CL0S3 IMPACT

[B NEGATIVE]

Hurro!

So,as you would expect,this is another build log but this time (for a long time) its for me for a change!

I am working away on a scratch build in the ITX flavour but got held up trying to get stuff actually made up,so i decided to do a build anyway while im ironing out the wrinkles in it.
You can see my scratch design here

So i started looking at cases,nothing really caught my eye until i saw the S3 from Caselabs.......well,it ticked all my boxes and,even though its not cheap once its imported,I was sold on it.
No expense spared on the naming as usual.
The basic hardware will be as follows:

Asus IMPACT Z87 ITX mobo,on pre order.....still waiting.
i5 or i7...not sure yet as this will be a LAN box/daily driver while the SR2 gets its upgrade,i7 is a bit overkill for this purpose. Plus im delidding it,i5 is a bit less of a hit if my hands of meat ruin it.
780 of some description...
Corsair Platinum 2400 ram,Scan have a good deal on this right now. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...2400)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-10-12-12-31-dhx-
Couple of SSDs...The new Samsung EVO drives look a bit tasty.
WD Caviar Black for the pron and pizza pics.

Obviously wasserkooled,this time acrylic rather than my standard copper tubing (I dont think Magoo would let anything else happen tbh)

So,shall we have a mooch around the case?

I went for the full fat S3 with pedestal,windows all round and the vented IO panels
I bought the pedestal as a precaution in case my cunning plan doesnt work out like i want,i did mention its going R-ITX rather than horizon right? No? Sorry.......= )

The finish is in primer grey as its having a custom paint job......airbrush work not done by myself so it should look good!


Whats in the box Mr Parker?

Instructions...thrown away....Im asserting my manliness today.

All the nicely wrapped panels in a pile.this is the case bit,the pedestal is an entirely different pile....

First panel and the one that is not being used in the mod (R-ITX remember? Im making my own)
I did mention to Caselabs about selling front and back blanks and it was well received so maybe I wont have to make one.......

Base panel.

A bent piece.....nothing a pair of pliers cant sort tho.

And the 2 panels fixed up.

Another piece im no likely to use...except the mounts for the SSD and HDD

Pick of it inside.[...before it all gets hit with the mod stick.

Front panel. Nice mesh.

More assembly......

And panels on.

Thats all im doing today,the light is going and my hand hurts,tomorrow i will be assembling the ped and then showing roughly what im doing inside before breaking it all down again.

If you were wondering how easy is it to build this case......

Im doing it one handed....

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Board has arrived!

And she is a beauty!

No AS bag....hmmmm.....

The bare board,the fiddly bits are yet to come...

VRM Daughterboard.

Push to start...like a Ferrari. Except this is cheaper in pants.

Debug panel,because ITX builds are normally cramped...however they saw fit to use a start button...

Back of the VRM board,hopefully the backplate will be compatible with a VRM block.

The soundcard,a welcome addition,ITX does suffer cut backs...this board is trying hard to reverse that.

The mPCI-e slot...takes Wifi card and the new (soon to be released) SFF SSD's

And all together now...

Magoo approves this post.

I will be tackling the pedestal later,maybe slip the board in for a look-see

 

[deadlift1]

Nice mobo. I was not aware of all the add ons for it.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Today is all about the pedestal.
Another pile of parts,all wrapped very nicely

The base panel,drop in mount with a drain port or 2

And the top panel.
These are interchangeable with one another,the pedestal can be extended with another ped if you feel the need.

This is the back panel for the ped,I chose a 120 exhaust for mine.

Some assembly.

Now we are at the front panel,inner and outer skins

These are vital...and not included.
These are the 240/280 mounts and they will be useful in my idea.
Remember to get these if you use the ped.

Not the kit i will be using but it gives sense of size.

The feet i will be using are the MNPC feet i won for Bittechs MOTM for May.

And the finished (to a point) assembly.

To give a sense of scale,thats a Bitspower 400mm res,it will fit if you remove a cover plate in the bottom of the case.

This will fit,its a toss up between this and the XSPC 270 Photon in this build.

Now this is where it gets interesting and this pic should give you an idea of what i intend to achieve.

The board is R-ATX and the PSU will sit behind the mobo tray,much like my scratch design.
I will need to fab a midplate,a mobo tray/support and a backplate,all simple stuff.
I will also need to get solid doors (im a DUMBASS and didnt spec it with them) to rework the windows and add intakes for the rads,2 240s (one each side intaking)

There look like there is enough room and the ruler says yes but whether it will look right is another story,this why i got the ped...i can swing back to having rads in the bottom and i can get creative in the main case.

 

[Stevennoland]

This is going to be awesome. Never really cared for small mobo's. That one will do though. LOL! Subbed!

 

[Robertmarcus]

how do the antennas route to the outside? Good looking case

 

[B NEGATIVE]

So,while im unable to chop anything up right now,i will have to amuse myself by planning the res.

The front needs something to fill it up,im not normally a bay fan but the S3 is begging for something on the front to give it some detail (other than the paint job thats coming)

I came up with this.

The window has a nice chamfer on the raised section to mirror the Aquacomputer GPU blocks,when i first saw those GPU blocks,i wanted them soooooo bad,enough to buy a 780/Titan for that awesome active backplate.

A tidy looking res that will fill that gap nicely.

When i finish the SW model of all the panels of the S3 then can show you hopefully what it will look like in place.

 

[Justintoxicated]

Those sata ports are in a very strange location I'm interested to see what you do with that. That board looks great though I wish they would let loose the C2 on their other boards so I could buy something already! Also the Aqualis with the built in pump top is supposed to have worse performance than a stock D5, but your loop will be tiny so I guess that does not matter. I vote aqualis since it matches the rest of your gear! This is going to be a great looking build!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Those sata ports are in a very strange location I'm interested to see what you do with that. That board looks great though I wish they would let loose the C2 on their other boards so I could buy something already! Also the Aqualis with the built in pump top is supposed to have worse performance than a stock D5, but your loop will be tiny so I guess that does not matter. I vote aqualis since it matches the rest of your gear! This is going to be a great looking build!

Thanks. Stick around,its interesting.

I made a quick and dirty 'playdoh model' ,rather than the full assembly of individual panels that i prefer to do, to have a look at how it fits and looks.

 

[Penance]

Very interested to see how a build plays out on this board.

 

[Stevennoland]

Lovin that front panel. Gonna look sweet!

 

[SonDa5]

The ideas look great.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Very interested to see how a build plays out on this board.

The board,and i dont mind admitting this,is arousing...

Lovin that front panel. Gonna look sweet!

The ideas look great.

Yup,now i have to translate them to metal.



Just got back from i 49,good to see Tom and Sub there along with the Specialtech forum guys,Coolmiester,Namron and the hammer flinger Skully,plus the PARVUM guys (you should see the cases they dont show the world...)

Anyway...
I want to fill that gap under the res,I think a touch screen will do very nicely..this one to be precise.
http://www.lilliputuk.com/monitors/open-frame/of701/

I will lose around 5mm around the sides and bottom of the screen but i can just resize the display to suit.

Grills cut in the doors to match the existing S3 slotwork.

My hand cant heal fast enough im telling you.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

I made some changes to the res design to more mimic the AC kit im planning on.

Thicker window and adding the bolt thru face plate ties in nicely with the 780/Titan blocks.
Also etched aquacomputer into the front.

+ Pins came out of my finger yesterday!

-Splint stays on for another 2 weeks....

Alu is on its way for the backplate and interior,still 2 weeks before i can do anything with it,its just going to sit in the corner.....staring at me......:madsmiley

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Because Ayd wants one,i resized it for 3 bays and went a little mental on the window....

Now to send the design off to a few people for quoting.

Left the screen off till i have one in my hands,I really need to check the dimensions of the screen itself

 

[B NEGATIVE]

I was feeling a bit brave this morning so i went to bend me some metal for the rear of the case.

Mark out the total width and height of the back panel,+20mm each side for the bends,remember to allow material for the bend so it doesnt come up short.

Because i dont have a press bender or tooling for the top 90,these will be fabbed on afterwards and screwed on.

2.5mm Alu

Oops....broke teh workbench.

Anyway,the panel is a solid fit,very happy how it came out.

Im a Magoo....hear me RAWR!!!

Todays modding soundtrack has consisted of..


[video=youtube;g1UEr6oSHsU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1UEr6oSHsU[/video]

[video=youtube;WURSHMot-vY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WURSHMot-vY[/video]

[video=youtube;DRU-IFx-7yQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRU-IFx-7yQ[/video]


So after breaking teh workbench,rain has stopped play for today.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Because its funny,I thought i should post this too.

EPIC form factor v the pocket rocket.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Some progress but not of the great kind.....

I made the replacement backpanel and have it fitted,unfortunately I cant go R-ATX like i first wanted,there is simply not enough room.

So it back to square one.

No bad thing as now i get to use the pedestal and have a LOT more room to do stuff.

As you can see here,its so tight,I could 'force' it in but it would just look cramped...

No fan could be installed there and the rad would be on the floor.squashed right in with no room to work on it other than by removing the backpanel.

So,I need to get some paint on soon so it can start the cure now for mop polishing in 3 months time.

Also need to get over to the PARVUM guys for a day of mill action for the res.....

All in all,a bad month...broke finger,a small ding in my car and now my lovely plan for this build has gone slightly south.






Reminds me,I must play the Lottery......

 

[Jason_CL]

You use Solidworks and then Keyshot for rendering, right BNeg?

I hope your hand is feeling better. I want to see this beast in action soon!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

You use Solidworks and then Keyshot for rendering, right BNeg?

I hope your hand is feeling better. I want to see this beast in action soon!

Yup.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Im excited!

My paint has arrived!

Off to the spray booth this weekend for some splashing!!

And a nice little touch up gun,there is not enough flat surface area for my full size and this is a great little gun for feathering......as will be explained tomorrow when i video it in action.

If i told you that these 2 liters of paint cost more than the case (not including shipping)...would you believe me?




Yup,it did.


I need to get this started now,before i start with hardware,so the airbrush work can set before i clearcoat,this is all time consuming so its getting done first

Got some nice 2 component clear coat coming for this,its going to be.....MmmmMMMMMMmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmMMMMmmmmmmm........*


XD

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Ooops...dubble postz r 4 kidz

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Paint day!

Time to break out the trusty rusty...24ltr tank,all you need to spraying cases.

The amount of panels for a Caselabs becomes apparent when its all laid out.

And the first few coats of paint are done.

Drying in the sunshine.

And the frame all back together.

Doors/Panels have had the base coat done,next weekend they get the ICE FX and Spectra coat top coat.
You get to see what i have in mind then!

Maybe some shots with the board in....after dinner i think.


MNPC case feet that i won for Bittechs MOTM

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Well it time to start unveiling what im trying to..

Today is the turn of the Spectracoat top coat.

Key the exterior panels ready for spraying,key,tack rag then a wipe over with a panel wipe to get rid of any fingerprint grease etc.

Then we apply the Spectracoat..

I know what you are thinking...doesnt look like much right?

How about now?

And smooth as a babies bum.

The pics dont do it justice,the panel shimmers thru all the prismatic spectrum,looks awesome.
When its clearcoated and buffed,it should pop out really well

And to top off my day..

A glorious MIPS Iceforce HF block!
Last of the breed and very possibly the block i will use in this build,unless i can find another then it will be going in the SR2

Thanks Namron!

Now i need to ask myself,does that awesome machined retainer need painting to match the panels....

 

[Robertmarcus]

Holy shit. Both those look amazing. Incredibly jealous of that block. Lucky bastard.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Holy shit. Both those look amazing. Incredibly jealous of that block. Lucky bastard.

How about a few more shots of the paint under interior light?

 

[shadowlord]

great paint job.

but please resize the larger pictures a bit.

 

[Robertmarcus]

That...

Amazing paint job. Wrinkle finish (i think?) has so many different colors. You should be very proud of yourself.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

I couldnt resist getting the panels on for a look....im secretly chuffed on how this came out,I hope i can get a similar result with the ICE FX kit,my first attempts didnt look so hot....MORE PRACTICE!!

So,with no direct light...

Looks nice.

untillthe LIGHT!!!!!!

And the piano black interior.

Magoo.

Edited out the purple force lightning so as not to disturb the younger viewers.

Let me know what you think?

 

[B NEGATIVE]

'Touchscreen...welcome to your new home.....in the basement....Muaahahahahahahaahaaa!!'

Time to break out the fretsaw for some sweaty bezel action.

I have to say,I was a diehard jigsaw and file guy but after seeing what Coolmiester does with one,I had to give it a go...the side panels for the rads are much better than my usual method,using downloadable MNPC rad templates doesnt hurt either!

 

[onevoicewild]

This is shaping up really good! I'm starting to get excited about this. That paint is just incredible! they don't give that stuff away!. Magoo approved