v7guy

Hey everyone. This has been my first PC build and has largely been an enjoyable experience. Unfortunately I discovered this site and seen the things that can be done with wire management and a few case mods and I had to give it a go. The PC was initially together but I had to RMA the motherboard and it seemed like a great time to get er done. I started yesterday, I expect this to continue for the next two weeks give or take. I'm starting now with the log because it will keep me motivated knowing I have to update.

I'm not looking for anything fancy, just want to black out the PC and let the blue lights really shine while hiding the wires better.

I started by disassembling the case. the front comes of easily with a squeeze of the tabs after the sides are removed.


the top is a little harder, the back tabs you push to the side while the front tabs you have to use a screwdriver and push forward towards the front of the case to pop it out. After I released the back 4 tabs I put a sharpie inbetween the case and the top to keep tension on it. When I pushed on the front tabs it popped right off.


After that I taped off the top making sure to get it stuck down at the edges of the openings and then taped off the feet, I then trimmed out two areas, one for the PSU wiring and another for the airflow to the PSU. I left the case leg area of metal there. I don't anticipate it being an issue at all, I've seen other comps with the fan partially covered. If I kill my PSU in a year I'll deal with it and get a modular unit.
I then sprayed the case down along with one cage and the slot blocks.
Following are pics of the painted case, unpainted pieces etc etc etc.





I used some satin black krylon paint, I used acetone and alcohol to clean the case and cages. A dremel with several cutting wheels and a grinder was used to make the holes.

Look forward to input, comments etc

N2Gaming

Looks like your onto a good start and using the downtime to your advantage. I like the PSU hole for seperate fresh PSU cooling. I did the same thing. I have a Antec nine hundred mod in my sig named Project Black N Blue Baby. I like to see others modding these cases.

Keep up the good work.

N2G

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v7guy

I've been reading your worklog, about half way through it. looks like some nice work.

I've been trying to wait for good weather but it doesn't seem to be happening. I sprayed a few more parts. so I can start to assemble things. As mentioned before... not going for show quality, but just something that looks good when assembled. I used the snow for a masking medium. Yes it's march, and yes there is a ft of snow on the ground. Yes, I hate NY.

curly haired boy

i hope the paint adheres well - low temps aren't the best painting weather, but i can understand you wanting to get it done.

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v7guy

I let it sit inside until the metal is up to temp, take it outside to spray it, give it 10 minutes and then bring it back inside. The majority of the fumes are gone at that point. Then I place the parts in a small room with a space heater to get it really warm. I've used this treatment on a lot of parts and have had surprisingly good results.

v7guy

I've had this finished for about a week, just uploaded the pics though.
First off, I'm unhappy with the routing of the 8 pin cable for the mobo. I've been having trouble locating an extension though. The door fan also has wiring that is just hanging around. The firewire cable also really irks me, but I don't see any other way to deal with it.

Overall I'm happy.

Onto the pics.


threw the PSU in routed things where I wanted.



ran the fan wires up beside the cages and the sata cables through it. I ended up breaking one of the fan wires and the fed it into the cage and soldered it back together.




I then extended the power/reset wiring... solder, heatshrink, done


the back side mess, I did eventually get the panel to fit flush


then the rest of the pics

v7guy

some in the dark pics










I'm open to any suggestions and comments.

hope this helps someone out.

N2Gaming

100 % improvement, good job.

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GeforceGTS

Looks good, nice choice of parts


Look familiar?



You just need to find some way of getting that 4/8 pin power cable hidden..

v7guy

geforcegts- that's a nice lookin rig you got there.

yeah, the power wire bugs the hell out of me, I know how i'd like to route it, but I need another foot of wire, maybe I'll feel froggy next weekend and extend/solder it.

anyone know of any extension sold?