Silverstone Fortress FT01-SW Modding options?

Hey everyone.
This is my second (but first with a purpose) post here at XS. I've been lurking around for a while now, reading, getting ideas and tips.... felt it necessary to become a part of one of the communities I respect the most.

now, that being said, Here is my current dilemma, I'm working with the new FT01 and I have huge plans for this beautiful piece of Uni-bodied Aluminum.
But the thing about plans is that they need to be executed properly.
I've seen some beautiful works of art here, and i want this to become one as well.

Cable management will be resolved with a new modular PSU as well as better behind mobo tray cabling.
Should I Paint or Powder coat the interior black? Toss the Cold Cathode and go for a string of LED's? Oh, and dont worry, I will be stealthing that black optical drive... getting new dremel blades to trim off the sides of the bezel.

modders I need your input!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0304.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0305.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0306.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0307.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0308.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0309.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/IMG_0311.jpg

Hmmm since your in Canada I don't really know of any powdercoaters but if your willing to go to the US, I hear Cyberdruid (user at XS) has an excellent powdercoating service.

Find a unique look, if you REALLY want to go black inside that's OK, but don't just do black because everyone else does, try find a color you really like and make the whole case themed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SNiiPE_DoGG

...if you REALLY want to go black inside that's OK, but don't just do black because everyone else does...

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^^ Agreed!

Paint: It's cheaper and you can do it yourself, but it scratches more easily. You don't have to completely disassemble your case. You get the pride of saying you did it yourself when it comes out looking awesome.

Powdercoat: It's tough as can be, but more expensive and should be done professionally. Your case will need to be broken down all the way.

Another thing to think about: If you ever want to change the color or mod the sheetmetal in the future, powdercoat can make it more difficult.

I think I'll actually paint it myself... but the reason for the Black it to help mask the cabling and allow for whatever sleeving is visible to blend in with the black background. There is a guy here in windsor who would do powdercoating, but his process is 3 weeks..... is that normal? i thought it only took a few days...

As for Ghosting the drive, I think I'm going to go a different way..... i'll leave ghosting to the last resort. I'm also going to paint the DVD drive.... but it'll be done in such a way that it will be a brushed aluminum look so to match. I hope it turns out the way I hope, but it not, I can always ghost :D... I just wish the Lian Li Drive bay fit this case... such a great little bezel.

i have a FT-01B on the way. unfortunately it has the silver inside but i plan on painting it. I didn't really want a window. Im also going to be doing a full sleeving job and plenty of cable management.


sub'd to see what everyone else comes up with.

I've actually narrowed it down to what I want to do, I'm gonna do a Copper Basecoat then a brushed black coat to allow some of the copper to show through, should look incredable

Another thing to consider doing is removing the stock hard drive cage and replace it with a Lian Li one mounted longitudinally.

i will be removing the hard drive cages all together and using Scythe himuro drive enclosures in the 5.25" bays. those are just until i grow the balls to drop $150 on two Silent Drive 2002 enclosures :lol:

lol, see, I might go for one of the lian li ones, but my issue is this, I have three, soon to be four HDD's. I dont only use this as my gaming rig, but as well as my home theatre server and so on. All If done properly, I am confident I can make it work... I've got a few ideas floating around that would help tie everything in together, its just picking one thats the tough part

yeah i hear ya. i will be setting up a HTPC(similar to the one tremelose built) in the near future and if something else works out the way i hope it does ill be setting up a nice big home server as well.

I was also looking at the Lian Li's along with everything else I considered a "high end" mid-tower. The main thing I did not like about the Lian's was the power supply mounting. The use of a secondary bracket and the fact that the bracket is designed for a rear fan supply. I know they make a more current bracket but could not really find it in stock as buyable anywhere. Bottom mounted power supplies really limit your options on a mid-tower but I really think that is the way to go. My 620HX is a tank and I really wanted it on the bottom! I finally settled on the FT01 (black, no window). So things to watch for. CPU heat sink can not extend past the motherboard edge by much or it will hit the top fan grill. I am figuring less than 1/2". As you can see his Xigmatek does fit and I think it will for my DFI board as well. If you have side mounted SATA connectors like I do on my DFI it looks like it may be difficult to easily get all six cables through the acess slot. If you pull air in from the bottom with your power supply, at least with my 620HX, the vented grill is not centered. It actually blocks part of the fan opening at the rear, not a lot so I think it is okay.

i just got my FT-01(black, no window) and swapped my parts over. Here are a few pics. Please dont mind the messiness, its a work in progress. The interior will get painted, hard drives mounted differently, full sleeving job and cable management to come.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43...x/DSC01606.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43...x/DSC01614.jpg

hi there - i am thinking of getting one of these
question. could you fit a 240 rad in the gap between the bottom of the case and the bottom of the drive bay cage [or where the hdd racks go]

could you give me a measurement from the bottom of the case to the drive bay cage?

if anyone has watercooled one of these cases yet - i would love to see it and it would help me out a great deal!

so u want to know from the bottom of the 5.25 bays to the floor of the case? ill measure it tonight and let you know

yes please
from the floor of the case to the bottom of the drive bay rack
where the hdd racks go

thanks a lot dude

sorry, i passed out last night. ill take the measurement as soon as i get a chance today.

Would like to know these measurements too please.

Thanks

i suck guys :lol: sorry. i promise i will measure it when i get home from work today.

im going for a more efficiant 120 rad now was thinking of mounting it either above the lower hard drive cage, if not - where ever else it will fit

The best place to mount the120 mm radiator is at the back of the case with the rear fan pulling air through it. If you are prepared to do some modding you can fabricate an adapter mounting plate for a 120 mm fan hole to replace the stock 180 mm fan and from it to attach the rad, fan and a MountainMods drive cage assembly.

thought it would come with a black-powdercoated interior.

& aren't those 180s loud? & are they moving any air?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emoners

thought it would come with a black-powdercoated interior.

& aren't those 180s loud? & are they moving any air?

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the windowed version comes with a black interior....i wish the non-windowed came with a black interior...im going to take care of that when i paint mine though.


the 180's aren't loud at all. they move decent air and there are very few(if any) 180mm upgrades. you can however downgrade to 120mm fans since the locations all for it.

I want to know if the Fortress 180 mm fan mounts can accomodate 120 mm fans.

yes they do.

2 reviews I've found, which might help :)

Bit-Tech

Mod Brothers

Hey guys,
the modding will take a little bit longer then expected... money is tight, so I'm working longer hours = no mod time lol....

But it'll give me time to work on more ideas....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rjkoneill

yes please
from the floor of the case to the bottom of the drive bay rack
where the hdd racks go

thanks a lot dude

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Om3n

Would like to know these measurements too please.

Thanks

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i measured from the floor of the case to the bottom of the 5.25" drive bays.....

it comes out to just about 9" exactly. 9" * 25.4mm = 228.6mm.

Finally started seeing this case in Australia and holy crap it's so cheap. Should be good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MomijiTMO

Finally started seeing this case in Australia and holy crap it's so cheap. Should be good.

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approximately how much is it? is it half the TJ07/TJ09?

too small for a 240 rad - i think a 120 may fit

yeah a 240 wouldnt fit but if you chopped the first drive bay out ud be fine. im sure u could make something work out.

Hey guys,

I've decided to start on modding my FT01. I had thought about going about getting the case sandblasted then re-coated, but i've actually decided against it. I think I really do like the silver powder coating, and it can work very well with what I'm thinking of doing.

Here is my work list as of now in no particular order.

1) Fab template of Internal Air/Cable Management - Done
2) Sleeve PSU and case cables
3) Fab Acrylic panels from templates.... (input needed)
4) Toolless Drive System Removal
5) DVD-R Drive Stealthing
6) Logo Design
7) LED fabs
8) Sata Arrangement

Will add more when everything comes to mind.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, here is what I have planned this far

I've fabricated, out of cardboard, what I want to do to hide the drivebays and add for a wind tunnel effect.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Box-shot2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Box-shot1.jpg

What is left to do is decide of the color of acrylic.
I was thinking Non Transparent back to contrast directly with the silver coating but will come together nicely with the other colors in the build... mainly the black on the mobo, and the Blue comming off the leds.

What do you think?

As well, you won't notice that around the PSU cover, but there is a rectangular hole. This is where I will have a peice of frosted glass, with my custom logo inlayed.... I dont know how I'm going to do this as of now... but its the idea...
Behing this logo will be a single led to make it pop a little bit.... blue or white... Im thinking white..

Here is a quick look at the logo that will be incorporated somewhere in the build ;)

Another update and Question...
I'm gonna get the TRUE Black any day now, but I'm kinda stuck on what fan to put on it.... The CM fan I have on my Xigmatek isn't gonna cut it. Needs to be black.... and I think that it should have a blue LED and high static pressure...
I like that AeroCool Xtreme Turbine Black But, I hear that there is shotty quality, but it does move a lot of air.... I'm going to go for a push pull set up setup so |< TRUE< | So both fans need to have high CFM and high static pressure.... However, I don't want it to be insanely loud either. What do you guys recommend?

how about this one? CoolerMaster 90 CFM Blue LED Silent Fan 120mm

Thats actually the fan I'm using right now, and while thinking about it... its served me well.... I'm sure that if there was a three fan config such as |< - <True< | that there would be no problem keeping the CPU very cool. (specs in sig)

I got a couple of the quotes back in regards to the acrylic.
I have decided to change up the design a little bit. I'm going to wait untill I get the parts in to post whats going to happen, but its a different direction. I'm going to focus on brushed alluminum with Black cabling and a few accented Blue LED's for color. Also, I think there might be a custom made front drive bay panel might be in order soon.... more on that when it happens...

I'll prolly be doing an official "Build log" in the next week as well.... a few teasers until then :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattlef

Hey guys,

I've decided to start on modding my FT01. I had thought about going about getting the case sandblasted then re-coated, but i've actually decided against it. I think I really do like the silver powder coating, and it can work very well with what I'm thinking of doing.

Here is my work list as of now in no particular order.

1) Fab template of Internal Air/Cable Management - Done
2) Sleeve PSU and case cables
3) Fab Acrylic panels from templates.... (input needed)
4) Toolless Drive System Removal
5) DVD-R Drive Stealthing
6) Logo Design
7) LED fabs
8) Sata Arrangement

Will add more when everything comes to mind.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, here is what I have planned this far

I've fabricated, out of cardboard, what I want to do to hide the drivebays and add for a wind tunnel effect.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Box-shot2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Box-shot1.jpg

What is left to do is decide of the color of acrylic.
I was thinking Non Transparent back to contrast directly with the silver coating but will come together nicely with the other colors in the build... mainly the black on the mobo, and the Blue comming off the leds.

What do you think?

As well, you won't notice that around the PSU cover, but there is a rectangular hole. This is where I will have a peice of frosted glass, with my custom logo inlayed.... I dont know how I'm going to do this as of now... but its the idea...
Behing this logo will be a single led to make it pop a little bit.... blue or white... Im thinking white..

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i like where your going with this. it definitely gives me some ideas. ive had to put my project on the back burner for a little bit but eventually ill get it going and make it what i really want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theToX

i like where your going with this. it definitely gives me some ideas. ive had to put my project on the back burner for a little bit but eventually ill get it going and make it what i really want.

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Thanks!

I've actually changed up the design a little bit, things are gonna look a little differently, but the overall idea is still the same.
I had a few things priced out, in regards to Plexiglas work.... and i had chosen some brushed aluminum topped plexiglass, but at the cost I didnt seem to think it was worth it. So instead of a all brushed interiour, i'm going with a back on powdered silver....

So I'm not painting the motherboard tray at all, i'm going to leave it the silver coating. i am however, going to paint, (or order in black from Silverstone) everything else in the interior in black and lay some plexiglass as previous shown with cardboard.

I've also ordered some sleeving from MurderMod. But I don't think I'm going to do any accent sleeving... not yet, until I throw everything together and see how I can incorporate it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emoners

approximately how much is it? is it half the TJ07/TJ09?

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At about 10 of the shops down here it was about $100, many people ordered it at that price and got their money refunded.

Then the price went up to around $300. Complete waste of money seeing you can get the TJ07 for that price. :shakes:

Update----

I have the black version of the case coming in... modding the silver just was unpractical... so the silvers up for sale lol

heres some quick hit updates

Sleeving :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1mod/pcie1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1mod/pcie2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...01mod/psu1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...01mod/psu2.jpg

nice sleeving job. is that the murdermod sleeving kit?

that it is. great product

I'm gonna start my own FT-01 project in a week or so when I get some time. But now I'm just sitting back and reading what ideas you guys are coming up with. :up:

I don't really plan to mod the case so much other than powder-coating it and really focusing on cable management. That's most likely where most of the hacking will be done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rmrdr13

I'm gonna start my own FT-01 project in a week or so when I get some time. But now I'm just sitting back and reading what ideas you guys are coming up with. :up:

I don't really plan to mod the case so much other than powder-coating it and really focusing on cable management. That's most likely where most of the hacking will be done.

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To be honest, unless you want to route everything behind the mobo and have it seem like there are no cables at all, the FT-01 has fantastic cable management... I was just lazy when installing the PSU you see in the pics of the mockups lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattlef

To be honest, unless you want to route everything behind the mobo and have it seem like there are no cables at all, the FT-01 has fantastic cable management... I was just lazy when installing the PSU you see in the pics of the mockups lol

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I'm gonna try to get it as close to invisible as possible, but I love the ideas that you're coming up with. I might have to barrow a couple of them :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rmrdr13

I'm gonna try to get it as close to invisible as possible, but I love the ideas that you're coming up with. I might have to barrow a couple of them :D

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lol thats it, I'm patenting this sh*t lol :p:
I'm flattered that you would even want to borrow a few of them lol :D

Anyways.... Everything is now being shipped... and the rig should be assembled completely in a matter of a week? a few surprises... and a photo shoot in front of a..... fort? lol I live in Amherstburg, which is a semi famous battle point from the civil war and has an actual colonial fort, so I plan on taking some glamor pics in front of this said fort... maybe try to find a house that looks like a castle or something.....

I have asked one of my photographer friends to do the pics, because my camera will just not cut it... We'll see how it turns out.

Just a matter of days now;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0431.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0433.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0434.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0435.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0438.jpg



more to come... ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0440.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0441.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0442.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0445.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0447.jpg

can You close the case with TRUE inside? I'm wondering because someone somewhere wrote that TRUE is too high for FT01B-W :shrug:

just wonderin, what made u choose ur mind on the asus p5q-e. im still tryin to choose between the p5q-e and a dfi dk p45.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weelkoo

can You close the case with TRUE inside? I'm wondering because someone somewhere wrote that TRUE is too high for FT01B-W :shrug:

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It fits fine with my case... about around 20mm of space between the panel and the heatpipes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jdmR

just wonderin, what made u choose ur mind on the asus p5q-e. im still tryin to choose between the p5q-e and a dfi dk p45.

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I love asus, and was a huge fan of some of the features, including the on board power reset..... so, lol, it was the cheapest which had those features, that could overclock well.

what kind of #'s are u getting with the board. honestly i love the color scheme of the damn board

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weelkoo

can You close the case with TRUE inside? I'm wondering because someone somewhere wrote that TRUE is too high for FT01B-W :shrug:

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You almost gave me a heart attack there, i just bought Mattlef's Silver windowed FT01 that should be here on tuesday :D. When i read that i seriously almost died. (i have a true lol)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattlef

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...d/IMG_0447.jpg

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Im stalking you everywhere you go ;) lol im jk, ive been a member here for a hwile but all i do is snoop, dont usually post

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arekieh

You almost gave me a heart attack there, i just bought Mattlef's Silver windowed FT01 that should be here on tuesday :D. When i read that i seriously almost died. (i have a true lol)

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Mine FT01B-W is also on the way so I was very curious as I have TRUE also :)

Hey everyone.
I'm still waiting on some plexi to come in so I can finish it... but here are some of the pics of the rig 80% done.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0457.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0462.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0463.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0464.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0448.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0449.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0458.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0459.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0461.jpg

Just a couple of quick hit shots of the PSU cover installed....
more tweaking and final glamour shots comming....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...quickshot3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...quickshot2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...quickshot1.jpg

Good job mate,looks sweet!

I am extremely interested in purchasing this case for my next build. One thing that I would really like to know is rather the stock 180mm fans can be replaced with 120mm fans without much problem...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattlef

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...quickshot3.jpg

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What are the cutouts in the PSU cover for? It almost looks like a DVD drive...haha

Your build is very nice overall. My only complaint is how the cables go into the graphics card. I realize that since you sleeved each cable individually, it is harder to tuck them away, but there must be some way to make it so that there are not quite as many cables bulging out...

damn matt that looks great. ive put my project on hold for a while

looks awesome though

here is my FT01 B-W

the Final, Full spec is as follows:

Hardware
Silverstone FT01 B-W Case
Asus P5Q-E Motherboard
Intel Q9450 Processor
2X2GB Corsair Dominator PC2 8500 Memory
BFG 9800GTX with Thermalright TRad2 VGA Cooler + 2X92mm Sharkoon Fans
Corsair TX750W PSU
Western Digital 500Gb Hard Drive
Western Digital 80Gb Hard Drive
NEC DVDRW

Watercooling
TFC Xchanger 120 Radiator + Sharkoon 120mm Fan
EK Supreme Black Acetal CPU Waterblock
Laing DDC 10w Pump + XSPC Reservoir Top
Laing DDC 4 Point Anti-Vibration Damping Kit
Laing Damper Kit
XSPC Black Tubing 7/16"
DTek 1/2" Barbs
PrimoChill Pearl White Coils
Feser One Cooling Fluid

Case Mods and Misc
Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus Fan Controller
EVGA Black SATA Cables
Lian Li Fan Grille Module
Lian Li Radiator Brackets

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1136.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1137.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1138.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1139.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1140.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1141.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...d/100_1142.jpg

was it hard to put on the lian li fan bay?

it needed a rubber mallet and a little love - but it fits in VERY tightly

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Asulc

I am extremely interested in purchasing this case for my next build. One thing that I would really like to know is rather the stock 180mm fans can be replaced with 120mm fans without much problem...


What are the cutouts in the PSU cover for? It almost looks like a DVD drive...haha

Your build is very nice overall. My only complaint is how the cables go into the graphics card. I realize that since you sleeved each cable individually, it is harder to tuck them away, but there must be some way to make it so that there are not quite as many cables bulging out...

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lol, my build has a logo (first few posts), but it didnt come out at all like I thought. I'm thinking of re-doing the drivebay cover without the logocutout.

I, personally, like the idea of the gpu cables being out... like controled mayhem lol