Project Modu-Li

[shplade]

Hey guys I've been meaning to post this log over here for ages, but only just got around to registering. The first post in this log was dated around the 16th of February 2006. I've included all the 'updates' to date (#1-39).

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Project: ModuLi

This project started with a Lian Li PC60 which I've had for a long time but never had much time to mod. I'm aiming for a clean and quiet case, with a focus on making the setup as modular (hence the name) as possible for the sake of easy maintenance and expandability.

Specs of the system:

AMD AthlonXP 1700+ TBredB (DLT3C JIUHB) @ 2310MHz (210x11 1.7V)
ASUS AV7600
Leadtek A400 TDH @ 435/870MHz (16x1,6vp 1.4V)
1GB Corsair TwinX-3200C2
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Leadtek TV2000XP Expert
Seagate 80 GB IDE & 200GB SATA
Antec Truepower 2.0 480W
LiteON DVD ROM + CDRW

At the moment its air cooled, but I plan to upgrade to a watercooling setup at some stage. Seeing as I want the system to be modular, I'd want to have the watercooling components mounted on the removable motherboard tray, so that it can all slide out in one piece.

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So I got myself a camera. I was pretty busy last year with school and social life (zomg?!?!?) so I didn't get much modding done. Now that I'm finished school I've had alot of spare time, but only recently have I actually made any progress.

Tonight I cut out the pressed alu grill from my PC60's removable mobo tray. I didn't take pics of the case stock, but here's what it usually looks like:

http://static.zoovy.com/img/silverpcs/W169-H180-Bffffff/motherboard_tray_back1

Here's what I've done:

It still needs a bit of cleaning up. I've also moved the fan from inside the case to the outside, which will make my lighting a tad more effective (I will show you guys this tomorrow).

Don't mind the scratches, that was just from sanding to rub off the very hard to remove dust + grime, I'm going to sand + polish the chassis at some stage.

Tomorrow I hope to cut a hole for a second 80mm exhaust, which will be under the existing one, like so:

I'm going to run the wires in through a hole complete with grommet to get a clean finish.

All visible wires in the case will be sleeved black (my theme is alu + black detail + blue lighting). To show off my wire hiding skills, I've cut a window in the right side panel. I cut it out ages ago but only recently cleaned up the edges:

It shows off the space behind the drive bays where most people hide their wiring mess

This is the state of the chassis at the moment:

Not too pretty, but not to worry, its going to be cleaned. Dual top blowholes is the plan:

I still need to trim the chassis to make them fit, that should be done tomorrow. I went with the perspex mount + countersunk holes so that I can retain the screwless look of the case. This is the hole cut in the top panel for the fans:

Moving along to something small. For lans and such, I wanted to have a headphone jack on the front of my case, but didn't want to ruin the look of the front bezel. I've mounted a headphone socket in the front panel USB area, which as a flip up cover.

The wires run behind the front panel past the removable hdd cage and along the right side of the case floor, terminating at a 4 pin IDC connector.

I'm going to solder another set of wires directly to my soundcard with a 4 pin IDC socket on the end which will connect up. I did this with my previous sound card and it worked fine.

Upward! We have a half finished job at mounting my MO 4x20 LCD (backlit blue inverse white =D ). As a bonus my mobo has an IDC connector onboard which allows the use of an additional serial port, so I don't have to run cables outside the case. Also you can see the Sunbeam Rheobus, which I modded into a proper Lian Li bay cover.

And finally I thought I'd throw in my false floor:

I'll post again tomorrow with updates.



Update #1:

Ok, did some work today.

I started out by clamping an old 80mm fan to the back panel to get the fan mounting holes.

At this point I decided that it would be easier to work if I removed the back panel from motherboard tray. The broken fan was pretty useless, or so I thought. I needed to accurately find the centre point of the fan hole as there was not a huge margin for error here. I removed the blades & axle assembly from its frame. This left me with a small hole which worked perfectly as a drilling guide.

I set the drill press up with the holesaw, clamped the back panel down and set to work.

After much noise and slow progress, I was left with this:

I was really happy with how it turned out. The holesaw leaves a really clean edge, but it still needs a bit of sanding to get the edges clean. I cleaned up the second fan & its grill, then mounted them.

I got out my dad's box o' rivets and put the mobo tray back together. Here it is back in the case:

I said in my first post that I would show you how the fans were impairing my lighting, well this shot might help explain that. When the fans are mounted inside the case, they block the CCFL from lighting the top half of my case. This was because the CCFL was mounted right next to the fans, and light can't travel through fans.

To the left of the fans is a CCFL, mounted in a piece of U strip aluminium. Without the U strip in place, and when viewed through the window you'd get a big shiny light in your face (ie, not cool). There's also pretty much nowhere to mount a light back there so I had the U strip also serves as a great mounting bracket. Here's a shot of the bracket:

Seeing as my floor isn't up to atomican standards I'm going to cut a better one and use the current piece for something else.



Update #2:

I've been running an Audigy 2 ZS for the past few months, and have noticed that it gets quite hot. Sometimes the heat is so bad that it causes instabilty. I've had a fan setup blowing cool air over the main chip on the card (the source of the heat) and its been running fine. It's inconvenient to have the fan there so I've gone about installing a heatsink on the chip.

I ripped it off an old Pentium 4 mobo (dead). Here it is:

There were two raised 'strips' running along the base of the HS which were sanded off. I then gave the card a light lapping, but didn't take pics because they weren't worth the bother. The mounting arms hit a few capacitors on the card so they were cut off. This is what the HS looks like now:

Naked Audigy 2 ZS:

HS mounted on the card:

I'm waiting for the AS thermal adhesive to dry before I test it out. It takes up 2 PCI slots now, but hopefully it'll cool it down sufficiently.



Update #3:

Wordy update.

I've cut one side of the case chassis to allow the top dual 80mm fans to be mounted. Didn't take too long really, I'll do the other side tomorrow and trim the perspex so they can be mounted for good. None of that top section is going to be visible unless the panels are removed but I will do my best to make them look a bit nicer.

This is my (concept) powerpole:

The idea was blatantly stolen from The Heavy Water Project which was in atomic issues 17-21 IIRC (correct me if I'm wrong). The concept is pretty simple; a hollow tube is mounted vertically inside the case and power cables are run down through it. Anywhere down the pole that you require power, you simply make a hole in the tube and run the required wires out. It makes the case look tidier IMO, and it suits the look of Lian Li cases.

The pics are of a test piece I made to make sure the pole fit along with the rest of the case & components. Luckily the pole is just the right width that it fits perfectly between the front edge of the motherboard and the removable HDD cage. It's only a rough piece so don't worry about how it looks at this stage.

I only plan to route three sets of power out of the pole; one to the top-most HDD bay which houses the LCD (and probably something else in the future), one to the videocard, and finally one to the HDDs in the removable HDD cage.

The two ends of the powerpole are going to be concealed. At the bottom of the case the false floor will conceal ~10mm of the pole which will allow me to route power to the bottom of the case without the wires being visible. The top of the pole will be concealed by a 'false roof'.

Looking at that picture you should see the curved profile of the top drive bays and PSU area. I plan to cut & bend a sheet of aluminium to enclose that area, essentially isolating the 5 1/4 inch bays and PSU from the rest of the case.



There's a nice space underneath the removable HDD cage at the bottom of the case.

Under there will be a terminal block which will serve as an oulet for power at the bottom of the case. The block will get power from the power pole which just so happens to sit right next to the HDD cage. How convenient. A bare CCFL inverter fits nicely under there, so I'll get a piece of non-conductive material (plastic?) and mount the inverter(s) down there too.

Until next time (tomorrow). I promise I'll have more pics



Update #4:

Progress pictures for today.

I started off the day by cleaning up the perspex fan mount I'd fabricated for the top 2x80mm blowholes. I trimmed it to a more sensible size, rounded the corners and because it was already slightly scratched gave it the 'defyant style' frosted finish. It turned out how I wanted, so I'm happy with it.

How it started:

Now much nicer:

Fans screwed on:

Mock-install in the case:

Top panel on:

It worked out exactly how I planned, all I need now is some mesh, and to clean up the cuts.



A while ago I painted the Lian Li thumbscrews as well as the PCI slot covers in gloss black, they still need a sand and a second coat. Today was the first time I'd actually installed them on the motherboard tray. I was worried that I'd gone overboard on the black and that it wouldn't look good but they turned out pretty nice IMO.

Tomorrow I'm going to properly mount the top blowholes, which means a bit of filing/sanding and then fabricating a small support bracket for the top of the case. I want to put a support up there because when I cut the chassis it left the case with little rigidity. The support will also act as a point which the perspex fan mount can be screwed to.



Update #5:

Minor update for tonight:

Cleaned up the hole in the top panel and removed the masking tape. I've done a quick setup of the case to show how things are coming together.

I'll start the left side panel window tonight and hopefully have it all done by tomorrow (minus perspex). Its going to be a rectangle with edges that are offset 40mm in from the edge of the side panel.

I'm hoping to get to Dick Smith this weekend to get some wire, heatshrink & terminal blocks so that I can start wiring the powerpole.



Update #6:

Alright, the support bracket is done and the top fans are mounted. It took me a few hours to do, not because it was a big job, but because it was complicated and I had to ensure that the case remained square.

I cut two short lengths of L bracket aluminium and a length of square tube aluminium for the bracket. Its a simple design, but it works perfectly for what it is.

One L bracket was mounted to each end of the square tube, like so:

Then the bracket was attached to the fan mount:

Inside the case, you can see where the L brackets touch the case chassis:

All that was left to do was clean up the cuts I had made in the chassis and drill the mounting holes in the L brackets and chassis. All done:

Now the bracket & fan assembly mounted in place:

To give you an idea of how strong the bracket is, I can pick up the case using only the support bracket as in the above picture. The case is really sturdy now, it basically doesn't flex at all.



I was going to do more work on the window today but I didn't feel like it, I'll try and do some more tonight though.



Update #7:

I've really been wanting to mount my LCD for a long time, but never got around to it. I've cut the hole in the floppy bays for it, but the mounting still needs work. Here're the bays as I write this:

The LCD in action:

Ok, just now I started the mounting system. I've used the same square tube aluminium as I used on the case support bracket, this time as a base for mounting.

You can see where I've mounted them, one on either side of the drive bay, but offset from the front of the case to allow for the PCB of the LCD. I've used the existing screw holes on the side of the drive bay to mount the two tubes with standard HDD mounting screws. All I need now is some long enough bolts to run through the new mounting points to the LCD.

Expect to see it mounted by the end of the weekend sometime

 

[shplade]

Update #8:

I made some progress today in regards to the floppy drive bays.
The day started with a sheet of aluminium which was marked and cut with tin snips. I was left with this piece for the new false floor:

As well as this piece:

Not the perspex and fan... hrmmm... I wonder what that's going to be? The alu & perspex were clamped together and cut to size so they would fit in the back section of the removable floppy bay:

The perspex was fabricated into a fan mount much like the one I made for the top fans. Here it is:

You'd be surprised how easy these are to make; I can knock one up like that in 10-15 minutes. The alu was also cut to allow for the fan:

Put them together and you get this:

This is the type of grill I'm going to use throughout the case:

The grills will be hammered into the holes I've cut so that they stick out a little bit.



Ok thats the rear of the bays taken care of, now to the front. I found some suitable bolts for mounting the LCD, but they were slightly too wide. I had to drill the bolt holes in the LCD PCB so the new bolts could fit. The bolts were only just long enough to get through the mounts in the drive bay and through the daughterboard of the LCD. I only mounted it using two corners, and left the stock screws in the remaining corners to help hold the PCBs together. Pics will help explain what I've done:

LCD mounted and running LCDC:

To keep the LCD wiring neat I've opted to use my mobo's onboard serial port as it saves from running wires out the back of the case. This cable connects to the mobo to give me an additional serial port:

The black connector is a 10 pin IDC plug, which connects to a 10 pin IDC socket (OMG really? lol) on the mobo. On the other end of the cable is a male serial plug. How is the cable going to get through the fan mount in the back of the drive bay? By spliting the serial cable in two, that's how.

Here we have 2x female 9 pin serial plugs, and a 9 pin ribbon cable.

Crimp the plugs and we get this:

The two cables can now connect, the newest one acting as an extension cable.

There was a reason I offset the fan in the rear of the floppy bay; so I have an area on which I can mount sockets for the LCD/fan to get power/data. This way if I want to remove the bays, I simply remove a few cables from the rear of the bay, and slide the entire drive cage out in one go.

Can anyone say modular?

More on that, the case floor and a bit of wiring tomorrow.



Update #9:

Like promised I did some more work today. The case floor is pretty much done, but it looks a little bare IMO. I think I should get a logo/design for the project and cut it into the floor, put mesh behind it and get some kind of lighting down there.

Here's the floor, I think it looks much better than the original.

I made it fit nice and snug, at the moment its held up by the same square tube aluminium as I used previously but is yet to be screwed down. It fits perfectly under the bottom edge of the mobo (mobo in pics is a dead mobo I use for testing) with about 1mm to spare

This next pic is of the area under the removable HDD rack showing the base of the powerpole.

Wires will run through the small gap to a terminal block for easy access. Also note the thin piece of clear plastic under the HDD rack so the bare CCFL inverters don't short out.


I mounted the serial extension cable and a male molex plug on the alu plate that sits in the back of the floppy bay:

To accomodate the sockets I had to modify the fan bracket:

Together they form this:

One last detail. At the top of the case I wanted to have somewhere to organise the wiring for the powerpole, and there was a nice spot above the top 5 1/4 inch bay. A plus side to having it right at the top of the case is that I can easily access it by simply removing the top panel. Terminal blocks are going to be used and they need something to be mounted to, so a piece of perspex was cut to shape:

L brackets fabricated and mounted:

The perspex plate sits such that its bottom is flush up against the top of the optical drive below it.

The plate mounted:

That's all for today, for the next update I should have some wiring done, maybe a few logo designs, and I'll keep working on the window.



Update #10:

Today I worked on the final logo design. Here you can see it taped down on the false floor ready to be cut out.

I mirrored the image in AutoCAD so the design could be cut from the bottom of the floor to avoid damaging the visible side while cutting. I started out by doing the 'M' and 'L' because they were the largest letters, and hence I could do them with my hand nibbler instead of the dremel. Firs though, I needed to drill pilot holes:

Not long afterwards:

Then I set to work on the smaller letters with my rotary tool equiped with a re-inforced cut-off disc. After I was done with the rotary tool:

It was still really rough and needed alot of work. After many hours of filing, sanding and cursing I was left with this:

The dot on the 'i' is going to be round for now, I may one day get some jewelers files to square it out though. I still need to clean up the inside section for the 'o' and 'd' and add the '-' between 'u' and 'L'.

I put the floor back in the case with a little bit of black vinyl taped behind it to make the logo stand out.

I also finished off the rear section of the floppy bays, all that's left to do is make an L bracket to mount them.

The aluminium section is now attached to the perspex fan mount. Here you can see there is a screw on either side of the sockets:

The flat top of the screws was epoxied to the aluminium plate and the perspex was given some countersunk screw holes to let the two section mate together. Here's a view from the other side to show that the screws aren't visible:

To finish off the day I began on something new:

This is only a concept. If I do end up using it I'll use black perspex and ontop of it will be a sheet of aluminium cut to the same size. Routed edges would look cool on the plexi, and obviously I would cut out holes to accomodate for the optical drive(s), rheobus, LCD, etc. I also considered having the perspex cover the power buttons & LED section but I'm not sure just yet.



As usual you can expect an update tomorrow



Update #11:

Apologies for this somewhat lackluster update.

I cut the middle section for the 'o' and 'd' for the floor logo. Tonight I'm going to cut a piece of perspex to go under the logo, frost it, and see what it looks like with blue lighting.

Speaking of lighting, I tested my cathodes today:

They're not very bright because the case was next to an open window and I had most of the panels off. You can see the window I have started to cut on the left panel.


This is a shot of the floppy bay installed from inside the case:

The fan suck cool air through the front panel of the case, and pushes it out over the videocard. The fan mount assembly isn't mounted yet, but it's a tight enough fit to hold itself in place.

I came across a problem when testing the internal serial connector on my mobo; it doesn't work! Grrr... I did some research and found that many people who use the A7V600 have the same problem. Not to worry though because I've simply snipped the 10 pin IDC connector off the ribbon cable, and will replace it with a serial connector so I can run it to the I/O panel at the back of the case. The ribbon cable will run between the mobo and mobo tray so it won't be visible.



I started on a bit of wiring today.

First off was the front panel button and LED wiring. This is the wires as they come out of the box:

After a few minutes with some heatshrink they looked like this:

The grommet was used as to neaten the hole they run through in the case floor:

I also started on the powerpole wiring. I've run the ground wires from a terminal block at the top of the case...

... through the powerpole to the bottom of the case and to another terminal block under the HDD cage:

I also mounted the first CCFL inverter under the HDD cage along with a switch to turn the lighting on and off.

I always find it hard to connect the front panel USB port connector on the motherboard because the edge of my TV tuner card and soundcard make it really awqward to get a hand down there. For this reason I've decided to make an extension cable for it which will stay attached to the mobo even when I remove it from the case. Here are the parts I'll be using to make it:

Last night I saw this suicidal skink on my cupboard and thought I should take a picture:

I wont be updating again till wednesday/thursday because I have uni orientation tomorrow, wednesday and friday.



Update #12:

OK I had a bit of spare time today, so I did a bit more wiring.

I mounted the first terminal block on the perspex wiring shelf:

That particular block is for the optical drives, rheobus and the misc power which runs down the powerpole. Here's a shot of the power running to the optical drives and rheobus:

Those wires won't be visible as I will be fabricating a dividing wall to cut the top section off from the rest of the case (as I have previously explained).



In my last update I showed you this:

I soldered the 10 pin (now 9 pin) IDC connector to the 9 conductor ribbon cable to create an extension for the front panel USB connectors.

After an initial test it was working however some of the IDC pins were pushed out by the USB header, so some hot glue was used to prevent it from happening again.

Here's a shot of the extension connnected:

The extension won't be visible but I will be heatshrinking it just to keep things neat.



I finished the wiring for the CCFL inverter under the HDD cage:

This is another terminal block which will be underneath the HDD cage, and will serve as the power for the HDDs.

Next to it are right angle molex and SATA power connectors, which let me add extra drives without having to alter the cable. Wires will run from the top perspex wiring shelf to the HDD terminal block for power.

I'm wondering though, there is an orange wire used by the SATA connectors, is it necessary? Have a look at this molex > SATA adapter:

http://www.pccasegear.com/prod896.htm

It doesn't have an orange wire?

I'm guessing its safe to run a drive without it, and these particular SATA connectors are really easy to de-pin so next time I reboot I'll give it a go.



And finally I was looking for bolts yesterday and came across 8 of these:

I'm not sure if I'll use them, but if I do they will get a polish.



I have to go to uni again tomorrow so I will update on Saturday.



Update #13:

I promised to update on Saturday. Come 8pm Saturday night I hadn't done anything

You guys are motivation enough to make me do some more, so tonight I did a bit more wiring. I find wiring to be quite relaxing, but maybe I'm just weird.



I began with this:

Sorry for the slightly blurry pic. In the pic is a 12 pin socket and plug, as well as the pins for said plug. The socket/plug combo is identical to a 3 pin mobo fan header, except its 12 pin.

After a short while I'd attached 4x 3 pin plugs to the 12 pin socket:

So you're probably sitting there thinking 'Wow... what is it?', and I don't blame you. Basically the 3 pin plugs connect to the 3 pin sockets on my Rheobus like so:

So now instead of disconnecting 4 seperate plugs to take the fan controller out I only have to disconnect one big 12 pin plug. Here you can see I've attached the 12 pin plug:

Currently it only has one fan output, that one is for the top 2x 80mm blowholes. Currently I only make use of three output channels; the 2x 80mm front intake fans, the 2x 80mm top blowholes, and the 2x 80mm rear exhaust fans.



I'm going skating tomorrow and then have uni everyday next week so I may not update again until next weekend, hopefully by that time my order of black cable sleeving, 20 pin ATX extension, and Zalman V700-Cu (to match my CNPS7000B-Cu) will arive.

 

[shplade]

Update #14:

I got a package today! I like packages

Open the package and what do you get?

Another package! Open the package and what do you get?

Bubble wrap!

Open the bubble wrap and what do you get?

A 20 pin ATX extension, black sleeving, a Zalman VF700-Cu and a pack of 4x 1000mA AAA NiMH batteries (for my MP3 player).



While better than the NVidia reference design, the stock Leadtek cooling solution on the A400 TDH (6800nu) is fairly inefficient. Even at stock settings the card ran hot, and it became even worse when I bumped the core voltage up from 1.2v to 1.4v. Here you can see the Leadtek HSF installed:

Average temps with the Leadtek HSF were around 55-60 idle and anywhere from 65-80 under load. Those temps aren't too high, but the heat pooled in my case making my CPU run warmer. The fan they used is really small and doesn't line up with the grill on the HSF 'shell'. Its also quite heavy for what it is. So I bought a VF700-Cu for it, in the hope that it would run a bit cooler.

I removed the Leadtek HSF which turned out to be quite difficult, and then cleaned up the chips. Naked 6800:

The shiny new VF700-Cu & ramsinks:

Installed with some AS5 (slightly blurry sorry):

Idle temps are down to 45 so I'm really happy with it so far, I will do some load temps later.



I've been waiting on the chance to get some black sleeving and now its here so I can get some more wiring done.

Also got a 20 pin ATX extension to keep with the modular theme, you'll see what I'm doing with it eventually.

Lastly here is something I began working on the other day. I wont say anything just yet as I'm still unsure of what I'll be doing with it. Expect to see more on it over the coming days.

Update #15:

OK I sleeved the ATX extension. Starting with this:

I began to depin the ATX plug, was 3 pins away from finishing and then the ATX depinning tool broke

I tried using a pin for a while but it didn't work so I squeezed the sleeving and heatshrink over the entire ATX connector (nearly ruining it in the process) Finally, after almost 2 hours after I began, it was done.

Update #16:

I did a bit of sleeving tonight.

I've done the 2x 80mm intakes and the 2x 80mm rear exhausts. I took some pictures during the process of sleeving the front fans.

I started out with these:

The first step was to depin the 3 pin plugs from each of the two fans by using a small flathead screwdriver:

Heatshrink was applied to the individual fans:

Then both sets of wires were sleeved together into one bundle, heatshrink was applied to the ends, and the 3 pin plugs reattached.

Similar steps were taken for the rear exhaust fans to end up with this:

The wires run through a hole I drilled in the side of the I/O area to the rear of the motherboard tray.

I also sleeved the serial cable which runs from the motherboard I/O area, behind the mobo and to the 3 1/2 inch bays. I only sleeved half the ribbon cable as the majority of it will be hidden behind the mobo.

I ran some load tests on to stress my videocard and the highest temp it reached was 56

That's it for tonight, I'm home all day tomorrow so expect some sort of update.



Update #17:

Update for todays work.

The first thing I did was mounted the supports for the case floor so that they aren't sliding around anymore, here you can see them.

The floor sits ontop, but doesn't need to be screwed down as it is a push tight fit.



I continued with wiring today, the main focus was on getting power to the fans. The only thing worthy of pictures was the front fan wire routing. I needed to get the fan wires to the rheobus in the bottom 5 1/4 inch bay, the most obvious and easy solution is to run them straight to the bay, but that's showing the wires unnecessarily, so I attempted to hide them somewhat.

So I tried running them through the bottom of the bottom bay:

I wasn't happy with it, the wires still looked out of place, so instead I ran them out the front of the chassis:

Better.

I sleeved the front panel USB wires like so:

The dodgy ends of the sleeving need a trim (and will get one) but it wouldn't matter if I didn't because they're hidden by the floor:

OK, I realised today that alot of the work I've done lately has been pretty boring, so I took the time to work on something a bit more exciting for you guys

This is only a preview, and will look much cleaner when I'm done with it.



Update #18:

I did some more work on the rheobus today, and unfortunately cut my finger while drilling the new bay cover (drill caught in it, the metal whipped around and took a slice from my index finger). I do have pics for you though

I needed to attach the aluminium 'rings' onto the frosted perspex but didn't have any araldite left, so I used AS thermal epoxy >.>

There they are all clamped up drying. A few hours later I took the clamps off and tested it out:

Both red and blue are much more vibrant in real life, I need to learn to take photos of lighting.

Finally installed in the cas:

This is the point where I owned my finger, so didn't bother doing anymore. I was working on a new bay cover to replace the current one as atm it allows the LEDs to be seen even though they're behind the 'rings'. More on that later in the week.



Update #19:

I didn't realise it'd been 3 weeks since my last update, sorry =

You wont be happy then to hear that I haven't got 3 weeks worth of updates >.>

I was working pretty full on with this project when I began posting pics of it, but I needed a bit of a break. I've been keeping busy with uni and life in general, but this weekend I had some time to mod!

I stopped working on Modu-Li after I sliced my finger open while drilling the rheobus faceplate.

It looks alot better than it felt, basically that flap of skin was only just hanging on :



Anyway...

I started with the floor, there were some areas that needed cleaning up and some notches had to be removed to allow the side panel to fit. I'm still working on it so it hasn't been polished yet.

I think earlier in the log I might have said something about backlighting the logo with some frosted perspex? Well anyway, I gave that a go today, with pleasing results:

Wired up some LEDs to go with the perspex.

Guess what colour they are?

Blue!

I still have to do the other section of the logo (and LEDs).



Remember this?

Well I wasn't happy with it. Too big, too ugly. So I took to it with a hacksaw, and now the card fits in a single PCI slot, and the base actually matches the chip.

Better!



One problem I always faced was how I could connect a SATA power plug to a wiring loom to run down the powerpole. Finding a SATA power socket wasn't easy, the only real option was to find a dead drive and rip one off, which I wasn't going to do. What I decided on was getting a 5+ pin plug and two matching 5+ pin sockets. The stock SATA power plugs on the PSU will be cut off, leaving about 20-30cm of wire running out of the PSU. Connected to the wires will be the 5+ pin plug. One socket will be attached to the stock SATA power plugs, and the other to the power pole loom, such that I can alternate between the two (eg. if I wanted to remove the PSU and use it in another system).

Imagine the PSU is on the left, it connects to the plug, which connects to the socket, which connects to the terminal block, which connectes to the drives.



I made a new powerpole, its not entirely finished as I haven't cut out holes for the wires to exit into the case (to the floppy bay and GPU).

This is the (partial - still more to come ) mess that the powerpole hides.

And here is what said mess looks like when its inside the powerpole.

Neat eh?

Finally here you can see the number of wires under the HDD rack is steadily growing.

 

[shplade]

Update #20:

OK I've had a few questions about the powerpole, and instead of addressing them all individually I'll just explain them all in as an update.



The powerpole is constructed of two (well, three if you want to be technical) pieces of aluminium; a U shaped piece and a L shaped piece.

Those are the two main pieces. They slot together to create a square tube with one double layered side. The 'bottom' of the U piece faces the rear of the case, and the L piece slides in from the right (motherboard) side of the case.

At the top of the pole is a third piece, which serves as a retainer for the wires when the L piece (I'll call it the cover from now on, as that is its purpose) is taken off.

Top of the powerpole with retainerand cover removed. Note the orientation of the U piece.

A front shot showing the wires running down inside the U piece.

There's a small slot at the base of the cover for wires to exit into the case floor.

With the cover on the wires are completely enclosed.

If you want to route power out to something in the case just cut/drill a hole for the wires to pass through the left side (the side that faces the main case window) of the U piece, grommets help to make it look a bit tidier.



Update #21:

On friday afternoon we had some bad weather, and at one point there was a lightning strike very close to my home. We had a nice power surge but my computer continued running fine. I turned it off regardless, I didn't want it to die. The surge must have damaged something though as now neither my CPU nor mobo function at all.

The timing was interesting though as I ordered my new laptop (ASUS A6Ja) earlier that afternoon. So I'm typing to this on the lappy now

Specs:

Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83GHz)
Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB
1GB DDR2
100GB HDD
15.4" TFT



I'm really happy with it, the X1600 runs about the same as my 6800nu did at stock settings. It handles FEAR, Quake 4, Far Cry, HL2, CS:S, NFSMW, and WoW with ease, mostly at 1024x768 (or 1280x800 if its supported) with medium -> high detail.

So yeah, I'm looking at getting a ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 (socket 939, AGP and PCI-E, 2x SATA, 1x SATA2) and an A64 3000+ venice to replace the dead parts, though I'm not sure when I'll get them. They work out to be $285 AUD so not bad really.

The modding wont stop, I'll make sure I do some work over the next week and do a big update on the weekend.



Update #22:

I'm back!

I've been busy with uni over the past few weeks, so haven't done anything up until today.

Seeing as I'm not currently using my old components, and I have a different system (laptop) to use while I mod, I can get onto things like the PSU and hardware mods that would otherwise result in downtime. All my working parts (RAM is still untested - hope to god it works) are in the box my PC60 came in, filling about half the box. I feel bad that I have $1000+ of hardware doing nothing

On to the update.

First thing I did was cut one of the SATA power looms off my PSU and then soldered the pins of the 6-pin socket onto each of the wires.

Then the socket goes on

I did the same thing for the 6-pin plug which connects to the HDD wiring loom at the top of the power pole. Then 6-pin socket/plugs click together, and its all done.

The only other loom I need to run down the powerpole is power for the videocard, which is a single molex plug. On that note, a benefit of the powerpole is that if I ever need different/extra power connectors its easy to remove any looms that I don't use anymore, and replace with ones that I do need. For example, if I want to use PCI-E videocards in the future then I can add in the relevant power loom(s).



Another thing I did today was cut the CCFL 'covers' to size from a length of U tube aluminium. One runs up the back-left corner of the case, and the other along the left side of the case floor.

One thing I haven't ever thought about modding is the removable HDD rack which mounts in the bottom of the case. It looks fairly boring IMO:

I'll think of something to do to it, ideas are welcome



I also cut one side of the window tonight, and have made a mental agreement with myself to finish one side per day.



Expect more over the next week as I'm on holidays.



Update #23:
I spent most of my holiday sleeping

A few updates ago I showed you this:

I wanted to see what the floor would look like with mesh between it and the frosted perspex:

What do you think?



I mounted a section of U channel aluminium on the 'front' (the side closest to the left side of the case) of the case floor which will house an 8 inch blue CCFL.

It also acts as a nice handle when inserting and removing the case floor. On that note, this is how it goes in and out:

On the left front corner of the floor (or rear left corner of the case) is a small square gap in the floor.

Another piece of U channel aluminium fits inside this hole.

Moving up the piece to the top of the case, you can see I cut off two sides of the U channel to leave a single flat section.

Swinging the U channel towards the case into an upright position, the flat section slips through a small gap between the top panel and the case chassis.

Once through the gap a single screw through the flat section and into the case chassis holds the U channel firmly in place. This rear piece will hold one of the 12 inch blue CCFLs.

The removable HDD rack still fits as usual, sliding in from the side as such:

In the following picture note the area to the left of the fans. This area is where I want to route the power/reset button wires, but I don't want them visible.

I wanted to put a section of U channel in there but the fans where in the way, so I had to cut a section out:

Now it slips in place:

I'm going to a lan over the next two days, then I go back to uni on monday, and my sister is coming up to visit from monday till friday so I may not have any work done till next weekend.

 

[shplade]

Update #24:

Sorry about not updating last week. I did do some work but I'm going to save it for a while before I update.

Over the next week or two I'll have alot of new gear (some of it is already here) to play with which will no doubt keep me busy. All of the work involving said gear will be on the removable motherboard tray, and lets just say its going to be an interesting ordeal fitting everything on there

Defyant may have some idea what I'm talking about as I did ask him about a similar thing a few months ago (def - if you do remember don't go telling everyone!)

I've done some wiring work, and will continue to do so. Its a bit of an ongoing process, I could probably finish it all in a few hours but I really can't be assed The window is coming together, still not completely cut because I'm lazy.

I need to update the first post with new specs soon, as now I have 660GB of HDD space (2x80GB IDE + 2x250GB SATA). Those drives are all in the removable HDD rack with a custom loom to really save space, I'll show you that in the next update.


In other news, at uni in one of my electronic engineering classes I'm currently involved in a practical group assignment. We're in groups of 5, constructing a 0-30V PSU, one for each member. Each of the 5 were assigned a different task withing the group (metalwork, PCB assembly, construction, quality assurance, and the general manager). So each member was required to go to a instructional lab where they were taught how to complete their specific task. Then within the group we organise a time to do, for example, the metalwork, and book the workshop. The person in charge of metalwork then had to guide the rest of the group through the procedure of making the box. Then the PCB, then construction, then QA. I was in charge of construction; putting it all together. On friday I went to the instructional lab, so its all done now. I have to wait for it to be safety tested before I can take it home. No doubt it will be useful when testing things at home



Update #25:

It's time for an update to keep you guys up to speed.

I wasn't happy with my Antec TP2.0 480, so I modded it

The initial reason I wanted to open it up was to re-organise the power cables where they exit the PSU because Antec leave them all tangled up.

You can see how antec grouped the different power rails in their respective colours. The cables exited the PSU in the same fashion and ended up as a tangled mess, so I fixed it like so.

While in there I decided to wire the 120mm fan to 7V as I didn't like how slow it usually ran when connected to Antecs temperature probe solution. While in the process the doorbell rang; it was the courier with a package for me, which just so happened to have a 120mm Delta fan that I wasn't going to use. I spliced it into the 5V and 12V lines of one of the molex runs.

What came in the mail?

1x 120mm Sunnon fan (38mm thick!)
1x MCP350
1x BIP w/ 3/8 inch barbs and 1/2 inch quick connects
1x Zalman ZM-GWB2 (GPU block)
1x Zalman NB47J (chipset heatsink)
10x Norma hose clamps
1x polypropylene T piece
1x DangerDen Fillerport

Still waiting on 2m of Tygon 5/16 tubing, a fan shroud and Zalman CPU block.

Here are the NB heatsink, GPU block, T piece and hose clamps:

Over the last few months I decided on setting up a watercooling loop that all fits on the motherboard tray, and still allows the tray to slide in and out as needed. Everything that I planned seemed fairly easy until I had to mount the pump, as it needed to be on the internal section of the tray. Problem being, there wasn't a feasible way to mount it - until now.

I devised a plan; to mount the MCP350 pump to the tray using the ATX motherboard stand-offs. I needed some kind of support bracket to hold the pump above the motherboard, and here is what I came up with:

Today I made the bracket out of some aluminium sheet. I used my new Dremel (yes, a real one! not a cheap knock-off) to cut out the shape, then a vice to bend the legs down, cleaned it up with my dremel and a small file, drilled the holes and it was done:

Now you can't see the floor logo Doesn't matter, I will use the logo somehwhere else (right side window I think), and cut the floor again. The good thing is that it fits perfectly, and the tray still comes in and out.

This is the basic layout that I'm going to setup:

The radiator is going to be easy to mount to the back of the motherboard tray with a simple bracket. More on that next update, hopefully along with the tubing, shroud and CPU block.



Update #26:

I have all the watercooling parts now

Tonight after uni I made the rad bracket and mounted it on the rear of the case (note it is not fixed to the case, the un-popped rivets are holding it on.

The loop will go RAD->PUMP->GPU->CPU->RAD with the T-line between the Rad outlet and pump inlet. I've done a mock install of the pump, rad, T-line, and GPU. Also note I've added the shroud between the Rad and fan.

I have to thank yahooadam over at bit-tech who made me think twice about the placement and orientation of the Fillerport. Originally it would have been near impossible to fill, so I moved it up near the top of the rear fans and the mobo I/O area. Its mounted on a small L bracket much like the one made by BenJ in his case 'H2Micr0'

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/beperfect/logpic/ddfp04.jpg[/IMG]

Here's a low angle shot showing the whole setup so far:

Lastly here is the CPU block I'm using:

 

[shplade]

Update #27:

I haven't updated in ages because I've been too lazy to do any decent work, but here's some progress from the last few weeks and alot from today.



I got some stuff from PCCG, the most important of which being a BIX to replace my leaking BIP. Here's the loop that has been together for about a week or so, I did an overnight leak test and it was fine

I also got some new IDE cables, ACRyan Rouncable2-FX UV blue to be exact.

I thought they looked really ugly so I sleeved them.

Here's the cables I've sleeved so far:

From left to right; 2x SATA cables, 2x IDE cables, serial cable for the LCD, ATX extension, front panel connectors, and front panel USB headers.

To the hard drives, I finally got around to putting the wiring loom together for my four hdds (2x250 and 2x80):

The blue rigth angle molex plugs stand out way too much, so I painted them black like so:

While I was at it, I painted the remaining silver thumbscrews and re-painted the PCI blanking plates because I didn't use primer the first time.

I wasn't happy with my grey PSU so I decided to paint it.

Here it is sanded:

Primer:

Second coat of primer:

After the second coat of black enamel:

I can't paint the other half of the PSU because I need a solder sucker before I can remove the power socket + switch.

I'll probably have a solder sucker tomorrow night so I'll get it all apart, then paint it on wednesday/thursday. The rear grill will probably get cut out and replaced by some ACRyan meshX, which you can see here in the top panel:

Its hard to get a good shot of the stuff.

With my new dremel there was no excuse to not cut my window, so here it is, finally:

You can see it lines up nicely with the CCFL mounts, also note the floor has a big hole in it where I cut out the logo, mesh will take its place.

Also worth a mention is the black U channel that I got to replace the clear stuff Lian Li use.

The motherboard tray had some work done today, specifically the area that the tubing from the radiator enters the case. I decided that it would be easier if I could remove the entire system without having to drain it, so I cut a big hole:

There are lots of small holes (and obviously that massive one where I once had the fillerport >.>) in the surrounding area that I wanted to cover originally, and now the cover is going to serve another purpose; to lock the tubing in place while the loop is installed.

Keep in mind that the plate isn't finished yet.

Two more things I recently acquired:

A noise isolator foam sound deadening kit:

And a coolermaster alloy keyboard which matches the case nicely:

Until next time



Update #28:

Hi again.


I did some work today, amongst other things.

I acquired a solder sucker earlier in the week, so I could finally rip the guts out of my PSU.

I didn't like the grill at the back of the PSU, so I marked up some lines and cut it out.

After cutting it I decided that the PSU would look better if it was bare metal rather than painted black, especially if I was going to use black mesh. So I sanded it down.

Then I cut some of my MeshX to fit the hole, and here it is just sitting inside.

Here you can see I've begun to polish it up a bit. I'm not aiming for a perfect mirror finish, and have only done one side. I'll continue this process over the next few days and until its finished and then update again.

While I was at it I polished up some of the motherboard tray because it was looking a bit ordinary.

I left some of it for the sake of comparing, and while it still has a few scratches it looks much nicer, almost like it was when I first got it



On thursday at uni we finalised the power supplies and I was allowed to bring it home, so here are some better pics of it.

And here it is powering a UV CCFL, and a UV perspex stationary holder just for effect

Its got 4 outputs on the front; ground (0V), positive (~ 2 -> 21.5V), negative (~ -2 -> -21.5V) and 5V fixed. At the moment I have to actually measure the output with a voltmeter before I can use it, but I'll get some digital voltage readers for the front so I can read the different outputs on the fly.



Update #29:

Mini update, I've finished the PSU AND it still works, haha, I'm glad

This is the only part of the PSU you'll see, so I didn't care too much about the finish I ended up with.

I'll put a chrome grill on the 120mm fan but it wont be visible, more on that in the coming days.

 

[shplade]

Update #30:

For anyone who missed it, here is the logo which I cut out of the floor.

I didn't want to just throw it out, so I've decided to use it somewhere else in the case. Before I use it I need to cut out the logo itself. I decided on giving the current logo a 3mm border, here it is drawn up:

I went to work cutting out the border with my dremel, and about half way through, disaster struck!

:O the dremel disc caught up, and bent part of the logo!

It turned out that I could easily bend it back, phew

So I cut th rest out trying to be more careful, and it payed off. Here is the rough cut-out.

I took to it with my needle files and after about 30mins its starting to look pretty nice.

I still need to remove small bits between the 'legs' of the M and also between the u.

What do you guys think?



Update #31:

Uni exams start next week so I've been busy studying lately, but did some work today.

I have a tripod now so pictures should be clearer



I got the wiring worked out for the HDDs.

I don't like how the power wires are coloured, but they're too spread apart to sleeve, so what I'm going to do is either heatshrink, or sleeve them all individually, more on that soon.

I also put some siliceous washers on the HDD screws to help cut down on the noise.

On the motherboard tray where I cut the hole for tubing to enter and exit the case I needed a cover, and the original one I did was a bit rough, so today I started work on a new one.

Here's the hole:

Now, the cover is going to be multi-layered (perspex and alu), similar to the fan controller. First thing I did was mark up a scrap piece of perspex.

A minute with the dremel and a file:

I didn't feel like working with alu today because it really does take effort, perspex is way more forgiving, but that's started now. The corners will be rounded.



Next I marked up another piece of perspex.

Cut it out, and look where it fits (not perfectly yet, mind you):

It serves two purposes; to make the 120mm fan on the rad only draw air from the bottom, and to form a foundation for mounting various sockets, extended from PCI cards (eg sound).

From my sound card which will be in the bottom PCI slot, I want to wire in four extension phono sockets for each of the 3 output channels and one for mic. So I got some 2 conductor shielded wire, 4x stereo phono sockets and 4x stereo phono plugs. So basically I'm making 4 extension leads.

I did one tonight, and will finish the rest another time.



I got a chrome grill for the PSU fan, but now I can't fit the PSU through its hole in the back of the case :

One last thing, its just a perspex shroud for the rear fans, for no reason in particular other than to suit the theme.

Update #32:

I just realised that the formatting is all borked, I might fix it.

Last time I left you with 2 pieces of perspex for the rear of the mobo tray, and I thought it would make more sense to combine them into one piece.

This is where its going, in place of the previous two pieces.

Fan holes cut:

The other side needs covering too:

I started on the aluminium section as well.

Upon further thinking, I've decided to go back to the original two piece design. Having the radiator removable without being fixed to the two exaust fans will make removing the watercooling easier in the long run, which I will show soon.

I have my last uni exam tomorrow, and after that I have 5 weeks holidays, so expect lots of updates.

 

[shplade]

Update #33:

So its been nearly 2 months since I updated, way too long IMO. Everything's sorted out now, so back to modding. Sorry :/

I've done a big upgrade, and as a result some of the plans I had now have to change. Not a problem really.

New components arrived last week, as well as a new PSU and waterblocks today.

The system right now comprises of:

AMD A64 San Diego 3700+
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
1GB G.Skill BH5 (F1-3200BWU2-1GBGH)
Leadtek PX7900GT TDH
Audigy 2 ZS
Pioneer DVR-111D
Seagate 200GB IDE (boot + apps drive), 80GB IDE (temp drive), 2x250GB SATA (storage drives)
Enermax ELT620AWT Liberty 620W

Here's the current setup while I get to work on the case.

The only parts I kept from my old system was the 80GB IDE drive and the case.

I also picked up a Swiftech Apogee and MCW60 to replace the Zalman blocks.

I bought 40xM3 40xM4 and 12xM5 button head allen bolts off ebay which I'll be using throughout the case.

With the new components come alot of new/updated plans.

The IDE drives are the system mission-critical drives which won't be removed often, if at all. To save space in the removable HDD cage, I've relocated the IDE drives to the 5 1/4 inch bays, housed inside Zalman HDD coolers. Not only will they keep the drives cool, they'll cut down on noise (these drives will be in use most). Now there's room for another two SATA drives in the removable rack. I've bought some shorter SATA cables because the controller is basically right next to the drives. You can see them in the first pic, not sleeved yet.

Here's the 80GB drive installed (the 200 is on my desk until I get the system installed inside the case).

The 200GB will go above the 80GB, in another Zalman HDD cooler. Above the 200GB will be the fan controller, and above that the Pioneer DVD burner. The two blank drive bays infront of the HDDs could very well house a LCD, I'm open to ideas *hint hint* *nudge nudge* *poke poke*.

I'll be making a new false floor exactly like the original (no logo, just solid), as well as a false roof which will hide the top drive bay/PSU area, with holes for ATX/12V/IDE cables. It'll seal the 5 1/4 drive bays off from the rest of the case, with the 2x80mm fans sucking air out the top of the case to keep the HDDs/fan controller/DVD burner cool.

With the new motherboard I have to scrap the old pump bracket and come up with a new solution. I've got something in mind which seems easy to implement and be easy to remove/alter. A bonus of this mobo (which is quite excellent IMO) is that it has onboard serial, so I can hook my LCD up inside the case, rather than running wires out.

I have a few hardware mods to do, namely volt mods for the RAM and GPU. Both will have dip-switches so I can undo them at any time if necessary.

I've scraped alot of ideas I had for the rear panel of the mobo tray, which will all be replaced with simpler and more efficient designs.

The Enermax Liberty PSU I'm running now is modular, which is excellent, but I don't like the included add-on wiring so I'll be making my own custom looms for it. It's also really quiet which is a bonus.



That's about all I can think of right now, I'll get more pics happening in the coming days.



Update #34:

Sorry about the delay, I've been busy with uni again

I was going to update yesterday but I forgot to charge my digicam batteries, so I left it for tonight. This would have been even earlier but I went out for a few hours of pool.

The only work I'm showing is the beginnings of the new radiator + fan + shroud mounting bracket. I haven't been satisfied with any of the ones I've created yet, so I spent some time thinking and came up with something simple, and effective.

Also I have to redesign the pump bracket, which I have a fairly good idea for already. More on these next update, I'm really keen on getting the watercooling installed.

I've decided to ditch the fan controller, because its way too big for what it does, and IMO a waste of space. So I have three empty 5.25" bays, which are going to house a blue backlit, white inverse, 320x240 pixel graphic LCD (a perfect match for the 20x4 MO character LCD ), which runs off the parallel port. I'm going to make my own fan controller, probably a set of hidden switches for off/7v/12v.



So what the hell have I been doing all this time? Sorting and organising the piles and piles of crap that I've collected over the years

Its still not all done *sigh*, and what I'm showing you guys is only relevant to this project.

I love these boxes

Wiring box:

Sockets/plugs/headers/random box:

This is my favourite box:

Its got 50x3mm blue LEDs, 20+ 5mm blue LEDs, heaps of resistors, diodes, the buttonhead allen bolts + nuts, DIP switches and the Lian Li screws that aren't in use atm.



I used to store all my tools in the drawers of my desk, which wasn't pretty. For my birthday my parents bought me this:

Suffice to say, I'm now alot more organised

The top drawer is for measuring, drawing and other precision equipment.

Next is hand tools:

Electronic stuff (messy):

Dremel + clone:

I splurged a bit at Dick Smith the other day, and while there picked up this multi-angle vice:

I haven't used it for anything yet, but once I get working again I'm sure it'll be handy.



Other new things:

2x Antec fans for the top of the case, the ones currently installed don't match and blow different amounts of air.

More black sleeving:

A big spool of yellow wire (to replace the green I'm currently using):

On the topic of wire, you can never have enough spare:

That's it for tonight. I'm sick of making promises and not living up to them, so I'll just leave it at that



Update #35:

Like I didn't promise, I did some work

I left you with this pic last time:

Today I made a start on it, I wasn't sure how it'd come out so I didn't bother with progress pics.

Here's a more detailed view of the underside:

This is the first time I used the allen buttonhead bolts and they look quite sexy IMO:

And this is its mounting orientation:

As can be seen its the same idea as before, just much simpler, easier to remove and more solid. The whole assembly will sit flush with the rear of the mobo tray, I just haven't drilled holes for the M5 bolts yet, I'll probably do that next weekend and get the watercooling installed all in one go

Until next time.

 

[shplade]

Update #36:

I couldn't sleep last night. My dog woke me up at 7:30 thismorning, crying, because my dad had gone out. :tired:

I got to work around 8:30 or so, here's what I did.

An overall shot.

I added the 'top' section to the rad mount to act as more of a duct, and cut a hole for the 120mm fan. Everything still needs a good file/sand to look nice.

You may have also noticed some sockets mounted on the side. They're just standard 3.5mm audio sockets which are going to act as extensions for the soundcard I/O.

I need to get a fifth socket and also replace the standard jacks that I was originally using with right angle ones to save space under the duct. I mis-aligned the the centre socket by about 0.5mm so it looks a little off centre. I might work out some labels for the sockets, but who knows.



Update #37:

Ok I'm going to clear it up the audio situation, as some of you are a little confuzzled.

This is the rear of the motherboard tray, showing where the sound card I/O sockets are:

As can be seen below, the rad mount/duct is going to get in the way of any attempts to plug speakers/headphones in.

An easy solution is to make extensions for the soundcard, so that's what the audio sockets are for.

I swung the rad mount around so you can see the inside, and where the extensions sockets are mounted.

So they'll be on the right side of the case.

I'll take some shots of the other side next weekend along with shots of the installed watercooling

 

[shplade]

Update #38:

I came home to a very nice surprise sitting on my desk

Excellently packaged

Inside was my new 320x240 CCFL backlit graphic LCD

For reference the PCB is ~110x170mm, big enough to fill 3x 5.25" bays

I'm going to have to modify the bay covers that I'm mounting it behind because the PCB is 20mm wider than a 5.25" bay, destroying any chance to mount the covers as Lian Li intended.

I don't have everything together for the LCD yet, but I did a quick test of the backlight and its working fine:

Woot!

 

[shplade]

Update #39:

I'm following this schematic:

http://skagon.teamfraud.com/images/wiring/powertip_wiring.png

Here's how far I am with it since starting thisarvo:

Two more ribbon cables and it'll be finished, then I just have to mount it.

Seeing the CCFL inverter upside down like that probably looks a little random, I did it like that so that I could easily link it to my PCB using the legs off one of the caps:

All that's left to do is to make two more cables.

I'm using 15-pin D-sub connections inside the case to cut down on wiring mess, as I only need to run 15 conductors to the parallel port.

Then there's linking the LCD to my PCB, that's pretty straightforward. Crimping and soldering 30 little pins for these connectors isn't fun

More later tonight if I can be bothered finishing it off.

 

[el rolio]

MASSIVE LOUD APPLAUSE. i did a super scroll thru the whole thing (i got fast eyes) and just seeing hte progress and attention to detail for a mod thats just simply making the machine your own.... i love it. its refreshing. cant wait to kick back and read the whole thing thru.

 

[scraper]

Really really really GREAT!!!

 

[indokyne]

i love worklogs that start out w/ so many pictures and so much progress ...

so much better than skimming through 30 pages of thread for the same number of pictures.

great work.

 

[Arcygenical]

Um. Have my children?

 

[Stevennoland]

You sir, have skills to pay the bills (someone once said that about me). I love how you see what you need and then 'POOF', there's a picture of it. Really great progress. The floor is way cool. Congrats and keep up the posts.

Steven

 

[Borgschulze]

Um. Have my children?

Make love to me, AND have my children.

 

[filthysanchez]

: O
amazing.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Well. i am making a custom case. And i am wondering where do you get that aluminum from.
And man, mine wont look as good as your, but oh well. I will try.

DAMN NICE JOB.

 

[lozaning]

looking mighty fine

 

[Conano]

sweet

 

[indokyne]

Um. Have my children?

whoa. female?

i did not know that Acrygenical was of the gender that was capable of bearing children.
pics or ban
?

 

[dchrsf]

Very nice modding! I was thinking..heh hes gonna do all that nice mod work with a old computer heh..what a waste.

Then I saw your new components, and I had a sigh of relief. lol nice job! Does that Audigy 2 ZS overheat anymore? My ZS stays cooler than my Southbridge chip, and neither are unstable so I cant understand how it would be causing you problems.

 

[Arcygenical]

whoa. female?

i did not know that Acrygenical was of the gender that was capable of bearing children.
pics or ban
?

That's such a typical [H] response

 

[drizzt81]

very nice!

 

[Pkirk618]

nice!!!

Just not enough pics of your worklogs

 

[98EXL]

/subscribed

 

[stelleg151]

True example of how modding a case isnt a one time deal, its an ongoing process.

 

[Dav5049915]

that is purely amazing. i wish i had half the skillz.

 

[98EXL]

that is purely amazing. i wish i had half the skillz.

it's not having the skills...I don't have 'case modding' skills, but you take what you already know about something, and figure out how to apply it to your case mods, and go from there. I tell ya, I'm a car guy, love fabricating stuff for that, and the PC is totally different in some cases, and the same thing in others. Just take your time, and plan everything all out, it all works out.

 

[jeffmoss26]

i stumbled upon this and i must say, great job. keep up the work and i cant wait to see the finished product!

 

[Geo Fry]

Dude this is absolutely amazing!!
Your worklog seems so sporadic yet your work is so thought out. Like steven said, you see what you want and its there.... Inspirational!

Looking forward to more

 

[cudaman73]

Dude this is absolutely amazing!!
Your worklog seems so sporadic yet your work is so thought out. Like steven said, you see what you want and its there.... Inspirational!

Looking forward to more

QFT.

Modu-Li is amazing.

 

[Itay]

very nice!
/subscribed

 

[MC FLMJIG]

Longest log I have ever seen!!! U have skillz!

 

[omegatotal]

teh awesome, simply!

very nice setup, but watch out when adding in extra connections between your psu and your devices, you might run into power problems and added resistance, thats the only thing that has ever held me back from doing something like what you are doing.

in my last case i planned to mod my psu with multiple 12awg mains for things like the hdd's and have them run to a dist pannel on the non-visable side of the case, or under something.. hidden away.. and then split it to the required number of leads.. instead of trying to run.. say 6hdds of one 16awg power lead(i have done that before, tho it worked, i wouldn't do it again with all my current knowledge of how it affects resistance)

 

[shplade]

Thanks alot for all the comments

I really wasn't happy with the cooling delivered by the stock chipset heatsink/heatpipe assembly, so I replaced it.

My original plan was to remove the stock cooler, cut the heatpipe off the MOSFET heatsink so that I could still use it, and put some aftermarket cooling on the chipset. I still went with that plan, but rather than destroy a perfectly good A8N SLI Premium heatpipe, I swapped my intact one for someone elses MOSFET heatsink. Win win.

Anyway here are the pics.

 

[shplade]

I can't be bothered with pics right now, so I'll just talk some ideas.

I'm in the process of designing a cover for the mobo, which will be attached to the removable tray (which is still, and will still be, removable). It'll cover most of the components, including the expansion cards. The main reason for it is so I have something solid to mount the pump and reservoir (I'll be getting an Innovatek Fass-O-Matic) to. They will both sit between the videocard and soundcard.

The cover will be more of a frame than anything, I still want the components to be visible, especially the waterblocks. So there'll be plenty of perspex and mesh involved

It'll be of a similar construction to the rad mount I made a few updates ago (angle and sheet alu). I have it pretty much all worked out in my head, I just have to make it.

I'm going to have to implement some kind of airflow (ie, fan ) to keep the passively cooled items... cool. My main concerns are the chipset, mobo MOSFETs, RAM (which will be running 3.3V next time I have the system apart), the videocard (there are a few chips on the back which apparently get quite hot, especially when overclocked/overvolted - another thing I have to do) and the soundcard which has always been a bit of a problem.

To add the the heat factor even more, I'll be adding two 320GB hdds in the bottom rack, making it a total of 6 drives (1420GB haha, I watch alot of TV).

Like I've said, only a few more weeks of uni and then I'll be back into it again, expect a few more little updates till then though.

 

[Killermangiro*]

wow, nice work-log. good work.
but: i don't like the font of your logo. it looks blocky and i wouldn't put that anywere on the case. there's one famous case-con-builder from germany who did it this way:

i would do the logo the same way. just as simple and as short as possible. no big words.

 

[shplade]

I dunno what I'll do with the logo, thats another thing to do, sigh. lol

Little update of sorts, I've got some new stuff.

Alot (I don't recall how long the spools are) of black and red wire (I have another of yellow from a few months back), some 6-pin (PCI-E graphics style) plugs (which just so happen to be the same plugs used for modular wiring on my Enermax PSU), lots of ATX pins, and a molex crimper.

But most importantly, an Innovatek Fass-o-Matic

I've seen plenty of watercooling loops implementing them, and fell in love with the look. I don't think you can appreciate the quality till you've held one in your hands.



Back to real life again though I have an exam at 8am tomorrow morning, followed by a week off uni to study for a week of exams... After that, this project is going to be top priority.