WELCOME
.
To Another Diva Plunge into Decadence and Insanity
.
Lightly Scented with a Prurient Bouquet of Double Entendre
Let me introduce you to my girls;
No, Not those girls, . . . . That poster's so old, they gotta be older than Hillary Clinton by now . . .
I Mean
My Caselabs girls:
That's Blanca on the left, she's my old white S8 build from last year, but she needs to go under the knife for a little facelift to look a little more streamlined and youthful.
In the middle is Flo, she's my Fat Little Oreo, a two-tone, white/black S8S. She's a new X99 build with plans to add a chiller with heat exchangers in a sort of hybrid cooling setup.
On the right is Glo, she's my Gunmetal Little Oreo, a new two-tone, white/gunmetal S5, Z170MX build.
Below is Slo, she's my Sweet Little Oreo, a still in the womb er, box, two-tone, white/black S5, Z170MX build
Now that you've been introduced, let me sneak a few more Fireball shots and chasers, and I'll tell you the sordid tale of a gray-haired old lady with perhaps a bit more money that brains, and how[ S]I[/S] she ended up with so many Caselabs builds all at the same time . . . And I'll flesh out, (love how that almost sounds decadent) what's planned for each build.
Let me offer a bit of an overview, what I have, . . . and where, at least in my mind's eye, I want to go with it:
Blanca has always been a bit of an aesthetic disappointment to me, since I finished her last December.
It's my fault, in that I failed to visualize the posted dimensions of the S8 accurately in my mind's eye, especially with the extended top, and dual vertical front windows.
From the front, it's really OK, the extended top doesn't do it any favors, but even with the dual windows with the dual reservoirs, I like it OK.
Unfortunately, from the side, it just looks too short from front to back, and the extended top exacerbates this..
If I stuck a hand crank handle on the side, and a bit of paintwork, it would look just like a giant Jack in the Box
To me, the S8 is just too short, front to back, to look right with its height.
I have a full window side panel, which is even worse for looking excessively boxy . . . the window / ventilated side panel at least has 2 rectangular optical patterns, which helps to visually, at least, accentuate the front to back dimension over the top to bottom dimension.
To try to give Blanca a sleeker, more modern look, I'm going to excise the top rad on the GPU side, bring the CPU side rad and top fans below the drop in mount, user shorter reservoirs, and put a regular height top with a window on the GPU side to replace the ventilated extended top.
From an internal perspective, Blanca has a Gigabyte Gaming GT mobo with 6700K, a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro, and a modest 16GB of Trident Z 3200, and a 1000W NZXT PSU, all running Win 10.
Flo, my Fat Little Oreo, is in an S8S. The S8Short is a discontinued offering, but can be had, as I did, by ordering all the individual parts, "ala carte".
Since I was ordering all the parts individually, it allowed me to specify the color for each part in the order. Even though 2-tone cases were no longer offered, selecting parts and their colors allowed me to create the white / black 2-tone S8S.
I feel that the S8S is one of the most, if not The Most, aesthetically pleasing case CL ever released.
Its lower height to length gives it a sleek, streamlined look from the side, as well as a leaner/meaner frontal perspective.
The downside to the overall leaner meaner look was the lack of rad and fan space, that pretty much made you get a pedestal, which then raised the cost considerably, and totally destroyed the longer/lower aspect ratio. . . . no wonder it wasn't a top seller . . .
To compensate for the lack of rad space, while still maintain a capable X99 atx mobo with multiple GPUs and a hex core CPU, Flo's going to have a single 360 in the lower GPU side compartment, with a dual-parallel heat exchanger module setup to allow a chiller(s) to add to the overall cooling capacity when needed.
As you can see, Flo gets a new custom front window mod, which is full width horizontal. This should let the lighted midplate that the pumps and exchangers mount on to be a real focal point, and accentuate the leaner/meaner look.
Internally Flo gets an Asus 99 Deluxe II with a 6850K, a Samsung 950 Pro, 32GB of 3466 Trident Z, and an EVGA 1500W PSU
Now how did I end up with 2, two-tone S5's, on top of the two-tone S8S you ask . . .
Well, mostly a succession of fortuitous coincidences.
As it happened, I had just ordered all the parts for Flo, the S8S build, and not but a day later, CL announces that they are opening a 10 day window for whites and two tones, at the end of which, all custom ordering will cease.
Having always wanted to do an S5 build, and seeing that I may not get a chance at a white or two-tone one again for a very long time, I ordered a two-tone, white / black S5, patterned to match the S8S I had just ordered the day before. . . . Fortunately, it was payweek, so I had a few extra bucks to make it happen.
That white / black two-tone S5 I ordered way back in July, that just got here last week, is my Sweet Little Oreo, Slo
So fast forward about 3 weeks, from ordering the S8S and the S8 from CL, and one of the regular posters in the CL owners thread mentions having just put his white / gunmetal two-tone S5 up for sale in the OCN marketplace.
Again with the fortuitous coincidences, I happened to see his post, soon after he posted, while I was at work, which doesn't give me much OCN time, actually had a few sheckles to spend, and was the first to make contact.
From when he posted, to when he got PayPalled, was less than maybe 3 hours tops.
A few days later, I had a two-tone S5 to start getting measurements from and working on what I wanted to do so far as mods.
It wasn't exactly as I would have ordered it, but I just put in an order with CL to get what I needed to have it be a sister build to the black / white two-tone that would arrive about 10 weeks from then.
That White / Gray two-tone S5 is my Gray Little Oreo, Glo
Internally, Glo has an Asus M8 Gene, a predominately gray mobo to go with the case color, a 6700K, 950 Pro, 16 Gb of 3733 Trident Z, and a 750W Seasonic Snow Silent PSU (cuz it's white)
Last, but not least, is my Sweet Little Oreo, Slo.
As you've now come to know, Slo's the baby of the bunch, having been a full trimester in the making, to finally arrive, just this last week.
Internally, Slo gets a Gigabyte Gaming 5 Z170MX mobo, which is predominantly black, with white and red accents and a 6700K. the mobo colors should work well with the white / black case. The usual 950 Pro and 16GB of Trident Z 3200 should offer a good basic setup that doesn't break the bank, all run from another Seasonic Snow Silent 750, (again, cuz it's white)
That's pretty much the overview, tomorrow, I'll start putting some pics of the progress on the ones I've worked on in separate posts, so we can start moving forward.
thanks so much for being patient and reading such a massive wall of text, but with 4 pc's here, at least you have the roadmap.
Darlene
.
To Another Diva Plunge into Decadence and Insanity
.
Lightly Scented with a Prurient Bouquet of Double Entendre
Let me introduce you to my girls;
Mods said I had to take the "Haulin' A$$" Girls Out
No, Not those girls, . . . . That poster's so old, they gotta be older than Hillary Clinton by now . . .
I Mean
My Caselabs girls:
That's Blanca on the left, she's my old white S8 build from last year, but she needs to go under the knife for a little facelift to look a little more streamlined and youthful.
In the middle is Flo, she's my Fat Little Oreo, a two-tone, white/black S8S. She's a new X99 build with plans to add a chiller with heat exchangers in a sort of hybrid cooling setup.
On the right is Glo, she's my Gunmetal Little Oreo, a new two-tone, white/gunmetal S5, Z170MX build.
Below is Slo, she's my Sweet Little Oreo, a still in the womb er, box, two-tone, white/black S5, Z170MX build
Now that you've been introduced, let me sneak a few more Fireball shots and chasers, and I'll tell you the sordid tale of a gray-haired old lady with perhaps a bit more money that brains, and how[ S]I[/S] she ended up with so many Caselabs builds all at the same time . . . And I'll flesh out, (love how that almost sounds decadent) what's planned for each build.
Let me offer a bit of an overview, what I have, . . . and where, at least in my mind's eye, I want to go with it:
Blanca has always been a bit of an aesthetic disappointment to me, since I finished her last December.
It's my fault, in that I failed to visualize the posted dimensions of the S8 accurately in my mind's eye, especially with the extended top, and dual vertical front windows.
From the front, it's really OK, the extended top doesn't do it any favors, but even with the dual windows with the dual reservoirs, I like it OK.
Unfortunately, from the side, it just looks too short from front to back, and the extended top exacerbates this..
If I stuck a hand crank handle on the side, and a bit of paintwork, it would look just like a giant Jack in the Box
To me, the S8 is just too short, front to back, to look right with its height.
I have a full window side panel, which is even worse for looking excessively boxy . . . the window / ventilated side panel at least has 2 rectangular optical patterns, which helps to visually, at least, accentuate the front to back dimension over the top to bottom dimension.
To try to give Blanca a sleeker, more modern look, I'm going to excise the top rad on the GPU side, bring the CPU side rad and top fans below the drop in mount, user shorter reservoirs, and put a regular height top with a window on the GPU side to replace the ventilated extended top.
From an internal perspective, Blanca has a Gigabyte Gaming GT mobo with 6700K, a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro, and a modest 16GB of Trident Z 3200, and a 1000W NZXT PSU, all running Win 10.
Flo, my Fat Little Oreo, is in an S8S. The S8Short is a discontinued offering, but can be had, as I did, by ordering all the individual parts, "ala carte".
Since I was ordering all the parts individually, it allowed me to specify the color for each part in the order. Even though 2-tone cases were no longer offered, selecting parts and their colors allowed me to create the white / black 2-tone S8S.
I feel that the S8S is one of the most, if not The Most, aesthetically pleasing case CL ever released.
Its lower height to length gives it a sleek, streamlined look from the side, as well as a leaner/meaner frontal perspective.
The downside to the overall leaner meaner look was the lack of rad and fan space, that pretty much made you get a pedestal, which then raised the cost considerably, and totally destroyed the longer/lower aspect ratio. . . . no wonder it wasn't a top seller . . .
To compensate for the lack of rad space, while still maintain a capable X99 atx mobo with multiple GPUs and a hex core CPU, Flo's going to have a single 360 in the lower GPU side compartment, with a dual-parallel heat exchanger module setup to allow a chiller(s) to add to the overall cooling capacity when needed.
As you can see, Flo gets a new custom front window mod, which is full width horizontal. This should let the lighted midplate that the pumps and exchangers mount on to be a real focal point, and accentuate the leaner/meaner look.
Internally Flo gets an Asus 99 Deluxe II with a 6850K, a Samsung 950 Pro, 32GB of 3466 Trident Z, and an EVGA 1500W PSU
Now how did I end up with 2, two-tone S5's, on top of the two-tone S8S you ask . . .
Well, mostly a succession of fortuitous coincidences.
As it happened, I had just ordered all the parts for Flo, the S8S build, and not but a day later, CL announces that they are opening a 10 day window for whites and two tones, at the end of which, all custom ordering will cease.
Having always wanted to do an S5 build, and seeing that I may not get a chance at a white or two-tone one again for a very long time, I ordered a two-tone, white / black S5, patterned to match the S8S I had just ordered the day before. . . . Fortunately, it was payweek, so I had a few extra bucks to make it happen.
That white / black two-tone S5 I ordered way back in July, that just got here last week, is my Sweet Little Oreo, Slo
So fast forward about 3 weeks, from ordering the S8S and the S8 from CL, and one of the regular posters in the CL owners thread mentions having just put his white / gunmetal two-tone S5 up for sale in the OCN marketplace.
Again with the fortuitous coincidences, I happened to see his post, soon after he posted, while I was at work, which doesn't give me much OCN time, actually had a few sheckles to spend, and was the first to make contact.
From when he posted, to when he got PayPalled, was less than maybe 3 hours tops.
A few days later, I had a two-tone S5 to start getting measurements from and working on what I wanted to do so far as mods.
It wasn't exactly as I would have ordered it, but I just put in an order with CL to get what I needed to have it be a sister build to the black / white two-tone that would arrive about 10 weeks from then.
That White / Gray two-tone S5 is my Gray Little Oreo, Glo
Internally, Glo has an Asus M8 Gene, a predominately gray mobo to go with the case color, a 6700K, 950 Pro, 16 Gb of 3733 Trident Z, and a 750W Seasonic Snow Silent PSU (cuz it's white)
Last, but not least, is my Sweet Little Oreo, Slo.
As you've now come to know, Slo's the baby of the bunch, having been a full trimester in the making, to finally arrive, just this last week.
Internally, Slo gets a Gigabyte Gaming 5 Z170MX mobo, which is predominantly black, with white and red accents and a 6700K. the mobo colors should work well with the white / black case. The usual 950 Pro and 16GB of Trident Z 3200 should offer a good basic setup that doesn't break the bank, all run from another Seasonic Snow Silent 750, (again, cuz it's white)
That's pretty much the overview, tomorrow, I'll start putting some pics of the progress on the ones I've worked on in separate posts, so we can start moving forward.
thanks so much for being patient and reading such a massive wall of text, but with 4 pc's here, at least you have the roadmap.
Darlene