C. Zoui's Heavily-Modified NSK3480 (updated Oct 17, 2008)

AMDforlife · Post by **AMDforlife** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:47 am

This case, and mod work, is seriously impressive, well done C Zoui.

My one "issue" / question is about the first pic: are the DVD / floppy bay's paint really that different-looking than the case? Those bays look nearly grey, I'm thinking it must be the camera and or lighting.

C. Zoui · Post by **C. Zoui** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:25 pm

Thank you all for your kind words. I'm glad I can inspire people in their work, just as those before me at SPCR provided the motivation I needed to experiment.

AMDforlife, the DVD and floppy are noticeably different in color than the rest of the bezel, but they're much closer to black than they are gray. I notice the contrast between the matte and gloss more than the color. I'm going to do a spring refresh of this build that will address this as well as other aesthetic and functional issues. I think you all will like it!

KyonCoraeL · Post by **KyonCoraeL** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:41 pm

I really like the front panel, it would look gorgeous with a glossy semi-transparent layer above it.

AMDforlife · Post by **AMDforlife** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:29 pm

Zoui, how can you live without front USB on your case?! lol

I guess your LCD could have a USB hub and that would suffice. I still like having as many easy to access USB ports as I can.

yuckhil · Post by **yuckhil** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:55 am

Excellent work! I have copied some of these mods. I find that the lower hole in the wall is unnecessary. You can route the SATA cables down against the inner wall, like you have done with the ATX 12V cable along the top corner, and the PCIe cable along the top-left fan strut opposite to the bottom-right strut that you have used.

I used step drill bits like these. After smoothing the 25 mm holes with a half-round file, I managed to squeeze all of the cables and connectors through the holes without separating the ATX connector. This action scraped the insulation on some of the wires, but nothing serious.

I have suspended the HDD above the DVD drive in order to improve intake of air from the ceiling vents. I need to buy a SATA cable with a reverse (upwards) right-angle connector for the DVD drive. Finally, I replaced the two blue LEDs with warm white LEDs and removed the 3.5" cage.

No front fan, no rear panel cut-outs, no front panel mods, stock HSF. I would love to use a passive CPU cooler, but I am reluctant to hang a heavy heatsink on the mobo. Would you mind testing your set-up with the front fan disconnected and let us know how much the temps rise? Thanks!

P.S. You have not mentioned that you swapped the side panels. CheerS!

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:49 am

yuckhil wrote:P.S. You have not mentioned that you swapped the side panels. CheerS!

Yeah, I concur that this is a very good trick to use if you don't need the extra airflow and want to block noise from coming out those vents. The side panels are symmetrical and interchangeable, and the right side panel has no vents. We use this trick on our audio PC.

average_joe · Post by **average_joe** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:21 am

MikeC wrote:
yuckhil wrote:P.S. You have not mentioned that you swapped the side panels. CheerS!
Yeah, I concur that this is a very good trick to use if you don't need the extra airflow and want to block noise from coming out those vents. The side panels are symmetrical and interchangeable, and the right side panel has no vents. We use this trick on our audio PC.

Indeed, I did the same thing on my Antec Mini P180 case too...

C. Zoui · Post by **C. Zoui** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:33 pm

There are many things I could continue to explore with this rig, but I need to put my time and money elsewhere. There will be no spring refresh as I originally planned. Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

hybrid2d4x4 · Post by **hybrid2d4x4** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:37 pm

Well done. At least all your hours of work paid off and the end result looks terrific!

C. Zoui wrote:This is not the kind of sanding you want to do by hand, unless you like pain and tedium.

Very true. I know this because I also refinished/painted the front bezel on my NSK2480 ... and did the sanding by hand. Never again, I say!