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Finished rig (56k warning)

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:02 pm
by arsenal
All the tips and tricks I used to do the work were found in these forums, thanks to everyone who replied to any of my other threads.

I made this case to house my main gaming rig. The driving motive for the build was a stylish box with effects which could be turned off so that I could watch tv in the dark without being annoyed by a bright system. I also went out of my way to make sure the computer would be extremely quite and I'm proud to say that it cannot be heard unless you stand behind it and bend over 8)

Sleeving the PSU:
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Modding the case:
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Assembly:
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Wiring and lights:
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The mess:
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:32 pm
by scinju
Good work, but poor wire management. What did you do to make it quiet? And may I recommend some dampening and hard-drive suspending? Or is it really that quiet? Good work, in any case.

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:21 pm
by Mar.
It's watercooled..... whats the point in wire management?

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:33 pm
by Zyzzyx
Mar. wrote:It's watercooled..... whats the point in wire management?
1) Looks better
2) There's still case fans present for general cooling, so would improve the existing airflow

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:38 am
by Interitus
Nice work with the dremel!

and LMAO at the pic of you in the masks :lol:

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:27 am
by MonsterMac
Nice work on the "toxic" mod, it looks really sweet especially with those lights/psu cabling. Definately a great way to start a quiet gaming pc :D !

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:16 am
by ilh
Mar. wrote:It's watercooled..... whats the point in wire management?
If there are fans, then airflow must serve some purpose (like cooling HDDs).

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 3:46 pm
by arsenal
I'm not sure why anyone is talking down my wire management. There is an immense amount of wiring in that computer, especially with all the firewire/USB/SATA leads going to the motherboard and all the lighting and the fan controller. The large bundle of mobo power cables and the tubing to and from the waterblock cannot be put in a better location, so I had to admit some defeat there, but every other cable is out of the way.

However, wire management was only an exercise in organization for this computer. As you may have noticed my HD's and in 5.25" enclosures located at the top; smartdrive's to be percise. The fans are both undervolted to 7V (the max voltage for the fan controller) and the case is lined with sound insulation over most of its surface, except for that windowed panel, which doesn't reverberate thanks to the heavy steel sheet attached to it.

The fans are only ment to encourage moderate airflow to keep everything fresh for the PSU and videocard, both of which exhaust directly out of the case.

It's silent and I'm proud of it :o

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:39 am
by len509
Thanks for the great pics arsenal. You should probably cut out those fan grills and mount your fans using zip ties and rubber washers. Those purple fan holders transmit vibration throughout the case. Should be a piece of cake for someone who's as skilled as you with a dremel.

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 1:12 am
by Mr_Smartepants
Arsenal-
I know you're proud of your wire-sleeving and that's why you want it out front. But you claim that you can't put your wires anywhere else...What about like this...
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The wires can be routed through the hole behind the PSU to the drives without obscuring the airflow. Course you can't see them (or the cool sleeving) then. :lol:

Also, even with watercooling you still need adequate airflow for your northbridge and MOSFETs etc.

But if you're happy with your rig, then it doesn't REALLY matter what we think anyway.