The Sleeper

[Tech-Daddy]

So.... I got my fans in this last week, *annnnd* I got my 1566 back bracket for my Swiftech Apogee GTZ water block... YAY!

Not happy with this pic... will need to work on some better pics of this mount...

Mounted everything up to see how the cables would fall.
Here are the Coolermaster R4's on the rad:

Here are the top exhaust fans, viewed from the top:

I flipped the top panel over, and these are Coolermaster R4's exhausting up into the 140mm Aerocool fans:

Side shot of the Aerocool 140mm fans:

Ambient light cast down into the case from the fans. Pretty neat effect, but not going to be enough by a long shot...

So, instead of trying to cram the 3 3.5" hard drives into that space, I am replacing 2 of them with 2.5" laptop hard drives and mounting them in a special 2.5" adapter bracket! The bracket holds 3 of the drives, and the 3rd one will be the SSD that came in this contest! So, I will have the SSD as the primary bootable, a 320GB 7200rpm drive for games that need some performance, a 1TB 5200rpm 2.5" for primary file archival and storage (for files and music), and I will mount my 80GB Raptor. That will be the only 3.5" drive in the unit.

The 2.5" drives will be mounted using this sweet little device:
(UN)Designs X Bracket

I have ordered the bracket, and the 320GB drive, I will order the 1TB drive later, but have an old 2.5" SATA drive at work that I can used for a place holder to work on the cabling.

I'm also starting to experiment with my power cabling options.... but no pics there yet...

More as I have it!

-=TD

 

[Tech-Daddy]

Yeah.... that's better....

 

[Tech-Daddy]

So, today, I started working on the awesome Antec 800 power supply, but the 1st issue to pass is the heavy grade industrial cable management! Those are not chokes, those are plastic cylinders that are reinforced with a metal band at the cable level, and are then either glued or heated so that they become one with the mesh....

Awesomely thorough job that Antec did here. Unfortunately I need to pull it all off....

I use a pair of dikes to cut a channel down through the plastic... Like so...

That glimmer you see inside the plastic is the metal strap included in some of these packages...

Going after the main motherboard 24pin header:

Working in the standard head screwdriver to pry the sides apart:

Use the dikes to cut the attached mesh:

The PSU is now free of management, and ready to be taken to a new level in coolness...

-=TD

 

[DarkStarr]

wtf....... lmao that seems counter intuitive but if it works out good maybe it was a good idea.

 

[Tech-Daddy]

I'll give a not so subtle hint.... there is no way I could do what I wanted to do with those power cables with those in place...

 

[DarkStarr]

Were you planning on routing them under the mobo? Wish I could do that with my 4 Pin extra power connector for my mobo but the stupid thing is too short.... (bottom mounted PSU its awesome yet sucks....)

 

[Tech-Daddy]

yep, some will be under the mobo tray, and some will be routed elsewhere, but I cant have them bundled in order to achieve the effect I want.

A 4 pin extension should not be difficult to find at all.

If I remember correctly, you can pick up an 8 pin motherboard extension and just use the side 4 pins (half) of the connector. I believe the 8 pin header is just a 4+4 pin header, so an 8 pin would work, if you cannot locate a 4 pin extension.

 

[DarkStarr]

yea i don't think I'm gonna get an extension, since my CPU cooler weighs alot and is about 1/3rd the size of the mobo. I just cleaned up the wiring in my antec 900 and it was a pain with that beast in there.

 

[Optix]

So what was your main reason for separating and individually sleeving the cables? I know there isn't much room behind the motherboard tray so I'm thinking individual sleeves would allow them to lay flatter or is it because it would be in the way of your LED setup?

Thankfully they fixed this issue in the Tempest EVO but making the side bow out a bit.

 

[Tech-Daddy]

Optix is right on the money.... micro sleeving the powersupply, but not just because of space issues behind the motherboard, but for cable presentation when it is routed into the motherboard area.

 

[Optix]

The end result is hot as balls but what a ton of work.

I'd just do what you did in your mock up and use NZXT's cables but take all the credit.

 

[alchemist_07]

Dood... we all start somewhere! I was once a noob! And there are always people out there that you learn from that will absolutely amaze you. I've just been addicted to this hobby for years, so I have been stubborn as hell at learning stuff and trying out new ideas!

Whatever you do, hold on to that passion for modding. it is a uniquely fun hobby, that just about anyone can do. But... as with any hobby... if you want to get good at it, it takes practice, time and patience. Watch and learn.... and then go find a scrap case and try out stuff.

I am glad that you like my work, I hope that it inspires something in the future from you. That would just be the ultimate for me!

Stay tuned!

Thanks for the sound advice. I am always checking back on your progress, eager to see what you do next.

 

[Tech-Daddy]

Not a big update, but just a little something to let you know I'm not comatose somewhere...
While I am waiting on other parts to come in, so that I can make my final placements and start actively working the tubing and the cabling, I started working on the top bezel.

Plastic is one of those materials that stresses me out severely, because it is not nearly as forgiving as metal. You get after it with a rotary tool, you have to know *every* place you are going to put that tool. One small mis-step, and the plastic just burns away... GAWD! I hate that feeling. So, that is probably why I have been having a bit of a delay working on the slots for the light pipes on the top sides...

I believe it was Cortes that, after landing his troops, burned his boats in an effort to motivate his army.... well...
Time for me to take a dose of that medicine and suck it up!

Beginning....

After first pass with the cutting wheel:

After about 20 minutes with various files and brush wheels on the rotary tool:

Much better! I still have the other side to go, and then after that, I need to size the slots for the acrylic pipes that will be inserted. Get some LED's attached to some test pipes and figure out if I need to scuff up the pipes or leave them clear... we'll see soon enough!
-=TD

 

[Tech-Daddy]

Well, I'm about done filing on the top bezel:

And to assist with the load of fans that I will have in there, I have enlisted the help of a Kaze Master PRO 6 channel fan controller.

There is going to be some cable management obviously required in order to get all 6 fans on the rads connected (2 on the front rad, and 4 on the top rad), but I'm not going to talk about that vision just yet.... too early in the vision of implementation for that... but it should lend itself well to this build.


more later
-=TD

 

[Tharic-Nar]

First thing I learned when working with plastic was.... slow down. If you have rampant melting going on, your tool's too fast, since what happens is - all the debris that's made gets heated up and forms back where you just cut as a molten mess. I've done some silly things like using a jigsaw and actually fused back together the cut i just made, the never ending job as it were. You can't use metal cutting tools, since the teeth are too fine and you'll just melt the plastic rather than cut. Also, you can't use a wood cutting tool since the teeth are too far apart, trying to take out too much material in one, resulting in inaccurate cutting and our dear friend - molten mess. You either get a medium toothed bit or a fine tooth - low speed bit. Patience is key when it comes to plastic, as you probably know .

Another handy hint is that of masking. You do it with painting, but if you do it with plastic's as well, it minimizes the damage that accidental cutting makes, as well as showing where your cutting too. It also stops debris from melting and fusing to uncut areas. Just a bit of masking tape and a craft knife is needed.

 

[Optix]

TD, you're the only person I know who uses a kick ass Antec PSU for a work bench.

 

[Tech-Daddy]

@ Tharic-Nar - Yep, even slow rotary tools cause problems. I had a friend that used a special wood bit: with good success, as it apparently helps to minimize the heat that causes the melting.
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=543
As is obvious, I did not have one, so I would flesh out with the dremmel, and and then follow up with a sequence of 5 different sized/shaped files. Wheeee!!!

@ Optix - I'm an equal Opportunity Destroyer...

 

[Tech-Daddy]

So.... after much gnashing of teeth and pursuit worth of a cheetah with its prey... I landed the UN bracket that I was looking for, and had to go back straight to the builder/manufacturer to get it! Dave W. over @ http://www.undesignsbrackets.com came through in a big way, after attempting to purchase one of his rev 1 kits. 1st vendor, did not even know they had the old pics up. 2nd vendor was out of stock and did not know it! They had referred my order directly back to the man who had referred me to them!!! LOL!!! So, in true service spirit, he found me what I was looking for, and assisted in achieving, what I think, is going to be a REALLY nice hard drive mounting scenario!

I will take the little brace pieces and bolt those onto the side holes that are on the opposite side of the X bracket, and those cross braces will give me one more set of holes to mount the third drive! After that, it is building the final bracket for the Raptor drive and getting it mounted to the side, so that I can properly route my cables!

Also... you know what this is?

That... my dear friends... is microsleeving PAIN!

I've got one or two more purchases to make, but with what I have the updates should start coming a bit more regularly!

-=TD

 

[Optix]

Tie Fighter HDD mount! Bitchin'!

 

[DarkStarr]

Looks really nice, cant wait to see the completed PC.