My 'puter, blingGreen

[Tech-Daddy]

I'm copying my post log from another location, I hope this does not offend.
If so, please let me know and I will re-write it.

Well... my little 'puter is my pride and joy!
There are a lot of funny stories behind it's construction, but I am very happy with it's end result.

I bring it to this forum... well... cuz I can! ;)

I hope you enjoy!
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max4.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max5.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max6.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max7.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/Max8.jpg

Innards are the following:
A8N-SLI-Deluxe
Athlon FX-53
1GB (2x512) OCZ EL PC3200, 2-3-2
Leadtek 6600GT
Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler with Artic Silver
ULTRA 500w X-Connect modular power supply
Pioneer Slot load DS-106 DVD player
HP CD Burner (older than dirt...) :lol:

The trick bits:
1) Flames... and lots of them! I've always liked classic harloquin flames like on custome cycles and hot rods... this was my tribute to them! I cut the inverse flame on the top window, backed it with a sanded piece of lexan, then lit each end with a 3 LED array, blue at the base of hte flam, and green at the top of the flame. The fade works nicely. The Side window was lovingly cut and sanded and filed into submission to put the flames on the window! Ran into a problem shortly after creating my *magiccal* effect, in that my case color did not lend itself to displaying the flames very well in a dimly lit LAN environment. So I cam up with the 2nd layer of sanded UV blue acrylic that is lit with UV CCFL's! Add into that the other colors that are present in the acrylic (to be explained in a second) and I got my flames lit up enough to be seen at a LAN party! ;)

2) The flames actually flicker. I built a controller for all of the series LED's that is based off of hard drive LED activity. When the drive is at rest (off) certain LED's stay lit. When there is activity, then the other LED's light up and the first set goes off. So there is this constant play between the colors in the flames that makes the flames not only light up... but flicker and dance as well!

3) 92mm exhaust fan. Was a regular UV green fan, but I tapped 3 holes into the frame and aimed UV LED's in a triangle pattern. I tied them into the same plug used by the fan off of the motherboard, and then sleeved the connection in black so that it would not show up.

4) Custom Power cabling - I bought some UV reactive wire and some corresponding black molexes and the male or female pins needed to fil each location, and then built my own cable system. The Ultra cables are nice, but too bulky for how small my case actually was. So I gathered inspiration from another modder on another forum and redid the work in my flavor! The cable spacers are UV Green acrylic that have been tapped, drilled and added into the cable array. Kinda tricky to plan out how many cables you need, how many molexes will be used, where the spacers are going to be put in, etc... but I like the results!

5) Crushed Velvet in the bottom to give it that "pimp's couch" feel, as well as add in an areas for me to cover cables and connections! I plan on redeux'ing this later on, but for now... I like how this all lays out.

6) Bulgin Vandal switch on the front for power

7) Front intake for 80mm front fan with active LED show in the middle of it!

I have a complete work log up elsewhere if you would be interested in reading all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this mod, then I'll gladly post up the link.

Let me know what you think!
:)

[Rachel]

You must bring us pictures! At least I don't see any.

[Tech-Daddy]

You must bring us pictures! At least I don't see any.


I see my pictures at the top.. are they not displaying?
I'm looking at my post, and seeing my pictures, are you seeing red X's?
:? :eek:

[Rachel]

I wasn't seeing any pictures. I see them now. I bet my schools proxies where blocking them becuase it didn't like the site where you're hosting them. If it's from a free host type website like geocites, or anglefire it's totally blocked.

I love how the flames fade from one color to the next. I also like what you did to your cables. Nice work!

[Frakk]

it looks good but id like to see some dayshots too :)

[Tech-Daddy]

Here ya go!
http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/bling_window.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/bling_front.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/bling_side.jpg

I have to retake some shots of my rig's internal components, but hopefully this helps you visualize the mod.

[Frakk]

it does help but still waiting for those internal pics. good job!

[blindreap3r]

That is friggin awesome!

[altec]

Odd colors to me. But hell if it was up to me all cases would be red and black lol. Like the wire idea don't think any ones doing that.

[Matthew]

Thats friggin sick...its like..galitic bowling...you know...where the pins are like blacklit and...yeah...um..ok...yeah...anyway got a couple questions. How did you do the flame fade? The wire management thing im guessing was made out of UV reactive plexi right?

[Tech-Daddy]

That is friggin awesome!

Thank you very much! I like it too! :p



Odd colors to me. But hell if it was up to me all cases would be red and black lol. Like the wire idea don't think any ones doing that.

Yeah... I hear ya! The blue is not *quite* the shade I wanted, but it cleaned up well and polished nicely. I also had anohter idea on the front bay coloring... but that is for another time! So I'll keep it until I feel the need to reshoot it with the proper colors! As for the cabling, I gained that bit of inspiration off of another modder on another forum, Capt. Sluggo over at Bit-Tech. He was using black and was making it for single lines. I adopted the idea and went for a stacked approach and cascaded the lines through the middle of the case.


How did you do the flame fade? The wire management thing im guessing was made out of UV reactive plexi right?

If you are talking about the top blue to green fade, I cut my flame out of the top (like you would do if you were putting in a window. I then power sanded a clear piece of lexan on one sice until it was good an foggy. I then mounted it into the top of the case, undernieth the flame cut out, and positioned a blue triple LED cluster at one end, and a green triple LED cluster at the other end... facing each other, and then I let the light fight it out. The fade came out nicely! It is actually a bit unique, in that when you stand in different places staring at the colors, you see where more green leaks down further in to the blue, and where more blue leaks up in to the green.
As for the wire harness, yes, I took green UV reactive acrylic and created that little bit of management!

I appreciate the feedback folks! Any other questions, please feel free to ask! I'll pass on what I know!
:)

[Tech-Daddy]

it looks good but id like to see some dayshots too :)

I took a few tonight, this was the best one!
Give a good, overall view of the cabling.

http://home.comcast.net/~tech-daddy/mods/blingGreen/cabling.jpg

Please let me know what you think!

[Frakk]

hmmm. interesting. that green is not my taste, but the blue I like a lot. is that the stock fx-53 cooler? ive never seen one before. good job, im sure you've put lots of time into it.

[Tech-Daddy]

Naw... it is a Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro cooler.
The green seems to be the sticking point for most people. I like it, not my absolute *favorite* choice, but for my color scheme, I feel it worked out well.

Thanks for the comments!

[MrSlacker]

nice job. do you have any problems with dust on the cloth?

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah, I do. Not a good way that I can figure to filter the dust effectively. Mesh screen on the back end of the intake fan would just look tacky!
;)

So, I vacuum once every few weeks!
:p

[MrSlacker]

gotcha. i am thinking of doing similar but putting sheet of metal or dark plexi as a 2nd "floor" to hide cables. still only an idea.

you rig kinda looks like pimp mobile :p

[Tech-Daddy]

gotcha. i am thinking of doing similar but putting sheet of metal or dark plexi as a 2nd "floor" to hide cables. still only an idea.

you rig kinda looks like pimp mobile :p

Hehehe, someone on another forum asked if I was going to put little bed posts into the rig, and make it a hooker/"John" diarama type scene! Hehehhe.. no no no... just like the material!

You have hit upon what v2 of my floor will be like. I'm planning out a flat, thin piece of acrylic/plexi/something, that I will put little feet onto, raising it enough to give the cables a place to hide. I would then use this material to cover the "floor" as well as have a hole or two where some of the cables that need access above, could fit through.

That will be later though!

[MrSlacker]

yeah thats what i want to do, but i have no clue how to attach it, may be mobo stand offs and cut holes on 2 ends for fingers.... we'll see

[AlkalineOmen]

That is beautiful. Could you post the link to the worklog? im thinking about doing something like this one of these days. Very nice work!

[redhalo]

Hey Tech-Daddy, nice to see you here. Lol. These pics look great, I hadn't seen the velvet before.

[public_eyesore]

does the velvet increase the internal case temperature at all? If so is it a big difference

[Frakk]

why would it increase the temps? does ure sheets increase the temp of ure bed?

[Tech-Daddy]

My goodness! Where are my manors!
Apologies for hte delayed responses!

AlkalineOmen - Thank you! My complete worklog is here..... (http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=56651)

redhalo - Yeah, if you read the log... you'll see what I "almost put in there! Scared a person or two (but it was mostly a joke... mostly!)

emochild626 - No, as long as the airflow is good, I've had no issues. One thing that *did* happen, is that my inverter for my UV CCFL's blew a capacitor. Now, the Inverter is actually located below the material, so I dont know if it overheated, or what... but the ceramic cap that was right by the power connector scorched the board and bowed the plastic around it with heat warping! Dodged a bullet there...

Thanks for all of the comments! Apologies for the delay in responding. My mind is not what it used to be! ;)

Oh yeah, for any of you subscribers... check out June's MaximumPC Rig of the Month!
(giddy dance...)

[MrSlacker]

Oh yeah, for any of you subscribers... check out June's MaximumPC Rig of the Month!
(giddy dance...)
sure will

[public_eyesore]

why would it increase the temps? does ure sheets increase the temp of ure bed?
no, but it insulates the temerature of your body, which increases the temp of your bed.

[Frakk]

no, but it insulates the temerature of your body, which increases the temp of your bed.
exactly. as long as there is no heatsource under it it will not have any impact. as he said, the inverter was under it without any ventillation and it most likely overheated, however it wont have any affect on the compnents because its in the bottom and there is a decent airflow around the case.

[Tech-Daddy]

Could have been heat... could have been component failure... after mine blew, a few of the modders there told me stories of others that won't use CCFL's any more due to the inverters posibly going up in flames....
:(

Yeah.... that gave me a nice, warm/fuzzy moment...
;)

[MrSlacker]

got my MaximumPC today, good job!

[Tech-Daddy]

Thank you sir!
;)

[invalid lab]

<OT> Tech: How did you get your comp in the running for ROTM? Is there a place on their site to signup to be judged or something? </OT>

[MrSlacker]

<OT> Tech: How did you get your comp in the running for ROTM? Is there a place on their site to signup to be judged or something? </OT>
it says on the bottom of the page
If you have contender for Rig of the Month, email input@maximumpc.com with high-res digital pics and 300-word write-up.

[invalid lab]

Thanks very much.

[Tech-Daddy]

^^^^ What MrSLacker said!
;)

Thanks for the reply!

[Farnell]

That inside is sick!
You rule man! 11 of 10

[Tech-Daddy]

*Tips hat*
Gracias sir!

[Cymae]

this is hot. (pun unintentional)
Just one thing i was thinking...is that velvet a bit loose on the case? it sorta looks like you're material slipped, could be just me, but if you pulled it tight across, it might look a bit more sleek....but thats just me :D

Regardles...i want to touch it!

[Tech-Daddy]

Hehehe, it is supposed to look loose and rippled. I plan on fixing up the floor later on and making it a bit cleaner.... but that will be later!
Thanks!

[Cymae]

*steps back as not to drool on the velvet*

[Xbrid]

that is sweet!

[Rainbow Insides]

hey i saw that u used UV lighting does the actual light glow like a cold cathode

[Tech-Daddy]

It glows with a purplish hue, but anything that is UV reactive will really pop. As opposed to be being lit up by a purple CCFL.

Ambient light is of the purple nature, but it is soft, accent type light.

[Rainbow Insides]

so u didnt use any nonUV lighting why is that

[Rainbow Insides]

[IMG]hey u want to see a pic of my computer im a first timer but its alright

[Tech-Daddy]

I used 2 UV Cold Catodes, and then a number of UV LED light pinpointing certain spots.
I also have red, amber, orange, green and blue LED to light the flames and different points inside the case o nthe motherboard and the CPU heatsink.

[Crimson Sky]

that's pretty baddass--awesome 8) 8)

[Tech-Daddy]

that's pretty baddass--awesome 8) 8)

Thank you sir!
See ya @ QC! ;)

[Rainbow Insides]

if you put a noon UV light in there would it affect the UV lighting

[Tech-Daddy]

Would likely make the other items "less bright" as the contrast that happens with UV light would be interfered with.

The UV stuff would still be bright, but the areas around them would also be lit up.

[Rainbow Insides]

do u think that it is worth putting 2 blue non UV with sound activation in and 2 UV lights in do you think that it would look good

[Tech-Daddy]

I really dont know. I think, and this is my opinion, that the blue would overwhelm the UV reactions. "Yes" the UV things would glow, but not nearly as well as if they were UV only.

What I would recommend is something that has blue LEDs that are adjustable in brightness. That would give you the blue you are looking for, but the ability to adjust down the color and calibrate the colr vs UV ratio.

Follow what I'm saying?

[Rainbow Insides]

that is a very good idea so u mean something like a varible resistor or somthing in the inverter but if i put it on a sound activation inverter it would only glow sometimes

[Tech-Daddy]

Yes, a variable resistor.
I dont think you can dim a CCFL, Ive heard that inverters dont like that... ;)
LED's have a wide range that they can illuminate with, and that is what I recommend to you for your blue lighting, is to loose the blue CCFL's and use LEDs instead. Or maybe use 4" CCFLs to try and reduce the light. CCFL's are bright!

[joman2055]

Its like a rave in a computer case. love it man

[Karant]

Nice, but the flames really don't suit me.

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah, flames are not everyone's cup 'o tea...
I'm going to be trying something a bit different in one of my future cases...
Stay tuned! Thanks for dropping by and looking!

;)

[globetrotter]

OOOOOHHHHHH..... amazing case... please let me know when you plan to get rid of it, as I am very atracted to it :D:D:D

[perrco]

ok man i love ur work. but i love the plexy glass on the psu cables thats my fav

[OvRiDe]

Very cool.. I am a total sucker for flames.. they just oooze custom IMO.. Great job!!

[Tech-Daddy]

Hehehe... I am always flattered when someone pulls up my older mod and comments!

Thanks guys!

Yes.. it is still my daily user, but soon to be replaced by BOSS. bling will likely go into my garage as a work computer.
;)

But I'll make a deal with ya... if I do look to sell it, you get first crack at it! ;)

[onelegout]

I realy love this! great cable management and awesome work with the uv!
The front bays could do with some work though, they seem a little outof place to me but its aaaaaaaaaall good :D

[IceBerg_5]

Very Nice Man, Find The Side Flames Very Cool. Just Wondering How Long It Took From Start To Finish?

[Tech-Daddy]

Thanks guys!
Iceberg_5 - for the entire case, start to finish, took me almost 7 months.

This was *my* first mod, and as such, took me quite a while to complete.
:)

[IceBerg_5]

7 Months, Quite Long. But It Paid Off In The End. I Must Put Mine Up Aswell. (Need More Photos On Inside) Only Took Me About 20 Hours. HeHe