Project A.O.D.

[DRece]

(This is my first modding project that started out something simple but ended into something more. I learned that modding is like that one chip commercial "Just can't stop at one")

First it must be stated that I originally posted that I wanted Ideas for this pc in the modding Q&A but was told to "come up with your own, its your project" and my friend told me that same thing. So started ideas and modding with major help with an experienced modder. Here is the work log ...

My Computer is a Amd 64 3500+ system in case a Cooler Master Centurion 5 case in a silver color. The case is modding from factor with a window with a logo in the very center of the window (was a ugly window). The components that make up a this new computer are a Silverstone 650w PS, a thermalright XP-90c heatsink w/ quick silver 5, Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI motherboard, Gigabyte 3D1 sli-enabled pci express videocard, Sata hards, Lite On Dvd reader and Lite On DVD writer. As well as various blue light-emitting fans (there is not one fan that does not emit blue light). One 120 mm fan in the back as outtake and one 120mm fan infront as intake, 80mm fan on the heatsink and two 70mm fans on a pci card.

I still stick by the fact that "until this pc pops popcorn its not all that great".
But I gonna try to make it look great.

I give all this information so that you understand that my machine has the latest stuff and is the inside is full of blue light that a cold cathode is not really needed. For this I decided on my mod idea that half is simple and half painful. Ask if I left out something important.

The Target design on this mod is to look like a military test machine. I did not research what one looks like but I did not want it to look like something out there.

First Mod step:(Complete)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/front.jpg

This image show the 120mm fan modded into the three bays and the centurion logo remove and metal was reformed to barely show where the logo was located to the right of the power button. I did not do that, my friend did that for me as a favor as well as replace my window on the case with acrylic plastic. He did a awesome job but this work was not mine ...



Second Mod Step:(Complete)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/insidebefore.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/insideafter.jpg

These two pictures show the wire wrapping done with blue and white electric tape as well as lots of wire organizing. White tape wraps around the data cables (IDE, SATA, and Floppy) and Blue tape wraps around the power cables. This helps with easy pc repair later as well, like they would have in a test machine. I am proud to say that I took some part in this mod but most goes to my friend who help me figure out ways to organize it.




Third Mod Step:(Unfinished)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/letter2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/letter1.jpg

This part of the mod I learned how to use the Dremel tool and how much I hate metal shavings. By the way, this modding pc shop is not mine but my friends, right down to the dremel tool. But the ideas are mine, that much I can say. The letters were meant to be D.O.A. but come to find out the letters were on the board backwards and so it ended up being A.O.D. It was kinda of funny when it happened but now I do not know what A.O.D. can stand for. Any Suggestions on what A.O.D. can stand for?


I shall up this log when more progress is made as I have been enjoying this work. :)

[Zeus]

Arrived On-site Dead?

[cygnus_x_1]

excellent work. the only way to start modding is to, well...start modding. nice job on teh front 120 and wiring, and while the DOA didnt come out the way you wanted it still looks good (and provides for a good story for a few laughs...) as long as you are enjoying the process thats all that matters. def keep us posted and keep at it.

lets see...AOD?

Angel Of Death
All Overclockers Dreams
Any Other Do-overs (lol...sorry)
Army Of Doom


its late and im tired...sue me.. :mad:

[Zeus]

Arrogant Oversized Daffodils?
Alienated Obtuse Ding-Dongs?
Area Of Destruction? (hmm. got potential)
Anticipated Order Delay? (sorry whisp :D )
Antacid Of Doom?
Always On Duty?
Aforementioned Oligargarchical Demise?
Any Other Day?

[AKA_RA]

Hmmm...A. O. D....how about "Ass of Doom"

edit: i guess im kinda slow. in the time it took me to think of that, Zeus and Cygnus had multiple ideas that were way better than mine :p

[DRece]

Thank You Zeus, cygnus_x_1, and AKA_RA for the ideas of what A.O.D. can stand for.

I think I will go with "Anticipation Of Destruction".

This name goes with my mod of military test box, all your help is greatly preciated in this name that you guys thought of.

[Zeus]

glad we could help...hope you at least got a chuckle too.

[Zeus]

Anakin Or Darth

[Zeus]

asparagus of despair

[DRece]

lol that i did

[DRece]

What If I did something like this on my drives?

http://forum.tweakzone.nl/topic/46750

( its in a non-english language but I was looking at the pics anyhow)

[Xato]

Which thing about the drives were u talking about in particular?

[DRece]

Which thing about the drives were u talking about in particular?

removing the stock ones and adding in custom or modded out ones

[Xato]

I can see from those pics that he's removed the drive bays, and just made an individual mount for the CD drive, then made mounts for a couple of fans at the front... and then he has the HDD's sitting in the case floor... Is this what u were talking about?
Other than that i can see the fronts of your two cases looking the same.

[temmink]

I may be a little slow, but I think, as far as the name goes you should take insipiration from your processor and go for:

Athlon of Destruction
Athlon of Death

failing that the anarchistic angle:

Anarchy or Death

or the completely insane angle:

Associated Order of Dermitologists
Acronym Of Desperation
I may edit more in later. Turns out I'm not feeling as creative as I thought.

[Zeus]

writer's block!!

[DRece]

I can see from those pics that he's removed the drive bays, and just made an individual mount for the CD drive, then made mounts for a couple of fans at the front... and then he has the HDD's sitting in the case floor... Is this what u were talking about?
Other than that i can see the fronts of your two cases looking the same.

That is what caught my attention since Its possible to remove some of my clutter to cool things better. But instead of stacking the drives I may just set all three of my drives on the ground with brackets.

[Xato]

I think its a rather good idea too. It makes the front half of the case look a whole lot cleaner...

[DRece]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/AODscrew_up.jpg

I have reached disaster in my project, the lesson taught by the dremel. From the picture you see above you notice something different. So I shall go over what happen step by step.

1. The letters
When going into the dremel use, i thought that the dremel would be kind to those start out and would only go off target a little as to being kind to those who have not used it before. LOL! I was very wrong, as keep triing to correct the letters the dremel made the letter hole bigger and bigger ... so I have stopped dremelling. I loss the heart to keep triing to correct the letters as the whole design has gone to far me to feel like it is worth correcting. Now, I decided to cut the whole letter thing out and put a window in the back. That is where the holes that you see in the picture above come into play.

2. The holes
The holes are for a window to be put in the back, not a design with a window back but a big square window. Now, your first thoughts are "why a window behind the motherboard where there is nothing to see?" and you could be thinking differently than that so if so than post it. With a window in the back I was thinking that I could picture of something there and make it into a picture frame mod, with the picture having the letters of A.O.D. (There were just too many good thing that you ppl came up with using those letters ) . So now that we put the idea that a picture frame mod will be made, we go into why there are blue bloches on the panel.

3. The bloches
The plexi from the original window that was in my case was going to be my back to hold the picture, so me and my friend painted the plexi metallic blue which came with some anti rust stuff in the paint. We let this dry for a bit than decided that it was dry and would put the painted side down against the metal so that we knew were to put the holes. After we clamp the plexi with the painted side down we began drilling, than ,once finished drilling , proceeded to remove the plexi and put the plexi on the outside as to temperarely cover the letters with the plexi for another day ( I use his shop because I do not have one of my own as of yet, and I go to his shop only once a week). When he tried to lift the plexi from the panel, we found the plexi was stuck. We thought that since we had drilled the holes with the plex on there that the plexi was just held on but the metal peices from the wholes. But we found that wasn't it because the when he held the plexi and I held the panel and each of us pulled in the oppisite direction, we found that the paint in some way ate through the plastic and than proceeded to glue it self with the panel.

The lessons in all of this is: don't under estimate a dremel and don't use plexi the same day you paint it.

I don't tend to give up the dremel but instead I will take up more practice with a scrap case I have that I totally not of worthly anything but perfect for dremel practice.

I shall give more updates when I am able to make more progress.

[Zeus]

fortunately, plexy should be relatively inexpensive at the hardware store. So you should be able to take another try at the painting (letting it dry for a couple of days or more before you do anything with it.

also, you could use pinstriping tape and tape out the letters so that you can get the whole thing painted EXCEPT the "D.O.A." Kind of like the method people use to paint flames. Use very opaque paint and maybe do several light coats as it dries.
then you can paint over the dried paint with a translucent paint. then if you backlight it, the translucent will light up and the opaque paint won't.

Just some thoughts

[DRece]

fortunately, plexy should be relatively inexpensive at the hardware store. So you should be able to take another try at the painting (letting it dry for a couple of days or more before you do anything with it.

also, you could use pinstriping tape and tape out the letters so that you can get the whole thing painted EXCEPT the "D.O.A." Kind of like the method people use to paint flames. Use very opaque paint and maybe do several light coats as it dries.
then you can paint over the dried paint with a translucent paint. then if you backlight it, the translucent will light up and the opaque paint won't.

Just some thoughts

Thats better than the original idea. Thanks.

[Xato]

Modding... its a process.

[Zeus]

Make sure to show us your results

[Malatory]

Thats better than the original idea. Thanks.

You can get get some Frisk (sp) from your arts and crafts store as well (Typical where they have the Air Brush items). It is a clear plastic film that you can cut your letters out and apply them to the Plexi 1st, So you can place them where you like. Other Ideas would be get the easy Tac Spray Glue, and use a letter template push outs or make your own. The Easy tac spray glue makes it a little sticker than a postit note.

Also remimber that paint really doesnt like plexi/ acrylic. To paint it you will need to take some time, many light coats and let it dry before the next coat.

[Xbrid]

sound like it could be a good mod. good luck.

[DRece]

Well i am sry to say that it has been a long time since I did any posting, but I really wanted to add to this thread some more tid bits. Anys, with the use of many dremel cutting discs I cut out the AOD by the use of a rectangle shape. Than I took cardboard, electric tape, zip ties and a printout pic of my wife and child and thus project AOD is now a picture frame project for now. Just until my attentions can turn to it again. And maybe get some ideas from the forumers about some others thing i have thought about. Again sry for the long time no post, and this short, to the point, no pic post. I will get back to this with more information later.

I would like to point out that I always cut on the none painted side, this allowed none of the paint to get missed up. I think I will use Discs for cutting for now on because they leave less chance to stray. Also helps to take the time with the discs and let them set the paste, as well as not to continue to cut for long periods. The electric tape was merely applied to cover unsanded edges as I was too lazy to sand them.

[DRece]

I have finished with my project, with this project I have learn to make to case before you build your computer. When go to do my next mod I plan to buy a computer case and when the case is finished, I will purchase other computer parts. I decided not to paint the inside of this computer case or cut out the honeycomb like I have seen other mods do, because when I receive all my parts, I got to thinking about the power of the machine and not the looks. Because I thought that, I figured out that everything is where I like it and don't want to mess it up. I might just buy a case, mod it, and put my computer components into that case that is new and modded. Any ways, here is what I have done to finish up this case, till the day I can get another.:hurt:

I have done some work and not post it for a while, simply because it was to make a temporary fix so it was in a condition that allowed me to use it and not be so damn ugly.The letters A.O.D. were severely messed up as you all know already, so I took "several" reinforced dremel to make a rectangle cut that I traced by simply measuring a inch from the predrilled hole made earlier. I cut the rectangle on the unpainted side so as to not to scratch the paint and cause me to repaint it. Once that was done I had taken white electric tape to create a round edge, with electric tape being latex like, I knew that I could put my window there at one time or another and there be a seal sort of. I grabbed me some cardboard and made me a temporary plexi and put a picture of my family on there so it would be nice. Just recently I have set out to fix it all.:D

As going back into working on this project again, I have a demon case that I hated. Not as in "8) demon case, how cool 8)" but as in ":evil: demon case, must exercise the evil out of you :evil:", the stupid thing just killed two hard drive for no reason. When I mean no reason I mean as in no physical or data like reason for the drives to crash other than the case thought ":twisted: I hate you, and for that you shall have no more freedom of a good drive. ZZAAPP!! :twisted:". So I destroyed the evil and used it for part. Thus the last supplies needed for the project was there, and I can continue to finish it. I just hope the parts carry some kind of curse, that would really be bad.:eek:

So I took the front and put it to the back, there was no problem for this because the plexi from the front was the one use the make the marks for the back. These pictures show you what held the cardboard into place and what is hold the front plexi in place which I tend to move to the back. As well as the plexi in place, I put the bolt on the outside so that the panel could slide back on. On this window, I can put my notes and pictures here. Sort of collage of stuff, nerdy stuff any way.:glasses:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/oldbackpanel.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/newbackpanel.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/sidepanel.jpg


With that moved to the back, I proceeded to the front panel and got the side panel of the demon case and measured up. With the pictures, you can see that the plexi is whole and there is merely a metal design on top. Well, actually there is the wholes for the fan, but besides that it is whole. After removing it from the demon panel, lined it up with the holes of the screwed that were in place for the front panel, I mark where the holes go with a perm marker. I had to do this since the plastic from the demon case was too big and the hole did not line up, so i will make new ones. Since the plexi from the demon case seemed flimsy like plastic, I just took a drill and made the holes real easy like. Once that was finished, I found that I had to cut some of the plastic off and found that a dremel can pick up plastic and fling it at you .:eek:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/windowadjustment.jpg

Than I simple put the fan back into place with it little cover and wallah I have a additional cooling for my monster. Here is the finish product, cool eh?8)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/finishedfrontpanel.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/windowfinish.jpg

Now for my very front I thought that there needed a change, so took the dremel once again and did a few cuts. After which, I found that some cheap led light rod fit into the front bars. I did not cut the front bars cause, I want the light to illuminate what I have and not blind me. Wires were easy to manage thankfully so I was able to put it back together quickly.:)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/front-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/litefinal-1.jpg

Thus it is done, I will not do more till I have finished my other mods up. LOL, I haven't been finishing what I start.:redface:

[MrRenegade5050]

Hey man it looks good. Maybe if you want I can do that back side pannel for you and it will give me a chance to break out that old dremal agian. btw hows my wiring and mesh job holding up for atleast i hope its doing good ;) Btw guys i'm the one that modder that helped him out in geting started. Now that i know were he posts his mod projects i might start posting some of mine now. but i have to hand it to him for some one that was kinda just jumping into the modding with both feet not trueling knowing what to expect he did a great job. As of right now it looks really good and honstly i say leave it the way it is because it looks good. But if you still wana put the DOA or the AOD hehe yeah that was fun :rolleyes: you can take it over to Shari at Splash designs there in town tell her that one of the guys from PC Tech sent ya and she can laser etch that side pannel with what ever you want for around 10-20 bucks well hehe depends on how much laser etching you want ;) also if you want some spare side pannels to do tests with i've got about 5 extra so you can pop on over to my house and tell who ever is there that you wana buy the sheets of plexie i have for 20 bucks. Just let me know if ya want them... not a hole lot of good there going to do me almost 2,000 miles away. :think: But honstly guys of the Fourm give him some props for this one becuase he really honstly didn't know what to expect but also he went into this knowing that something could go wrong but still went ahead with it. not many people will do that with there already competed system. DRece I congrate you on your job with this system and hope that all your futher system will go more smothly and may the moding gods smile apon you :D


____________________
Who said you can't mod laptops? I didn't say it did you? HEEHEE
Project: FortKnox's coming in May 2007 be there for the LockDOWN!

[NocturnaL]

Nice mod so far, and Damn Renegade what a 1st post lol.

[DRece]

Ya, I wish I had waited to do the modding when the case was just itself, and not a completed system. It was fun none the less.:p

laser etching? You got an example?:eek:

Yes, I would love to have some plexi but I do not have money, this mod was finished with spare parts.:redface:

Thanks Ren for the +rep, I glad got to start into this but now I can't stop. :)

Tell me what you think of "little blue", ren?:?

[Maz]

How did I miss this one? Good job so far, looks like others will shape up to be even better!

-Maz

[DRece]

I like your project better, it looks to be pretty cool.

[DRece]

Well, it didn't take long for me to go and want to make more progress. And boy oh, I am glad that I did. The result are great I think, and as well as really bright. I start off on what I did to the panels.

On the window on the front I drill another fan hole, simply because I have one of the 2 in 1 6600 vid cards and acts as a wall for the air. Plus, I had a clear fan handy.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/left.jpg

On the back window, I got to thinking about laser eching and went ahead and installed two red cold cathodes, but got unexpected effect of red as a warning light. That is a big plus so that it keeps to theme. Sry for blurry picture but I could hold it still.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/right.jpg

On the power supply, the top came off easily and the fan easier to change, as long as it matches up. Thankfully nothing went wrong with that mod.\
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/back.jpg

:) Thus there it is, all it needs now is a laser etch and I will call it finished.:)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/DRece/front-2.jpg

[t3hninja]

The case is awesome to start with, and you did a good job with the side panel cut out.

Apocolyptic Orange of Destruction. If only you'd paint it orange.....

[Aero]

wow, very nice job for a first mod. Good job not letting you "AOD" set ya off and still working around the mistake. Thats what modding is all about, we all make mistakes, but it takes a modder to say "how can I make this mistake work to my advantage?". Good job mate, I'll be watching for more.

[DRece]

A finish touch to this mod will be to laser etch AOD in the back, or Anticipation of Destruction. Just have to get a atomic mushroom cloud sticker behind the laser etch. I also wonder if I should just make a whole window etch or something because the lights are seen as angles and hurt the eyes.

[MrRenegade5050]

Well i got an idea for you if you willing to spend the extra money for it. See with the laser etching you can etch a gradent of a Mushroom Cloud on a thing of plexi and you can still understand what it looks like. Tell ya what i'm coming home for the holidays, on day after xmas you can stop on by and as a xmas present from one modder to another i'll give you 2 sheets of plexi just cuz i wana see how much further you take this mod... OK heres what you do Take one sheet of plexi get an etch of a mushroom cloud put on it. Another one with the letters A.O.D. and then a last one with an etch of the full letters of what they stand for below were its suppost to go. you stack all 3 layers agiasnt the window giving it a 3D depth look while still being able to look though it just fine. but with a twist drill very slowly a small hole on the sides of the plexi and add an LED of what ever color you want and you can light up the etched part that color but you can still see though the rest of the plexi just fine. Kinda adds for a heavy Drama affect. And if you do this and talk to Shari she may do all 3 sheets for the cost of 1 but don't quote me on that but if you want I can talk to her since she kinda likes me I could maybe sweet talk her into doing it for ya :D . But i'm not kidding come over day after xmas i'll give ya 2 side pannels that i'm not gona beable to use any time soon like at all this up coming year since i live in another state now :p Just let me know man if you want them cuz there yours.

BTW guys i've been looking at some of the other mods some of you guys have posted and I have to say very nice and Now i really need to post some of my old mods I took alot of pics of in the past.

____________________________

Who said you can't mod a Laptop. I didn't, Did you? HEHE
Project: "FortKnox" Get ready for the LockDown!

[DRece]

Well i got an idea for you if you willing to spend the extra money for it. See with the laser etching you can etch a gradent of a Mushroom Cloud on a thing of plexi and you can still understand what it looks like. Tell ya what i'm coming home for the holidays, on day after xmas you can stop on by and as a xmas present from one modder to another i'll give you 2 sheets of plexi just cuz i wana see how much further you take this mod... OK heres what you do Take one sheet of plexi get an etch of a mushroom cloud put on it. Another one with the letters A.O.D. and then a last one with an etch of the full letters of what they stand for below were its suppost to go. you stack all 3 layers agiasnt the window giving it a 3D depth look while still being able to look though it just fine. but with a twist drill very slowly a small hole on the sides of the plexi and add an LED of what ever color you want and you can light up the etched part that color but you can still see though the rest of the plexi just fine. Kinda adds for a heavy Drama affect. And if you do this and talk to Shari she may do all 3 sheets for the cost of 1 but don't quote me on that but if you want I can talk to her since she kinda likes me I could maybe sweet talk her into doing it for ya :D . But i'm not kidding come over day after xmas i'll give ya 2 side pannels that i'm not gona beable to use any time soon like at all this up coming year since i live in another state now :p Just let me know man if you want them cuz there yours.

Thank you so much, i will gladly recieve the plexi, I can't do the lazer etch till tax return since im broke. I know that three sheets of plexi stacked together will work in the back, but the idea of a laser etching and some extra panels opens doors for me to make a better mod. As what I plan to do is get me a case and work on it with what I have and slowly make the mod. "little blue" is a semi mod for me because the oem case does not allow much change inside. I try to find a cheap sturdy case online somewhere.

[DRece]

:DI have discovered that my system is painfully load and bright, it definitately was time to take action. I first noted the sound problems which I think I stated before that was the three high velocity thermaltake fans located in the front and back, the thermaltake on the heatsink was doing its job without much racket so I will leave it there. Around the house I have 2 120mm Stealth fan ( bought them from some local store ) and a clear thermal controlled fan, I used these to replace the noise makers in the case. The front 80mm seemed to produce the most noise due to hte honeycome infront of the case fan, I didn't feel like removing the motherboard so I just made sure that the front 80mm fan on a thermal sensor of the motherboard and everything seems to be order so far. The blue ccfl that I have inside the case I took out since it was a bit too much for me and also took out my Logosys cooling card, after a year of use one of fans seem to work but not light up so I took it out since I have the fan install into the bottom part of the window. I left the front lights and the red ccfl in because they have a nice effect to my case.:D

:DI have also got an upgrade for my system since I thought that only a gig of ram and Gigabytes 6600 2 in 1 card seemed not up to standards. With blessing from the wife (with a bit of compromising ) and tax rebates coming into play, I took a gander of video cards for my computer, since I already knew that I would purchase another gig of Kingston ram to match the other set.:D

:? I took some time but after considering price, speed and reliability, I choose to purchase two Foxcoon 7900gs with 256-bit gddr3 256mb ram per a card. I was unable to find any reviews about this card on the net ,but I figured I would give it a shot. With the pictures of the card that newegg showed, I knew the ram modules need to be cooled better so I also purchased some zalman ram heatsinks to keep things running smooth.:?


:DYesterday, I recieved the videocards and the heatsinks via UPS, as well as the heatsinks. Sad to say the ram won't arrive until this evening, I tried to play with some upped graphic settings but it seemed that the system couldn't keep up, so I hope the ram will fix that. Upon opening boxes and packages, installing heatsinks, and reading the system for an upgrade; I found that secondary pcix16 had come a little dust covered. I thought nothing really of it and went about blowing on it and installing the video card and powering up the system, THAT was a mistake. My system has a lot of wieght to it and the side panel has a lot of wires to up to the motherboard and other places before and can be closed, so when I figured out that the secondary slot had enough dust to keep the card from connecting right I had to disconnect everthing and proceed to Rubbing achocol clean up. After clean up, connecting and power up, everything went fine. So always use air or achocol ( achocol if you know how to handle it properly against electronic equipment ) to clean the connectors of dusty system that you tend to upgrade.:D

:redface:I plan to post pictures, but I am too busy enjoy the better graphics.:redface: