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Project: Outside the Box

P

Powerhouse2k

Gawd
Joined
Oct 21, 2000
Messages
687
Hello everyone, finally got off my ass, and made myself a case.;)

That's right, I didn't Mod a case, I actually built one.:D

So before I get started showing you the good stuff, let me start by crediting everyone on this and other modding forums, who decided to make their systems different than all the rest.

I give credit (and most of my inspiration) to the following modders:
markkleb 's awesome PC called Crossflo...


You can see some of his work in the following places...
http://www.overclock3d.net/articles...=modding_log_-__markkleb_s__project_crossflo_
http://www.pdxlan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1407

Next on the list is MacroBlack:
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2005/09/01/macro_black/1

and finally, Boxgods Better Test Bench:

http://www.boxgods.com/dept/modding/index.php?Action=Article&ID=188

So with the above inspiration, I began looking for a new case to work on. I was really interested in the Lian Li PC-A05B (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1133290) because of all the stuff you could put in such a small space. One of my buddies at work liked it so much, he put a system together using that case, and it came out awesome.

But I wanted something a little different to work with so I looked at lots of different Plexi cases (mostly from Danger Den as they seem to carry some very interesting designs). I was very much interested in the Torture Rack (http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=250&cat=1&page=1) but it wouldn't fit on my desk like I had hoped.

So what is a modder to do? Why download Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) and start playing around with designs.:eek:
So after messing around with Sketchup for several hours over a couple of days, this was my final design, and while rough, was the general outline of what I was looking for:


So now with the design done, it was time to make a prototype, out of some extra pre-trash items...


Gotta love the printout of the original Motherboard I had in mind for the build. You get a cookie if you can figure out which Motherboard it is?:confused:

Some more shots of the prototype, this one with the DVD drive, EK Res, and my iPhone for scale:

and another angle...

Finally what's in the bottom half, and how it should all fit in such a tiny space...


That's it for now, I'll post more tomarrow.
 
Great work Powerhouse,

I saw the final build firsthand and it looks great.
I'll let Powerhouse post more pictures before I give anything away.


:cool:
 
The cookie is in the mail.;)

First today, let me list some of the parts I've gotten for this project. All the plexiglass is from eStreetPlastics (http://www.estreetplastics.com/). I used 1/4 for the top and bottom pieces and 1/8 for the front, back and sides. I also got a couple of 3 foot acrylic rods for the back half of the case.

I also picked up a few tools from Home Depot, a heat gun for bending the plexi sheets, and some Tapp bits to put screw holes into the plexi.

So here is the first piece I bent...


Let me just say that heating and bending plexi is super easy, it took about 15 minutes to do both bends on this piece. My tip for anyone doing this, is go slowly back and forth with the heat gun, on the piece you want to bend, and apply just a little pressure continuesly until your just past where you want the bend to finish at. You want to do slightly more, as the plexi will bend back a little once the heat is removed.


Here is the final piece, again, it took only about 15 minutes to do these bends, very fast and easy.


So the bending of the above pieces was easy, mostly because they were 1/8 acrylic, but this piece was 1/4 so it took a bit longer (about 20 minutes per bend).


Here is some more test fittings, and getting measurements on the top back piece.

Hmm, what's that sitting on the top back piece?:confused:
 
I wouldn't feel comfortable with my expensive parts out in the open like that. Great job bending the plexi, looks really good. I've been thinking about getting a fishtank, maybe I'll try my hand at plexi and build my own.
 
Expensive parts? These...? Nah, wait till you see the next few picts.:D

To continue on, let me give you some more background on whats going into the build. My current PC is a AMD 3800+ dual core, which I bought when it first came out, with 3 gigs of DDR memory, a couple of Raptor drives, and a 7800GT video card. It is watercooled, but with parts I cobbled together over time (single 120mm DD Radiator, Aqua Computer waterblock, all just cooling the CPU). Now I've had this system for nearly 3 years, and it was about time to do a beefy upgrade to hopefully last another 3 years.

New system:
Asus Maximus Formula
Intel Q6600 G0 stepping
8gigs of DDR2
8800GT
G7 Wireless Gaming mouse
Razer Lycosa Gaming keyboard

Carry over from existing system:
X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Soundcard
150gig Raptor 'OS' Hard Drive
500gig WD 'Data' drive

I went with the Maximus Formula after reading the forums here http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1248989&highlight=Maximus+Formula and at the Xtreme Forums here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=179580.

Enough talking for now, on to the new pics..

Another view of the last set of picts...


That Radiator in the back is the MagiCool XTREME QUAD 480 Radiator. I can already here the groans from all the watercooling junkies out there. The reason I went with the QUAD was because of the size. Orginally I waned to get the ThermoChill PA120.2 (as the 120.3 was too big for the size of my case. But after looking at all the reviews I could find, I determined that the QUAD would cool all my stuff a bit better than just the 120.2. Of course I could have gotten two 120.2's, but hey, I'm not made of money, I did have a budget for all this stuff.;)

Next up, the Motherboard before Waterblocks...


and after adding some nice EK waterblocks...


Sorry I didn't take a closeup of just the Motherboard, but there will be more of that later. Oh yeah, and the cutouts for the 5.25 area was a bitch, tons of sanding to get the DVD drive to fit just right.


I also had a couple of side projects that needed to be done. First up, was the Radiator Fans needed a nice rubber gasket to help reduce vibrational noise. What better to use then some old mousemats.:p



Number two was the DVD drive mod, needed to put a window in that sucker, 'cause seeing spinning disc's is cool.:cool:


Finally, I had to make the holders for the two 5.25 bay devices...


That's it for now, more stuff tomarrow.
 
Time for another update, this one with some big, juicy, picts.:D

In the image below, you can see some of the extras I've added to the case. After messing with my last case, where filling was easy thanks to a AquaTub, but I didn't have an easy way to drain the system. I figured it was time to make my watercooling life a little easier. On the right, is a 'T' (from Danger Den), connected to a drain (also from DD). This should allow for easy purging of the liquid, while the EK Res allows for easy filling. You can also see the front case feet attached to a couple of Plexi Pillars.


After getting the Motherboard centered on the Plexi, it was time to drill and Tapp to mount that sucker.


Here you can see I switched where the Powersupply was going to go, and man, look at all the cables, I'ts going to be tough to hide them all (for the rate my cables thread :eek:), but I have an idea for that.;) Also in the lower 5.25 bay, I've placed my fan controller (the Scythe Kaze Master). I've also mounted the back Plexi Pillars, and the pump in the front right.


Final image for now (more later tonight), I did some more Motherboard mods, including cutting out the area behind the CPU/NB, and the SB. I also cut a hole for the EK Res and Tapped the holes for all 4 Plexi Pillars to mount the Motherboard tray to.
 
As promised, a minor update.

Here are some more shots of the Motherboard cutouts. Those aren't scratches you see, but just left over junk that holds the paper to the Plexi (just didn't clean it up yet).





With the rest of the case coming along nicely, it was time to finish the back area. Here was the first rough-cut piece...


More on the back later.:)

I made a reference to the MacroBlack Plexi case at the start of this thread, and my idea was to do something similar with the case. That is, to paint the interior of the Plexi making the exterior look extra glossy.

But something happened when I was about to get to that point. I noticed that this Logitech G7 mouse that I have, has a Carbon Fiber look to it. So I did some searching, and instead of messing with actual Carbon Fiber, there was some film that you could apply which I found at MNPCTech http://www.mnpctech.com/CarbonFiber.html. Check it out...


So check out the look now...



It looks even better up close. One of my worries with a Plexi case, was the fact that scratches can and will happen (and usually they are very easy to spot). But with this Carbon Fiber film, that worry has just went away.:D

More updates later.:D
 
this thing is just begging to have a soda spilled on it... please cover it with something...
 
I have never spilled any drinks on my keyboards, let alone on one of my LCD's (which the Motherboard would be about the same height). Now I do have a 2.5year old boy, which makes me nervous.:eek:

However, I have some Plexi for a sort of blast shield (its very thin, and will just cover the Motherboard, with slots for Video Cards, Sound Cards, and Watercooling cables). But work on that will come a little later.

Now, more images...



In the next image, you can just make out the top back piece (still has the brown paper attached to it).



Now I'm getting to the final stretch, and adding the finishing touches. First up, leak testing, which I ran for about 12 hours, without any issues. I cleaned out the radiator with distilled water first, then ran it through the whole loop. To help with this, I picked up a handy little 24 pin plug, that allows you to turn everything on, except the Motherboard (course you can do this with a paperclip, but it was a cheap enough purchase that I didn't care to learn how).


Finally you can see the back of the system. All the fans were sleeved and joined together, which made hooking them up to the Scythe Kaze Master so easy.


Still lots of little things to do, like where to mount the LCD Poster that comes with the Formula Maximus. But at least it's getting very close to being finished...
 
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