Micro-ATX Clear Acrylic Build

[1_legged_sheep]

It's that time again. I was really struggling for inspiration on this one. I was browsing mini-itx pico psu compatible cases on Google when I stumbled across the MYOPENPC CRYSTAL edge Clear and Transparent Acrylic Mini Tower Computer Case.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D4LXRY/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Now it's not mini-ITX but it is micro-ATX with just the one 5.25" bay. I found a cool looking 680W clear acrylic power supply to go along with it. Tossed in a ZALMAN CNPS 7500 Cu LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler, some UV reactive case fans, a UV cold cathode light kit, the Crucial Tracer DDR3-1866 with the blue/orange lights on them, and now I've got a pretty flashy looking computer coming together.

All the parts are on order. Scheduled to arrive Friday (as long as NewEgg ships today). I'll post pics and a build log when everything gets in.

 

[1_legged_sheep]

Okay so full parts list below:

MYOPENPC Crystal Edge Clear Acrylic Micro-ATX Case = Reviews are mostly positive as long as you own a dremel which I do.

Apevia Iceberg ATX-IB680W 680W = clear acrylic power supply with UV reactive sleeving

XFX Double D 280X = I play non-demanding RPG games, but I play them at 2650x1080 so I need a decent vid card. Went AMD this time for the free games

Gigabyte GA-B85N Phoenix-WIFI mini-ITX MB = Honestly I chose it for the color scheme but the WiFi and USB 3/SATA 6gb is good too.

Intel Core i3-4330 = Will have no troubles running WoW and Mass Effect 2 at 2650x1080

Zalman CNPS 7500 Cu LED = The CPU I chose totally doesn't need this but it looks cool.

Curcial Ballistix Tactical Tracer (2 x 4gb) DDR3-1866 = The $25 premium just for fancy lights I normally wouldn't do but this is a vanity build.

ADATA Premier Pro SP900 256GB SSD = Is it sad that I still can't seem to fill up a 256GB drive?

Antel TriCool Blue LED case fan x 2 = The case only fits 80mm fans but I'm thinking I should order at least one 120mm fan for the front since it looks like there is plenty of room if I break out the dremel. The back-top also looks to have room for a 120/140 fan if I want to mod one on.

NZXT Sentry 2 Touch Screen 5.25 fan controller = Like I said, probably going to be adding some fans into this and this controller is nice bling.

Logisys 12" Cold Cathode UV kit = Make those power supply cables all nice and glowy.

I have tracking numbers now. Everything should be arriving tomorrow.

 

[1_legged_sheep]

Well this build is definitely going to win for "most hours required ever" for me personally. I got everything in on Friday and built the computer on foam first because I knew once I got everything in the case I wasn't going to want to yank stuff back out. It's a good thing I did the foam build because NewEgg sent me a used heatsink (package wasn't sealed, no plastic film on the base, and there was some thermal grease still on it). I discovered the reason it had been returned was because the fan will not spin up. I have a replacement arriving Wednesday and a $25 NewEgg gift card now though I kept the mounting bracket on the MB so I'll I will need to do is apply new thermal paste and snap on the heatsink only when it comes in.

There was a good surprise though. That Gigabyte mb I ordered has LED's on the uderside all around the edges. They are orange-ish in color and fade in and out (like a Phoenix). This will look pretty pimp in that clear case.

The hetsink (when I briefly had it in stalled) did clear the Crucial LED memory but by about .00001mm.

The video card fit in the case but only with about a quarter inch to spare. Luckily the power on this card is along the top.

Speaking of the case.. I didn't realize it but the case ONLY takes SFX power supplies! It's a micro-ATX case however and I put a mini-ITX board in it so I broke out the Dremel and sacrificed the bottom expansion to the case g-ds so that I could put my cool looking see-through ATX power supply in.

Also due to the vid card being so long I couldn't fit my 3.5" storage drive in the spot it was designed for so I broke out the Dremel and drilled some 3.5" mounting holes in the top of the case near the fan nexus since I won't be using a optical drive in this build anyhow.

Cable management has been a bish. I've removed and reinstalled everything multiple times trying to clean it up. All sides of the case being clear and the cables UV reactive make this especially annoying.

One last worrisome item. I'm concerned about how much airflow that 280X is going to be able to get. There's a kinda-vent in the front but not really. There's a spot on the floor of the case in front of the PS for a 80mm case fan but that's were all the wires are tucked in. I may still try it and just but a good fan grill on it.

Here's the only pic I remembered to take. I'll snap some more shots tonight and a vid or two after the build is done. Oh yeah, those gloves they include with the case.. they are evidently made for small Asian children. They wouldn't even fit my wife's hands.

 

[DogsofJune]

Curious to see this when done.

 

[1_legged_sheep]

Well the replacement heatsink came in today. I slapped it on and powered up the computer only to find this annoying knocking sound. I discovered the power supply had a cable resting up against the fan, I was able to easily figure this out because the power supply is see through, crappily put together, but see through. Fortunately the cover pops right off after removing just 4 screws. I zippy tied the cable to another cable, slapped the cover back on and was in business.

So far so good. All the lights and the touch-screen fan nexus all work. The lights on the mb fading in and out look pretty cool. Pics and video's below.

Here's the room between the vid card and the case:

Everything together but with the protective coating still on:

Vid of it up and running:
http://s609.photobucket.com/user/fozzie76/media/VID_20140604_202902610.mp4.html

 

[1_legged_sheep]

So I installed a few games and 3D mark on it last night. The temps on the video card did pretty good. Evidently all those fans are creating enough circulation that cool air is making it over/under the vid card to it's fans.

I'm going to need to hook the heatsink up to the fan controller, it's a noisy bish at full speed.

Pic of it all lit up:

Pic of it standing... err.. upside-down:

The pics don't do it justice. The lights on the memory do little patters as do the lights on the mb.