Hampen's casemod

[Nutman]

Stefan (a.k.a. Hampen from Tweak.dk) had asked if I would help him modify his Corsair 800D and it sounded like an interesting project, so I jumped on board.

It's not going to be an extreme casemod per se, but just a collection of nice ideas, good details and, of course, pricey hardware. :)

After Stefan delivered all hardware to me, I started working..

I wrapped the case in plastic overnight to protect it from dust and such:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/case_01.jpg

Next afternoon I pulled off the plastic cover and this is what the case looked like at that stage::

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/case_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/case_03.jpg

I order to make room for a 240 mm. TFC radiator, the bottom HDD brackets had to be removed:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_01.jpg

At first I thought I could just remove these 4 rivets:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_02.jpg

This plastic thing also had to be removed:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_03.jpg

I removed the 4 rivets:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_05.jpg

Unfortunately, that was not enough. By far....

After scratching my head for half an hour or so, I had to realize that there was no other way around other than to remove all the modules sitting at the front of the case.

Which meant removing 5550 rivets (approximately) and getting frustrated over how to remove the front modules without destroying the rubber that sits between them.

In the end I did manage to remove all the front modules:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_06.jpg

But at this point I was cursing and swearing at the 800D. This case is riveted and bolted together like nothing else and is not really not a modder's dream case.... Yes, there's lots of room for cable management, but I don't know how clever some of the socalled "solutions" are. And then there's the fact that this case is made from steel! At that price, I would have expected aluminum, but I guess that's just the way it is...

These 2 bastards where the reason I had to remove all front modules. They were hidden under the 1 cm. thick rubber pad that sits between the bottom HDD brackets and the HDD hot swap bay:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_07.jpg

When they had been removed, the HDD brackets finally came out:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hdd_brackets_08.jpg

So.... next time I'll know how to do it. But up until this point, 2 hours had passed! The next time I'll be able to do it in app. half an hour or so...

The case now looked like this:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_removal_hdd_bracket_01.jpg

The feet had to come off to make room for when cutting the holes for the radiator.

If you lift the rubber pads at each end of each foot, you have access to this screw that has to come out:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/removing_feet.jpg

Ok, about ready to cut. Need to do some measuring first:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_feet_removal.jpg

This is the radiator:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/tfc_radiator_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/tfc_radiator_02.jpg

Test-fitting:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/tfc_radiator_03.jpg

Looked OK, but what if a fan goes on top?

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/tfc_radiator_04.jpg

Well, still OK. Stefan had asked if there was room for fans on both sides of the radiator, but, as you can see, there's not...

Applied masking tape to protect the case from scratching when cutting. Also useful for drawing your cutting lines.

Put down the cutting lines using a radiator grill that Stefan has supplied:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/masking_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/masking_02.jpg

As the case had to be upside down while cutting, I had to protect the top of the case from scratching, too:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/masking_03.jpg

Before I could start cutting using a jig saw (you can forget all about using a Dremel for steel like this!) the dust filter brackets had to come off. My Dremel did the job, but it would be a useless tool for the entire cutting job:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/dust_filter_brackets_removal_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/dust_filter_brackets_removal_02.jpg

Jig saw time!

1st hole:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/holes_01.jpg

Both holes:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/holes_02.jpg

Rough edges, so some filing is required. Not too much, though, since that would be a waste of time, because a new dust filter will hide the edges:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_cuts_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_cuts_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_cuts_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_cuts_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/after_cuts_05.jpg

Ok, thoroughly cleaning the case:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/cleaning_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/cleaning_02.jpg

Ready to have hardware installed:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ready_for_installation.jpg

I sleeved the fans that go on the 240 mm. radiator:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeved_fan.jpg

Attached the fans to the radiator:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/radiator_installed_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/radiator_installed_02.jpg

The next job is to test the hardware before installing waterblocks.

And then I will install the top radiator, a fan-controller, etc. Stay tuned!

[Nutman]

Not much progress since last update (it's a warm summer in denmark!), but I did manage to get a few things done.

Stefan had ordered the MCubed BigNG fan controller. Apparently, it's able to handle 20 watts per channel, so it should be able to handle all 8 fans on the 2 radiators:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_02.jpg

However, the green PCB didn't quite match Stefan's colour scheme, so I decided to paint the top plate black:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_04.jpg

Note: I always paint the back side of the acrylic. This way you get to keep the shiny surface and get a "deep" colour effect.

MCubed hadn't been thorough enough while drilling the holes in the acrylic - one of the holes looked like this:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_05.jpg

So I had to correct their mistake:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_06.jpg

While the paint was drying, I started putting the case back together.

Before riveting all modules back together, I had to remove a couple resters for the 5.25" modules in order to make room for the dual reservoir:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/remove_resters_01.jpg

I simply broke them off using an adjustable wrench and afterwards I hand filed them a bit:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/remove_resters_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/remove_resters_03.jpg

Then I riveted everything back together:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/reattached.jpg

Now, the dual reservoir fit fine:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/reservoir_installed.jpg

And then it was time to put together the fan controller and have it installed.

When the paint had dried, the top plate looked like this:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_07.jpg

Starting the assembly:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_08.jpg

Taadaaaa!

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_09.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_10.jpg

In order to minimize the need for drilling holes in the case, I used 3M Dual-lock velcro to install the fan controller:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_11.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_12.jpg

Attached it to the case:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/bigng_13.jpg

Finally, I played around with multiple combinations of fittings on the lower radiator.

I tried to figure out a nice and tidy way to incorporate a drain valve, but I really didn't succeed. I will have to think more about this until next time:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/lower_radiator_fittings_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/lower_radiator_fittings_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/lower_radiator_fittings_03.jpg

[Loki]

I love this build! keep the good work!

[Nutman]

Time for a huge update - because the project has been FINISHED, so here's a lot of pictures.

I sleeved the 6 fans that go on the top radiator. Just like the fans on the bottom radiator, these got black sleeving in order to seperate them from the case fans, which will be sleeved using blue sleeving. I also removed the stickers on all radiator fans (including the 2 fans on the bottom radiator), so now they're black and elegant:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeved_rad_fans.jpg

The 6 fans go on this radiator:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/360_rad_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/360_rad_02.jpg

Mounted fans on the top radiator. It's pretty fat:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/radiator_and_fans_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/radiator_and_fans_02.jpg

It's always been a question as to whether or not there would be room for fans on both sides of the top radiator, but I do think there's room enough.

Hampen had accepted a great offer he got on a EVGA X58 Classified, so now this is the motherboard that goes into the build:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/new_mobo_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/new_mobo_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/new_mobo_03.jpg

The red colours clash with the blue theme, so I'm trying to cover some of it up using these:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/slot_protectors.jpg

However, they're not able to cover the RAM-slots, because they're apparently only made for DDR2 slots. Nothing a true modder can't fix, but there's not real reason to do so, since the tripple RAM set actually goes into the red slots, thereby covering the red slots with something blue. Because, you see, the memory modules are these:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/memory_modules.jpg

It looks like this with memory modules and slot protectors installed:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/slot_protectors_installed.jpg

Couple of shots of the graphics card:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx-card_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx-card_02.jpg

One of the casemodding "Best Practices" is to test the hardware, before you put waterblocks on it and start putting it into the case. So that's what I'm doing here:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/testing.jpg

Everything was running fine, so I moved on to sleeving the case fans. To set them apart from the radiator fans, and because the case fans are the most visible ones, I decided to use blue sleeving. Hampen had ordered some nice MDPC sleeving:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeving_case_fans_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeving_case_fans_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeving_case_fans_03.jpg

Installed in the case, I think they look pretty good:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeved_case_fans_installed.jpg

Time to put the waterblock on the motherboard.

Couple of shots of the block itself:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/mobo_block_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/mobo_block_02.jpg

It looks like this when installed:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/mobo_block_03.jpg

The RAM cooler helps hiding the red memory slots, but, unfortunately, it also hides much of the cool blue colour of the RAM modules. Oh well, win some, lose some....

Went on installing the water block on the graphics card:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx_block_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx_block_02.jpg

It looks like this:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx_block_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/gfx_block_04.jpg

It was time to sleeve the cables for the front panel. A pre-sleeving shot:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/frontpanel_01.jpg

Post-sleeving shot:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/frontpanel_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/frontpanel_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/frontpanel_05.jpg

The cable for AC97 and HD Audio was a bit tricky, because there are 2 connectors on the same cable, which left me with lots more coloured wires to keep track of. I did manage, though:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/frontpanel_04.jpg

I had recommended that Hampen should buy some pre-sleeved NZXT extension cables:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/nzxt_sleeves_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/nzxt_sleeves_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/nzxt_sleeves_03.jpg

Good quality, but a bit stiff to work with. However, they saved me from hours of tedious sleeving, so I'm a happy camper. ;)

Time to put in the drain system!

A drain system should be placed as low as possible in the case, so after having tossed and turned the case for quite a while I decided to put the system next to the PSU. In that way both drain valves would sit close to each other and the end result would be a more slick and thought-through system.

First of all I wanted to remove the coloured plates on the drain valeves. Hampen had bought 2 valves - one red and one blue. I didn't think it matched the overall colour scheme of the mod, so I removed the coloured plates. It's really easy. On the back of the handle there's a small lock that has to be pushed together using a pair of tongs, and then the plate comes right out:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_valve_modding_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_valve_modding_02.jpg

This is where the drain system is going to sit:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_01.jpg

I drilled some holes:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_05.jpg

Bought these rubber gaskets to mounnt the pass-thru nice and neat, without scratching the case:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/rubber_pads.jpg

Assembled the drain system:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_06.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_07.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_08.jpg

To begin with, I used 2 push-on fittings on the outside:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_09.jpg

But after having counted the fittings available to me, I realized I was going to be 2 fittings short on the inside of the case, so I used 2 stop plugs instead - also, I think they look much better than push-on fittings in this position:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_10.jpg

[Nutman]

Some more HWpr0n-shots:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_11.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_12.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_system_13.jpg

The feed hose from the upper loop to the drain valve had to be routed through the case floor, so I drilled a hole for it:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_05.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_through_06.jpg

I think the completed drain system turned out quite well:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/drain_sys_complete.jpg

And finally I figured out how to route the feed hose from the radiator to the drain valve for the lower loop:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/lower_loop_drain.jpg

When you remove the lower HDD brackets in an 800D, the entire floor sinks app. 3-4 mm., because the lower HDD brackets helps keep the floor in place - so I had to manufacture something to push the floor back up into position.

This was also necessary to keep hotswap module plastic cover nicely tight in place.

So I cut a small bit from one of the now useless plastic rails:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/plastic_floor_holder_01.jpg

And mounted it at the end of a long bolt:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/plastic_floor_holder_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/plastic_floor_holder_03.jpg

Not especially elegant, but it works!

Ok, back to sleeving:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/pumps.jpg

Sleeved the power wires using black sleeving and blue sleeving on the RPM wire:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/pumps_sleeved_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/pumps_sleeved_02.jpg

And here a warning to all 800D owners who think of using ae XSPC BayRes ONE or TWO: it can be PRETTY hard to get the reservoir to sit properly in place with the toolless mounting "thingies" that are used to secury 5.25" devices. Just so you know....

Sleeved the 4 SATA cables for the hotswap module:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/sleeved_sata.jpg

Time to have a go at the Y-splitters for the radiator fans.

Hampen had bought some 4-to-1-way splitters at ChilledPC - presleeved....

But.... check out the quality (or lack thereof):

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ysplitter_01.jpg

One of them didn't even have the RPM sticker on the correct cable:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ysplitter_02.jpg

I removed 2 cables from each 4-to-1-way splitter as only 2-to-1-way splitters were necessary, because each channel on the fan controller was going to control 2 fans (2 on the lower radiator and 6 on the top radiator).

Sleeved them nice and tight:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ysplitter_03.jpg

Also sleeved the 2 temperature probes:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/tempsensors.jpg

And the RAM cooler:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ram_cooler_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ram_cooler_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/ram_cooler_03.jpg

Mounted the sound card:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/soundcard.jpg

After fitting the raditor into the top of the case, it was time to fit the tubing.

Brought out good 'ole (OK, not so old - quite new, actually!) "Jaws":

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/jaws.jpg

Started at the bottom:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hoses_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hoses_02.jpg

Test-mounted the top radiator and attached the rets of the tubing. App. 1,5 mm. of space between the bottom fans on the top radiator and the top fitting on the motherboard water block, so not much space when you want to use a push/pull config. Not even when it comes to this huuge case which really feels small at this point, hehe.. Also, I find it quite hard to make the tubes run nice when using a bay reservoir. It looks kind of confusing with those looooong tubes running here and there:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hoses_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/hoses_04.jpg

Sleeved the UV cathodes and mounted them.

One of them sits in the bottom:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_02.jpg

The other one sits on the side panel:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_03.jpg

Mounted the converter in a good place (= on the plastic cover that hides the hotswap module fan). Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of it.

Hampen wanted to be able to turn the UV lights on and off, so I found a fitting switch and a good place to put it - on the back of the case in the lower, left corner. This position is very good for this kind of switch - only had to snap off a bit of iron and use a hand file for app. 10 minutes:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_05.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_06.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/uv_ccfl_switch_07.jpg

Then it took more than 1 hour to produce the cable that connects the switch, the converter and the PSU, but I wanted it to be done in a proper fashion and sleeved nicely. Unfortunately, it slipped my mind to take pictures of the cable...

Painted the DVD drive:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/optical_drive_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/optical_drive_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/optical_drive_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/optical_drive_04.jpg

Mounted the remaining couple of cables and tried to look everything look as nice and clean as possible, but this was really hard considering the vast amount of cables that went into this PC:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_cable_management_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_cable_management_02.jpg

Yes, not quite fitting for million-dollar-pc.com, hehe - but the side panel goes on without any problems at all - in the end that's all that really matters.

Some final shots:

http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_shots_01.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_shots_02.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_shots_03.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_shots_04.jpg
http://www.nutman.dk/worklog/hampen/final_shots_05.jpg

Maybe I'll do some shots at a later stage after Hampen has installed the extra graphics card.

Thanks for following this worklog. And now, back to my own mod, hehe...

Goodbye!