Hi all. I'm new to the forums, so after using the threads in the case mod section as research before I started, I thought I would share what I ended up with.
Before I start- this is a relatively old system.
Its a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, Core i7 920 D0 with an Antec 620 Kuhler, 6GB of G Skill RAM, two 1TB Caviar Blacks and a Gigabyte HD6970 OC.
I started researching what I wanted for an entire new rig, but in the end I decided I would keep this rig for another year, and spend a fraction of the cost on a new one in squeezing a bit more out of this setup. New rig can wait until mid next year.
I was looking for a new case when I realized- I have an Antec CP850 PSU, which only fits in select Antec cases- none of which I really wanted. And the whole reason of waiting was to save a bit of money, so no new PSU.
So I decided to change the look of my old P183.
I had already tried a small mod on my side panel about a year ago, for when i was running two HD6970's in crossfire (before I fried one).
And so it began.
I didn't take any pics to start with unfortunately, but here it is stripped and ready for some mods. I had already cut out the grills on the front two 120mm fans, and the one on the top blowhole for some better airflow.
I had originally wanted to get the case powder coated, but ended up going the cheaper option with some semi gloss black spray paint.
Before painting, I marked some sections to cut out. CPU hole in the motherboard tray, as well as widening the cut out behind the motherboard tray to make cable management a bit easier.
My trusty Dremel made short work of that.
Ive already massacred the side panel with the two fan holes, so i decided to make a entire new side panel. Picked up a bit of clear acrylic 3mm sheet at Bunnings for about $40.
This is the idea.
Cut to size.
Holes drilled for mounting. Just using thumb screws.
I needed to cover up the border around the window, so i masked and painted a border. I used flat black for this as it adheres better, and since I'm painting the rear, it looks gloss from the front anyway.
Case primer done. Many Corona's were harmed during the 'waiting for paint to dry' process.
And the HDD cages and the optical drive done to match.
And two days later, two coats of semi gloss black and one of clear.
And the HDD cages and the optical drive done to match.
New side panel on. There is thin self adhesive foam around the edges to seal it up.
The motherboard cut out, with some rubber U channel. Picked it up at Clark rubber for about $1.50 a meter. Learned to cut the little slits in it around corners from these forums!
And ran some around other visible parts of the tray to match.
I picked up an XSPC RS360 kit for a good price online, so in it goes. This was money well spent as it will go in my new rig when the time comes. I was going to try and mount it internally, but after measuring it up I decided against it. I didn't want to lose a drive bay, and I think keeping it and therefore its heat out of the case is a good thing anyway.
I also got a Koolance bracket for the radiator. The plan was to just mount it on the top 120 mm fan blowhole, with the rear end overhanging and the tubing going in through the rear factory tube holes. After some thinking, I decided to drill some extra holes in the roof, mount it forward of the original blowhole and have the tubing enter the case through the blowhole.
I used a piece of acrylic cut to 120 mm fan size, then drilled some holes in it and added some grommets for the tubing. I had intended on painting it black, but I think it looks good clear.
Res and tubing installed. Using all the basic stuff that comes in the kit.
And coolant added and leak tested overnight (minus all the hardware of course). No leaks!
I also added a small section of 3M Di-noc carbon fibre look vinyl I had left over from another project to the side of the PSU to cover up all the factory stickers and make it look a bit more clean.
Inside the case, i decided to leave out the overly complicated factory separator thingy for the PSU area. I think it was designed for cable management, but IMHO its just stupid. I never needed to route cabling through there anyway, so another piece of acrylic was cut, the rear painted black and covered the whole lot. I was going to use double sided tape to keep it clean, but ended up using two thumb screws. Plus, its a mirror finish so you can see the top of the graphics card now.
The middle HDD cage with the ring pull is installed but empty. I figured it sort of works as a funnel for the air from the front fan to the graphics card, plus it hides some cabling.
Also installed a Deepcool Rockmaster fan controller/card reader.
The XSPC fans were ditched for three gentle Typhoons I had spare. The cables were sleeved, and i soldered up a custom cable so all three are connected to one channel on the fan controller.
There is another GT in the rear exhaust, a Scythe Slipstream in the front, and a Noctua in the lower bay.
There is now a Plextor 256 GB SSD in a Silverstone 2.5 to 3.5 inch bracket running Windows 7, and one of the old 1TB Black Caviars for storage, both in the lower cage.
I also ditched the 6GB of RAM, and installed 12GB of G Skill Sniper.
I was running the i7 920 at about 3.2 GHZ, but since installing the XSPC setup temps have dropped dramatically.
I just finished a 24 hour Prime 95 run at 4.1 GHZ, temps at 100% of just under 60 degrees. With the old cooler I was pushing 80-90 degrees at these speeds.
Just going to add some final touches. I'm not 100% sold on the full side panel, and I've still got the original side panel with fan holes. I might hack it up and install a window on it next week and swap them out.
I'm also going to make some sort of a plate to cover the top drive bays through the side window, and maybe add some more led lighting.
Will add pics when that's done.
I am now a water cooling addict. I can already see my next build will be epic. I'm already looking at new pumps and res's, plus a better radiator and a GPU block. But that's next year...
Oh and the system is running a triple monitor setup in an Obutto Cockpit. The single card actually handles it very well.
Ill update with some better pics when I find my camera.
Edited by RomeoKilo - 10/31/12 at 4:20am
Before I start- this is a relatively old system.
Its a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, Core i7 920 D0 with an Antec 620 Kuhler, 6GB of G Skill RAM, two 1TB Caviar Blacks and a Gigabyte HD6970 OC.
I started researching what I wanted for an entire new rig, but in the end I decided I would keep this rig for another year, and spend a fraction of the cost on a new one in squeezing a bit more out of this setup. New rig can wait until mid next year.
I was looking for a new case when I realized- I have an Antec CP850 PSU, which only fits in select Antec cases- none of which I really wanted. And the whole reason of waiting was to save a bit of money, so no new PSU.
So I decided to change the look of my old P183.
I had already tried a small mod on my side panel about a year ago, for when i was running two HD6970's in crossfire (before I fried one).
And so it began.
I didn't take any pics to start with unfortunately, but here it is stripped and ready for some mods. I had already cut out the grills on the front two 120mm fans, and the one on the top blowhole for some better airflow.
I had originally wanted to get the case powder coated, but ended up going the cheaper option with some semi gloss black spray paint.
Before painting, I marked some sections to cut out. CPU hole in the motherboard tray, as well as widening the cut out behind the motherboard tray to make cable management a bit easier.
My trusty Dremel made short work of that.
Ive already massacred the side panel with the two fan holes, so i decided to make a entire new side panel. Picked up a bit of clear acrylic 3mm sheet at Bunnings for about $40.
This is the idea.
Cut to size.
Holes drilled for mounting. Just using thumb screws.
I needed to cover up the border around the window, so i masked and painted a border. I used flat black for this as it adheres better, and since I'm painting the rear, it looks gloss from the front anyway.
Case primer done. Many Corona's were harmed during the 'waiting for paint to dry' process.
And the HDD cages and the optical drive done to match.
And two days later, two coats of semi gloss black and one of clear.
And the HDD cages and the optical drive done to match.
New side panel on. There is thin self adhesive foam around the edges to seal it up.
The motherboard cut out, with some rubber U channel. Picked it up at Clark rubber for about $1.50 a meter. Learned to cut the little slits in it around corners from these forums!
And ran some around other visible parts of the tray to match.
I picked up an XSPC RS360 kit for a good price online, so in it goes. This was money well spent as it will go in my new rig when the time comes. I was going to try and mount it internally, but after measuring it up I decided against it. I didn't want to lose a drive bay, and I think keeping it and therefore its heat out of the case is a good thing anyway.
I also got a Koolance bracket for the radiator. The plan was to just mount it on the top 120 mm fan blowhole, with the rear end overhanging and the tubing going in through the rear factory tube holes. After some thinking, I decided to drill some extra holes in the roof, mount it forward of the original blowhole and have the tubing enter the case through the blowhole.
I used a piece of acrylic cut to 120 mm fan size, then drilled some holes in it and added some grommets for the tubing. I had intended on painting it black, but I think it looks good clear.
Res and tubing installed. Using all the basic stuff that comes in the kit.
And coolant added and leak tested overnight (minus all the hardware of course). No leaks!
I also added a small section of 3M Di-noc carbon fibre look vinyl I had left over from another project to the side of the PSU to cover up all the factory stickers and make it look a bit more clean.
Inside the case, i decided to leave out the overly complicated factory separator thingy for the PSU area. I think it was designed for cable management, but IMHO its just stupid. I never needed to route cabling through there anyway, so another piece of acrylic was cut, the rear painted black and covered the whole lot. I was going to use double sided tape to keep it clean, but ended up using two thumb screws. Plus, its a mirror finish so you can see the top of the graphics card now.
The middle HDD cage with the ring pull is installed but empty. I figured it sort of works as a funnel for the air from the front fan to the graphics card, plus it hides some cabling.
Also installed a Deepcool Rockmaster fan controller/card reader.
The XSPC fans were ditched for three gentle Typhoons I had spare. The cables were sleeved, and i soldered up a custom cable so all three are connected to one channel on the fan controller.
There is another GT in the rear exhaust, a Scythe Slipstream in the front, and a Noctua in the lower bay.
There is now a Plextor 256 GB SSD in a Silverstone 2.5 to 3.5 inch bracket running Windows 7, and one of the old 1TB Black Caviars for storage, both in the lower cage.
I also ditched the 6GB of RAM, and installed 12GB of G Skill Sniper.
I was running the i7 920 at about 3.2 GHZ, but since installing the XSPC setup temps have dropped dramatically.
I just finished a 24 hour Prime 95 run at 4.1 GHZ, temps at 100% of just under 60 degrees. With the old cooler I was pushing 80-90 degrees at these speeds.
Just going to add some final touches. I'm not 100% sold on the full side panel, and I've still got the original side panel with fan holes. I might hack it up and install a window on it next week and swap them out.
I'm also going to make some sort of a plate to cover the top drive bays through the side window, and maybe add some more led lighting.
Will add pics when that's done.
I am now a water cooling addict. I can already see my next build will be epic. I'm already looking at new pumps and res's, plus a better radiator and a GPU block. But that's next year...
Oh and the system is running a triple monitor setup in an Obutto Cockpit. The single card actually handles it very well.
Ill update with some better pics when I find my camera.
Edited by RomeoKilo - 10/31/12 at 4:20am
