[wastedtime]

Greetings Everyone

Yes I know my other build ANT hasnt been updated in a while, that is because I've been busy with this build.


What is this build all about ?

I am doing a build for my little brother. He needs a simple machine, just powerful enough for the regular day to day stuff. Browsing/Music etc.
His birthday is on the 13th of June and I plan to gift this to him.

Why call it Gemini ?

My brother is a Gemini. So decided to call it that.


Alright enough.. Can we get to the details now ?

This build is going to be centered around modding a Lian Li PC-Q7.It is an extremely small case as you will see. I wanted to fit a decently sized CPU cooler in the case. Yes this is an air cooled log.. No watercooling... sorry

What to expect during the course of this mod.?

1. A fully painted chassis (Duplicolor Mirage)
2. Laser Cut custom acrylic side panels.
3. Laser Cut Custom acrylic Back Panel
4. Cable Sleeving
5. A little bondo work


The Components
1. ZOTAC NF610I-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard - Retail
2. Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz
3. Noctua NH-C12P 120mm SSO CPU Cooler - Retail
4. GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
5. LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
6. SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD102UJ 1TB
7. Micro-ATX PSU. (Some OEM)

Thanks for Looking,
-wasted

 

[wastedtime]

Reserved for updates and final pics

Final Pics... More here

1. Update 1: Measuring and Mocking up

2. Bondo and Wire Sleeving action

3. PSU painted/ Case primed

4. Paper Mockups of panels

5. Laser Cut Panels..

6. More Laser Cut Panels

7. Case Powdercoating thread

8. Finishing Up

9. Completed Pics

 

[SmasherBasher]

Not to be consufed with Syrillian's Gemini I presume?

 

[wastedtime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmasherBasher Not to be consufed with Syrillian's Gemini I presume?

no. That one was a monster. This one is the exact opposite

 

[wastedtime]

This case is an extremely small one. Measures just 7.6" x 8.3" x 11.4". Lian-Li designed this case to accommodate a full size PSU. But why would anyone want to put a full size PSU into a Mini-ITX case ? :swearing:
In the stock placement of things the motherboard and the PSU sit parallel to each other.. and the PSU will sit extremely close to the CPU cooler . This arrangement seems like a pretty bad idea to me.. how does the CPU cooler draw in air ??

Enough of ranting.. Time for some pictures...

The stock case

Its tiny ...

Here's the case with the Motherboard and CPU cooler mounted. The problem is pretty obvious here there is no space to mount the PSU.

So here's my solution. Use a micro ATX PSU and mount it at the bottom of the case. In such a situation there is minimal impact on the structure of the case itself or component placement.

The only thing that has to be done is mod the back panel to fit the micro-ATX PSU.

Thanks for looking,
-wasted

 

[SmasherBasher]

Me likes!!

 

[fedex1993]

Dang another project. I wish this case was a little bit wider, so it could fit a bigger cpu cooler and a power supply. Hmm this case is nice thoe might use it on a nvidia ion build some time. Subbed cant wait to see that nice paint be applied to a nice case

 

[nategr8ns]

neat case, subscribed

 

[Shiryu_Libra]

Naaa!!! I believe there's room enough

for the PSU next to tha little monster (Noctua)

 

[wastedtime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmasherBasher Me likes!!

You wont be dissapointed

Quote:

Originally Posted by fedex1993 Dang another project. I wish this case was a little bit wider, so it could fit a bigger cpu cooler and a power supply. Hmm this case is nice thoe might use it on a nvidia ion build some time. Subbed cant wait to see that nice paint be applied to a nice case

. Yes I wish this case was a little longer. This case reminds me of the Soldam cases. Particularly this one..

The good thing about the soldam is that its a little longer. So you can fit a big PSU and a proper cooler in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nategr8ns neat case, subscribed

Thanks nate. Good to see you here

 

[wastedtime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiryu_libra naaa!!! I believe there's room enough For the psu next to tha little monster (noctua):d

.

I underestimated how small this case could be.... Its tiny

 

[afzsom]

 

[wastedtime]

I got some more work done in the past few days....

The side panel was cut. This panel will get a laser cut bronze acrylic window.

I needed to fill the holes in the back panel. The slot for the PCI card will have to be filled up, I grabbed some bondo on my way back from work..

Prepared the back panel for applying bondo, I used some acrylic pieces to support the bondo. What I am filling up is basically a hole.

Done

I let the bondo cure for 24hours and then sanded it off..

I sprayed some primer over the sanded areas.. This will expose the small holes left behind by air pockets, once the primer dries off the imperfections will be filled. This process repeats itself until all imperfections have been filled.

Sleeving the PSU... The PSU i had only had a 20-pin connector.. I used a 24-pin and duplicated the extra wires..

What a mess ...

This PSU also did not have any SATA connectors.. I used some SATA power ports of an other PSU and spliced them into this PSU..

After a couple of hours of soldering/ sleeving and heat-shrinking

Next I'll move onto painting the PSU and designing the side panel. The original PSU slot will be covered with an acrylic panel.
I also need to talk to the laser cutters and get all the acrylic needed for the project

Thanks for looking
-wasted

 

[wastedtime]

I have a tiny little update today...

The PSU was painted with some duplicolor effex. This stuff is fantastic.. The color shift is nice and smooth. The camera does not do justice to how nice it looks but here are some pictures of the PSU

The color switches from Green

To purple

A closer look.

Its got a fair bit of orange peel. I plan on leaving it as is.. I am not too confident about sanding it down and polishing it..

I also got the case primed. I will sand it with some 800 -100 Grit after it sits for 24 hours.

Next I am going to get the acrylic laser cut and the panels painted.

Thanks for watching,
wasted

 

[Shiryu_Libra]

Nice purple

good job...

 

[fedex1993]

What exactly is the orange peel affect i keep see people talking about it in painting. Nice painting thoe i like

 

[afzsom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fedex1993 What exactly is the orange peel affect i keep see people talking about it in painting. Nice painting thoe i like

The surface isn't 100% smooth. It feels smooth-ish, but you can definitely notice and even visibly see the bumps in the underlying surface.

 

[KinZee]

Looks awesome...

Will check back for updates.

 

[fedex1993]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afzsom The surface isn't 100% smooth. It feels smooth-ish, but you can definitely notice and even visibly see the bumps in the underlying surface.

Ahh k, i was planning on painting a case with the mirrage color and what not and maybe a PSU dono. Or maybe just using regular glossy paint

 

[nategr8ns]

awe man, my favorite color combo, you're killing me!
nice job on the case