Any Ideas for the new kid?

[DuroMentis]

Hello,I bought a case a long time ago,and its just been collecting dust and spider-webs.I wanted to mod it up,which was the original idea.I bought this case because It is my first mod and I was afraid to spend alot.This case was 9$ plus shipping,hence the purchase.


http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-156-069-10.jpg

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-156-069-21.jpg

It isn't that bad of a case,the pictures don't quite do justice.

Anyways,I am planning on modding it,not necessarily with a themed mod,but just mod it in general.I need some ideas.Got a good idea for it thats not to far-fetched?Shoot.I'm an artist but oddly as it is,I dont have much creativity in this dispute.Let me know if you have any ideas!Thanks!

[Silenced_Coyote]

I say:

-Put a 120 or bigger fan on the side panel.
-Take off that purple vent thing in the back.
-Paint it.
-Change the front grill.
-If you can, take off the front black thing and replace it with some plexi with a custom etch. But put something behind it so you don't see the drive bays.

[onelegout]

-If you can, take off the front black thing and replace it with some plexi with a custom etch.

Or some good quality mesh, either way would look great!

[Datamancer]

I see that clock on the front and I think "hmm, you could swap out the digital for an analog and turn the whole thing into a long, skinny, woodgrain grandfather clock!!"
But that's just my style.

For a quick first mod, I'd suggest painting it, maybe designing some intricate cutout for the side, plexi it, add some lights. Maybe you could put a bank of lights behind those slats in the front so light spills out of them?

Hit me up if you need any painting tips or anything.

good luck,
-~D~-

[DuroMentis]

Hello,Finally got the parts for the actual computer itself,not the modding supply (bummer).Any ways,I have a chaintech Nforce 4 Ultra,A Geforce XFX (I believe it's a 6500) 256mb,And I'm getting a AMD 3800+ 2.0GHz Dual Core processor,along with a 1 gig stick of ram.I also just received a new watercooler for free,all it needs is a new radiator and reservoir and I'll probley get new tubing to match the case color.The water cooler is a Thermaltake Big Water SE,which in my opinion could be a little bit better,but since it was free I cant really complain.The water cooler looks like it needs a new pump,so if anyone knows where I can find a good 1/4" pump thats not so expensive let me know.The water cooler even has a VGA block and I'm going to buy a RAM block aswell.And some time in the future I plan on getting a new "up-to-date" HDD to replace my 30gb and my 20gb HDDs.The motherboard has 4 3.0GB/s SATA connectors so also if any one can find a good HDD preferably 250gb with SATA that would be awesome.I'm also looking for a Hiper Type-R power supply deal (preferably red with black cable sleeves).

Also something else that I might try and do in the future is build a desk with my uncle who is a wood-worker for a living.Mayble I'll draw a quick sketch on paper (my google sketchup skills suck) and post them on here.I also had a few ideas for the case mod but I'm not entirely sure what material to use for it.I dont have any fancy equipment for metal and I dont know how to do anything with plastic really.I was looking around in google (always helpful) and all I'm getting is "Plastic Injection Molding".I asked a friend about it and it sounds like what I need.Correct me if I'm wrong (and I probably will be),isn't plastic injection molding where you make an outer shell of what your trying to sculpt (I guess is the correct terminology) then fill the inside of the outer shell with the mold?And if this is indeed correct,what materials would I need to do this?


I'll get the pictures in a bit so hang in there!

[DaveW]

I see that clock on the front and I think "hmm, you could swap out the digital for an analog and turn the whole thing into a long, skinny, woodgrain grandfather clock!!"
But that's just my style.

We noticed. ;)


Also something else that I might try and do in the future is build a desk with my uncle who is a wood-worker for a living.Mayble I'll draw a quick sketch on paper (my google sketchup skills suck) and post them on here.I also had a few ideas for the case mod but I'm not entirely sure what material to use for it.I dont have any fancy equipment for metal and I dont know how to do anything with plastic really.I was looking around in google (always helpful) and all I'm getting is "Plastic Injection Molding".I asked a friend about it and it sounds like what I need.Correct me if I'm wrong (and I probably will be),isn't plastic injection molding where you make an outer shell of what your trying to sculpt (I guess is the correct terminology) then fill the inside of the outer shell with the mold?And if this is indeed correct,what materials would I need to do this?

If you contact a member of the board who goes by the name of Tybrenis, he built a vaccum former which might be what you're looking for. I'm sure he offers fair deals to TBCS members. ;)

-Dave

[DuroMentis]

Alright I'll look into it,thanks Dave,I'll also get the pictures up in a bit,but right now I'm kinda busy with work :P.

[DuroMentis]

Or some good quality mesh, either way would look great!

The thing is,behind the black panel is an ugly looking lcd.I do think some lighting behind the black would look great.Maybe a 4 inch cold cathode,who knows?

[DuroMentis]

The new camera is no where to be found,so I have to use the old floppy disk camera,and of course,the floppy drive on the laptop doesn't work.I'll edit this post with the pics of my computer at it's current stage once its fixed :D

(Edit)

Here is the interior mainly focusing on the water cooling:

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/MVC-001Fcopy.jpg

1:Thermaltake pump mounted to some pre-cut holes in the case that were apparently meant for ventilation

2:Thermaltake VGA water block.


I took more pictures,but only one made it to my laptop, the others are apparently corrupt.

[DuroMentis]

(Edit!)

After awhile of browsing for mainstream cases on newegg I came up with alot of ideas.This one is probably my favorite idea and I'd love to see it happen.

alright so you have a 2 sided door,one on the left,one on the right.these doors wont be separated from eachother but will be joined togethor in the center.Try to picture Paul's Doom 3 case mod,specifically the air lock.Now picture the two doors that split in half and move in the opposite direction from eachother,now imagine those airlock doors being the front doors to the case's drive bay.Sorry if its hard to understand,I'm on sleeping pills right now and I'm about to go to sleep.Anyways,with that idea,the front panel must be removed,along with that lcd.So if any one has ideas on where to put it let me know,i might even put it on one of the doors.Ill draw something and scan it!But right now I'm feeling pretty tired.

this is the case with the doors:

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-119-116-05.jpg

I think it would be cool to add a small motor that would open the doors mecanically,but thats thinking alittle to beyond for me.

[DaveW]

I think it would be cool to add a small motor that would open the doors mecanically,but thats thinking alittle to beyond for me.

You never know, check out 'How do i make the Doom 3 Blast Door' for someone who's managed something much harder.

-Dave

[DuroMentis]

Alright,so I'm not sure how much of you visit bit-tech but they have some really neat mods there.one of them gave me a different idea for the front panel.I decided that the double-door idea was alittle to advanced for me,so instead I found this:

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/139/day1uc9.jpg

The top part of this case (where the three fans are) is what I think would make a cool front panel.I'm (obviously) going to change it around a bit,for instance,the middle fan will be replaced with the lcd and the cover for it.there will be 2 80mm fans on the panel.I think I can use some metal from my old case and cut it up.After the metal is cut up I'll place some thin aluminum over it (compliments of my Uncle) for appeal,I'm doing this because the metal from my case is strong,but its not perfectly flat.I'll get pics of it in a sec.I'm also going to buy some mesh and edit the front panl a bit so the fans on the door are actually useful.I'll try and photoshop the basic idea,since I still dont do sketchup so well :-P.I'll get those pics in a sec!

[DuroMentis]

Here's the pics of the old case stripped apart.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/MVC-001F-1.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/MVC-003F.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/MVC-002F.jpg

I'm mainly only looking at the top and bottom of the case for metal.I'm going to stay at my uncle's house in a few weeks so I should start this very soon!!!

[Maz]

Careful, its addictive. one piece of advice, clean your edges; and don't give up. The case you posted looks terrific, but you can still see the tooling marks on the edges of the aluminum.

[DuroMentis]

After some thought (and alot of sketching) I've actually decided to change the case color scheme from red to blue.I'm doing this because its very hard to find hardware to match the case color (I'm very picky) and I just don't have the time really to mod the color be it LEDs or Paint.

[DuroMentis]

Alright,I was just informed that I will be sleeping over at my uncle's house this Saturday night.So expect the desk and the case to be in production soon :-D.I already have the ideas for the desk,and I'm quite satisfied with them.I'll post pictures of them if anyones interested.But like I said,this'll start next saturday!I'm pretty excited!

[DuroMentis]

Alright I'm at my uncle's house,He has the aluminum but I'm waiting to see if he has any left over,the aluminum is made to be shaped in to gutters for houses,but it comes in sheets on what looks like a thread wheel for sewing.The aluminum is pretty thin,but since he works with wood I may use wood to support it.And another problem is that I'll have to use shears since he doesn't have any thing else,which is going to be hard but I'm also going to do everything in squares in seperate peices.I plan to build a housing for the dual 120mm radiator I'm getting for my water cooler,I'll do a sketch of it and scan it,they don't have photoshop on this computer -.- but oh well.More updates later,for now I have to go to work with my uncle.See ya later!

[DuroMentis]

Ok,this project has officially started!My uncle found some scrap alluminum in the back yard so I decided to build a housing on the top of the case for the dual 120mm radiator for the water cooler.It cam out very nice,though I still need to paint it.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/Picture003.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/Picture002.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/HayaiHakku/Picture001.jpg

You might have noticed the inside,it's made from wood,the alluminum is to thin to hold it's self in place the way it needs to be.I'm going to buy some Mesh panels to add to the top and sides.The idea was to have holes cut on the sides (which you also might have noticed) for the hot air to be blown out.More pics soon!

[Maz]

im not quite sure what im looking at. maybe when its on the caseill see. i never was very good at WCing but from what it sounds like, you have done well so far. keep it up!

[Spawn-Inc]

I plan on getting a new "up-to-date" HDD to replace my 30gb and my 20gb HDDs.The motherboard has 4 3.0GB/s SATA connectors so also if any one can find a good HDD preferably 250gb with SATA that would be awesome.


i got a Seagate barracuda 7200.10 250gb sata II hdd for 101.06 (cdn) off ebay from this guy "epaypalbay" he has the best deals for hardrives i have found.

[DuroMentis]

Hey everyone! It's been awhile. I hate making excuses, but I have been inactive for so long because long story short my sister got most of those parts I listed. Don't ask. Anyways, I just found out that her computer has successfully been built by my Uncle, and my Uncle happens to have some extra parts I can have. Including that case that was shown on page 1. I do plan to mod it still, however I don't have the case just yet. I need to meet up with my Uncle to obtain them. I have a pretty big to-buy list for the computer. Theres a lot of parts too, so I am forced to shop cheap. My Uncle is giving me a socket 939 AMD board, not the greatest, but I'll take it. I also still have the water cooler, since my sister has no need for it, however, there is no radiator or reservoir still. Hopefully I can manage to buy all this, Pretty poor at the moment ^_^ . So if you read my previous posts you might have found that I said the color scheme will be blue...not anymore. See, when I wrote this I didn't ever think of building over the hardware. I saw a few mods that have done just that, such as NLM (sorry if that wasn't the correct name, great mod by the way!). I also saw a mod on here where someone cut out acrylic pieces and mounted them to the video card, looked pretty slick. I may do some sketches and play around with ideas. One Idea I had was to mount a dual 120mm radiator to the bottom of the case, and cut holes in the bottom of the case and make sort of a stand (Such as the Doom 3 Case mod's platform) to direct the hot air out of the computer. Also, I was thinking about building a reservoir, but I have no idea how I would manage that, since I have no experience with acrylic. What I was thinking of doing is replacing the front vent with an acrylic reservoir that would occupy that whole space. I might make a sketchup of everything, or something along that line. Any suggestions are always fun! Let me know if you've got a good idea for the case!