Project: Rogue (NZXT SFF)

Another day, another update... It seems that no matter how hard I try to get away from it, all of my projects seem to involve insane amounts of filing. In fact, that's what I've been doing for the past couple of days. I guess I shouldn't complain too much though, as I've always been happy with the results. All of that filing, leads to the following update.

When I left off with the last update, I had just finished making the bends in the radiator mount. Next up, was the hole for the radiator. I used a template and careful measurements, to make sure everything was where I wanted it to be.

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I didn't get any pictures of the cutting process, but a dremel and a reinforced cutting wheel made pretty quick work of the aluminum. At that point, I had to file and straighten the cuts, followed by a light sanding of the edges. The work and patience paid off, and I was left with the results below.

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A test fit with the radiator, and all looked well!

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The only thing to do at this point, was take a look and see how the mount and radiator fit into the case.

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Finally, with the side panel on.

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I've got get the mount fastened into the case yet, and before I do, all exposed edges will get a touch of black paint. I've also got to get low profile mounting screws for the radiator. These will be black as well. There is a little work to be done on the case side panel yet, but I'll try and get the other radiator mount finished first, then worry about finishing the panels. Stay tuned!
 
Wow, looking really promising so far! I like that color scheme!

A question for you, since you are about the only one i know that has access to this case: Do you think a ATX board will fit the standard-case with little mods? I dont mind if i can´t use all of the slots or the tray, but i wouldn´t like cutting the sides of the case :(

I really look forward to this case, but i don´t want to switch to mATX just for it.

Thanks for your answer, keep up the good work!
 
Wow, looking really promising so far! I like that color scheme!

A question for you, since you are about the only one i know that has access to this case: Do you think a ATX board will fit the standard-case with little mods? I dont mind if i can´t use all of the slots or the tray, but i wouldn´t like cutting the sides of the case :(

I really look forward to this case, but i don´t want to switch to mATX just for it.

Thanks for your answer, keep up the good work!


A standard ATX would fit with a little modding...

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Cool, thanks for the quick answer!

I´m gonna get one, then :) Looking forward to your mod, good luck!
 
I've got a small update here. I'm currently waiting for a few parts and the guages to arrive, but in the meantime, I'm close to finishing the second side panel. Unfortunately, until the missing parts arrive, they're won't be much in the way of huge progress. I can tell you this, Summit Racing sure isn't Newegg or FrozenCPU...

Who doesn't love new tools? I've been meaning to get taps for a while, this project was just the push I needed.

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A little panel prep...

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Here you can see where one of the CCFL's will fit. There will be an identical one on the bottom.

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More to come...
 
Sometimes I just can't help myself... I get these ideas in my head, and think I need to find a way to follow through. Just like my L.O.S.I.A.S. project, it seems I want to find room for one more component. Well, today I've found two more items that I want to cram into this case.

The first is a fairly new Matrix Orbital display. The GX Typhoon to be specific. The only problem I see at this point, is the very limited availability. It's currently backordered until the 31st of January...

Here is a video of the display in action.

The second item is a barebones Pico-ITX system courtesy of Via. The sheer number of possibilities with this thing is a little crazy to think about. It could easily make use of the LCD that will be on the case. It would also be networked, and could allow 'offline' downloading of files even when the main machine is off. Just dump the data on a shared network drive, and you're good to go.
 
I've got a small update here. The past week has been pretty hectic for me, but I've managed to get some work done on the motherboard tray. I'm also still waiting on a few parts that have yet to ship. I'll blame it on the holiday season...

The tray will be cut out of 2mm brushed aluminum. Frankly, it's a shame this won't be visible to anyone. I really do love the look of this stuff. Below I've marked and cut the tray.

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Pretty simple, huh? Now I need to find a way to secure the tray in the case. I'm basically making brackets that will slide in to the old motherboard tray's original position. This will allow for the tray to be easily removed from the rear of the case.

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Time to put the metal brake to work... The two brackets were taped together during the bending. This ensures matching bends on both pieces.

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Here we have the brackets sitting in their approximate positions on the upside down tray. The brackets will be bolted to the tray shortly...

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Absolutely amazing so far!! :D

Can´t wait for your "little modding" to fit in a standard ATX-Mobo!!!!

I finally received my Rogue case yesterday and would very much like a standard sized board - only problem is that i desperately need your solution since i suck at developing such mod´s :(
(and i want my case to still look awesome afterwards..)

regards
 
That is hot! I also have a black and red theme, but yours seems to be a tad sexier. :D

/subscribe
 
Who's ready for an update? Things have finally gotten a little slower for me. Most of the holiday season has passed, and I've finally been able to get a little work done. Actually, the work's never really stopped. It's just been awfully sporadic with everything else that has been going on. That being said, I've now got a self imposed deadline. My goal is to have the project completed by the next Netwar in Omaha. That gives me a little less than two months. Wish me luck!

One of the things I really needed to get done in order to move forward, was to finally finish the second radiator mount. Here we see the bending in progress. This looks kind of familiar...

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It's a perfect match...

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A test fit inside the case shows that everything lines up perfectly.

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Due to the positioning of the front USB and sound ports, I need to notch the radiator mount.

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A little help from the dremel and a file got the result I wanted.

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With the panel bent, and the notch cut, now I need to get the radiator hole cut.

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After the dremel...

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I couldn't ask for anything better.

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I used my radiator template to mark the mounting holes.

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Woohoo! Another one done! This is what it's all about!

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Just before Christmas, the UPS guy left me a little present.

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A free hat...

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Such a little box. Is this what I waited over a month to get?

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Pictures can't do this thing justice. It's absolutely amazing to look at in person. This thing may not have been cheap, but it certainly doesn't look like it is either. I think it's really going to set this case off.

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Well, now that I've got the second radiator mount done, what does it look like on the case? I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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Ah, the motherboard. Of the two possible orientations, both have their pros and cons. Check out the second pic though. If I'm willing to lose a bottom slot on a motherboard, I'll gain a ton of space and not have to deal with routing extension cables to the rear of the case. I'll also not be limited by the length of my video cards. So many possibilities...

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Now, finally, I thought I'd throw up a couple shots of the CCFL's lighting the radiators. It looks amazing in person. Perfectly subtle. It's exactly what I wanted.

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More coming soon!
 
After seeing project L.O.S.I.A.S., I'm subscribing to this one, excellent work. :D
 
Looks great keep up the good work! I also checked the price out on that gauge because I thought it looked awesome, man were you were right, it isn't cheap
 
looking great so far, i´d go with the "classic" mobo placement, if you make a new tray anyway.
 
looking great so far, i´d go with the "classic" mobo placement, if you make a new tray anyway.

Yeah, after a little consideration, I'm definitely going with the "classic" arrangement. I can't pass up the extra space it's going to give me.
 
Btw, i´m currently doing the atx mod on my rogue, too. Not as fancy as you do of course, just plain atx@rogue :)

I´ve removed the original spacers and fitted new ones 2cm to the right of the original location (the height of one slot). Unforunately i broke my drill after the second one, otherwise i´d be fitting the board now :(

Keep up the good work, i wouldn´t have started this without your atx picture from the third page ;)
 
Excellent! I think this a great case, with a ton of modding potential for anyone. I think the whole point of anyone posting worklogs, is to inspire people with their own projects. There are people that have inspired me for years, and I wouldn't be here without them.
 
I've got a quick update here... I've got some cool little accessories for my dremel. I was walking through a hardware store the other day, when I spotted the box in the picture below. It's a quick-release mandrel kit for cut-off wheels. I seem to burn through quite a few wheels with all the cutting I do, and thought this would be a great way to make the changes easier. Not to mention, the wheels are a larger diameter than what I was using.

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Closed...

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Open...

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Push on, twist, and release! It doesn't get any easier.

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As cool as the new cut-off wheels were, I also had something else show up on my doorstep today.

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That's a whole lot of air moving potential there. These are all 120mm x 35mm Sanyo Denki San Ace 1011's. According to this review at xtremesystems, they can kick some serious ass.

I'll spoil one result for all of you upfront: the Sanyo Denki San Ace 1011 is king of the hill. And by hill I mean universe. It's really, really good. In addition to its insane empirical results (see below), it makes NO extraneous noises and undervolts like a champ. I have five and they all perform like this and they all start at 4V or lower. They could kick Chuck Norris's ass....silently.

They're ball bearings as well, so you don't have to worry about the sleeve bearing inconvenience. They also perform past their listed specs--something that's exceedingly rare in these SilenX days. Good luck finding any though...and when you do, they're $25 a pop.

Don't let the quoted price scare you though, they are currently available at FrozenCPU for about $14 apiece.

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These fans are freaking solid, as well as heavy. High quality stuff indeed. Once I throw a good fan controller on these, I'll have the best of both worlds. A fan that is inaudible, yet can move some serious CFM's when it's warranted.

So, you might be wondering where these things are going to find a home in the case. Well, they all will reside in a custom panel on top of the case. I may not have the specifics figured out yet, but they will tie in with the slightly automotive engine theme. In fact, I'd like them to look something like valve covers. Two rows of three fans, slightly angled to the left and the right...
 
Nice. I have a 92mm SanAce, it's quite nice if you don't mind the noise at 12v. Pushes a good bit of air, no doubt about that.
 
Very Nice, How much?


:)

keep up the good work. LOVE the red on Black.
 
Hi Craig, awesome project as usual from you.

I'm curious to know if your Sanyo fans put off any sort of growling like my panaflos do when running at about half-speed. I have two 120x38mm pannys (like here) connected to a sunbeam fan controller and when the knob is set anywhere past about half-way, the growl from just those two fans is louder than all of the eight other 120mm fans in the system put together. :rolleyes: I've been looking to replace them, but don't know which ones to go with yet. It looks like these may be the ones. Thanks!

Keep up the good work. :)
 
Thanks for the compliments Jon.

I've tested the fans with my Silverstone fan controller just last night. There is no growl, no whine, no extraneous noise of any kind other than the sound of moving air at full voltage. I am more than pleasantly surprised. Make no mistake, these things move an astounding amount of air. However, even cranked up, the sound of the air is a pleasant low whoosh. I doubt it could be any quieter and still perform as well as it does. That being said, these things scale very well. At the controllers halfway position, these things are inaudible above any ambient noise and still move a good amount of air. I'm really in love with these things.

There is only one catch though... availability. FrozenCPU had a little less than 70 when I ordered, and sold out a little while ago. They went from being listed as out-of-stock, to not being listed at all. I'm not sure of any other suppliers right off hand, but these fans are well worth the search!
 
Great! Thanks for the mini-review. You're right, those are hard to find. That was a good deal at frozen. Hopefully one will come again. Anyway, I'll keep watching your progress. That's going to be one sweet rig! :)
 
It was indeed an amazing deal. I'm wishing I snagged a few more though. If I need a replacement for some reason, I might be SOL.
 
Oh, the irony... As I type this update, DFI has announced the possibility of SLI and Crossfire capable mATX motherboards. It's something that I've wanted for quite some time now. Especially since my current eVGA SLI board is showing it's age. At this point, it's come a little too late to change the course of this project. I've got the perfect case in the Rogue, and it's ATX or nothing at this point. So, that brings me to the following update.

Here I've got the motherboard tray finished. The mounting studs are in place, and it's almost ready to be placed in the case. There is very little room for error at this point. The clearances are very tight between the radiator mounts.

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As you can see from the above pics, I need to come up with the rear panel for the case. As luck would have it, I've got the perfect donor. (Yes, it is purple...) I happened to have an old case left over from a mod I had done for my daughter.

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With the panel removed from it's donor, it's time to find it a new home. Here you can see it sitting inside the case. It actually fits quite well. You can see that I will need to do a little cutting on the rear of the case, but all in all, it shouldn't be so bad.

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Next up, will be to get the panel fitted in place, and repainted of course...
 
WOW you just inspired me to jump into a project like this.

Keep up the awesome work
 
WoW that looks awesome, I can't wait to see the final product

WOW you just inspired me to jump into a project like this.

Keep up the awesome work

Thanks guys!

With every day that passes, I find myself getting another crazy-ass idea... In fact, I'm now exploring the inclusion of a Gigabyte I-RAM. I was thinking about using it as a Linux partition, and setting it up so it's similar in function to Asus's Express Gate feature. I could jump in to an OS quickly if I needed to...

I don't recall if I mentioned it or not, but this case is also going to have a Via Artigo pico-itx PC inside. It will be wirelessly networked to the Rogue, as well as my home network. It will run independently of the Rogue, and have access to it's own large capacity drive. It will be used for downloading files and data, and will dump that info on to a shared network drive. The Artigo will make primary use of the touchscreen on the front of the computer. Although it will be two separate systems, I will use Synergy to allow seamless transition between the PC's. Sounds like fun, huh?
 
Thank you craigbru for the inspiration.

After reading your work log plus the fact I really like the looks of this case. I went out and purchased a Rogue, plus a Gigabyte P35-DS4 m/b. Working on the m/b tray right now. Last night I cut up a couple of old computer cases and pulled out their m/b so that I don't have to use my new one to size everything up.

I'll post my own work log. Just wanted to say thanks
 
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