Project: Afterburner

[dexaroni]

PROJECT: http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/cooltext82788149.gif

Well, Part Crysis is finished, so I am moving onto my next project.

This will be based on an Antec 900 case. Since I got a new shuttle for LAN parties, I decided I can build a rig with wreckless abandon since weight and value are not a concern if it is staying on my desk...

The case itself will be airforce themed, I can't go into much more detail there, but I am sure you will start to see it's fighter-jet inspired designs popping up as I go through the worklog.

Today I just have a few prelimenary shots for ya'll, the markings for wire management, designs for custom displays and power on options, a one of my displays in motion.

First, here are the holes I need to cut for the wire management:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1751.jpg

Next, I have the top panel... I am replacing the 240mm fan with a 2x 120mm radiator grill, and setting up one of two radiators up there... I am also putting a "cockpit" (ie a bunch of shiny LCD's and buttons) up there to replace all of the stock case buttons.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1750.jpg

Of course, the case is Watercooled, I am having some custom parts made for me by the awesome guys at Danger Den (big throw out to Jeremy, Dennis, and all the boys out there), but I can't show you those yet, as A) It would ruin the suprise, and B) I haven't even designed them yet lol. However, here is what I do have...

I got two of these:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1757.jpg

And they will go here:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1758.jpg

And here:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1759.jpg

Also have an awesome pump! 18 watt DDC, with a Dangerden Acrylic top, a new product. Performance so far is good, about the same as the XSPC one I had, plus it has more customization options. Only concern is that the flowrate is dropped slightly because of the lower bore size.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1756.jpg

And the heart of the system: Intel QX9650 Engineering Sample: I won this at the PDXLAN11 Overclocking Competition, and just had to build an uber rig around it.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/DSCF1761.jpg

And what is left to buy?
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/shoppinglist.jpg

And finally, a nice little video of a custom script I setup for my Matrix Orbital GX Typhoon:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/th_DSCF1763.jpg (http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/?action=view&current=DSCF1763.flv)

[PartyLikeARockstar]

Nice. wanting to see more of this one.

[dexaroni]

Tell me, which looks better?

A:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/design2copy.jpg

OR

B:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/frontpaneldesigncopy.jpg

[dexaroni]

PS, here is a little model I am working on... very rough, when I am done I will have the whole thing designed out... I decided to do this becuase last time I went by the seat of my pants and it would seem to me that the seat of my pants and I have different ideas regarding the way my mods should go.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/antec900.png

[dexaroni]

I also have a rough design for the top panel done:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/topgrill.jpg

I have a feeling this will be good :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

May I make a suggestion to the first design for the front grill, it looks great but I think it is missing something?? I would add 2 triangles to the top and bottom between the "wings" I will call them. Kinda like this "<" but have the point facing the center of the grill.

[dexaroni]

I see what you mean and I will have to try and implement it... See, that is the air force logo:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/United_States_Air_Force_logo%2C_blue_and_silver.jp g/250px-United_States_Air_Force_logo%2C_blue_and_silver.jp g

I can understand though, and I wanted to open up airflow down there, so I have to look into my options.

[dexaroni]

Ch-ch-check it out!

Front panel laser design! (Yes, I even made it myself!)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/f38a5ec1.jpg

Side angled shot of the case to give a basic layout idea. Its amazing how well the front panel worked out, I fit an Optical Drive, 2 HDD, and the radiator with about 3/4" to spare up front.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/8d9de268.jpg

Inside of case, painted it up, cut holes for wire management. PSU is installed, pump is in the relative location it will end up. Holes will be lined once my Performance PC's shipment comes in...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/4a66578a.jpg

And, the top of the case, I have to rebuild the top panel to support the parts shown... but that shows what I am going to have going on up there.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/d08fdd5d.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Lol what's that octopus doing sitting at the bottom of your case??? lol. Nice work on the front panel design.

[dexaroni]

That would be the power supply wires :P Sarcastic answer for a sarcastic question!

I cannot do the routing until next monday, my shipment of c-channel is coming then so I can line the holes that I cut, I would wire it up now but I dont want the wires to be severed on the PSU.

[dexaroni]

Question for you guys, does anyone know where I can get some cheap plastic material? I dont really need to use anything as high grade as acrylic since I will just end up painting it anyways.

What I am looking for is a styrene supplier. In addition to this, what is everyones prefered brand of modeling putty? I need to get some kind of filler, and I really don't like bondo, yet would it be the best thing to use considering that I am covering a large area?

Thanks in advance.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I would just use plexi. I went to a plastics place over here and asked for some offcuts that were 4mm thick, the guy gave me about 500x500mm worth for $10AUD.

Polly filler should work well for your putty needs. We don't have Bondo (that I have seen) over here in Australia but I have found that basically any of the fillers that you can get from the hardware store works well. Just ask for their advice before purchase and you should be fine.

[dexaroni]

The issue is not funds, its the actual material itself. What I need is something that is fairly soft so it will cut easily using a dremel, something that I can use a heatgun to bend, and something that is very thin.

I need something around 3mm thick, that I can cut with a dremel. I also need to drill many holes through it, and it is preferable that it has a rough surface.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Mabye you should look away from plexi and look towards aluminium sheet metal. Nice and soft, easy to bend without heat gun and easy to drill.

[dexaroni]

That will not work either :)

What this case is for is the PDXLAN 12 modding competition. The only rule was the case had to be an Antec 900.

Now, for my theme, I decided to make what I felt that the Antec 900 should have been from the start. Making an alloy top panel would completely void that goal. I need to use a sort of plastic, and it looks like acrylic is not going to work for what I am trying to do.

[OvRiDe]

Maybe Styrene? Like what Paul, Bod, and rendermanDan used on their mods?

[dexaroni]

Well, I ended up using acrylic. Turned out pretty well actually, will end up being perfect once I get it all done.

I will throw up some pictures of my work thus far tonight.

[dexaroni]

So, as I promised, I have updated pictures! Keep in mind, this is not by any means the finished product, just one more step to the end.

Here is my shipment from Performance PC's, they stuck a cat in the box too, I don't know what to do with it but it sure is cute!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/25801d68.jpg

Here is the interior of the case after I got done putting trim on the holes and got my wiring all done up. All the wires will be hidden behind the mobo when I am through.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/3694755a.jpg

Here is a shot of the front sans panel.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/e71970bb.jpg

Here is a closeup shot of that

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/809d6098.jpg

This is the custom piece that I built to extend the top panel so I can mount the thermochill.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/f7348a54.jpg

A shot of it all together

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/765eab03.jpg

And finally my desk with the current shuttle that I am using while I build this:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/03bec5fc.jpg

[nevermind1534]

If you are looking for a filler and / or an epoxy, try marine tex. I have found that it works pretty good.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looking good buddy. YAY free cat lol.

[dexaroni]

I'll have to look up marine tex. I was going to use bondo, but I have had bad past experiences with it. Is marine tex a two part mix?

I'll get some more pics up later once I start doing cutting and moulding on the top bezel.

[dexaroni]

Okay, get ready for a BIG one! Lots of pics and work done!

First, I got the top radiator panel made up.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/0d0822e8.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/de2bea08.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/050a9040.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/f5bea726.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/ec859d8a.jpg

Obviously, I need to do a lot of bondo and sanding on it, then paint! I also need some longer screws, the ones I bought were the right thread but about 1mm too short! A real shame.

Here is a great money shot showing off teh sexy AC Ryan Blackfire fans.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/a3499cf3.jpg

And finally, I got the side panel (partially) cut... my diamond bit blade ended up rounding off right on the home stretch :( I will be fixing that soon though. And of course, the top panel in all of its glory, fully mounted and locked to the top of the case!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/5538505b.jpg

And one more for yeh!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/10e853cb.jpg

Suggestions, comments, questions, all are welcome!

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks cool. Are you going to paint that plexi shroud? The glue marks on the seems are kinda unsightly.

[DonT-FeaR]

be a pitty to paint it cuz it looks so cool but yea teh glue is un sexc!!! lol good work tho

[dexaroni]

Everyone keeps askign me this, and I keep typing it in the thread! There are more than pictures folks!

Hehe, anyways, I will be scraping off all the glue, and filling the corners with bondo, and rounding it off and sanding it until it looks like one solid piece, then I will be painting it. As I have stated, its a ROUGH piece, no where close to being done.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sorry I must have skipped that part.

[nevermind1534]

marine tex is a two part epoxy/filler. They have a few different products; look at their website (http://marinetex.com/)

btw, I think the case is starting to look pretty good.

[Remy]

Hmmm...:think: Very similar to the design I had for my project. Unfortunately, it's been cancelled due to financial reasons (trying to keep my house...). Good luck with this project man. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Remy

[dexaroni]

Yes, I have teh pictures!

First, I got the top piece finished for the most part... there are still some grooves and ridges I have to take care of but this is where I am at thus far.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2116.jpg

Sooooo smooth.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2117.jpg

Here is how it looks in the back. That was the easiest part obviously.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2118.jpg

Heres the wiring work that I did... I got all my wires fed through behind the mobo, the pump(s) are in place, its lookin great!

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2114.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2115.jpg

Heres the front, I am really happy with the wiring up here, it came out really clean... that silver thing above the HD's is an LED bar, it will illuminate the PALIT logo that will be on the front panel once it gets here.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2120.jpg

I got some new hardware too!

Corsair Dominator DDR800

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2121.jpg

I also removed the LED from my Xfi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty edition... I didn't want that stinkin F on there.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2122.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2124.jpg

And it all together thus far:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2119.jpg
Let me know what you think!

[DonT-FeaR]

nice work keep it up mate

[p0Pe]

wow hot damn that top looks nice:D didnt think it woud turn out that smooth!
+rep

[The boy 4rm oz]

Man that looks HOT, the cover is awesome. Nice work there. +rep

[dexaroni]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I got the holes planned out today, I am going to run dual fillports and a bulgin power switch, so I need to drill those holes today.

I also got sponsored by, as far as I am concerned, the best Water Cooling company there is, Danger Den! Big thanks to those guys.

My box of goodies should be here today, and I will be sure to promptly post pictures of me hacking brand new WC parts.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Lucky you. I need a new pump, my current one probably won't stand the third radiator I want to add to the loop lol.

[dexaroni]

THREE rads in one loop?! Gotta see that.

Today, I am making the LCD bezel (for the case), getting the holes drilled for my fillports and buttons and LED's, and IF my Danger Den box comes.... well then you are REALLY going to like what you see tonight.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yeah man. An 80mm, 120mm and 240mm lol. That's why I recon I need the new pump lol.

[dexaroni]

I got a fair bit of work done so far this weekend:

First, I got a ROUGH outline for the LCD placement done, as well as drilled holes for the fillports and power button.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/d3fdd1cc.jpg

Next, I got the side panel painted and trimmed... window will be coming soon.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/cfcc44f0.jpg

Close up shot of the paint... what looks like damage is actually the metal flakes in the paint reflecting light.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/45235b27.jpg

And, the money shot of my PC, the new front panel custom designed by myself in association with Danger Den. Thanks again to them, and thanks to Palit for the great video card sponsorship! Hear me out, these cards really are great, Palit deviates from reference design at times, in order to get maximum performance, and it shows!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/ec14d17c.jpg

And here is a shot of it all together so far.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y224/dexcarm89/e6cb611d.jpg

Wiring comes up next week, buying mobo monday, video cards coming soon, nearing the finishing steps here :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

That window trim looks very schmik...may I ask where you got it from? Mod is looking great, love the paint.

[dexaroni]

The trim is from Autozone, its just normal car window/ door trim.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thought it looked familiar lol.

[DonT-FeaR]

lol talk about doing ur sponsers proud!!!

[dexaroni]

Haha, yeah, I figured that would be the best way to show gratitude for the awesome stuff that they are sending me :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

The search continues for my sponsor lol. All I want is a pump. I may get in contact with DD directly rather then one of their retailers.

[dexaroni]

More pics for you guys, the hardware came in and I got a lot of the wiring done as well as the actual computer itself setup :)

Hardware installed, no video card or plumbing yet.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2165.jpg

Closer look at the socket area:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2163.jpg

I'm really happy with how the wiring turned out on this one... and its not even done yet!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2176.jpg

Got the plumbing halfway done.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2166.jpg

Put a fan in there to cool off the chipset:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2177.jpg

A few really neat shots of the socket area:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2171.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2172.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2175.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2174.jpg

And here is the system in a VERY raw state, the front panel is still having work done on it, as is the top panel, but the chassis is there!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2167.jpg

And to all the naysayers regarding Danger Den:

QX9650, on a radiator with one low speed fan and an MC-TDX:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/CPUScreenie-1.jpg

[DonT-FeaR]

looks cool but grey water? and wtf are those things at the front first pic above the fans?

[dexaroni]

Lol, the water is clear, those are air bubbles you are seeing... they will be gone eventually.

Not sure what you mean about what "those things" are... I have some HDD and an LED strip above the front radiator...

[DonT-FeaR]

must be a hdd cooler or something nevermind


oh ok i was like wtf? with the water but that makes sense

[The boy 4rm oz]

They ARE the HDDs, rear mounted to help cable management.

[Acey]

Ass whooping set up you got there!!!!

[DonT-FeaR]

:( i didnt know i should do that with my soprano looks cool and clean

[dexaroni]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Going to be getting the front panel mounted up properly tonight hopefully, and maybe get the LCD bezel cut out too... We shall see.

[dexaroni]

Got pics of the internals taken, along with a few beauty shots... nothing major as far as modding goes, but the wiring is done for the most part:

Internals:

In Light:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2189.jpg

Dark:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2191.jpg

External:
Light:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2190.jpg

Dark:http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2194.jpg

Of course its not done yet, still the entire top panel and second WC loop to do, but I'm 3rd base!

Dex

[nevermind1534]

Cool. I like the UV effect.

[The boy 4rm oz]

She turned out well. Only the top to go new ey?

[dexaroni]

Haha, yeah, then all the little details like wiring, paint chips, waxing, getting the loops right, etc.

But the majority of the hard work is done.

[Dane Bramage]

impressive stuff. i wasn't sure of the DD cover until i saw it in the dark with the lighting going. works very nice that way. and i'm sure your sponsors approve.

can't wait to see the top cover with the "cock pit" set up. i'm sure it will be quite kewl.

[dexaroni]

Well I can only pray that you didn't quit on me... because I have new pics, new work done, and I'm almost there!

So I'm modding the Dominator Airflow fan, because I wanted to put some fans in there that would match the rest of the fans in my case... that won't be too hard I don't think!

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2248.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2249.jpg

There they are, getting ready to be soldered... nine wires into three. I won't bore you with all the rest of the crap, as its messy, lame, and unimportant... suffice to say that it works, as you will see soon!

I also got my spotlights setup behind the PALIT logo... you can see this in the shots below.

Side Shot:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2251.jpg

Another Side:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2260.jpg

Fan controller being used to run the radiator fans:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2255.jpg

BAM! Check out that setup... I'm really happy with how that turned out.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2269.jpg

A shot of the whole thing:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2270.jpg

And the Palit logo:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2271.jpg

There will be one more set of pics (the top panel), then its off to the LAN, and we will see who wins. My sponsors Danger Den and Palit will be there with some SUPER cool stuff that I cannot yet reveal, however once I have my hands on it, it is open season and I will let you all know about it.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That RAM cooler looks hot mate.

[dexaroni]

And it is finished... well, some touchups to do, and some hardware to install still, but this is as good as it is going to get before the LAN.

Yeah... same old thing.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2282.jpg

But wait... whats that on top?
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2283.jpg

Oh yeah.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2285.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2286.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2288.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2287.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/DSCF2291.jpg

Feedback is welcome :)

[Snowman]

Awesome.. +rep

[The boy 4rm oz]

A bloody fantastic result mate. Awesome result. +rep

[dfigravity]

A bloody fantastic result mate. Awesome result. +rep

agreed. This is a sexy mod...great job bro! +rep

[dfigravity]

I see what you mean and I will have to try and implement it... See, that is the air force logo:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/United_States_Air_Force_logo%2C_blue_and_silver.jp g/250px-United_States_Air_Force_logo%2C_blue_and_silver.jp g

I can understand though, and I wanted to open up airflow down there, so I have to look into my options.

hells yea Air Force! :) I'm stationed at Ft Bragg right now (I'm in the Air Force) Way to represent bro! :)

[dexaroni]

Hey guys.

So, I forgot to update.

I bought the system to PDXLAN, finished for the most part. I was filling the top radiator when I realized there was a giant hole in it. Whoops. I had about a liter of water spill onto my system, and the system shut down.

I waited.

The next night, the guys from CPU Magazine asked me to enter it anyways.. I did what I could to get it back up and running properly, and they took pics. They all liked it, however I was ineligible since the system was in pieces and water stains were abound.

But all was not lost.

Palit (my sponsor) requested that I bring the system with me to Nvision to display. Thus, I need to get this thing looking REALLY pretty if it is going to be on public display in such a large place. I will keep you guys in the loop on the entire process, round 1 (trip to the hardware store) begins this weekend.

Pics that a friend took at PDXLAN will be posted when I get home tonight.

BTW, I couldn't use the airforce logo as I had wanted to, the design wouldn't work for the front panel, and in addition to this, Danger Den sponsored me, so I used their logos for my front panel.

Stay tuned guys, I'm going to need all the advice I can get on this one.

Dex

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sucks about the hole mate. At least they liked it though. Can't wait for the pics and good luck with Nvision.

[dexaroni]

Lights on:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/2697375396_5c8fc733a4.jpg

Lights off:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/dexcarm890/2696560025_e2dd1f0d52.jpg

I will update again this weekend when I get the stuff I need to fix the issues (most of which are not visible thanks to crafty picture taking).

Feedback is not only welcomed, but requested.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That turned out beautifully mate.

[DonT-FeaR]

yea sure did looks sweet

[dak1b]

great concept i really like the liquid cooling color...very coool +props

[SXRguyinMA]

looks nice, nice work!

[Drum Thumper]

One of my favorite builds, even if this is a thread necro.

Also, every time I see the title I think of the ZZ Top album by the same name.