mrwesth

Antec 900, I know it's been done a lot... but! MY turn. :evilgrin:

These are mods that have been done. Nothing new really, its just a warmup before a big project I have planned. I've previously cut 2 holes for cable management and they may get in the way a little... we'll see.

Here are links to the guides I am using for this::
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=126395
http://www.overclock.net/case-mods-g...pictorial.html

I'll be taking bunches of photos, but I only have a 70-200 lens (long story) so I'll have to get creative with the shots... (Not going through the trouble to take panos! Then again... maybe ) Anyway, photos will come once the rig is back together!

Basic plan::

• Cable management for NEW psu. That means more holes and being creative with the 2 already there.
• Fit 6 HDDs with 3 9800gx2's! This could take the longest, may still need to order parts.
• Clean up the lightshow. I had leds everywhere on this thing, no before picture, but it was just too much IMHO. SO, replacing crucial ballistix with GSkill ram, Replacing GameXStream with 1000HX, and juggling fans around.
• PAINT! I like clean and simple. Black car, black shoes, black interior with a "touch of color" (sorry samsung!)! I will be painting (possibly plasti-dipping) the interior and all other exposed areas black.
• Invert PSU and raise the case up 1.75 inches! This may take some considerable work, but I'd like to create some space under this thing. It may be an epic fail or win, we'll see!

Before (sort of, already gutted it) pics!



Notice the old hole hidden behind the new psu... gotta do something with that.

More later, thanks for looking!

FINISHED!! Woohoo!
5/28/09

After Pics!









Final Pics Post. http://www.overclock.net/6322913-post14.html

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!

Maddog7771

Looks promising i love antec mods. Have fun with it and remember for cutting holes use a hole saw if your adding fan holes that is. Check out mine in my sig.

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mrwesth

Day 1:

Bought a dremel, played with it and made some cuts. Other stuff still in planning phases. I expect this to go pretty quickly, depends on how much free time I have. The easy thing is I am doing stuff that has pretty much already been done, just throwing it all together in one mod.

First dremel use::

Notice I nicked slightly to the lower right of the cut when going around the rubber feet.

Second Cut::
Figured out what to do with that old hole--EXTEND IT!

I made another cut with the hole saw about 1/4 inch from the edge of the original. Then I cut off the excess with the dremel and grinded.

I also made a small cut for the PSU cord with the dremel--see top right. Was going to use a hole saw but I can't find my smaller ones.

Finally I made holes in the drive cages in prep for placing the HDD's reversed.

I will be waiting on wire/sata connectors from frozencpu.com to make a custom cable for these.


DAY 2 PLANNED::

• Finish drilling drive cages.
• Find new solution for case feet!
• Test out cable placement and mark/cut holes for cable ties.
• Possibly start sanding and painting

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!

zmyth770

Good luck, This sounds pretty epic.

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bfe_vern

Being a 900 owner I can never be tired at looking at 900 mods and re-mods. LOL. I would like to see the cuts you made for the reverse HDD mod.

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ATI Radeon 4870 Club!

mrwesth

lol!

I read this after I played with the dremel. I did look at the 5in hole saw, but $40+ was to high for something that would wear out too quick. The dremel worked REALLY well though--but I do a lot of work with power tools.

Yours look pretty good with that new paint job.

Mine might never get done though because I keep getting the "buy" bug. I keep adding things todo and hitting that buy button. Just bought 5 san ace's off ebay and a true black. Hopefully I can keep it in my pants--my wallet.

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!

thepiratemonk3y

Can't wait to see more! I've been trying to manage my Antec 900 the past couple of days and realized the only way its going to get better is if I start making cuts. Can't wait to see how you finish this out and I'll probably be following right behind you!

mrwesth

Mini-Update::

1. Looks like doing the new feet/base of the case the way I want it will require welding. It will be way easier to just slap some thicker rubber feet on and call it a day.
   SO, I'll be waiting till next week or even next weekend... for a TIG!
   
2. As a result, painting will have to wait till then.
   
3. Also, drive cage work is delayed till friday when I get wiring to fix up some sata cables.
   
4. Cable Management - Basically I have made almost all my holes to feed cable through and just need to hook everything up to see where I need to drill zip-tie holes at.
   
5. Just confirmed my 6 hhd/3 9800gx2 layout will work (has enough space!). I have about 1 cm of clearance between 1 card and 1 hdd. I will monitor temps but I think it will be okay!

Hole drilled for power button cable management.

Some random stuff I picked up..

First coat of paint... I should have checked the weather, it rained shortly after. Oh well more sanding!

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!

mrwesth

Well!
I got some stuff in the mail today... sadly not everything is what I thought it would be... but I blame my own ignorance and lack of research.

This means I have plenty extra san ace 1011's (They are 35mm and antec 900 fits 25mm in the front.)

I also need to order more connectors from frozencpu. I got 4 pin molex connectors when I should have got 6 pin pci to use with the modular psu. Long story... :/

And the wire they sell is in 6in segments. Ah well, that I can get from home depot.

All pretty inexpensive lessons (well san ace hurt alittle )

I also started painting. I went with flat black to save on some sanding and because its mostly case interior. So I have been playing around with different sandpaper to see how fine I need to sand. I think somewhere between 320-800 will work.

Finally, I tried out some plasti-dip on my drive bays. Sadly this stuff wasn't what I was hoping, but it did meet my expectations. As much as everyone else here loves it for cases, I'll stick with paint and other sound dampening alternatives. To it's credit though, it does go on pretty easy and requires no sanding (you can't sand it, its rubber).

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!

mrwesth

So, the project has been on hold almost a week. Life got in the way.

Status Update:

1. The paint job came out pretty ugly do to wind/rain as I was finishing the first coat. I sanded down to redo it but sanding was just a pain. I will work on spraying/sanding probably 2-3 more coats and it should look okay.
2. I hit a bump when I did a trial run with fitting the cables behind the mb tray. 6 sata/sata power cables, 6 fan cables, cpu power cable, mb cable, and 6-8pin pcie power cables. It bulges to the point that I don't know if I'll be able to get the side panel on. Couple ideas are either make some shorter modular 8pin pcie cables so that they run direct to the graphics cards instead of behind the tray, or modify the side panel to make more room. Neither is ideal so I will try to make everything fit once I finish the other mods.
3. I'll be welding the feet on later today. 1in diameter pipe, about 1in raise. I finally decided on a milder raise then initially intended.
4. And I will be adding a fan controller. Problem is I have 3 front fans running... so the fan controller will be facing the INSIDE of the case. It will block airflow slightly, but should be neatly placed in a drivebay all the same.
5. The last step is to finish (before fitting cables) making the sata power cables. In an attempt to eliminate some excess cable I'll be making 3 whole new modular sata cables, with proper spacing for my hd cages. I'm waiting on sleeving in the mail.

Any creative ideas on how to fit a ridiculous amount of cables behind the mb tray would be awesome...

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My first mod -- [Project] Cable Chaos! 3x9800gx2! Antec 900!