Project DEEP PURPLE (The Introduction)

[modding.fan]

Hello fellow modders! I’ve been perusing through TBCS for about 2 months now and I have to say I’m impressed. J So, as such, I’ve made up my mind to do my project work-log here. I’ve been building systems for years now, and have one real heavy mod to my name (did it about 6 years ago, when modding was still pretty uncommon).

Anyway…moving on to project DEEP PURPLE. Currently I’ve got a system on my desk, built in a plexi box, with 6x 80mm system fans, 2x 40mm fans on the HD, 2x 80mm PSU fans, a 40mm chipset fan, a 40mm VPU fan, and a monster Athalon cooling fan. Needless to say, it’s loud, well, it’s worse than loud, I seriously thing I’m going deaf from it. That, and the fact that the system is a good 4 years old, has finally pushed me over the edge and forced me to start building my new system.

Now, I’ve grown a few years since my first mod (not the plexi, that was more of a parted out build than a mod), and I think I know where I want to go with this system. Basically, I want silent, smooth, and elegant. No harsh red neons, no multi-color eyesores, I want something that will blend in with my personal taste and style.

I’ve spent a couple of months just researching what I want, looking at part and company reviews, and most importantly surfing the internet for the perfect case to begin with. Oh, did I mention that, due to my job, I live in India right now so I can’t just run to Home Depot or BestBuy to pick up parts? J My challenge is limited to what I can mail-order from the states, which is 99% of my new build.

I was going to hold off on starting the project log until I got all of my parts in, but, you know how it is when boxes start showing up. You just can’t wait to get the approval of your peers and start detailing all of your work. So without further ado, here is what I’m going for overall, I wanted a strong gaming system, that would look great, for around $2k, not too bad a goal and I think I hit the mark:

Primary System Specs/Components:
CPU: Intel 820d Dual-Core 2.8Ghz
RAM: 2Gb DDR2-667 Patriot Memory
MOBO: Gigabyte GA8NSLI (Couldn’t find any mobo’s with a purple PCB, but this one had great reviews, and it’s blue, pretty close, it should work great in the end.)
VPU: XFX GeForce 7900GT
HD’s: 2x (striped) Maxtor 200gb SATA’s
Optical: Lite-On DVD/RW
PSU: Rosewill Modular Black 550W

Cooling System Components:
Pump: Danger Den D5 Pump
Blocks: DD RBX775 CPU, DD NV-78 VPU, DD Maze-4 Chipset, DD Aqua-Drive HD Block,
Rads: 2x DD Black Ice Extreme 120mm single radiators
Reservoir: Innovatek Tank-o-Matic w/ Black Aluminum caps.
Fans: 3x Coolermaster Silent 120mm Purple LED fans
(1 for each rad, one to replace the blue, loud fan in the PSU)
3x 120mm silicone fan silencers
Fluid: Blue & Red PrimoChill Ice fluid (hoping to mix for purple)

Case & Accent Bits:Case: ThermalTake Armor, aluminum (silver, but it’s the first thing to get changed)
Light: 15” Purple Lava Neon tube from StreetGlow
Light: 2x 15” Black-Neon tubes from StreetGlow
Control: PC-Neon connector kit from StreetGlow (I love how clean and simple this thing is)
Misc: Copious amounts of black cable sleeving, heat shrink, and tie wraps. I’m doing this one right.

My Plan:As far as modding, I’m going to do a total case destruction. J The internals are all going to be a nice high-gloss black. Outside the case is going to be a deep midnight purple, with black accents. I have in mind exactly what the accents will be, but I’m not going to spoil the fun yet. I’m hoping to replace the bottom window that comes in the case with a piece of un-etched plexi, since this will be my case and not ThermalTakes. I’m going to try my hand at replacing the system LED’s on the case with purple ones as well.

The entire water-cooling system is going to be a ½” ID setup, with the purple UV reactive fluid. All my other cables inside the case will either be totally buried (behind the mobo, through the racks, routed out of window view, etc.) or done in black to hide. Between the black lights and purple fluid, and purple lights, I’m really trying to do a subtle highlighting of the water-cooling setup. I’m also thinking of putting some holes in the case windows and weaving some extra tubing in and out of the case for effect, but I’m not sure if this’ll be feasible without overstressing my water pump.

As pieces start coming in the mail, I’ll do individual component, and small-step pictures (as I’ve got a lot of friends who have never seen a PC built from scratch, and it’ll be a fun way to show them what goes into building a computer, and what goes into modding one). The first couple of boxes are in, so when I get home this evening, I’ll do some pictures and start putting them in.

My Problem:
As I said, I live overseas, and I have a limit on box-size I can receive in the mail. So, I can’t actually pick up my case until I head home on vacation this summer. In the meantime, I’ll start with this intro, and the photos of what I’ll be doing with the components I get in (mounting water blocks, changing out fittings, looming cables, all the little stuff). When I get back from vacation on the 24th of July, then the true fun will begin (rivet drilling, sanding, cleaning, painting, assembling, all that stuff).

The Conclusion (for now):
So, I hope you will all enjoy looking at the (slow) evolution of my new beast. I’m up for comments/suggestions as always, and I am more than happy to just chat about my design with people. 8)

Cheers for now, the next post will follow with pictures of the first couple of boxes I’ve gotten in.

-Modding Fan

[modding.fan]

So, welcome back to project DEEP PURPLE. My first two boxes of parts came in today. I'm ordering as I can each payday and all, but here's what came in today.

First, the Motherboard showed up. Yay!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/mobo-box.jpg

It's a nice looking board overall, but, look at the size of those heatsinks!!!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/mobo-factory.jpg
Those are going to have to go. All in due time.

The box came with the standard goodies for an SLI board. PCI Cables, an SATA Cable, a bridge to connect the two PCIX video cards if you go SLI, and the retainer for the bridge. Manual is thin, but, the one online has already answered all my questions.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/mobo-gear.jpg

Along with the motherboard, the processor came as well (actually found them as a package deal from PriceWatch.com (http://www.pricewatch.com). I'm only showing the packaging from the processor (if you look close on the picture of the board above, I got a little ahead of myself and couldn't help but drop the CPU in already) so you can see the gigantic fan and heatsink. Really, these are among the primary reasons that I'm doing a watercooling setup...the noise is insane!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/intel-monster.jpg

[Scotty]

Sounds cool, cant wait to see more progress

[modding.fan]

So, as I said, there were two boxes waiting in the mailroom for me. Number two was from the gang over at FrozenCPU.com (http://www.frozencpu.com) this box was just *loaded* with all sorts of accessories, extras, and little tidbits.

Most importantly, the first stack of my watercooling gear came in:

The CPU Cooler, a DangerDen RBX block.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tdx-goodies.jpg

Two chipset coolers, for the north and south bridge chips. Both DangerDen Maze-4 waterblocks.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/maze-4-top.jpg

The top-mounted Fillport, so I can ensure my system is nice and full, and even better, bubble free at all times!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/fillport.jpg

A handfull of extra 1/2" barbs from DangerDen, just in case any of my other bits need new barbs (i'm worried about the radiators actually, the pictures show them with plactic barbs and that just won't do).
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/barbs.jpg

A nice 13' length of 1/2" ID tubing.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tubing.jpg

PrimoChill Ice fluid, in Red. As I mentioned above I'm going to mix a bottle of Red with Blue to get Purple. However, FrozenCPU was out of blue, so that's coming in anther order.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/pcice-red.jpg

The CoolerMaster Silent Purple LED fans came.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/fans.jpg

The Fan Silencers, an all important part for my quiet system.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/gasket.jpg

Beyond the cooling stuff, a few other items came in.

My IDE cable for the DVD/RW.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/ide.jpg

My pre-loomed SATA Cables. I know, it's cheating having cables loomed at the store, but, I've never seen an SATA cable, and really had no idea if the loom I was buying would fit over the ends or not, and I was pretty sure that you can't remove the end off of an SATA like you can with Molex power...so...I figured better safe than sorry right?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/loomed-sata.jpg

And last but not least in this box was my small stack of goodies that I'll be using to do my own wiremanagement (what little I'll have to do). The heatshrink, black loom, and tie-wraps.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/misc.jpg

That's all the parts for now. I probably won't be able to contain myself this week and you're sure to see me putting, at least, my chipset blocks on (if I don't do the chipset and CPU blocks).

I'll try to keep this up to date, at least until I head on vacation. :) Can't wait till I get back and can start working on the case itself.

Cheers for now!

[modding.fan]

Sounds cool, cant wait to see more progress

Only problem is that a lot of real "progress" won't be too visible until I get my case. That's when *most* of the work will start. But, I'm sure little things like water block polishing and attaching will happen.

But...thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm sure I'll need all the support I can get when it comes to my painting. :) I haven't so much as looked at a can of paint in, oh, 5 years?

Either way, it'll be a great learning experience. I'll try to throw in highlights of any and all mistakes I make to help anyone else avoid them.

Cheers!

[Shikimaru]

looking good, danger den now has a silver version of it's top performing CPU block :)

[modding.fan]

looking good, danger den now has a silver version of it's top performing CPU block :)

Damn....and I only find this out *after* I get my stuff in and can't really process returns due to where I live. Oh well, the copper will work well. :)

[Short Modder]

You're gonna make us wait how long?:? :eek: LOL!:D JK!:rolleyes: This will turn out to be a cool mod when you finish it.

[modding.fan]

You're gonna make us wait how long?:? :eek: LOL!:D JK!:rolleyes: This will turn out to be a cool mod when you finish it.

Yup...sorry for the suspense. Like I said I really wanted to wait so I didn't have to put the thread on a one-month hiatus, but, when stuff started coming in I just had to start.

I got another box of stuff in today, but, I'm at work. Tonight I'll throw some more pictures up of the deliveries. I *so* can't wait to really start the hard work on this case. I'm going to do the whole primer + wetsanding and everything, a lot of work, and a lot of skills that I've never employed.

On a semi-related note; I leave for my vacation next week, and I can't wait. A weeks worth of SCUBA diving in Thailand, a week of visiting old friends in DC, a week back home with my family and attending my class reunion, and then a few days in Vegas. Somewhere in there, I need to hit a computer store and pick up the case to throw in my suitcase!

Cheers for now...pictures tonight!

[modding.fan]

Hello again my TBCS friends.

I got two things in the mail today, yay!

First was my bottle of blue PC Ice fluid. More non-conductive juice for my system. If you couldn't guess, I'm hoping to mix the red and blue to get purple (kindergarden was a long time ago, but that sounds about right to me).
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/pc-ice-blue.jpg

Next, and more fun, was my water tank. 8) It's the Innovatek Tank-o-Matic. And the moment I got it I had to start putting it together...I need to do something right? Can't save all the fun for after vacation.

First, here's what it looked like out of the box:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tom-factory.jpg
Pretty basic, but, it's all in pieces!

My first issue with the T-o-M is that the barbs are were *way* too small. I'm going to be running a 1/2" ID system, and these just wouldn't cut it:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tom-barbs.jpg

But I'd planned on this, and as you saw above, I ordered extra DD 1/2" barbs, which went on beautifully; first the compairison between the two:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/barb-compare.jpg

And the re-put-together base:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/new-barbs.jpg
Now that's waht I call unrestricted flow.

Next it came to putting in the input and outtake tubes into the base, but oops...can you see the problem that I almost didn't notice?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tube-mistake.jpg
Yup, that's right...I nearly completley cut my flow off on the right tube by jamming it all the way down. Not sure how i caught that, but I know that I would have missed it had i left the original tiny barbs on. :eek: I'll just take that as a lesson and hope that i don't do anything blonde like that in the future.

Anyway, all put together this reservoir is one smooth looking piece, and will look great sitting in side my case lit up with a black light to show off all my (hopefully) purple fluid.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/tom-fully-assembled.jpg

I'm spending the weekend packing for my vacation. SCUBA diving in Thailand calls! I'll be back with *many* more updates when I return from vacation. Don't abandon me in my abscence!

Cheers

MF

[Scotty]

Mixing the PC ICE sounds fun, great if it works.

[monoflap]

Hey, I always wondered if those fan silencers do anything, you'll have to let us know how that whole silencing deal goes. So far I'm liken the sound of this man ;) .

[Omega]

Haha, love the kindergarten comment.


Aaaanywho, keep up the good work (or the shipping?), and I can't wait to see it finished.

[modding.fan]

Hey, I always wondered if those fan silencers do anything, you'll have to let us know how that whole silencing deal goes. So far I'm liken the sound of this man ;) .

I've always wondered the same thing. I figured as cheap as they were (a whopping $4.00 each) I'd try.

I plan on doing a rather non-scientific test. I'm going to bolt a fan to a radiator listen to it run, then put the silencer on and see if there is a difference.

I'll post the results of that test when more parts come in as well. It sounds odd to phrase it this way, but i can't wait to get back from vacation to really start on the meat-and-bones of this project. :)

[Slatter]

hey modding fan,
where are your getting your mod supplies from. They are not available in India are they?

[simon275]

If you take the time to read you will discover the answer to your question


Oh, did I mention that, due to my job, I live in India right now so I can’t just run to Home Depot or BestBuy to pick up parts? J My challenge is limited to what I can mail-order from the states, which is 99% of my new build.

Also notice that the last post in this topic was a while ago so he probably wont answer.

[modding.fan]

hey modding fan,
where are your getting your mod supplies from. They are not available in India are they?

Hello! As Simon mentioned, I have to mail-order most of my parts. I've gotten different pieces on order from:
www.xoxide.com
www.performancepcs.com
www.frozencpu.com
and there was one other site that I got through a reference from www.pricewatch.com...but I can't recall the name now.

I'm currently about 1/4 through my vacation. I'm in the airport at Narita Japan having just survived a full week of SCUBA diving in Thailand. :D I'm heading to Washington DC now where I'll be picking up my Case, then after a few weeks of fun between DC, Denver and Vegas....it'll be back to India, and I'll get back to work on Deep Purple!

But...for anyone who may be interested in knowing what it's like to be 30 meters underwater in Thailand, I'll let one of the oceans ambassador's say hello for now:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/Eel.jpg

Cheers for now!

-MF

[maximan1]

Hello! As Simon mentioned, I have to mail-order most of my parts. I've gotten different pieces on order from:
www.xoxide.com
www.performancepcs.com
www.frozencpu.com
and there was one other site that I got through a reference from www.pricewatch.com...but I can't recall the name now.

I'm currently about 1/4 through my vacation. I'm in the airport at Narita Japan having just survived a full week of SCUBA diving in Thailand. :D I'm heading to Washington DC now where I'll be picking up my Case, then after a few weeks of fun between DC, Denver and Vegas....it'll be back to India, and I'll get back to work on Deep Purple!

But...for anyone who may be interested in knowing what it's like to be 30 meters underwater in Thailand, I'll let one of the oceans ambassador's say hello for now:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/Eel.jpg

Cheers for now!

-MF

Wow. I want. Please.

BACK TO REALITY!

Ok the mod is really awsome right now, but I'm not sure if the 2 different colored coolants will mix? Aren't they kind of like oil? Yeah sure you can mix 'em up, but after an hour they'll just seperate again?

Thanks, maximan1

[modding.fan]

Wow. I want. Please.

BACK TO REALITY!

Ok the mod is really awsome right now, but I'm not sure if the 2 different colored coolants will mix? Aren't they kind of like oil? Yeah sure you can mix 'em up, but after an hour they'll just seperate again?

Thanks, maximan1

Well, I'm hoping that, like most similar oils, they'd mix together just fine (unlike, say, oil & water). But, with the pump constantly churning them anyway...it should stay mixed.

I'm going to try it outside of the case with a couple of ounces each when I get home. If it doesn't work, back to the drawing board on fluid. :(

[Saleen]

If it doesn't work, just add some blue food coloring to the red fluid....and its basically anti-freeze, so i don't see why it wouldn't mix with each other, its the same brand and type.

[justblair]

Saw someone wondering about the silican fan gromits.

I have tried these and can say that I dont think they work particularly well

EAR fasteners are what you need. Reputed to be much more effective.

They are little rubber thingies that replace the screws in your fan. Isolating it from the case. The trouble with the gasket is that the screws still transmit some vibration. Using both would be the best presumably.

I read www.silentpcreview.com and tests there by Mike Chin and forum contributers concur with my own experiance.

[modding.fan]

Hello everyone!

I'm finally back from vacation, and if you want to know the true definition of fun, try hauling a full sized tower-case through 4 major airports as luggage. For some reason, you will (I promise) get stopped at every airport for an extensive security screening while hauling the box for a ThermalTake Armor case. :mad:

Anyway, this weekend or next week (depending on how finals go) I'll start the deconstruction and painting of this pristine (shall I say virgin) case. I've still got a load of parts to get ordered in the meantime (can we say nearly all of my cooling system, hard drives, video card, neon, etc.); but the case painting & reconstruction should occupy me for a payday or two.

Pictures to follow this weekend as soon as I can find the cable to plug my camera into the comptuer.

Cheers!

MF

[modding.fan]

Project DEEP PURPLE is back again...and this time with content! :D

As I said, I finally got my new case while on vacation, along with some other important bits-and-baubles for the case work. First I'll post the basics of the case, the next post will be the initial destruction (or deconstruction...whatever) of the case.

My first problem encountered on vacation was that apparently I can't use a tape measure, and the real suitcase I intended on packing the new case in was too small, so yup, I got to endure the joy of hauling this with me from Wyoming to Colorado to Vegas to California to Germany and back to India. That was fun.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0206.jpg

But, TT packed the case well enough that it survived beautifully. On opening the box, I found the case wrapped in a cloth/paper type bag. I'm not sure what it's really made of, but it apparently kept it pretty scratch free.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0207.jpg

On removing this layer of wrapping, I see a nice window cover applied over the plexi, more scratch guarding. Not sure if you'll see it in the pic...I can but I know what i'm looking for. :)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0208.jpg

Pictures from around the case...for anyone not totally familiar with the design. Yup...that's about 400 5 1/4 drive bays. (Okay, closer to 11, but still...it's a lot). All of them are air vents, with filters (more to follow on this later). So the case has lots of potential for passive cooling as well as active.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0210.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0211.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0213.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0214.jpg

Anyway, looking at some of the other stuff that came home from vacation with me; I had to pick up paint in the states, I just can't find any quality spray paint here in India...maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, or maybe I just can't read the signs...but...here's what i picked up. (I only hope I got enough...<worry>). Two cans of very dark primer:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0286.jpg

My inside color (black semi gloss):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0288.jpg

And my exterior (the cap, in person, looks like a nice dark plum, doubt it'll carry over to everyone's monitors), though it just dawned on me that i wasn't smart enought at purchase time to test-spray it...here's to hoping:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0287.jpg

Oh, and yes I'll be painting indoors, and yes I bought myself a nice respirator. I don't have pics of it because it's in the mail.

Of course, I had to buy myself a rivet tool (since I'm drilling out all the rivets in the case for a full and proper paint job inside). Somewhere along the way a case modder (I think I read it here on TBCS) suggested that, if one is to purchase a new rivet tool to buy one with a rotating head. After looking inside the case at where i'll be riveting...I want to hug whoever it was that suggested it.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0285.jpg

Next post (after I get some work done, I'm in the office afterall), will be the initial deconstruction of the case. I haven't gone crazy with the drill yet, but I've taken it as far apart as I can with screwdrivers. And let me preview this for you now...this case is *insane* for deconstruction. It may be labeled as mostly tool-free...but...wow.

[simon275]

Welcome back!

Umm how did you bring back primer in an aersol as isn't illegal to put aersol cans in your luggage for aeroplane flights as they are really just a can full of perersized gas with a high flamable proplenent which isn't the best of things to have on a plane. Any way

I bet the baggage handlers along the way where like wtf a computer case. And airport security would have had a feild day imange looking at that on a xray machine hmm metal + wires must be a bomb.

That case is nicer then I though it was I really like the vent in the top of it.

Cant wait to see what you are gonna do to the case.

[modding.fan]

Welcome back!

Umm how did you bring back primer in an aersol as isn't illegal to put aersol cans in your luggage for aeroplane flights as they are really just a can full of perersized gas with a high flamable proplenent which isn't the best of things to have on a plane. Any way

I bet the baggage handlers along the way where like wtf a computer case. And airport security would have had a feild day imange looking at that on a xray machine hmm metal + wires must be a bomb.

That case is nicer then I though it was I really like the vent in the top of it.

Cant wait to see what you are gonna do to the case.

I'm going to plead the 5th on the spray paint. :) As far as the computer, the biggest pain was that every luggage counter made me sign waivers for damage. Even when I told them that it was an empty case. As far as security...that was a nightmare. I had to pull it out of the box in Germany for the screeners to look inside, and they brought along a Shephard (since it was in germany, the fact that it was a German Shephard is sort of implied) to smell it too. Fun fun fun...

Edit (forgot to mention): Anyway, I'm very impressed with this case. If you think it's good so far, wait till you see the raw amount of attention to detail they did with some of the interior features. Next post (I should get to it this afternoon, just swamped with work right now) will be full of interesting things. Also...I'll be asking suggestions from you guys as to some things I'm unsure of doing or not. :) Cheers!

[modding.fan]

Hello my TBCS friends! Time for another installment in Project DEEP PURPLE. This segment will be affectionately labeled “Part one of how to destroy a virgin case”. :) In part one I’ll be doing every bit of disassembly that can be done shy of drilling out rivets. Part two will cover that segment, as I’m sure this will take up plenty of typing and photo space. I’ll be tossing out my feelings on each piece of the case as I take it apart as well, for those of you interested in acquiring one yourself. Let me also say, that this in-depth log of the case disassembly is not just for y’all to read, but for me to read when I have to put this beast back together. :) So…feel free to look and skim all you want, I’m sure to get rather verbose here.

My first impressions of the case were that it looked to be a pretty simple disassembly. The thumb screws holding the main case door on were gigantic, which is always nice for function, if a little gaudy on form.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0214.jpg

The door’s two latch locks are on high tension springs which, for someone not very two-hand coordinated like me made it a bit of a challenge to get off, but anyone who’s left hand isn’t totally retarded shouldn’t have a problem.

On pulling the door off I was made immediately happy. I’ve been wondering in my head how I was going to cover/remove/reattach the window from the door for painting, when the answer was presented. The window is held in place via what I call ‘push locks’, not plastic welding as I was fearing.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0215.jpg

Similarly, the door latches are pressure-locked in place (you know, the plastic, bendy, angled pressure tabs)…well…look for yourself:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0216.jpg

So now we get to see the inside of the case, in it’s full monstrosity. The thing is a beast when it comes to air space, which I love. The full front stack of bays are designed for 5 ¼ drives, or in my view, things such as radiators, water pumps, and all that unsightly jazz.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0217.jpg

For those wondering what the shiny things are along the drive bays, it’s a rather ingenious method of tool-free drive securing using pressure locking plastic and little ‘dots’ that lock into the screw holes of drives. The below picture shows a close-up of one of the retainers, and also shows that they designed them to be able to work around drives you want hard-screwed in place.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0218.jpg

To note here, I’m not sure I’ll be leaving these in place. They don’t work color-wise with my theme (all black inside with the exception of the cards/hoses/fluid. Also, I’m not sure if I want only one-side of my drives secured in place.

For people curious as to how ThermalTake intended users to have hard drives in this 5 ¼ beast, here is one of their *three* solutions. They provided a 3-high bay for holding drives, complete with an attached 120mm fan. (I’ll thank the boys at ThermalTake now for the fans, though, I wont’ be using them. They provided 2x 120mm’s with blue LED’s and 2x standard TT Orange/Black 90mm’s). Anyway, here is the bay, as I started to remove it from the quick-locks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0219.jpg

And totally removed:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0221.jpg

I’ll say now, I’m going to be using this rack, once it’s hollowed out to hold a radiator for my cooling setup (I’m using 2x single 120mm radiators from DangerDen). The fan will hold it’s original place, and the radiator will sit inside the rack. I fully plan on screwing this rack into place to ensure it’s weight will be supported, I won’t trust the plastic clips to hold the fan and radiator.

The next option that TT provided in this case for hard drive storage is in the upper left of the case. Another 3-drive mounting box that will sit next to the power supply (if you noticed, the PSU mounting location has it vertical, not horizontal as it typical). This hard drive bay is also cooled, this time by a 90mm Fan that is attached to the case itself, not to the drive bay.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0222.jpg

The drive bay is held in (as you saw) by another of those gigantic thumb screws, and by a spring-lock on the top (I guess they were worried it would run away). This spring lock is actually metal, and took some convincing to remove.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0223.jpg

The 90mm fan is pressure-locked (via a plastic mounting bracket) to the side of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0224.jpg

And removing the bracket was odd, as there is another 2 pressure locks and a horizontal slide that was required. Hum, how to explain that better? The mounting bracket was pressure locked on the top and bottom, but, it also had slide-locks in place. Meaning to get it out…I had to squeeze both pressure locks, and then slide it to the side, all in one fantastic motion. Wow! Maybe the pictures will help.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0225.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0226.jpg

And the bracket finally removed.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0227.jpg

The 120mm exhaust fan in the back of the case had a very similar mounting bracket setup, not really worth noting on it’s own…besides the fact that it has FOUR pressure tabs, 2 top, 2 bottom. How many hands does TT think the average modder has? I’m not thinking that this mounting bracket is going to be strong enough in its own right to hold the fan and radiator on reassembly…so I’ll be doing a more permanent screwed in attachment for them. I’m just glad that TT still gave me predrilled holes for the 120mm fan. All this tool-free stuff is nice for most people, but not when it comes down to load-bearing modifications.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0228.jpg

One side note on fans…I’ll mention that the goodie box inside the case (typically full of screws, etc) also had one more 90mm fan with the same style mounting bracket for use as an exhaust fan, mountable in the center of the top mesh area. Very spiffy TT. Thanks! Now if I could only think of a fun use for all these fans that I won’t be using…

The last little piece of the ‘inside’ bits, for now at least, is one thing that I’ve never seen on a computer case before. Then again, I haven’t bought a new case/motherboard for about 4 years, so maybe I’m just outta the loop. Anyway, this case comes complete with a door-switch. I’m guessing it’s designed to shut the computer down automatically if the door is opened. As such, I’m not sure if I’m going to reinstall it. I really want to go for a minimalist interior, and any excess wiring just won’t work for me.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0229.jpg

Having to pause here just to changes posts, crazy 10000 character limit. :)

[modding.fan]

Anyway, back to the front of the case and the multitude of drive face-plates. I’m sure you’re noticing now that 2 of them don’t seem to match. (On a side note, I’m unhappy that the case goodie-box didn’t include a single extra matching face-plate. I guess they figure most people wouldn’t want to stealth drives, and would be filling up bays with other drives to make their own extras. Bummer.) Anyway, the very bottom one is one of the neat bits about the case that just makes it stand out. It’s actually a built-in (but removable/movable) junk drawer!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0231.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0232.jpg

It looks big enough to hold extra CD’s, or screws, or well, just about anything. Not sure what, if anything, I’ll use it for (or if it’ll even stay in the case) but it’s a pretty cool addition.

Moving up one space, we’ll take a look at one of the 10 matching face plates. They are a plastic surround, holding a mesh grille and an included plastic air filter. The mesh grilles (on all 10) are pre-scored in the center for the accommodation of a 3 ½ drive, and the entire mesh grille is removable. However, the mesh itself is thin, and very weak (as I learned the hard way), so for the other 9, caution will be needed as I remove them for prep/painting.
Front, fully assembled:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0233.jpg

Back, fully assembled:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0234.jpg

Front, disassembled:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0237.jpg

Back, disassembled, notice the little tab on the far left is missing, I broke it because I over-bent it trying to remove the mesh. :( Knowing that I need to remove them all makes me nervous. I’m not sure how I’ll secure them back in place if I break more. (I’m painting the front panels 2-tone black/purple {mesh black, surrounds purple} to go with the theme, and break up the monotony of the solid purple case.)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0236.jpg

I will note here that I removed the bottom tray, and the bottom cover plate with the front bezel still attached, and realized that it was a total pain in the ass. So, I decided to look into how to remove the front bezel…now we can begin the tool required nightmare of this case.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0239.jpg

Removing the other side wall was easy enough, just 3 standard hex screws and it slid right out. Looking at how the bezel is attached, from the factory, show me that there are not only SIX plastic pressure-locks, but 6 screws.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0240.jpg

I was confused by this at first, as it took a small miracle for me to get the first of the face plates out without me losing a hand. I figure that if it was going to be this difficult to remove the face plates, the bezel should be easily removed. Well, after removing the screws, the bezel practically fell off…the pressure locks are just not injection molded with quite the precision for them to actually lock the bezel into place. So the screws are a necessary evil.

Anyway, after removing the bezel, removal and deconstruction of the remaining face plates will be a breeze.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0241.jpg

Bezel gone, I get a surprise!!! I hadn’t noticed (somehow) that there is a third 3 ½ drive bay (a single one this time) locked into place. I’m now starting to understand that TT really does realize that people like having lots of hard drives, and the occasional floppy drive.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0242.jpg

It did turn into a slight pain as TT actually had this bay screwed in place, on both sides of the case. Should I take this as a warning that they don’t trust their own quick-lock mechanisms? The plot thickens.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0243.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0245.jpg

The very top bay (at least, top from the factory, it may well end up on the bottom for me) is what I’ll call the Utility Bay (not sure what TT calls it). It houses the power switch, reset switch, HDD & Power lights, and *TA DA* another 3 ½ drive bay.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0246.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0248.jpg

The bay is a metal housing, with a plastic front face to match the bezel, with a mesh for ventilation (or removal) that matches pretty well the style of the other face plates. Have I mentioned yet how I *LOVE* the fact that the power and reset buttons on this case are movable? Yup this bay can be positioned into any of the 11 available slots. Yummy.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0249.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0250.jpg

Now…seeing how the reset switches and LED’s are positioned…I’m now put in the mindset of another mod that I hadn’t originally thought about for this case.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0251.jpg

Don’t those LED’s just scream “Replace me with purple!!!”? They do to me. The only problem is that I’ve never worked with LED replacement. Can anyone reply to me and tell me if it’s an easy thing to do? Do I need to worry about voltage? Impedance? I’m not an electrician at all, but I am the son of one, so I’m comfortable with, just inexperienced in this field.

A short move back to the inside of the case shows me pulling out the speaker (what a horrible position it’s in…this will have to find a new home; I want my water pump hidden here):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0253.jpg

And that little door-sensor switch thingy:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0254.jpg

Moving on to one of the other very interesting aspects of the case…the top panel. Why is it interesting? Well, for one, it’s a huge vent. “Yay!” for passive cooling in my water-cooled case.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0258.jpg

And two, because it has this really killer, semi-hidden, media-bay behind a trap door. (Don’t we all just love trap doors?)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0257.jpg

But oh…what happens now…we’re taking stuff apart. I’ll say now that this whole top assembly is going to be the bane of my existence. The media connector box will disassemble from it easily enough, actually one screw and it all dropped out very nicely:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0260.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0261.jpg

But the top assembly has so many pressure locks included in it that there is no way I’m getting it off until I un-rivet the top from the rest of the case. So…that’ll be covered in part two.

Breaking again here to avoid the 10000 character cap. :)

[modding.fan]

So, to catch up, I’ve gutted the inside as well as I could, cleaned out the front as well as I could, removed both side panels and discussed them well enough…what’s left. Ah yes! The back! There are only 2 real things to cover here, the PSU assembly; and the Motherboard. We’ll take the smaller one first.

When I first looked at the back of the case (ref the picture above) there are already 4 screws in place around the PSU space. I looked more closely and realized that there is a small flange in place on the inside of the case. My initial assumption is that I’m supposed to unscrew this, mount it on the PSU then put them both back in place. At secondary glance I’m pretty sure this is right, as the flange has an odd swing-lock type bend in the plate to make it easier to swing the vertical PSU into place. (I’m short on pictures here…sorry…but it’ll all make sense.) You can see in this picture how, on PSU Bracket, the top, bottom, and left sides are all *inside* the case, but the right side is on the outside. This allows you to (from the inside of the case) lock the right side on, and swing the PSU into place. Or so I thought.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0263.jpg

So…I unscrewed the screws, and nothing. I push a little, and nothing. I look inside and can see nothing holding the bracket in place…so I push harder. Then *snap* the glue holding it in place breaks and I realize that maybe it wasn’t supposed to remove it. Well, not for a normal installation, but since I’m doing a ground-up paint job…it had to go out anyway. The glue residue will just require a bit more painting. Anyway, the removed piece:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0266.jpg

On to the final piece for today’s (or, at least, last night’s) deconstruction; the Motherboard bits. Now…I’d thought, sworn in fact, when I had decided on this case that one of its prime attractions was that the motherboard tray was removable.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0268.jpg

But, I was wrong. Only the backing plate goes. The Mobo tray stays firmly in place in the case. Yay rivets. The back plate is held in place by a handful of screws, easily removed:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0271.jpg

The back plate the happily falls out:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0272.jpg

I’m sure many of you have noticed the atrocious green/purple quick-clips inside for the expansion card bays. Again, TT has done a great job making the case relatively tool free for the average computer builder, and I applaud them.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0273.jpg

I, however, will not be using this, as I really don’t mind using a screwdriver now and again…especially when it comes to holding down a $300 video card, a $125 hunk of copper, all the while supporting water coursing through the block.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0274.jpg

I did notice, however, that even after I removed the quick-locks, that the dead-plates held very firmly (and I mean *VERY* firmly) into place. This is because the expansion slot dead plates are actually springs in their own right. Again, how best to describe this? This picture is from the “outside” of the case, and you can see the spring-lips of the plates holding in.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0274.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0277.jpg

With one of the plates removed, you can see that there are also small copper springs (not the best spring material) along with the secondary “button lock” on the end as well. I couldn’t actually get them off the case without using a screwdriver from the ‘outside’ as a miniature pry-bar.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0276.jpg

Only problem is that they have a small hook that rests inside the screw hole, so these dead plates cannot be screwed in place, however they really don’t seem to need it so it’s sort of a moot point.

You may have also noticed from the last picture there that TT provided a motherboard adapter plate for a ‘standard’ ATX board (if there really is such a thing). What worried me initially is that this ‘standard’ plate looks a bit big, and is screwed into place! So, I unscrewed it, and realized that it’s just a fancy attachment method for their plate, but my cheap tin one that came with my mobo will pop right into place as it’s supposed to. Comparing the two, it seems that my motherboard is anything *but* a standard plate:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0278.jpg

So there we have it, a dead empty shell of a new case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0279.jpg

Yup, I still need to remove the feet (not sure how I missed that last night), and the quick locks do need removed, but they can’t come off until the case is un-riveted (at least, not without breaking them). Bad design there in my opinion. But…the case, overall, has an awesome set of features and a great design.

A couple parting shots of the destruction as its spread out on my table:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0280.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0281.jpg
(Please pardon the Humidor and the wine bottle candle.)

Thanks for reading/looking and following along so far. I have to spend tonight and tomorrow night studying for a couple of final exams for my college courses, so I doubt I’ll get around to the second phase of deconstruction until maybe Saturday (if I’m not writing research papers). But…deconstruction will happen within a week, and painting maybe within the same time or next week. I’m still waiting on some hardware orders (hard drives, memory, you know, nothing important), but I’ve got plenty of work with the case to keep me busy.

Cheers!

[simon275]

wine bottle candle I'm just not gonna bother thinking of a witty reamark to reaply with.

Talk about tool less desgin I'm very impressed with this case. All though I agree I dont trust those plastic clips on the pci brackets. I bet the people how desgined this case would shed a tear or two when they see you rip apart a case like this.

I think it is great how much detail you have gone into in pulling apart this case. You should write reviews for magazines I'm very very impressed with your work.

Purple LED's will look swish go with it.

Yeah quite a few cases these days come with tool draws ever in a 5.25" bay or inside the case itself.

Man I love the top of the case with the vent and the trapdoor. Are you gonna mod those?

I think the pop in brackets for the fans are a nice touch also the fact that the case takes a 120mm fan to exhasut heat.

The one thing that weirds me out about this case is how the PSU goes in on its side with a 80mm fan next to it. I have never seen that before it is weird. But also good as the bottom fan on the PSU blows side ways and then the hot air is sucked out by the 80mm fan. Instead of the PSU blowing hot air down over your mobo board which holds the goodness the CPU and GPU.

One last thing what oringally led you to choose this case?

Cant wait to see whats next. I'm subscirbed to this one.

[modding.fan]

I bet the people how desgined this case would shed a tear or two when they see you rip apart a case like this.

I can only hope so! ;)



Purple LED's will look swish go with it.

I was thinking so...at least initially to replace the red and green ones...but...i have no idea how to do this. Thank goodness for the internet and being really bored at work. I'm going to have to do some research.



Man I love the top of the case with the vent and the trapdoor. Are you gonna mod those?

Paint for sure, to match the black/purple theme of the whole case. The top vent piece will be black for sure (as will the 'wings' on the front of the case, and the vent-mesh on the face plates). I'm mulling over some other thoughts as to what interesting stuff I can do.



One last thing what oringally led you to choose this case?
Mostly, the fact that it's gigantic inside, very open. This build is basically entirley designed around showcasing my watercooling setup. Thus the intention for black interior paint, all black power and data cables (most will be self loomed, some factory...but hey...what can you do). I liked the window cut and shape, seemed interesting, but not really a giant *BAM* look at my innerds window. Also, i loved the quarter doors on the front. It's an interesting look, and with the color contrasting (black/purple) I think they will be a nice accent to break the monotony of a solid color case. (I'm not even good enough with paint to do multi-colors on the same smooth surface.)

Hope I don't dissapoint.

Thanks for the comments and cheers!

[savincent]

Dayum. Congrats on buying the sexy ass case! :D

[modding.fan]

I just had a concerning thought bounce into my head...and I need some advice from any experienced painters.

As I've mentioned above, I live in India. It's now the middle of summer so it's *hot* and it's raining just about every day like it's the flood. (It's absolutley POURING outside right now). As you can guess...this is kicking up the average humidity levels outside to like 90%

Now...I'll be painting in my house, which I keep to a cozy 68-70 degrees thanks to the huge air conditioners I've got at the house. A/C's have the great point of removing some, if not most, of the humidity from the air, but they *move* air as well which can be bad. Oh...and...have i mentioned that, even after heavy rain storms, India is *very* dusty?

So I'm in a dilema...do I:
a) Turn off the A/C, and let the house get very warm/humid for painting, and have minimal ventilation?
b) Leave the A/C on, causing dust to blow around in the room, but keeping it considerabley cooler and dryer?
c) (and this really isn't an option) Hold off on painting till wintertime when it's cooler, dryer, and I can leave the A/C off?

thanks in advance!

-MF

[Airbozo]

Suggestion: Don't paint in the house without _some_ sort of booth (even home made will work), or paint will be all over EVERYTHING!

[modding.fan]

Suggestion: Don't paint in the house without _some_ sort of booth (even home made will work), or paint will be all over EVERYTHING!

I've got 4 or 5 dropcloths that I'll be hanging up from the ceiling and on the floor to prevent overspray. :) My options are limited, but in my mind that sounded like a good plan.


On a related note...I realized about a half hour ago that I still have one part to order that needs paitned *GAH* (DVD/RW). So...I bit the bullett, and placed an order on my credit card (was trying to do the whole build via cash-on-hand) and have all the rest of my functional hardware coming in. So...once that stuff gets here, I'll be painting and building. Yay! Only set of parts I've yet to order are my neons...and those will be a few weeks off now, since I have to pay off the card from this hardware order.

2-3 weeks of shipping, then I can finally paint (I'd prefer to do it all together, so I know my coats are consistent, dry times are the same, and final dry colors should be perfect matches). On the bonus side, as soon as it's painted, all my real hardware will already be here so I can start using it! :) Horray! I can't wait to get this beast up and running, mostly because my current system keeps crashing when I play WoW...Blizzard Entertainment has something against ATI video cards.

[brouhaha]

I know it kind of beats one of the purposes of modding: DIY, but in India you ought to be able to get work done for you real cheap.

OT: what are you there for? I'm Indian, but I haven't been there in 6 years, so I'm quite homesick now :)

[modding.fan]

I know it kind of beats one of the purposes of modding: DIY, but in India you ought to be able to get work done for you real cheap.

I'm sure you're right there, but I like to do mods myself, the only real reason I do them is because it keeps me busy and gives me something to do other than going out and partying every night. My body can only take so much. 8)



OT: what are you there for? I'm Indian, but I haven't been there in 6 years, so I'm quite homesick now :)
I work at the U.S. Embassy here in Delhi. It's a great job, a nice break after 8 years in the military from the strict attitudes, but keeps me in service of my country. And, possibly the best part, it keeps me at various places overseas...I love to travel and having a job that lets me live virtually anywhere in the world is great.

[brouhaha]

Ah, so if somebody I know doesn't get a visa, I know who to flame :D

Okay, back on topic. Besides stuff like spray paint that's hard to come by, I think you'd be better off getting computer supplies like drives locally since supply channels ought to be well established. Small outfits, often called assemblers who build and sell computers can sell you parts. I can ask people I know from Delhi if you need a source. About painting, would any of the following thoughts help (listed in no particular order)?
- It's dusty allright, but I am surprised it is significant even after monsoons and through the airconditioner. Anyway, the conditions should be similar to the southwest here, especially southern california. Maybe one of those folks can pipe up.
- How about shutting off the AC and painting before you leave for work? The paint can dry during the day and when you return you turn on the AC and see how the paint fared?
- Maybe just get the painting done from somebody. You still get to do the rest of the mod yourself. I believe others on this forums have got painting/powder-coating/chroming etc. done externally.

I'll post if I think of anything else.

[modding.fan]

So, as I couldn't start painting this weekend since I'm still waiting on my DVDR to get here in the mail...I started dry fitting some pieces to see how the case will go together.

I looked again at my Mobo and realized that, in my effort to keep prices down, I bought a low-model version of the board and it doesn't have pin-mounts for frontmounted Firewire or Mic/Speakers. :( Basically, this means that 2/3 of the function of the trap-door'd media panel isn't going to be used. The Mobo does, however, have 4 USB2 ports on the back...so I won't be short of USB spots if I don't use this bay.

However, this left me thinking...what do do with a trap door...and Eureka! I suddenly remembered that I had the dangerden fillport to install somewhere. I had initially been planning on cutting a whole in the mesh just behind the trap door. But now, I think I'll be putting it *in* the trapdoor.

That's the only real thing I can think of to put there...anyone else have ideas for me?

Cheers!

MF

[simon275]

That sounds like an excellent Idea. With the dangerden fillerport under the trapdoor.

For the painting why dont you try and get some dust filters installed. As we have them on ours as my mum is asmatic.

Man you have the job Ive always wanted

[modding.fan]

8) Yup, it's been a long time since the last update to DEEP PURPLE. But don't fret...I've got LOADS for you all today! :eek:

First, my order from Danger Den came in a few days ago, and I'm very happy with the way stuff looks:

First out of the box was my D5 Pump:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0289.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0290.jpg

They even had the foresight to include a small foam pad to help with vibration noise...they think of *everything* (Okay, not quite...but we'll get to a couple of my problems with my DD order later.)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0291.jpg

Also in the box was my HardDrive cooler. It's an odd looking piece, takes up 2x 5 1/4 bays, for 2 3 1/2 drives...but...I got this case because of it's HUGE space...so who cares!
One side (there are 2 of these), and I can say i'm impressed with how nice the copper block looks (just like my other DD stuff...very nice work):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0293.jpg

The other side with the DD Logo...not sure the purpose since it has to mount inside drive bays and will never be seen but hey, I'll advertise for them here. Maybe my next case I can talk to them about sponsorship. 8)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0294.jpg

And a rough look of how it assembles...they even gave me a piece of tubing to connect the middle portion. How cool are they!?!?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0296.jpg

Lastly, my two radiators came in, and they are, well nice. Designed with HUGE amounts of surface area for the air...I do worry a bit about flow restriction...but...I'm not an engineer so we'll see how they go.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0298.jpg

Here's a couple shots where I'm trying to show you just how much airflow these provide. The first you can almost see the chair behind through the rad:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0299.jpg

Then I decided to go for contrast and put a white box half-way behind the rad...stands out a bit better...either way, trust me when i say they are great lookin!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0300.jpg

That's all for this entry...but I'm typing more up today...plenty more...so keep tuned!
Cheers,
-MF

[modding.fan]

So...today is Indian Independence Day, which means, much like in the U.S., everything shuts down. Yay for a day off in the middle of the week. Anyway, I was planning on a nice, boring, easy day off. However, the mailman came yesterday (Monday) and brought me a BIG box from the boys over at New Egg! HOORAY! It had (among lots of other things) the last part I needed before I could start my painting:

I love ordering OEM parts...for one it's way cheaper, and for two...well...pictures speak louder than words:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0305.jpg

Yup...this is the badboy I've been waiting on, my Samsung DVD/RW with Lightscribe (lightscribe rocks...no more CD markers...EVER!):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0306.jpg

Beyond that, my hard drives came in:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0303.jpg

Twin Seagate Baracuda 200Gb, 3 Gb/s SATA's that will be hardware raided to keep my stuff running *nice* and fast. :eek:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0304.jpg

A couple of Gb's of Patriot DDR3
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0307.jpg

OH! OH! I love unpacking big boxes...my sexy vid card came in. And I must say...even before I get to using the card, XFX wins one award in my book...not only is it a cool box design...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0308.jpg

But it was one of the most difficult to open cardboard boxes I've ever laid hands on. LOL Anyway...here's what it looked like inside:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0309.jpg

The card has an odd, but nice looking, metal facing screwed to the 'window' side for all to see, covers up all the unsightly capacators and such for those of us with windows. But...alas, it won't last long, it's going to be the first thing removed so I can fit my NV78 on it (if it ever gets here).
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0310.jpg

And the really cool looking, almost alien themed (green/black) {Oh...did I mention that one of my prime reasons for going with an XFX card was because it was built onto a black PCB?} card:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0311.jpg

My PSU came in as well...and as much as XFX won the award for most interesting box, Rosewill gets the opposite, most subdued, basic box. But, to me, it's nice:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0312.jpg

Opening up the box gave me a true feast for my eyes...this is a BEAUTIFULLY made PSU...the finish on it is amazing...I put my copper Zippo on top of it just to show how deep the reflection is:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0314.jpg
One major failing, the sticker is on the 'window' side of the case...so...no one would ever be able to see the beautiful finish! But...since my case mounts the PSU vertically...it's not an issue anyway... :( Shame that no one will see any of this PSU besides the fan. (Which will be switched out in a later post to the purple ones I bought.)

Anyway, it's of course, a modular power supply, with a large amout of power options, all well labled:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0315.jpg

The veritable octupus of included cables, all very nicley loomed (I wasn't expecting that, the photos on the site showed bare cables):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0316.jpg

Even the ends of the looming are done very attractivley:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0317.jpg

Well...that rounds out that box. Next post will be the 2nd phase of deconstruction...I love taking stuff apart!

Cheers,

MF

[modding.fan]

So, as I mentioned, my box of goodies came in yesterday. So instead of going out partying like any sane guy would when he's got the next day off, I finished the screw-and-pressure-tab deconstruction on the case. (In preparation for drilling out all the rivets tomorrow.) So, here we go:

With so many things left to do, I didn't know where to start...so I started with an easy fan removal from the radiator cage. I noticed that TT was even smart enough to put a small plastic gromit on the cage to protect the fan wires...I'm more and more impressed with TT as days go.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0318.jpg

If you remember from a few posts back, the expansion ports are retained through spring pressure, these springs needed removal as well. Just thing copper things, removal was easy:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0319.jpg

And there we have them:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0320.jpg

I moved my attention to the front bezel, first popping out all of the filtered panel covers:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0322.jpg

And taking them apart:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0330.jpg

Next are the wings on the front bezel. Simply held on by a couple of little brackets on each wing:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0321.jpg

After the wing was off, I noticed that they had put little stoppers on them, padding and all, to keep the case from being ding'd or scratched by the wings...awesome!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0323.jpg

Now I looked at the power tray. I popped the plastic front off the metal housing and looked inside to figure out how to pull the buttons out:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0325.jpg

A screw and a couple of pressure tabs later, and here we go:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0328.jpg

That left the metal housing for the LED's, Power and Reset buttons. Lots of plastic pressure tabs later, and we have a metal box ready for black paint:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0329.jpg

Case feet:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0332.jpg

And a couple screws later:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0334.jpg

The window also had to be removed, first step was popping out the door latches:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0384.jpg

Yup, these latches:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0386.jpg

The pressure locks all popped out really easily:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0387.jpg

And voila! No more window:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0389.jpg

One window, ready for...well...nothing that i can think of. LOL
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0390.jpg

And that leaves me at about 10:00 p.m., with a case ready for the drill bit, but that's not happening till tomorrow...I don't want my house filled with aluminum shavings and rivet bits...so I'll be doing that work outside.

Cheers!

MF

[modding.fan]

Okay...so I said I was done when it hit 10:00 last night and I had taken the case apart...but...now that I have so much stuff in, I just *had* to do something else... :D

So I looked around and thought, what can I actually *do*? Then it hit me, I've been doing so much deconstruction, maybe I should put something together.

The only real thing I had that I could put fully together, and have totally ready for installation, was my HardDrive waterblock. And this was an absolute nightmare...we'll start with some obvious problems...

First...on the dry-fit, I realized that DangerDen can't measure tygon tubing very well:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0335.jpg
Yup, the piece they gave me was about 1 1/2 inches long, but, with a standard sized 3 1/2 hard drive in there...it requires a 2 1/4 inch piece of tubing...so i cut one from the big length I bought earlier. No problem.

Then, as I started screwing it together, and...the screws they gave me were all about 1/16 - 1/8 inch too long...they but up against the ends of the HD screw enclosures before they are tight...so...the whole thing was, um...floppy.

I had a look around the house for anything, and immediatley realized I needed to look in the toolbox for washers. And, well, I had none. So, what does a modder do when he can't find the exact right part...yup...make them. See, I've been doing wiring (car stereo's, computer power lines, etc) for years, so I've got a huge collection of different wire splices...and in my toolbox I saw these:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0337.jpg

Yup, they look like washers to me, after a few clips. So, out of my supply of about a hundred...i grabbed 16 (figure 2x per screw for thickness), and went to snipping.

In the end, I had these:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0338.jpg

They fit into the screw recesses like they were designed for it, and gave me just enough thickness so I could have the whole assembly nice and tight...if you look dead inside the recesses, you can just see my makeshift washers...but...since it's going to be inside the drive cages...no one will see anything!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0339.jpg

So, here's view, complete with the proper length of tygon and the tygon tube-thingies to prevent leaks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0341.jpg

Just for fun, here's the piece of tubing they gave me laid i place...yup...just a *bit* short :?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0342.jpg

Just to see...I decided to try and slide the whole assembly into the case and ran into *another* problem. The drive bays in the case are not designed to accept multi-bay-sized items. See, each bay has a support jutting out from it for the drives to rest in, so the weight of each device is not fully supported by the screws...however, this stops a multi-bay-sized device from fitting in.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0340.jpg

So, tomorrow when I get it all taken apart, I'll be either cutting or bending one of the sets out so this can fit.

Cheers!

-MF

[modding.fan]

So...after all that, it hit me that there was still one thing I could do for prep before I went to bed. I had to drill holes where the pump would mount to.

I'm going to mount the pump to the same drive-bay that holds the power button...something like this:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0343.jpg

So I marked, and quickly drilled, then sanded the top smooth:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0345.jpg

It's always better to drill *before* you paint...glad I rememberd this part.

Also, because I hate looming loose floppy wires...I had to spin the power lines. Looks much more tidy, and makes it way easier to loom later.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0346.jpg

[Kaky]

Man write something more it so torough i love it and the case man !!!!!!!

[modding.fan]

Quick sneak preview...it's now late wednesday evening...and I've got every piece that I've purchased put back togetehr and in the case. :eek: I'm in the process of editing pictures and i"ll be posting my lot entries probably from work tomorrow...if I dont' get to some of them tonight.

I really did intend to take breakes to do the log as I was doing work (drilling rivets, sanding, modding, painting, putting together, etc.)...but...I just got on a roll and couldnt' stop myself...

Anyway...since I have nothing more I can do to the case for now (just waiting on my NV78 to get here, and I gotta order my neons)...so I should be able to do an entry or two before I go to bed tonight.

Cheers

-MF

[brouhaha]

It's coming along nicely!

[modding.fan]

It's coming along nicely!

Thanks for that. :) I've finished editing all my photos for all the work i've done to date...but it's midnight and I have work in the early a.m.

I promise...on my first smoke break, I'll at least get one big entry done on the deconstruction.

Cheers!

MF

[modding.fan]

Welcome back to project DEEP PURPLE! :)

This installment will cover one of the most fun 3 hours I’ve spent outdoors in a long time…that is the rampant destruction of a pristine computer case. Yup, I’m moving this to an outdoor venue mainly because I don’t really feel like walking on aluminum shavings and rivet heads for the next 6 months. (I spend a lot of my in-house time barefoot).

Anyway, without further ado, I’ll start by saying that, overall having gone through the process of destroying this case I am absolutely impressed with TT’s build. There were so many cross-connected pieces adding to overall structural strength you’d think this was designed for some absolute abuse, not just a life sitting on a desk.

Not knowing where to start, I figured I’d work top-down, for some reason it made sense to me. So I drilled out every rivet I could find attaching the ‘roof’ of the case to the body (all in all, about 13 or 15 rivets):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0347.jpg

And ended up with this:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0348.jpg

Leaving me with a neat looking rectangle of metal:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0349.jpg

Now, as I mentioned before, I’d been dying to figure out how to remove the top plastic fascia…and, there it was…lots of pressure tabs (again):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0350.jpg

Which readily popped off leaving me *more* pieces for painting:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0352.jpg

From here I just sort of went all over trying to figure out what to take apart next…this case is full of cross-connected pieces and stabilizer bars…that…I really didn’t know where to go…so here’s some pictures of the process…though 2 days later I’m not sure now exactly what they are from. :)

The main cross-bar:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0354.jpg

And it’s rear connections:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0355.jpg

It was at this point when I stopped to look at my drill bit (my first time doing any rivet work is now, either assembly or disassembly, so it’s a learning experience)…and had to think of a way to clean this up:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0356.jpg

A bit of reverse spin, with some channel-locks and I was back in business.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0357.jpg

First up with a clean bit was a small artifact left from the top of the case…the PSU mounting bracket (also used to hold the rear-mounted HD cage which I wont’ be using):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0361.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0363.jpg

My next target were the drive bays (nope, I didn’t’ pull the main cross bar off…figured it gave some good stability for drill pressure). These things are home to more rivets than I cared to count:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0358.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0364.jpg

Next was the little lateral cross brace that connected between the motherboard tray and the main cross support:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0365.jpg

Another half dozen rivets later and I’ve got a free motherboard tray:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0369.jpg

Leaving me a still very recognizable skeleton…and a few dozen more rivets to go:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0370.jpg

At this point, I realized that there was a *lot* of new surface area that I’d been exposing, and that quite a bit of it would not need painted…so marking some of it would save me time (and paint).
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0371.jpg

The final drive-bay housing removed:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0372.jpg

And I’ve got just four pieces to go (front, back, bottom, crossbar):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0373.jpg

The front removed very easily, and was marked for paint/no paint:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0374.jpg

Removal of the crossbar left me 2 little pieces. Now…before anyone thinks how easy this process must have been…I’m about 2:30 into work here, and it’s HOT outside. LOL I’d been sweating like a fiend…just drilling case parts.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0375.jpg

And…all done:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0376.jpg

What an adventure…it felt so nice to actually start doing some real work on my case. Next up...some actual (get ready for it) MODDING! :eek: YAY!

Cheers for now!

-MF

[meticoeus]

Purple and black are two my favorite colors and the armor is one of the only cases I like. GL with this project, it looking good so far. When I was considering getting it, I was curious about the drive mounting rack, but now my questions have been answered ;p.

[modding.fan]

Purple and black are two my favorite colors and the armor is one of the only cases I like. GL with this project, it looking good so far. When I was considering getting it, I was curious about the drive mounting rack, but now my questions have been answered ;p.

Stay tuned...I've got more info on the drive racks coming...you may find it interesting before you decide whether or not to buy the case. :)

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
MF

[modding.fan]

Welcome back to another installment of DEEP PURPLE!

Today I’ll be covering a couple of the miner (though, they probably are my biggest) mods to the case.

First is the installation of my ‘under-the-trap-door’ DangerDen Fillport.

Step one was marking where it would go. I would have preferred it be dead center underneath the door, but, due to all of the media-port holes, I had to move it some so it would actually have *some* contact with the case once the hole was drilled. I used the bottom nut from the fillport for positioning and marking.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0377.jpg

Some initial Dremel work, and I’ve got a (very) rough hole, ready for smoothing:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0378.jpg
Can you tell it’s been a few years since I used a Dremel. :)

Smoothed out the hole a bit, made it a bit more round:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0379.jpg

Some smoothing of the top and bottom, getting rid of the burrs. I love working with aluminum…so easy and fast to sand.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0380.jpg

And I realized that the hole is too small…so I had to redo the entire process with the hole considerably larger (see…I measured off the inner diameter of the nut, threads and all, Yup…I’m blonde in spirit, if not in genetics), and voila:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0381.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0382.jpg

Oh, and a recap from yesterday…I couldn’t put this picture in because TBCS limits us to 25 pictures per thread…

Here for all of my modders to witness, is why it’s always important to wear proper safety gear. See, when drilling yesterday…this happened…and somehow it put a nice chip in my safety glasses:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0383.jpg

The other small project I had to complete before painting was the removal of two of the supports from the drive trays to allow me to install my 2-bay tall harddrive cooler (remember the issue I had above?):

First, I counted and recounted, then marked, and recounted to ensure I was cutting off a matching pair, in the proper place, before I paint and reassemble:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0391.jpg

Then some quick work with the cutting wheel…well, not easy, it was a pain in the butt…
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0392.jpg

Followed by some sanding to smooth it down, and this side is done:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0394.jpg

The other side, with the much longer drive support (see one side only had about 1” long ones, the other ones had about 3” ones) I decided not to dremel, as it was a complete and utter pain in the butt. Instead…I had the ingenious idea of using a small hammer to flatten it out. Unfortunatley, it didn’t work out *quite* as well as planned…but…in the end…it’s not visible, it’ll be painted black…and…well…um…it worked. LOL
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0395.jpg
Okay, so it’s not bad at all, and honestly it’s fun to use hammers.

That’s all for now, next up paint prep and priming!

Cheers

-MF

[modding.fan]

Yup, another post for today, as I’m trying to catch up on all of this weeks work. And it’s been a lot. :)

Next in the process was painting…but first I had to go through the effort of prepping my room for paint. Basically, all I did was attach (with small nails) a huge drop cloth 3/4 up the walls on 3 sides of the room to act as a back drop. Any other paint dust shouldn’t really matter:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0396.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0397.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0398.jpg

Now, I first gave every piece a nice warm soapy bath…scrubbing everything down and quickly sanding all of the pieces so they would more readily accept paint. Then I laid out all the parts on the paint-boxes (so I could paint, then move a full box at a time for drying):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0399.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0400.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0401.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0402.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0403.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0404.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0405.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0406.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0407.jpg

Wow…that’s a lot of pieces needing paint…and some of them need it on two sides. First up was priming every piece…don’t fret over the pictures…the room was oddly lit, and I took many of the photos while the paint was still wet. :) So a lot of it looks uneven, due to the wet paint (just some examples…not all the same photos from above).
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0408.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0409.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0410.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0411.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0412.jpg

Of course now I’ve got to break posts…since I’m limited on photo numbers and on text length. Before I go, I’ll say this…I *way* underestimated the amount of paint I needed. :( That said, I only get one coat of each paint (prime and final). I may have my folks send me another can of the purple for some recoating on the external parts…I hate only having one coat as that means that I can’t sand and final like I wanted to.

Cheers for now!

MF

[Custom]

It is looking great so far modding.fan, I cant wait to see this when it is finishedl. :)

[modding.fan]

It is looking great so far modding.fan, I cant wait to see this when it is finishedl. :)

You think *you* can't wait...just try standing in my shoes...it's sitting on my dining room table right now just mocking me with the ferocity of 10,000 FedEx employees.

:D

[modding.fan]

Back again with more updates to DEEP PURPLE!

So I left off with my pieces nicely primed. I’m a sped, and didn’t take any pictures of the quick sanding I did on them…but…it’s just sanding between prime and paint…nothing fancy.

For what is really only my second experience in life with a can of spray paint, I think I did alright. Of course I had a spray paint respirator, and I had lots of airflow in the room (big filter a/c filter mounted into the open window to prevent dust, and the exhaust fans running in every room in my house to draw air out through that room). I’m big on safety…residual of my military training…they beat it into us. I also set myself a maximum of about 15 mins in the room at any given time.

So, without further ado…my work in painting…again not many pictures…but it gets the idea across. Painting isn’t much of a project to get verbose on, so the pics can speak for themselves. Again, many of the pictures were taken when the paint was wet, so it looks a bit odd, the dry parts look, to my untrained and somewhat colorblind eyes, fantastic! (With a couple exceptions that will be noted.)

First, the gloss black accent bits and the internals:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0413.jpg

Drive faces, filters, and buttons:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0414.jpg

The Mobo Tray:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0415.jpg

One of the drive-bay’s, the case bottom, and the front part of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0416.jpg

Both parts to the back of the case and the top:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0417.jpg

And the other drive-bay and more accent bits:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0418.jpg

After plenty of drying time (mainly because some of the pieces needed to be flipped over to receive purple paint), I swapped out parts to a more permanent curing location (namely the laundry room, where they would be undisturbed for the rest of the night) so I could paint the rest of the parts with the purple:

The outside parts to the back of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1206.jpg

The top and bottom of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1207.jpg

The front bezel:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1208.jpg

The Wings:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1209.jpg

The front door:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1210.jpg

Lots of the little accent bits:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1211.jpg

That basically wraps up all of the painting. There was one problem with the painting that came up primarily due to my impatience. You know how it is… Anyway, on the wings, I painted the ‘outside’ of them and gave them a solid hour to dry (the paint suggested 20-30 mins to be dry to the touch). I flipped them so I could paint the inside, another hour later, when I picked them up…some of the paint came off. :( Worst part is I’m totally out of purple paint so I can’t touch up till I get my folks to send me another can. But, it’s a couple of minor spots so I’ll live.

Anyway, here is what the whole thing looked like spread out on my table again after all the pieces had ample time to dry (no wet paint on the redwood table!). :eek:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1214.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1215.jpg

Next will be what we’ve all been waiting for…putting it all back together…and then finally starting to put in pieces!

Cheers for now!

-MF

[dgrmkrp]

i have to say: very nice work! looking very purple! :)

but wait.. u should make sure the paint is hard enough.. and maybe even clear coat it for protection.. i painted a case; seemed nice enough; didn't coat it; paint eventually came off when moving it.. bad.. new case; moved it around; paint had no clear coat (not glossy nor matte); got scratched again.. i hate that.. learn from my mistakes :) use some protection ;)

[MAC]

i have to say: very nice work! looking very purple! :)

but wait.. u should make sure the paint is hard enough.. and maybe even clear coat it for protection.. i painted a case; seemed nice enough; didn't coat it; paint eventually came off when moving it.. bad.. new case; moved it around; paint had no clear coat (not glossy nor matte); got scratched again.. i hate that.. learn from my mistakes :) use some protection ;)

or cover it when youre moving it :P j/k

good work man :)

[brouhaha]

And we have purple! Wheee!!! Nice progress man.

[DaveW]

And we have purple! Wheee!!! Nice progress man

lol...i like this guy. The mod looks cool man, nice paintjob. Look forward to seeing it re-assembled.

-Dave

[The boy 4rm oz]

This is lookn great. The colour is not for me but everyone is different. I would have got a black with purple/cherry flecks in it. Like car paint on the mazda 6.

[modding.fan]

Thanks all for the encouragement. I'm loving working on this thing. As for recoating adn clearcoating...unfortunatley I dont have access to the same paint (I bought it in the states, but i'm back in India now)...so i'm stuck with some of the paint mistakes that I have...but over all, I'm really happy.


This is lookn great. The colour is not for me but everyone is different. I would have got a black with purple/cherry flecks in it. Like car paint on the mazda 6.
I'm not yet experienced enough to do multitonal paint, only what comes in a can. :) The color doesn't quite come out right on the 'puter. I'll do some pictures of it all when it's done out on a sunny day so you can see how it really looks...it's great!

[modding.fan]

Welcome back to what is officially the most exciting (at least for me) part of project DEEP PURPLE! That is…putting it all back together.

I’ll do this in a few parts, first I’ll put the case back together, then I’ll start putting parts in, modding them as need be on the way. On assembly, all parts were put together much like they were taken apart. Rivets all went in the normal way, and since I was working on it alone, I really didn’t get too many pictures of me actually working. But I’m hoping that by watching the order I did it you’ll get the general idea.

First, I started with some of the smaller bits to clear some table space. Namely:

The power bay front cover:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1217.jpg

Then I did all nine of the bay covers:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1218.jpg

I put the springs all back in place on the inside of the motherboard backer:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1219.jpg

And the expansion bay covers:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1220.jpg

I put the door back on the trap door (the door is the same purple, but the flash is a bit overpowering, even post processing):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1221.jpg

Then put the top assembly back on the top of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1222.jpg

Putting the feet back on the bottom rounds out the easy work on putting it back together:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1216.jpg

Now the fun part started. I first attached the back wall of the case to the bottom with 3 rivets:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1223.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1224.jpg

And *THEN* I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to drill my mounting holes for my reservoir. DOH! I had, however, dry fit it enough times that I knew exactly where it would go, and was able to do it at this stage:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1225.jpg

And now my mounts are all happily installed:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1226.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1227.jpg

Next up was the inner mount of the front bezel:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1228.jpg

Followed by that all crucial cross member:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1229.jpg

For those counting…we’re at about 10 rivets by now.

The drive bays were next:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1230.jpg
And
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1230.jpg

(I also have the lateral support bar in as well.) Putting me to a total of about 30 rivets now. My rivet gun is getting a workout today.

Motherboard tray:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1232.jpg

I missed a picture of me putting in the power supply housing onto the top, but it’s in there. As is the top (and the ATX backing plate):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1233.jpg

And that’s all the riveting that it took. All in all…62 of them…yes sixty two!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1234.jpg

Front door just for looks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1235.jpg

And the front bezel, filled as well as I could for now, with wings:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1236.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1237.jpg

The top for looks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1238.jpg

And my DD Fillport:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1239.jpg

I think that’s all the space I have for now…but you have no IDEA how happy I am that this thing is coming together. Next, putting in parts, and putting stuff together.

Cheers!

-MF

[dgrmkrp]

nice.. very pro looking :) awsome to see such a nice case taken to a higher level!

[modding.fan]

Okay…so…on my last part I said it was the most exciting…but…I lied. :) We are now getting into the “cream of the crop” of any real build…actually putting crap together and installing parts!

So…I’ll be putting in commentary where I can, and I’m sure this will be broken into a few different posts…but let me say this. I had no idea really where to start (don’t’ get me wrong, I’ve built more computers than I can count, but I had so much to put into this thing, and so much to do, that it felt daunting).

That said…it’ll seem like I’m flitting around a lot, but, to me it seemed like quite a logical order. But to me logic is way different than it is to most people. Anyway:

First is a quick dry-fit of the mother board. I plan on looming all of my cables in here to *just* the right length (by doubling the cable on itself inside the loom) as to have minimal amounts of excess cabling draping around to obscure the view of all my nice parts.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1242.jpg

Fan #1 (and radiator) loomed (I had to hand hold the fan in the case, rough measure where the fan would plug in, and then do the looming…fun). By the way, this rear exhaust fan will be plugged directly into the motherboard on the CPU fan plug.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1243.jpg

And heat-shrunk:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1244.jpg

Fan/Rad combo number two, this is the one that will be in the front drive bays, and will also be plugged into a fan mount on the motherboard:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1245.jpg

And mounted in the cage for drive-bay mounting. It’s upside down right now (the ports will be on the bottom)…but it works like this for a photo:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1246.jpg

Mainly to test fitting I mounted the tool-tray, DVD/RW, and the dual HD Block. You have no idea how happy I was to finally be sure that I modded out the right parts on the drive cages. :)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1247.jpg
And yes, before anyone askes…I’m an idiot and forgot to take the housing off of the DVD/RW and paint it black to match. It will happen in the future I promise! LOL @ ME!

I dropped in the radiator cage, and put in the pump (not affixed) just to test-fit, for a case with this much room…I’m running out of free space fast!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1248.jpg

At this point I said to myself “SELF” (bonus points to the first response to catch that reference) “why not just install your waterblocks on the MOBO and put it in for good?” So, here is the installation of a northbridge waterblock:
A clean chip (you’ll recall I removed the heatsink way back on page one or 2):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1250.jpg

Once again dry-fitting the block:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1251.jpg

Mounting screws in place (measured on the bottom so they wont’ be too long down below, but won’t be huge up top either):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1252.jpg

The block, and my coolermaster goo:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1253.jpg

Forgot to shoot the goo on the block, but, here it is in place, all secured down and happy. QUESTON! The instructions didn’t tell me how tight to put the screws in…I put them to what I thought was a reasonable amount, the springs are to about 50-75% their regular size…any advice?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1254.jpg

The CPU worked nearly the same way:
Four mounting screws:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1255.jpg

Dry fit:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1256.jpg

Coolermaster gave a cool semi-sticky plastic thingy for me to do to get a perfect square of processor goo on the block…neat huh?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1257.jpg

Smear it on
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1258.jpg

And take off the plastic for a perfect amount of goo:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1259.jpg

Slide it down and NO! Someone didn’t look closely on the dry fit. :(
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1261.jpg

Yup…the block is sitting unhappily on a few capacitors. I freaked here…thinking I”d have to order a smaller water block…then I though…hum…it’s less than 1/8 inch, maybe if I pull the block off (and of course clean it up for regooing), loosen the 4 posts, angle them all just a bit off to the side, slide it back down, and *then* tighten the posts back, it should work right:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1263.jpg

And…whew…I was right. It’s all tight, secure, and not crushing any capacitors. Yay!

Drop on a couple of ram chips and the motherboard is ready to go back into the case right?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1264.jpg

Maybe not…

I’m out of space for here…so I’ll continue this on the next post.

Cheers!

MF

[modding.fan]

Continuing on with the installation of parts:

I figured there was one last thing I should do since I had the MOBO out and handy. I figure I’d mount the two exit pipes on the CPU block.

First, measure and cut the tubing for the Y-Joint:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1265.jpg

Yup, lacking any better tool, I used my friends disgustingly sharp Emerson knife…and it cut the tubing like…well…a knife through soft butter.

Anyway…secure the tubes to the Y-Joint, and lock them down with tube-clamps:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1266.jpg

And install them onto the waterblock, securing again with tube-clamps. I don’t want any leaks. I’m told that these clamps aren’t necessary, but…better safe than sorry in my book.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1267.jpg

Since I’m at a point where I’m looking at power, lines, looming, and wire management, it only seemed logical that I needed to turn my attention to the powersupply now.

Well…the first thing was the (supposedly) easy replacement of the blue fan inside it with a purple one. First, opening the supply.

This PSU has more stickers on it than any piece of equipment has a right to. Quality checks, burn-in checks, everything.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1268.jpg

And anyone who has tried to remove a sticker knows that sticker adhesive is more stubborn than a mother on family picture day. Awesome solution…Zippo Fuel and a cotton ball. Zippo fuel will eat through the paper and adhesive in a matter of seconds, literally, it’s awesome:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1269.jpg

A few screws later and I’ve got a fan separated from the PSU:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1270.jpg

Quick note, the wiring job inside the PSU is nice and clean, very easy on the eyes:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1271.jpg

Now I ran into an unexpected problem. The purple fan has a 3-wire, 3-pin lead, the PSU only two. Problem 2, the pruple fan’s wires are 2x silver 1x copper and I have no idea which of the 3 are positive, negative, and speed monitoring. So..what do I do…look at another 120mm fan I have in another computer, compare the colors, cut a wire…and hope. Okay, I was sure when I cut the wire…but…now to do some splicing.

Wire splicing is easy for me, I’ve been doing small electronics for years (care stereos, computer stuff, etc.) So, putting the end from the original fan onto the new one is a matter of cutting wires and stripping them, splicing them, and cleaning it all up:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1272.jpg

A bit of heatshrink and it’s all purty again:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1273.jpg

Tuck the splices around the outside of the fan, plug it in, case it all up, and there it is, happily installed into the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1274.jpg

Motherboard, and the rear radiator/fan combo installed:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1275.jpg
And yes, the fan is plugged in, I measured the cable so well that it’s basically totally invisible, totally behind the radiator. Yay!

Next, quick run on the SATA cables, just testing for fit, and they fit great!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1276.jpg

The P4 12v line to the motherboard:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1277.jpg

And I’m already keeping track of excess wire length up at the PSU end:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1278.jpg

Seems like a logical breaking point for posts, so I’ll sign off here, and continue shortly!

Cheers!

MF

[modding.fan]

So, back to more wire management and parts installation.

It occurred to me that some people may not have done wire looming, and might not know what it means when I say ‘doubling the wire on itself’ before I mod.

So here is what I mean…measure where the cable/wire/whatever needs to go from and to, add about half an inch just in case then do this with the wire to shorten it:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1280.jpg

Slide your looming down:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1281.jpg

Then tie-wrap and heat shrink:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1282.jpg

And then install:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1283.jpg

Did the same thing with the LED’s for the power bay:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1284.jpg

And unfortunately I did the power and reset buttons as well:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1285.jpg

I say unfortunately because I had to cut it all apart on the power and reset buttons because they had to be fed into the bay from the front, and *then* loomed. But I got it all done anyway, and here is my bay:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1286.jpg

Complete with front panel:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1287.jpg

Now keep in mind, this is also where the pump will mount to…so it’s not done yet. :)

Due to some factors beyond my control, I had to readjust where I wanted to put the pump, it’s not up top, but on the main tray now:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1288.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1289.jpg

SATA Cables, the speaker, the front fan, and a 2-port power line dropped down. The end port will be for the pump, the one hanging here…it’ll be used to power the neons. No extra cabling remember.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1292.jpg

Now for the fun part…okay it’s all been fun, but this is what I’ve been waiting on for a long time. Running the water lines.

First line is from the rad to the CPU. Don’t worry about the photo…it’s not kinked or flattened. No flow restriction here:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1293.jpg

The exhaust from the CPU to the HD Blocks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1294.jpg

HD Block to the other rad:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1296.jpg

Attaching the T-Line to the pump intake, this will connect to both the fillport and the reservoir:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1295.jpg

Installed the pump. Connected a line from the output of the pump to the northbridge, and got the output line from the rad ready to go into the reservoir:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1297.jpg

At this point…the front is finally full. Nice to see *something* complete:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1300.jpg

Dropped the fillport line:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1302.jpg

And the resiviour in and installed. This basically ends the amount of tubing I can do. For those of you counting…there is one big part missing. I haven’t yet gotten my videocard waterblock in yet. :( And even when it comes in (should be this week), I still have to wait…since I’m out of hose clamps and had to order more.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1303.jpg

So I did some more line management and power running. My neighbor stopped by and insisted that he take some pictures of me actually hands-in the case…so just because I said I would…here’s the back of my head and some of the case. :)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_1304.jpg

And there we are…all caught up to Thursday afternoon, as of the 16 of August.

It’s all going great, but, unfortunately, I’m stuck and I’m sad. I want to get this thing up and running! ARGH!

Cheers for now,
MF

[modding.fan]

nice.. very pro looking :) awsome to see such a nice case taken to a higher level!

Thanks. :) I'm doing my best with what little experience I've got. It's turning out better than I actually expected.

Cheers!

[Custom]

It is coming on really well. :D
Does that CPU block support S775?

[b4i7]

very.. VERY nice....
ive been waitin to see this near completion since you started postin about it.... looks real good

[modding.fan]

very.. VERY nice....
ive been waitin to see this near completion since you started postin about it.... looks real good

Thanks! :) I'm really *really* happy to report that my video water block came in today. I'll be installing it, along with the plumbing for it tomorrow. I, unfortunatley, am still short 4 hose clamps...so no filling and leak testing it until they come in. But...I can finally get that last bit of work done!

Log entry on it should be up tomorrow. I'm *so* excited! Kills me that i have to wait until probably friday for the hose clamps, then I'm giving it a solid 24+ hours of leak testing (remember the atx-power-jumper from page one) before any power goes to anything outside of the pump. No blowing up my brand new baby!

Cheers

MF

[.Maleficus.]

I love the look of the case. The purple is a really cool color.

Glad to hear the waterblock came in. I can't wait to see this thing running!

[mikeroq]

I just checked on this, last time I looked you didnt even have the case, nice progress, keep up the good work.

[modding.fan]

Well now, I’m back again after a bit of work on DEEP PURPLE to give you another installment. :)

As I said, my video card waterblock finally came in. And the boys from DD did a great job on it, it’s beautiful!

Anyway, it came with all the required screws, gromits, washers, and even a very thin set of instructions:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0001.jpg

Looking through the top of the block does worry me a bit. It looks like there are still some small artifacts from the milling process inside…I’m hoping they aren’t loose and won’t kill my pump…that’d ruin my day fast. But it still looks great:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0002.jpg

The underside, complete with polished contact points for the memory and the VPU.:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0003.jpg

Step one on the installation is the removal of that bar that was just put on for looks:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0004.jpg

Then the factory heatsink and fan come off:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0005.jpg

A bit of rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs later, and I’ve got a really nice looking clean VPU ready for a new batch of heat transfer goo and a waterblock:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0006.jpg

I put the heat-transfer goo from coolermaster on the VPU and on the RAM chips where they contact the waterblock. (I’m hoping that I was supposed to put it on the RAM…it just made sense.) Then I flipped it over and carefully lined up the holes before making contact. I started with the outside 5 screws, saving the four internal ones directly around the VPU for last:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0008.jpg

I pre-preped up the mounting plate that keeps pressure on the VPU with all the gromits and such:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0011.jpg

All happily screwed together on the back:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0012.jpg

And mounted up complete on the front:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0013.jpg

The card slid right into the machine all happily:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0015.jpg

Water tube from the rad to the card:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0016.jpg

And one from the card to the northbridge:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0017.jpg

And all back together.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0022.jpg

Now, one thing that is half relief, half upsetting to me is the southbridge. If you recall from page one, I had initially wanted to put water block on both the north and southbridge chips. The block I ordered for the south bridge wouldn’t fit, due to capacitors around the board and I almost ordered a new one. But for some reason I didn’t. And, now I’m really half glad that I didn’t because I’d have had to take it off and go back to the original heatsink anyway:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0020.jpg

So…from this point I’m only waiting on my last box to come on with 4 more hoseclamps before I can fill it up and leak test it. They should be in next week sometime, I’m hoping by Thursday/Friday so I can leak test and then do all of my software installs! Hooray!
Cheers!

MF

[Custom]

It looks great, not to sure about the purple but otherwise amazing job keep up the good work. :)

[modding.fan]

Hello again all...

Nothing really new to report, but I thought I'd make a quick mention of a problem I ran into a few days ago that I forgot about until I started cleaning up my disaster of a table...

So...remember when I got my radiators in? And I said that DangerDen had thought of everything...well they missed one thing.

A while back DD changed their thread pattern on their radiators, to a much more standard pattern...can't recall the number...but it's a much more common pattern.

Anyway, they also have the new barbs out (you recall the extras I bought with the first shipment, just in case)...well...it was a great thing I had the extras with the new thread pattern because DD screwed up. The barbs they sent me with the radiators were the wrong thread pattern for the radiators. How funny huh?

So...word of advice, if you order DD rads, be sure you ask them to test-fit the barbs they send you so you get the right ones.

Cheers for now, more news when/if my hose clamps come in this week!

-MF

[modding.fan]

Hello again, and welcome to a very depressing edition of my log for project DEEP PURPLE. :?

So, as we know I've been waiting on my hose clamps to come in so I can finish sealing up, and fill the cooling loop.

Well, they came in, and the first of my two major problems popped up. I mixed the red and blue PC Ice liquids and have some odd results.

The liquid turned to an opaque brown color when looked at via direct light. When held up and looked at through back lighting, it's a beautiful crystal purple...but when you look at it front-lit...it's brown. :( It's not contamination...there is no sediment or anything that could filter, it's just an odd refraction of light. And I'm not sure how to fix it. I'll leave it in and see how it looks when I get the black lights behind it. It may still glow purple...and that's what I want. (Pictures to follow...haven't loaded them yet.)

Anyway...on to my big problem...the one that makes me want to cry...

I went to start on software installs last night...and...well...NewEgg sent me a dud video card.

On the initial windows boot screen pixels were blinking on and off like crazy. Having never worked with a PCI-Express system...my initial thought was: "Windows is using an AGP base driver...and it'll solve when I geet the real driver installed."

Well...about 40 minutes into installing...the screen went black.

I rebooted, and heard the windows boot sound...so I know the rest of the computer is working...but the screen is black. :( So...I get to go through the multi-week RMA process. It'll be a good test of NewEgg though, since I'm an idiot who didn't keep any of the packaging for the video card. I'm hoping htey'll send me the new one, and let me return the old one in the new one's box.

/sigh

[meticoeus]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the video card. On the bright side, we should get to see just how great newegg's service is. Good luck

[simon275]

If newegg don't replace it the card will be under maunfacturer warranty contact them if newegg don't cooperate.

Nice water cooling set up to bad about the colour. You could always buy clear water cooling liquid and add purple food dye to it. Some food dye is fine and doesn't affect the water blocks.

Heres a guide I found comparing different purple coolant additives there are actually some out there.

http://www.wc101.com/reviews/Additives/

[modding.fan]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about the video card. On the bright side, we should get to see just how great newegg's service is. Good luck


Well, NewEgg said their standard policy on returns is that they need all of the original packaging. However, they did issue me a 'one-time exemption' to that, so they are taking the card back and sending me a new one. YAY!


If newegg don't replace it the card will be under maunfacturer warranty contact them if newegg don't cooperate.

Nice water cooling set up to bad about the colour. You could always buy clear water cooling liquid and add purple food dye to it. Some food dye is fine and doesn't affect the water blocks.

Heres a guide I found comparing different purple coolant additives there are actually some out there.

http://www.wc101.com/reviews/Additives/

Thanks for the info on purple dyes. I was thinking about going that route with a bottle or two of clear PC Ice and some purple die, happy to have some research behind it now. Thanks!

I'm glad that NewEgg is accepting my return...as soon as the new card comes in...I'll be trying again. This is becoming the most involved, and for some reason difficult, computer build I've ever done. And I've not even gotten around to software installs yet. LOL

[simon275]

Hope it all goes well with newegg. Yeah I did a quick search on water cooling dye in google and it was part way down the page or something like that. I know what you mean by involved this has become a marathon effort.

[modding.fan]

Hope it all goes well with newegg. Yeah I did a quick search on water cooling dye in google and it was part way down the page or something like that. I know what you mean by involved this has become a marathon effort.

On a brighter side...I went ahead and orderd visible red and blue UV Reactive coolant dye, along with some clear coolant again...hoping that this time the colors will work.

Also, Just in case, I ordered a couple of higher CFM Fans to replace the coolermaster ultra silents with. When I was done leak testing, and actually powered up the system last time, I noticed that I felt next to *no* airflow coming out of the ports with the radiators, but the airflow that I did feel was *very* hot. Along with that, a quick feel of the tubing and the rez after only about 20 minutes of the system being on showed them to be rather hot as well.

I'm thinking that, since the video card didn't die totally until it was on for about 45 mins (it was having problems after 10), that it's probably a cooling issue, and the only way I know to improve cooling, even in a water cooling loop, is to move more air over the radiator fins.

Cheers!
-MF

[modding.fan]

Couple of updates on DEEP PURPLE or today, but no pictures.

First, NewEgg.com got my video card back and today I got my shipment notification on the new one. Hooray NewEgg! 10/10 for them on their customer service.

On another note, I got my new fans in for the radiators. I mentioned above that the silent fans from CoolerMaster didn't move hardly any air (thus their silent nature). I was very uncomfortable with this (and I think it has a lot to do with the video card dying) so as I mentioned I ordered new ones. They came in, and I've since installed them. They are boring basic black fans, but move about 2x the rated CFM of the coolermasters. (Though I like the basic black look, as you can tell from the interior paint job, and they look great.) Powering up the system, I'm happy to say it's still silent as ever...and I can feel air movement over the rads now, so I'm sure to be happy.

I ordered my new blacklights for hte case today, the 15" tubes I had ordered from streetglow were just about 1" too long for me to fit in, so I ordered 4x 9" mini tubes, should work great when they get here.

Also ordered some clear non-conductive fluid and some non-conductive dyes from D-Tek Customs. Hoping it all comes in within the next 1~2 weeks so I can *finally* get this beast up and running. I mean, it looks great sitting on my kitchen counter with the tubes hanging in my sink, but, it'd look better up and running in my office.

Cheers for now,

MF

[meticoeus]

Good to hear. Newegg is so far my favorite computer parts merchant and haven't let me down yet.

[modding.fan]

Sorry for the shameless movie quote...but it's fitting.

So I got in my box of UV Reactive dyes from DTek Customs today. You know, the ones that were recommended above.

Always wanting to play with new toys right away, I decided to give the colors a quick test-run in distilled water. First went in the blue into half a liter of water, and it looked beautiful. Nice, dark, almost satin looking sapphire blue. The red followed into another half liter of clean water...and it was a great deep ruby color. :D

Pouring the two half-liters of colored water into one container and BAM! I get the *exact* same color problems as I had mixing the two bottles of colored PrimoChill Ice. :( Apparently PCIce uses the same dyes in their pre-mixed fluids as DTek sells for any use.

Yup, my dyed water when front-lit had the opaque, brownish red color, and only when back lit it's got the perfect purple crystal color...identical to the color problems I had with the PCIce.

Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I want nice purple liquid...but...it seems that I'm out of luck! When my blacklights come in, I'm going to throw some liquid in the rez and turn the light on. See how it looks with the blacklight on full time. If that still looks bad, I'll order some standard food coloring and see how that goes...though I'm not sure if food coloring is UV reactive or not.

Well...we'll see what happens!

Cheers

MF :?

[modding.fan]

I know, it's not going to be the title of the next Clint movie....but....I've got lots of good news!

My video card came in from NewEgg last night! Hooray! Installation was identical to last time, remove the old heatsink, clean the chip, apply goo, attach the water block. That's the 'good'.

I did all that, and then filled the system with my ugly fluid. Playing with the fluid in the light, I started thinking, and wondering, about the dyes and the blue-red ratio, wondering if the odd brown color was due to too much red. Since I had the bottle of blue, I tried adding some blue dye to the fluid (I was planning on replacing it anyway, so what harm could it do?). And lo-and-behold, it started lookgin better. As the system was running/leak testing, I kept adding a drop of blue here and a drop of blue there...and I can say I'm now 90% happy with the way the fluids look!!! (That's the better.)

It's in the kitchen now leak testing, when I get home from work tonight I'll put it together, snap some pictures, and power it up! (The Happy.) I'll have some picture updates for you within a couple of days I'm sure. I'm still waiting on my black lights to come in, so no really good night shots yet, but, this weekend I'll also bring it outside into the sunlight for some good, well lit, regular light shots.

:D :D :D

I'm so happy!!! This system is finally coming complete! I'm expecting the lights this week as well, so everything should be coming together.

Cheers for now,

MF

[modding.fan]

Hello all, I'm back with a long overdue update! 8)

Without further ado...

Here is the system as it looked with the new video card in, and the lines fully filled:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0039.jpg

And with the door open:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0037.jpg

On the good side as well, my shipment from StreetGlow came in; lights and a power adapter for them.

I got a bit over anxious, so no in-package picture of the PC Power Adapter from Street Glow, but here it is. Basically, it's got a 4-pin molex female plug, and enough screw ports to plug in 4 12v neon lights:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0042.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0043.jpg

And yes, that's a toggle switch that can be used if you don't want the lights to run 24/7. For me however, I can't seem to find a good place to mount the switch, so for now I'll want the lights on all the time. So, a simple snip-and-splice removes the switch:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0054.jpg

Now, you may notice how much line I left. I did that on purpose in case I decide I want it switched in the future. However, it's horrible looking as is, so bit of heatshrink tubing and it's all happy:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0056.jpg

On to my black lights. StreetGlow has the miniature 9" tubes (they come in pairs) that have seperate transformer/capacitor blocks...to ease installation of the mini tubes in tight places (I ordered 2 sets of these...for four lights total):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0035.jpg

And a look at the previously mentioned tansformer block. They are designed for either quick car installation via the cigarette lighter, or with a quick snip, permanent wiring:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0035.jpg

The next fun part was deciding where to mount the lights. My main goal is only highlighting the watercooling setup...so I don't want the tubes visible. The first one is hiding way up on the top of the case, out of direct sight. The picture was hard to take, but, I think you can see where it's at:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0046.jpg

Of course I'm looming the lines on these in black as well to hide them from sight as much as possible:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0047.jpg

The second light is going to be mounted underneath the cross bar. The odd shape of the door windows will cover the light from direct sight perfectly:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0048.jpg

The thrid light (and for now last, as I can't find a good spot for the fourth) will be directly behind the resivour...to light the big body of water:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0049.jpg

As for mounting the transformer blocks...they need to be totally out of sight as well, and for this, the back wall of the case comes off, and they get attached to the drive-bays (have I mentioned that I'm using double-sided foam tape for all the mounting):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0052.jpg

The wires to the lights are running through some air-holes cut into the side of the motherboard tray...almost like they were perfectly designed for this purpose. The power adapter block, being black, found a nice (non-photographable) home next to the motherboard, it's basically totally out of sight.

So...as of now, the build is pretty much complete, as far as I can see. Here it is in it's home on my desk:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0057.jpg

Now, for the sad parts. As I mentioned quite a bit above, I purchased UV Reactive coolant from PC Ice, and some UV Reactive dye from DTek Customs. Well, I know hte black lights work...with the lights off my t-shirt was a veritable light source in the room...however, here are some dark-shots of the case:

First, with the door on the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0064.jpg

And with the door off:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0066.jpg

As you can see....the fluid is NOT lighting up under the UV. :( I'm not sure what to do next.

But...that's all for now...

Cheers

MF

[modding.fan]

Okay...I'm totally unhappy and if I were in the country, I'd find a way to go to XFX and verbally browbeat every employee there.

In short, I went into the computer room this morning and my video card is dead, again. Thats 2 out of 2 XFX cards. This one at least lasted 4? 5? days. It can't be a heat thing, as the air coming out of the case is still bearly luke-warm, not hot by any means...but...i'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

On boot, all the text looks like this (and yes, it's standard english):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0071.jpg

Another shot of the windows splash screen:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0072.jpg

Before windows gets fully booted, the screen auto-turns off...the graphis card totally shuts down.

Worst part, is I'm not sure if NewEgg will take another return as last time they told me it was a one-time waiver on their required packaging policy. Since the card was working great for like 3 full days, I've discarded all the boxes by now.

I already ordered a new card, a PNY this time. I've e-mailed NewEgg about maybe helping me out...but I'm guessing I"m totally out the $300 bucks I paid for the XFX card. :(

Anyone else have any bad experience with this company? If not, I'd recommend fully against trying. I'm rather upset, this is getting expensive.

I'll have another update in a week or so when my new card gets here.

Cheers,

MF

[nzcubey]

My heart goes out to you man, i cant believe two cards have died. Have you measured the temp of the dd cooling system?

Hope newegg will help,
Take this as a lesson to always keep boxes, always.

Cubey

[Mountain Dew]

try a different moniter

aand this should be moved to featured worklogs

[modding.fan]

My heart goes out to you man, i cant believe two cards have died. Have you measured the temp of the dd cooling system?

Hope newegg will help,
Take this as a lesson to always keep boxes, always.

Cubey

I haven't done a temp measurement yet, but, I can say the air coming off of the radiator (immeidatley following the video card in the cooling loop) is never more than slightly above room tempreature (and I keep my A/C's in the house to about 18c so it's nice and cool. Unfortunatley, since the system has only been up and for a maximum of 3 days, I never had time to find and install any temp monitoring software. On that topic...any recommendations?

Is it possible that 2x 120mm fans/rads isn't enough for this system? I've opened the case while the system is running and none of the lines or the res feel anything over slightly warm to the touch (which again says a lot as the house is always cold). I'm wondering if I should slightly change the routing of my tubes:

Currently it runs: Rad 1 -> Res -> Pump -> Southbridge -> Videocard -> Rad 2-> CPU -> HD's ->Rad 1

I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to change it to: Rad 1 -> Res -> Pump -> Videocard -> Southbridge -> rad 2 -> CPU ->HD's -> Rad 1

Does the Southbridge really put off enough heat that having it in that place on the loop would be bad for the Videocard? If I were to switch them...would I run the risk of burning out the Southbridge by running the post Videocard heated water over it?

As I'm brand new to this whole watercooling thing...I'm up for suggestions. Even if I have to buy another 10 feet of tubing to fully re-run the whole system in a new order...spending $20 on new tubing is cheaper than even one more videocard return (cost me about $20 bucks last time just to return the first burned-out one).


try a different moniter

aand this should be moved to featured worklogs
Well, this monitor works fine on my other desktop, and plugged into the laptop. Also, the monitor worked fine for the 3 days teh system was up. I doubt it's the monitor, but, I will give it a shot. I think i have an old glass monitor in the storage locker somewhere. :)

Oh, and, thanks for the featured suggestion. <squee> Nice to be recommended! :D

I've already ordered my new video card, going with a PNY this time, i've always had good luck with PNY cards & memory. I contacted NewEgg about a return, but, I don't think they read my e-mail to them right. The confirmation I got back from them said that they "wouldn't ship a replacement until they got my defective part". I don't think they got the part that I don't want another XFX that will melt down. :( I sent them an e-mail asking for clairification...only hoping that they get it and can help me out. Especially since I bought a more expensive card to replace this one.

One other topic, as I was looking at my pictures that I took the other night, I realized that the top mounted light seemed to have fallen loose (I didn't stick the tape on hard enough). For those wondering, the light shouldn't (and now isn't) be hanging down visible like it is in the picture. Oops...bad photography on my part.

Cheers for now, will send more updates when I get some more news.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I am going through all of my build notes so I can put together a good "Lessons Learned" for any new (and experienced) modders. Sort of a list of all my mistakes, pitfalls, and odd things that I figured out in the process. That'll be posted when/if I ever decide that this build is complete. LOL

-MF

[xdxforever]

I dont have any experiance with it myself, but i get the feeling that it would be better to go: Res -> Pump -> Rad1 -> then Vid and other stuff so that the water wont warm up in the res and pump after its been cooled.

[modding.fan]

I dont have any experiance with it myself, but i get the feeling that it would be better to go: Res -> Pump -> Rad1 -> then Vid and other stuff so that the water wont warm up in the res and pump after its been cooled.

That's something I've never thought of. Does the pump really add any noticable temperature? Anyone out there have any experience?

I'm not looking forward to re-draining all of my fluid again...but...by this point I'm getting pretty good at it.

Cheers,

MF

[silverdemon]

I think what you want is: Take the heat out of the case as soon as possible...

that means: put rad just behind the cpu or gpu and then the res -> pump etc..

but I also have no experience at all with watercooling...
(thinking about building one in the distant future though...)

[Dgephri]

I have always gone directly to the CPU first:

Pump-->CPU-->(bridges for tubing layout)-->GPU-->Rad-->Res and back to pump.

The incremental heat given off by the pump or warming in the Res is so marginal that it's really not even considered anymore...does an 8Watt pump really have much effect on a cooling loop disappating 200+Watts? Not a lot IMO.

Monitoring: Motherboard Monitor (MBM) or Speedfan (intel and non NVidia chipsets).

I have used a CSP750, DangerDen D5, and now a DangerDen DDC12V pump. All with loops in a similar order.

I think it's generally accepted that loop order relates to tubing length and THAT affects resistance in your loop. The shorter runs overall, the less tubing in the circuit, and the less resistance you have.

Before you install your GPU again, look at it edgewise and see if there are any gaps between the RAM and the waterblock. VERY CLOSELY. :)

That screen cap does look like overheating symptoms, but it might be that the waterblock isn't laying flat on all the RAM.

[modding.fan]

I have always gone directly to the CPU first:

Pump-->CPU-->(bridges for tubing layout)-->GPU-->Rad-->Res and back to pump.

The incremental heat given off by the pump or warming in the Res is so marginal that it's really not even considered anymore...does an 8Watt pump really have much effect on a cooling loop disappating 200+Watts? Not a lot IMO.

Monitoring: Motherboard Monitor (MBM) or Speedfan (intel and non NVidia chipsets).

I have used a CSP750, DangerDen D5, and now a DangerDen DDC12V pump. All with loops in a similar order.

I think it's generally accepted that loop order relates to tubing length and THAT affects resistance in your loop. The shorter runs overall, the less tubing in the circuit, and the less resistance you have.

Before you install your GPU again, look at it edgewise and see if there are any gaps between the RAM and the waterblock. VERY CLOSELY. :)

That screen cap does look like overheating symptoms, but it might be that the waterblock isn't laying flat on all the RAM.

Thanks for all the advice...love the help.

One question...is it safe (or advised) to put the standard heat-transfer-goo on the gpu-ram as well to ensure a good 'connection' between the chips and the waterblock?

I was pretty much on your same page as far as heat production from the pump. And as to removing heat as soon as possible. (Thus my loop going from GPU->Radiator->CPU->Hard Drives (minimal heat)->Radiator

I'll take a look at this card when I pull it out, to see if the ram isn't 'connected' to the waterblock...that may well be a cause of the problem.

Cheers!

-MF

[Dgephri]

oh yeah, thermal paste should go on the GPU core, each ram pad, and a nice thin, even coat. Be careful with AS5 in those locations since it IS still conductive...the DangerDen guys all put Ceramique on that stuff since there are little resistors and stuff so close.

[modding.fan]

I make this posting with a very sad heart...and an even more sad checking account. :(

I mentioned a post or two above that I'm compiling a large list of "lessons learned" that I'd post at the end of my build cycle, but I have two to do today that seem very important, and very relevant, to my current situation:

1) Re-Leak test *EVERY* time you open the case door.
and
2) Non-Conductive fluid....ISN'T!

Yes, you all heard me right...this video card failure is all my fault. :( And I have already taken the high-road and cancelled my RMA request from NewEgg. Since it's my fault on this one (though I'm convinced that the other one wasn't...no leaks)...I can't make them 'pay' for my mistake.

Now that I've given away the disastrous news...here's how it unfolded...

I go home today at lunch, and after reading the above replies, I decided to pull the dead video card to see if the RAM chips are indeed touching the heatsink.

I opened the case to see this, and my heart sank:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0074.jpg

Everyone else see what I see? Look at the smooth silver backing plate from the heatsink on the video card. And, if you can see it in the pic (though it's hard) look closely at the part of the video card dead center in the picture.

Yup...leaked fluid, the bit on the card itself is well baked on. :(

A glance about 6 inches up reveals the culprit:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0075.jpg
If you notice, the center tube is no longer secured below the lip of the barb. The hose clamp is still holding it on, but just by a touch.

Although I didn't elaborate on my exact time line in the previous posts, there was about a 3-day time difference between me getting this video card in the mail, and getting the lights in.

When the video card came in, I did the right thing. Installed, and ran the pump for about 24 hours of leak testing, with no problems. Then I turned it on and started getting all of my system software installed. 2 days later, my lights came in and I happily installed them.

Apparently, when I was putting in the lights, I hit the CPU block input-line and knocked it 90% off the barb. It didn't leak until it was under pressure, and it still took ~12 hours (the daytime of me using the computer that evening, taking the pictures, and overnight) for it to leak enough to kill it.

It was the morning after I took my pictures of the lights in use in the dark that the card was dead. I took the night-shots the same day I installed the lights...so that's why I'm pretty sure that it was during the light install that I knocked that tube loose.

Anyway...here are some more shots of the 'damage' as I was removing the card:

Baked on coolant:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0076.jpg

With the water-block retention plate removed, you can actually see (near the center of the photo, slightly right, slightly down) a dark spot where the transistors have been physically burned out. You can also see purple stains on the stickers:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0078.jpg

The thoroughly SOAKED foam backing pad from the water-block retention plate, though there is still some rather well-baked coolant here as well:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0079.jpg

When I drained the system, the loose hose came off with no force at all...I'm DAMN LUCKY that the whole thing didn't pop off (as this is the in-line, with two out-lines on the CPU block...this is the lowest-pressure part in the system...lucky me). Had the whole thing popped, while I was in bed, not only would I have been mopping up coolant from all over my office, but I'm sure the entire MOBO would have blown as well.

After I took the card out, I started cleaning up more. I also reattached (properly) the CPU hoses, nice and tight, with all clamps below the barb lips:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0081.jpg

As I'm waiting on my new card to get here (the PNY with 512 memory, vice an XFX with 256Mb), I’m going to go through each and every hose connection in the system (now that it's empty) and ensure they are ALL nice and re-secured after all the hassle of getting the lights wired.

I'm so sad. :( At least I can stop cursing the name of XFX. Sure I got one bad card. But I guess I have to say that this one was working like a champ...until I carelessly shorted it out by soaking it in coolant.

On another note...although I didn't see any coolant around the area of the PCIx connection bracket...I also used a lint-free cloth towel and a can of compressed air to ensure that no residual coolant leaked into the mobo PCIx slot. That would *really* suck to blow another card when the new one gets in. I think that the foam backing pad seemed to have absorbed *most* of the leaked fluid.

I guess for cleaning the foam pad, it's just lots of distilled water, soak, then towel dry, then resoak, then towel dry...hope that works. Aarrrgg....

Can I get a hug? This really hurts. :(

Until next time......

A sad -MF

[Acey]

Urgh... that really hurts. No hugs from the skinny man thou.

[b4i7]

*hugs*

that really sucks man.....hard lesson learned.......ive never really thought about leak testing again....*looks at koolance case* but after this.....i think i will

ive really enjoyed watchin your project come a long since you started plannin it and postin it here in the forums

GL with the rest of the way

[Dgephri]

that really sucks...although "non conductive" fluid is labeled as such, so is pure H2O.

Dust on the card itself, dust from the air, anything other than the fluid CAN conduct current when the fluid contacts something.

The new fluids give you a decent chance when a leak is actually occuring in front of you, or when you first notice it to turn the system off and clean up.

I really feel for you...I am so paranoid the first time I turn my pump on for a new PC. I don't run the loop outside, I don't use clamps, and I leak test with all the hardware in and power off: if I had a leak, with no juice on, I am reasonably certain I can clean up the PCIce and dry it out for a couple days and be "ok."

I can respect that you are taking responsibility, and not trying to take more from Newegg. That's integrity, and fewer than you know actually have it. :)

make sure your Motherboard can get dried out...good 3-4 days out in good ventilation. Best of luck, be careful.

(guy type, sorry about your dog, pat on the back, then move away Hug)

[modding.fan]

Thanks for the support...I really think the most painful part for me, being the egoist that I am, was admitting that I screwed up. But...if I can admidt it to my fellow modders...well...that has to count for something.

Anyway...got home from work and couldn't stop milling about inside the case.

Re-re-re-checked all of my tube connections...and decided that since I have a good solid week of down-time till the new card gets here (remember, I'm posted at an embassy overseas, so my mail is *uber* slow) that I can make a few minor changes.

First, I've never liked how the feed-tube from the Res has had to be this huge, tight loop, resting up against the motherboard just so it wouldn't kink due to the connection I had to make with it:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/loop.jpg

So I had the revelation to turn it around. I did some measuring first to ensure I wasn't going to do my system worse in the switch and it turns out it's better all around. The new layout has reduced the total length of tubing connected to the res by about 2 inches. (Not a huge savings, but, any reduction is a good one.) On top of that, this new lay removes the possibility of any tube resting on the motherboard itself, and, the curves in these sections of pipe are greatly reduced, leading to a more straight (and less stressful on the pump) flow of fluid:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0082.jpg
This did require the drilling of a new hole in the bottom of the case, but, drilling is a pretty basic thing, and i did it nice and slowly, from the bottom, so no aluminum bits had a chance of entering the case, I also had a wet-paper-towel on the inside of the case to 'catch' the drillbit (held with my hand, but i was drilling slow) and to catch any random aluminum dust to keep it out of the MOBO.

Of course, now you notice as I did that I have to move my neon. UGH! But, thanks to the wonders of Zippo Fuel, I got rid of all the old adhesive from the sticky-foam and got the tube moved no problems. And yes, before anyone asks, I once again triple checked all of my tube connections. :redface:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0083.jpg

So here is the new location of the res, notice the nice, smooth, long straight flowing tubes? Pretty huh?
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0084.jpg
On the bonus and unexpected side, it's now even easier to hold hte res outside of the case for when I'm filling the system up...that was a pain before. (Yeah, I know that's what the fillport is for, but due to the way all of the tubing is lined up, a little bit of air is always ending up trapped in the res...so I ahve to pull the res out, unscrew the end cap and top it off with fresh fluid to get all the air out. A rough process, but, the more air in the system, the more sloshy noises I hear...and for my build, noise is bad!

The one other change I made was removing about 3 more inches of tube from the hard-drive bay out-put tube (the one leading down to the second rad). I had only ever rough-measured the tube before, and never got around to shortening it. Here is the after-shot. You really can't see a difference, and honestly with all the tubing there, I'd be surprised if anyone can really tell. But, as a hint, it's the tube in the picture that has a little residual fluid in it:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0085.jpg

That's all for now. I think I'd better go before I decide to make more changes to the system. :) I should really test what I have so far before going any further.

Thanks again for the support (or, shall I say, sympathy)...it sucks screwing up...especially when your screw up BBQ's an expensive video card. :redface:

Maybe for my next post I'll show you guys some pictures of my first mod...it's got some really cool points...and will show everyone where I "cut-my-teeth" in the modding realm. I just have to take some pictures...at least it'd give me something to do.

Cheers.

-MF

[gaz_the_chav]

Woh thats a great shame man. Damn I wish I had enough money to get one of them video cards let alone two!

Can't wait to see it all finished though!

[modding.fan]

Woh thats a great shame man. Damn I wish I had enough money to get one of them video cards let alone two!

Can't wait to see it all finished though!

All I can say...if I really *could* have afforded two...I'd have SLI'd them in the first place. :( I had to burn some of my buffer-savings just to get this thing up and running by now. I had initially set myself a total spending limit for this system...and was only *just* over that limit before this happened...but now I'm well over. :(

Sad for me, i have to bump my next planned vacation back a month or two just so I can be sure to have the cash I need for it. (grumble) I hate using credit cards (I just got myself out of bad debt about a year ago)...so I don't want to use them for vacation or for the 'puter at all. Sucks having to reschedule stuff like that due to me being impatient. (Okay, it wasn't really impatience, more like me not thinking about every alternative.)

So...next time, it's going to be another 24+hour round of leak testing and then locking the door shut. Yup...the lessons-learned post will be a good one.

Cheers,

MF

[Dgephri]

I get scared to add up what it really takes to finish my Mods. Cables, scrap plastic, LEDs, sleeving, aluminum strips, bolts, caps, nuts, nylon washers, chrome, trim, sticky tape, E-6000 adhesive, blah blah...it just keeps going up.

Luckily I rarely need to RMA, and ever more unlikely is any real hardware damage. Of course, what warranty is left when you solder onto the 5V in your keyboard? :)

Keep at it man...good precautions on the drilling and check all your hoses like it's and airplane taking off: "cpu, 3 barbs-check: HDD, 2 barbs-check: pump, intel and outlet-check"

[gobygoby]

WOW. Nice build you have going here. and I thought I was anal about painting my rig.

seems as though we have similar concepts in our heads. Great minds think alike!

My build log (http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/107858-project-gobys-tt-armor-lcs-build.html)

great work, hope you get that vid card thing figured out.

[modding.fan]

WOW. Nice build you have going here. and I thought I was anal about painting my rig.

seems as though we have similar concepts in our heads. Great minds think alike!

My build log (http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/107858-project-gobys-tt-armor-lcs-build.html)

great work, hope you get that vid card thing figured out.

Heh...you think this was bad...I *wanted* to be much more OCD on the paint job...but...didn't have enough paint to do multiple coats.

The more I look at some of the 'bad spots' on my paint, it just gets under my skin. But, I can survive. I did as well as I could with the resources I had available. Very hard to do this stuff when I can't buy paints locally, and don't have anywhere besides a bedroom/office to do the painting in. :)

I'm heading to look at your mod now. :)

Cheers!

-MF

[modding.fan]

Well...I just got home from work, am too tired to go to the bar, and can't do anything really fun since, as we all know my 'puter is still dead. (Laptop works, but, not powerful enough to do any games and such.)

So...as promised here is Big-Red, my first mod.

A bit of history first. This computer is now over 5 years old. I first got into modding when I worked part-time at a CompUSA in Aurora, CO...this would have been back in about '99 or '00. Best part about working at a computer store is that you get good discounts on parts.

Anyway, this thing started out as a standard, beige Antec. No windows, no colors, nothing. A friend at the shop and I had stumbled across GideonTech.com, one of the first major modding sites out there, and had always wanted to do our own. So, we got parts together, and dove in head first.

Best part is that my dad had access to a full machine shop (he's a mechanic for the school district in my home town). So...we packed up for a weekend visit, and spent the whole time in the shop.

As far as that part went, I can say you're not truly a Man until you've cut metal with fire. And thanks to a plasma torch, we got to do just that. :) So without any further ado, here is Big Red, in it's current home, acting as my media server connected to my home entertainment center:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0086.jpg

First, don't laugh, yes I was watching Shrek 2 when I took the pictures. And 2nd, don't laugh, every time the military has moved me, they keep breaking my TV's...so coincidentally, my TV's keep getting smaller and smaller, as they are getting expensive.

Onto the machine in specific:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0088.jpg

I custom measured and cut both the holes and the plexi for the windows. The molding was from *something*.com...it's now FrozenCPU.com, but wasn't called that at the time. I can't recall.

The most impressive part of the mod, in my mind, is my laptop hard drive. As I mentioned, we worked at a computer store, and as such, had access to lots of junk/trash parts. Whenever we would do upgrades for people, their 'old' drives typically ended up as ours in our shop. I found 2x identical laptop drives and had this mod planned for ages.

First, I took the top plate off of one, and used it as a template to make a plexi plate. After destroying 5 or 6 while drilling, I finally got one made. Then I went into the paint-room at my dad's shop, took the other one apart, and did as fast a cover-swap to the other drive as I could...leaving the heads and platters exposed to open air for as little time as possible.

I'm *VERY* proud to say that this drive is STILL in active use, and has never once had any data storage/crash problems. Yup, a self modded, plexi-topped hard drive...and 5-6 years later...it still works!

Anyway, back to the case...

Before filling, the inside was painted a nice silver (the dull steel-grey just didn't cut it for me), along with all the fan holders and such.

Another fun touch I put in was a plexi-mirror on the bottom. Looks great and helps with the 3 lights a lot:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0090.jpg

As you can see. I had to use two 3.5"-5.25" hard drive mounts to raise up the laptop drive enough to be seen through the window.

Also, as I said, the computer is over 5 years old...in that time I had to replace the PSU...thus all of the wires are no longer sleeved...they used to be...but upkeep on this case sort of went through the window somewhere between Denver->Australia->India. LOL...amazing how moving a lot will do that.

Well, the front of the case has the same stone-style paint, and if you look close, I actually put a toggle switch for the neons on the very bottom right of the case (it's a red button):
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0089.jpg

Another nice mod I have (but no picture sorry) is that I built a full size, removable, washable, air-filter into the inside of the front bezel. The whole front panel is an air intake, and I didn't think I wanted that much dust in my nice new windowed and mirrored case. Since I've moved to India, I have to pull it out and clean it about every two weeks...it's insane...but...seeing how much dust *isn't* getting into my system is worth it.

Lastly is the quintessential dark shot of the case:
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i58/modding_fan/IMG_0092.jpg

Yup...the middle-light hangs just in-sight (one reason I went so crazy about hiding all of the lights in Deep Purple). And yes, for those who noticed...the 2 smaller lights are the same brand/style lights as I have in Deep Purple. The mini-tubes from StreetGlow. The large tube is also a Streetglow tube. 5-6 years going, with LOTS of use, and they are still burning bright.

So there you have it...the original case by modding.fan. :) This one is actually much more heavily "Modded" in my mind (as I cut the windows, did the air filters, and most especially the hard drive)...but I don't think it was nearly as much work as Deep Purple has been. Mostly because I had the proper facilities for Big Red, I also had a couple of home improvement stores I coudl readily run to in the middle of modding when I needed to. (Not to mention a professional mechanic staring over my shoulder the whole time.)

Still have about a week till my new video card comes in...so until then cheers.

Once I get Deep Purple up and running, I have a few pictures from the build of BigRed...I'll throw those up too. But...those will be *long* after you all get to see the finished product of Deep Purple.

Cheers for now,

MF

[brouhaha]

Leave for a few days and look what I missed. Sorry to hear about the video card :( It may be a little late, but the dye looked nice and purple in the pictures. I think you got that part down.

[modding.fan]

So...I sent a bit of hate-mail to the folks at D-Tek Customs yesterday over the non-UV-reactivity of they "UV Reactive" dye. I got a very confusing respnose back from them today. It makes no sense to me, but, me not being a chemical engineer, maybe you all can help explain it to me. See, in the message, I basically told them off for selling dye as "UV Reactive" when, as you all saw in my pictures, it really isn't.

I sent them the same pictures you all have seen in my log.

The response I got back was along the lines of "from the looks of the pictures, you used too much. Try using only one or two drops in a few cups worth of water and see how that works. When the die is too concentrated, it looses it's reactivity."

Does this make sense? How does watering down a solution *increase* it's reaction to UV? I told them in the mail that I'm not worried about a return/refund (as it'd cost me about 15 bucks to mail back the dye for a 20 dollar refund).

I'm going to test their thoery once my new card comes in...just with a glass of water outside the case (I can't right now, since I have the rez and half the lines filled still...i turn on the lights...i turn on the pump...and it'll make a mess).

Anyway...thoughts?

Cheers,

MF

[xdxforever]

that is a definite possibility, if the fluid is too 'dense' in color the light might not interact in the desired way. Try holding a cup of water under one of the lights and drop your mix in with an eye dropper, then you can know how much to put in in proportion...

[Reyer]

thats awsome man keep up the great work

[modding.fan]

Hello fellow modders...

I come here today, almost ready to weep in defeat.

My new video card came in today, the one I forked out $300 for to replace my burned out XFX card.

The watercooling block, a DangerDen Koosah, doesn't fit. A quick browse over to DD's site claims that they fit fine on a 7950GT card. However, there were two (and a half) problems. (Nope, no photos, sorry.)

First, the card itself is about 1mm too "deep". As in the dimension that the card would normall stick out from the motherboard. The mounting screws wouldn't line up. Being a modder, and only having about 1mm worth of problem...I figured...lets do some modding.

A touch of sandpaper later (just on a bit of the plexi block where the barbs mount up) and it seemed like I was golden. The bit of plexi I had to sand off wont' be visible at all, and the block is still plenty thick. It actually looks like this was a bit of a poor design on DD's part...as the plexi over-hung the copper it was sitting on top of...so it just looked like the plexi mold wasn't measured right.

The 1/2 problem is that my 7950GT card only has 4x mounting screw holes (vice 9x holes, and 9x screws that came with the water block. I was very uncomfortable with lettign only 4 screws, right around the VPU hold all fo the weight...I was much more comfortable when it was 9x). This only counted as 1/2 of a problem, as it was end-user comfort, not manufacturing.

So...now I was all happy again...I put the card on, and there was a freaking capicator sitting on the block...holding the card about 2mm off of the base of the block. Basically, there was no way for me to fix this problem. The VPU, and half the memory, has no way of touching the card.

I was stuck in the decision, for about 20 minutes (20 minutes which included lots of door and wall kicking, screaming, and my heartbeat being at olympic-marathon-runner pace) as to whether to give up and just use the air-cooler on the card.

That was not the right choice.

So...I'm returning the card to NewEgg for refund (nothing shady here...told them I can't use the card because it won't fit my watercooling block). And have ordered a new XFX card...yup...the same one that I already blew up.

For anyone counting...I started making purchases for this computer 4 months ago...yup...June. I had the system running...really really running and in use...in September for about 3 days...and since then have been down again.

THis has turned into my most troublesome, problematic, and painful computer build of all time. Of all the computers I've built and modded...this one is ready to give me a stroke.

I will march on, however, as I'm too stubborn to accept defeat from a damn machine!!!

[The boy 4rm oz]

Dam thats gotta suck. Looks like sum one is out to get u lol.

[DaveW]

I will march on, however, as I'm too stubborn to accept defeat from a damn machine!!!

Hell yeah! That's the spirit man!

-Dave

[silverdemon]

damn, how much bad luck can you have...

[modding.fan]

Yes...I've had about as much bad luck in a build as anyone can. :(

But...it's just a tunnel...and I'm pretty sure I can see a light somewhere.

Anyway...I am rectifying a minor oversight this time as well...I've got a sound card coming too. Can't believe I neglected that bit...

<sigh> It'll happen...sooner or later.

One bit of good news....I did get a couple bottles of clear PC Ice in today as well. When I get the thing up and running, I can test, a few drops at a time, re-coloring fluid to see if it is truly reactive at lower concentrations. (However, i'll test on water, and when i find the right amounts...then color the coolant)...

Grr....sick how, even after all this, I can still seem to find a bright side...

Anyway...cheers!

-MF

[modding.fan]

Hello all!

I've been out of town on business trips for hte last couple of weeks, and thus, unable to post.

But...when I came back...WOO HOO...all of my stuff (re: the latest video card) came in.

I did an install, and let it run leak-testing for a good 24 hours. Now...it's up and running like a champ!

Soon as I get caught up at work I'll be doing some final updates to the page, pictures, test tempretaures and all the goodies!

I ahven't forgotten about my log, just got delayed for a while!

Cheers,
MF

[FyreKnight]

Welcome back, it's nice to hear the good news that you've got Deep Purple up and running at last. I can't wait to see the final pics, your work is excellent.

FyreKnight

[Zephik]

Glad to see that you are back!

Can't wait for the next updates, This has been one heck of a ride! They should make a movie out of this log... It has all the things Hollywood wants right? Laughter, Heart Ache, Inspiration! And most of all... the will to not be beaten by a damned machine! :p

If you get another dead GPU on your hands, I'm gonna run a fundraiser for you and buy you a new one.

...and then I'm gonna slap you. lol

Good Luck my purple lovin friend!

-SF

[Newbster]

Where are the final pics :P dont leave us hanging i spent 2 hours reading this thread -- was better than a book ... let me read the ending :P

[cbelmo159]

whats that lil 3.5 drive thing you have adn whered you get it. and by the way good wire management

[USERX15]

Where are the final pics :P dont leave us hanging i spent 2 hours reading this thread -- was better than a book ... let me read the ending :P

YA! where are you man, I read this whole thing, wheres the new video card I wanna see you install it and everything.

[Slatter]

where is everyone????

[Slatter]

i am sick and tired of being anodized...

[simon275]

Right more useful and interesting posts and soon you will get enough rep and to rank yourself what ever you want.

[Zephik]

What I want to know is where the heck did Modding.Fan go?? Actually... where did all of the really good modders go? Was there some huge tornado that wiped them all out or something? lol

[b4i7]

im here :D

[n00b 3at3r]

I am starting to think that I am the only modder in Minnesota. Do any of you cool people live in MN?

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i56/krits1014/PCLogo6.jpg

[Slatter]

Right more useful and interesting posts and soon you will get enough rep and to rank yourself what ever you want.

i did a lot in a fridge mod... but they deleted the whole damn thread :((

[Nick_Black]

OOOooooohhh. I rele want to read the rest of this... maby he got it working and it was so orgasmicly good he can't stop using it for long enough to tell us about it...

[modding.fan]

To everyone who has been posting and supporting Project Deep Purple, Thanks!

I was sent on a very short notice deployment to Afghanistan, and really never even thought about logging into here to post while I was out.

I'm back! And more importantly, I'm back to normal life again...which means back to the fun things like TBCS!

A short update:

Yes, Project Deep Purple is up and running fantastically! I'll bring it outside this weekend and do some pictures and then post some performance reports.

Sorry for my unexpected absence, but, I'm back! Pictures coming up this weekend.

[moOmL]

Haha, we can't be mad at you for serving your country. Welcome back. Can't wait to see the pictures!!

[progbuddy]

Great to hear your back :). Can't wait to see some new pics!

[modding.fan]

Was a crappy weekend for photog....overcast and very very dusty out. :(

On the bonus side, I am working on a very long series of "lessons learned" posts. Doing it all up in word so I can save and edit, then will post in a series of posts. Hopefully, the consolidated list will help out some other first/second time (or even seasoned) modders out there not make my mistakes!

If the weather clears...photos will come, but I want them in good natural light.

Let me tease you all by saying that it looks downright nice! :)

Cheers for Monday Afternoon!

-MF