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I hope you enjoy my mini worklog. Unfortunately I'm not a pro, and it will show! Also, if anyone has any tips for removing spray paint from a driveway, please forward them my way. The wife is pissed!
My Antec P160 was a great case, but it has seen better days. Since I am no longer water cooling, I didn't have a need for the case in its current setup and I was really missing hard drive bays.
I was finally able to make a decision between the 800D and the ATCS 840. I chose the ATCS 840 because I really liked its look. The only cons of this case are that the interior is not black and there is no case window. The solution? Do it myself!
I was able to paint the interior of the case over the weekend and move into the case. I haven't had an opportunity to make the window, but that will be done within the next month or so. I need to scrounge my town for some acrylic. I am really hoping I will not need to order it online.
I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures. I only had my iphone camera availabe at times.
On to the pics!
Here is my P160 back when the water cooling was installed.
My old X2 4200+ and Nvidia 7900GT treated me well, but when it was time to upgrade my water cooling system was not going to cut it. I didn't want to spend a fortune on upgrading water blocks, so I switched to air once I built the rig in my sig.
Once the 800D came out, I started jonesing for a new case. I really liked the 800D but I was not satisfied with its stock air cooling reviews. The $300 price tag also killed it for me. After much dilemma and reading, I decided on the Coolermaster ATCS 840 and I am not disappointed.
Delivery!
FrozenPC.com actually had to frankenstein two boxes together to ship this to me. Notice the directional arrows on the box.
This thing is huge! The first thing my wife said when she saw the case was, "good god, its huge"! Unfortunately, I've never once heard her say that before.
Comparison shot of the ATCS 840 and the P160
There was some damage to the styrofoam, but the case seemed to be undamaged except for the shroud.
I found scratches in the external cooling shroud. If I was obsessive about this sort of stuff or the scratches were on the outside of the shroud, I would contact Coolermaster. They are pretty substantial scratches and my camera doesn't really capture the depth of them.
After having the case for about an hour, I started to get busy disassembling the case. My wife asked what the hell I bought it for if I was just going to tear it apart. Women don't get it.
Tear down
On Saturday it was 30 degrees outside. Since I don't have a garage or any indoor well ventilated area, I got to paint in the freezing cold. I used Krylon satin black that is meant for metals. I picked it up at Wal-mart. The can stated it required no sanding or priming and claimed a drying time of 15 minutes. I did rough up the case surface with wet/dry sandpaper to ensure a good bond between the aluminum and paint. I did a total of three coats and allowed an hour drying time in between each coat. Unfortunately it was windy and half the paint I was spraying did not make it onto the case. Because of this, I had to use two cans.
Paint
Done!
I allowed the paint to dry overnight and I began reassembly today. I forgot to take photos of the reassembly process and only have photos of the system installed. Overall, I think it turned out well considering this is an eight dollar paint job. Like I mentioned previously, I will be doing a window mod. I intend on replicating the window offered by Frozencpu.com. Thanks for posting your window measurements!
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...tom_Side_Panel_w_DIY_Bolt-On_Full_Window.html
All in all, I am very pleased with this case. The build quality it A+. The case is easy to work in and I love the fact that the removable motherboard tray consists of the entire back panel. Being able to remove my H50 at the same time I remove the motherboard is awesome. In the future, I may add a few holes for cable management purposes.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the case or if you want to tell me I suck at painting!
On to the final pics
The figure prints have been wiped off!
5/19/10 Update - Added Window
I finally got around to adding a window to my case. As usual, it didn't turn out perfectly but I am still satisfied with how it looks because I was able to do it myself. I had to use a dabble of superglue on the corners of the molding because it wanted to stick up when routing the corners. Unfortunately when I tried to wipe up a bit of excess w/ a paper towel it stuck to my case and I can't get it off. Doh! You can see it around the bottom right corner of the molding. Solution? A Sharpie
The window measures appx 18x20 and I preferred the off center look as opposed to centering the window. I think it gives the case more character.
I got my plexi from estreetplastics and my channel molding from McMaster Carr. On with the photos!
No flash
My next upgrade will be a DECM filter, a pair of gentle typhoons for the H50, and a NZXT Sentry2. I will be adding the filter to the back of the case and having my H50 be an intake as opposed to exhaust. I've read of others having great results with having the only exhaust fans be the top fans.
Once that upgrade is complete, more pictures will follow.
My Antec P160 was a great case, but it has seen better days. Since I am no longer water cooling, I didn't have a need for the case in its current setup and I was really missing hard drive bays.
I was finally able to make a decision between the 800D and the ATCS 840. I chose the ATCS 840 because I really liked its look. The only cons of this case are that the interior is not black and there is no case window. The solution? Do it myself!
I was able to paint the interior of the case over the weekend and move into the case. I haven't had an opportunity to make the window, but that will be done within the next month or so. I need to scrounge my town for some acrylic. I am really hoping I will not need to order it online.
I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures. I only had my iphone camera availabe at times.
On to the pics!
Here is my P160 back when the water cooling was installed.
My old X2 4200+ and Nvidia 7900GT treated me well, but when it was time to upgrade my water cooling system was not going to cut it. I didn't want to spend a fortune on upgrading water blocks, so I switched to air once I built the rig in my sig.
Once the 800D came out, I started jonesing for a new case. I really liked the 800D but I was not satisfied with its stock air cooling reviews. The $300 price tag also killed it for me. After much dilemma and reading, I decided on the Coolermaster ATCS 840 and I am not disappointed.
Delivery!
FrozenPC.com actually had to frankenstein two boxes together to ship this to me. Notice the directional arrows on the box.
This thing is huge! The first thing my wife said when she saw the case was, "good god, its huge"! Unfortunately, I've never once heard her say that before.
Comparison shot of the ATCS 840 and the P160
There was some damage to the styrofoam, but the case seemed to be undamaged except for the shroud.
I found scratches in the external cooling shroud. If I was obsessive about this sort of stuff or the scratches were on the outside of the shroud, I would contact Coolermaster. They are pretty substantial scratches and my camera doesn't really capture the depth of them.
After having the case for about an hour, I started to get busy disassembling the case. My wife asked what the hell I bought it for if I was just going to tear it apart. Women don't get it.
Tear down
On Saturday it was 30 degrees outside. Since I don't have a garage or any indoor well ventilated area, I got to paint in the freezing cold. I used Krylon satin black that is meant for metals. I picked it up at Wal-mart. The can stated it required no sanding or priming and claimed a drying time of 15 minutes. I did rough up the case surface with wet/dry sandpaper to ensure a good bond between the aluminum and paint. I did a total of three coats and allowed an hour drying time in between each coat. Unfortunately it was windy and half the paint I was spraying did not make it onto the case. Because of this, I had to use two cans.
Paint
Done!
I allowed the paint to dry overnight and I began reassembly today. I forgot to take photos of the reassembly process and only have photos of the system installed. Overall, I think it turned out well considering this is an eight dollar paint job. Like I mentioned previously, I will be doing a window mod. I intend on replicating the window offered by Frozencpu.com. Thanks for posting your window measurements!
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...tom_Side_Panel_w_DIY_Bolt-On_Full_Window.html
All in all, I am very pleased with this case. The build quality it A+. The case is easy to work in and I love the fact that the removable motherboard tray consists of the entire back panel. Being able to remove my H50 at the same time I remove the motherboard is awesome. In the future, I may add a few holes for cable management purposes.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the case or if you want to tell me I suck at painting!
On to the final pics
The figure prints have been wiped off!
5/19/10 Update - Added Window
I finally got around to adding a window to my case. As usual, it didn't turn out perfectly but I am still satisfied with how it looks because I was able to do it myself. I had to use a dabble of superglue on the corners of the molding because it wanted to stick up when routing the corners. Unfortunately when I tried to wipe up a bit of excess w/ a paper towel it stuck to my case and I can't get it off. Doh! You can see it around the bottom right corner of the molding. Solution? A Sharpie
The window measures appx 18x20 and I preferred the off center look as opposed to centering the window. I think it gives the case more character.
I got my plexi from estreetplastics and my channel molding from McMaster Carr. On with the photos!
No flash
My next upgrade will be a DECM filter, a pair of gentle typhoons for the H50, and a NZXT Sentry2. I will be adding the filter to the back of the case and having my H50 be an intake as opposed to exhaust. I've read of others having great results with having the only exhaust fans be the top fans.
Once that upgrade is complete, more pictures will follow.
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