Project: Dark Matter

[64dragon]

Hey guys, this will be my first real case mod/project log. I've liked the Lian Li V1200/2000's for a while and was quite disappointed when they were discontinued almost a year ago for the new ones that are regular ATX. A couple weeks ago I shelled out the cash for a v1200b plus II while they can still be found and have decided to make this the case for my main rig and my TJ07 will become my media pc case. I spend more time on/next to my main rig and if I am gona get a new case I want to be able to look at it.

Hardware is pretty much what I have listed in sig but will be upgrading my vid card, most likely to a gtx 260 core 216. I will be sticking with air cooling...for now (can't afford water) but I may upgrade to a TRUE and see if I can get my OC any higher. I'm currently at 3.5ghz but have been able to boot at 3.9ghz 1.4vcore in bios but load volts is more what i'd be worried about since I crunch WCG and am at full load 24/7. I like keeping my temps around 45C at load according to everest, any higher makes my room too hot.

Hardware:
Asus Maximus II Formula
Intel Xeon X3330 ES
Corsair Dominator 2x 2gb 1066
Evga 7900gs → too be upgraded
PC P&C 750W

I want to keep this looking clean and love what I see around here of cases with black interiors (like murdermod's and boxes, clean and black) so my first step was to get the interior powder coated black. When I ordered the case I sent it straight to Cyberdruid and had him work his magic. A week later I received the case and must say that it is stunning. My jaw dropped when I pulled the side panel off.

enough of my babble, on with the pics

yes, actually taken after the top was cut cause the first set of pics were grainy and i couldn't justify showing them


showing the contrast between the gray of the hard drive rails and black of the powder coat




Since there is only 1 fan in the top half of the case (ignoring the pci bracket fan cause I won't be using it especially once I get a window), I wanted space for more fans and the best place is the top panel. So, the next thing on my list of mods was to cut the top panel for a 2x120mm rad gill.

While reading charles_h's newest project log, I got an idea on what to use to cut the pattern out. I don't have a RotoZip and am not going out and buying one just for this. I do have a dremel and like the idea of the bit instead of using cut off wheels. So, I used the bit pictured below and set the speed to 8



I was able to cut out the pattern pretty quick, threw on the sanding wheel and touched up an edge or two and am quite happy with the results of my first major cut. One edge is a little wavy but I can fix that later. If I could do it again i'd clamp down a strip of wood or something to use as a guide to help keep me straighter.

[lkiller123]

nice
looking foward to more progress
btw how much is it for the powder coating?

[CyberDruid]

That's looking sweet. You did good on the rad cutout.

PM for details on Powdercoating.

[Oats]

The cutout looks great for not using a guide. It is hard to keep the dremel going where you want sometimes.

[64dragon]

thanks guys.

i was able to move my parts into the case Sunday but didn't have time for pics since it was dark out when i finished. Depending on weather and lighting i may be able to get some up this weekend of the parts in...but i'm still a ways from having the project finished.

btw how much is it for the powder coating?

powder coat was $175 plus shipping. it is expensive but i think it was well worth it especially for the labor involved to drill out all of the rivets, coat it and re-assemble the case.
performance pcs offers a powder coat service and i started getting a quote from them but was told it would be over $300.

[StickyRICE]

That's gonna look cool as hell, can't wait to see some updates.

[Angmaar]

Looks pretty cool so far! Good luck!

[64dragon]

Did a first run of cable management Sunday but when i finished i was dark out, so no natural light for good clean pics. But a lil bit ago i got bored and decided to try and take some pics in my dimly lit room. I think i got luck and chose the right settings for ISO, shutter speed and stuff cause they came out better than i expected.

all the green sleeved cables will be resleeved in regular UV green as i no longer care for the ogre color and all those parts/cables are from my last build. other cables will be sleeved black. i'm just not sure what will end up what color yet, i think sleeving will end up being last on the list while the other mods fall into place







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and a little hint of what is to come (the green in the top panel...which will fill the whole grill, that was just a test)

[64dragon]

time for a lil update

i was hoping to have more details ironed out about what exactly i wanted to do with the case and mods but ended up finding a girlfriend last week and the only time i've been home is for sleep and getting ready for work.

i had originally planed to have a UV green theme, this would have been easy cause i could have cathodes on top next to the UV green rad grill as i showed in the last pic above. I would also have some of the wires sleeved green, green led ring vandal power switch and depending on how things worked out, green UV fans for my Dominator Fan Module.

However, the other day i got an idea to do a red theme. i love the red led on the front of the case and a red theme would go well with my evga gtx 260 core 216 that i just picked up last week. So, i'm now thinking of doing red, non UV sleeving and getting white cathodes to illuminate the inside. if i were to go this route, i'm not sure what to do with the top panel, i could get a UV blue rad grill to do the same thing i did with the green one but would need to keep the UV cathodes blocked from the rest of the case. the UV blue grill would go well with the blue illumination of the Supremefx logo on the stock sound card supplied with my Maximus II Formula. With the red, i could still do a red vandal switch and fans for the Dominator.


so, i need your opinions. should I go red or green?

[lee143]

I'd say red, green is a much more common theme. Red would look very nice with the black contrast.

[P4rD0nM3]

That's a nice sleeve! Where did you buy it?

[64dragon]

thanks lee143. now, if only more ppl would comment

i got it from performance pcs http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=2262
i like the 1/8th and 1/4 inch (on fans) but dont like the look of the larger stuff (on sata cable). and its not very UV reactive cause of the black strands in the weave

anyone know where i can get white A.C. Ryan cathodes? their the only brand i've had that lasted longer than 6 months

.

[Chris_redfield]

I love that case.

I was really disappointed when Lian Li discontinued a whole bunch of their cases as well so I bought a V2100 whilst I could still get my grubby little mits on one. Its sat here right now awaiting modification.

[VisBits]

Very nice!! However.. I feel that your video card is lacking in size

[64dragon]

Very nice!! However.. I feel that your video card is lacking in size

thanks VisBits. no worries, the vid card has been replaced. 2 Thursday's ago (the 5th) i received my evga gtx 260 core 216, today was the 2nd time i got to play a game on it. i downloaded the free copy of Mirror's Edge and played that briefly and just stopped playing Need for Speed Most Wanted which looks many times better with the new card. i'll have to reinstall half life 2 and halo 1 and 2.

i'll get some new pics up asap

[64dragon]

finally have time for an update...and pics to show. They are not the best and i will be taking new ones once i get my brothers camera again and some nice pic taking weather.

WARNING: I am in progress and have prepared for my next step, sleeving the psu. Dark Matter is looking a little more like Frankenstein at the moment since stock sleeving has been removed.


first one, normal power switch replaced with a red led vandal

and behind door number 2...

I moved the stock power switch to a 5.25 bay and put it behind a CD drive door and added two toggle switches to control my lights





now time for two attempts at being artsy

[cobra_kai]

Looks great so far! What kind of bit is that for the top panel cut?