Project; Mark1

[Mark_Hardware]

Sponsored in part by;

NZXT

Well, I didn't know everyone would be mooding a Lexa case at the same time, but oh well.... I started my idea a long time ago.
This is my first mod, and consequently my first worklog. I will try to keep my story congruent and cohesive, as I don't always work in the most organized fashion. I tend to work on several things at once.
The case I'm using is the NZXT Lexa Blackline, with the red lights. It's a very nice looking case even by it's self. Here's some of the hardware I will be using;
eVGA 790i ftw digital motherboard,
Intel QX9770,
OCZ 4GB DDR3 1800 PC3 14400 RAM,
Tagan BZ 1100w psu,
eVGA GTX285 ftw graphics card,
Koolance Exos 2.5 watercooling system, with a Swiftech Apogee GTZ cpu block,
Hauppage winTV HVR-2250 TV card,
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB 10K rpm HDD,
(5) WD 2TB HDDs,
(2) LG GGW-H20L bluray drives,
Antec Multi-Station Premier,
Fan controller, and sound card have not been decided yet.

Ok, a few generic before shots;

By hardware_mark1 at 2009-06-15

By hardware_mark1 at 2009-06-15

By hardware_mark1 at 2009-06-15


Sorry, I forgot to take the before shots.

[Mark_Hardware]

OK so I have to apologize, the first few steps are not that well documented. You see, this mod came about in steps.

When I got the case, I didn't even have any plans to mod it! Then I started getting ideas. First was a way to hide

wires, with some simple sheet metal next to the mobo. Also, I was going to build a rack out of 1/2" square tubing

for the Koolance to sit on. Then I ran into a bit of a problem. You see, the Imon is a dual bay device, plus two disc

drives, plus a fan controller... Well that is more than the supplied 5 drive bays. So, the idea changed a little, to add a

drive bay into the rack. But then I needed a way to cover it. And after days and days of trying to figure something

out, I came accross a material that I knew would work.

By hardware_mark1, shot with

KODAK Z1285 ZOOM

DIGITAL CAMERA at 2009-06-18
About this time, The design changed a little bit. Grew, you could say. I decided to use these panels to encase a

metal frame, and on top of that would be a smaller case that will house the imon and perhaps a few other things. I

refer to this as the minicase.
OK, a few hardware shots, goodies that the ups man brought

By hardware_mark1, shot with

KODAK Z1285 ZOOM

DIGITAL CAMERA at 2009-06-15

By Hardware_Mark1 at 2009-06-15

By hardware_mark1, shot with

KODAK Z1285 ZOOM

DIGITAL CAMERA at 2009-06-15
And the first chops,

I also cut off the metal that was rolled over along the edge of the drive bays.

By hardware_mark1, shot with

KODAK Z1285 ZOOM

DIGITAL CAMERA at 2009-06-15
First warranty voided.
That'll be all for today, have to go to work. I apologize if things are a bit unclear, I promise it gets better!!!

[The boy 4rm oz]

YAY, another LEXA mod. I am going to do another LEXA mod (hopefully) and will be using a red Blackline but I will be replacing the black brushed plastic front with the silver ones from my LEXA classic spare fascia, I am not a huge fan of the black front.

You have some nice gear there mate, I hope you get it all to work/fit lol. The LEXA looks like a big case due to the extra height its feet give it but it is quite small, especially if you use 1/2" tubing like I did haha.

I wish you luck my friend and if you have nay questions about the LEXA don't be afraid to ask .

[DonT-FeaR]

yay nother lexa

[Mark_Hardware]

Originally Posted by DonT-FeaR

yay nother lexa

lol yeah like I said, I didn't know there would be so many Lexa's at once.

[Mark_Hardware]

Hey I did get a little bit of a before shot.

OK, first, the blue lights have to go.

Thats better.

Originally, the idea was to use sheet metal, flush with the motherboard, to hide the wires. Well it became evident

fairly quickly that that wasn't going to work. So I decided to make it stand out more, as well as overhang the mobo

to hide the power connector and sata connectors. Also, I decided to make it go over the graphics card, instead of

underneath it. This will hide the power wires to the card. I call this the "wire channel." Sounds confusing, you'll see

what I mean.
Other ideas I had from the beginning was to use sheet metal to make a psu cover, and drive bay cover.
Instead of sheet metal I am going to use these panels.

This is why I cut the metal off the side of the drive bays.
This is was the first attempt;

I don't like it. I recut it, using straighter lines. Also, I wanted to be able to see the lights on the front of the psu,

without seeing the wires. I came up with the idea of of putting holes in that area, effectively creating a grate, sorta.

Then I took a micro file and filed all the holes square, as you see I started there.

Here is the final result of that.

I also started cutting a piece for the bottom.

[DonT-FeaR]

thats cool mate great work

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looking good, that cover looks pretty cool.

One thing I remembered that might be helpful with cable management is the mobo tray. There is very little room behind the motherboard tray for cables so try to hide some under the motherboard itself or cut channels in the motherboard tray to make things easier.

[Mark_Hardware]

Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Looking good, that cover looks pretty cool.

One thing I remembered that might be helpful with cable management is the mobo tray. There is very little room behind the motherboard tray for cables so try to hide some under the motherboard itself or cut channels in the motherboard tray to make things easier.

Yeah one of my goals for this is to not see any wires or cables at all. That may be about the hardest part!

[DonT-FeaR]

haha yeah,,,
can be done tho