Project: Eldritch

[NFC]

I finished writing the worklog, but I'm too beat to match up the pictures and format the post. I'll have it up later today though. =)

Here is a random image from the log:



See you guys tomorrow!

[gatecrasherlok]

That is one of the most awe inspiring worklog reads I've read for quite some time. You've definately set a hard act to follow for other upcoming projects.

[Mabyboi]

I have had nothing but fun when reading your work log, the great things are that you made it a story, you include all of your mistakes and how you fix them, and yes. i do love the mom jokes.

Very nice looking case! cant wait to see the finished pictures!

[soundood]

very nicely done NFC, i have followed the whole thread closely, but usualy dont comment until finish,

so many cases are put together now a days, that it is very hard to come up with something that is truly original, you have not only achieved this, but have put togther something that i think, looks stunning, i look forward to your finish build log.

sleep well

[LogAn'sRun]

man, that case is awesome! I wonder how full off awesome it would be in 4mm Alu????? :drool:

[trekie86]

I gotta say, not only have you created an awesome case, but you didn't scimp on the contents of it either. Way to go! I wish I had this kind of skill.

[NFC]

Thank you guys for your kind words and support. This really motivates me into making another log for my next build, which is coming up quick.

What I meant earlier is basically, well look at the top of the case and then picture the bottom of the case looking exactly the same... now picture the front and back each looking the same too. Basically just like that black trim shape you have on the side of the case. So instead of being flat on the bottom front and back it looks like there are four handles instead of just two on the top?

The airflow could be from bottom to top and you could have one rad at the very bottom and another rad just above it and each rad has a set of fans to try and force the airflow over the rads faster and up out the top of the case faster too.

Ahhh, gotcha. My next build is a bit crazier than this (yeah, I already have started...sad huh?) but in the future I will honor your comments and see if I can put some more symmetry into the case. Funny you should mention that though...the original design was like that, with the "handle" shapes echoed on the bottom. I changed that because I thought it looked boring...As far as the radiators, I am kinda happy with the cooling though...37C on the CPU at 4.2Ghz in Vantage "high" preset.

I like how I read through here and see you giving away stuff you took from me :P

Anyway... post finished picture!

But Dean, this was my SHOUTOUT to you! Besides, I saw that Scrabble set I gave you for Christmas on Craigslist...Like anyone could guess Cool Thing's identity...(don't inside jokes rock?)

Right, pictures. I guess it makes the most sense to continue the worklog...so where was I. Oh yeah, the reservoir.

I needed to work on the back plate for the reservoir so it, you know, could hold water. I originally had chosen the backplate to be black, but my piece of black was ruined by that nasty Gorilla Glue (not the normal stuff, but the "mini" superglue bottle...I recommend ya'll stay away from..). I decided that this was fortuitous because translucent white would look way better and provide for more illumination. I was right about this in the worst way possible--but more on that later. Here is me, drilling holes...like last night wit...ok I'll spare you guys this one time =P


In the next picture the left hole is right after I drilled through--the bit was very rough, but it didn't matter because I needed to sand the interior for a loooong time to make sure the plastic fittings went in perfect--like on the right. They were glued in with superglue, and water sealed with aquarium caulk. Which is the worst smelling stuff in the entire world--seriously:



Nothing in this mod worked perfect, except maybe the IO plate... This picture illustrates the length of the plastic fittings I was using that would need to be cut to 1/4" threading and sanded smooth to remove the threads.


Now it's starting to look more like a computer, eh? No? =/ The motherboard is in, as well as the GPU. Now I want to warn yall, there is going to be much more commentary than pictures, because everything from here on out was done the DAY before PAX and I needed to rush--so I spent more time making than taking pictures. Sorry.


You will notice that the GPU has double sided tape on its bracket. This was to hold the GPU level so I could accurately measure and create acrylic guard rails for it. Basically, how it works, is the GPU can be installed and uninstalled by lifting it straight up from the motherboard, and the short rails keep it balanced and level (and from popping out.) To install the GPU, you reverse the procedure. Simple stuff, but it was my alternative to screws.


This was the first cable I had to modify--the USB cable for the Matrix Orbital. I took an old camera USB cable and cut it off, and magically on my first try it was already color coded. SCORE! Then I just pinned it.


The USB cable in. Yes, it isn't sleeved, this will be apparent later, but there is no way that a sleeved cable would fit between the radiator and the motherboard. I did, however, sleeve the tail in white and ran it between the mobo support bar, and a standoff.


Power switch. Please note that this isn't momentary, and as Dean pointed out to me earlier it could be dangerous and potentially fry my motherboard. The conversation went something like this:

Dean, beer in hand: "You know that switch isn't momentary right?"

Josh, coffee in hand: "Yeah, DUUUHHHH. I know my state capitols."

Dean, blank stare: "... .... ... ...... um"

Josh: "Besides where do you get off trying to sound smart, what the hell do you know anyways."

Dean, under breath: "...dumbass" *swigs beer*

I took my chances and went with it anyways:


These are for the LEDS? I don't remember. LOOK AT THEM ANYWAYS!


All the wires run from the same place. Since they are between the mobo standoff and the brace so they won't move or separate:


This shows stuff plugged in, but the purpose of the photo is to show you guys the lack of clearance between the radiator and the motherboard. A precise fit really describes this. I could have been in trouble because I didn't think about this when I was using modeling the system, but it all worked out:


Nothing special--just made this for the front fans (I made a 12v one for the pumps too):


I kept the control line, just in case I decided to plug that on into the motherboard:


This picture probably was supposed to mean something when I took it, but I don't remember what it's for. Probably to make note of the empty fan header?


Figuring out the wire routing:


Chopsticks with double-sided tape! This is the wiring enthusiast's tool of choice when navigating those tough-to-reach areas:



The 8 Pin did not need to be lengthened, as I had originally thought. This was a good thing because I recall people having problems with increasing the resistance in the 8 pin lines (I have never experienced this before but if I can avoid lengthening 8 wires then I'll use any excuse.):



The 8-pin sleeved and tucked away:


The speaker, HDD LED, PWR LED, Power Switch, and USB all wired and run down. The seam between the white acrylic plates is from the motherboard tray and the chassis, in case it wasn't clear:


All the cables, routed down to the sub-floors of the chassis (the 24 pin isn't plugged in yet). The SSDs cover this up later:


Here are the cables as they rest in the middle chamber. Yes, the 6 pins look nasty where they meet up--but it was no trouble at all to sleeve them with a bigger piece of loom later, I just didn't grab a shot of it.


ALL the cables in their final position in the mobo chamber:


Now it was time to hook up the control cables:





Don't remember what this picture was for. Make up something:


This one shows the 90mm fan? Don't remember, sorry:


This is where I was so far with everything. The flash really shows all my fingerprints, and I had to spend about an hour when it was all done polishing everything up for the show:



Remember how I opened up my PSU earlier, forever voiding my warranty? That was so I could have enough courage to do this:


Aaaaannnd....gone.


Pic of the overall carnage:


Ok, I am going to get flak for this, and maybe I deserve it. I didn't individually sleeve the SATA power cables. Hell, I didn't even use the ones that were on the Corsair PSU line. I snipped that off like my dog's poor tonkers. This was frankly the neatest solution--I wanted the SSDs to appear to be floating from the underside, and on the topside encased in ice or angel goo or w/e. This was the lowest profile option. At least I changed out the white plastic 4 pin head for a black one. The cable was custom, of course, to fit the drives side by side:


This is me trying to get a sense of cable lengths so I could modify and adjust their lengths:


I had a problem. The mini-sata cable for the Sony DVDRW was too short to reach the motherboard. I did not have a replacement, and for those of you not familiar with mini-sata it is a one piece connector that combines the data SATA with a tiny SATA power clip.


I did what any sleep deprived maniac would have done at this point: Clipped that *#^&$@ in half:



It took a TON of fine sanding to get the mini-sata power cable and the data sata cable to mate perfectly, and it was tricky because any more plastic and I would have destroyed it. Luckily, I pulled it off:



At this point it was beginning to be morning, in the rooster sense of the word, and I was getting desperate. For a presentable PC. I was feeling calmer though because I figured I would watercool it and call it a night. Watercooling is hella easy right?

WRONG! Well, it normally is, but the crazy angles I needed to make cause me all sorts of problems--and I was quite exhausted at this point and prone to not thinking as clear as normal...no comment please.

$80 in adapters later (again, soooo grateful for Koolance helping me out on this one):

[NFC]

And done! Ok, not really...at all. Just done "enough" before I threw everything in the back of the Jeep and drove to Seattle for PAX, which was great this year. I still did a ton of work that isn't logged because I was getting seriously frustrated with what should have been the easy part, and I was running out of time and exausted. Taking pictures when you are holding back your arm from long barring your PC over is a bad idea. Lighting is a big one that didn't go recorded. Another huge one was the loop--because of the orientation of the reservoir and because of the near-right angles the tubing had to make I had some severe flow restrictions. MUCH battling later, I was finally able to get everything working properly.

Then I had another problem which haunted me throughout the weekend. I forgot to run a cleaner through my radiators and because of this I had all kinds of nasty white gunk in my loop. I had to end up draining the system five times to get it all out. Meh, not fun.

Finally, I applied the vinyls. Please note the SERAPH vinyl is just a placeholder until I cut up an ELDRITCH one. I just wanted something there...

Here are some crappy pictures (I'll try to take better ones later):





















Mkay so since I didn't take pictures of some of the details, I feel like I need to literate.

1. The "SERAPH" vinyl on the back bottom floor was intended to be positioned as it was. I thought it looked sick when I cut it out and stuck it on that piece, but I don't think anyone, including me, liked it like this. I should have centered it. No biggie--going to flip the panel around and redo it. Whalla! Also, this panel is on sliding grooves--it slides right and reveals the pumps and various wiring. It also pops out like legos for complete removal.

2. The angel is a variation to my normal theme, which you can view on my website, and was graciously provided by Megan Smith (Sponge5). You can view here Deviant Art page here. Remember guys, I can't stress how important it is to GET PERMISSION from any artist whose work you use!

3. The GX Typhoon display from Matrix Orbital was not accurately captured by my crappy camera. The colors are PERFECT and completely pure. The human eye doesn't see those dots--it just appears pure puple. And not that awful color seen in the photos. You will have to use your imagination. A good comparision is that the Nvidia and the Intel displays are 100% accurate in their color in real life. Yeah, that's how the colors in the photo are...The screen is really amazing, and if you have an extra $200 for your mod...this is where I recommend spending it (besides the screws! =P)

4. But, where is the reservoir? The reservoir fit perfect, and was leak proof. I know, I was amazed too...that never happens for me. I didn't use it because I hated with a passion how much it matched the rest of the case. Since I used the same material for the backpanel of the reservoir as I did for the rest of the case it all glowed evenly and took the effect away from my clear NFC logo. I tried covering up the back with electrical tape so it wouldn't let light through, but then it was just milky white. I hated it. I decided to leave it open for now, and I am going to go back and make that panel pop out using contrast. My idea is to outline a nude angel or some design in black acrylic and illuminate it by making the background white. I can still salvage it and make it part of the case.

5. I want to make one final note, THIS PC IS NOT FINISHED!!!!! It's almost there, and I know it's rough, but I am going to clean it up and put the icing on it. I still have to design and cut many "trim" panels out of 1/16" black and white acrylic. These will have tribal designs in them, as well as some text. I'm doing the artwork myself for them, and I am not an artist...so it takes a while. ALSO I want to take some nice pictures of it when I finish, as I can't take good pictures of it all lit up. The whites come out with a blue tint, and the like, so I either need a good tutorial for taking pics or I need to put down money for a photoshoot. Suggestions?

Anyways, thanks for looking. I'll update this thread as I work on finishing this thing...
Cheers.

OH, and if anyone knows of a round reservoir around 5-8 inches long with two intakes on the top and bottom, please let me know so I can improve my flowrate...I would make my own but I have another mod I need to quickly move onto and with the other details I need to add to Eldritch I am just not going to have enough time...

Thanks!

[Mabyboi]

beautiful case!, and for the reservoir, talk to frozenQ, im sure one of his reservoirs would be PERFECT in a custom case like this!

[enersis]

Very nice, one of the best cases iv ever seen.

[jpm804]

This turned out great... love you mount and displayed the SSD's

[muki | sk.4um]

Great work mate, how are you pleased with the enermax fans? Are they loud?

[NFC]

Thanks to everyone for the compliments.

Great work mate, how are you pleased with the enermax fans? Are they loud?

Those fans are by far the best I have ever owned, used, or looked at. Their airflow is impressive (I have them on the 60 CFM setting). I could give you numbers from the back of the packaging, but I couldn't hear the three I tested over the Corsair PSU...which as you know is very, very quiet. At PAX I had many people ask about the fans and compliment the system for how quiet it was--the only noise from the system comes from the pumps and the 92mm AeroCool fan I now have pointed at the NB.



Anyways, I _highly_ recommend them and I I see me using these fans for every project in the future. They were well worth the cost.

[muki | sk.4um]

Ok, thanks for the feedback They look very bling bling

[StickyRICE]

That is pimpin my man. You don't live too far away from me either, I'm in tri-cities.

[syc]

Impressive job Nice!

[charles_h]

I only just discovered this and I know I'm late to the party but I wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed your worklog. Excellent work Sir - very creative and truly unique!

You are now on my radar and I look forward to being further inspired by your future offerings.

[SimpleTECH]

NFC, do you have a larger picture of this?

I was thinking about using it as my wallpaper.

[GJS1]

Hey, great build log I must say! However I have one main question (and please don't be offended by it!) I was considering doing something like this with acrylic but was holding off because of the almost dare I say "tacky", shiny plasticy look it can somethimes have. Do you know what I mean? If so do you feel that this project suffers compared to an airbrushed case? Thanks

[NFC]

WHOA. So its been a LONG TIME. What happened? Changed jobs, moved to Texas, and built a few more PCs for rushed events. I kinda abandoned this worklog, which is a shame considering how many wonderful comments I received. I'll make it up to you guys for my current project. As it is, I have some finished pics of Eldritch...

*DISCLAIMER* The PC had been running for like 2 months at this point so it was not showroom clean. Or clean at all really. Plus my pictures suuucccck:

















Sorry about the pictures, they are completely unedited and I'm terrible with a camera. But it hopefully gives you guys some closure.

NFC, do you have a larger picture of this?

I was thinking about using it as my wallpaper.

I might somewhere, but where that somewhere is right now I don't know. I am truly flattered though and I will begin my hunt for it.

Hey, great build log I must say! However I have one main question (and please don't be offended by it!) I was considering doing something like this with acrylic but was holding off because of the almost dare I say "tacky", shiny plasticy look it can somethimes have. Do you know what I mean? If so do you feel that this project suffers compared to an airbrushed case? Thanks

Not sure what you mean by airbrushed case, as you can airbrush acrylic no problem. Darth Beavis does it all the time. As for the first part, I am not offended at all! I can totally see where you are coming from. My answer is high quality, cell-cast, plexan has more of the surface properties (as far as appearance) of glass rather than the plastic most electronics are built out of these days. When you look at a high quality plexan case in person the best way to describe it is if the opposite side is painted (with whatever color the material is) and the side facing you has a gorgeous sheen with great depth. My advice is to order some samples from Delvies Plastics and see for yourself to determine if the material is right for you.

[GJS1]

looks nice thanks for the pics

[trekie86]

Wow, this build was absolutely incredible. Love the acrylic and the lights. Great job!

[Aedubber]

One of the best builds i have seen done on here! Congrats to you! Did you hook up the LEDS to the backplate you made for your video card? I would love to see how it looks considering i have the same card

[Nutman]

Very cool case.
Lots of nice details.
One thing, though: wasn't there supposed to be a LED lighting up the logo on the cover plate for the graphics card?

[NFC]

One of the best builds i have seen done on here! Congrats to you! Did you hook up the LEDS to the backplate you made for your video card? I would love to see how it looks considering i have the same card

Very cool case.
Lots of nice details.
One thing, though: wasn't there supposed to be a LED lighting up the logo on the cover plate for the graphics card?

Yes, actually, I did make a harness for it using the video card's fan power port. It was one of the last things I made along with a harness for the 3d angel that rests in the "window." It was made right after those shots for a LAN event that week. The case is in WA now and I am in TX so I'll have to get someone to take a picture of it for you guys. Sorry that I forgot to include it.

If you want a picture of how I did it for now, check out my website, there is a waterblock top I made that used the same effect. It's on page 2 (click the little "2" link at the bottom of the page or hit next.)

Sorry again for the omission, I'll have someone snap a pic of it...

*EDIT*

I forgot to mention, the "Eldritch" on the side and top I had laser cut for the sake of time. I feel that is important to mention considering it would otherwise detract from a case that was 98% hand made with a dremel and a drill press.