[Complete] SR-1 (Antec 900 Mod) 56K warning! - Page 3 - Overclock.net

soundx98 · 11-30-07

Shortly after starting the project I decided it would be a greater challenge to spend time on cable management than cutting holes.
The main cable from the SkyHawk 620 is just too short.
Plus, since everyone with this case biatches about cable management I had to give it a shot.

Yes, I could have used some type of 24-pin cable extender and cut the holes but you know that generally decreases the case value.
And yup, some type of "channel" could be used to hide the wires.
Panduit has a ton of options http://www.panduit.com/products/browse.asp?classid=1006
but that would have required cutting a hole underneath the PSU and flipping it over so cool air would be drawn in from the bottom.
It's a three year old PSU and I thought it might be better to just play it safe.
When I do upgrade to a quad core whatever, the board layout will probably be different, so conduit seemed premature at this point.

I am under some severe budget restrictions with this mod and living in an apartment with no shop area makes it difficult for sure, but it has been a LOT of fun and added some excitement to the oldfaht's life.

I realized last week that I had lost the rubber grommets for the rear of the case (water-cooling pass thru) and the good folks at Antec were kind enough to send me two more at no charge.
Good support, gonna remember that.

Now I did find this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=004

My thought is to paint the "edge" of the video card and the "edge" of the Hauppage WinTV-HVR-1600 I just bought.

Don't want to be too gay (gaye?, gai?) with it. Just something subtle.
It dries clear and I am hoping that it picks up enough light from the Blue CCFLs to light up.
I should have a ton of this stuff left over, so if you are in need let me know and I'll try and put some in a small container for you. NC except shipping.

Just realized that not only did I order the wrong size AC Ryan CCFLs (12" instead of 8") but I ordered UV instead of Blue.
(Another "senior" moment I am afraid)

Haven't opened them yet but there is a 20% restocking charge (plus shipping) even if I return them sealed.
Probably not worth the hassle.
I could mount them in the top area and I am sure they would help light up the RAM slots and stuff at the top of the board but may not do justice to the card "edge".

I will tell you that the apparent quality of the AC Ryan CCFLs is MUCH SUPERIOR to the Logisys CCFLs.
Logisys - fugly blue transformer, male and female connectors (more wires to hide), yellow and red wires to transformer input, white wires out of transformer to CCFLs, and a "slide" switch for on/off.
AC Ryan - Beautiful flat black transformer that is easier to hide, single Black "pass-through" molex, Black sleeving to transformer, silver wires to CCFLs, and a "rocker" switch.
Plus the CCFLs are easy to remove on the AC Ryan's.
You get what you pay for (just make sure you order the correct sheet)

I am becoming more and more impressed by the Acrylpanel Mirror 2.
With good lighting inside the case it's just way kewl.
Case turned off (I really don't think this will happen much)

And best shot so far of the see-through mirror.
You can see a little reflection from the monitor and the Logitech G15 on the right side of the pic.
And you can see that the Blue light close to the UV spectrum helps light up the Yellow reactive parts of the motherboard.

soundx98 · 11-30-07

Good Lord, I think I am ready to give up on shooting the Acrylpanel Mirror2.
Just so hard to get a decent shot without a reflection.

But I am very, very happy with the window to say the least.

I added 2 x 8" AC Ryan blue (bottom rear window side and next to HDDs on window side).
And then I added 2 x 12" AC Ryan Blue "Overburst" on each side of the top.

An awful lot of light in there and it really lights up the entire inside and allows the window to be almost transparent.
I think the pics show that the light is more even throughout the case.
Actually, at night it seems to be transparent (translucent?) with a ting of blue.
I did try the UV reactive paint on the edges of the vid card and Hauppage TV card.
Not as bright as I had hoped but still a good effect.

soundx98 · 11-30-07

Thinking I need a big chuck of copper and more light in there.
Picked up a Zalman CNPS9700 LED from a forum member.

Swapped the Zalman CNPS 9700LED for the Arctic Cooling 64 Pro HSF.
CPU Temps down but PWMIC temp increased.

Ya know, high PWMIC temp is something that freaks many out on the NF4s especially.
But I think it's just the location of the sensor itself in a dead spot.
An enormous amount of air is flowing though the case and the PWMIC heatsinks and chip feel cold to the touch.

What did you think about the Zalman CNPS 9700?
Does it make my butt look too big?

soundx98 · 11-30-07

Homer Simpson – “ooooo, Nuts and Gum together at last!”

Enter radodrill – Stage Left

After reading radodrill’s thread and worklog
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-wo...ed-14-oct.html for the umpteenth time, I felt that a plexiglass base would be the “schiznit”.
Polished plexi has always been a thing of beauty to me, but I know how difficult it can be to properly finish without the correct tools or work space.

The base I had done for my Wavemaster was a good place to start.

I had followed the curve of the Wavemaster front and it was a great attention getter.
http://www.diy-street.com/forum/show...889#post452889

With the Silverstone Temjin TJ-07 build (pics below sig) I had used the Matrix Orbital LED Indicator and with a little custom programming I had the LEDs doing some trick stuff.
MO at Frozen CPU http://www.frozencpu.com/products/29...Indicator.html

It took a lot of programming as I am not “the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree”, but I wound up with this:

LED1 Status
ON/Connected to Internet
OFF/Disconnected from Internet
FLASH/Chipset Fan not running
STROBE/CPU Fan not running
ON/STROBE/OFF (sequential) A voltage rail has dropped more than 1%)

LED 2 Status
OFF/CPU Temp below 35C
ON/Temp above 35C
FLASH/CPU Temp above 40C
STROBE/CPU Temp above 45C
ON/STROBE/OFF (sequential) Temp above 50C

LED 3 Status
OFF/Temp below 45C
ON/Temp above 45C
FLASH/Temp above 50C
STROBE/Temp above 55C
ON/STROBE/OFF (sequential) Temp above 60C

The LEDs offered a ton of information even out of the corner of my eye.

I had also extended the HDD LED in another case. To a plexi fan mount on my CPU.
Any HDD activity would cause the whole “shroud” to pulsate.
I always though it was kewl to watch and sort of “animated” the inside of the rig.

Now if I could incorporate all of the ideas I thought I would have something pretty unique if not totally uber l337.

So I contacted the expert (radodrill) and explained what I was trying to do.

Soundx98: Dude, I got a great idea, and really need your help!
Please Please Purty Please!
Radodrill: You OK Old Man? T-ski, catkicker, and blooz1 mentioned they want to do an intervention.
Soundx98: I need HEELLLPPP with plexi.
Radodrill: Well we all definitely agree you need some help.
Soundx98: No, I’m OK but I can’t get this idea for a base out of my head.
Just a little tired from the “doddering” practice.
I do have “middle-of-the-night” peeeing practice in a half hour.
Turning 60 is tough with all the new stuff I have to learn.
Can I commission you for a project?
PLEASE PLEASE PURTY PLEASE!
Radodrill: I’m booked until January, got a full plate until then.
Might be able to help with some modeling though.
Soundx98: Even if I offer forum members wives as concubines to ya?
Radodrill: Very difficult offer to pass up, Can you wait until January? It will be here before you know it.
Soundx98: LOL. Does the Pope wear funny hats? Let me bounce these ideas off you.

Embed one of the LEDs in each section of the (three piece) base and then also embed an extended HDD activity LED into the middle section as well.
Not just a base but a visual "readout" as well.

And so it begins

soundx98 · 11-30-07

So my man radodrill sent me this

I uploaded the files radodrill sent me if you want to follow along class
(This modeling dealio is way kewl)

You'll need to download eDrawings Viewer only (free) from Solidworks
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/prog..._register.html

Here are the .prt and assembly files (WinRAR file)
http://premium1.uploadit.org/soundx9..._rev3final.rar
Radodrill did them in Pro/E so select that when you open them in the dropdown menu (9th One down marked Pro/E of course).

Hit the "play" button in the upper right hand corner when you open the asm file or rotate the drawing manually if you prefer.

radodrill: Have you ever thought about "chamfering"?
soundx98: Once, but I am pretty much hetro.
technodanvan gave me a pretty good scare when he pulled out a Gerbil dressed up as Brett Favre a few months ago.
radodrill: No, I mean a slight bevel to the edges of each section and then make the sections toward the bottom slightly larger. Like this

soundx98: Freakin' awesome.
Schwing!

radodrill: you ain't seen nothin' yet Methusala
We could add some trick cuts to make it totally "leet"

soundx98: Dude!
radodrill: Sweet!
soundx98: Dude!
radodrill: Sweet!
soundx98: Dude!
radodrill: Sweet!

To be continued:

Vathe · 11-30-07

I also have this case and I love it. Great Air-Flow and it dropped my systems temps by 10o compared to my old case. Love the mods you've done as well.

soundx98 · 11-30-07

You canuckistanians are sharp

Thanks for the kind words!

**radodrill** · 11-30-07

Great to see the log over here as well

the "radobase" will surely accent the rig nicely.

soundx98 · 11-30-07

Uploaded the latest modeling files for you (courtesy of rado)
http://premium1.uploadit.org/soundx9..._rev3final.rar

So you know, the Viewer will NOT show the dimensions (the area is grayed out) unless you have a valid license for Pro/E.
There is a 15-day trial for both x86 and x64 OSes available.

The great and illustrious Radodrill (new and improved and sportin' pimpin' teeth and hat) also needed some additional dimensions for the front area of the case.
Hope this helps someone else modding the Antec 900 case.

from back of bezel to front 20mm (from rear to 1st angle, parallel to side) x 22.5mm (front angle) x 8mm (parallel to rear) x 13mm deep on indentation.

Then rado came up with this

So dang happy I can't stop my feet from dancing