Case Mod - In Progress Project: What Smells Like Blue? [Update 9/12 - Fan Painting Finished, Sleeving Here!]

Philip J. Fry: Visionary, Friend, Idiot.



Like all good simpletons, sometimes we must venture into that which we have no bloody idea about. For my part, it's building computers and case modding. For too long have I sat on the sideline waiting my turn! Finances be damned, I'm going to do it anyway!

How this project started:
About three years ago, I bought an Antec 900 and built a computer inside it. I use the term "built" loosely due to the fact that I put pieces in like a kid with DUPLO blocks and fired the computer up hoping for the best. Performance, Software, Firmware, I knew nothing. Over those three years, I came to understand the folly of my ways, adhering to stock clocks, stock hardware, and cheap parts, and have come here to rectify them, upgrading my simple Pinto into a Cadillac of desire.

What this is for:
This is my show off case. Some people have fancy cars, other's have lavish houses. I have a 2 foot by 1.5 foot by 1 foot box to display my materialism. I'm a power user when it comes to computers, loving to tweak every part of my software, and want the hardware to match it so I can get more into the science of how software and hardware interface to create an end user experience.

Who I am:
Currently I am a 23 year old University student in Colorado, United States, studying Mechanical Engineering and High School Education. My goal is to become a High School Engineering teacher and progress up to the collegiate level slowly over the course of my career. This will be the second ground up computer I've built, and is far more ambitious than the first. I have a severe love for literature, games, CAD design, and amateur machine work (Though I lack the tools outside of my University metal shop : ) )

About This Mod:
I find the best mods are the one's that don't reveal all their tricks right out the go. As such, I hope each update will bring new, and fun, pictures for you to (hopefully) drool over. As this is my first mod and serious hardware rig, I will have many questions that will be highlighted at the bottom of this first post if any of you would be so kind to answer them as we progress on this journey : )

The Shopping List:
Anything not listed as "Ordered" is subject to change upon advice.

Case: Silverstone FT02 ORDERED
Power Supply: Seasonic X750 ORDERED
Sleeving: MDPC-X ORDERED
Case Fans: Silverstone AP181 ORDERED
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E
CPU: Intel i7-930 Bloomfield Intel i7-950 Bloomfield
Cooler: Corsair H70 ORDERED
Cooler Fans: Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850 RPM ORDERED
GPU: EVGA 1280 MB GTX 470
Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2 GB) Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x2GB)
Hard Drive: Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F1 Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3 x 2 in RAID0

Task List
- Can't Spoil the fun yet, can we?

 

Table of Contents

Update #1 - First Shipment Arrives, Computer/Bedroom Pictures, 1st Attempt at Photography
Update #2 - 2nd Shipment, Case Teardown
Update #3 - Practice Painting
Update #4 - Practice Painting #2 - New Paint Type
Update #5 - Fan Painting Finished and Sleeving Arrives!

 

Reserved x2

 

Hey, which crazy thing happening are you guys screaming about?



oh i hope your building the planet express ship

 

While that would be fun and adventurous, it'd be doubly over my head : ) That and it would put a perfectly good Silverstone FT02 to waste : )

 

doh!

 

Update #1: Whoo! It may be small, but it's all I have for now!

Guidance System: Online

Autopilot: Present

Dark Matter Indicator: Making a noise

All Systems Operational.

Let's Rock!


Warning. The following images depict severe graphic horror and are not recommended for children under the age of 17.

SOoooooo, I figured it might be mildly (Ok... not at all) relevant to post the sad state of affairs I'm working in. Note in the following picture that my TV is behind me to the left, yet my Cable connection is in front of me and to the right. My computer is on the right. My internet wall connection is on the left. Rats nest of cables is born. I used to be so proud of this computer, now I can only look on the Antec 900 with disdain and a certain loathing.



A large part of this process today is learning to use my Brother's camera. The following picture showed me what my eyes don't see. Good lord look at those fingerprints and dust.



In important news however, I'd like to announce that PerformancePC's and the United States Post Office won the race! On Wednesday morning, I ordered the first batch of parts from Newegg, FrozenCPU, and PerformancePC's. Between the three, PPC arrived first!

To be truthful, I only ordered from them because FrozenCPU didn't have any GentleTyphoon's in stock on Wednesday, and I'm impatient, (need to get to work on this sleeving, as I have precious little time between work and school!)



You can literally feel the quality in these things. Nothing like the flimsy bladed piece of crap Antec TriCools that I've been using. They will be attached to the H70 Rad in Push/Pull Exhaust. Now a couple more pics -




I'd love feedback on ways to improve my picture taking, particularly in the following:

Proper lighting to remove shadows
Proper display techniques

Right now I'm using a Nikon D80 with the stock lenses. The display is made out of 3 pieces of white foam posterboard, one for the floor and two for the back walls. For lighting I'm using a construction grade fluorescent flood lamp.

I'm not going to spend any more on Photography materials than I already have, but I'd love constructive advice for future projects! At work we use White Acrylic shadowboxes to take our pictures, but I can only imagine there is an equally good amateur way to simulate this, as far too many people on these forums come to the table with epic looking pictures.

 

Hot Diggity Daffodils!

Shipment #2 Has arrived!

Spent the better part of this afternoon inspecting all the packages, and did some work at the end - I'll split it into 2 posts because of this.


Hmmm... I've got a shiny... well. I have nothing for anyone who manages to guess what these are for.


Thanks to FrozenCPU for their speedy delivery! That and I was bored!


Now if only Paypal will approve my check so Nils can send me some swanky sleeving to go with these connectors : )


I totally don't go for these things normally, but as I'm making my own cables for a good part of this mod, I felt it was necessary to make sure my cables are 100% kosher.


So I wasn't really in the mood for thermal paste this time. I don't know why, but the idea of "paste," just doesn't give me a good engineering taste in my mouth. So I'm going for something a bit newer and more experimental : )


I would have so taken more pictures of this, but they'll have to wait, just opening this created an ungodly smell that nearly made me lose a few cookies to the porcelain god.


I have no idea how to use one of these. Anyone with a good lapping guide, let me know. I know I'll need to Lap the H70, will I need to Lap my processor?


Alright. Seasonic: +1. Who in the computer industry sends a power supply with it's own gig bag for cables and the box? This thing absolutely drips with build quality.


The AP181's to replace the fans in the bottom of the FT02




I think someone at Corsair processing got confused....


Should I be worried about this nick in the radiator? It appears to be just a bent edge.


Well, the FT02 made a chump out of my Photo display...




Here's the FT02 all torn down, headers removed, fans removed, bezels removed, the whole nine yards to get ready for work. The only complaint I have in the entire piece is that they used cheap zinc fixtures, most of the screws got torn up by my screwdriver. Otherwise, this piece is 99.9% epic. I'm ashamed to admit even owning an Antec after touching this beauty.


All the screws and parts

 

Here's my first foray into painting -

Used White Primer on both pieces. Then painted the PCI cover Flat Black and the Fan Blade Glossy Blue.

I screwed up on this by using way too much primer, not letting it dry long enough, and then touching the blue before it was dry. It's a good thing I was practicing on the crappy H70 Stock fans provided, and not on the Gentle Typhoon's / AP181's.

Anyone have any ideas of how to paint the edges of the fan blades? I'm stumped...



I'm also curious why I get this sort of pixelated "specking" on the edges of the fan blades. Not sure what the cause of that is.

Next time, my proposed schedule is:

0: Wipe down fan blades with alcohol.
1: Set up fan on bottle cap riser.
2: Shake Primer for 5 Minutes
3: Spray Evenly in up down motion lightly.
4: Let dry 2-3 Hours
5: Shake Blue Paint for 5 Minutes
6: Spray Evenly in up down motion lightly.
7: Let dry 24 Hours.

I basically did the same as above on my first try... but in 20 minutes total...

 

That indigo is supposed to be really good stuff. legoman666 used it in his mineral oil computer. he could maybe give you a pointer or two on using it.

as far as lapping is concerned, many people just lap the heatsink/block and call it a day...but lapping the CPU IHS is an option. im sure theres a write up floating around bit tech somewhere...

the nick on the radiator looks OK to me. its just a bent fin and doesnt look like it even effected the core itself (where the coolant will be flowing). ill bet a permanent marker would fix you right up

can we get some macro shots of the problem areas on the fan blades? its hard to tell whats going on from that shot.

the scope of this project is starting to show. looks like a high quality collection of parts so far. keep it up!

 

Alright - Here's the fruits of Painting Attempt Number 2

First of all, I picked up some Isopropyl Alcohol and Tack Cloth - it helped cleaning immensely.

Secondly, I switched to Krylon Fusion Paint for plastics. Boy does it give a different finish. I'm not sure whether I'm going to stick with it yet, but so far it's given a far more even finish than the Rustoleum Enamel Gloss finish.

Before:


Coat 1:


Coat 1 Up Close:


Coat 2:


Coat 2: You can see where I should have been Spraying from the other side.


Coat 3: Not sure whether I should be worried about the speck that got caught under the paint on the blade facing directly to the right, towards the center. I tried to remove it with jeweler's tweezers to no avail while the paint was drying. Ended up scratching the paint and had to apply another coat.

 

Looking like a fantastic build, looking forward to seeing it take shape.

I totally appreciate what you were saying about Silverstone cases, i went from a crappy plastic thermaltake to a TJ07 and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.

One thing I'll say about lapping CPU's is to take your time with it, not making huge jumps between grits and make sure you use a good flat surface to sand against.

I still like to think it's worth doing as I saw an improvement on my old E6600 but I haven't had the nuts to do it on my i7 yet despite buying 2 lapping kits specially.

Are you going to be using those Gentle Typhoon's in conjunction with a fan controller at all? They're top notch fans but I found the 1850rpm variants were a but louder than I like.

 

Thanks for the kind words : )

Yes - I'll be hooking them up to a Fan Header on the Mobo so I can control them via software.

Just got home, the paint dried wonderfully. I'm applying coats on the back at the moment, will have pictures this weekend sometime. (School week ending... work weekend starting : ) )

Edit:

What I learned about painting fan blades that no other guide (besides PapaSmurf's at OCN's guidance) taught me -

1. Isopropyl Alcohol & Tack Cloths. Integral for cleaning your fan blade of dust and residue to ensure a good adherence of paint.

2. Sunlight: Nothing dries paint better than good ol' 100% natural nuclear fusion generated light. (Unless it's a Supernova, then the Red might interfere with Blue, thereby sending you back to 1947 in a blaze of glory)

3. Light coats! Better to do three tiny coats than 1 heavy coat!

4. Spray about 6-10" away, with your can angled 10-25 degrees below horizontal (depending on Nozzle direction)

5. Good lord be patient for this stuff to dry! Everyone says 15 minutes on their can, but seriously, just let it dry 24 hours, it's worth it. Even then, I'm not even going to use mine for a minimum of 7 days for the recommended curing time.

6. Elevate your painting surface on chicken wire or similar, this ensures that there is as little surface area as possible for your painting object to stick to!

7. Krylon Fusion or Vinyl Dye - just do it. Nothing else works as well as these products, they're just amazing. I ended up weighing my two test subjects. Primer + Gloss Enamel added 5-6% weight to my fan blade, Krylon Fusion added less than 1% to my fan blade.

8. If you see crap on your paint while painting, don't touch it. Wait for it to dry, then sand it out and add more coats.

This was deeply educational for me and I had a blast doing it. Starting early next week we'll see this in action on the Gentle Typhoon's and Silverstone AP151's!

 

Terrible news everyone!

Done painting the GT-AP15 and SS AP181

Results:

181's came out amazing, AP15's look amazing.

Unfortunately, the paint job threw off the balance on the GT's. I can't be 100% certain of that though since I didn't test them before painting them, which, in hindsight, I *really* should have done.

Another two are on the way. I'm going to swap fan blades out and do a series of tests this way and that, might end up not painting the new ones, I'm not sure, I'll have to figure something out. I really dont' want to make that compromise.

Sleeving should arrive soon.

 

Damn, that's a shame about the fans, so damn expensive too. What was the symptom of them being of balance did they start clicking or something?

Can I ask about your PSU, have you tested it at all yet? I'm about to start my own project log based around making my PC completely silent and had being eyeing up that exact PSU down to it being able to run without the fan when running low loads. How's it been for you in terms of noise?

 

Actually I haven't even opened it up - As I don't have a Mobo to start it up with yet.

I might tear down part of my current system to test it this weekend (lots of homework to do, and sleeving to start).

As to the fans, they would randomly adjust speed with a light clicking noise, but after about 5 minutes run time they'd start clicking in a vibratory way for about 5% of the run time afterwards. Very audible. I'm not too sad about screwing these up as it was a great educational for me. (Not that I always enjoy toasting 45 Dollars)

 

Any chance of stripping the paint and starting over?

Nice build so far btw, I love the FT02 long time.

 

Good news! (To be updated tomorrow)

Turns out the fan problems were PSU problems!

My PSU in my current computer has *major* voltage fluctuations, to the point where I may need to replace it. This is what was causing the fan speed changes in the AP15's!

I did a sound/speed test for 3 hours per fan in horizontal and vertical alignment with 0 vibrations and sound not deviating more than 3 decibels from stock ratings.

Basically, I'm good to go : ) (I still pulled the trigger one two more GT AP15's though, in case I need to replace them down the road)

Xonar - I had the chance to fire up the Seasonic today. Whisper quiet at idle. I mean completely inaudible. I won't have a chance to put it to full load until early October though as the last batch of parts won't arrive until then.

 

Here is the link to an excellent CPU lapping guide..
http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/lapping/index_eng

Had recently lapped the southbridge heatsink of my motherboard, the guide definitely helped. Most important point is to perform it on a glass base. IMHO, lapping the corsair heatsink would be good enough for you. Best of luck

 

Phew! School, Work, Birthday, all in the same week, made for a busy me!

Just had a Sunday afternoon to do an update!

Finished painting and got an awesome, I mean, AWESOME, package. One might say it's a Million-Dollar Package....


Last of the Fan painting last weekend -

Trying to roust Craigr1982 in PM's to give me some tips on Gentle Typhoon painting, his seemed to come out a bit better : )




Nils - your sense for Customer Service is amazing to say the least.


And my Cat decided to come down and see what was up....


And she found several hundred feet of "string" to play with. She thought it was HER birthday!


Pretty Maids all in a row....


More to come soon : )