Taking a reg case and making it ROCK!

[MKmods]

Taking a reg case and making it ROCK! (Part 2 begins on page 15)

I have been modding for a while now (my first mod was here many moons ago). I have made quite a few origional cases and a few very advanced Lan boxes from Carbonfiber.
In meeting many people at LANs I have noticed that 95% use plain ol reg stamped steel cases.
In this log I am going to take one of those cases and turn it into a whole different monster..

 

[Skrabrug]

I'm interested in seeing how this mod will turn out

 

[calvary1980]

last month I had a dream of an Acrylic ATX Cube with Chambers on the Side Panels with Distilled Water and Plastic Fish. when I woke up I started to jot it down then I remembered this Toy when I went to Australia to my Brother wedding it was a Acrylic Box with 2 Frogs and it was some kind of Mercury you shake it.

what are the benefits of Carbon Fiber?

- Christine

 

[Silverel]

Lightweight, hard, non-conductive, and black.

 

[calvary1980]

carbon fiber can't be cheaper? and wouldn't you have to construct the chassis out of carbon fiber plastic otherwise coating it over steel would be kinda pointless? what kind of mods are you going to do to the rosewill case?

- Christine

 

[MKmods]

last month I had a dream of an Acrylic ATX Cube with Chambers on the Side Panels with Distilled Water and Plastic Fish. when I woke up I started to jot it down then I remembered this Toy when I went to Australia to my Brother wedding it was a Acrylic Box with 2 Frogs and it was some kind of Mercury you shake it.

what are the benefits of Carbon Fiber?

- Christine

carbon fiber can't be cheaper? and wouldn't you have to construct the chassis out of carbon fiber plastic otherwise coating it over steel would be kinda pointless? what kind of mods are you going to do to the rosewill case?

- Christine

Carbonfiber is quite a bit MORE than other materials. As for the Rosewill case I plan on making a guide for others on how to improve the cooling of their similar cases.

 

[Fitseries3]

oh, believe me... if you haven't seen this guy on OCN.... your in for a treat! wait till you see his fans!!!

 

[calvary1980]

oh cool are those air ducts or just rubber trim? how do you apply the carbon fiber with an epoxy or some other adhesive? I think I would be interested in applying that on Case Panels for Scratch Resistant?

- Christine

 

[MKmods]

EDIT:

oh cool are those air ducts or just rubber trim? how do you apply the carbon fiber with an epoxy or some other adhesive? I think I would be interested in applying that on Case Panels for Scratch Resistant?
- Christine

Sorry Christine I missed this post..I mod the fans round than use a piece of rubber trim around them, it allows the fans to be swiveled to adjust airflow(and eliminates the ugly screws) The Carbonfiber is applied with a 2 part epoxy than after curing I add a 2 part Polyurethane over it to give it more depth,gloss.


Ok now on to the Rosewill. As you can see its similar to many other cases, stamped steel and perforated holes for fan grills(VERY restrictive).

the exhaust is made for either a 80 or 90mm fan. I plan on using two 80s as there is not enough room for a 120mm fan

One thing I like is the holes in the mobo tray (good for aiding cooling of the back of the mobo)

Here it is with the hardware installed

The case is less deep than other cases so there is room for the 8600GTs but there is interference with the 8800GT with the Hdds

I ran it for 20 min playing CSS and TF2 and the temps were NUTTS, the FX62 was in the upper 70s and the GPUs were in the 50C range. A good reason for part of the CPU temp was the crummy alum cooler but it was obvious there was poor airflow in stock form

 

[calvary1980]

another idea, what about castors on the bottom with a shroud for air, it looks so bare!

- Christine

 

[Fitseries3]

just wait and you'll see!!!! i know whats comming!

 

[MKmods]

one shroud coming right up...
I am not using H20 to cool this because it is designed for people who dont want the expense or bother of H20.

just wait and you'll see!!!! i know whats comming!

LOL, you cheater

 

[calvary1980]

*scratches her chin in suspicion* did you pencil in for a shroud or air filter looks like it.

- Christine

 

[Fitseries3]

this is just funny. it's going in fast forward. no one gets that he has this stuff done already. wait till you see the fan!

damn mark, you mod fast!

 

[MKmods]

Ok I disassemble the case removing the HDD rack. I cut out the back panel to fit the two 80mm fans.

For painting "metal" i like to use "self etching Primer" as it grabs the metal better. Now most cases are painted or plated with some coating to prevent rusting. The coating is MUCH better than what most of us could apply so I DONT sand it all off.
What I like to do is wash the parts with mild dish soap to remove surface grease (remember every time you touch the metal with your fingers it leaves a bit of grease)

try to not handle the parts too much, I like to barely touch the ends/corners.

After they dry I scuff them a bit with some 320grit (try to get the corners too) you dont need to work crazy hard here just scuff the surface to give the primer something to grip to. Now I put on a couple of coats of primer. There are different colors of primer (gray,red balck)too so if you are gonna paint your case white dont choose a black primer, lol

READ THE CAN DIRECTIONS, this is one of the most important things. If it says paint in 70 degrees F. try to paint in 70F(as close as you can) also do not use cold paint to paint a warm part. If the can feels cold set it in a bucket of warm water for 5 min to warm it up (sprays better) and if it says several light coats are better than use a few light coats (if the paint runs thats a VERY heavy coat)

A Very important Part is to let the paint dry first. I am always impatient and usually dont wait long enough, in the best case scenario will let the top coat scratch easy and worst case the top coat may dissolve the primer and make a mess.

After the primer dries I lightly sand it with about a 400grit (I use what I have laying around, 320,360 400,600) Than its time for the color coat.
There are basically 2 types of paint we use in cans Enamel and Lacquer. Enamel dries slower and is thicker but tends to be more glossy. Lacquer is duller but dries faster (much) and goes on thinner. If you spray lacquer over a Enamel Primer you need to MAKE SURE you let the enamel primer dry or the solvents in the Lacquer will eat up the enamel. Enamel uses a milder thinner and will not ruin lacquer primer as easy. So I like to use Lacquer for the Primer (read the can because a bunch of primers are Enamel) If you want a shiny top coat and you use a Lacquer for the color coat that you will probably need a clear top coat (again make sure the paint is dry before covering it with another paint)

Some people sand the top color coat (if using Lacquer for the color coat) before adding the clear, if you do make sure its dry and us a very fine sand paper (like 1000 or 1500grit) sand it lightly(just enough to get rid of the dust or roughness) This works with Lacquer as it dries in about a half hour or less.

I usually dont cover Enamel with a clear because it can take weeks for the enamel to dry.(it dries from the outside in)

[

 

[calvary1980]

what is that a delta fan? very nice finish, 2 week cure in 2 minutes!

- Christine

 

[MKmods]

what is that a delta fan? very nice finish, 2 week cure in 2 minutes! - Christine

Nope I make special Silenx fans for my mods

And good point Cavary, letting the paint and primer dry properly really helps to prevent easy scratches

this is just funny. it's going in fast forward. no one gets that he has this stuff done already. wait till you see the fan!
damn mark, you mod fast!

Normaly I dont mess with the top as I like air to enter the front and exit the rear. When you add side and top fans it interferes with the airflow. But in this comp I am using a NorthQ fanless PS with a mesh case (lol, liars there is a small 70mm fan inside)

So I am cutting a vent (no fan) to help cool the top of the ps and allow excess heat to escape if needed

I cut the hole with a pair of tin snips and lined it with molding I got from MNPCtech.com

Here is a shot of the 2 80mm exhausts

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

Hey MK
good to see you again
i think... ;-)

 

[MKmods]

Hey MK
good to see you again
i think... ;-)

You think?

Talk about a blast from the past... hows life going Sir Mustang?

 

[Fitseries3]

damnit MK, my PM box on OCN keeps filling from people asking what happened!!!

 

[MKmods]

Ok I grabbed a scrap of perforated alum and bent myself a grill for the exhaust fans

I really like working with the perforated alum as it is easy to bend,cut and I can use the holes like a guide.

Here is what the front looks like

That just wont do, so out come the tin snips and now there are a pair of 120mm fans free to breath

 

[Cold Storm]

wow man, for 20 dollar case, you sure make it look good so far!

 

[MKmods]

thank you CS..
here is a shot of the exhaust fan grill and PS mounted

I will be using a AC Freezer for a cooler and I like to color them a bit, here is a shot with the base coat

Here it is with a bit of anodize blue finish

Im not worried about painting the top plate raising temps (1st because I have done it a bunch of times before and 2 its only the top plate)

Here is a shot of the modders mesh painted with the same blue

notice the PS below, its mesh as well and this vent will allow heat to escape

 

[Frogger]

I'm caught now I'll have to see the END shot LOL

 

[Cold Storm]

pretty nice there.. never thought about painting the top of my heatsink... and your welcome man