[trogalicious]

It's been a long time coming, but I'm revamping my secondary rig. No, not the signature box, but another.

As of right now, this is what I'm planning out. I'll post specs to help out a bit:

I already have:
Case: Coolermaster Elite 330
Motherboard: evga 750 Sli (non-ftw)
CPU: e8400
Ram: 4gb OCZ 1066 (8gb eventually)
PSU: Corsair HX520
HD's: 2 74gb raptors in raid0, 1 120gb wd.
GPU: 2 9600 gso's
CPU cooling: xigmatek s1283
Optical: LG 22x DVDRW

and i'm looking to add:
HD: 1tb wd caviar green
Misc: 3.5 inch fan controller, a few case fans, a replacement 60mm fan for the NB cooling.

As far as it being a project, I'm looking to mod an extra fan or two into the case... fabricate a 4-in-3 device bay much like the one I purchased for my 690. This will also be a paintjob for me. After having some success with the 690, I'm not sure which direction I'm going to go with the case.. but it will be painted.

What am I going to do with it? It's planning on being a file server/media server/folding box. That's the plan for right now.

 

[trogalicious]

 

[trogalicious]

alright. Updating some specs here...

Processor is now an e8400...
Ram will be 8gb 1066mhz g.skill/ocz (haven't quite made up my mind just yet)...
Looking at a logisys 3.5" fan controller...

This box is ever-expanding and will hopefully serve as a file/media server backend and a folding machine as well with the 9600's cranking away.

I've measured and marked the top of the elite330 to add another 120mm fan to the top and the cutting/casemodding should commence this coming weekend. I need to get up with Bill from mnpctech and pick up some modders mesh, u channel, and assorted goodies. Pictures should be coming in the next day or so.

 

[j0z3]

great!

I am picture hungry.

 

[trogalicious]

alrighty.. a few pics added, and I should have my ram and the crossbow for my xigmatek today. I went with the OCZ 1066 2x2gb kit with the ram cooler.

I still haven't picked up a fan controller, but that's short work with picking out one to fit in a 3.5" slot. I'll start work fabricating a fan mount for the 5.25" bays that are left as well.

ordered the heatshrink and modders mesh from mnpctech, a few fans from frozen cpu, a window kit

 

[trogalicious]

and for an update...

quite possibly the tightest fit I've ever dealt with:

at least so far anyway. I've yet to run any cables from the 520 for any peripherals... and only have the rear exhaust and the HSF plugged in at the moment.

more to come.

 

[Wylker]

Looks good so far man

 

[trogalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wylker Looks good so far man

thanks a bunch. I'll snap a few more pics tonight. I should have a window kit and a few more fans here in the next few days. I'm hoping to be 90% finished by this weekend.

I'm still having no luck tracking down a 4 channel fan controller to fit in the 3.5" bay up front.

Either way, I'll post more pics when I get the chance

 

[trogalicious]

alrighty. The fans came in.. as did the window kit and shrink wrap. I'll be working out the 120mm fan mount for the top three 5.25" drive bays tonight and will update as soon as I can.

 

[Powelly]

Trog,
I absolutely adore your builds! You certainly have some skill, hopefully I can learn a thing or two from you!

Seriously, this build looks great already; you're picked some nice budget harware there.

Of course, you can guess what I'm gonna reccomend you do with that baby - FOLD

It's a great idea, and if I had the cash I'd build one - would love a fileserver so I can at least back up data from my main rig and perhaps host some stuff online - I recently lost a 500GB drive worth of data, all storage, no backups

Life goes on. Sub+ and rep+ on this build, too!
~Powelly

 

[trogalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powelly Trog, I absolutely adore your builds! You certainly have some skill, hopefully I can learn a thing or two from you! Seriously, this build looks great already; you're picked some nice budget harware there. Of course, you can guess what I'm gonna reccomend you do with that baby - FOLD It's a great idea, and if I had the cash I'd build one - would love a fileserver so I can at least back up data from my main rig and perhaps host some stuff online - I recently lost a 500GB drive worth of data, all storage, no backups Life goes on. Sub+ and rep+ on this build, too! ~Powelly

oh absolutely.. this is going to be a gpu folding beast. I'm actually in the process of taking a few more pics. I can't get past how tight of a fit everything is.

I sat it all out before I started the build and nearly crapped my pants. "How am I going to fit all of this... in...there," I thought.

either way, thanks for the compliments pal.

 

[trogalicious]

Alright, the front USB and power/reset/hdd led cables have been sheathed and shrink-wrapped... I'm still trying to figure out the routing on this one.

So I measured and cut for an extra 120mm up top. Bill and the guys at mnpctech are sending out some modders mesh and u-channel so I can clean that up a bit. Thanks Bill. Also, the hard drives are just hanging out for the time being. I have sheathed/shrink-wrapped two SATA cables together on one end to connect it to the motherboard.. and will probably sheath/shrink-wrap the ends going into each hard drive just before final install. Just the same, they're hanging around on the top of the case.. staring into the empty 120mm hold like it's the Sarlacc pit or something.

Mmmmkay, if you look carefully, you can see how there is 0 clearance between the fan on the xigmatek and the PSU. I don't necessarily mind this as there is no measurable pressure/tension on the HSF. It's merely there to illustrate the big computer / little case theme that this is taking on.

Also, this is where I'm going to drop my 120mm wind tunnel in. I'm working on a mount that will hold to 120mm fans in unison to feed more air into the case itself.

The partially removed fan grill will lose more as I continue.. the only downside is that the power button mounts to the grate itself. I've considered using epoxy to mount the power button housing onto the front of the case so it will all come off as one unit. There's enough give in the cable to do it, so there may just be a re-routing and an additional whole down in the bottom of the front of the case to feed those connections in.

I'm trying to get as much of the cable out of the way now, so I don't have to worry with it later. Again, one component at a time.

and it's starting to slowly come together... the u-channel should be here by the end of the week. By then, I'm hoping to have the side panel marked off for a window panel.. and 90% of everything else in the case and neatly tucked away.

 

[Slyr7.62]

Good work so far, I like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trogalicious fabricate a 4-in-3 device bay much like the one I purchased for my 690.

I can't wait to see how you fab this up, because I'll also do the same thing sometime for my 690.

 

[trogalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slyr7.62 Good work so far, I like it. I can't wait to see how you fab this up, because I'll also do the same thing sometime for my 690.

no worries, I've been drawing up a mock-up. I'm picking up materials tomorrow to work on this over the weekend. I'll try using sketchup to get everything pretty exact on this, and I've measured the original 4-3 device bay deal down to the 16th of an inch.

keep posted, I'll put the how to guide link into both this thread and the CM690 club.

Edit: my modders mesh and uchannel should be here tomorrow from mnpctech

 

[Slyr7.62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trogalicious no worries, I've been drawing up a mock-up. I'm picking up materials tomorrow to work on this over the weekend. I'll try using sketchup to get everything pretty exact on this, and I've measured the original 4-3 device bay deal down to the 16th of an inch. keep posted, I'll put the how to guide link into both this thread and the CM690 club.

Sweet. I don't have a CM 4-3 module & haven't fabbed one yet because I'm short on materials.

Can you give me a few tips on creating things in Sketchup? Thnx. I'm new to it.

 

[trogalicious]

aaaand side panel window kit goes in this weekend! pics to follow.

 

[tweakboy]

Very nice rig setup. Your gonna be one happy camper once the install of the rig is done.

You power up for first time and get goosebumps,, hehe gl,

 

[trogalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweakboy Very nice rig setup. Your gonna be one happy camper once the install of the rig is done. You power up for first time and get goosebumps,, hehe gl,

it's been powered up already.. has been for months

it's my folding rig... I'm just putting in the window kit

 

[JMT668]

Nice hole!

 

[trogalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT668 Nice hole!

thanks, it was a rough cut before I had picked up a hole saw... thank goodness for overlapping u-channel.