[Xye]

This Project Is now finished. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed making it. This was my first ever Case Mod, I am pleased with it and Hope to be able to continue doing this for years to come.

Enjoy

To skip to the finished result skip to posts 2 and 3

Update 1# 30/7/08: Mocking up and fitting (Part 1)
Update 2# 04/8/08: Mocking up fitting Rad (Part 2)
Update 3# 05/8/08: Unplanned Case Foot
Update 4# 02/9/08: Mounting HDD and Radiator
Update 5# 06/9/08: Panel's
Update 5# 07/9/08: Final Panel and Pump Mount
Update 6# 08/9/08: Front Panel and First fit for Plumbing
Update 7# 11/9/08: Window etching
Update 8# 14/9/08: Painting and Getting Wet!
Update 8# 16/9/08: Alive but not finished
Update 9# 20/9/08: The End

Naming:
List

This was originally going to be my entry to the case mod competition, but i ran out of time. maybe due to the fact i was being abit over ambitious. Never mind better to get it done right, as opposed to right Now.

I have always liked small stuff but never liked having the performance drop that seems to come with it. So my general idea was to take and mATX case and adapt it to fit a standard ATX board. I mean how hard can it be? (famous last words there)

Other planned mods:

• Fan grill removal
• Window enlargement
• Window etching
• Paint (inside and out)
• Water cooling

All this in an mATX box?

Oh yes sorry i forgot to metion, the radiator is going to fold out of the box too...

So without further ado lets move on to the unsuspecting victim:
The case:

Front

Side

Top

Back

Without panels

Let the fun begin.

 

[Xye]

Pictures of the case in the daylight:

Ready to go?

Lit up:

 

[Xye]

What you all really want I know

 

[SkoalFineCut]

This should be interesting

What case is that? I've been looking for a mATX case.

 

[Xye]

Its a Microfly something lol i got it from here:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135582

even though it says Extravalue it is actually called a Microfly and there are a few different styles you can get them in. Hope that helps

 

[Shingetsu]

Reminds me of that one Antec Workstation case. GL with this one man.

 

[wastedtime]

Window etching...?? Sign me up

 

[p0isonapple]

WC on an mATX?
*Kicks back feet and grabs some grapes*

This is gonna be awesome

 

[Xye]

Right a planning post i think.

Hardware:
Keeping it simple so there is hopefully more room in the box.

• Asus P5N-D (so i can go Sli)
• E8500 (i like to play)
• Shiney OCZ RAM (shiney as in looks shiney
  )
• 8800GTS (one for now)

Water Werks:

• XSPC X2O 400 Pump and Reservoir (pump + reservoir all in one)
• Alphacool NexXxos Xtreme II Rev2 Double Radiator
• EK Supreme Clear Top
• XSPC Full Cover 8800GT/GTS
• Alphacool compresion fittings for 10/8 tubing

Modding List:
I always knew this was going to be tight as the radiator is 280mm wide and the case is 284mm wide.... so getting it to fit is going to be... intresting to say the least.
To fit the ATX board inside the case it will have to be mounted sideways so the cables come out of the side of the box as opposed to the back, means moddifying the side panel which is no biggy really. Although if anyone has a template of an I/O plate with the expansion slots please drop me a PM as i would like to get it right.
HDD mounting? not normally an issue but since when was this ever going to be normal? the reason this crops up is because where the HDD normally mounts there is going to be a radiator there, so i have juryrigged it so that it is attached to one of the case fans. (pics will follow in a few days) needless to say its out of the way now.
Windows. I am thinking about etching Pinstripes into the corners of the windows and lighting them so they light up. (very Technical explaination there I know)
And more moddifying that needs to be done as it crops up.

Ive probably forgotten something but nevermind, thats why theres an edit button there

GPU waterblock fitting:

Pinstripe Idea:
This is a bottom left hand corner pinstripe i was considering:

Im not too sure on this as i kind of just cobbled it together in paint using some i found on the internet but if anyone else has any ideas feel free to present them

Name:
I am looking for a name for this project as well so ideas are very definately welcome as i am rubbish at thinking up that kind of thing.

Thanks for Reading, unfortunately there will be no further updates until tuesday so, sorry on that one.

Xye

 

[SmasherBasher]

That would be an Ultra Microfly. I have one and love it.
This is going to be neat.

 

[repo_man]

Hey man, thanks for the PM.

This should be fun to watch, you have some interesting things going on! Sub'd

 

[ice_owl]

That is one nice clean looking case you got there, Cant wait to see you chop into it.

 

[Xye]

Hi sorry I know i promised an Update on Tuesday and its now Wednesday But Hopefully the wait will be worth it.

So straight into it:

Motherboard mounts

Spaced Just enough with Fiber washers so it doesn't touch

Remember this?

Well now it looks like this:

But wait doesn that not mean the HDD is right next to the PSU?

Erm, well yes

I spy with my.... yeah Thats where the original motherboard tray went so I cut a piece of Polystrene Sheet i have and you can see the Waterblock on the GPU quite nicely

About that GPU though. The part where the inlet and outlet points are interferes with the PSU so I had to modify the PSU Slightly (Can you spot it?)

And Finally back to the motherboard and the mounting of the I/O Panel, It took abit of Shimmying and some words were said but It fits and is something that could almost be called Straight

Anyway thats all for now, Hope it was worth the wait and all. Still Lots to be done though.

Thoughts:

Name:Ive been thinking (well trying) to think up names for this Project. Thus far i have come up with:
Blue Pheonix,
or
Nexus,
but im not sure The colour is going to be predominately Black with the insides lit Blue. So Suggestions are very welcome.

I/O Expansion Slots: Still need either some precise measurements or a template for where i can cut the Slots for the GPU to stick through the Case Window.

OMG: Im Honoured by the Presence of ice_owl AND repo_man, But yeah thanks guys I hope i don't dissapoint.

Other waffle
On another note its my Birthday tomorrow So There may or may not be an update....

Thanks for reading

 

[nepas]

happy b'day for tomorrow mate

its looking well,i like the mod to the psu

 

[Xye]

Ok ive been thinking more about designs for the windows (seen as theres not been much help from you lot

). Ive been having difficulty coming up with pinstripe designs on my own, so i wondered what if i found some kind of Chinese words meaning things that the Case Mod is all about.

So here are some suggestions (all taken from here so i hope these are really what they mean

)

Water (for the Watercooling)

Fire (for the heat that it will produce)

Power (Well I hope it will be anyway lol)

Two (for the SLI maybe abit of a weak one that one so if anyone has suggestions on it feel free

)

anyway thats all for now more pics will appear tomorrow though.

What of?

Well thats a surprise

 

[repo_man]

Wow, that's alot going on in such a small area! I noticed your mounting of the HDD, really imaginative

great solution!

As for names, what about Condensation? Condensed for the LAN case, and condensation for the WC in it?

 

[SmasherBasher]

Wicked! Makes me want to mod my wife's microfly case.

 

[Xye]

All right then time for another update. Things seem to be coming together abit now which is very pleasing.

Today the Hinges have been created and the radiator has been fixed up so that it is free to be able to move up and down. Enjoy:

The Case half of the Hinge (sorry bad photo):

Fan half of hinge with The bit that goes through the middle (im sure theres a technical term for it but i don't know it):

Hinge put together:

Fans On the radiator:

Fans Spaced away from the Radiator (using 3 pieces of the 2mm Polystrene sheet):

Radiator Cover (haven't decided what i want to do with this yet, wether to go with Max Airflow or cut patterns into it):

Radiator assembly mounted in the case:

Radiator in the Upright Postion (For when the computer is in Use):

Final pic to show how close the Rad assembly gets when moving):

Now comes the fun part. I have the motor to Drive the Lead screw, which will have a Connecting rod attached to it, in turn attaching it to the radiator assembly. So thats all fine only worry there is clearance for the connecting rod. How it will be controlled though is a different matter, The motor works fine off the PSU (using the same connections the case fans use) so it will go up fine, its just the stopping at the top and returning to the down position that gets me. Going to have to think about that alot.

Thanks repo, I was thinking about it and was offering it to various places in the case and well it just kind of looked obvious to me, As i said though I will make a nice Polystrene mount to attach to the fan as the one atm is abit rough lol.

next update: Later this week (Thursday or Friday)

 

[Xye]

Right just a small update, as this wasn't originally planned in the beginning but looking at the Case Frame its bending alot, with all the extra stuff that has been put in and all the structural parts of the case ive had to remove to fit it all in.

The original feet are just small round things with abit of padding on, not giving much support. Ive made a Big Foot that is slightly inset from the edge of the case.

Cutting Wood:

Clamped together Gluing:

Hummm maybe not my greatest work ever:

But i will be painting it black and im Considering maybe putting some LED's there so it has a kind of underglow. What do you think?

 

[repo_man]

Looks nice! Lawl @ you using a nail in the hinge!

I like the bottom support/stand. I would just paint it black personally though.