Project: Antec 900 Revamp

[slaveofconvention]

So Mongoose (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23162) is well under way - I'm just waiting on a free weekend to take it to a friends paintshop and get the colour on it. Lobo (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20274) is on hold until I get the money together to buy some much needed parts. K-9 (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19456) is on LONG term hold because my son lost interest in it, ("I like using your PC dad, there's no real point to me having my own in my room") as well as some serious fabrication cost issues.

So I wanted to scratch the itch.....

A while back I did a review the Thermaltake Frio (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/frontpage/?q=node/480). After this review I ended up taking my main rig out of my Antec 900 and putting it into the Thermaltake Element-T (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/frontpage/?q=node/439) I also reviewed. There is nothing wrong with the Element-T but I kinda want to get the PC back into the Antec. Before I do though, I thought I'd throw some paint at it.... I can't think of a clever name for it yet - so for now, I'm keeping it simple heh - suggestions welcome and no, "Another half done job by Slavey" doesn't have the ring I'm looking for. This is going to be a quick one - should be done within the week....

I'm thinking Orange and Dark Grey with bits of the original Black....

Please accept my apologies for the awful concept image below lol - I threw this together in a few minutes just to make sure it wouldn't look bloody horrible.....

The plan is to go from this...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/001.jpg

To something which looks a lot better than this lol...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/002.jpg

Basically, I plan to paint the sides and mesh in the lid in a dark grey metallic colour, and the front surround, top plastic, and side mesh in a custom orange pearl colour. I'm going to leave the front black mesh alone as it'll make it a lot easier in the long run when it comes to DVD drives etc (they're a pita to paint). I'm also going to leave the top metal panel black - you can only just see the edges of it between the plastic top and the side panels (or I might repaint it but still in black) to provide a small break between the grey and orange, and also carry the black from the front into the sides. Finally, the entire interior will be going black - something Antec didn't do on the 900 but has since started to do on the 902 (I think).

I'm also going to THINK about making a couple of minor mods to the case itself. The three things that spring to mind initially are a CPU access hole in the motherboard tray, an air intake in the floor of the case under the PSU, and some other mods to try to improve the cable management. If I do go ahead with the PSU intake, I'm also going to have to somehow lift the PC as there is very little clearance underneath the case. I'm not sure yet if I'll bother as the case works damned well as it stands, but the lack of cable management has always been a minor bugbear to me.

Oh I also got to get a new 120mm exhaust fan too - I shoved my finger into it when it was spinning and got a nice spurt of blood along with a broken off fin, so it's no longer balanced - made such a racket I disconnected it....

Time to grab a screwdriver and drill and rip this case (carefully of course) apart....

[SXRguyinMA]

should be neat!

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so, it's sunday, and here in the UK the world tends to grind to a halt on sundays after 4pm, so I ran to my local computer store to replace that fan and ended up buying three!

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/003.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/004.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/005.jpg

I think these Xigmatek fans are going to fit in perfectly with the orange/black/grey theme....

This is the paint I think I'll end up using - saves buying more if I find something in my little stash....

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/006.jpg

[slaveofconvention]

So, to begin, let me present.... The Victim....
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/007.jpg

Side panels removed
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/008.jpg

And 13 screws later the window is out, along with the grille which will get orange paint, and the perspex backing which I wanted to "forget" to put back in to improve ventilation - from the look of it, it's only purpose is to add another 120mm fan to the side which I don't think I need with the three 120mm (four if you count the PSU fan) and the 200mm already installed. Problem is those little tabs you can see. They hold the grille in place so it may have to go back in...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/009.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/010.jpg

Next we have everything from the 9 5.25" bays in the front of the Case
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/011.jpg

Further deconstruction of the single external 3.5" bay adapter
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/012.jpg

And the same again for the 3x3.5" internal bays. There are two of these but it seems kinda silly to show the same thing twice :p
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/013.jpg

And then you see what happens when you have pets, a smoking habit, and a PC kept on a carpeted floor....
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/014.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/015.jpg

So got them cleaned up with the help of some compressed air...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/016.jpg

And in go two of the three new Xigmatek fans...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/017.jpg

Next to come away from the chassis is the front surrounding bezel...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/018.jpg

Which comes into parts which will make it easier for paint. Again these parts will be painted Orange...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/019.jpg

Top plastic cover removed and disassembled. The main part will be orange, and the grille will be the same metallic grey as the side panels...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/020.jpg

Trying to remove the buttons as I don't really want to paint them. They'll get too much contact and the paint will end up rubbing off in time. Unfortunately Antec have chosen to melt them into place so removal may be a bit awkward, although by no means impossible...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/021.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/022.jpg

12 rivets drilled out later, and the top panel is free from the main chassis. Although this part will be staying black, I may re-paint it anyway so the finish matches the gloss I'll end up with on the sides and top of the case.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/023.jpg

And the remaining bare metal chassis. This will be getting a coat or two of black although there may be no clear used as the inside doesn't need to be super glossy. There are a LOT of rivets in this, but I think I will completely disassemble it to make sure every surface gets the right amount of paint, and it'll give me the chance to replace the rivets with some of the black ones I bought for Lobo.
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/024.jpg

And finally, the small collection of screws which hold (or rather held) the 900 together in the first place....
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/025.jpg

Next step - sanding and surface preparation.... cyas in a bit...

[silverdemon]

wow, this is going to be awesome! +sub

[slaveofconvention]

Woot - well it wasn't the inspiration for the mod, but this little pic here has kinda eased my concerns about how the colours will match. The orange and grey will both be a little different but the idea seems sound....

http://www.autotribute.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Citroen-DS3-Racing.jpg

[SXRguyinMA]

for a minute there I thought this was the top ugliest production cars thread :facepalm: lol

[slaveofconvention]

lol touche :P But then again, when you have 200hp in a car that small and light, it isn't like you'd be looking at it very long anyway....

[slaveofconvention]

I have a really REALLY annoying habit of being sidetracked or otherwise derailed on my projects. General Lee, for example, took almost 3 years from start to finish and that was a paintjob and a few stickers :s

For this reason I have decided that, no matter what else I do, I WILL do SOMETHING on this case every day until it is finished. Tonight was one of those nights when I had next to no time (work - pick up wife - shopping - dinner - virus removal - it's 9pm already!) so.... Ok - minor update....

I'm lucky enough to have access to all of the tools and materials required to really go to town and get this 100% right, so tonight I spent about an hour at most, starting the prep on the plastics. I used a scotchbrite pad to roughen up and clean all of the plastic which will be visible and therefore painted. In the past I've painted a little too much and ended up not being able to get things back together again because the various coatings have added up to make a substantial increase (or decrease in the case of gaps) in size. I spent a little time working out exactly what plastic will be visible, and what won't be, and throughly scratched a key into all of the visible surfaces. After this, I gave them a quick wipe down with a tak-cloth to remove all of the plastic dust I generated, and a wipe over with a lint-free cloth and some panel wipe (degreaser). Tomorrow night, I'm hoping to get those parts plastic primed and then properly primed...

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/026.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/027.jpg

Hopefully by this time tomorrow, they'll be grey instead of black... well in part anyway... Toodleoo!!

And silverdemon, here's where you get to find out if I'm capable of actually following my own advice lol - after everything I posted in your worklog, lets see if I actually DO it or end up cutting corners myself heh....

[x88x]

Should be good. I like the choice of colors.

[slaveofconvention]

I just noticed that the orange I have is pretty transparent. I'm either going to have to base it up with something else, or hope like hell it doesn't take too many coats to cover properly. It was originally a paint for a customer at work who wanted something semi-transparent but ended up deciding on something else.....

[SXRguyinMA]

use something like a metallic white as a base, it'll make the orange light up

[slaveofconvention]

27th July was the last post and today is 29th August. So much for doing something on this every day until it's finished. I really can't believe it's been over a month - it felt like a week or two, three at the absolute outside!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAnyway....

Decided to get on with the internals first, mainly because I still need the practice and IF it goes wrong, it'll be less noticable (hopefully) although yeah, I know the pedant in me will do it over n over till it's right. As it happens I have a full litre of black basecoat sitting here which is more than enough to paint a dozen or more cases - the colours I have for the outside are in slightly lower quantities....

We start with this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/028.jpg

And a whole lot of rivet removal later we end up with...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/029.jpg

...and...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/030.jpg

...and...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/031.jpg

All set up in the garden shed (it's a small shed but it was shelter from the wind - I was determined to get some of this case done today). Applying etch primer to the lightly scuffed bare metal...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/032.jpg

...ditto...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/033.jpg

... and we end up with this ...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/034.jpg

Thirteen parts to this chassis, and that doesn't include the plastics. I have to get the black on tomorrow or all of the priming needs to be done again. I don't know if this is the case with all etch primers, but with this particular one, you have to recoat the primer with something (more primer, paint etc) after at least one hour and within 24 hours or it goes too hard to actually allow the next coat to take a grip properly and you end up back at the start. Hopefully, tomorrow will see, at the very least, all of the interior going black (probably matt or satin black - haven't 100% decided yet - definitely NOT gloss) and being riveted back together....

Again, my apologies for abjectly failing to maintain the "every day" progress but life, and all that eh....

[x88x]

Hahaha, yeah, I think we all start out thinking "I'll work on this every day". ...unfortunately, life all too often gets in the way. :P

It's good to see this back on its feet though! Make sure you don't put too many coats on the overlapping edges. I made that mistake with mightyMite and ended up ruining the paint job at a lot of the seams because several layers scraped off in the process of fitting them together. :(

[slaveofconvention]

So I got everything primed yesterday, and got it all painted today. No action shots of the painting unfortunately, but some results...

The first of the rivets going in. I was lucky to have black rivets lying around from a previous project so I went with those. First I connected the I/O and PCI bracket to the rear panel.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/035.jpg

Then reassembled the drive bays..


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/036.jpg

And then connected the base and motherboard tray.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/037.jpg

Looks pretty good I think. There are minor bits I'm going to rub down and hit again, but those little repairs will be done with the case intact. No way I'm taking it apart again for a couple of minor scratches.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/038.jpg

The matt finish looks really good - exactly what I wanted, but it seems really easy to scratch. I might look into getting hold of some matt clearcoat to give it a little more protection before I throw my system back into this.

Finally for today - it's Pop Quiz time.... How many rivets are there in an Antec 900, not including the drive bays?


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/039.jpg

Loads!!!

[slaveofconvention]

First up, apologies for the sub-par photo quality. I was in a hurry as light was fading so the pics here are all taken with my phone. I will get some better ones tomorrow when hopefully, this'll all be nice and dry and ready for sanding and then colour.

Plastics time....

A little over a month ago, I got all the plastics removed and rubbed down to give the paint something to grip on to. Tonight I gave them a clean down with a tack-cloth but I skipped using a degreaser (we'll see tomorrow if I end up regretting this or not) and then masked off the parts which aren't going to be getting paint.

Here we have the main front frame...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/040.jpg

The top of the front frame or front of the top plastic - whichever you prefer lol...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/041.jpg

A couple of wires hung for the frame side parts - they're going to need paint on 3 of 4 sides plus the edges on the 4th side so hanging them up was the only way to get it all in one hit...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/042.jpg

And a quick couple of coats of primer later we have...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/043.jpg

The top of the case...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/044.jpg

The frame...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/045.jpg

One of the side sections...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/046.jpg

And finally that front of top/top of sides part.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/047.jpg

There were more pics but rushing and decent photographs don't seem to go hand in hand very well :s

With a little luck I will be able to get these sanded down and maybe re-primed tomorrow night, then it'll be time for some Orange!!

[slaveofconvention]

As promised, a couple of close-ups of the finished priming, this time with a better camera! I am REALLY happy with the way this looks. I expect to put a second coat on after I flat this down, but it depends on how high-build the primer turns out to be....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/048.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/049.jpg

[slaveofconvention]

I got a text message when I was at work the other day. It was from my wife and the entire message was "Sorry...". Needless to say I was curious so I called her and she told me she had accidentally managed to scratch one of the drive bay boxes for this project...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/050.jpgScratched Drive Bay Cage

Nothing a little sanding and repainting won't fix though so nothing major...

Yesterday I got the plastic parts of the case in primer, and I'm really happy with the way they turned out.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/060.jpgBottom of the front frame - Antec still nice and sharp

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/061.jpgThe Front/Top corner part

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/062.jpgThe two side strips for the front panel

So today I decided to try to get the metal parts, specifically the two side panels, to the same stage. Time for some power tools I think (well air-powered anyway...

Cranked up the compressor to 120psi


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/051.jpg

Attached a sponge interface pad and a 320 grit sanding disk to my mini sander/polisher


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/052.jpg

And set to work - before....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/053.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/054.jpg

And after a pretty short sanding session. The case (like most cases) had a bit of a texture to it so I figured a light sanding will give the primer a little less to cover. And after...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/055.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/056.jpg

Used a blow gun to clean off the heavy dust, the gave both panels a good clean down with a cloth soaked in Panel Wipe (degreaser). Glad I did too - look at the state of the cloth afterwards!!!


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/057.jpg

Then I set the panels up in the shed, using a couple snapped off table legs to make sure none of the edges touched the masking paper in the background.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/058.jpg

And gave them both several light coats of 5:1 high build primer...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/059.jpg

If the weather and the light holds out, I might try to get some colour on these today but chances are, it'll be tomorrow. I'd prefer to give the panels a little extra time for the primer to fully cure anyway. The stuff I'm using is usually good to go within an hour, but longer is usually better so chances are, that's about it for today...

[slaveofconvention]

Onwards and upwards we go!!!

So I got those panels into primer yesterday - it's a hi-build automotive primer which is designed to go on really thick so you can sand it down a LOT to get a really smooth finish...

First step in doing that is to lay down a guidecoat for sanding....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/063.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/064.jpg

Basically you just dust some black (or any colour really) paint over the surface, then start wet sanding. When all the black is gone, in theory you have a smooth surface as the black goes into the dips and valleys - once it's all gone, you should have sanded off enough primer to end up with a smooth finish. Et voila!


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/065.jpg

I actually had a really hard time taking this pic - the camera just didn't want to focus on the panel - I guess that says something about how smooth it is :)

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/066.jpg

Next I set about making something to hold up the panels for the colour. I wanted to be able to get the whole panel done in one go to save on the hassles of cleaning the gun between uses, so I needed some way to hold all of the edges in the air, without using wires or anything which might catch on the sides. Carboard boxes and kebab skewers to the rescue!!


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/067.jpg

They work really well, holding everything up nice and high...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/068.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/069.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/070.jpg

Well almost anyway. The one on the left, with the heavier panel. Two of the skewers snapped, dropping the panel onto the concrete, right on the corner and put a nasty dent in it. I did a quick repair which is a LONG way from perfect and justified it to myself with "It's the bottom, rear corner, on the side of the case which goes against the side of my desk - cmon - be reasonable - don't put hours and hours into trying (and probably failing) to get it perfect....

After that little annoyance (and lots and lots of loud swearing) I started to hit the panels with some colour... The basecoat I'm using dries really quickly so over the space of less than an hour, I managed to get 6 or 7 nice thin coats on.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/071.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/072.jpg

And here you can see that corner which caused so much colourful language...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/074.jpg

This basecoat needs to be clearcoated pretty quickly or it over-dries and goes cloudy, so to end the day I hit both panels with a (too) heavy coat of Hi-Solids 2k Lacquer.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/076.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/077.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/078.jpg

I have a couple of pretty nasty runs in the side panel with the vents and windows, but I'm hoping they'll sand out ok before I put another coat or two of clear on. If you look closely in the final pic, right on the right hand side, in line with the top of the paper cup, you can see the bottom of one run. There's also a nasty edge at the bottom of the panel where the clear has gathered - both of these will need attending to as this is the visible panel where my PC sits....

There may not be a lot of progress before next weekend, work and that other boring stuff getting in the way, but a huge shout-out goes to the wife who acted all upset and sad when I dropped the panel, and for putting up with me smelling of paint all day and effectively ignoring from about 1pm until she went to work at 7 :S I think I may have used up whatever credit I got from her scratching the drive bay so it's time to be the good husband again lol

The grey is seriously sparkly - it's almost wasted on a case which is going to be inside but I'll try to get some in-the-sun pics of the panels so you all can see just how strong the effect is - the in-the-shed pics just don't get close to doing it justice...

EDIT: those runs I mentioned....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/080.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/081.jpg

[x88x]

Nice work with the paint, it looks awesome! Too bad about that corner though. :(

...also, should we be worried about the gas can right next to your grill? :?

[slaveofconvention]

...also, should we be worried about the gas can right next to your grill? :?

LOL - the grill got beat up pretty badly in a weekend of serious wind about 3 weeks ago. Until I have time to strip it down and sort it out, it won't be getting used - but thanks for the thought.... My Petrol weed-whacker is kinda dead too atm so the gas won't be getting used anytime soon, and as I keep it pre-mixed with the oil the whacker needs, I can't really use it for anything else (oh and my car is has a Diesel Engine too lol)

[OvRiDe]

Sounds like you have had a series of challenges with this build my friend. I thought the case was looking pretty good all white, but that charcoal is going to look great. Can't wait to see the orange go on!

[TheGreatSatan]

Is it supposed to have a speckled look

[slaveofconvention]

That's a flash artifact. The paint is a very sparkly next gen pearl colour. The flash has caught the crystal in the paint. I'm going to try to get some better daylight pics soon

[blueonblack]

I thought as much, the paint looks excellent to me. I have to say I'm with OvRiDe with the white. It looked good like that also, but I think your sparkly paint will look excellent, hope to see it all together soon.

[slaveofconvention]

The white wasn't an option. As it happens, it isn't white or even close to it. The plastic primer I used on the top and front parts is a light grey, and the primer on the side panels is actually a greenish yellow. I guess the flash just washed them out a little and made them look white. I really have no need for a white case, for reasons which are hush hush right now but will hopefully become clear in about a month.

On a seperate note, I was showing the worklog to a couple guys at work today, and that dented corner is really starting to bug me. I see a more thorough repair and repainting on the horizon. Fortunately I have plenty of the paint left that I used on the side panels. I think I used, at most about 70ml of paint out of a half-litre.... It is amazing how far the paint goes when put through an air powered spraygun!!

[flare]

Nice work with the paint, it looks awesome! Too bad about that corner though. :(

...also, should we be worried about the gas can right next to your grill? :?

It makes BBQ's more fun :D

[slaveofconvention]

It makes BBQ's more fun :D

That comment, and your user ID here.... SOOO apt lol

[flare]

Haha I didn't realise that!

The project is looking good man, nice job with the paint.

[slaveofconvention]

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/082.jpgModkitty says "Do the orange bits, do them NOW!!!"

Hmmm.... Last time I checked, I wasn't quite finished with the grey bits lol....

If you all can remember as far as last week (I vaguely can) you'll remember that after getting the blank side panel all lovely and primed and smooth and stuff, it fell on the floor and got a nice dent in the corner for it's trouble. I decided, at the time, that as the corner in question was the back, bottom corner on the side that sits against the side panel of my desk, I could live with the damage, and straightened it a bit and painted it anyway...

Well this is the corner I'm talking about, and how it looks painted and clearcoated...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/083.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/084.jpg

And... well no, I can't live with it.... Wire wheel time - it was almost heartbreaking seeing the first gashes appear in that nice shiny paint...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/085.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/086.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/087.jpg

The metal was twisted, bent AND split from my quick and dirty "grab a pair of pliers and bend it back" repair. I spent about 15 mins with a hammer and a straight screwdriver, and the same pliers as last time and got it a lot straighter, then applied some single-pack stopper filler to it.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/088.jpg

I then sanded it down and gave it a dusting of primer, then sanded it again. Actually I repeated that 2 or 3 times before I was happier with it and ended up with this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/089.jpg

A good heavy sanding of the area later and it looks like it's ready for primer again, but because I didn't flatten the clearcoat, there's actually quite a texture to the panel as you can see from the pattern left behind...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/090.jpg

I decided then, it'd probably be better to just repaint the whole thing instead of trying to puff in the repaired part so set to work sanding the whole panel...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/091.jpg

Because I used a high-build primer last time (the one with the yellowish colour) there really wasn't any need to do it again, so a few quick coats of aerosol low-build primer later...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/092.jpg

While I was waiting for that primer to go off, and in the repairing mood, you may recall the drive bay my lovely wife scratched when moving my sons BMX frame... Well a quick sand down and a quick blast of black later we have...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/094.jpg

Which now looks much tidier. As for the corner of the case...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/093.jpg

That also looks MUCH improved... Time for some colour but... this is ME we're talking about and with my luck, after the first two coats of grey, a great big drop of paint fell off of the tip of my spraygun.... I was very surprised when it effectively ate straight into the low-build primer...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/095.jpg

There was no way, after the hours it took getting that corner back to being close to perfect, I was going to be able to put up with that either, so back to sanding....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/096.jpg

And then back to the paint. Fortunately there were no more dramas and I ended up with this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/097.jpg

If you look really hard and really closely, you can just see where that drop landed, but it's a LONG way from obvious and it is definitely now acceptable. I didn't have enough time to clearcoat it - it was starting to get dark, so I may try a little something tomorrow to make it even less noticable. As for that nasty dropped corner.... Well that I'm completely happy with. Again, really close inspection WILL show where it was damaged but it is nowhere near as noticable as it was before....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/098.jpg

If the weather holds tomorrow, I might get around to doing what the cat wanted... The orange, but no guarantees. I still have those runs to deal with on the other side panel and this panel will need another coat of colour before clear too. I really want to get the grey finished and put to bed before I start on the orange parts....

I've been told by people who know WAY more than I do about it, that you really should be putting clear on within 30 minutes of the last coat of coloured basecoat, so there'll be one more coat of colour tomorrow (or next time) before the clear goes on....

[x88x]

Wow, massive improvement on that corner! It looks great!

[slaveofconvention]

Thanks - for all of my "I want it PERFECT" attitude, I'm more than willing to accept this. There's one tiny chip like mark remaining and it'd definitely something I can live with...

[slaveofconvention]

Today I decided to make a start on those plastic front and top panels parts. Before I did anything new though, I wanted to check on the primer coverage. I've deliberately avoided priming up the whole panels because I've had problems in the past when primer, primer, colour, colour, clear, clear, clear etc ends up adding so much thickness to the surface that the parts don't fit back together again. I quickly popped the 4 parts of the front panel back together for a test fitting and, so far so good...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/099.jpg

Pulled them apart again and gave them and the top panel plastic a gentle sanding with wet 600 grit paper.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/100.jpg

Then I took the air powered sander to the windowed side panel. Those runs were just too heavy to be gently sanded out, so back to primer we go. After about 40 minutes work we end up back here....

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/101.jpg

But while I'm working with primer, it made sense to give the two mesh parts a quick scotchbrite to provide a key for the paint, and a couple of coats of primer.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/102.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/103.jpg

Now I knew the orange pearl I had was semi-transparent, and I got some plain solid orange to base it up with so it'd cover nicely, but I thought I'd give SXRguyinMA's suggestion a try (well kinda....)


use something like a metallic white as a base, it'll make the orange light up

The only white I have to hand is solid white, but there's more than enough pearl in the orange to take care of the lighting up aspect... Time for a little experiment methinks! Grab one spare case side panel, and give it a quick sand down for some kind of smoothness, and add a coat or two of basic primer. I then added a coat of the same primer which is on the plastics. It's actually a proper plastic primer, but it seemed happy enough grabbing hold of the panel/primer...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/104.jpg

I then masked off the bottom half (ok it's a really bad "half" but hey, it'll work for my purposes lol) and hit it with a heavy coat of white (way too heavy to be honest, but I was after the effect here, not the perfect finish)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/105.jpg

And finally a good coat of the orange I plan to use on the plastics...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/106.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/107.jpg

There really is no doubt that the orange over white comes up much cleaner and brighter than directly over the primer.

I know I could add several coats of orange and it'd end up looking exactly the same, but every coat is one more chance for something to go horribly wrong....

With that decision made, I decided it was time to get the rest of the colour on. I mixed up all three of the colours I'd be needing, the grey, the orange and the white (there is white in that cup, I promise)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/108.jpg

Then I cleaned the orange out of the spraygun and set to work on the white... We have the top panel...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/109.jpg

The re-masked front outer bezel...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/110.jpg

The two side bars and the mesh panel from the windowed side...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/111.jpg

And finally the bit that sits at the top/front of the case.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/112.jpg

And this is where all the plans fell apart. When I was finished with the white, I cleaned out the spraygun again, ready for some orange goodness and.... used the last of my Standard Thinners up. I could have pushed on and gotten the rest of the colours on, but I only have 3 of these sprayguns, and while I could have used one for the orange, one for the grey, and the last one for the clear, I'd have had no way to clean them. By the time I get in from work tomorrow night, the clearcoating gun would definitely need to go in the bin, and the other two would need serious cleaning, if not a similar trip into the trash.

I do really want to push this project on to completion, but not at the expense of 3 sprayguns lol...

Here's hoping I get some time one evening this coming week - if not - next update will be next weekend - until then - cyas ;)

[x88x]

Making some good progress here. Oh, and yeah, that orange over white looks much better. :up:

[Snowman]

It's been almost 24 hours since your last update.. post moar pictures slacker.

[slaveofconvention]

I'm a weekend warrior - hear me roar!!!! :p

I just in from work and ate lol - the only thing I plan on doing tonight is properly cleaning my sprayguns as I had to kinda scrimp on the thinners yesterday lol

[Snowman]

I'm a weekend warrior - hear me roar!!!! :p

I just in from work and ate lol - the only thing I plan on doing tonight is properly cleaning my sprayguns as I had to kinda scrimp on the thinners yesterday lol

That's no good... the beatings shall continue until moral improves or worklog gets updates, this is one of the more interesting worklogs I have looked through in awhile keep it up :banana:

[slaveofconvention]

Aaaaaaaand we're back. Last weekend was a bust due to weather, and yesterday, well no excuse, I just never got around to it. Today I woke up with a rotten cold, sore throat, cough and a headache so I decided not to do anything on the project.

Until about 5pm that is lol - two weeks is long enough and if I don't get this finished soon, it'll get too cold to paint again so - pushing on....

Because I didn't get around to clearcoating a couple weeks ago, I had to give both of the side panels a quick rub down with some 800 grit. I could have gone a little coarser, but as I only used a low-build primer on the windowed panel, I didn't want to risk going through (again). After the sanding, I gave a new weapon in my painting arsenal a try....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/113.jpgFarecla G-Scuff

This is a relatively new product which is designed to help prepare a previously painted surface for fresh paint. You drop on a couple of, well, splodges lol, of this and thoroughly wet your scotchbrite pad then go to work.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/114.jpgPrepared Panels

You end up with what looks like a layer of soap but under the soap you get a very nice, even layer of keying scratches. The G-Scuff also acts as a cleaner and degreaser and my first impressions of the stuff are very positive. That small tube is about £8 which is around $13 and I only used a tiny amount so it'll go a LONG way. In the above pic, I've done both but the white foamy residue doesn't show up as well on the light grey as it does on the dark.

Time for some colour anyway. As this will, hopefully, be the last time I'm using the grey colour, and I happened to pick them up when I got the Standard Thinners I ran out of in the last update, I strained the paint. I actually used the paint I mixed 2 weeks ago. It's been sat in that cup for 2 weeks, in the shed, and it was just fine. I like basecoat lol - it just lasts!!!


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/115.jpgA Used Paint Strainer

And I hit the solid side panel with a fairly wet coat of colour...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/116.jpgSolid Side Panel

I then gave the windowed panel the same treatment, except the first 2 coats were dustcoats.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/117.jpgWindowed Panel

Then I went back n forth until I'd used up all of the paint. I gave each coat about 5 minutes to flash off before applying the next, with the final coat going on about 15 minutes after the one before. I figure there are between 8 and 12 coats on each of these panels, maybe as many as 16 more on the solid one.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/118.jpgPainting Done

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/119.jpgPainting Done

And then it was time for some clearcoat. The product I'm using is a 2-pack high solids lacquer. Excuse my language but, as one of the guys at work put it "Basecoat isn't too bad. 2-Pack is different. That ****'ll kill you!" so it was time to cover up my stunning good looks....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/120.jpgMe!!!!

I laid down 2 or 3 dustcoats of the Clear on each of the panels as well as the top grille. (I painted that today too lol - I just never took any pics of it). Once they'd had time to flash off, I hit them both with 2 or 3 nice wet coats, resulting in this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/121.jpgSolid Panel Cleared

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/122.jpgSolid Panel Cleared

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/123.jpgSolid Panel Cleared

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/124.jpgWindowed Panel Cleared

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/125.jpgTop Fan Grill Painted and Cleared

And finally, one gratuitous shinyness shot. This is the solid side panel. The reflection you see is my house. This was taken AFTER the clear had flashed off so it isn't just the wetness reflecting. I can't wait for it to cure properly so I can flat and polish it up properly.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/126.jpgMy abode...

Until next time (probably next week)...

[x88x]

Looks great.

[slaveofconvention]

So when you have to scroll through to halfway down the 3rd page of "Works in Progress" to find your project, you know two things.

1. There are a lot of kickass mods in progress out there which is ALWAYS a good thing... Keep 'em coming guys, it's great to see us producing so much good stuff!

...and...

2. You seriously need to post an update....

So, here we go....

Last time I was here, I was talking about how good the main side panel was looking and how I couldn't wait to get it flatted and polished. Well that's now done...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/127.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/128.jpg

As soon as I got it home, I put it straight onto the case chassis because I couldn't wait to see how it looked, and I figured it was the best place to keep it where it wouldn't get knocked over or scratched etc.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/129.jpg

I also got the orange onto all of the parts which needed orange. I based them up with white to help the orange really pop, although to be honest, there ended up being so many coats of orange, it probably wasn't needed.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/130.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/131.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/132.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/133.jpg

And again, because I'm impatient, AND to protect them from being dropped, lost, eaten by a pet etc, I put them into place (temporarily) on the case...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/135.jpg

I'm really liking the way this is turning out. I'm going to give them another day or two to fully cure before I start reassembly proper, but I'm definitely well on the home stretch now. I'm not going to put a date on it, because that'll be the kiss of death, but I seriously expect some REAL progress towards a completed job by the weekend :D

[SXRguyinMA]

lookin good!

[x88x]

Mmm, shiny. :D

[msmrx57]

Very nice. The orange REALLY pops well.

[Indybird]

I am absolutely loving that orange! Can't wait to see it assembled.

[billygoat333]

your painting skills are awesome. (guess it helps that you are using high quality paint ;) )

[slaveofconvention]

It's always easier to get a good result with the right tools. The fact that I did it again and again and again and again until I was happy with it also helps lol

Ty for comments - hopefully there'll be some rebuild photos tonight - still need to re-sort the other side panel (not quite happy with it atm) but I can get probably 70% of the case into one piece now

[slaveofconvention]

So it's partial assembly time!!! I say partial because the windowed side panel isn't quite ready yet although it will be (should be) by this time tomorrow. I gave the clear on the top panel (last thing to be repainted) an extra 24 hours to cure - it's a high solid automotive 2-pack clear so it's usually ready in about 6 but having come this far, and taken this long, I was taking no chances...

First I needed to get the buttons and front I/O ports built back into the top panel.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/136.jpgHard disk activity LED and reset button

This one was pretty easy. I didn't have to do any major surgery to get them out - was just a matter of snapping off some hot glue drops and carefully prising apart a clip. Getting them back in wasn't much harder. The number of coats of primer, paint and clear had reduced the size of the holes a very small amount, so I had to take a very fine needle file to the reset button hole to make the parts go back in. Then it was just a dot of hot glue on the back of the HD LED and hey presto.

The power button was a slightly different story though...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/137.jpgPower button and mounting plate

To get the Power button out, I'd had to re-melt some plastic welds and remove the whole support frame. I wanted the buttons left black to break up the orange on the top and the power button cap actually sat between the mounting plate and the top cover. To make sure it stays in place, I decided to use another product we stock at work.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/138.jpgQ-Bond Kit

Q-Bond is a very VERY strong (way stronger than I needed to be honest) 2 part adhesive system. It's made up of something very similar to superglue and a reinforcing powder. Once the two are combined they produce a solid block which is extremely strong. Basically, you use the liquid part of the kit to glue the items together as if that was all you were doing - gluing them. Then you apply a liberal sprinkle of the powder to whatever parts you want to reinforce, and drip small drops of the liquid adhesive on. A small puff of smoke later, and you're left with something extremely strong and very quickly dry. You then repeat as many times as you choose, building up layers of the powder and adhesive. The end result isn't particularly pretty, but it's VERY effective.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/139.jpgReinforced Power button plate

In case you were wondering about the power LED - the Antec 900 doesn't have one. The 200mm fan on the top of the case is illuminated, as are the stock fans, so you really don't need one - trust me, you KNOW when the computer in this case is powered up.

Next came the ports - audio, 2 USB and firewire. As with the reset button, the holes had shrunk a little so again I took a needle file and some 600 grit wet'n'dry to them to enlarge them a little. I was very careful to always file/sand down into the panel to eliminate any chance of chipping the clearcoat. This clear is designed to handle a stone hitting it at full speed on a car so I might have been being over-cautious, but *shrug* better too careful than not careful enough, right?


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/140.jpgAudio, USB and firewire ports fitted

4 screws later and voila, we have a completely reassembled front I/O panel (well front - top - you know what I mean).

Time to take on that Antec Big Boy Fan...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/141.jpgTop panel with Fan fitted

No drama here, dropped the grille into place, and secured it with 4 screws, then clipped the fan in. Done and done. That's the top panel complete.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/142.jpgTop Panel Fitted to Chassis

Another simple step. Carefully fed all the cables through the top panel of the case itself and the panel snaps into place. There are two small screws which secure it, one of which also hold a ground wire to the chassis. Literally a minutes work there. Then pop on the reassembled front panel.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/143.jpgAll plastic parts refitted

Again, nice and simple, clip, click, swear loudly, click, 4 screws and done....

Time for some additional cooling...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/144.jpgRear exhaust fan fitted (internal view)

I bought 3 xigmatek 120mm fans to replace the three blue LED fans fitted as standard by Antec. I only really needed to replace one as it had a broken fin but when I saw these xigmatek's in the store, I bought three instead of just the one.

The rear 120mm exhaust fan simply screwed in with four standard fan screws. It wasn't until the fan was in that I realised just how perfectly it fits in with the orange and grey colour scheme. Common sense would have said it would, being orange and grey, but in place, it looks like it was meant to be - REALLY happy with this....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/145.jpgRear 120mm exhaust fan (external view)

I may look into replacing the fan screws - I'm fairly sure I have some black ones somewhere but I actually kinda like the contrast to the case. On to the front.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/146.jpgFront of case - 2x 3 HDD caddies fitted

Those fans are SWEET - I LOVE the way they look.

And a final glory shot for tonight - this is about as far as I can go with this right now until I get the second panel and the time to rebuild my main PC in the case.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/147.jpgOne rather good looking case, if I do say so myself.

This thing is looking REALLY good. I'm actually seriously buzzing with how it's coming together. I feel like a kid at christmas or something. It's been a LONG hard job finding time and re-doing everything as many times as it took to get it right, but it's really starting to pay off now. I seriously think there's maybe 2-4 hours of work between now, and this being effectively finished!

... but ...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/148.jpgFront 3.5" caddy and card reader

How the hell did I forget to paint these parts???? There is no way they can go in like that - looks like there's going to be one more session with the satin black yet....

And hopefully, the other side panel is going to take a LOT of screws to go together, because right now, I still have all of these left!!!!!


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/149.jpgTitle

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Just cos I'm SO pleased with how this is turning out!!!

[blueonblack]

Wow, looking VERY good, you're right. Excellent paint work, do you do commissions? :D

[slaveofconvention]

Erm, well lol - there is that whole Atlantic thing ya know :P

Just been thinkin.... It may have to come apart again heh - the antec big boy fan in the top.... BLUE LEDS I think - not sure - if it is blue - it needs to be changed!!! - The HD Led is definitely blue so that's coming out for sure....

EDIT: I had a lightbulb moment and I need your help guys..... I can't leave the cables the way they are - it's just a great way to take the edge off of a really nice case so.... I want some sleeving. Not just any sleeving though lol - I saw a project log somewhere, at some point (helpful huh) where a guy got sponsored by someone (again not much help) and they sent him a load of black sleeving with an orange fleck in it. I'm not one to go with my hand out - I'll happily buy the stuff - I just need to know where from. If I can't find it, I'll get some mdpc-x black and maybe some orange but I really think that orange flecked black would work an absolute treat!!

[x88x]

Mmm, that does look good. :D The Xigmatek fans look great on it! I also remember seeing orang-flecked black sleeving somewhere...and no, I can't remember where either. I also remember seeing somewhere some sleeving that was black with some orange threads threaded in, for a really awesome look. ...and no, I can't remember where I saw that either.. I'm so helpful. :P

[blueonblack]

I like the individual black and orange sleeves (http://en.mdpc-x.com/mdpc-sleeve/sleeve.htm)at MDPC-X. They would look excellent in there.

[slaveofconvention]

Yeah that's my backup plan but this other gear would be absolutely perfect - it's all black with just a single thread of orange which, because of the weave, makes it look like a repeating fleck. I wish I could find it - for the first time in about 3 years last night I actually used a search engine OTHER than google lol - yahoo, bing, askjeeves - and I still didn't find a thing :|

[billygoat333]

did you try dogpile? lol

[slaveofconvention]

LOL no, but I think I'm hooked up - waiting on an email - *crosses fingers*

[billygoat333]

dogpile is my next in line search engine after google. :P

[slaveofconvention]

I used to use that about a decade or more ago at university - maybe earlier than that actually, and I really can't remember why I stopped using it - might have been because I forgot about it when I stopped sneaking into the uni to use the computers lol

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so this will be the final entry in this worklog - well kinda. I'm officially calling this "Phase 1 Complete" - I have plans for some minor structural mods for cable management inside, and when I have time to rebuild my PC in this case, I'll also be going to town with a good old cable sleeving session. For now though, a brief update, followed by probably way too many photographs...

I picked up the last panel from the garage I've been using to get my painting done today...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/150.jpgWindowed Side Panel - Paint Complete

And I have to say, I'm real happy with how it came out - lovely and shiny like the rest of the case. How shiny? well....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/151.jpgCheck out the polka-dot dress on the TV reflected in the panel

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/152.jpgAnd mod-kitty junior can see another kitten in there to play with!!

Now I just need to get him to understand that this is part of my computer case and NOT his new bed...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/153.jpgTaking this picture, I kept whispering "Claws in, CLAWS IN PLEASE!!!!

Thirteen screws later and the panel is back in one piece with the window and mesh refitted.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/154.jpgWindowed Side Panel - Reassembled

And that's about it. I still have 3 or 4 screws left over :s I can live with that as I put so many in it isn't going to fall apart - that much I'm sure of...

And the final pics - well, Phase 1 final pics anyway....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/155.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/156.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/157.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/158.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/159.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/160.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/161.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/162.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/163.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/164.jpg

[StormRider]

how could you say no to that face?
Congrats! the case looks pretty dang awesome

[x88x]

Looks good, that finish really is awesome. :up:

[billygoat333]

I am loving the paint and the orange mesh. very very cool! much better than stock, for sure.

[SXRguyinMA]

that looks amazing! my dad would love that thing (his favorite color is orange lol :D)

[slaveofconvention]

heh - thanks for the comments guys - much appreciated. Oh and SXR... your dad can't have it :P

[SXRguyinMA]

hehe :D

[slaveofconvention]

Actually got enough sunshine to get some new shots of the case - I was hoping it'd really pop in the sun - and it does BUT not so much in the photographs lol

Anyway I took the time to take 'em so you lot may as well see 'em :P


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/165.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/166.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/167.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/168.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/169.jpg

[StormRider]

now that looks nice. I want one :P

[Fuganater]

Looks great man.

[x88x]

Came out very nice and clean. :up:

[slaveofconvention]

Yeah, I'm about to review another case or two, but when I'm done, unless I REALLY like the case(s), I think my main PC might be going back into this :)

[msmrx57]

Yeah, I'm about to review another case or two, but when I'm done, unless I REALLY like the case(s), I think my main PC might be going back into this :)

If not you MUST put something in there, it's way too nice to just sit around empty. :)

[SXRguyinMA]

that looks awesome! +rep

[slaveofconvention]

If not you MUST put something in there, it's way too nice to just sit around empty. :)

Actually I think my PC may be going back into this case and I'll use my son's system for reviews as he never uses it since I gave him a laptop

[slaveofconvention]

So begins part II of this project - getting an actual computer into the thing...

First things first though - as with all my stuff, comes the preparation.. As of this morning the inside of the case looked like this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/173.jpg

Way too many colours there in the wires.... I was reading somewhere on here about using paracord as sleeving, and being cheap (and curious) I decided to give it a go. I bought 100 metres of each orange, green, and black paracord, along with a couple metres of 3.2mm glue lines heatshrink. As it turns out, getting 3.2mm glue lined heatshrink over 3.0mm paracord is, frankly, impossible, so I had to hold off for a couple days while I waited for some 4.8mm to arrive. Well it arrived yesterday and I wanted something to try it out on so here goes....

If you're curious as to how dense the paracord sleeve is (I know some cheap sleeving can show the cables because it isn't dense enough), take a look at this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/170.jpg

Frankly, it's great stuff - the ONLY downside is the slimness of it - anything more than 2 or 3 really thin wires just will not fit. It's ridiculously cheap compared to "proper" sleeving, and will, without a doubt, be my sleeve of choice from here on in. I chose glue lined shrink because I figured it'd hold better - I have had sleeving slip free in the past and didn't want that to happen again.

First up, the three Xigmatek Fans..


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/171.jpg

I had to cut the connectors off of the end as the round metal part just wouldn't fit through - fortunately in one of my boxes of parts, I have a load of those connectors so putting new ones on the end wasn't a problem.

Much neater. The glue lining works a treat too - it means you can use much less shrink than you might normally use. I've always put at least an inch of shrink on each end of any sleeving I've done, to try to make sure it doesn't come free. I took a gamble on the glue lined and used less than a third of an inch and it worked wonderfully. A closer look at this pic below and you can see the glue which has flowed to seal the joint almost perfectly.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/172.jpg

Now for the remainder of the internal wires. The USB and Audio cables are already black (albeit rubber of some kind) so those didn't need any attention to get them black.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/173.jpg

That leave the Power and Reset buttons, the HD activity LED, and the power connector for the Bigboy fan in the roof of the case.

Its a seriously tight fit getting even two of these cables through with the connectors in place, and I don't have spare ones of this type to rewire them, so I tried using a bit of non glue lined heatshrink to smooth them out.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/174.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/175.jpg

This kinda worked but with two lots of shrink adding to the thickness, is was really hard work so I tried this instead.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/176.jpg

Two connectors, one piece of shrink - and that worked a LOT better.

Wiring up the Bigboy fan was, frankly a REAL pain in the ass as it's wired awkwardly, but a chunk of stubborn and a lot of swearing and....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/177.jpg

And finally, the inside with no coloured wiring visible (well except for that AC97 extension which I think I'll just cut off) :D


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/178.jpg

Now I know I went on a LOT about a pretty simple thing here, but I know there are a few people here thinking about sleeving with paracord so I wanted to make this semi-tutorial in nature - learn from my experience and pain heh....

Till next time when I decide what to do with the PSU as that'll be the last really big part of the sleeving....

[AmEv]

DO cut it off, please!



And keep it for custom header for scratchbuilds!

[slaveofconvention]

And I'm back with some more sleeving fun...

New 500w OCZ Modular PSU (don't tell the wife lol) - I've pretty much decided this case is going to be the retirement spot for my current Q6700 rig when I make the move to i7 (hopefully in the next month or so) - as that pretty much nails down the hardware that'll be in this chassis, I can get kinda pick and specific with my power cables....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/179.jpg

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/180.jpg

The cables all come pre-sleeved but....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/181.jpg

That just won't work for me - the weave is WAY too open.... Also in the box, a standard set of mounting screws...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/182.jpg

Again, not going to work for me - I spent entirely too long getting this case from Silver to Black, I don't want to be putting the silver back, so in one of my spare parts trays...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/183.jpg

Much better. Put the PSU in place for test fitting...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/184.jpg

Nice black screws :)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/185.jpg

And time to start work on the first of the power cables. This is going to supply ALL of the drives in the PC. I will almost certainly end up with one or at most two HD's in here, along with an optical drive, but I'm going to make sure I can put a couple more hard disks in. The PSU is bottom mounted in this case, so even the connector at the end of the line is upside down for my uses.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/186.jpg

Time to remove all the SATA connectors (from both SATA cables)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/187.jpg

Then a little work with a blade and we have nekkid wiring...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/188.jpg

The old sleeving. The packrat in me wants to keep it, but the pedant is arguing that I don't like it, it isn't dense enough, so I'm unlikely to ever use it - why keep it?


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/189.jpg

Finally, the connector at the end comes off - standard ATX pin removal tool made short work of this...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/190.jpg

And we begin - first 5 pieces of hollowed out paracord, and 10 tiny pieces of shrink.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/191.jpg

And rinse and repeat..


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/192.jpg

Until....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/193.jpg

Those connectors have been spaced out so the top one hits the back of the Optical bay at the top of the case, and the 4 below line up with the top and bottom of each of the 2 drive cages, meaning there are connectors for 4 hard disks, and plenty of room for air between them.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/194.jpg

Test fit with 2 drives (I don't have 4 spare sata drives for this)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/195.jpg

Looking pretty good


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/196.jpg

Yup, definitely happy with that - no slack, no coils of cables, and plenty of connectors for upgrades...

Next time, I think I'm going to tackle this lil problem. There's a 4 pin molex connector on the board itself. I also have a PCIe x1 USB3 card which takes its power from a sata connector, so I need to make a cable which will be nice and tidy, and end up with enough length to fill both of those needs....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/197.jpg

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so the "next time" I mentioned in the last update is STILL next time - for now, I took on the hardwired cables.

Stuck a screwdriver straight through the warranty label on the OCZ PSU and cut the 4 pin 12v cable out. The vast majority of motherboards use the 8 pin version now so I don't see me needing it.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/198.jpg

At the same time, JUST IN CASE lol, I cut the cables long enough to resolder and reattach and put some shrink over the ends to make sure they stay isolated inside the PSU.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/199.jpg

Time to give that 8 pin cable the orange and black treatment. Instead of alternating the colours, I chose to black the black ones, and orange the 12v yellow cables.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/200.jpg

The only problem is that it's harder to keep 8 cables (even thin ones) tidy than a single one, so I put the original open weave wrap back on.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/202.jpg

All the extra sleeving made it a really tight fit getting the cables back into the PSU grommet though, even with the 4 cables I removed which used to provide the 4 pin 12v line.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/201.jpg

I think I've decided to chicken out and NOT do the 24pin main cable - for some reason the pins in the 24 pin and 8 pin blocks are taking a scary amount of force to get out - I don't want to damage the cable and I kinda plan on hiding the majority of that cable behind the motherboard tray with a couple of minor mods still to be done.

It's a shame (and evidence of bad planning on my part) to take a dremel to the case AFTER I painted it all but that's what is needed. I'm going to cut an air intake in the floor for the PSU and a cable routing hole or two into the motherboard tray. Then I'll have to make sure all the orange paint is well covered and touch up the black with the whole thing assembled. There are a couple of scratches at the moment from all of my fitting and refitting so a final once over won't hurt :)

Pretty happy with it so far - just got to do the molex line and check my 4870 to see which of the PCI cables need to be done and the PSU section will be finished :D

[diluzio91]

i dont blame you for the 24 pin... just grab a cheap extension and sleeve that :)

[billygoat333]

That is looking awesome.

[diluzio91]

which shrink did you use? i just ordered 200 feet of paracord and was wondering... lol

[slaveofconvention]

I'm using a 4.8mm glue lined 3:1 shrink. It has it's positives and negatives, to be honest. It doesn't seem to squeeze as hard as other non-glue lined 2:1 shrink I've used in the past, but at the same time, the glue means it doesn't really have to tighten up as much to get a grip. I'm personally very happy with it and will use the same stuff next time I need to buy some. I have no idea when that'll be, because in true hoarder fashion, I bought 10 metres of it this time which will last a good while lol

[diluzio91]

any chance of a link?

[slaveofconvention]

I can only link you to the UK ebay item I bought (several of). I also bought the 3.2mm next size down thinking it'd be perfect but it's too small once there's a wire or two inside the sleeve.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170492602534&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

On another note - I got the second main power cable finished tonight but I'm having a real hard time getting the wires to stay together so the orange black stripe shows nicely. Any suggestions? Cable ties aren't working - not only do they break up the lines, they tend to bunch the cables together, not keep them in a flat 4 - I also tried some hot glue on the side you can't see and that kinda sorta works but really isn't ideal... Anyone got any ideas on how to make the 4 individual cables look like a ribbon cable (for lack of a better way to describe it).

Yeah I know I'm putting a dent in my airflow, but it's going to block, at most, 25% of the front 2x120mm fan intake so I think I can get away with it...

EDIT: Duh!!! Sticky tape on the back - how obvious???? lol

[slaveofconvention]

Little update tonight....

Got the second of the main power cables finished. This one has two standard molex connectors on, and a single SATA connector without the orange 3.3v cable. The 3.3 is only used for drive hot-swapping, and this SATA connector is specifically to provide additional power to a USB3 PCIe card so there shouldn't be any issue there...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/203.jpg

I also got some goodies in the mail over the last day or so, including, but not limited to, some black cable tie anchors, some black fan screws, some black m3 socket capscrews and some silicon washers.

As you can see in this pic...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/204.jpg

All of the test fitting and re-fitting is starting to take its toll on that lovely satin black paintwork. Simply replacing the silver screws with the capscrews isn't going to be good enough (although I DO think they look a LOT better)

I got some silicone washers which are, unfortunately, a touch too large in the outer diameter but they're going to have to do - I like things to look perfect, but at the end of the day, I've always been a function THEN form guy if I have to choose.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/205.jpg

They become a lot less noticable with a little distance anyway...


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/206.jpg

And they fit much better on the power supply thumbscrews.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/207.jpg

Next up, I'm going to have to strip the whole thing back down again, cut an intake hole for the PSU fan in the bottom of the case, a small exit hole in the bottom of the case for "something else" which I'm keeping a secret for now, and while I'm dremelling my heart out, I may pop in a couple of cable management holes for the cables I don't want to display.

More soon.... I really want to push this on and get it completely finished so I can get on with my Unimatrix Project...

[diluzio91]

I can only link you to the UK ebay item I bought (several of). I also bought the 3.2mm next size down thinking it'd be perfect but it's too small once there's a wire or two inside the sleeve.


lol.. typing in the auction title yielded this

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-8mm-3-1-Adhesive-Heatshrink-Heat-Shrink-tubing-1-2m-/170492602534?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipmen t_Accessories_SM&hash=item27b226a8a6#ht_3099wt_1026

:D:banana:

[slaveofconvention]

Well that's the stuff I bought alright - idn if that works out as competitive when you ship it all the way over there or not....

[slaveofconvention]

ARISE NECRO THREAD AND LIVE AGAIN!!!

OK so it's been a mere 6 and a half MONTHS since I updated this - and in that 6 and a half months, I made ZERO progress - it's downright scary how fast the time has gone but.....

When I was putting the case back together I somehow managed to lose two of the four rubber feet which I took off during disassembly. I just found the other two which is what prompted this little update. I flipped the case over and....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/208.jpg

Dirty great scratch through my black paint dammit!!! - There was also a smaller scuff on the opposite edge of the case near the antec design lettering. Time to do something about that - first thing, with any paintwork at all, is preparation - rub the damaged area down so there are no edges where the old paint is scratched.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/209.jpg

A quick rough masking up (on my wife's orders heh) - I'm painting this minor repair in the kitchen as it is WAY too cold to paint outside in January in the UK.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/210.jpg

And half a dozen light coats and we have an all-black base once more :D


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/211.jpg

Paper removed and the paint was left overnight to dry properly. As I'm using a Satin finish, there was no need for any flatting or polishing - it's pretty much perfect as it is.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/212.jpg

Last thing for this little repair was to re-fit the previously missing feet. If they'd been there in the first place, the scratches would never have happened in the first place. Feet fitted with some double-sided tape, and then a little weight to keep them in place, followed by another overnight wait.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/213.jpg

And once again, that's all folks. All I actually HAVE to do at this point, to "finish" the mod, is sleeve the cables for the Video card, and then transplant my PC from the Bitfenix Colossus case it lives in at the moment.

I still have to make up my mind what, if anything, I'm going to do about airflow into the PSU - at the moment, the 120mm intake fan is on the bottom of the case....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/184.jpg

So I have to EITHER cut a hole to let air into the PSU as it stands, or flip the PSU so it draws air from inside the case. The former is probably better for airflow, the latter is a whole lot easier so I'm really not sure yet - I think I'll probably go with the easy option just so I can call the case done and move onto a project which is screaming at me to start (yeah it'll be jumping the Q over Unimatrix and Lobo) - we'll see soon :)

[slaveofconvention]

And finally, eventually, YEARS later heh - I'm in the final stretch. Decided to give my Q6700 based main pc a boost before it goes into this chassis, so today I went and threw my credit card (well actually, the wife's credit card) at the local computer shop and got myself a few new toys.

I bought a new motherboard and processor along with 8GB of DDR3 for a server upgrade a month or so ago - I've now decided to put the Q6700 based machine into the server, and reuse the motherboard and RAM in my main PC - the dual core processor had to go though - I wanted a genuine upgrade from the Q6700 and the Dual Core just wouldn't have cut it....


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/imagestore/8120/01.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/imagestore/8120/03.jpg
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/imagestore/8120/04.jpg

8-Core Bulldozer at 3.1Ghz - that should give me a slight improvement over the 4 core C2Q at 2.67Ghz :D

I bought 8GB of RAM for the server upgrade - and figured "why not?" and got another pair of 4GB sticks.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/imagestore/8120/02.jpg


I expect a good improvement in performance going from a 4x 2.67Ghz with 8GB DDR2-800 to an 8x 3.1Ghz with 16GB DDR3-1333

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so the "next time" I mentioned in the last update is STILL next time - for now, I took on the hardwired cables.

Stuck a screwdriver straight through the warranty label on the OCZ PSU and cut the 4 pin 12v cable out. The vast majority of motherboards use the 8 pin version now so I don't see me needing it.


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/slaveofconvention/projects/antec900/198.jpg

At the same time, JUST IN CASE lol, I cut the cables long enough to resolder and reattach and put some shrink over the ends to make sure they stay isolated inside the PSU.



Remember this? Dammit - I need the 4 pin connector for the new motherboard *bangs head on desk*

Currently tearing my office/workshop apart trying to find the cable I took out - I made a point of making it re-attachable but that won't help if I have nothing to re-attach....

[SXRguyinMA]

just use the 8-pin, it'll plug in and work :)

[slaveofconvention]

It wouldn't fit - caps on both sides of the 4.

On another note - built-er-up, turned-er-on and smelt the smoke and got deafened by an alarm.

PSU is (apparently) toast - was the first time this PSU had ever had power so I'll never know if it was DOA or if I killed it but *shrug* doesn't really matter anyway. One thing I never mess with is a dodgy PSU so it (along with all that lovely sleeving) is going straight into the bin.

On a more positive note - with the PSU from my server installed - fired up first time - all cores and all 16GB ram recognised and W7 is installing as I type.

I honestly thought I was in the home stretch with this damned thing lol....

So Windows installed faster than I've ever seen - with zero drivers installed I got an initial CPU and RAM score of 7.5 on the Windows rating - hopefully I can tweak those a little and things generally will improve with updates :)

[SXRguyinMA]

nice :D

[slaveofconvention]

motherboard only has a single PCI-E slot so now I have to find a new way to run my 3 screen display dammit. I currently have a 4870 in the primary slot running a 22" and a 4350 in the second slot running a pair of 19"s

I can either:
Buy a USB video card - overpriced and very poor performance
Buy a new motherboard with two PCI-E slots - expensive for a good one but best for overall performance
Buy a new video card with eyefinity support - not too expensive if I can compromise on graphics performance - not really a problem as I don't really game on the PC anymore
Buy a PCI graphics card as a second card - probably the cheapest and easiest option

Argh - I'm never gonna stop spending on this upgrade lol

[Fuganater]

I say get the mobo. I picked up a 5x PCI-E mobo on newegg for 125. It should last a long time.

[slaveofconvention]

Well the Antec 900 based system is now (wait for it) at the computer shop.... yeah I know but I suspect (strongly) a faulty motherboard and they won't change it without testing it (which is reasonable). Course, they didn't earn any brownie points by informing me that the colours looked garish.....

Irrespective, the motherboard is going to be replaced by an AsRock 970 Extreme3 - I'm just waiting to find out if it's going to cost me £70 or £15 heh

[f8l_0e]

What inputs do the monitors have?

[slaveofconvention]

the 22 is vga only, the 19's are both identical with vga and DVI

[slaveofconvention]

Ok so I got my PC back from the computer shop today - in exactly the same state as it was when I dropped it off - they hadn't had time to look at it yet.

Well I say in exactly the same state - exactly the same except for the bit of paint they pulled off by sticky-taping my address label to the orange top front section. Fortunately it isn't in an easy-to-see location but I have no doubt it'll bug me enough to eventually repaint it.

I bought the AsRock 970 Extreme3 motherboard too, so tonight is copying all of my data back onto the Q6700 system, followed by a rebuild and reinstall using the new board.

Wish me luck lol

[Waynio]

Sweet paint job mate, brilliant mirror finish on it, you made this case look awesome. 8):up:

[slaveofconvention]

TY Waynio - it should look good - most of it was done 4 or 5 times till I was happy with it lol.

Win7 Installed now and I'm running a 1 hour OCCT test on it to see if the stock AMD CPU cooler is up to the job or if I have to raid my Media Centre for the frankly awesome Noctua cooler I reviewed a few months ago

[slaveofconvention]

So everything seemed to be just fine - a full 1 hour OCCT test produced no issues and peak temps of about 52 degrees which, while a little on the high side wasn't unexpected with the stock cooler.

Then I noticed the CPU seemed to be locked into 1.4Ghz, which was kinda odd as both the BIOS and computer properties were correctly identifying the chip as a 3.1. One BIOS update later and everything seems to be working properly - the chip is sitting at 1.4 when idle, and 3.1 under load with the occasional self-overclock to 4Ghz (which never lasts long) BUT.... I'm running another OCCT test as I type and I'm seeing temps in the mid-high 60's. That's OK as it's still within the specifications (just) but it leave me with ZERO room for overclocking so I think a new HSF is definitely the order of the day. Later on this afternoon I'm going to pull my sons's PC and the Media Centre to bits and try those coolers - my son is running an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro and the Media Centre the awesome Noctua NH-C14 unit I reviewed last year. It'll have to wait till this afternoon as I need to go out and buy some more TIM as the stuff I have lying around is seriously cheap low-end junk heh