Oi oi, new fella, new project...

[Drew]

Hiya people, I am new here, and pretty new to modding as a whole, but I'll sure as hell give it my best shot!

Having been inspired by the likes of project:Blackout and project: Doom3 (mars something), I found myself hankering after a modded case.

I am nowhere near as talented as those guys, and will mostly be sticking with off the shelf mods, but I dooooo fancy some mirrored bits...

Heres the crack so far....

I acquired my mothers 8yr old PC (AMD Duron 700Mhz :eek: (now overclocked to 800Mhz :eek: ), 128Mb RAM :eek: , 8Gb HDD :eek: ...not exactly NASA...) and set about it (after being suitably impressed to find that it would run Unreal Tournament :eek: ).

I started by painting the original beige (ewwwwwww...) case silver....didn't go well so I ordered some new bits from ebuyer, and set about it properly.

I ordered a new case, some tri-colour cathodes, round IDE and floppy cables (floppy now removed - I weren't usin' it, and the cable was messy...) and a bio-hazard fan grill.

I set about the old beast with a screwdriver, ripping bits out and throwing them over my shoulder (muppet chef stylee), before refitting in the new case (tidying what wires I could behind the metalwork).

The wires are next on the list for deletion - I'll extend 'em (properly, not like in the pics...) and hide em away somwhere...or at least make em look tidier - I SOOOOOOO HATE WIRES!!!!!!!

Heres how she looks...

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/9879pc_front.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/3500pc_side_lit.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/5354pc_side.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/6637pc_innards.jpg

The next bits to go on order are.....

2 x blue UV reactive 80mm fans
1 x blue LED 120mm fan
2 x 4" blue cathodes
2 x 4" (maybe 12") UV cathodes
Some mirrored thin stuff (not sure what just yet, to cover up the rank metalwork - what I cant cover with mirror I'll paint)
UV reactive cable tidying (maybe heatshrink, if I can find it...I SOOOOOOO HATE WIRES!!!!!!!)
Some shorter IDE cables (single headers, if such a thing exists)
Black DVD R/W (the beige CD R/W looks mingin)

Erm, I think thats about it.

Oh and if anyone knows where I can get one, I'd like a blue fan (LED or UV reactive) for the processor heatsink... or maybe a big copper heatsink....mmmmm that'd be nice....

Since I'm kinda low on inspiration, if ya have any cool ideas, pitch 'em, and we'll see where it goes.

Once this ones kinda done, I'll set about a new one, for the full mod treatment.

I'll keep ya updated.

Cheers,

Drew

[XCruiserGamer]

Have you tried http://www.xoxide.com. They have some neat stuff.

[Drew]

Bingo!

:eek: 'Aint they got some kit? :eek:

I have a new favourite friend.....

Drew

:edit: My pics have disappeared :-(
:edit2: Sussed it, bandwidth exceeded :-(
:edit3: Changed hostage, much better ... bloody geocities...

[Rankenphile]

not too shabby, mate.

[vidas7de7jesus7]

In my humble opinion (but remember, this is only my opinion) I would upgrade the motherboard and parts before you go buying a new heatsink. Save yourself a few bucks. All the other stuff is pretty much stick it where you like, but the heatsink is usually processor specific. And it's pretty nice overall. That tri-color throws the scheme off a bit (I like the whole blue and black thing, keep that up). I've heard the pros say that two colors should be max for lights. It was either that, or two colors overall. You get to many colors and the picture gets "busy." Other than that, very good. If you look in your area, there might be someone who can chrome those bits for you. *devilish smile* Might cost a little bit, but should be worth it having all that shiny metal loveliness.

[Drew]

Completely agree about the lights, the tri-colour seemed like a good idea at the time, but I wasn't happy with 'em as soon as I fitted em.

For a time I had the green and red taped off so it was just blue, but it looked a bit.....well, crap really with the tape. New blue cathodes on order.

Motherboard upgrade....definitely warrant due consideration, theres some lovely pre-lit heatsinks about for other processors...and the kids could use a PC for their homework...I feel a plan coming on...

And Chrome? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

I like the way you think my man.

Drew

[d_stilgar]

I actually like the tri color cathodes. I like the whole mod too. We all start somewhere.

[Omega]

haha, i have a 700mhz athlon. muhc love. <3


makes sense that it can run UT, though, since that's a computer of the same era.



aaaaanywho, i would say to pick a single color, or two (that compliment each other, red and blue is a no), and go with those.

EDIT:

use http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host
it's run by lotech, one of the forum members, it's free, 10mb file limit, etc. always up.

[Drew]

Thanks for the link Omega, piccys now hosted by lotech...many thanks Lotech, whoever and wherever you are..................:D

Drew

[Drew]

Oi oi, small update...

Done a bit more cable managing, lookin a bit better now...and I've found out that soldering is harder than it seems...or maybe my iron is poo?

Also removed the CD ROM (weren't usin' it) and the floppy drive is out too now, just need to figure out what I'll put in the holes to replace 'em (I lost the blanks from the original build, D'oh!).

Anywho, this is what she looks like now....

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/4914landscape.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/4395portrait.jpg

Ran outta heatshrink, so the cathodes 'aint fired up yet, but I'm still well chuffed.

The mirrors are just laid in there to get a feel for how it'll look (still can't find any thin mirrored plastic yet), but like I said, I'm well happy with the look so far, just a shame it's not half as tidy behind the motherboard tray.... :D

Drew

[Rankenphile]

Clean looking wire setup.

[Drew]

Right, help for a noob?

This should probably be in the noob section, but since I claimed my own thread...

Who knows about LEDs? I certainly dont, and this modding seems to be turning into a quest for knowledge. :p

Having apparently knackered 2 LEDs in the front of my case, I am guessing they need to be connected to the red wires, as they only lasted about 2 mins connected to the yellow ones....

Heres a quick paint wiring diagram...

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/8374wiringdiagram.GIF

Yes, that is 10.

I know the setup in the pic will probably cause a small fire of some sort, mostly because I thought of it.

My question runs thus: resistors. I figure that I'll need them, but I havent got the foggiest idea how many, where in the circuit they go or what value ones to get.

Oh, and whats the difference between reverse voltage and forward voltage? The LEDs I have in mind seem to all be like 3-4v forward, and 5v reverse, whats that all about? :?

Please help me, it is help a noob week after all.... :p

If I can figure this out, hopefully inside a week I'll have the brightest case in Pembrokeshire!

Drew

:edit: Never mind, a bit of googling got me sussed!

[Drew]

My first real mod!

A lot of people won't think that drive stealthing is a real mod, but hey, I do.

This case modding is horribly addictive, and a good way to find your limits....I was going to stealth the drives with pieces of mirror, but having broken a few (about 28yrs bad luck on the way...) I decided that it wasn't for me.
Cue the black stealthing.

I'm not sure what to do with the bit below the drives, but something'll come up.

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/7357stealth2.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/4014stealth4.jpg

What ye reckon?

Drew

[FyR]

Hey man, nice modding! Im a sucker for tidy wiring aswell! If you want any help with your LED setup look here http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz its one of the most handiest things ever!

If you havnt already found out, forward voltage is how much voltage the LED requires to light fully, reverse voltage is how much you can put down the LED in reverse before it goes POP.

Most LED's require 20mA current aswell, as a PSU kicks out quite a bit you should ALWAYS put a resistor in the loop otherwise your LED's will eventually (days/weeks/months) go pop. You say your LED's are between 3 and 4 volts forward, assuming thats 3.5v forward and they require 20mA you will need an 82 ohm resistor if your running of the red wire (5volts), if your running of the yellow wire (12 volts) you will need a 470ohm resitor.

If you put a resistor in line with your LED's they will last a hell of a lot longer, even if it works out you dont really need a resitor still add a 1ohm one, just to tame that current down a bit.

Keep on modding dude

[Drew]

Thank ee for the compliments, and that LED calc thing is awesome!

Turns out that I only need 1 Ohm resistors....

Drew

[Shikimaru]

that is one very exciting front bezel

[Drew]

This better?

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/4912bling2.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/3761bling3.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/616bling1.jpg

http://www.lotechdesigns.com/host/images/8031bling4.jpg

The motherboard tray and the floppy drive bay'll get the treatment too (thats the arse end of the HDD stickin out the hole).

I've now decided to give this PC to the kids, so it'll be modded on that theme now, and I'm acumulating the tools to do it proper too.

I'll buy a new case and go mega on it for me.

Drew

Oh, and the connector blocks are temporary....

[maximan1]

This case has a starting bid of $0.01 on Ebay and there are thousands of them there none of them selling. Nothing much he just put in another computers parts into this crappy case.

[Drew]

Such a blatant case of snobbery I have never come across, on this forum or any other.

Makes me wonder how on earth you ever manage to draw more people into this pastime.

Just glad that such small mindedness doesn't bother me too much.

I am just someone new to the hobby without a massive amount of money or the kit to do a real job, and to be met with this kind of open hostility (perhaps not the right word, perhaps ridicule is closer to the mark) is not something you should be proud of.

If this is how you treat all new members without the skill of defyant etc., then you really ought to have a look.

Have a nice day y'all.

Drew

[silverdemon]

i actually think it's a great mod. I must say it's not what I expected but it worked out nice.

well done drew

[Drew]

Cheers dude! :)

Drew

[Cannibal23]

Have you tried http://www.xoxide.com. They have some neat stuff.
i want the cigarette ligther drink holder thing that they have ther

[Cevinzol]

Drew I'm glad to see your mod.

I was going to comment to max about his post but his post was so out of place I though it might have been in the wrong thread. I guess he doesn't realize that many people have money limitations.

Anyway keep up the good work.

[Drew]

Yeah, I thought it was a bit harsh.

True enough, but still a bit harsh :p

And I did state at the front that it was an old PC..... perhaps he weren't listening.

Drew

[FyR]

This case has a starting bid of $0.01 on Ebay and there are thousands of them there none of them selling. Nothing much he just put in another computers parts into this crappy case.

Your atittude sucks pal, iv seen you making loads of snide comments on other threads, didnt anyone ever tell you "if you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all"?

[DrRobotnik]

Also new to this forum but if this forum is like any other then there are ****e posters whos one goal in life is to cause an argument purely because they dont have the confidence to address simple situations in day to day life. From what i've see most of the people here realy know what they're talking about.

That rant over......nice mod, good job on cleaning the cables, would look ace in pure red lighting tho. Damn my blue lighting i want red now!!!!!!.....hmmm must be in a red mood