foldslikepaper

So, I'm winding down on what started as a minor upgrade (to an e8400 from an e2180) and ended as more or less a complete refresh of my main computer (new mobo, ram, 2 4850s....) you all know the drill. I still have the tinkering bug, but without any more options as far as hardware goes, I've turned my attention to my case: A black Gigabyte Aurora (non-570).



I purchased this case about a year ago because I wanted a completely internal watercooling loop. I thought i'd be able to mount a 2x120mm rad to the back of the case where the 2 120mm exhaust fans are mounted. To make a long story short, there isn't quite enough room and the rad hits the PSU. At the time I settled on having the rad mounted to the back of the case, but ultimately went air cooled again. Overall this case seems a bit deceptive: It looks big and roomy, but once you start to mess with it, you realize there's very little usable space for mods such as watercooling loops etc. So I've gotten some ideas that should make this case a bit more suitable.

1) A BTX conversion will free up the top panel to mount a 360mm rad. I've already ordered an iandh 360mm rad grill from petras, along with some other odds and ends.

2)Say, these newfangled 4850s i bought are loud!



I'm looking to quiet them down A LOT with some good ol' fashioned watercooling! This will also hide the fact that they're different brands with non matching coolers. (Yes, that's driving me crazy.) And yes, I will be cooling 2 vid cards and a cpu with one 360mm rad. I'm not looking for crazy "ZOMG INSANE TEMPZ!!1!" I'm looking for high end air cooling performance with less noise. Suggestions as to rad & GPU block choice are welcome.

3) This guy!



The hard drive cage takes up a HUGE footprint in the bottom of what could be a rather roomy case. Since I don't use my floppy drive, I'm going to remove the hard drive cage and move my hd to where the floppy used to reside.

4) Look at that tangled nest of wires. How sad.



I actually had some decent wire management going with my previous setup, but the constant slow trickle of new parts into this box has left it in some dire need of some attention. I'm looking at cutting several holes in the mobo tray for some serious steath wire action! I also have a sata dvd burner on it's way so i can finally join the 21st century and get rid of that ugly blue pata cable.

5) My plan is to paint the interior of the case a flat black and the exterior a nice "refined" finish. I'm eying up a color ford was using on the mustangs a few years back, "mineral gray". Here's a sample:



It's tough to capture it well, but it's not just a straight silver or charcoal metallic. There's a bit of a brown or goldish hue to it. I've always been a fan of this finish.

Well, that's the plan laid out. Disassembly, BTX conversion, and interior paint starts in the next couple of days as I have time. I'm also in the process of renovating a house, so I'll be working on this in my free time. Again, suggestions as to rad choice etc. are welcome! And if you made it this far, thanks for reading.

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SmasherBasher

That mineral grey is an easy color to find. Just go to your local Autozone or Pep Boys and grab some Duplicolor Auto Spray rattle cans. (Paint code for the car is T4)

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foldslikepaper

Thanks, I haven't really looked to hard at sourcing the paint just yet. I did find some online for about $15, but I figured an automotive store like pep boys, autozone etc would probably have some for cheaper.

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Brutuz

This looks great, Subbed.

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foldslikepaper

Alright, so I finally had the chance to get started on the case today. I started by removing all of my components from the case. Now I'm computing "open air" style:



Next I removed the front of the case and anything else that would pop off, leaving just the chassis:





Here's my ridiculously old school work area. We just bought this house and all this stuff was left behind by the previous owners. Check out that pegboard whoa! Total old guy style.



Ok, now the serious fun starts:

Drilling out the rivets that hold the case together:



Off with her head!



Top and bottom panels removed:



I left the back panel and mobo tray together:



Here's the drive cage/front panel assembly:



Four rivets drilled out later and We're left with this:



One unexpected issue arose as I was looking the case over. Since the mobo tray originally covered the right side of the drive bays, there were no screw holes to secure drives. I decided to chop the mobo tray down to allow access to the holes on the left side:






I think that's a pretty straight cut for my first time using a dremel

And finally, here's the chassis loosely placed back together BTX style:



Next I'll be prepping the inside for a few coats of flat black. One issue I've run into is that there's no way a radiator+fans is going to squeeze in above a vid card + waterblock mounted in the now uppermost spot. I can either move the entire mobo tray down an inch or two (probably a ton of work fabbing up a back panel) or I can just sell the 4850s and pick up a new vid card. I'm really eyeing up the new evga 55nm gtx260 with the sweet black pcb. Anyone want to buy a couple 4850s?

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CattleRustler

this worklog has been cattle-approved

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foldslikepaper

Thanks man. Coming from an experienced case modder such as yourself, that means a lot. This is my first case mod, so it's fairly basic, i guess. But I'm loving The Intelligence. Gotta love comps built into non-standard enclosures like, say, suitcases.

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SmasherBasher

mm......Smasher like.

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PhelanJKell

Great too see the bug has others as well! Great work, keep the pictures coming!!

pun3D

I love that case. Have the silver one though. Gonna use it on one of my folding rigs.

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"Fold for the cause - Fold for the people"