markklebs mods..

[markkleb]

Rather than do a thread on all the different mods I thought I would throw out a few picts highlighting some of my past ideas.

One of my first mods was an Ultra Aluminus mod where I soldered the wires to the back of the mobo for the first time.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/24.jpg

I was using four 80 gig Hitachis in Raid0 and thought they looked a bit plain
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/bluehdds1.jpg
Here they are in Red
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/100_1062.jpg

The inside turned out to be pretty clean
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/alumultra.jpg

Here is a shot showing how I cooled the passive GPUs and chipset
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/100_1382.jpg

Here is a fan mod I made
Before
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/silenx120mm.jpg

After
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/100_2716.jpg

Here is the SFF case I put it in
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/faninhole.jpg
Cool part of the fan was it could pivot in its mount, as well as slide in/out

Throw on a bit of color
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Bottomhalfdone.jpg
those 3 controls at the front of the case were adjusters for the 3.3, 5 and 12V rails

And for perspective, its sitting next to a FSP PS box
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/CompnexttoPSbox.jpg
(that comp is water cooled, is running 2 8800GTSs on a full size ATX mobo)

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Very nice craftsmanship. My Aluminus, and the system in it, are (so far) stock, but I have it cleaned up nicely (albeit not that nicely)... they're great cases for cable management. +rep

[drag.n.drop]

That's some wicked wire management ya got going on there. I cant say id have the patients to do that. I also love the look of those hhds definitely not plain anymore :) +rep

[markkleb]

thanks.. Im figuring how to post the picts (I have thousands to organize) I will throw up a bunch more in the first post highlighting some modding ideas I had.

[craigbru]

Good stuff as always Mark! Even though I've seen quite a bit of your work before, it's always great to see it again.

[markkleb]

WOW! we are honored by your presence..So glad you dropped by Craig.

[craigbru]

Lol, you're too kind Mark. I figured I'd finally stop lurking, and actually post something.

[markkleb]

They will go nutts when you show ur mod...get posting.

[DonT-FeaR]

nice work man.

[mittelmeier]

Nice stuff man. Can't wait to see more. Those are ultra clean cable management.

[markkleb]

thanks guys..

There was a time I kept running out of materials to make cases so my Bro Gave me some Legos for Xmas as a joke
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Comp039.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Comp019.jpg
Legos turned out to be fun to work with, if you mess one up just swap it out.

Here it is with a Laptop hDD and top
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/100_0731.jpg

I got a bit bored with the lego cube so I made it into an aquarium
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/100_1694.jpg
If you look close you can see the whole back panel with the hardware is made from Legos
I had a beta fish for a couple years in it and he loved the LEDs

[SgtM]

Awesome mods Mark! Welcome to TBCS. +rep

[markkleb]

thx SgtM.

[jdbnsn]

Sweet legoPC-mobile! Is that thing powered with a laptop power cord or something?

[markkleb]

Thanks Jon, here is the PS
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/it.A/id.301/.f?sc=8&category=13

The part that converts the AC to DC is this
http://www.mini-box.com/110w-12v-8-5A-AC-DC-Power-Adapter?sc=8&category=13

Here is the very first SFF comp I built. I used acrylic till I figured how terrible it was at retaining heat (Alum FTW!)
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Picture025.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Picture055.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/24pinWires.jpg

[Langer]

Very nice work man. Thanks for posting.

it's good knowing that someone did it successfully before I jump in with the soldering iron.

[markkleb]

Here is another SFF one I did using carbonfiber and perforated alum
This is the inside showing the air box, Hdd shell/mount and DVD
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Picture111.jpg

Here is the finished version
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Picture116.jpg

Now before you go "Big Woop" who cares, the reason for the case was to show any GPUs could be installed into a SFF case. Here are 3 9800GTX+s
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w100/OC3D/Picture029.jpg

[jdbnsn]

Whoa, I don't believe I've ever seen a triple whammy on an SFF. Very impressive!

[SXRguyinMA]

:stupid: nicely packed in there :up:

[rendermandan]

Wow, you've done some extremely nice work there! +rep. you also gave me some ideas.

[mittelmeier]

That's some amazing work man. +rep

[markkleb]

Thanks for the kind words. My modding/modeling skills arent even close to Mr Doom or Boddaker but what I do excel at is simplicity/efficiency.

Im old and come from the "more is less school" where you make do with what you have and make that the best it can be.

I have always been bothered that comp case makers continue the same outdated design (with small variations) that housed the very first comps (which by the way made 1/10th the heat of the new ones) As long as people continue to buy them companies will continue to sell the same ol junk.

Il post up some new Hdd rack designs later this week (the absolutely worst thing I have ever seen is the silly sideways HDD racks they continue to add to their cases)

[ShockTheBox]

I love the passive cooler idea for the vid cards its sweet tube sexyness.
+rep for being brave and directly soldering the psu to the board.. hope you dont need to take it off again would be annoying to keep it all organized and desolder at teh same time

[markkleb]

I love the passive cooler idea for the vid cards its sweet tube sexyness.
+rep for being brave and directly soldering the psu to the board.. hope you dont need to take it off again would be annoying to keep it all organized and desolder at teh same time

I am really fussy about cool temps and have been working with passive cooling for quite a while. My current 9600GTs run in the 20-30C range. The tube really works well at directing the airflow over the cards and out the back.

In regards to the wiring, I have done it so much now that I know where the wires go and have no fear. As to removing basically you just break the wires off and clean up the joint and the mobo is back to normal.

Funny thing, when I first did it a few years ago I had no fear, it was just a simple solder of wires to the board. But when I listened to the others that said it couldnt be done and saw picts of others that tried it I started to get nervous so for a while I was freaking out every time I did it. Now its no biggy (I have done about a hundred of them without a failure)

One other reason I am so brave, lol.. I almost only use "Open Box" mobos..so if there was a loss the hurt would be quite a bit smaller.

[nevermind1534]

I almost only use "Open Box" mobos

I've had nothing but bad luck with those. Maybe I just get the one bad one every time.

[markkleb]

I've had nothing but bad luck with those. Maybe I just get the one bad one every time.
I have 24 pages of purchases (lots and lots) I have bought at least 200 mobos from them and 99% were openbox. I only had to send 1 back (quite possible due to my error).
They also still offer a moneyback guarantee with them (15days) so I feel its pretty safe.
The one issue is make sure you are saving quite a bit before you get the product..I see sometimes they mark some things down just a few bucks (not worth it) I have even seen openbox stuff that is MORE than regular parts, lol

[jdbnsn]

(I have done about a hundred of them without a failure)

I had no idea you had done this so many times, I wanna see more! :yellow_green:

[SXRguyinMA]

me too, how about I mail you my PSU and mobo and you can hook it up for me :devious: