[Work Log] <<Obsession, The End of my World>> Shattered Earth theme [NZXT SWITCH 810]

Long story short, I just stepped away from my trade and took up a desk job. Going from busting my ass all day and coming home tired as a donkey after a show to coming home with more energy then I woke up with was doing my head in, so I started to follow some of my previously shunted interests. 1 such interest was the intricacies of over clocking, hence the water cooling. From water cooling a new interest emerged.... CASE MODING and making **** look pretty YO!

So, with my newly found interest I set out to build the most future proof build I could with a very minimal budget of $ 1500AUD, I managed to get a LGA1155 build that I was sort of happy with for $1800 but I then decided if I was going for future proof starting with an outdated technology just did not make sense.

After another 4 days of research and price hunting I managed to put together a LGA2011 build that I was happy with for $2500, but of course in my research to make sure all the tech I was buying was the right tech for me I kept coming across things that tickled my fancy a bit more than the previous. FINALLY I finished my build which rounded off at a neat $3600 for all my base components (CPU, GPU, MOBO Case and cooling kit) and then on top of that a further $250 for shipping and parcel protection. With my base build out of the way, I had all the bits, pieces and tools left to purchase, so far the further tool requirements have rounded up to about $350 and the extra parts has so far fell somewhere in the $600-$700 range ((this includes the fan controller + LED's and all the circuitry/switch board materials AND my Frozen q fusion series res which is still anywhere up to a month away)).

So at the time of me writing this I am currently nearing $5000 total cost on this computer ((not to mention the cost it's taking on my relationship lol "obsessed" she says)).

So here is my old set-up

This was coupled with my recent monitor upgrade which I will be keeping to couple with the new build. I am using 3x Dell 2330X slim 23” LED LCD monitors in Eyfinity/Surround Gaming.

And here is the intended build

So as for the mods to the case I have no real vision yet, only that I want the theme to resonate around red/black colors and to be of the hell/fire nature. In saying all that I am yet to come up with a name for the build yet so I am open for suggestions. I have 1 idea for the front side of the case which I got from a passing glance at the picture of a volcanic themed dragon, it appeared as though through the cracks of its plates/scales lava ran. [UPDATE][13/07/2012] Have gone with a shattered Earth theme, Design pictured below.



Other then this the only other mods I have on my list are painting all the mesh sections red and the inside of the top, bottom, front and back of the case.



Another thing I've wanted to do is set up the lighting in the case so I can pick which lights I want on when I want. So with this I am going to attempt to embed switches into my desk and run the wiring out of my computer to them so I can switch them without having to get up. I decided on six switches in total.
So this will give me the ability to change the look of the case from all-out red to all-out UV to many combinations of the 2.

The other idea was with the external fan controller, I wish to embed this in the desk also as part of the switch panel giving me a form of control centre from which I can adjust everything without having to climb over the back of everything or unplug anything.



So! while i waited anxiopusly for the first parts of my order to turn up i got retail itchy and went out and bought a few tools that might come in handy for the case modding =)

Edited by TheMelder - 8/10/12 at 10:01pm

so the first chunk of my order from PCCASEGEAR turned up on 4/06/2012 while i was at work =) here are the photos =D

Edited by TheMelder - 7/9/12 at 8:50pm

Prefitting of components (Click to show)
so... now thats all done... time to put it all back in its boxing


and then pull the "box" apart wink wink



all of a sudden i had screws everywhere... and i had no where to put them... off to bunnings and office works =D



after this another issue occured to me.... desk space...


Better jump on gum tree!! SOLVED


im out for now =)


I sketched out the design then glued a cereal box to the back of it to stop it from ripping

After cutting out the stencils with a Stanley knife and scapula i secured them to the the covers and traced out the design



I used a plastic cutting wheel on the Dremel for the larger piece which worked out really nice (REALLY MESSY TO)

I had to use the router attachment for the smaller sections as the cutting wheel was to large to do it neatly

There! all done. I ninja'd a bit of mesh from one of my other cases and gave it a quick coat of paint to see what it was going to look like

I'm happy =)


Thats it for the moment, i am working on getting the right mesh atm and also painting up the other sections aswell.

Cia for now



So i am going to upload the photo's in order of which they were taken, so first up we have the GPU water cooler being fitted.

pulling the old cooler off was simple, just undid the screws and it fell apart, was really important to use the right screwdriver as the screw heads stripped very easily.

So i got the HeatKiller hole edition for my GTX680 along with the Heat killer Back plate


Went on nicley and is now back in the box awaiting final fitting



cia for now


So i was without a camera for most of the top section being done so i wont upload the finished product photo's of it just yet, i will start by posting the progress on the other items

So for the top panel i started by cutting out the grill, and as u can see under it i have a section of aluminium marked out to use as a insert for the now empty section ( this is where the photo's stopped lol)

We will come back to the top later

So here is the design change I went with... I decided to give it all a textured look by roughly coating it all in a poly bog.


Fully coated, unsanded


Sanded and prepared for paint




Under coated


Also did the drive bays
I gave them a rough sand to give the bog something to stick to


These are now at the undercoat stage and ready for final paint

bay shroud is all prepped to go now

i painted up the mesh for the previous inserts as well


So all that is good to go for painting... I had trouble getting any of the following photos in a low glare environment, but I did what i could with the lighting I had. The light betrays you a bit by making it look like there is a gloss to the panel when in fact it is actually matte black.
I hope it looks as good to you as it does to me, I was extremely happy with the end result






bay shroud is all prepped to go now aswell


all the other pieces bar the side panel are up to the final painting stage including the inside of the case which will be a matte wildfire red, so we are on the home run =)




So i got some more painting done.

final coats of black applied to ea section now




And the interior is all undercoated now, ready for color


i am also painting the rims of the grommets, i etched these and gave them a grey undercoat





Had another big night of painting, got a lot done and have a few more panels finished.














After a month of waiting it finally showed up! woot


So i am on the home stretch now and can finally start putting some of it together, main purpose to this part assembly was to get measurments for my bottom shelf ( pictured below )




I have since taken the shelf out and routed the shattered pattern into the top of it and am now deciding where the grommets would be best suited for the tubing to pass through


Made the window full sized and coated the edging in in bog to give it the textured appearance. it is now under coated and is almost ready for paint



I am finding myself running in circles a lot now i am nearing completion, i need to write a list down to keep myself focused as i am wasting to much time =/





So i decided agaisnt putting the bottom shelf in as i didnt like the look of it and it was going to cause havov with the botom radiator... which has finaly put me at the assembly stage!

so, felt like sex dropping this in =)


i bought anti vibe fan mounts for all the fans aswell which were also an issue as the didnt allow me to butt the fans up next to each other so i had to trim and hack the crap out of them



All the rads dropped in fine and fit like a charm


The pump didnt look as out of place as i thought it would, actually looks quite nice ( again was having trouble with glare and couldnt find tri-pod for any long exposure shots )



So!! the i was... all ready for leak testing in went 1L then 2L.....



THEN.... DISASTER STRUCK!!! DUN DUN DUN
in my sleep deprived state i had not noticed that the screws attactching the fans to the bottom XSPC 240 rad were too long!! and in result they had punctured the fins..
SO! back onto PCCasegear i went and ordered a heartlabs GTX 240 gen two rad which rocked up the NEXT DAY!! thanks guys

so i put it all back together with the new rad



AND to my releif it took the water fine and have so far had no leaks!!!

So now im am down to the nitty gritty of it all, i am cable sleeving the components as i am putting them in.



Couldnt help but have a bit of a sneak peak of what the lights would look like so i plugged a few in


So there you go, its on the home run just the sleeving and the lighting effects/switches left to go.

OH almost forgot, i grabbed another one of the vertex 4 128gb SSD to run in raid0. yay








IMG]http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1003399/width/350/height/700









i have the day off tomorrow! so i hope to get a **** ton done
Edited by TheMelder - 8/14/12 at 12:31am

res

res

updated

i need cut out idea's guys, i still have not setlled on a theme and i cannot settle on a design for the front cut outs. any ideas?