Blackbox - TT Mozart teardown & rebuild mod work log

NOTE: some people may have issues viewing the pics in this thread with Firefox (tested with version 11). Chrome doesn't seem to be a problem however...
NOTE2: nope just me with FF issue. had image hosting service in my 'exception list' under 'Load images automatically'.

howdy all

this will be my first decent mod of a pc case. sure i've cut fan hole or two and slapped on a couple of coats paint on a few cases but nothing that'll soak up the amount of man hours this one will take.
i've been planning and picking up hardware, tools in equipment for the last few months. ultimately i was waiting for AMD to release BD to start, but i got a little impatient when i saw Asus's Crosshair V selling locally.

collection of goodies already assembled;


so i picked one (Crosshair V) up with 16GB ram and a cheap Phenom II 555 to get things started. admittedly i've jumped the gun and considering some official numbers on performance will be released in the coming days, i may shot myself in the foot.
oh well caution to the wind and all that, i got bored and wanted something to do.

the victim for my mod work is my old Thermaltake Mozart TX case.

this pic is of a stock unit. not particularly pretty, but that's not why i bought the case a few years ago. it was big, you could stuff a lot of shit into it, wasn't covered in silly 'bling' and is all aluminium.

as the name of the thread suggests, the case is going to be getting a healthy dose of 'blackness'. interestingly TT did sell a back version (sort of) but you had to settle for a steel. i haven't used a steel case in a decade an wasn't going to start with a case this size. also TT's black version, for some reason didn't come with a black bezel.

i was a little hesitant in breaking down my case, partly b/c the q6600 system inside had functioned so well for several years. the other being i'm a bit lazy, however i was glad i did and you see why later. however the excitement over new hardware being released and seeing some of the great mods here on forums spurred me into action.


as this case is the home of my primary pc, it required a teardown. here are the internals before breaking it down;


now granted as the pics above show, she wasn't exactly pretty on the inside either, this 'should' be addressed in the coming weeks. hopefully it won't be as jeremy clarkson would say "ambitious but rubbish". if you aren't a fan of 'Top Gear', regardless if you're a car nut or not, you don't have a heart. anyway, onward.

off with the rather large front facia. bit dusty but that's due to my inattention.
this should give you an idea of size as there are grill opening for 5 120mm fans.


the HD cage removed as well as the front 120mm fans. you can see some of my earlier butchering on the fan grills with a dremel. definitely could of done a better job cleaning up the cuts, but it was my first time using the tool. i kept envisioning what a 33k rpm tool would do to my fingers and was plotting in my head how to get hospital with bloody stumps for hands.


the old cooling loop from the side. the NB i have rediscovered on the X38 is a toasty bastard. while under water, NB temps would range between 30 to 40C (with high volts and high fsb, 400+) . since reattaching the original Asus NB/SB heatpipe cooling, the NB temps would hit 50C+, and that's at stock volts no OC. the heatpipe solution did look impressive tho it's kinda like reality tv stars, sometimes pretty, usually interesting but mostly useless.


all the water blocks off, notice the size of the NB, its bigger than the CPU, at least the heatspreader is.


MAÎTRE D - "how are you feeling today mr creosote"
mr creosote - "better"
MAÎTRE D - "better?"
mr creosote - "better get a bucket, i'm going to throw up"
MAÎTRE D - "Uh, Gaston! A bucket for monsieur"
this is definitely one area i'll be improving on. dedicated fill & bleed ports.


hmmm, fancy some tasty cordial. comes in green flavour with a pinch of biocide and a dash of corrosion inhibitor...


my cooling temps were getting a bit high.
well there's your problem...
the dust bunnies were obviously quite taken with their domicile in the radiator. they took up residence and multiplied like a family of, ah.. fuck-happy rabbits.


nice and soft, could serve as a excellent floor covering, one problem tho, only comes in grey.


completely gutted and ready to mod.



the water block got a little 'gunged up' with the swiftech 'Hydra X'. not too bad for a loop that's run for 2+ years without being flushed.


kitten minding the gutted contents of the case minus the MB, CPU and RAM which was transplanted into an old Lian Li PC70 (which i'm currently using)


hopefully my next lot of work will be centred around modding the front 3 120mm fan slots to accept a 3.120 Rad. a bit of a squeeze and some cutting and shaping required. while i'm there i'll probably remove the remaining 120mm grill holes and cleanup the cuts on the earlier ones. if i can't be arsed, i'll just sleeve my PSU.

cheers.

spent a bit of time working on the case this week. also hit a few roadblock since stripping the case down.

the first thing i looked at after my last post was the front 3 120mm mounts for my old swiftech 320 radiator. with the case empty i was able to do some more accurate measurements and i've come to the conclusion it's not feasible mount the MCR320 up front. tho its possible to mount a triple, putting aside my lack of experience and tools required for the job, too many sacrifices to case functionality to make it work.

the obvious problem was it simply didn't fit. to get it in would mean losing the use of one 5 1/4 inch bay, one 3 1/2 inch bay and cutting into top horizontal support bar. also the amount of space it occupied inside the case, depth-wise would have been problematic. the radiator (34mm) + fan (25mm) would have eaten up 60mm. the depth of the motherboard bay (from front to PCI slots is only 310mm) is fairly shallow. the installation of the rad + fans would have obscured the SATA ports & one of the cable management holes. not to mention the 2 PCIe power cables for my GPU would have been eaten by the middle fan.

not wanting to admit defeat, i began looking online for a 'slimmed down' radiator. the maximum height (floor of case to bottom of support bar / HD cage) is a little over 390mm. tho i could get a thinner rad at 30mm (depth), most of the rads i looked at were 400mm + (height). if i could squeeze a thin (30mm) triple 120 in with 20mm instead of 25mm fans, it would still have been tight despite the extra 10mm saved. then i started looking at mounting 3 thin 20mm x120mm fans on the outside of the case between the front and the bezel. however there were a couple of problems there as well.

on the front of the case there are outcropping metal tabs to slide in the fan filters. even if i filed them off (and lose my dust protection) a 25mm fan wouldn't fit. so i thought i'd get clever and mocked up some spacers with a few washers to offset the bezel a few millimetres but that meant anything in the 5 1/4 bays were no longer flush with the front facia. the stupid drive bays only have single screw holes which meant i couldn't slide the DVD drive & bay reservoir forward.

ok i scrapped the idea. i even toyed with the idea of using those super slim 12mm 120mm fans but the spec on those fans are fairly underwhelming. the top speed 12mm fan offered by scythe slip stream only moves 45 cfm at a moderately noisy 37 dBA. even if i did mount these fans there is a solid sheet aluminium (approx 5mm to 10mm) in front with no direct holes.

having considered my options, i'm dropping the plan for a triple 120 front mounted. having said that, i'm looking at a double 120mm instead. i should be able to mount a slim '30mm radiator' with '20mm thick fans' on the top 2 fan slots and leave me access to the SATA ports & GPU PCIe power cables.

having sorta resolved that issue, i moved to mock mounting the 2 MCR220 QP's at the rear of the case. then i hit another snag. there is plenty of room to mount these rads except the width of the radiators hang over the adjacent 120mm fan holes. so i could mount 1 220 but not the other.

fuck, no wonder there is only a handful of people on the net who have attempted to mod this case. Thermaltake lull you into thinking modding this case would be a piece of piss only to shit into your wheeties.

here i go again, hitting the net looking for rads that conform to 120mm slot with no overhang. i had to stop myself on contemplating boxing another couple of radiators and blowing money on more. i started this mod b/c getting a Case Labs case shipped to oz would of cost $900, now i'm starting think that might of been a bargain.

bugger this, so i hit the drawing board again. the 2 MCR220's would have enough space, just need to drill new holes offset slightly from the existing 120mm fan mounts. i was going to need to upgrade my measuring equipment tho b/c all i had was a shitty purple flexible ruler that no longer has a straight edge. in all fairness, this ruler was really only designed for pre-schoolers or for 'special needs'/ADD kids who run around with plastic scissors with no blades trying cut on others while high on ritalin and paper mache paste/clag.


so off to the hardware store and grabbed some sturdy steel rulers + a combination square. almost ashamed to admit that i didn't have a square but there it is.


with 'basic' equipment in hand, i got down to measuring up the holes to mount my twin rads. who would of though measuring up two radiators so that they're perfectly aligned and sit straight with holes that match-up was so hard, took most of the afternoon to get it right. in the end, one rad was a little crooked (off by 1mm) but that shouldn't be too hard to correct.


template drawn on with mechanical pencil


first radiator in.


second one in.


having sorted the logistics of my cooling system (mostly), i wanted to move on something a bit more fun and therapeutic. so i moved to sleeving my zalman 1000w PSU.
was a little annoyed to rediscover that my PSU wasn't fully modular. it had fixed 24pin cable, fixed 8pin aux CPU cable, fixed 2x 8pin PCIe cables, 1 fixed standard 4pin MOLEX cable & 1 fixed SATA power cable.
the stock unit came sleeved, not a bad job, but it could be a lot prettier. the paint job on the PSU is stunning tho. a grey/charcoal mirror finish.


pretty soon i realised i'd have to void my warrantee by cracking the unit open to get proper access to the fixed cables.


after wrapping up my first lot (8pin PCIe) i discovered that with the extra girth of the sleeving on the cables, the entire bundle would no longer fit thru the notch on the side. i've already mentioned the paint job on this PSU so i don't really want to start hacking into the thing with a drill or dremel. my only thought on this is to thread the 4pin MOLEX and SATA power cables thru the vent slots below the main cable bundle notch. i won't know till i finish sleeving the rest.




the one tool on hand that made my life a lot easier. my guillotine. made short work of this shrink and other cable/sleeve cutting. notice the little collection bucket. cool huh.


24pin ATX & 8pin PCIe cables done.


i was a bit pissed with the finished product on the 24pin cable. notice the colour of the insulation showing thru. this is partly due to me factoring in 18 AWG wire when the PSU uses 16 AWG wire on the ATX power cable. it was made worse in a couple on instances as there were 2 pins that had 2 wires in the crimp (16 AWG & a 24 AWG). it shouldn't look too bad when installed in the finished case, the sleeving just isn't macro and flash photo friendly is all. really should of checked the PSU before ordering 150Meters of sleeving. next time i'm ordering MDPC-X stuff.

one thing did cheer me up however when i finally received crimper from MDPC-X and a auto wire stripper. both work very well.


while i'm hard at work, the ginger 'manamals' are taking their afternoon siesta. slack bastards.


still missing some bits & pieces. can't finish the sleeving job till i get some SATA power cable pins & connectors. also require a few more fittings, the 3rd radiator and a AM3 hold-down plate for my waterblock. probably in no rush to get the adaptor plate considering how long AMD is taking to release their damn BD chip. should at least give me time to paint the case...

just a quick update.

was intending to straighten up the holes i drilled for the radiators from last post.

tripped down to the local hardware shop to pick up a medium bastard round file and a set of smaller hand files (to enlarge/correct slight off-set on drilled holes). no medium bastard round file but did pick up the small hand file set. ended up with a few items i may or may not need. swear visiting my local bunnings (hardware store) is like visiting a drug dealer with a lazy susan sampling every known narcotic known to man.



got home and put 'hole straightening' in the 'too hard basket'. decided to break out the dremel instead. every woman's worst nightmare, men with power tools. unless of course there is a dremel attachment i don't know about...

anyway popped out the radiators and cleaned up my chop job from the last time i used the dremel a couple of years ago.



now to remove the remaining fan obstructions





took a smoke break when i found this fat bastard sticking his nose in my work. that's his name, fatty b/c well he's fat. not terribly original i know but it hard to call 'em 'ginger' when you have three ginger cats.


after the ginger monkey fucked off, i wrapped up the job


and finally cleaning up the cuts with file, job done.


not sure what i'll attack next. still too far away from slapping some paint on. maybe i'll have a crack at some more sleeving.

update

as predicted, i did some sleeving. this time the I/O front ports & the power/reset switches & LEDs.
when i originally installed the system in this case a few years ago, the method of cable management used was in the form of black electrical tape. never again. took me a fair chunk of time and effort to remove the sticky adhesive from the cable strands.

here's the dismantled 'power' & 'reset' module from the case. it doesn't look it in this photo, but that's almost a metre of cable wrapped in sticky electrical tape.


after a liberal dose of general purpose cleaner and a bath of methylated spirits, finally got the gunk off.


first cable down.


power & reset switches & LEDs done.


coming up here is the external SATA port with a weird external power connector. the SATA cable uses incredibly thick and stiff insulation. as you can see in the shot, it took me 2 mini bulldog clips to clamp the damn thing to get it 'photo ready'.


the power connector looks similar to PS/2 socket. i've never seen these on drive units before. has anyone see or used these before?


took some manhandling to straighten the thing out to measure correctly for sleeving. the SATA cable is over a metre long and the first cut of 3/8 inch sleeve was too short despite correct measurement. had to chuck a few extra centimetres onto the next cut to fit onto its fat arse.


stretching out the sleeving to fit over the SATA connector


it's fairly large bit of shrink but considering how heavy the cable was, wanted to ensure it didn't slip.


sleeving on nice an secure & no more 'ronald mcdonald' red & sheathed in slimming black to boot...


did the MOLEX tail for external power port even tho i'll probably never use it.


external SATA module complete. if i was really anal i'd replace the white MOLEX connector with a black one. since it'll be never used and hidden... the lazy kicked in.


the next bundle of joy is the USB/1394/audio port module. similar issue with electrical tape here too, just thankfully not as much. this part of the sleeving was a bit of a bitch. the cables were incredibly long and made tricky due to the secondary tails on each cable section.



curious as to what i was doing sitting at my desk for hours, this little ginger monster decided to lend a helping hand by munching on one of my nylon hand clamps attached to the desk. cheeky shit.


wasn't sure how i was going to handle the USB, 1394 & audio tails. thought of chopping them but that felt too much like cheating. just sleeved them in the end. don't know why i bothered with the firewire cable as there is not header on my Crosshair V.


where there is one, the other soon follows.
as seen here the fat oompa-loompa is having a chew on the camera neck band.


play-time over retard, back to work!


all done, no thanks from fatcat & friends



cheers.

watching..

dah, not realising editing a reserved post didn't bump the thread for those watching.
anyway, update added. bump.

I thought i posted on this already? Oh well, Cant wait the mozart is my fave TT case.

One of like 3.

Extra points for the cat pics! Looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

mannyman said:

I thought i posted on this already? Oh well, Cant wait the mozart is my fave TT case.

One of like 3.

Click to expand...

TT make some strange cases. they're either cool or ugly as arse.
i mentioned earlier i was only able to find a handful of people who've modded their Mozart case. if you're interested, here are the links i've been looking at. some are pretty good.

this one's on a french forum. don't speak the language (but the pictures are pretty) apart from pronouncing a couple of frech wines & cheese correctly. oh and one phrase. 'Parlez-vous Australian?'
anyway, this guy packs his full of radiators...
http://www.overclocking-pc.fr/forums/showthread.php?t=22670

this guy had a good start but never finished
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/306650-project-taming-beast-tt-mozart-mod.html

this dude went to town on his case
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-competition-3-0/139903-petes-monstrous-motzart.html
and here is his rebuild
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/368956-project-petes-monstrous-mozart-overhauled.html

this one just uses air cooling which seems a bit of a waste to me.
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/234943-project-mozart-tx-56k-warning.html

another interesting one. only air but this guys actually utilised the itx motherboard mount for a dual-PC case.
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/873755-two-body-blade-tt-mozart-tx.html

another that never got finished
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=130556

just a gallery shots for this case.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=321687&page=12

Sp33dFr33k said:

Extra points for the cat pics! Looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

Click to expand...

yeah took my queue from 'ultimatedesk' from his worklog
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1565252
impressive work & the kitten pics he snuck in didn't hurt.

the ginger pests are sometimes useful when they're not chewing on the various power cables on PC components littered around the living room at the moment.

a quick action pic...

another update and some shameless kitten p0rn. that just doesn't sound right.
bump.

and another update added.

aphasia said:

TT make some strange cases. they're either cool or ugly as arse.
i mentioned earlier i was only able to find a handful of people who've modded their Mozart case. if you're interested, here are the links i've been looking at. some are pretty good.

this one's on a french forum. don't speak the language (but the pictures are pretty) apart from pronouncing a couple of frech wines & cheese correctly. oh and one phrase. 'Parlez-vous Australian?'
anyway, this guy packs his full of radiators...
http://www.overclocking-pc.fr/forums/showthread.php?t=22670

this guy had a good start but never finished
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/306650-project-taming-beast-tt-mozart-mod.html

this dude went to town on his case
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-competition-3-0/139903-petes-monstrous-motzart.html
and here is his rebuild
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/368956-project-petes-monstrous-mozart-overhauled.html

this one just uses air cooling which seems a bit of a waste to me.
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/234943-project-mozart-tx-56k-warning.html

another interesting one. only air but this guys actually utilised the itx motherboard mount for a dual-PC case.
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/873755-two-body-blade-tt-mozart-tx.html

another that never got finished
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=130556

just a gallery shots for this case.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=321687&page=12




yeah took my queue from 'ultimatedesk' from his worklog
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1565252
impressive work & the kitten pics he snuck in didn't hurt.

the ginger pests are sometimes useful when they're not chewing on the various power cables on PC components littered around the living room at the moment.

a quick action pic...

Click to expand...

Yeah cat's are a sure fire way to get peoples attention and thank you for the link's.

The TT cases i like are the Mozart of course along with the level 10 and element S.

As for your progress so far, It looks great!

mannyman said:

Yeah cat's are a sure fire way to get peoples attention and thank you for the link's.

The TT cases i like are the Mozart of course along with the level 10 and element S.

As for your progress so far, It looks great!

Click to expand...

no worries & thanks.

running out of the piddlely little shit things to do.

i'm drawing closer to the lengthy, difficult and painful stuff like sanding, de-riveting and painting.

before i get there i want to do a full case mock-up to see if i've missed anything.
that means all the rads have to be in (missing one), tubing cut and routed (b/c gotta pre-drill holes for the 3/4OD inch hose in a few places) & CPU water block in (missing AM3 hold-down plate). i'm sure there are a few other things i'm forgetting.

also not 100% certain how to handle the font bezel yet. i can probably leave that till last tho.

good luck with you project


I love you kitty cats also ... orange tabby cats are pretty awesome.

atarione said:

good luck with you project


I love you kitty cats also ... orange tabby cats are pretty awesome.

Click to expand...

yeah it's a regular menagerie around here.
i've had some sort of ginger cat for most of my life.
they just seem to have better temperaments, placid & fun.
the 2 brothers were strays that showed up on the doorstep as kittens and never left.

update

another round of sleeving unfortunately. i know i'm getting a bit sick of it myself but i'm really pressing myself to get it done now or i'll just drag my feet.
the next PSU i buy will be 'fully' modular as sleeving a partial one has been a right royal pain in the arse.

got the 8pin CPU power cable here


the 8pin cable getting naked.


the 8pin with it's gear on.


can't avoid it now, gotta do something about the fat cable bundle no longer fitting in the notch of the PSU housing.



the photo's of the sleeving with the insulation showing thru is starting to make me cringe. luckily it doesn't look that bad in ambient light.

about to break out the dremel again. masking up the surface to protect from mishaps. this should be enough?


come to think about it, my hands are a little shaky today, so i slap on another layer. also cut up a piece of cardboard with a bit of masking tape reversed to catch the fine metal dust.


actually now i'm really paranoid, so i 'bag-up' the entire PSU. now if only my hands would stop shaking...
i originally tried to remove the PSU's pcb and the guts but i just couldn't get the thing out. this is why i had to resort to doing this the hard way.


first few cuts accounting for a wide margin of error.


pulled the cut grills with pliers


grabbed the grinding stone attachment for the dremel to remove the leftovers and cleanup with a small hand file.


the finished product with the protective measures removed.


finally a test treading with the 8pin CPU power cable. there should be enough room left over to thread the final 9 strands of cabling (fixed MOLEX and SATA power cables). just waiting on the SATA crimp pins and extra connector housings (busted the plastic tabs on two of the original SATA connectors). then i'll be done with the PSU.
Note: in the last shot, those aren't scratches on the back of the unit, it's the refection of the cable bundle. the major reason i didn't want to use a dremel in the first place in case i buggered the paint job.


cheers.

Some of the commentary is hilarious. Aside from that, I love huge cases (see sig) but I think this one is a little too tall and not deep enough. It reminds me too much of an apartment complex, but at least it should serve you well

Devilpup said:

Some of the commentary is hilarious. Aside from that, I love huge cases (see sig) but I think this one is a little too tall and not deep enough. It reminds me too much of an apartment complex, but at least it should serve you well

Click to expand...

Well i enjoy my huge case and yours too, But something about that mozart makes me love it.

Devilpup said:

Some of the commentary is hilarious. Aside from that, I love huge cases (see sig) but I think this one is a little too tall and not deep enough. It reminds me too much of an apartment complex, but at least it should serve you well

Click to expand...

thanks, yeah have to agree with you on the 'not deep enough' comment. it's almost like the case was designed by two people. one a brilliant case designer with a appreciation of space & aesthetics and the other a small child, a retarded one with a box of crayons.

if the case was just 5cm to 10cm deeper, things would be much easier. despite the lack of depth, the width is about right. i like the fact you can install the PSU, pump(s) & itx MB if you wish behind the motherboard tray. shit you can install a car stereo headunit perfectly in the top bay (conforms to a single DIN). not sure why. some headunits have pop out LCD displays for single DIN spaces, that'd be kinda cool.

aphasia said:

thanks, yeah have to agree with you on the 'not deep enough' comment. it's almost like the case was designed by two people. one a brilliant case designer with a appreciation of space & aesthetics and the other a small child, a retarded one with a box of crayons.

if the case was just 5cm to 10cm deeper, things would be much easier. despite the lack of depth, the width is about right. i like the fact you can install the PSU, pump(s) & itx MB if you wish behind the motherboard tray. shit you can install a car stereo headunit perfectly in the top bay (conforms to a single DIN). not sure why. some headunits have pop out LCD displays for single DIN spaces, that'd be kinda cool.

Click to expand...

That is why, TT has a little pop out monitor for that case, Same as the ones for cars.
I hate them all the same and would rather have a double din non flip out touch screen.

mannyman said:

That is why, TT has a little pop out monitor for that case, Same as the ones for cars.
I hate them all the same and would rather have a double din non flip out touch screen.

Click to expand...

i remember seeing some of the accessories on the TT website a couple of years ago with the pop-out LCD display. this would be useful if the case was used in a HTPC scenario as the mozart has a window for a IR receiver. since i don't use if for that, it's kinda superfluous.

i have toyed with the idea of dropping in a ITX MB in behind the ATX tray (again what the case was designed to fit as stock) and leave that 'half' of the case on 24/7 as a DL client. since i hate Atoms and the Brazos were released, i gave it another look. ultimately i decided against it. the bobcat was a little bit too underpowered. be very interested when the bobcat goes thru a silicone revision tho. a little more grunt with a bit more MHz OC headroom and i'm in.

what strikes me a very cool and pretty funny at the same time is being able to RPD into the same case. course you can do that with a VM, not sure why'd you bother tho.

the single DIN sitting there doing nothing does bug me a bit. if i had the skills and equipment i'd fabricate a reservoir.

aphasia said:

i remember seeing some of the accessories on the TT website a couple of years ago with the pop-out LCD display. this would be useful if the case was used in a HTPC scenario as the mozart has a window for a IR receiver. since i don't use if for that, it's kinda superfluous.

i have toyed with the idea of dropping in a ITX MB in behind the ATX tray (again what the case was designed to fit as stock) and leave that 'half' of the case on 24/7 as a DL client. since i hate Atoms and the Brazos were released, i gave it another look. ultimately i decided against it. the bobcat was a little bit too underpowered. be very interested when the bobcat goes thru a silicone revision tho. a little more grunt with a bit more MHz OC headroom and i'm in.

what strikes me a very cool and pretty funny at the same time is being able to RPD into the same case. course you can do that with a VM, not sure why'd you bother tho.

the single DIN sitting there doing nothing does bug me a bit. if i had the skills and equipment i'd fabricate a reservoir.

Click to expand...

Drop a PM im sure some place will do it very cheap or even free if they sponsor you.

mannyman said:

Drop a PM im sure some place will do it very cheap or even free if they sponsor you.

Click to expand...

a custom made single DIN res (in clear or coloured perspex) would be very cool. not sure who i'd approach to do such work tho. this is my first ride in the semi-decent modding rodeo show.

Im sure there are a few places, Try posting a thread in the water cooling section.

mannyman said:

Im sure there are a few places, Try posting a thread in the water cooling section.

Click to expand...

took your advice, dropped a thread in the water cooling sub forum.

aphasia said:

took your advice, dropped a thread in the water cooling sub forum.

Click to expand...

Now you just have to play the waiting game, I hope some one does that would be very cool.

put in an order with Performance PCs earlier today. hopefully i'll be receiving the much need parts to continue on with the project. specifically;

- 2.120 radiator (magicool slim profile 2x120)
- SATA power connectors & crimp pins
- standard 4 pin MOLEX connectors (black with the springy release tabs)
- 3/4 inch OD rubber grommets to thread my tubing thru
- swiftech apogee GTX waterblock AMD hold-down plate
- 2 x slim Yate Loon 120mmx20mm fans for rad
and a bunch of other stuff (some fittings, couple of extra fans & NB/SB sinks for my current q6600 rig)

hopefully this is my last order from the US as the shipping is killing me. latest lot was around $100 USD. was hoping to get a coupon to ease the pain, no joy. the stronger aussie dollar off-set the cost somewhat.

other than that i've just been doing small sleeving jobs like the fan & controller tails. pretty boring stuff tho i may post that later on the weekend.
at least with the SATA pins & connectors coming in a few days i can finally finsh off the PSU.
looking back on the log and saw this;

aphasia said:

...having sorted the logistics of my cooling system (mostly), i wanted to move on something a bit more fun and therapeutic. so i moved to sleeving my zalman 1000w PSU...

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'fun and therapeutic', if only i could go back in time and slap myself. idiot.
what i should of said... "now to enter a new chapter in 'cruel and unusual punishment, so i moved to sleeving my zalman 1000w PSU..."
masturbating with 2 house bricks would of been more enjoyable.

update

did a bit more sleeving. thankfully it wasn't anything like the soul destroying exercise like with the PSU.
this update is heavy on cat participation, thus the photos reflect their 'value added' contribution.

anyway needed to do my el-chepo scythe 4 channel fan controller. have ordered a larger unit as 4 channel clearly won't be enough, tho i will be re-using the sleeved controller cables.



was a fairly straight forward task till this 'little' helper took up residence on the desk.


he was enjoying playing 'kill the cable' between his cat snoozes

smug bastard.


all done and looking fairly tidy. could of chopped the other MOLEX end off. will be swapping the white connector housing when the black connectors get shipped tho.


moved on to the swiftech 655 pump didn't want to have heatsink visible so i need to crack the unit open.

stock unit.


also gave me a chance to look at the UN design pump mount. nice paint job, tho it'll be sanded back and dressed in black when i paint the case.


UN mount installed. gives you lots of options to pump orientation when installed in case



dismantled pump. few people have reported difficulty in taking their 655's apart. no issue here. required very little effort. the hidden pcb in the rear required a flathead to remove the panel.


had to cut the original crimp pins to pull the wires thru the plastic rear panel.


the unmodified panel's wire holes tho it's a little difficult to make out in this pic.


panel with bigger hole drilled


the rotund eunuch on lap to get a better peek at the pump sleeving action. well not really, the fat fuck just wanted a warmer place to sit.


shot of new crimp. pretty tidy for a crimp tool not designed for 16 AWG wire. the MDPC-X tool is very nice to work with. have to excuse the focus in the wrong area of the photo, didn't realise till editing after uploading from camera.


got up for a minute to grab a coffee when fatty's little brother, 'spaz monkey' (yeah that's his name) stole my seat.


all done.


cats are getting fair chunk of 'air time' in this log, not quite like that guy who attached a webcam to his cats head to see what his cat gets up to during the day. no need for that here, i know exactly where my 'manamals' are. passed out on the bed or in front of the heater (middle of winter here). occasionally they eat and take a shit too.
if i'm going to attach anything to my cats head, it's not going to be same lame arse fucking camera. i'll be taking a leaf out of 'dr evil's' handbook and attaching "fricking laser beams".

cheers.

Fan controller with sleeved cables looks sooo sick!

Good luck man with this project.

Cat people...

The only thing I thought this whole thread was "damn you like your cats". But the sleeving is looking good, keep up the work. I really like those mozart tx cases.

shameless bump of cat porn

minor update

really struggling for things to do this weekend on the case. ostensibly i've hit a wall till the shit i ordered late last week is shipped. occurred to me i should really straighten up the the holes i drilled for dual radiator in the rear of the case. so that's done, nothing really to publish pic-wise there.

while doing that, the crenellations left-over from cutting the honeycomb fan grills out were starting to bother me. as the rads are now off set slightly from the original position (shifted outwards & up approx 5mm), airflow from the fans is going to be slightly affected, so i broke out the files again.

on the left, crenellations chopped, right non-chopped.


file action complete. on this pic, you can see i only removed the outside & top obstruction b/c that the direction the radiators have shifted. the finished product isn't exactly perfect but it doesn't need to be as the 4 fans will be mounted on the outside. i could mount them inside the case but then it'll be getting a bit cramped for the 3/4OD tubing.


another thing bugging me is the crudely cut holes for tubing going to the externally mounted radiator from the previous build. not sure how to handle this. can either clean up the cuts and chuck a couple of rubber grommets in or cut a thin piece of aluminium sheet and rivet it on. bought a lian li 120mm blank (to cut down) for this a while ago.


noticed a few comments regarding the cat cameos.
yeah guilty as charged, i'm a cat person.

i wouldn't post the pics if they didn't get into fucking everything. even if you try to do something on the sly (without their 'assistance'), that just makes 'em more curious.
i can't even take a shit without them clawing at the dunny door, which is annoying as i like read my book. call me weird but that one of the best places to have a read.

let me tell you i'd much prefer to post pics of these felines;

...doing cute shit while i'm working. just don't see many of these 'kitten's' roaming my living room and the gf isn't interested donning a cat suit to pose for my pics.
so instead i'm stuck with mildly amusing and slightly annoying ginger flea bags.
besides they're cute and medically proven to lower blood pressure.

cheers.

Looking good buddy, I've always liked those cases!
Cute cats too

stryder2720 said:

Looking good buddy, I've always liked those cases!
Cute cats too

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cheers.
just trying to educate the [H] public on the medical benefits of kittens. unless of course you're allergic in which case, get a 'tamagotchis'.
not sure what it is?, look it up. they are kinda retarded but funny.

aphasia said:

cheers.
just trying to educate the [H] public on the medical benefits of kittens. unless of course you're allergic in which case, get a 'tamagotchis'.
not sure what it is?, look it up. they are kinda retarded but funny.

Click to expand...

Woman are cool too. They can fill that huge void that not having a house full of cats can leave you with.

Spiko said:

Woman are cool too. They can fill that huge void that not having a house full of cats can leave you with.

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agreed, but cats are lower maintenance

minor bullshit update

getting antsy as i'm still waiting on parts from ppcs that should have arrived a few days ago.
probably held up by customs officers snouting thru my goods.

with the extra time on my hands, been doing some limited test fittings and sort routing for the tubing.
also got me thinking about the paint job. wondering if i should still attempt doing myself or send it off for a professional powder coat. any comments on this is welcome.

back to the case

forgot i had these. there are 2 intrusion switches on both panels. i know the asus CHV doesn't come with a header, do any MB's come with these anymore? perhaps server/workstation boards still do. in any case, i removed these.


the flash photos of the sleeving still make me cringe. still wishing i'd used MDPC-X but not enough to pull the techflex stuff off and do again b/c it was a bitch to get on. plus i've got a ton of the stuff left. the sleeving is fine on gauges larger than 18AWG. guess that means i have a lifetime supply to do fan cables with.
the one positive aspect is, if i'd used MDPC-X, i'd have a much harder time threading the cables thru the back plate of the PSU. i would have had the tubing fitted to the CPU block if i had the AM3 hold-down plate. part held-up in missing order from ppcs.


these shots are much more forgiving of the sleeving job. this shot should have the 3rd 2x120mm rad mounted in the front 120mm fan holes. again part held-up in missing order.


this shot is a classic 'where's wally' moment. just look for the 'whiskers'


'top-down' view of the res with a bitspower compression fitting. the original fittings were white nylon nozzles that were over tightened which caused some chipping on the outer thread on the res. damn things didn't come with 'O' rings. and the idiot (me) for not checking them first. to get the fucking things out, had to use a adjustable wrench.
will probably have the tubing like so with a hole drilled in the forward section of the 5 1/4 bay with the tubing feed thru to the pump.


other side of case. this pic shows why i can't just have the tubing run straight down from the res to the pump. the PSU is longer than a standard unit and extends too far into the case to run tubing past. can't run it over the side either as the side panel won't close. also see the PSU sleeving still not complete b/c missing SATA power crimp pins. another part held up in the missing order


fucking ginger boofhead. go play in the kitty litter will ya.


another shot of the res from the PSU side of case. should explain why i'm considering leaving the 1/2ID tubbing looped like this. it will allow me a little slack to pull the res forward from the drive cage for fill & bleeding.
have ordered (another part in missing package) some additional 45 & 90 degree fittings to play around with this a bit.


and for something off-topic...
when i was digging around one of my tool boxes, i found a small collection of those sticker decals. didn't realise how many AMD chips i've owned. i'm fairly certain i've had more intel chips than AMD ones.




cheers.

Nice worklog so far, I like the cat humor in there. Can I steal one of them? lol jk

Anyways looking good, the sleeving is great also. Definitely not my favorite case as far as layout but since your modding it should be pretty sweet! Good luck

Shata said:

Nice worklog so far, I like the cat humor in there. Can I steal one of them? lol jk

Anyways looking good, the sleeving is great also. Definitely not my favorite case as far as layout but since your modding it should be pretty sweet! Good luck

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the tortoiseshell cat is getting a bit old, not sure how she'll travel in a fedex box. probably end up with rotting furry carcass. if you wanna pay for shipping, she's yours

the gingers are package deal (brothers), they probably would survive the journey b/c they're younger and part feral. you'd want to don one of those padded attack dog suits when opening the shipping container b/c they're likely to rip the first thing they see to shreds. good luck with that...