modifying the antec 900

[TeleFragger]

Ok so I know the Antec 900 isnt that highly desired here.... but I bought one of the ones on sale for $59.99

anywho... I got it in today... and let me tell you what... it is not constructed as good as my antec P180!!!!!

anyhow it seems ok and I am going to put in some parts (antec P180 is staying complete as a gaming server)

so
Antec 900 case will get
XFX 780i mobo (en route)
2x2gb ocz reaper memory (in garage)
q6600 (en route)
Corsair 620w (in garage)
asus sata dvd burner (in garage)
500gb sata ii hd (en route)
xfx 9600gt xxx edition (in garage)

so I have some time as 3 parts are on their way.
I searched here and didnt come up with that much... and on google... I found the following

1. Paint inside all black
2. use mirrored film on side panel
3. Cutouts to route cables in behind panel
4. reverse HD so cables tuck behind
5. water cooled stuff I have to transfer

what other options are there?
I saw in the p180 section someone had blue light memory... how does one do that?

so
#1. doesnt seem like worth it to me
#2. Ok maybe but not on my priority list

#3. This is a most definitely... I like the uuber clean look of cables routing behind mobo and all.. looks soooo clean!!!!

#4. Definite too... to get the #3 to work efficiently... and also power supply cables behind too....

#5. I have 2 bigwater se kits inside of my antec p180. I know thermaltakes have not been talked about too good.. I posted a while back that I got them for $40 a kit and they were open box... but turned out to be new!!! and complete!!!!!
so far 7 months and they are running great..
took my p4 3.0 (socket 478) from 61c to 25c
so far no maintenance also.....
I installed a second kit... and wired it all.. was getting ready to add it to my geforce 7950gt agp but didnt ever get to it....

so on this #5.... is where the other assistance is needed...

very top 5 1/4 will be sata burner
under that will be sata hd.. in the 3 1/2 to 5 1/4 converter
nothing in the next 5 1/4... so that is the top 3...

now lets start from the bottom
take a blank from the sata burner and install all the way on the bottom....
above that install the 2 water cool 5 1/4 thermaltake bigwater reserviors with pumps...
since that tripple drive tray is gone... I can take the 120mm fan and install it on the side of the case....
install the next tripple drive cage with fan back in...

so that isnt the hard part...
my concern is where do I install the 2 radiators with fans?

I figure watercool the q6600 with 1 of the kits...
water cool a 9600gt with the thermaltake vga block
when I buy a second 9600gt I will buy another thermaltake vga block...
but how should I hookup the water kits for 2 vga on 1 pump/rad kit?

also would it be a good idea for the video to run a reservoir inside the case? a big one where it would take alot of fluid to assist keeping the 2 cards cool???

so please bare with me on my liking thermaltake bigwater se kits.... but are they good enough for a q6600 and new 9600gt's????

Thanks
~Jeff

 

[rokar]

Sounds like it would look really sweet! Would love to see some pics/worklog

 

[TeleFragger]

Sounds like it would look really sweet! Would love to see some pics/worklog

yeah I will do so...
start this weekend...

 

[stain.]

what other options are there?
I saw in the p180 section someone had blue light memory... how does one do that?

Crucial Tracers. Newegg them.

 

[TeleFragger]

ok i had to take apart a powersupply and replace a fan tonight....
it was a blue led one..so I took the led's off... 4 of them... going to mount them into the reservoir to shine light in as you cant see a damn thing on the thermaltake 5 1/4 mounted reservoir....

 

[Basher52]

I also own an Antec 900 Case, bought on Black Friday for $50. I just received my rebate from that 2 days ago. Takes Antec FOREVER, but at least they are good for it. Antec updated their case from the original 900 to add some cable management and water cooling options, standard. However, modding the case is still needed if you want the good looks and amazing airflow the case is built for. XtremeSystems has an AWESOME thread dedicated to the 900, 32 pages of good ideas, pictures and walkthroughs. I suggest checking it out.

CLICK ME

 

[The Realyst]

I have an Antec 900 case and I love it. But I'd like to change all LED's from blue to red. How would I go about doing that? Should I just buy new fans? Sorry if this is a newbish question, but I never did anything like that before and since this thread was already here, I didn't see a point in making a new one.

 

[TeleFragger]

I also own an Antec 900 Case, bought on Black Friday for $50. I just received my rebate from that 2 days ago. Takes Antec FOREVER, but at least they are good for it. Antec updated their case from the original 900 to add some cable management and water cooling options, standard. However, modding the case is still needed if you want the good looks and amazing airflow the case is built for. XtremeSystems has an AWESOME thread dedicated to the 900, 32 pages of good ideas, pictures and walkthroughs. I suggest checking it out.

CLICK ME

cool I will check it out... thanks

I have an Antec 900 case and I love it. But I'd like to change all LED's from blue to red. How would I go about doing that? Should I just buy new fans? Sorry if this is a newbish question, but I never did anything like that before and since this thread was already here, I didn't see a point in making a new one.

well after taking apart the one last night... all I can say is take one of the fans out... and see if the led's come out... then just solder new red ones in....

that is it...

anyhow... time to go to the soccer field... our 8 year old son has tournaments today... GEEZ...

9am | 12PM | 3PM
3 games.... and have to be there by 8:15am!!!!!!!!!!!

but GO INFERNO's!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Indignity]

Store link to the gent that built my A900

Work Log

Couple teasers:

 

[TeleFragger]

That is sick!!! but I dont have the cash flow for something like that... so my mods will be a bit more suttle.....

 

[Brave_heart]

looks really cool, what is the big blue thing under it? oh and that link is dead.

 

[Indignity]

Links work & probably best to read the worklog if you wanna know more about it. Although I threadjacked this a bit, I'm more or less throwing out the mod for TeleFragger & others to get inspired.

 

[TeleFragger]

Links work & probably best to read the worklog if you wanna know more about it. Although I threadjacked this a bit, I'm more or less throwing out the mod for TeleFragger & others to get inspired.

That is cool... I do agree.... and yes it inspired me.... however I personally like the antec case and dont want to change the physical appearance that much.... But that is just me.....

I will look into your link some more.. I did look some but want to investigate more.....

 

[TeleFragger]

wow.. case modding is an art... I dont have all the tools.... like a dremel so it is very interesting... I have a step down drillbit... from 1/4 all the way to 7/8 and even at 7/8 the power plugs for fans and stuff do not fit....

will have pics later...
got some things to do right now....

 

[TeleFragger]

Ok so here is where I stand...

tonight I drilled some holes..

I also drilled the top.. The way I ended up doing it really makes it so you cannot put a drive in that bay now..... but I dont need to anyway....

The only problem with the thermaltake kit I have is that you cannot see the water level. They give you a 5 1/4" bay unit where you should be able to see but you cant... so I added 4 bright blue LED's... pulled from the crappy case and hot glued in place

I then put a switch in line... one was already there but I put a blue lit one in....
not sure if I like it.. may remove the switch all together... what do you think???

all these wires would have been inside the case... but not now..... all behind the sheet metal that you will not see... thank god... it is YuckPoo!!!!

Final Layout..
not sure as there are some issues...
I plan on water cooling as you see the reservoir and radiator inside the case...
however I also bought the 780i nvidia chipset mb to do SLI... looking in there.. I can only fit 1 - geforce 9600gt...not 2... so have to figure out how to mount the radiator outside....
got any ideas????

Front view... Yes I know the switch is not centered... I screwed up. I have a second switch but they are not going to be even... plus I may do away with the switch all together anyway....
so yeah or neigh to the switches????

so I still have some things to work out.....
I do not have my q6600 yet.. so that is not in...
and my hd is with my cpu so I am waiting on those 2 pieces....

I did test the LED's and they are bright.... and so is my switch now...
other than that I have not messed with anything else....

the corsair PS is nice.. modular is nice too...

Is it bad that I am only using the 6 pin for the PCI-E and 1 normal power plug?
That is all i have connected right now other than the default big plug and 8 plug?
all the fans and all connected to 1... is that bad or should I send another back there?

All that is left is a few things...
1. Get cpu and install
2. Get HD and install
3. extend 8 plug for mobo... gonna see if best buy sells it.. if not newegg...
4. extend case power/reset and stuff... dont want to cut them but oh well... will do it later by soldering and shrink tubing them
5. run water lines
6. add water
7. power up and test it all out...


I have to figure out what to do with the water cool... guess im going to relocate the radiator outside the case as I wont be able to sli if I dont......

so what do you think so far?
be honest I have thick skin....

 

[rokar]

good looking

 

[TeleFragger]

ok so I will have to update the pics later as it is late.... almost had a heart attack... so I went and had a beer after all was good...


tonight I got my q6600 and hd...
so I continued on..

cut pwr/reset/hd led wires and extended...
hooked them up

moved the water cool reservoir to the upper fan spot..
this is when things started to happen..

mr murphy.... grrr..
ok so I wanted to figure out which way the fan was spinning on the thermaltake rad..
so I plugged the kit into my kitchen computer (HP Pavilion a1101n)
and the fan wasnt working so I thought it didnt have power... long story short... the fan is bad...

so I figured id just keep the stock fan in place. My intention was to move the stock fan to the side panel for the blue fan lights....
well I mounted the rad and all was good...
noticed the side doesnt fit now with the plastic that holds the fan in... so had to remove that... GRRRRR.
so there is 2 things wrong already....

then I removed my vid card and started to run the water cool lines. I figured before I get the cpu in there let me bleed the system and check for leaks.... well all that seemed to go good.... added fluid.... but I noticed the bubbles were not going..... so I removed the kit and back to the hp... I removed all the stuff and basically had the pump loop back to the res so it was a pump/res circle... well it wasnt working..... for some reason my pump wasnt working.... long story short... got it working..think there was a problem with the power plug.... but it is good now... so I put it all back in...
well if you read above I said that I wasnt sure if I wanted to keep the led truck light switch....

well 2 problems already plus pump not working = 3 problems.... well I am an impatient person but have been doing good... taking all this nice and slow... I didnt realize I didnt have the switch hooked back up and 12v and ground were touching... so when I fired up the computer.... smoke poured out super fast and filled my house... I ripped the power out of the back.... once I realized what the problem was I removed the switch and wired the led's straight in....

so 4 problems at the moment..... and all resolved....
water cool worked and all... started up the machine but it wont post.. fussin around with the computer I finally remove a dimm.... 1 of the 2...
well now the computer posts and I installed vista 64bit
when done I shut it down and tried installing the dimm again... well no go... every time I try I get a blue screen.... so the manual says use dim 0 and 2 or 1 and 3 when installing memory in pairs.... so I tried both and it wont work...
thus I think I have a bad dimm.... so problem 5 now.....

newegg had the ocz reaper memory listed as 5-5-5-18 and the dimm says 5-5-5 but my system bios says 6-6-6-18 ..... notice the 6's.... that is what this machine has been so far!!!!!

anyhow.... I have to call OCZ.. but if the memory is supposed to be 5-5-5 but my mobo says 6-6-6.... do I set the memory in the bois to 5-5-5 or is memory random? that sucks if that is true and also means they have crappy qa!!!!!!

so I am up and running but now have another problem... not sure if it is due to a installed app....
I cannot get my system to score the video for me... keeps on leaving it 1.0 but everything else has numbers..
cpu was 5.5 I think
hd was 5.9
memory was 4.5
the 2 for video are 1.0.....

not sure why...so I may try and remove the couple of apps I installed and see if that does it.....

so all in all I am up and running and had 6 major problems.... some are fixed and some are still in the works...

more to come....
~Jeff

 

[ballistic]

Ahh, so that's who got that Antec 900 I was watching cyberdruid build on xtremesystems

Store link to the gent that built my A900

Work Log