[TheMelder]

<<Obsession>>
The Back-story
Long story short, I just stepped away from my trade and took up a desk job. Going from busting my ass all day and coming home tired as a donkey after a show to coming home with more energy then I woke up with was doing my head in, so I started to follow some of my previously shunted interests. 1 such interest was the intricacies of over clocking, hence the water cooling. From water cooling a new interest emerged.... CASE MODING and making **** look pretty YO!

So, with my newly found interest I set out to build the most future proof build I could with a very minimal budget of $ 1500AUD, I managed to get a LGA1155 build that I was sort of happy with for $1800 but I then decided if I was going for future proof starting with an outdated technology just did not make sense.

After another 4 days of research and price hunting I managed to put together a LGA2011 build that I was happy with for $2500, but of course in my research to make sure all the tech I was buying was the right tech for me I kept coming across things that tickled my fancy a bit more than the previous. FINALLY I finished my build which rounded off at a neat $3600 for all my base components (CPU, GPU, MOBO Case and cooling kit) and then on top of that a further $250 for shipping and parcel protection. With my base build out of the way, I had all the bits, pieces and tools left to purchase, so far the further tool requirements have rounded up to about $350 and the extra parts has so far fell somewhere in the $600-$700 range ((this includes the fan controller + LED's and all the circuitry/switch board materials AND my Frozen q fusion series res which is still anywhere up to a month away)).

So at the time of me writing this I am currently nearing $5000 total cost on this computer ((not to mention the cost it's taking on my relationship lol "obsessed" she says)).

So here is my old set-up

Spoiler: Sully!

1. Lian-li PC-K62 case
2. AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition CPU
3. GA-990FXA-UD3 Gigabyte Motherboard
4. Sapphire 7850 OC Edition 2GB GPU
5. G-Skill 8gb 1600 CL7 ram
6. Coolmaster GX650 watt PSU
7. Corsair H80 closed loop liquid CPU cooler P/P 2x Noctua P12 Fans
8. 3x Noctua P14 fans (1x intake front - 2x exhaust top)

This was coupled with my recent monitor upgrade which I will be keeping to couple with the new build. I am using 3x Dell 2330X slim 23" LED LCD monitors in Eyfinity/Surround Gaming.

And here is the intended build

Spoiler: *UPDATED* 11AUG The New Build!

1. NZXT Switch 810 Special edition Matte Black
2. Intel i7 3930k 6core LGA 2011
3. Asus Rampage IV Formula
4. Zotac GTX 680 4GB GPU
5. G-Skill 8gb 1600 CL7 ram
6. OCZ ZX 1000w PSU 80+GOLD
7. XSPC Raystorm CPU water block
8. Heatkiller GTX680 Hole Edition water cooler
8.5. Heatkiller GTX680 backplate
9. XSPC D5 Dual reservoir Combo
10. Black Ice GTX 360 Radiator
11. Black Ice GT Stealth 120 radiator
12. 1x XSPC RX240 Dual Radiator Black Ice GTX 240 Radiator
13. PrimoFlex UV Red 7/16 Tubing
14. Bitspower Compression fittings
15. *updated* 2x OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD
16. OCZ Agility 3 60gb ssd
17. 7x Bitfenix 120mm Spectre PRO LED red
18. 10x Bitfenix 120mm Spectre PRO LED red
19. NZXT LX external fan Controller
20. UV lighting + red LED lighting galore

The Plan
So as for the mods to the case I have no real vision yet, only that I want the theme to resonate around red/black colors and to be of the hell/fire nature. In saying all that I am yet to come up with a name for the build yet so I am open for suggestions. I have 1 idea for the front side of the case which I got from a passing glance at the picture of a volcanic themed dragon, it appeared as though through the cracks of its plates/scales lava ran. [UPDATE][13/07/2012] Have gone with a shattered Earth theme, Design pictured below.

Spoiler: COVER DESIGNS

Other then this the only other mods I have on my list are painting all the mesh sections red and the inside of the top, bottom, front and back of the case.

Extras

Another thing I've wanted to do is set up the lighting in the case so I can pick which lights I want on when I want. So with this I am going to attempt to embed switches into my desk and run the wiring out of my computer to them so I can switch them without having to get up. I decided on six switches in total.
1. Inner LEDs
2. UV
3. Raystorm LED
4. Raystorm UV
5. Outer LEDS
6. Raystorm overhead UV

So this will give me the ability to change the look of the case from all-out red to all-out UV to many combinations of the 2.

The other idea was with the external fan controller, I wish to embed this in the desk also as part of the switch panel giving me a form of control centre from which I can adjust everything without having to climb over the back of everything or unplug anything.

Preperation

So! while i waited anxiopusly for the first parts of my order to turn up i got retail itchy and went out and bought a few tools that might come in handy for the case modding =)

Spoiler: They say these are a must...

 

[TheMelder]

THE ARRIVAL

so the first chunk of my order from PCCASEGEAR turned up on 4/06/2012 while i was at work =) here are the photos =D

Spoiler: INTEL i7 3.8 3930K!

Spoiler: ASUS RAMPAGE IV FORMULA ROG!! ROG!! ROG!!!

Spoiler: ZOTAC GEFORCE GTX 680 4GB!

Spoiler: SPECTRE PRO FANS!

Spoiler: OCZ ZX 1000W PSU!

Spoiler: Water cooling kit!

 

[TheMelder]

Spoiler: Prefitting of components

So even after I had placed the order and done all the research I still wasn't 100% sure that it would all go together nicely... so, first things first, Lets make sure everything fits!

By the way... i have the measurements and a picture of pretty much all angles of the NZXT 810 case, if you need any one of them in particular please feel free to post you needs here

horizontal case opening

Vertical case opening

5.25" bay vertical opening


hmm all seems fine.... lets see it work in practice.

360 rad with fans fits very nice, was concerned with it being a 60mm radiator

i am glad i thought to get the slim 120mm, if not there would have been some conflict

the RX240 is right at home in its push pull setting down the bottom, bloody fat though


Woot, it all fits super cozy and there is plenty of room left to spare for all the extra's

so... now thats all done... time to put it all back in its boxing


and then pull the "box" apart wink wink



all of a sudden i had screws everywhere... and i had no where to put them... off to bunnings and office works =D



after this another issue occured to me.... desk space...


Better jump on gum tree!! SOLVED


im out for now =)

Jul 13, 2012

I sketched out the design then glued a cereal box to the back of it to stop it from ripping

After cutting out the stencils with a Stanley knife and scapula i secured them to the the covers and traced out the design



I used a plastic cutting wheel on the Dremel for the larger piece which worked out really nice (REALLY MESSY TO)

I had to use the router attachment for the smaller sections as the cutting wheel was to large to do it neatly

There! all done. I ninja'd a bit of mesh from one of my other cases and gave it a quick coat of paint to see what it was going to look like

I'm happy =)


Thats it for the moment, i am working on getting the right mesh atm and also painting up the other sections aswell.

Cia for now

Jul 15, 2012

So i am going to upload the photo's in order of which they were taken, so first up we have the GPU water cooler being fitted.

pulling the old cooler off was simple, just undid the screws and it fell apart, was really important to use the right screwdriver as the screw heads stripped very easily.

So i got the HeatKiller hole edition for my GTX680 along with the Heat killer Back plate


Went on nicley and is now back in the box awaiting final fitting


cia for now
Jul 21-22 2012

So i was without a camera for most of the top section being done so i wont upload the finished product photo's of it just yet, i will start by posting the progress on the other items

So for the top panel i started by cutting out the grill, and as u can see under it i have a section of aluminium marked out to use as a insert for the now empty section ( this is where the photo's stopped lol)

We will come back to the top later

So here is the design change I went with... I decided to give it all a textured look by roughly coating it all in a poly bog.


Fully coated, unsanded


Sanded and prepared for paint




Under coated


Also did the drive bays
I gave them a rough sand to give the bog something to stick to


These are now at the undercoat stage and ready for final paint

bay shroud is all prepped to go now

i painted up the mesh for the previous inserts as well


So all that is good to go for painting... I had trouble getting any of the following photos in a low glare environment, but I did what i could with the lighting I had. The light betrays you a bit by making it look like there is a gloss to the panel when in fact it is actually matte black.
I hope it looks as good to you as it does to me, I was extremely happy with the end result






bay shroud is all prepped to go now aswell


all the other pieces bar the side panel are up to the final painting stage including the inside of the case which will be a matte wildfire red, so we are on the home run =)

Jul 23-24 2012

So i got some more painting done.

final coats of black applied to ea section now




And the interior is all undercoated now, ready for color


i am also painting the rims of the grommets, i etched these and gave them a grey undercoat


Jul 25-27 2012

Had another big night of painting, got a lot done and have a few more panels finished.












Jul 28-30 2012

After a month of waiting it finally showed up! woot


So i am on the home stretch now and can finally start putting some of it together, main purpose to this part assembly was to get measurments for my bottom shelf ( pictured below )




I have since taken the shelf out and routed the shattered pattern into the top of it and am now deciding where the grommets would be best suited for the tubing to pass through


Made the window full sized and coated the edging in in bog to give it the textured appearance. it is now under coated and is almost ready for paint



I am finding myself running in circles a lot now i am nearing completion, i need to write a list down to keep myself focused as i am wasting to much time =/

Aug 1-9 2012

So i decided agaisnt putting the bottom shelf in as i didnt like the look of it and it was going to cause havov with the botom radiator... which has finaly put me at the assembly stage!

so, felt like sex dropping this in =)


i bought anti vibe fan mounts for all the fans aswell which were also an issue as the didnt allow me to butt the fans up next to each other so i had to trim and hack the crap out of them



All the rads dropped in fine and fit like a charm


The pump didnt look as out of place as i thought it would, actually looks quite nice ( again was having trouble with glare and couldnt find tri-pod for any long exposure shots )


So!! the i was... all ready for leak testing in went 1L then 2L.....


THEN.... DISASTER STRUCK!!! DUN DUN DUN
in my sleep deprived state i had not noticed that the screws attactching the fans to the bottom XSPC 240 rad were too long!! and in result they had punctured the fins..
SO! back onto PCCasegear i went and ordered a heartlabs GTX 240 gen two rad which rocked up the NEXT DAY!! thanks guys

so i put it all back together with the new rad



AND to my releif it took the water fine and have so far had no leaks!!!

So now im am down to the nitty gritty of it all, i am cable sleeving the components as i am putting them in.



Couldnt help but have a bit of a sneak peak of what the lights would look like so i plugged a few in


So there you go, its on the home run just the sleeving and the lighting effects/switches left to go.

OH almost forgot, i grabbed another one of the vertex 4 128gb SSD to run in raid0. yay



Aug 10 - 12 2012

IMG]http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1003399/width/350/height/700









i have the day off tomorrow! so i hope to get a **** ton done

 

[TheMelder]

res

 

[TheMelder]

res

 

[Applezjuice]

Sweet can't wait to see it done! Sub'd

 

[TheMelder]

updated

 

[TheMelder]

i need cut out idea's guys, i still have not setlled on a theme and i cannot settle on a design for the front cut outs. any ideas?

 

[Applezjuice]

Looks like you are going for a red theme, are you looking for a video game concept or just any type of design in general?

If you want a video game theme you should do one of the following

Diablo 3
Mass Effect 3
Dragon Age 2

If you want a general design I think an end of the world burning earth apocalyptic theme would be cool

 

[last-]

Subbed. I absolutely love the look of the Switch.

 

[TheMelder]

design for the front panel and 5.25" covers... the idea is cracked earth inverted,

thoughts!?!?

my partner came up with this idea and i really like it, simple yet intricate

 

[Applezjuice]

Looks good! Kind of what I was suggesting about the world ending!

Can't wait for an update

 

[TheMelder]

I went with the theme pictured above. I currently have the panels all cut and prepared for the next stage, I will have pictures up later today I hope.

I pulled a bit a mesh from 1 of my other cases and painted it up and paired it with 1 of the 5.25" covers... I must say, I am very happy with the out come so far.

My GPU water block turned up on Thursday! And my fan controller turned up on Wednesday! Woot. Not long now till the final assembly

 

[TheMelder]

Spoiler: Moved to front page.

I sketched out the design then glued a cereal box to the back of it to stop it from ripping

After cutting out the stencils with a Stanley knife and scapula i secured them to the the covers and traced out the design



I used a plastic cutting wheel on the Dremel for the larger piece which worked out really nice (REALLY MESSY TO)

I had to use the router attachment for the smaller sections as the cutting wheel was to large to do it neatly

There! all done. I ninja'd a bit of mesh from one of my other cases and gave it a quick coat of paint to see what it was going to look like

I'm happy =)


Thats it for the moment, i am working on getting the right mesh atm and also painting up the other sections aswell.

Cia for now

 

[Shimme]

Subbed, this looks great!

 

[koxoxok]

looks nice !!

take a look at my build too !

READ THIS: why did you get those fans?! they have low static pressure and isnt really good for radiators, why didnt you get AP 15 fans which are around the same price and have a better static pressure?

 

[gumbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koxoxok

looks nice !!

take a look at my build too !
READ THIS: why did you get those fans?! they have low static pressure and isnt really good for radiators, why didnt you get AP 15 fans which are around the same price and have a better static pressure?

When having that much rad space & each rad in P/P It wouldn't make a whole lot of difference, And the fans he chose are to compliment his build

 

[TheMelder]

ah! lol i knew some1 would pick me up on this, the AP's were on the original order... the only issue was the internal LEDs on the fan were a ***** to rewire to the Configuration i am going for. I have a total of 15 fans in the case with only the 2 items on the water loop, so in the end i just went with the aesthetically pleasing fans with the "easy way out" LED wiring.

 

[Skoobs]

bad freakin ass.

i cant believe you made those drive covers yourself. that one turned out kind of like sex.

 

[thestache]

Build looks great already without any mods.

Going for a Black/orange theme myself in my Switch 810, so keen to see how this will come out.