Post your modded case!

Hi, your setup is sweet! I'm interested in watercooling, what are you using in your case? I've got a Prescott going idel 55C load 72C+ . I have good airflow, clean cables, a nice heatsink and artic silver 5 paste. Case temps are low, so i figure I need some water cooling. Is it expensive?

 

Hi And thank you,
yes water can be expencive but it depends on how far you want to go, there are cheeper solutions but i went with a product that has proven results so i knew it would do what i wanted from the start. the link to the place i went for my water system is here http://www.dangerdenstore.com/
the water block for cpu was 52.95 it is copper TDX for Intel / the vido card block is Maze 4 GPU for Nvidia 44.95 / the Chipset block is maze 4 Chipset block for Intel 42.95- the water Pump is Eheim 1250 Cost 59.00/ the Radiator is black ice proII 63.99 / and last but not least is dual floppy bay reservoir 24.99 / oh and the hose to connect it 1/2 vinal hose you may be able to get at hard ware store but it is also avalible at site 1.25 a foot / dont forget the tubing clamps .75 each they are worth it to keep connections from leaking.
hope this helps you for more info on deciding look in cooling and modding cases in this forum!

 

Heres my box
gonna add a new heat sink fan dunno which yet
also might replace those colourd case fans with some liquid blue ones, and also maby a cath light. Oh and im gonna see if one of those coloured case fans will fit on my stock HFS how mad will that be lol.

Any comments

 

Wouldn't recommend that, I'd just buy a heatsink/fan with coloured leds built in, but you'll find they aren't as effective as the Arctic or Zalman coolers.

 

alright, I finally snapped some pics of my shuttle. I don't want to try to post them on the forum, so check them out on my BLOG

The blog itself is still in the works. As you'll see I have some padding issues on my banner. I'm new to HTML, so bear with me.

OH! and let me know what you think!

 

Can't seem to edit my post there... I am logged in, but w/e.

Just wanted to mention the mods.
1) painted case and made custom white inserts for face plate (was silver)
2) cut out a window in the top (there used to be a blue cathode, but I removed it)
3) cut out the stamped finger guard in the back of the case (improved air flow)
4) got real creative and stealthed my dvd burner
5) blue sleeving on PSU cables (needs to be redone after a year of wear and tear)
6) replaced stock ICE cooler fan with quiet fan
7) shortened drive cage for better air flow

That's all I can think of. Pics do not detail any of the internal mods... sorry.

 

No keyboard??!!!

 

no, it's there. It's one of those projection keyboards. I have it built into my shuttle is all. It doesn't photograph well

 

Think a side window and some cathodes would look good on that, I've never seen a lighted up cube box before.

 

wow. You haven't looked then. People have even squeezed full water cooling systems in these things. Unfortunatley shuttles and other small form factor PCs look terrible with side windows--IMHO. It's too cramped in that shell. Sometimes a mesh side panel looks good, but it ruins your air flow. Here, take a look at some other sff PCs

 

.....I think you should do it anyway

 

i dont get the point of those small pcs... granted, some of them do look cool, but u can have a regular pc that looks cool too.. so why bother with that little space and all the heatproblems?? its not like a regular pc takes up so much more room than a shuttle....

 

Actually, when you're living in a dorm where you're basically in a small form factor room, any bit of extra space is nice. Yes, they look cool, and they provide me with all the expansion I need/want. They wind up costing roughly the same as a comparable computer. So for me, it was a logical move. It's also great for portability. I've moved just on campus 2 times in the last month. I'll have to move at least one more time before school starts again. All my stuff barely fits in the car as it is. There's also a uniqueness factor for me. I know more people are starting to buy cubes, but outside of LANs, I've yet to meet anyone else who has one. Finally, when I'm done with this thing as a main PC, I'll be using it as an HTPC and PVR. So the small, quiet, and aesthetically pleasing look of the case will lend it much more to those purposes.

As far as the window goes: I've contemplated it a number of times. When it comes down to it, I've done the cathodes in cases. Red, blue, uv... it was fun for a while, but to be frank, I'm over it. Lighted cases are so overdone now that I think it actually makes your case stand out less in a croud. Unless you do a really unique lighting effect-- which probably would be achieved by using leds where you can be much more precise with placement of light. Not with those gaudy tired cathodes that everyone mounts by the dozen in their case. Cathodes = lame and unimaginitive NOT a computer mod.

 

ok, i guess u have a point there with the moving around... i agree with you on all the lights people put in their pcs, again, granted, it can look cool, but i would probably get bored with it pretty soon. besides my pc has barely any lights, and its already annoying me when i go to sleep and my room is glowig blue... just really annoys me so i usually have to put my deskchair in ront of it to block the view from me bed

 

lol. I hear that. I have a blue power led that stays on and is brighter than it needs/should be. I've had to cover it from time to time just to fall asleep! I agree that lights can be cool. I've seen a couple cases that make me think WOW! But most of these 15-18 year old kids getting into the scene think they've done something cool when they stick a cathode in their case. I'll admit, I was there at one point. Though I never went quite as far as these guys with 3 or 4 cathodes, led fans, uv cables, and a halogen high beam strapped to my case. Oh well. And if they like that, cool. I suppose I shouldn't knock it. But when they try and say their case is modded after putting a cathode in there, it drives me nuts. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this post:

"Hey guys! Check out the mods I just finished! First I painted the case. I couldn't get rid of the orange peal, but it still looks nice. I also added 942 blue cathodes and 3 blue led fans. I'll get around to doing some cable management someday. lol. The window was already there, but I put on the bio-hazard window etch sticker. It looks pimp! Lemme know what you think! W007!"

sound familiar?

 

somehow it does! i see what u mean and agree

anyways, here are some real nice case mods, the video is in german.. but u dont really need to understand it.

http://www.dcmm.de/files/dcmm_rlt2.wmv

 

http://www.xoxide.com/xulalcucu.html

now thats a cube that you could do something with

i am going to get that case next time i build

 

Hey guys just wanted to show you my son,s gaming case that I airbrushed!
I also have pictures and suggestions on wiring under cooling and modding / wiring suggestions for your computer. See what you think.

 

Dude that's a wicked design, got any mods inside the case?

 

Go to cooling and modding section and look for the topic "wiring suggestions for your computer" I think you will find what I have done interesting to get wires totally out of the way and leaving your case nice and clean with LOTS of air flow. It's definitely not a super mod, I would say a more conservative mod. Thank you for the compliment..I will tell my son as well!

 

well done! That's a sick airbrush job. How many hours put into that? I think it's time for me to pick up an airbrush and give it a go. I'm an artist. I should see what I can do with this medium. What are starting costs typically like for airbrushing?

 

It took about 8 hours. I would charge about $175 for the side panel.

 

id like to post my pics but will not upload foreign files what ever that means

 

Sorry. I wasn't clear. I meant start-up costs for airbrushing--As in how much does a decent airbrush set up cost. I don't even know all the parts necessary. I suppose a compressor and a brush... I'm assuming there's more.

 

That is very nice, but I have to ask why you didn't continue the flames onto the front bezel. I tried my hand at air brushing, but I never could quite get the hang of it. I'm much better at computer graphics.

 

Ya know I told my son the same thing, I thought that would have looked awesome to but the front door is kinda a brushed black aluminum (Thermaltake Tsunami) and the rest is super shiney. I was afraid if I did the front door that after I clear coated it it might not look so good, so I kept it simple.

 

HMMMmmm, There are different routes you can take. Through the years I have acquired over 20 airbrushes and believe it or not some are alot better than others. I have a basic T-shirt airbrush that I use that paasche makes called the VL-3 they still make it and it is a very durable gun and about $35 for just the gun. Iwata has the Eclipse that sells for twice that but is alot nicer, parts are more expensive. You can pick up a compressor from Home Depot ( no less than a 3/4 HP0 for around $125 then you need bottles and paint. I would say when it is all said and done you would have around $400 invested.

 

THATS AWSOME fx man,before I say this that is the best painted pc case I have ever seen,but I have to say it,I dont know the complexities involved in airbrushing,but as a little idea,I thought maybe you could put some kind of tsunami ot thermaltake logo in the background in shiny metal,with a reflection of the flames in the logo,I have no idea how you could do it,or how hard it would be.

As I'v been modding my case,I made cardboard templates of the A64 logo,which I was gonna machine from aluminium,but after testing the airflow with the cardboard cutouts inplace they were too restrictive,I guess I'm just a fan of big logos,they are like statements of power,maybe an idea for a future case,but anyways great work!

Hopefully my case will be finished in the next week or 2,It wont be as pretty as yours I'v cut most of the metal away to install fans.lol

EDIT How many different colours of paint do you need for that fire and how many times do you have to clean out the pots,or do you have lots of pots with all the colours you need?

 

Rikky, Thanks for the compliment!! you know, my son had plenty of ideas to go with the fire but I had decided to keep it simple. I use what is called a gravity feed airbrush, the cup is attached to the top of the airbrush allowing the paint to flow better because the airbrush isnt having to do any work, gravity is. So I add my first color, paint, go to the second and so on. There are about 10 different colors in tis paint job and one you cant see is purple. If you saw it in person it adds alot more depth. Once again, thanks for the compliment!

 

Ok that makes perfect sense then. Like I said I'm no painter as I do mostly computer art, such as nascar skins & the like.


http://www.suesman.com/desktopgfx/mozilla_ford_wall.jpg

 

That is awesome!! you painted that?

 

Yes sir. It's actually not all that hard really. There are layered templates to work with, that make the whole process much much easier. A friend sent me the Mozilla start up image & asked if I could paint him a truck based off it & that's what I came up with. I painted it in PS6, then rendered the image in 3D Max.

There are alot more things I've done on my site you can check out iffin ya like.
www.suesman.com

 

Thats AWESOME! I work in Maya. I have wanted to learn 3Ds Studio Max but never got the software! GREAT JOB!

 

Now iffin I could just figure a way to make a living at it & I'd be set.

 

That's just a cheap imitation of my case

 

How am I the loser, you're buying the cheap rip off case??!!!!

 

now wait a min what happen to your project computer?

 

Thought id drop my modded case in here if anyones interested
MadLights were bought from america via their website madlights.com. these beauts are 4 heads on long ribon cables, each has 3 leds (red, green, blue) they are ultra bright and perform a multiple effects routine or switched seperately to make a colourful display. in my pic i had them set on static red for clarity. there housed as 1 on each back fan, 1 up above top cd rom facing GPU and one facing down from top of case. theres also a uv led strip in there which beats to the music it picks up from a remote light up sensor The cpu fan and side fans only exist because i needed a new heatsink and they came with the upgrade kit lolthere was a green tube with them but that burned out long ago thats why theres a dirty great hole at bottom front of my case where i housed the switch. The case came only with the blue tubes at the front which are lit up by leds and a fake static bubble effect lol.the little silver switch is to turn on one side fan and one front (hidden) fan. Also from america (thanks you guys, cos UK *expletive* for case mods) is the crystal fonts 16x2 dot matrix display which is totally programmable to do a lot of things i dont know how to do lol or you can use their software to display stats like time/date/ cpu runtime etc.. cd and dvd roms i got from a uk online computer store, and the fan controller was the best i saw available from uk, the other digital fan controllers look like they were WW2 surplus thermometers lol anyway thats my case..

 

Well its not modded, it was pre-modded for me since I dont know how to do it myself

 

I am shocked. You lied?! I guess credibility is not a virtue that everyone cares about.

 

Finally finished my case after 2 months or so,here are the mods,cut side window in fitted pvc,fitted 5 silverstone 110cfm fans,two at the bottom which were straight forward only I had to sacrifice my front usb and firewire ports,they are controlled by the two rhiostats in the floppy bay,a blowhole at the back,removed the build in grill with jigsaw and fitted a proper crome one,a blowhole at the top and my crem de la crem the front intake fan which used to house an 80mm on the inside of the case,an 120mm is now on the outside but on the inside of the bezel.I had to cut through the aluminium bezel,through the plastic and through the mild stee harddrive cage,which became pretty weak so drilled some holes and re-rivited it,all the fans are fitted with high tech anti vibration rubber hose I found at the bottom of my toolbox.

All the fans are controlled by a coolermaster aerogate 1,fronty intake,rear blowhole,top blowhole and cpu fan,which at the moment hasnt got enough resistance to slow the the 80mm akasa fan down enough,I would have posted earlier but I'v tryin to fit another rhiostat in series to slow it down but the it had crapped out so I'v give in I'll figure something out tommorrow

Because of the blowholes I'v welded up some stainless steel legs that still need a bit of finishing.

On the cpu is an thermalright xp-90c on the vid card an arctic cooling nv5 fitted with as5,it clear the mosfet cooler on the card so I'v made a small opening on the fan housing.The light is a 5watt "neo" blue neon.


All I need now is a nice silver crt to go with it unless I smash it before tommorrow because of this dam noisy fan!lol

 

and these

 

last one

 

cpu temp at 37 idle atm,vid card at 48 12 degrees lower,but this room is at about 25"Its roastin" case ambient 28 degrees.

 

My cpu will never touch 40c

 

two of the hottest days of the year,yesterday and today,the room temperature in here must be close to 25 degrees"I'm sweating right now",my case temp is 28,9 degrees above abiant temp is as good as any water cooling system,although the cpu is still cooking under load 47 degrees,what are you using for cooling?and have you tried running toast from the download section and checking your temp in speedfan?

 

Yeah, You get good t* for nice modded case as water cooling System, at amoment on my sig for 939 : using Everest Testing
enviroment t* is 30*
my CPU IDLE at 38*
Full load at 45*
GPU is 40*
HDD is 41*
Mobo is 46*

 

Dunno what it's at today, my motherboard is being fixed at the mo, I use a Zalman cooler that keeps it below 40c plus some good Akasa case fans.

I'm on a 2.4ghz P4 at the mo and the stock heatsink keeps it at around 40c which is fine for now, motherboard runs at 35c and the hard drive is 42c - ouch!

 

CPU's arnt exactly at peak performance when running under a certain temperature, it differs for each one but i know mine is running at peak between 42-46C anything under this can slow them down a fraction and anything above 60C on mine would trigger the mobo alarm and shut the pc down for safety, i read on the AMD site that the AthlonXP is pretty temperature tollerant and will only "burst" at around 90C (as if your ever gonna let it get that far anyway lol) besides im over all that temperature worry now, i just B&Q'd myself a £199 AirCon, mmm the lovely cold air in here has got me down from 30CAmbient (28C SysTemp 51C cpu 36C HD) to 24C Ambient (24C Sys 44C cpu 30C HD) wuhoo!