Project: Rogue (NZXT SFF)

I do plan on adding a touchscreen. The LCD I ordered doesn't have one though, I need to find a touch panel from another source.
 
FrozenCPU has the SanAce fans listed again, out of stock of course.....$29.99

You got a STEAL on those fans man.
 
Wow! $30? There's no way I would have bought 6 at that price. I don't care how awesome they are, that would have been close to $200 total... I truly got lucky. :D
 
I thought I'd get a quick update posted. I've got a little more work done on the face.

After the hole cut for the Matrix Orbital LCD, I thought I'd go ahead and get the holes cut for the Dakota Digital gauges. I used a hole saw for the initial cut, which you can see here.

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It didn't cut as cleanly as I had hoped, but a little dremel work and filing is getting it in pretty good shape. I've still got a ways to go though. Circular holes suck so much more than rectangles.

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I'll continue work on the face of course, but in the meantime, I thought I'd show you some of my new parts arrivals.

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This box right here contains the long awaited 10.2" LCD.

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I also had my second digital gauge and sending units arrive. While the other measures water temp, this new one will measure the ambient air temp in the case.

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I have a few more parts arriving tomorrow. I'll post pics of what arrives, and I think you'll find it much 'cooler' than most of my other parts...
 
eta for finishing the project? I cant stand to wait to see how this will all come together!
 
Less than 2 months... I've got a LAN on April 11th, and I want it ready by then. Needless to say, I'm going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks.
 
Parts, parts, parts! That's what this update is all about. I can't wait to cram all these goodies in the case. So, where should we start?

How about with this monster of a power supply. It's a Meanwell SE-600. I'ts capable of putting out a solid 600 watts, at 24 volts. I must say, it's a little larger than I had hoped. No matter, it only makes the challenge of fitting it in the case, all that much more fun!

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Okay, so why do I need a power supply that massive? TEC baby! Not just your everyday TEC either, I've got 437 watts of cooling potential here. It's hard to believe that this little square is capable of cooling to subzero temps.

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How am I going to pull of that much heat? Enter the Wintsch Labs Arctic Web CPU cooler. I'm not sure exactly how much this thing weighs, but I can tell you that it is beyond solid...

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Here are the necessary foam gaskets, because this thing is guaranteed to cause condensation without them.

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So, we've got the TEC and power supply covered. Here's something a little extra. It's a Swiftech relay for the PSU. No extra switches needed, just turn on the computer, and the relay does the rest.

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A little more here...

This is one of my favorite parts... Can you say pico-itx?

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Here's the centerpiece. It's so freaking small! It's completely fascinating to hold in your hand...

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As cool as that is, I still need some way to power it. Here's where the DC-DC power converter comes in to play.

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Also, since the Via system will operate independently of the Rogue, I decided to make it wireless capable. Via makes a kit that is pretty small as well.

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More to come!
 
Something small and portable....that weighs 8,000 pounds!!! muahaha :)

I can't fathom how you are going to fit everything in there...
 
Must have missed it somewhere. Whats the Nano-ITX system for?

The ITX system will reside inside the Rogue, and act as a silent download box. It will be networked with the Rogue, as well as my home network. The LCD on the front of the case will be connected to the ITX system as well. I'm going to use a program called Synergy to control the box. It function in the same way as a multi-monitor setup would. You simply drag the cursor off the edge of the screen, and it appears on the other computers screen, and you have mouse and keyboard control of it. When you are done on that computer, simply move the cursor back. The touchscreen will allow control of the ITX box during gaming on the main rig.
 
The new parts look very cool. I'll be curious to see how well everything fits...
 
wanted to give you a littel heads up on that water block you chose, i have no experience with it, but looked it up on their site to fill in the gaps, the top they used on that is alu, with a copper bottom... and welll ill let these pics speak for them selves

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that was after about 1 year of use, danger den switched to derlin for a reason... they also have a nice program where they will make parts for you, it might be worth it contact them and see if they are willing to carve a new top from derlin for ya, and what side effects the TEC might have on it/if they think it might be an issue, if it is an issue, a copper top is always an option
 
wanted to give you a littel heads up on that water block you chose, i have no experience with it, but looked it up on their site to fill in the gaps, the top they used on that is alu, with a copper bottom... and welll ill let these pics speak for them selves

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that was after about 1 year of use, danger den switched to derlin for a reason... they also have a nice program where they will make parts for you, it might be worth it contact them and see if they are willing to carve a new top from derlin for ya, and what side effects the TEC might have on it/if they think it might be an issue, if it is an issue, a copper top is always an option

Damn, that's nasty! I've been a little concerned about corrosion as well. I've tried to do a little research on the matter, as I knew it was a risk. Some claim that using a quality fluid can prevent it, others claim that it will happen regardless. I think your suggestion to contact Danger Den is a good one. I'll also contact Arctic Web and see what advice they offer. The last thing I want is to ruin a CPU block that expensive. I appreciate your advice and input.
 
Damnitt man that is some top notch Modding!! Sorry I'm so late in on this one but I'm watching now. Keep up with the excellent work! :cool:
 
Yeah, I did see the [H] review when I was researching. The block has changed a little since then, and so has some of the hardware, but it should still kick ass.
 
You can't prevent the corrosion from taking place, only inhibit it. If you use the correct amount of corrosion inhibitor though you shouldn't run into any problems in the lifetime of the block.
 
I went and did it... Yes, I killed another Dremel. My own impatience got the best of me. One of the motor brushes actually melted in to it's plastic casing. It did feel a little warm... I guess I'm off to the hardware store to pick up another one tomorrow. Toasted Dremel or not, work must go on.

I might as well start with the hole for the 10.2" LCD. Here I've got a paper template measured out and centered on the front of the case.

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The hole all taped out and ready for cutting.

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Here the rough cuts are finished. Due to the dead Dremel, I had to finish with a jigsaw. While it works, it's definitely not my preferred method.

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All filed and finished.

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See this? It's a simple PVC pipe coupling.

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So, what is it for? Well, follow along here... I've got a piece of card stock.

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Cut in to a strip.

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The paper is coiled and sitting inside the hole.

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Everything marked.

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The paper template was cut out and transfered to the PVC coupling. After the coupling was cut to match the template, I was left with the following.

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Now for the other side... More to come!
 
I know I've posted little bits of information here and there, but many people are still wondering how this is all going to be pulled together. If you were to look at the parts list, you would wonder how I can find the space for all of these parts. Well, I've got a few pictures here that give you some idea of the direction I'm headed. You should also see that there is more room in here than you think, as long as you use the space wisely.

One look at the front panel of the case, and it's pretty easy to see that traditional DVD drives simply aren't going to work. That's were slot load laptop drives come in to play. I've used these drives on L.O.S.I.A.S., and I absolutely love them. It was an easy decision to drop some in the Rogue. So, where are they going?

Take a look at this pic. The drives will sit on the floor of the case. The motherboard tray actually sits slightly above them. When finished, there will be a panel covering them as well.

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Literally, one of the biggest additions to this case, is the Meanwell power supply. This thing is rather large, and finding room for it was a little tricky, to say the least. I did find the perfect spot for it though, and it fits there like a glove. Even though only one radiator is shown in place, you can see how it sits in the case. Airflow blockage shouldn't be a concern.

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Looks awesome as usual, I love the placement of those dvd drives, sleek and out of the way. Where did you purchase them from?
 
Looks awesome as usual, I love the placement of those dvd drives, sleek and out of the way. Where did you purchase them from?

The drives are Pioneer DVR-K06's. I originally bought them from Opticstor, but they have changed ownership and names, and no longer carry them. However, I believe I've see them at Newegg.
 
Well, I've finally decided on a platform and chipset. As much as I wanted to go with ATI cards this time around, I just couldn't do it. They may have few decent cards out right now, but NVIDIA always seems to be one step ahead. I would have loved an X38 or X48 chipset, but then SLI wouldn't have been an option. So, that leaves me with the new 780i chipset. Granted it may be only marginally better than the 680i's, but I didn't want to pay the price premium for DDR3 on the upcoming 790i's.

So, what board did I get? I decided on the MSI P7N Diamond. There isn't a whole lot of information available out here on this board right now, but I like the fact that it uses a non-reference design.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=P7N_Diamond&class=mb

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The MSI board paired with the 9800 GX2's or GTX's, sounds like a killer combination to me! I'll post a few more pics of the board once I receive it later this week.
 
That's a nice mobo craig, I actually broke down and got this case too. Seeing all the possibilities with this case I couldn't pass this up.

That MSI board is sweet. I ordered the EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1, and looking at the back of this case it looks like I will have some fun modding the back panel, and either finding a mobo tray to fit in with some "tweaking" or going the route that you went and doing it all in 2mm aluminum.

Anyhow, great work on this case I can't wait to see more.

-Net
 
Are those the hard drives above the dvd drives? Those are ncie inclosures. Are they custom?

That's actually a 24 volt Meanwell power supply. It's going to be powering the 437 watt TEC cooler for the CPU. The hard drives will be sitting on their sides on the top right side of the case. Hopefully I should be to that part soon. I'm planning on room for at least 6 drives.
 
That's a nice mobo craig, I actually broke down and got this case too. Seeing all the possibilities with this case I couldn't pass this up.

That MSI board is sweet. I ordered the EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1, and looking at the back of this case it looks like I will have some fun modding the back panel, and either finding a mobo tray to fit in with some "tweaking" or going the route that you went and doing it all in 2mm aluminum.

Anyhow, great work on this case I can't wait to see more.

-Net

Thanks. I almost bought the eVGA board. I almost pulled the trigger 2 days ago. I ended up getting the MSI, because I liked the layout just a little better. I'm not a fan of the color scheme though... egads.

Yeah, this case is just begging to be modded. Have fun with it man!
 
Jeez 6 hdds?

Yeah, room for 6. I've got a pair of 750 GB drives, a pair of 300 GB drives, and a 160 GB drive. One of those are going to be attached to the VIA, but I'd like to have one more yet. We'll see what kind of room I have when it's time to pull it all together. They should fit, but I may decide I want more airflow instead.
 
This is heading to be the most awesome mod(s) ever. Great job thus far, I like where this is going :D
 
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