Project: Rocketfish makeover

[Okele]

Hi all,


I have been racking my brain for months trying to figure out what to do with my spare rocketfish case. After looking at tons of pictures for inspiration I finally figured out what I am going to be doing with it. It will not be as great as some of the ones that showcase here as it will technically be my first full project. I started on the case today, the basic premise is to do a complete polish job on it. I havent decided yet if Im going to try and polish all the black parts on it as it would require a lot of research due to the metal being brushed aluminum and Im just not that advanced. To start with I have toyed around with some different methods for mirroring up the inside of the case today and finally settled on something that works for me, with the little resources I have available to me.

My focus is to try and get this thing completed before I order the parts for my new system. Im undecided yet as to if Im going to do Intel or AMD, I currently have 2 Nvidia 9800GT's in SLi, and I want to go quad core for sure on the CPU. Im having a difficult time finding a mobo that accomodates AMD/SLi, since AMD owns ATi now.

Sadly I won't have any pictures until sunday do to my mother in law borrowing our camera for the funeral we have to goto tomorrow for my wifes grandmother. So please be patient.



I will likely be doing a little bit per day as I am in need of saving for the parts I need to actually finish the build. The great thing is my wife is being pretty supportive in getting this done, I just can't go out and spend a ton at once. /shrug


In keeping with the thought that I don't want to upgrade for awhile(like 3 years) I am going to be buying the best I can afford now as opposed to being 6 months behind like normal. I realize that components are out of date pretty much the day of release. So far the research for the parts I plan to put in this thing are as follows using current Newegg prices:

Intel:

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz - 280
EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 - 240
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)- 99(before rebate)

Total: 650.00

AMD:

AMD Phenom II 940 Deneb - 215.00
ASUS M3N72-D AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI - 129(discount with combo + Cod:WaW)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - 39.99 after rebate

Total: 454.00

As you can see it's a 200.00 difference, but I lose out on some definite performance because of the lack of motherboard options, unless Im just missing something, Im open to suggestions.

As a side note, youll only notice 3 components that Im pricing, that is because I virtually have everything else I need. Only thing Id like to add on to whichever platform I get is cooling, which is a whole other topic at the moment.

Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for updates. Oh and let me save you the trouble!






that should cover it

[jhanlon303]

Here. Borrow one of mine to keep the mods at bay.

john

[Okele]

picture update.

This is the bottom of the case, I chose this for reference to the final pics of the look Im going for, although the camera does not in anyway do what you can see in person any justice.

Front of the case with previous reference.

Side view with mobo tray

After a lot of polishing with different ways this will be close to the final result for the whole inside of the case.

another polish pic

the polish is still foggy, I need to figure out how to remove the fog altogether

[Okele]

Here. Borrow one of mine to keep the mods at bay.

john

hehe thank you for the assist

[jhanlon303]

Glad to help.

As an aside - for a really good article on alum. polishing check out this tutorial of a shuttle:

http://metku.net/index.html?path=mod...ttle/index_eng

john

[Okele]

I have no updates today sadly, the weather around here has been the suck since saturday. I would still however like some input on the hardware Im looking into putting into this thing. My main goal is to be at least 2 to 3 years future proof.

I picked up a couple little trinkets to go on to the case, and have decided to try mounting the DVD drive and a fan controller on the side of the case. Ive done a test mount on the case I have in the house and the clearance will be very slim but I think it could be pulled off. I am also probably going to pick up a piece of aluminum to seal off the front of the case. Haven't decided if Im going to polish that or leave it as a brushed aluminum.