Project: Rogue (NZXT SFF)

Inspiration is what it's all about. There were plenty of modders that gave me exactly that, before I started.

I'm really looking forward to your own worklog. I really do love this case, and want to see what other people can do with it as well.
 
nice work seldon9 do you have a work log posted? like what appears to be pump and reservoir. nice job on hose routing.

Hurry up craigbu I must see how you finished the mouting of the motherboard. j/k no hurry just need more pic's lol.
 
Well, I know you all are eagerly waiting, and this isn't all my progress to date, but I think now is great time to post a few pics.

I didn't get a picture before I made all of my cuts, but here I've taped out where I need to do a little finish filing.

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I need to take care of the open gap at the bottom of the case. This piece of aluminum should take care of it...

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All clamped in, and cut to for height.

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Now finally, the back panel is riveted in to place. Just a little more detail work, and I'll have it!

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I'll second that nice work seldon9.

craigbu you must be a surgeon. I'll post some pic's when I get back in 5 days but I can tell you i stink at plasma cutting. I used it to cut some 2mm aluminum looks like rats chewed it I will probably spend 3 hours with a file just to clean it up. (not really that bad just now what I had hoped).

Are you using primarily a dremel? or a jigsaw? maybe I should lay off the booze and my hand will steady up, lol, j/k. I just don't want to mess up this case.
 
I'll second that nice work seldon9.

craigbu you must be a surgeon. I'll post some pic's when I get back in 5 days but I can tell you i stink at plasma cutting. I used it to cut some 2mm aluminum looks like rats chewed it I will probably spend 3 hours with a file just to clean it up. (not really that bad just now what I had hoped).

Are you using primarily a dremel? or a jigsaw? maybe I should lay off the booze and my hand will steady up, lol, j/k. I just don't want to mess up this case.

Most of my work is done with a Dremel. I've gotten pretty good at it, and find it to be pretty accurate. I'll only use a jigsaw on very long cuts in thick material. I wouldn't bother laying off the booze. Remember, AA is for quitters... :D
 
all this metal bending is looking pretty cool, might just pick up a bender off of ebay. Then i have to find where to get metal. Very cool project, cant wait to see what itll finally look like!
 
I was gone over the weekend, so I wasn't able to get any real modding done, but work still continued. I was able to get a few more miscellaneous parts ordered, including the elusive LCD screen. I had several sources fall through for different reasons, until I finally found this 10.2" wisdescreen LCD.

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I've also got the grill designed for the fans on top of the case. There will be two banks, of three fans each. The grill will be mounted on each of them, with the addition of a hex mesh beneath...

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More coming shortly...
 
Here is the most likely candidate for the side panel acrylic. I may revise it a little, but I doubt it will change much unless major inspiration strikes...

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This is gonna look sick! What program are you using to make those lay outs? Auto CAD?
 
This is gonna look sick! What program are you using to make those lay outs? Auto CAD?

I'm using Front Panel Designer. As with my previous projects, I'm going to be using Front Panel Express for the mill work.
 
No joke at all. It's basically a simple CAD program. It's not just for 'front panels', it can be used to make anything out of reasonably sized sheets of aluminum or acrylic. The software is free. Download it and give it a shot. The software prices as you go, so you know exactly how much the panel will cost you. You also order through the software as well. It's extremely slick, and their work is absolutely top-notch (assuming you can design a decent panel).

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/
 
mg thats sick, is this how you made the front panel for the last project? Cus i remember seeing a lay out similar to that in the work log then a few days later the front panel came cut like that. This is sick cus im making a case also and need a back and front panel and i do not have a steady hand.:D:p:rolleyes: Lol Thanks!
 
Yeah, this is what I used for Losias, and my Shuttle project. They practically know me by name there...
 
I can never remember losias. Its tough. Lol but thanks again! And keep the work coming, my work log maybe up sooner than i thought. Lol
 
Hell, I wish I could get a deal... The biggest thing to remember, is that they charge per cut. The more cuts, the more the cost. I've had to revise plans because they weren't cost effective. There are certain things that are just worth it though, and I'm willing to pay a little to get exactly what I want.
 
I love days like today... Not only is it Friday, but I had a long awaited package on my doorstep when I got home. My new Matrix Orbital display has arrived, after a several month backorder. It is the GX Typhoon MCE. Let's take a look at this thing...

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Everything out of the box...

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This thing is just begging to be modded...

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Since this is the Media Center Edition, it comes with a remote. It can handle all MCE functions.

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The model I received is the Tri-color unit. That basically means that I can change the display to any one of three colors, and any combination in between. I've taken a few shots to give you some idea of how cool that feature is.

Red

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Green

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Blue

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Purple

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I could go on, but you get the idea...

The LCD uses LcdStudio for it's interface and display design. The software is pretty slick. It's basically drag and drop. You can add and resize display components on the fly. The software supports a ton of additional plugins for displaying information. ATITool, Fraps, RivaTuner, Speedfan, iTunes, etc.

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Here's a short video of me adding and dragging a few things around...

http://img531.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mvi3699sn1.flv
 
bad ass looking lcd :cool:
lovin' the clean worklog dude, keep it up!
*subscribed*
 
Sometimes you just have to improvise... As (bad) luck would have it, the Via Artigo that I wanted to put in this case, seems to be out of stock everywhere I look. Most eta's put it's arrival at the end of February. Well, I'm way to impatient to wait almost a month before it arrives. I don't want it to hold up any work on the case, and that's where the improvisation comes in. As it turns out, you can buy the Via PX10000G Pico-ITX motherboard separately, so that's exactly what I did. So, I purchased that, along with a DC-DC power supply, hard drive, memory, and wireless adapter. The only thing I'm really missing is the small case to put all the parts in. Well, after thinking about it, I don't know if I really needed the case anyway. I can fab something of my own almost as easily. It's a little strange to think about the fact that I bought an entire 'computer' last night... just to put inside another computer... crazy!
 
Well, I just ordered some more parts. This time around, it was mostly for cooling. After much contemplation, I decided to go ahead and pull out the big guns here. If I truly want this case to be something amazing, plain old watercooling wasn't going to be enough. That being said, I went ahead and ordered the Wintsch Labs Arctic Web TEC cooler, and a Meanwell auxiliary PSU. I also ordered the rest of the needed tubing, barbs, and fittings. At this point, I don't know if I'm just really committed to being crazy, or crazy enough to be committed...
 
Can't wait until I see how you put all together. Really like that Typhoon.

What do you think your system is going to weigh 70 lbs or so? Are you going to have a motorized cart to move it or just a dolly? j/k. The case alone weighs what about 18 lbs then with two radiators, w/p and all the other peripherals it got to add up.

keep up the good work
 
when you put in the filler piece on the back panel did you rivet it to the removable motherboard tray?
 
The filler piece is riveted to the bottom of the case itself. I didn't use the old motherboard tray at all. I do have a few pics to get up later today that may show that area a little better.
 
Can't wait until I see how you put all together. Really like that Typhoon.

What do you think your system is going to weigh 70 lbs or so? Are you going to have a motorized cart to move it or just a dolly? j/k. The case alone weighs what about 18 lbs then with two radiators, w/p and all the other peripherals it got to add up.

keep up the good work

You may not be far off on the weight... Well, maybe not 70, but I believe LOSIAS was close to 40. That was an a SG01 mind you, this case has a headstart with it's weight already. I don't think the included carrying straps will be able to hold it (and I wouldn't trust them to either).
 
Who doesn't love parts? I had another package arrive from FrozenCPU. I sometimes feel like I single-handedly keep them in business. :D

A few LED switches, shrink wrap, wire sleeving, and a laser LED light...

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A little hex mesh...

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Since the case is watercooled, I wanted a decent sized reservoir. This is designed to fill a 120mm fan hole.

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You'll see here why I chose the reservoir that I did. I thought I'd take care of two issues at once. Not only did I need a reservoir, but I had a 120mm hole in the back of the case that I needed filled.

In order to fit the reservoir in place, I needed to do a little trimming.

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A little work with a dremel, file, and sandpaper got me the following results.

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Since I had the Matrix Orbital display arrive, I thought I'd jump to a little work on the front panel. The LCD will be situated on the lower center of the front face. The Dakota Digital gauges will flank it on the left and the right, with the widescreen LCD sitting above it.

Here I've marked out where the display will sit.

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After the rough cut.

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After the final filing.

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The display will be recessed behind the panel. Although the door won't need to be used on a regular basis, it will be able to swing free and clear.

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Another quick update here...

I decided to get a little work done on the top of the case. Due to the dual radiators, and the ATX motherboard, there simply isn't room to mount fans directly to the radiators themselves. This meant I had to take a different approach to airflow. The best option I had was to mount fans on the top of the case. By doing this, fresh, cool air will be drawn in to the sides of the case and through the radiators, then pulled out through the top. Since the rest of the case will be sealed, the only place the air can be drawn in, will be through the radiators. I may lose a little efficiency compared to having the fans directly on the radiators, but I doubt it will be that much. Not to mention the fact that I'll have six fans, for a pair of 240.2 radiators. Also, the Sanyo Denki fans are airflow monsters. They range anywhere from a soft breeze, to Hoover, all at surprisingly quiet noise levels.

Here you can get the basic idea for the top of the case. There will be a panel angled to the left and the right. This will be made using the original cover, in addition to some strategically bent 1mm aluminum. The whole assembly will be easily removed in one piece, just as the original version. I'm checking in to some sort of contact type of connection that will remove the need to unplug the fan wires when the top is removed.

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Only 4 of the 6 fans are sitting on here right now. I have to cut a little metal to make 6 fit, but I'll have that done shortly.

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With the above pictures, you should get an idea of where the fan grills come in to play. I'm not completely sold on using fans that are 38mm thick, however. I was hoping for something with a bit lower profile. Even though the Sanyo's are a stellar fan, should I ever want to swap fans at a later date, it should be pretty simple to do so.

More to come...
 
Brave man to cut into the front cover. I sweated over the cutting of the the back of my rogue case. I just know that I would slip and screw up the front if I tried.

Nice work
 
Yeah, I was feeling a little brave... That little rectangle is only the start though. I've got two 2 1/4" holes to put in there, plus a 10"x6" hole for the widescreen LCD, and finally 2 slots for the DVD drives. That's a whole lotta cutting yet!
 
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