Welcome to my
Phantom 820 * Stretched Limo Edition * build log
The new Phantom 820 has been released, and that means it's time for this girl to get her butt in gear and create something to push the envelope.
By way of preface;
My first Phantom build was some two years back, in a shiny new, just released, bright red phantom.
The bold styling and bright color really resonated with me, and I have since built several more, including two more phantoms and a phantom 410 for my personal builds.
Then the switch 810 came out, bigger, and with a lot more support for water cooling and multiple GPU setups.
I got one as soon as I could get one shipped down here, and it was a true dream to bring imagination into reality in. . . . . No budget and no time limit, just followed where it took me
It's been my most epic build to date.
Now the 820 is here, and that great team at NZXT is working to get a pair of white ones and some 810 style side panels shipped to me.
I was really trying to control my excitement and not start the build log untill they were here on the workbench, but enthusiasm seems to have hijacked my self control, and my overkill gene seems to have bogarted a massive dose of steroids from somewhere.
A look at my vision;
One of the things that I most liked about the original phantom styling, was the longer than high aspect ratio. It was lost in both the P410, and the switch 810. I liked the way it looked a little like a locomotive and I want to capture that back in this 820's build.
One of the compelling features of the S810 was its support for 420 rads up top, and 240 or 280 rads down below.
The P820, while larger than the S810, still trades 420 rad support for the top mounted USB and fan controller modules.
With most higher end motherboards featuring tri or quad GPU capability, and the new crop of 2560X1440 monitors that can really use that kind of GPU power for Eyefinity or Surround, rad capacity means more and more with each generation of case design for maximum effort sytems. The P820, seems from my perspective, to be a step back in that regard. I would have loved to see it be a bit longer to keep the 420 support, and maybe then a 360 on the bottom.
But all the wishing in the world won't make it anything more than it is already, so I'll have to do more than just wish . . . . .
I'm going to take sections from one P820, and graft them to another P820 to extend it, just like a stretched limo.
I'm not sure just how much stretch will work out well in relatively practical terms, but I'm shooting for room for a 560 up top, and that would easily then allow a 420 on the bottom, with room for the biggest of PSU's.
For now, all I can do is wait on the new P820's to get here.
2 are now here, and waiting on the third for this build.
Stay tuned for the adventure,
Darlene
Edit to add:
With 820's in hand, and now mostly disassembled, having had the opportunity to study the top layout in more detail, it really looks like the stretch is going to allow for sections of 3 cases to graft together allowing 840 mm rads in the top and bottom.
As you follow along in the log here, you'll see that concept developed in more detail.
Edited by IT Diva - 12/6/12 at 2:56pm
