Work Log: Old Skool Silence...

[ATi_Loyalist]

so ive been fiddling around with this old compaq prosignia 300 server, specs were a P1 66mhz, 64mb of ram (a ton back then) 2 scsi HDs, not sure of the size, and a scsi cd rom. i gutted it, cleaned it, and im brainstorming now, but i would like some feed back on my ideas so far. the PSU will be a seasonic super tornado, with a 120 in the bottom, but the PSU will be mounted vertically, in the 5.25 drive cage. the CD rom will be mounted in the floppy bay, AFTER i expand it, and drill some new holes. the floppy cage will be converted into a HD rack that will be mounted in a plastic enclosure of some sort, lined with sound material, to isolate the fan, but still bring in around 60cfm. there will be a rear mounted 120 as well, but im not sure if i should put a 92 possibly, because of airflow. another idea i had was to make the case have negative pressure, and seal all the holes, so air would be forced to go in thru a filter. its an AT case, so the back panel will have to be resdesigned, and it only has 5 PCI openings, so i will have to get a PCI cage thing from another case, or make one with 7 slots, or just move the current one up, since i wont use the bottom 2 PCI slots anyways. as for the front panel, ehhh...bondo. i would like to come up with somethign uniqe though, just have to wait and see i guess.

the main goal of this PC is to be silent, old skool, and 100% kick ass.

feedback on these ideas is appreciated, and more to come this week and next, i should be starting actual work soon.


btw, the paint will be a midnight purple type look.

http://members.cox.net/monkey46/com_1.htm

anyways, a small update, got the 2 120mm enermaxes for the front and rear intakes:

heres some pics of the midnight purple finish, and please not that the silver specks are under a layer of translucent purple, and the effect is rather nice in real life, these pics are horrible compared to the finish as you see it normally...

update: friday march 5, 2004, finished the hole in the front for the 120, the grill will not stay, its just there to hold the fan in place(screw holes are a smidge too big :x

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Small update: went to ace hardware, picked up some screws, but im having a hell of a time, because the cd rom and the mobo interfere with each other by about 1/2" which i will have to make up by extending the rear panel out slightly, and fudging the cd drive out a bit, i have some headroom to work with, but they will be pretty tight once everything is in there....

i will use the backpanel from an old HP pavillion for the I/O shield and PCI covers, and one thing about this project, is that i am going for a case that will accomadate newer hardware when the time comes, so everything will be standard, but custom at the same time. if that makes any sense. a few brainstorms on intake ideas include some sort of honeycomb grill intake, depressed in the plastic, and bondo'ed so it blends smoothly, ideas for the cd drive include something with metal accent plates, similar to alonso bistro's case, (thanks man, you have inspired me), or something with an integrated cover, so it almost appears stelth, but since stealthed drives are overdone anyways, i might stray away from that. wiring will be completely integrated into the case, including molexes that pop out of nowhere, only where they are needed, and nowhere they are not. same goes for other connectors, i might even attempt to flip the ATX power connector over to the backside of the mobo, but thats pretty risky...and tedious, still unsure there.

as for the rear intake area, there will be a box or some sort with an integrated filter that can be easily removed, as well as some sort of noise dampening system for the rear intake, same goes for the front, the intake fan will be buried deep inside the system so as to produce as little noise as possible.

plans for the top include a window, with accent pieces, somewhat inspired my alonso bistro, but more of a real world example of my imagination for this project.

the paint will start out as black, with a silver gradient, starting at the front, then purple metalcast over all of it, i have already done some test pieces and the look is amazing.

pics:
sorry, a little blurry, but this paint is hard to capture.

this is a view looking down the back of the case, the back IO slot, and PCI slots were from an old HP case i had to chop up, lots of jigsaw work, fun!

heres a closeup of the JB welded areas, along with part of the fan cover, where the rear 120mm intake will be mounted.

random image of ideas for the grill area around the PSU:

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Mounted the fan, and finished the back plate etc, just need some bondo to make everything flow together here, then paint.

Ok, March 21, got some more work done today, mounted the HD in the enclosure, that will stop vibration and noise, and still keep the hard drive cool, which is one problem with sandwiching the HD in foam, is the temps increase greatly. this method will allow efficient cooling of the HD, and still eliminate noise and vibration generated by it, it looks a litle ghetto, but it is extremely functional. and with some foam padding inside this little box, the benefit will be huge.

Also, i cant take credit for the idea, i must give credit to Bluefront over at SilentPCReview for this wonderful idea, and i have simply modified his brainstorm to suit this project.

Pics:

This is a diagram of what the airflow will look like, i am planning on using the 120 intake for double duty, both cooling the HD, and the video card thru passive cooling on the high profile barton 2500 heatsink on the video card, the air will then go around the card, and up to the CPU, the PSU will feature a seperate "air channel" if you will, with a grill in the front, a filter, and the large 120 mm fan on the PSU i will be using, the air will flow easily out of the top of the PSU, since it will be mounted vertically.

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Front panel bondo finished: March 24, 2004.

Finally, a few highs, and a headache later, the bondo is done, now to paint it, does anyone have some sugestions/tips on painting plastic/bondo? i used spot/glazing putty if it matters.

also, the vents, are for the PSU, which will be mounted in front of them, and were glued into place with plastic epoxy.

stay tuned, coming soon: fan controller, CD drive, and metal with socket head cap screws!

April 06, 2004.

This past weekend i have been working little by little on this project, and have finally made some pregress that actully looks good, not just progress that is crucial, but rather ugly(the HD container, heh...)

Anyways, i made a plexi faceplate, for my spiffy new sunbeam rheobus that came in the mail last week. and i went orac3 style with some socket head cap screws i picked up at Ace hardware. the PSU, is now fully mounted, and complete. except the fan, which will be painted white. i think i might swap the fan for a higher powered one though, since the stock 120 moves hardly any air, and with the fan blowing up, instead of down, i am a little concerned about the heat. especilly when i have no more warranty on a brand new $90 PSU.... :shock:

on to the pics:

Faceplate:

mounted in the front bezel:

random image, looking down

PSU mounted and peachy:

white fan...so innocent, yet so evil...

so i leave you, hopefully another cosmetic update this weekend. front panel possibly. modding is a hobby, no deadlines, ill get to it when i feel like it.

 

[awdark]

Wow looking very nice so far
Hrmm I think I might try for that hdd enclosure

 

[IYIENACE]

Looking great. Definitely want to see how it turns out.

 

[codeflux]

nicely done so far - but i think the hard drive cooler is a bit of an overkill.

 

[Garage81]

that HD enclosure reminds me of where they keep Magneto in the XMen movies..

great work so far,

 

[LyL18]

Originally posted by Garage81
that HD enclosure reminds me of where they keep Magneto in the XMen movies..

lol thats great. I loved that movie. expecially how he got out of it

 

[B1zz]

<3 Sunbeam rheobus...

i love mine, makes wiring(at least in my case) _SO_ much easier and cleaner, PLUS i can turn down the "noisemakers"

also thats lookin quite nice so far...keep it up

~B1zz

 

[emorphien]

If you want to get better pictures of your sparkly paint, try putting the camera on a tripod (cuz it may be difficult to hold doing this) or something sturdy and hold a piece of copier paper about 6" to a foot away from the flash on the camera and use the built in flash. Just make sure you don't block the camera lens (duh).

(god this site is being so slow for me to post to today, anyone else noticing this?)

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Update 4-27, Purple LEDs, accent piece, and backpanel progress.

Ok, so the purple LEDs came in today, thanks to the hong kong guy. i have been working on the accent piece whenever i can since my last update, and its still not done. but here are some progress pics, the back panel, and all internal parts are completely finished, the chassis is completely white, with clearcoat, front bay devices are painted white, completed, purple LEDs have been installed in the fan controller, and they are a true, deep purple. its amazing, cameras cannot capture light below ~450nm though, these LEDs are 405nm, so they look a different color than they really are. the backpanel, was sanded bondoed, and sanded again, primed, painted, painted again, and clearcoated 2 times. it looks very nice IMO and i am happy with the results. i know the i/o sheild is missing, i just havent put it back on yet, but it will be black, as will the PCI slots and other things. the fan filter is for the PSU, which now blows down, and i still have to squeeze some mesh in there somehow, i have a little less space that i originally accounted for, so i might have some trouble there, the mobo side, will have a circle cut out, and a smaller circle mounted inside, on standoffs, directly to the chassis, it will be in the shape of the cross out circle thing, with a speaker logo etched on some plexi, and of course will glow purple, and have an accent piece similar to that of the PSU one. thank you to anyone who actually reads everything i type, i do type it all for a reason.

images:

the PSU cord will have an acutal jack, and a switch mounted on the back, even though the PSU is in the front, imagine the comments at lans .

thanks for reading, and hopefully i will update a bit more often from now on.

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Hey Guys, i havent had much time to work on this case lately, but today was my last day at school, so i will have a ton of time in the next month, leading up to PDXLAN, to work on this, as of right now, i am finishing up the accent piece on the top of the PSU, and i have a second hole cut for a 120mm blowhole, the fan is done, Purple LED fan, clear bladed enermax, with 4 purple LEDs added, frame will be white, much like the other 'small' type parts...so yeah, thats where im at right now, and here is a teaser of the LED fan, and the accent piece, still in progress, not final pics.. keep in mind.

thanks for your comments:

Thanks again.

 

[lessthanjakejohn]

awesome, especialy love the front mounter psu and the plastic 'cover' on the front

 

[agrikk]

Where did you get that white filter gauze stuff? I've been looking for that stuff for my next project.

Does it come in black?


Agrikk

 

[rogue_jedi]

looks pretty cool so far. is it getting a window?

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

rouge-jedi, No window, at least, its not in the plans, but of course, the best things, usually come unplanned

agrikk, i picked it up at ace hardware

thanks guys.

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Massive update, got a considerable amount of work done over the last 2 weeks, since i have been out of school, i have plenty of time to work, and there is plenty of work to do, 3 weeks till PDX...im sweating a little bit now...

Pics:

Starting off, the 120mm top exhaust, mounted over the CPU, to remove excess heat buildup, in preliminary testing, with the cover on, the fan lowered CPU temps by about 4-5C, there was a ton of heat getting trapped in the top rear area of the case.

Fan was primed, sprayed with white high gloss enamel, then clearcoated 3 times, of course, sanded with 1000 grit paper in between coats.

Of course, with purple LEDs w00t

Next 4 pics are of the custom fan adapter i whipped up the other day, the top piece is just clear acrylic, and the round part, was an ABS plastic drain adapter, with the ends cut off, then epoxied to the plexi mounting plate. of course, with the same white enamel+clearcoat treatment.

Ok, here is that damned accent piece(one of 4 or 5 probably...) that i finally finished this week, still a couple rough spots, that have been filed, since i took these pics..

Mmmm, sheet steel. picked it up at capitol metals, for $10. its huge, .26g, plain steel, it will be used for more accent plates, wahoo...(i think)

Ok, the duct(which will be painted white w/ clearcoat later) is from an old HP air intake manifold thingy, and it fits perfect, all it does is duct the cool air from the HD enclosure intake, up towards the video card, and it works damn well too.

Purple LEDs soldered on tails, to the starter kit(borrowed from the mobo cube)

Ok, heres the good part, i decided to test out the whole purple paint thing, painted the router with black high gloss enamel,

MMMM, thats high gloss!

Then the silver gradient:

And next, the purple clearcoat, to say the least it turned out amazing, but there were a few slight complications, im working on it now, but i will have pics of the finished paint once i do a little more work...so ill leave you on the edge of your seats until then. heh, cheers everyone

 

[kill_emma]

I've been looking forward to seeing another of your cases. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[JEEVES/whohasmyname?]

can you post a pic of the can of purple clear coat you are using. Is it a stainded glass spray paint or something diffrent?

JEEVES

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

I've been looking forward to seeing another of your cases. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Heh, thanks, nice to see some fans that still remember my first case

can you post a pic of the can of purple clear coat you are using. Is it a stainded glass spray paint or something diffrent?

The purple clearcoat isnt the stained glass stuff, i looked at that as well, but i ended up going with purple duplicolor metalcast.

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

Thanks for your comments everyone!

Sub update, disaster strikes...finished the purple paint, had some slight problems though, hopefully someone can help me out. Anyways, like i always do, i let the purple clearcoat dry for 3 full days, then i sanded with 1500, and sprayed it with regular clearcoat, just to make it nice and glossy, but i got some massive peeling, in the area where the screened linksys logo was, here is a pic:

keep in mind this has never happend before, just in this one isloated location... the rest came out perfect

Here is a shot, where the paint comes off as a midnight purple:

Overall shot:

High gloss:

Two more money shots of the metallic gradient in action:

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

done.

 

[R@Mo]

WOW!!!

 

[ATi_Loyalist]

More here: http://members.cox.net/monkey46/final.htm
Thanks for your feedback and support everyone!

 

[JEEVES/whohasmyname?]

That turned fantastic, I just love it. Had my doubts from the first few pics but man did it turn out nice. Just one question why did you decide on the mute symbol for the right pannal?

JEEVES

 

[jayjaya29]

Just to signify what the case is all about. To be quiet. The case turned out awesome, the accent pieces are one of a kind. The whole case came together real well. Great work.