Neptune's Trident

[Boddaker]

Well, here we go again with another project! With BSG finally complete, the family settled in at the new house,
and my work area in place, I can mod once again.

This project will be a more traditional mod, in the sense that it won't be scratch built, or have fabricated engine
pods or other appendages attached to it. It will be simple, clean, and functional.

I originally came up with the idea to do a case mod that revolved around the number 3. As far as components go,
it will have 3 video cards, DDR3 memory, 3Ghz processor, 300Gb hard drive, and three water cooling loops.
One of the main features of the case will be three Primochill Typhoon III dual-bay reservoirs with attached pumps
mounted in the drive bays. It was from these pump/res's that the watery theme was realized. The name lends
itself well to the underlying water elements while staying consistent with the number "3".

The case I'm starting with is a Lian Li V2000. It will have a trident-shaped window on the side that will wrap
around the corner towards the reservoirs, and three pass-through holes at the bottom where the three 120mm
rads will be located. Here is a preview animation of the case:

With most of the planning done and parts ordered, I should be able to finish this mod fairly quickly.
Special thanks go to Moddersmart.com for working with me to get everything I need for this project!

[Boddaker]

Ok, so here's the case. First time I've worked on a Lian Li, and I must say it is a pretty stout case! Well built and nice thick aluminum panels.

...And gutted. That didn't take long! lol

And I'm off and running.

[Boddaker]

Looks like an awesome design, but one question, and I know you have an answer. Where are the HDD('s) going to go? Just sorta wondering because I dont see anywhere they can really go other than next to the mobo, unless you are using external drives.

I haven't really settled on a location for the hard drives yet, but you are right, they will most likely go next to the mobo tray. I'm working on a trident-shaped mounting bracket that will attach either to the tray, or the floor.

[Boddaker]

The sketch up looks awesome. After seeing the BSG mod I can't wait to see this one.

BTW, what are you going to do for a cd-rom, won't all the bays be taken up by resevoirs?

The case has seven external drive bays, and I am using all of them (the reservoirs normally take up 2 each, but I'm spacing them out a bit). I did however leave a 1/2" at the bottom for my slimline slot loading dvd drive.

[Boddaker]

After gutting the case, I started in on the side panel window design and pass-through holes. If you remember the case came with a windowed
side panel that also had a fan hole in the upper right corner. Luckily, Moddersmart had a solid panel for the case lying around so I got that too.

I penciled out the lines for the cutouts. I didn't bother to protect the surface with tape, since I will be sanding and painting later.

Drilled some pilot holes for the jigsaw and started cutting.

Cuts complete, but I made a tiny boo-boo. See it?

How bout a closer look. I mistakingly drilled the pilot hole in the wrong spot. Doh!! :x

Here is the panel on the case.

To fix the whoops, I cut a round disc and plugged the hole, and will bondo over it later.

On to the other side panel!

[Boddaker]

Some progress today!

To cut the other side panel, I used the first one as a guide. After cleaning up the cuts with a file, I layed the two panels
together and drew out the three holes.

Holes cut (I got the pilot holes right this time! )

Then I removed the front post.

Instead of just working with the existing floor, I opted to make a whole new one out of the old windowed side panel.
This provides me with a clean slate so I can make my access holes wherever I need them. Using the old one as a template,
I marked out the side panel. Had just enough material in the middle.

Cut, complete with mounting tabs and notches on the ends for the side panels.

Test fit. Gotta make a few adjustments...

Now it fits! I won't rivet it in just yet. Gotta first make all the holes I need for cabling, tubing, etc..., and paint.

Next up will be the back panel, psu mount, and bottom radiator mounting brackets.

[Boddaker]

Work continues on the PSU area.

In order to fit the power supply where I wanted, I have to stand it on end. Which meant that I had to remove part of the case for airflow and to reach the power switch.

I turned the case over and removed the back wheelset. I forgot to take a shot before cutting, so here's what it looked like lol.

And here's after the cut. I later had to remove a bit more from the bottom of the case to clear the power switch. You will notice in the next couple of pics I repositioned the wheelset forward a bit.

Here is the original back plate. I'm cutting off the PSU mounting portion and relocating it.

Relocated! Now I can place the PSU in for a test fit.

I'm using Corsair's 1KW power supply, which can accommodate the three EVGA GTX 260 cards in SLI. It has six 6-8pin cables right out of the box. No need for molex adapters!

It is quite long, but it fits!

Since I mutilated the original backplate, I needed to make a new one. So I grabbed some left-over aluminum panel and cut one to size.

Then I curved the bottom portion so it would match the corner curvature of the case. Looking around the garage, I found a ladder wall hook to have a suitable tube diameter to bend around.

And back on the case.

Last thing to do was to cut the fan hole. The Corsair psu has a 140mm fan, so I found the center, used a compass to draw a 5 1/2" circle, and cut it out.

I'm working on getting some grills made, so that will cover up the hole and finish it off.

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys. It was really the only viable solution. I'm glad it worked out!

Got a bit more work done last night. Made the pieces that will go in between the Typhoons and around
the corner to complete the trident shape.

I used more of the left-over side panel and cut two 9/16" strips.

Then I bent them 90°. Here's a shot of them in place to give you an idea. They will just be mounted to the
wrap-around window with double-sided tape, as I dont want any visible fasteners.

[Boddaker]

Smallish update just to let you know I'm still working on it :thumb:

Laying out the rads and fans placement, I whipped up some quick mounts from angle bar.

Then I laid them out to see where they will eventually go.

I'm working up some custom acrylic one-piece mounts that will look much better than these ones.

I also did some cosmetic work to the front of the case. It seems that Lian Li forgot to drill some holes in this one area,
and they just stuck a square name badge over it to cover up their mistake! :lol:
Well, not to worry, I'll take care of it...
I used the corner piece I cut out as a guide to drill out the missing holes.

All done, save for some sanding and filing.

I will have a custom name badge mounted over this area, so it has to look uniform, which is why I drilled out the old LL badge.

I should be able to get some more work done over the weekend, so til then!

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys.
Got more accomplished this weekend. Worked on the side panels a bit more, and got the hard drive mounts done.

After contemplating how I was going to mount three hard drives in the case, I decided to go
about it a bit differently than the standard drive cage. I came up with a way to stack them up,
but on their sides, so there will basically be a wall of drives next to the motherboard. I used
some 1/2" square acrylic rod, cutting two pieces equal length. I only had two old drives, so I
used a Coca-Cola tin as my third, just to get an idea of overall height. three drives stacked
comes out to 12", and I have 13" total height from the floor to the top of the case. So I spaced
them out so I had 3/8" on top and bottom, and 1/8" in between.

I marked the rods and cut out three 4" sections for the drives. One done, one to go.

Here's how the drives will sit on the rods.

I will be utilizing the drive's bottom mounting holes, instead of the usual side holes.

After some filing and general clean-up, I brought the 1TB Samsungs out for a test fit.

Here is how they will be positioned in the case.

To secure them in the case, I will drill and tap some holes in the bottom ends, and in the back
side for the top. Once I get to the lighting portion of the build, I will probably add some led's
as well and light them up.