Switchmod 2.0 in a Cosmos

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Impgrin

n00b
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
Messages
15
Hi All !

You may or may not remember my Switchmod from a few years back...here's what it looked like:

http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=ODExOCxTZXB0ZW1iZXIsMjAwMyxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

The email address in that link isn't valid anymore btw :)

My Antech case was getting a bit dusty and I'd been thinking about changing it when along comes Coolermaster and their Cosmos 1000. I knew I had to have the case, I just had no idea if my switch would fit. I asked around trying to get measurements from different sources but the only person who wrote back to me wasn't in town...I couldn't wait so I just said the heck with it, I'll figure it out later :D

I was kinda on a deadline as 2 days after I started this I was going to a small LAN party with some friends...I could have just brought the switch and put it on the floor besides my case but that wouldn't have been any fun ;)

I won't go into super detail as it's prettymuch the same as the last mod but I got everything crammed in and working.

This shot shows how I routed the wires...had to cut out the front fan guard. That fan was moved to the bottom of the case and the shrouded fan went on top of the HDD Stack.



The switch itself is actually mounted in the first 5.5" drive bay. I mounted it upside down on a sheet of 1/4 inch plexi then mounted that on a chopped off DVD drive casing. Then it was just a matter of sliding it in. Cosmos mounting system is holding it in place.



Here's what it looks like from inside, the blue and brown wire hanging down under the switch is leading to a standard PC power connector cut into the back of the case. Yes I could have run it off internal power and saved myself a headache but I wanted make sure the LAN would go on in case I needed to reboot or shutdown. Notice how the switch fits perfectly between the rear fan and the front drive cages ? Lucked out bigtime !



More wiring...the sleeved wires are a result of my laziness and time constraints...the old switch was an even tighter fit so some of the wires were too short to recycle. Had to buy some new patch cords and didn't skin 'em.



And here's the finished product...I just traced out the shape of the indent on top of the case on a piece of paper, drew out the holes for the ports and indicators then traced them back onto the plastic using a ruler and knife. Little Dremel work and voila ! The blue light in back is a little LED case light I made using 5 LEDs, it runs off the PCs power.



 
Looks great, I like the look of the angled ports. You should think about getting some black wire clips (the kind with double-sided tape on the back) and stick them on the top to help organize wire that runs down the back.
 
Thanks for the compliment ! I like it too but it wans't a choice...any other placement wouldn't have fit :) The indicators are on a PCB about an inch high and there's a 20 pin ribbon cable connected to it. the patch panels are about an inch and a half wide sans-wires...no other configuration would have worked...

I am looking into some cable management but it has to look cool :)
 
Looks really awesome. Nice job. My only question is...what does a switch do exactly? :D Just basically a big router? What is it connected to exactly in your PC?
 
LOL at home, usually a tech demo, my PC connects to it, it connects to my broadband router just to prove it works...once a month though, it serves as network backbone for LAN parties...I'm lazy and couldn't bear carrying an extra box :D
 
Just a thought, but what if you covered those LED's with a thin piece of black transparent acrylic? Might look neat, yet still able to see the leds.
 
Hmmm good idea Response, problem is they're raised about 1/3 of an inch above the surface...I can't just slap a cut-out into the cover...an acrylic cover would have to be hollowed out or dome-shaped. Don't think it would be possible to fabricate something that would look clean. Anyone have any ideas ?
 
not sure how it would look. but if you had the acrylic you could drill the holes for the LEDS(might take a while) and have a cleaner look that way.
 
That probably wouldn't work, acrylic leaves a matte finish after cutting or drilling...getting the gloss finish back is beyond my skills...that and I don't have a drill press so lining up that many holes wouldn't be doable :)
 
not sure about the clearance inside but if u could mount the leds in a way that they are flush, by using some sort of spacer or whatever. then get a piece of black acrylic to cover that entire area with cutouts for the switchports and use socket cap screws to go through the acrylic to attach it and the switchports to the case. That would really finish it off nicely.
 
you could always get some standoffs and mount the black plexi that way. it would just mean that you have little gap between the top of the case and the plexi; great for some airflow.
 
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