@jhanlon303: Um... sorry about the schedule whiplash! I was a bit tired last night, so decided to wait. I shall endeavor to adhere to a more refined late-night schedule, just for you, John! ;P

@The boy 4rm oz: Thanks! I have a bit of a surprise coming along that I will likely show Monday.

 

Thank you dear lady for maintaining the proper Colorado decorum. I will do the 5AM to 1 PM shift so that I can get the updates.

 

Way of the Warrior - Take one path while pretending to take another



Running out of time to submit this project in The Mod Shop's Comic Challenge, which deadline is Tuesday. So I've made the decision to temporarily go air cooling for the contest submission. This is to be my first watercooled rig (first full-blown project for that matter) and I don't want to skip the 24-hour leak testing. Nor do I want to hurry and make a mistake, possibly ruining some equipment in the process. This will involve temporarily using an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for the cpu and swapping in an air-cooled eVGA 9600GT video card for the 8800GTS 640.

The worklog won't be ending on Tuesday, as I'll continue to set up and tweak the water cooling system, in addition to other bits on the case. Hate to have physical things get in the way, but such is life. Trying to hold a Dremel steady for cutting when one's hands are an evil combo of pain and numbness is probably not a good idea. Not like I'll let this stop me overall, however!

Anyway, back to work. Look for a larger (real) update late tonight.

 

You are using glitter glue, I'm using sequins... Now we just need someone to start a macaroni build.
Do whatever it takes to meet the deadline. I hate deadlines on build contests. If you don't have one already 90% built in your closet, they never meet deadlines.

 

Wouldnt the vinyl rip the hdd label off if you ever had a hdd die? i work in a sign writers use vinyl every day and most stick even good and after having heat on then they really stick. But nice work and ram looks very nice.

 

Way of the Warrior - A Small Update

@Cheapskate - Sounds good, but someone needs to crochet the granny squares for the mouse mat too! ;P
@icutebluezone - The vinyl might want to bring up the label if/when I remove it. However, it gives me the peace of mind that my warranty is protected in my well-rationalized illusion.

On to the update:

Got the side panel cut for the window today. Now of course comes the filing... oh, the filing...



The aluminum case feet have been installed now. No picture of that quite yet though. Next I measured out and cut a piece of white aluminum in half. These two pieces will be used as false bottoms on either side of the case to hide the the case feet bolts and wiring for a nice, clean look... after a bunch of trimming and more filing of course.




Finished filing the drilled holes on the 5.25" bay cover for the Zalman fan controller. After assembling the pieces, I think it looks much better than the blue, imprinted front.



One last thing, I marked off the measurements for a small digital temperature gauge that will be installed with the system. The display is red with black digits, which should go nicely. A bit of work with the needle files and that should be done.




Work tomorrow includes window installation, rear fans and likely some outside panel detailing. Thanks for reading!

 

you, lady, are epic!!!!

btw, put a link to this log in your sig.

 

Thank you, DXR_13KE! And signature edited.

 

Way of the Warrior - ACK!



Good lord… we’re under the gun for the deadline tonight at The Mod Shop and what happens… Dremel burnout. Yep, that ugly electronic smell, no more cutting, followed by a quick grab to unplug the infernal thing. Well, guess this old girl got a strong lesson in proper tools for the job (tool newb here and don’t have many.).

After a trip to a local home improvement store, just arrived home with a couple tools that will hopefully make a difference. My credit card should recover sometime during the next administration. Besides the obvious frustration and pain (drugs and sharp things don’t mix), cheer me on as I will do my very best to submit on time. Even if I cannot, I love this case as my first full mod and the new computer it gives me will be awesome. Much was learned along the way along and I had fun, which is what counts for me.

Don’t worry, I’ve not given up, just giving a status update. Thanks for your support!

 

I am really loving the mod! It is always fun to see a case mod done by a lady. MOD ON!

 

I couldn't imagine what it would be like modding to a deadline, but
you're doing a great job. Hope you made that deadline and good
luck in the comp.

 

Yeah... It doesn't help that Dremel's are designed so your hand covers the fan exaust.
Good luck!

 

That's why the flex shaft is permanently attached to my Dremel!

 

Way of the Warrior - Scheme with self-inflicted wounds

Well, got it submitted for The Mod Shop competition. Guess we'll find out within two weeks who the winners are. I'm taking a couple days off from modding, but will so some updates in a couple days or so. Especially with the deadline and tool "malfunction," much was done on a temporary basis that will change. Here's a photo of the first boot up:



Here is a shot with the window installed:



Note the four sticks (yes, FOUR 2Gb sticks) of Crucial Ballistix Tracer Red ram that is installed! I couldn't believe it when I opened the package and there was a total of 8gb of these beauties. I immediately inquired if there was some mistake the order, offering to send back two of them. But my contact confirmed he wished to surprise me and sent them on purpose. Good thing I'll be installing Vista Ultimate 64-bit to take advantage.

Next on the table for this mod will include:

watercooling
lighting tweaks
wire management
reworking the 80mm fan grills (Kikboxes is working on sizes other than 120mm for their grills. I may be able to get matching ones for the rear fans.)
overall panel and graphic enhancements
whatever other goodies enhance the look and function of the rig within my means

Makes a mental note of a Dremel Flex Shaft and breathes a sigh of relief for having a current tetanus shot. ;P