Maximum PC

AND AGAIN!!!!!!!! update time!!!!!!

what ive been up to now is fitting the mobo tray in and making the cuts for the perminent cable extensions that are going to mount to the backing. the 24,8, and four 6 pin extensions are going to snap in and run to the mobo, and the rear of them will poke out the backing for the psu wires to plug into. this makes it clean, and still swap-able.



also, if you can see it, there is some hole on the right side, those are going to be for the res, HDD's and a supplimentale PSU mounts.



also, i have the holes drilled in the hoods to mount to the hinges in the top....which the hinges are also mounted. lol.
i need to trim back the inner area of the hinges though, so they dont mash up with the fans. this is what happens when you shoot from the hip.





note: i only had 2 nuts/bolts to spare for the pictures, so both hoods couldnt be mounted. but they are going to get ninja mounted anyway so no need for extra bolts.

How's this coming along man? looking great so far.

Well, its coming, that's for sure. I wanted to have it done by bf3 launch but that doesn't look like its gonna happen. No biggy though, I kinda like having something to work on. So I suppose my next mod will be shortly after this one lol.

This weekend I'm gonna make a few more cuts, sleeve and run some leds, and do some internal painting.

Good day!!! after a slow week, i have a couple more pictures to add.

first, is the extension for the fans. i didnt really like the original cables, and instead of going the easy route and just sleeving the whole thing and running it, i came up with another plan. figure, each knob is like a battery. one knob per fan, 8 knobs on front of case, right? well, i decided to instead join all knobs per side in a parallel curcuit through the extension and on to each fan. this way, i wont have to turn each fan up individually, as each knob will add more amps to the line, pushing that sides fans faster, while keeping the volts under control.

also youll notice i painted the inside light gray, but its gonna take a bit more sanding till its ready for a good picture. but i lined up an extension on it for show.

ahhh back again. so after a few (lol) weeks with out any updates, here are a couple more pictures.

what im doing in these is cutting out the 6 in the side pannels. and of course, it will be backed by plexi so no worries about the weak spots. also, im toying with the idea of leveling it off with acrylic after the paint is done. the 4 holes in the bottom there are for the air intake, and i have 8 of those 3 part fan filters to cover it.



this little guy here is a oem case hdd rack. i cut out the top and mounted it in the case. probably gonna stick a fan to the side of it too.


here is the front, all filled and ready. just need to re-primer the sanded areas. the holes cut out are for the fan controler knobs and led's. and yes, it matches up perfectly.


what you cant really see here is the clamps and steel im using to here hold the rubber strips in place while the glue sets. ill add more pictures of that as it moves along.
so soon will be the other pannel cuts, primer, and mounting. love mounting.

ok, here wee are again with another update. its been a while, but im close to finishing. without further excuses:

what we have here is the case screws i chose to use to keep the hood and panels secured, along with a rivet. (explained next)


i somehow (lol) missed my marks when lining up the panels, and it was a tad off, but enough so that my threads and holes for the case werent gonna work. so, after a lot of thinking, i decided to resize the case holes, and use a larger rivet as a threaded insert. all i did was remove the post, drill it out just a little, and tap the inside. then, i positioned the panel to center the insert, little epoxy, and a screw to hold it, and, BOOM!!!! perfect fits!!!


now, here we are with the rubber seals in place (although dirty) and the hoods/panels in place (one side open for show). the tape is still in place cause i need to do the airbrushing on the outside (need to re-tape the hoods) and since i promised the evil dictator i live with to clean the garage before i paint, hopefuly ill be brushing this weekend.





also note, ive changed the hardware from 2x 5870's, to a single 7970, and added ssd's to my list, and ram/mobo change.

paint!!!

got the paint done today, with clear coats. (still need to buff the clear)

so what i was going for was a smoke-ish look, now what i have and what i wanted may be two different things lol. little history on my airbrush skills..........this is it. this is the very first time i ever used an airbrush. i watched a few videos, picked up a wand, and this is what i came up with.

i may have went a little heavy on the front, and whist deciding if i should re-shoot the front, i threw it aside and started laying clear. that made my mind real quick i suppose. hate sitting on the fence. anyway, heres five shots from some angles. the black squares are unbranded dust filters i got off ebay.

almost done!!!!

apologies for my slackery, but heres a couple more. in these first picks, its just my airbrush, a clean slate, and the start....and thats it. i had full intentions of documenting the re-painting of the front, but, yeah....




then here we have a bit of the hardware mounted with the front panel done. i mounted the fan controler and the switches, but i still have one more switch to put in. and yes, one knob on the controler is currently UA, and will be handled accordingly upon retreval. all the front side cables are sleeved, now i just need to finish two 4 pin leads on the psu and the fans, then sleeving will be done.






this weekend i "should" have everything ready to fire up, to include the plexi backing and resin fill for the cut out items.
um....not to sure what else to put, so, ask em if you got em.

and in more news:

heres a huge milestone, water testing!!! its been running for about an hour with no leaks, but i did infact man-handle the fittings, plus i have a bit of experience with hydro/elec work. anywho, here it is.



i also put some more work in on the top, installing the fans and grills.




note: in an ealier post, i chatted about running the FC in a parallel circuit. this only half works. the idea was to have each knob add a bit more juice, sending full power when all 4 knobs (per bank) are at max. however, turning a single knob maxes the fans attached. this leads me to believe the amps arent whats being governed by the potentiameters, the volts are. (i should have known this though) so, all knobs at minimum = .30A and a couple volts, but one knob maxed = .30A and 12V. makes me wonder if its just the fan wiring creating the resistance....and the leds for fan activity dont work properly. probably would work if i just ran a single power, and individual grounds. but, no harm, and i can always chat with the manufacturer and request some new cables to revert to a stock condition or text more (for money/shipping at worst).

well i suppose its time for some finished pictures. i dont have a cool picture area, but maybe ill see if i can scrap one together soon. so, here it is:







as for OC results, i decided to sit at 4.2ghz with ht off. after doing tests and such, i was going to sit at 3.8 with ht on, and 1.39v, but i did some more playing around, and figure i really dont need ht. 4.0 and 3.8 were done with 200/20 and 19, while 4.2 is sitting at 200/21. remember, this is a c0 chip, so a lowly *1.43v* is required to maintain this speed! however, stress testing temps were great, only seeing the hottest core hit 69c. during bf3 the chip is in the 50's, so i suppose ill run her till she blows. i havent started on the gfx oc yet, i just maxed it in ccc. when i get back from this trip i have to take, (2 weeks) ill start in on that sucker.

i took the raptor out and put a reg 300gb hdd that i use for general storage in, as im always saving and pulling files from it. the raptors are going to sit in a small 2 bay rack and connect through the esata pci plate that came with the mobo, and be use for fraps 'in stuff. good times!!!