This project is called Dark Carbon. Mainly because the custom built case is built almost entirely out of Carbon Fiber sheets. I am using a 2X2 Twill pattern so it will have that cool look similar to the carbon fiber that is used in Ferrari's and other expensive sports cars.
Here is a synopsis of the design before I get to the rendered images.
1. Carbon Fiber is very Rigid and Durable. It is lightweight, and overall just looks cool. It is very expensive and sometimes difficult to work with. I laid out the parts in Autocad so this should go together without much trouble.
There will also be Carbon fiber tubes for case feet.
2. For the shape of the case, at first I though about building a typical tower case, but then I thought that it would be too similar to other cases. I wanted to think outside the box. So I chose to go flat. And instead of a rectangulare case, I chose an Octagon. this way I will have 8 sides plus a top to show off the goodies (more on that later). It will have a clear or smoked plexiglass window in the top as well.
3. Lighting. Anyone that knows me, knows I love the color blue. But this time, as I was thinking outside the box, I figured why not try Red? So this case will have red backlighting behind Black plexi that will hopefully glow like in the pictures.
4. Equipment. -This case is going to have (2) raptor windows with the hard drive disks exposed. a DVD drive, Red LCD panel. A "Hidden" power supply. Water cooled of course, a removable hot swappable hard drive, and some temperature monitors. -Oh and possible some motorization. I don't think I can bring my self to not put some type of moving part in it.
5. Cooling: The CPU and possible the Video card, and NB will be water cooled from one 120mm radiator. There are (2) 120 mm fans in 2 oposing sides. and an exhaust fan on the top of the case. The power supply fan will draw cool air from underneith the case. Lastly a single 80mm fan will exhaust hot air out the back. The bottom chamber of the case will be vented as well through modders mesh.
This case should prove to be a challenge for me. I've never worked with carbon fiber before. Nor have I ever built a scratch built case. It will take some time to complete. I want to build this case to exacting standards and amazing attention to detail. All wires will be sleeved, shortened if needed, and hidden! All edges sanded and polished. Etc.
Here are some rendered screen shots for you. The final case may evolve slightly from these images. But for the most part, you can see what it will look like.
Enjoy!
So what does everyone think? I would really appreciate anyones input or quesitons.
this should be a fun build, I hope you like it as much as I do!
Dan