Noob modding, its cool 8-)

[Logic Zero]

Hi guys, I just thought I’d show you the pics of my PC! I started thinking about modding about a month ago, since then I hadn’t even had a look inside my pc, and I didn’t know what sizes system fans came in! :p

I was gonna post pics after I fixed my “hot cpu” problem but it turns out its running fine so here we go!

PC as stock:
http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/1932/cimg5991om1.jpg

Busting out the dremel
http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/1029/cimg6006to2.jpg

First cut, thank god everything went smoothly! (Remember iv never done this before!)
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/7571/cimg6007wb3.jpg

All filed down and relatively smooth
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8369/cimg6117ov8.jpg

Popped it back on the case to take a look at what I’d be able to see through it.
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7667/cimg6120wl3.jpg

Got my first batch of parts and some Perspex
http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/4026/cimg6267fk0.jpg

Everything from that batch installed (upped the ram to corsair 2gb ddr2 whilst at it)

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6730/cimg6314uv3.jpg


About a week after doing this I decided the view inside was pretty much crap, so I took out the cage on the right hand side and made a Perspex HDD mount and hid it in a spare drive bay, runs lovely and cool and much much neater. Then I flipped the Perspex window sheet over so the fan was on the other side, this made the internals of the case a lot cooler as the airflow was better (before this the intake was throwing air in but then the exhuast would suck it right back out again leaving no chance for the rest of the case to cool)

[Logic Zero]

Unfortunately I was so engrossed I forgot to take pics along the way but my dad managed to get one of me tootling around. I put some vantec cable braiding in, a vantec UV cold cathode (hopefully my blue cathodes are coming tomorrow, but everyone knows what they look like so I thought id post pics today xD), some fan vibration dampers (Perspex was giving off an annoying buzz) and some new IDE and SATA cables. After much worrying I decided to take the plunge and change the heatsink over to my Tt golden orb II, and to my surprise it was so much easier than I first thought!!!
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/8021/1am7.jpg


Lit up (only UV cathode installed atm)
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8182/cimg6928nb0.jpg

Outside of case
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4374/cimg6937sf8.jpg

One last shot
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7491/cimg6940bt1.jpg

Just a bit more cable management (hiding them etc) and ill be happy with that, im very happy with the way the braiding came out. If anyone is struggling with this I came up with a way of getting it on quickly and easily. Fold a small piece of paper into a smooth cone shape and cello-tape it together. Cut the big end off to the size you need so that you can just about fit the end of the connector into it, and then slide your braiding up and over the connector all the way down!

Well that’s it for now. Any comments good/bad appreciated! These were the big steps forward into computer modding for me, I don’t think I will stop modding now! I would just like to thank all of you on this forum for the content on here, I would never have been able to attempt this at all without the wealth of knowledge and support that I read and received!

Thank you once again

-Chris

[Logic Zero]

Might pop one last pic on tommorow if my blue cathodes arrive, thats if people dont think they've seen enough mutilated hp plastic already :D

[silverdemon]

that's actually quite nice, you could do with some more cable management though (as you already said...)
but really, for a first try it is very nice!

[Razors Edge]

Hp modding huh nice. I always enjoy viewing galleries where people take regular named computers (dell,hp,compaq,emachines, ect) and modding them. Nice work so far, Keep going!

[progbuddy]

The blue lights are...

FREAKIN AWESOME!!

lol.

[Indybird]

Nice work! I've been trying to convince my friend to mod his HP media center (looks just like yours), and he doesn't want to. Maybe this will inspire him!

By the way, are you going to paint that, I think that would really finish off a really simple, but clean (and good) mod.

[simon275]

Nice clean simple mod turning a stock brand case into something nice.

By the way I like your sig Logic Zero very nice.

[Logic Zero]

Thanks guys :D

Was thinking about painting it....hmmm might paint the inside :p


By the way I like your sig Logic Zero very nice.

Why thank you. :)


I've been trying to convince my friend to mod his HP media center

I had to try and convince my mum :p

Thanks to all the rest of you, makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside! xD

[DaveW]

Looks pretty good to start off with! good work on the window, i was worried that your cuts were poor-but then you took the time out to file them to perfection. It's a good thing you had the patience to do that-most new modders think you can just dremel a hole and that's you.

Your work shows a lot of potential, so keep it up, and i want to see where this takes you. :)

Btw...loving your sig.

-Dave

[dgrmkrp]

damn.. i have network problem for a few hours and i miss this... well, i wanna congratulate u for a clean mod.. it's made nicer by the fact u modded a hp case.. and that (hopefully) u don't wanna stop :) also, nice choice with the hs and side fan:) system runs cooler=thumbs up!

[Logic Zero]

damn.. i have network problem for a few hours and i miss this... well, i wanna congratulate u for a clean mod.. it's made nicer by the fact u modded a hp case.. and that (hopefully) u don't wanna stop :) also, nice choice with the hs and side fan:) system runs cooler=thumbs up!
Thanks, i remember you helped me out at the very beginning and i only managed to do this mod because of some of your advice :)

Cheers Dave for the praise :) You like the sig? Wow, loads of people do :D

[Logic Zero]

Got bored sitting around, decided to get an old microsoft inernet keyboard down from the loft (attic) and see what i can do with it.

The paint is from a spray can, i sanded down the keyboard and cleaned it thoroughly, then painted it with flourescent orange, white and grey, whilst doing dust coats of metallic gold in between each layer of paint and watching the x-factor. Finally gave it a good coat of laquer. Sitting ontop of the boiler right now, gonna leave it for a week or so to let the paint cure properly.

Picture of the keyboard from the microsoft website

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2151/b00002mz8g01lzzzzzzzqm8.jpg
Probably not to most of your tastes but hey, its a bit mad.....i like mad things:D

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/5620/1mm9.jpg

(And no its not orange peel, the picture is very grainy because of the low light :) )

Also did the wrist guard with "logic" on it as thats what im known as online (god i need to get out more :rolleyes: )

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8089/2ct5.jpg

[EPYK]

very nice job on the window, i do like the cable mngmnt; those smaller cases are extremly hard to look not cluttered and you pulled it off nicely...
keep modding dude...

[.Maleficus.]

Yes, very nice job. I love how the window molding glows... very cool.

And EPYK, you're right, they are pretty small (I'm on one almost identical to it right now :p).

[Eod16]

Look's Great !!

[fragged]

Nice work,

just wondering, what is the yellow stuff on the outside of the window, is it there to neaten up the cut or stop vibrations?

Looks fairly good, better than my el cheepo case, zipties and shredded IDE cables, and a sidepannel taken off :D

[Logic Zero]

Thanks, the yellow stuff is there to do exactly what you said, i originally wanted it to stop vibrations, after some annoying buzzing noises i wanted to dampen it as much as i could so i put it in there aswell as some fan dampers from vantec. I suppose it looks nice too :p

Its much more quiet now :)

If you are wondering what it is its just some fuel tubing from a hobby shop used on nitro rc trucks/cars/planes, i used to be into them so i decided to use that. Just split it down the middle with some scissors (easy to do, just make a small split and pull the tubing over the blade and it makes a perfect slit)

PC looks a lot better now than it does in the first post, i did a lot of tidying up the cables :)

EDIT:

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/2216/cimg7001te0.jpg

[gaz_the_chav]

wow that looks great! For my first mod I did almost the exact same thing!

[Logic Zero]

Thanks for the comments, i know its simple but its definately a start, im gonna be building my own pc from scratch soon (watercooled, the whole lot), as i am keen to keep learning!

Will have to post pics when that baby is finished :D

EDIT: ooooh yeah, im sexy and anodized now baby! xD

[nzcubey]

Hey dude, congrats on the mod, it looks pretty rad, even if it is an HP :D

have you thought about painting the beast? it would be quite sexy with glossy black, or somekind of blue. Maybe ocean blue sides and top and glossblack front? yeah thatd look fab :D

I second dave, that sig made me laugh, its great :D

~ Cubey

[Logic Zero]

Soooo tempting to do, im good with a spray can but i can never get the laquer to work :(

[nzcubey]

go for it dude, even if you did a crappy job with the laquer itd still look better than stock, plus gives you braggin rights :D

[b4i7]

even if it is an HP :D



someone hasnt ventured into featured worklogs yet then :P

this mod is really nice...i like it a lot

[dgrmkrp]

i had problems with clear coating.. how exactly is the laquer job crappy? Cause it may be a chemical reaction involved, or you may have waited to small a time-frame and the paint wasn't completelly stable and inert.. chemically speaking, of course.. :)

[Logic Zero]

I let the paint dry for a week or so, but the laquer just comes out lumpy :(

Im just useless with a spray can :rolleyes:

Doubt im gonna paint it, need to save up some money for a new pc and this one is going to my parents

[dgrmkrp]

well.. someone reccommended to me to wait a month before clear-coating.. but that was a very different case (not computer case ;) ) .. i'm thinking there is something wrongish about the movements you make when applying the clear.. it's much thicker and you need to push and keep pushing to get even coats.. and you need to move the can in a.. special way.. try this linky (http://www.duplicolor.com/training/mirage_training.html)
it helped me.. study the guys hand movements.. he has a special style.. i tried it and by gad, all coats after that got better and better :) now i'm even confident to do flames and gradients :) you just need practice.. think of it as a test and you shouldn't fail it to get a higher-modding degree ;)