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Thread: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

  1. #41
    Overclocked craigbru's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 20, 2008

    Now that the DVD drives have a cover, I need to make a mount for the Meanwell PSU. The Meanwell unit will sit right above the DVD drives in the front of the case.

    As with everything else, I've marked out where I need to cut, and make my bends.



    A little dremel work, and it's all cut out.



    Time for the brake!











    Looking good!


  2. #42
    Overclocked craigbru's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 20, 2008

    I've been playing around a little tonight... I haven't ordered the fan grills yet, so I've been trying to finalize my thoughts, and get exactly the look I wanted. While I was fairly happy with my original design, I've been feeling like it might be missing a little 'something'. That being said, here is one of my revised designs. What do you all think?


  3. #43
    Overclocked craigbru's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 20, 2008

    Quote Originally Posted by E.E.L. Ambiense View Post
    I like the design. As an alternative take on it, I just whipped up a really quick slight different setup based on yours.

    Wow, I really like that! I'm kind of glad I haven't ordered anything yet... It definitely adds a whole lot more character and uniqueness to the panel. Man, I can't wait to get home and give that a shot in Front Panel Designer.

  4. #44
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 25, 2008

    Update time!

    Well, I survived the Easter holiday with the family. Of course that meant no time for modding over the weekend. I was finally able to get back on it last night. It seems that there are a hundred different things that need to be done, and half of them require something else to be finished first. Hopefully you will see some big progress over the next two weeks, and get some idea of where I'm actually headed with this. This case is like a giant puzzle. Every piece has it's place, and there is indeed a method to my madness. Spare room is measured in millimeters. Even so, I've tried to keep compromises to a minimum. You've seen me work on quite a few things up to this point, and most of those things are still a step or two away from being finished. I assure you, that will be changing shortly! I'm my harshest critic, and tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. My work is by no means perfect, but I want it to be. Sometimes I can fabricate a piece that is just slightly off. Sometimes by less than a mm. I constantly weigh the pros an cons of making a new piece. Sometimes I move on simply because the difference is invisible to the naked eye, but I never forget it's there... It drives me crazy sometimes... So, is there a point to this rambling? Of course! For all of you following this log, your patience will be rewarded. I can see the end in sight! So, let's get on with it!

    Here is an example of what I mentioned above. Even though I've got other things not quite finished, those things are waiting on the following piece. I've got to mount the hard drives somewhere, don't I? Well, in order to get some idea of placement, I had to drop a few components in to the case. Here you will get a pretty good idea of how tight things are going to be. This is where my planning, and a little good luck have payed off!











    So, here is the piece I've marked out. This will hold all the hard drives, as well as be a mounting point for the Via Epia system.



    After the cut...



    Holes? Yes, lots of holes... This was something I needed to do in order to bend the aluminum cleanly. This piece is 2 mm aluminum, and really hates being bent in the brake. Especially wide pieces. I suppose I may have been able to get it bent correctly, but this was a much easier way to ensure that it happened. By drilling a hole every millimeter, I was able to make the aluminum much more receptive to bending in the brake. It really didn't have a significant impact on the materials strength, so the trade-off was worth it.



    Finally, here is the piece with the final bends done.



    It isn't completed yet though, and finishing this piece is where I'll pick up tonight.

    As a side note, I have something pretty cool arriving today. Expect more pics tonight!

  5. #45
    Overclocked craigbru's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 25, 2008

    Well, I came home to a long awaited package on my doorstep. Might as well get right in to it!















    Wow, the panels look great. Kudos to Front Panel Express. I'm more anxious than ever to get this thing put together and get it lit up. A little red CCFL lighting is really going to make these things stand out!

    I've also ordered the fan grills... expect to see those in about 10 days. Woohoo!

  6. #46
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 26, 2008

    From here on out, it's my goal to have an update almost every day. I'm under a deadline I'm probably not going to meet, but I need to have a running rig in less than two weeks just the same! The pressure!

    Work continued last night on the hard drive tray assembly. Here you can see the tray sitting in it's approximate position. I need to get some holes cut in it for ventilation and hose routing, and that will be finished tonight.





    So, that's all well and good you say... but how am I going to mount the hard drives? Well, I'm actually going to modify the Rogue's original mounts. Here I've got one taped out, and ready to cut.



    After the cuts and filing...



    Here is where the drives will sit in the tray.





    I've started to mark out some holes for ventilation, and that's where I'll pick up tonight...



    More to come!

  7. #47
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 27, 2008

    Bah, I think the forum ate my post last night... either that, or I was too tired to remember to hit the 'Post' button. :duh: Anyway, here is what should have been posted last night...

    I've got a small update here. Family obligations kept me from getting any more done, but I'll settle for any forward progress at all. Work is still continuing on the hard drive tray, and that's where I'm picking up tonight.

    In the last update I had some ventilation holes marked out. Here I've got the holes cut, and filed.



    I'm not done with the holes yet... I've marked out where the water tubing will need to access the CPU block.



    Once again, all cut!



    Now finally, here is the tray sitting in the case. Everything seems to line up well. Now I need to get the tray mounting figured out, as well as finding a home for the Via system.



    Now I'm off to bed... work will continue tomorrow!

  8. #48
    Overclocked craigbru's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    March 27, 2008

    I've been a slacker tonight, I'll admit it. I haven't done any modding. My CPU came in, and so I decided to fire up the system. It's a very crude setup right now, as you'll see. It's not in the case yet, but I wanted to get Windows installed on it, and all my programs in place. I'm still under a deadline here, and anything I can get done before hand, is going to save me trouble in the end. If I know the system is running when I drop it in the case, then that's going to save me a whole lot of time. Also, if there's problems, I have a little time to figure them out.

    So, here are a few pics. I'll apologize in advance for the poor quality.

    4 GB of Mushkin sweetness!



    My high dollar testbed (my counter) :thumb:





    Now, of course it would have been a little hard to run the TEC without the case, and since I didn't have a socket 775 CPU cooler, I had to improvise. Here you'll see an old OEM socket 939 cooler. Being the modder that I am, I attached it with zip ties. :rock: Believe it or not, it's keeping the CPU right around 29 degrees (at idle)...


  9. #49
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    April 1, 2008

    Once again, thanks for all the votes everyone!

    Well, as promised, it's update time! I'm up way later than I should be, so if I write anything that looks like gibberish, I'll edit it tomorrow...

    I've got so many little things to work on, so it's always a challenge to prioritize what I'm going to work on next. However, I've been working on the hard drive tray, and that's where I decided to pick up tonight. Earlier you saw the modified original hard drive mounts. Those mounts will hold 4 drives, but I needed room for one more. I think I do a decent job of using my limited space wisely, but some things just take up a certain amount of space no matter what. A hard drive is a good example of that. There were a lot of places that a fifth hard drive simply wouldn't fit. I did manage to find a spot though.

    Here you see where I've got room to mount a drive. Clearance is less than 1 cm on the top and bottom. That's still plenty of room!



    Well, now that I've got the placement figured out, I need to mount it somehow. Time to pull out the jigsaw and Dremel!



    Two quick bends in the brake...



    Here you can see where the bracket will sit.



    Although I've got to drill holes in the bracket yet, you can see approximately how the drive will be mounted.






  10. #50
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    Default Re: Project: Rogue (A little SFF insanity)

    April 1, 2008

    One thing I need to take care of, is to cut the hard drive tray for length. Here I've got it marked out and ready for cutting.



    I couldn't ask for a better fit.



    Now I need to figure out a way to hold the rear of the tray in place. It's time to make a small bracket!



    I need to cut the bolts for length, but it otherwise fits well.





    One thing I began to realize as I built the hard drive tray, is the fact that 5 hard drives weigh a lot! Although the 2mm aluminum is pretty rigid, I decided to take a precautionary measure. I'm going to add an angled support for added strength.



    With one bend done, here's where we run in to a potential problem. There simply isn't anyway to fit the support in the brake. The part that is already bent, makes that impossible.





    So, what do you do? You improvise! Here I've clamped the support between a square and aluminum bar.



    Then with a steady, even pressure, you simply bend by hand.







    With the piece bent, I wanted to make one more addition. Airflow is key in this case, and the support bracket will sit awfully close the the circu-pipe on the MSI motherboard. So, I decided to add a few holes to the support. These shouldn't affect strength in any way, but still allow a little more flow where it's needed.



    Now finally, you can see the mount and support bolted to the hard drive tray.





    And once again, sitting in the case...



    One last minor thing while I'm at it... Due to the way the PCI slots sit in the case, the power supply mount doesn't allow screws to be used very easily. This was an easy fix though. Just mark and drill!





    Well, I'm off to bed for the night, but work will continue tomorrow. Until then!

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