Project: I'm not making a fancy name for my PC

[TangerineSkyy]

:banana:

Its just my PC. Right now its my old HP Pavilion thrown into an acrylic case.

Specs:

Intel Celeron 2.7ghz
-400MHz FSB
ASUS P4G533LA mobo (POS)
768MB DDR Ram
40GB Western Digital 7200rpm
HP 250watt PSU
7x 80mm fans (yes, its a windmill... 5x case fans + 1x CPU + 1x PSU)
2x Cold cathode lights.

I'm saving $150 every paycheck for a new beast. I'll have a grand to work with by thanksgiving (and I plan on taking advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales)

To come:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz (planning on OCing to 3.0ish)
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (great OC features, plenty of room to grow, 8GB Ram)
Nice video card (waiting for the sales to decide)
Ditching the floppy drive for a 23482379587 in one Card reader + USB
80GB SATA hard disc (I have a 250gb external for multimedia only)
500w+ modular PSU
Cable sleeving (no more electric tape)


And for the 'mod' I have in mind...

I play paintball, so I have a ****load of pneumatic parts scattered across my house. I purchased a 12v solenoid valve from eBay, and just today I ordered an 80mm water-cooling radiator as well as a really cool looking military switch.

The idea is to have an electro-pneumatic CO2 cooling system. At the flip of a switch a burst of CO2 supplied from an internal 12oz CO2 cylinder will bleed through the radiator and out the top of the front face. If I can find/modify the fitting correctly, two purges of CO2 will spray out (sort of like a NOS purge in ricers). a pair of red LED's (the color scheme of the case is red) will either be set into, or directly behind the purge valves to illuminate the white burst of CO2.

The tank will be mounted upside down (so that gravity will force the liquid CO2 out) opposite of the motherboard on the only spare area the case will have.

The radiator will get mounted on the top fan. When the liquid CO2 passes through it, it will act as an expansion chamber and some of it will boil off into a gas. During the process, energy will be used up and cool down the blades of the radiator. The fan on top of it will pull in ambient air, which will be cooled by the radiator, thus cooling the system, while looking really badass at the same time.

The only concern I have right now is finding the right fitting to connect the output of the solenoid to the radiator. I'm not too familiar with water-cooling fittings, but I'll figure it out.

I'm just waiting on parts, and my Sony HC1 to take some video/pics. This is my first case mod, but this is in no way the first time I've modified anything.

[dgrmkrp]

nice design... like the nos-co2 purge idea.. sounds cool and colorful :)
can't help you with fittings, but also can't wait to see more :) good luck!

[b4i7]

holy crap...i like the idea....i got a lot of paintball stuff sittin around too... whay kind of gun you own?...ive fot a broke down system x autococker thats lookin to lose parts that if they fit in with your desgn...i may have to try...if you dont mind

[TangerineSkyy]

It is in my true belief that copyright and intellectual property claims are directly detremential to the advancement of human activities. Go right ahead :up: :D Let me know if it works out.

The solenoid I got is pretty cool. It has 1/8"NPT ports, just like standard ASA threads for paintball guns, so I can use macroline with it. Supposedly it only accepts 100PSI, but usually working pressures are only 1/3 the operating pressure, plus there is burst pressure. I'm thinking I'll use a regulator somewhere in the mix.

When the radiator and switch come in, I'll be off to Radio shack for some wiring and maybe a new soldering iron, then Home Depot for some brass fittings (that will no doubt get sprayed red).

[Omega]

oh BTW, there's actually something that performance cars use -- I forget the chemical, but in front of the intercooler there's a sprayer to spray the cool whatever it is over the intercooler to make it cooler.

Is that what you're getting at for the CO2 pruge? That's be pretty badass -- I might have to look into that.

[TangerineSkyy]

I'm not sure... I'd expect it to be CO2 or NOS, since those are two of the most readily available compressed gasses (that compress as a liquid).

The idea is not to spray the CO2 on something (although I damn well could). I'm too afraid of condensation for that. The rapid decompression of the tank will cause the CO2 inside the hoses and radiator to boil. The radiator will become cool to the touch, and when air is sucked over it from my intake fan, it will have a chilling effect.

If I let the entire tank purge (I figure one 12 ounce tank has about 45-60 seconds of the effect), the tank will most likely become frosty cold as well, contributing to the cooling effect.