AcidBurn mini-ITX mod, CaseLabs Mercury S3

[p3nnyw1se]

AcidBurn mini-ITX mod, CaseLabs Mercury S3

I have been wanting to do a mini-ITX case mod for the longest time.
With CaseLabs new release of there Mercury S3 case, I just couldn't put it off any longer.
My color choices for AcidBurn are Green, Yellow, Black, and White.

The hardware I will be using is:
-CaseLabs Mercury S3 case (XL side windows, top window, 2 tone color, 240 radiator mount)
-EVGA Z77 Stinger board
-EVGA GTX 690
-EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750G Gold power supply
-Intel i7-3770K Ivy Bridge cpu
-Cougar Dual-X Green Led case fans
-Koolance GTX 690 Water Block
-Koolance CPU Water Block
-Koolance D5 pump-Koolance D5 pump base
-Koolance 240mm Radiator
-Koolance Chrome Compression fittings
-Koolance UV Green Coolant
-Roccat Kone Pure Mouse
-Roccat Isku Keyboard
-Roccat Kave Headset
-Roccat Hiro Mousepad
-MDPC Sleeving
-Seagate 3TB Hard Drive
-I haven't decided on a SSD or Memory yet.
-I will be building a custom reservoir, and case feet.

I would like to give a special thanks to my sponsors:
CaseLabs for there newest case, the Mercury S3.


EVGA for there continued support of the enthusiast community.


Koolance for there high quality liquid cooling products.


Performance-pcs for there continued support to the modding community.


Roccat for there high quality products.



Adata for your outstanding products.

[p3nnyw1se]

Reserved for final pictures

[p3nnyw1se]

Here is the CaseLabs Mercury S3 case.
I have opted for windows on both sides and the top.
The actual windows I'm using on the build are full size windows, which is in one of the pictures below.
I have chosen the black and white 2 tone.
It has a 240 front radiator mount and a motherboard tray with ssd mounts.


A complete Koolance water cooling setup.

Here are the new Cougar fans and the rest of the parts from Performance-PCS. These fans are so quiet.


And the treasure trove of parts that will be going into the case.

I decided to through a couple pieces togeather to get some measurements and see how everything will fit.



I have also built the prototype to test out an idea I have for a reservoir.There were 2 ideas that I was trying out. The first was the water flowing down the outside of the tube like a waterfall.The second is to have bubbles that float around a cylinder reflecting light off the LEDs.The final one will have only 1 tube.





Here are a couple YouTube videos I made for you.Let me know what you guys think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE7SVh3dS5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU6SpSSwbjE

[tool_462]

Oh jeez, didn't realize CaseLabs came out with a Mini-ITX! Very sexy.

Wish they had a similar case for Micro-ATX for my future MVI Gene

[p3nnyw1se]

They did a great job with this case. The 2 tone option is one of the best parts. You can choose between 2 of any of there colors.
So I finished my reservoir. I cut out a gasket, but am going to keep looking for a clear one that will work.
I decided to go with the bubbles in a single tube. I can always conver it back to a waterfall later if want.
In keeping with the theme, I also cut out some flames out of acrylic.
The battery was dead on the camera for a couple pictures, so I had to take some with my phone.
Here is a link to the video of it.
Let me know what you guys think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OowL...ature=youtu.be

[p3nnyw1se]

The rest of my MDPC sleeving came in.
I had ordered all my toxic green on a past order, but I wanted to put in some yellow and white.

[p3nnyw1se]

I have had a few questions about the Cougar Dual-X case fans, so I made you guys a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFYfVQFb_0
Well, hopefully I will be able to get some work done on AcidBurn this weekend. I am also trying to help my buddy finish up his DA Edition mod this weekend. We will also be finishing up the decals on some of the hardware. We will be putting on the custom led case feet this weekend. I will take a couple pictures of his mod for you guys.
Here is a picture of the feet that I built for it. I was able to get a led flashlight partially into the tops, so you could get an idea of what it will look like lite up. Let me know what you guys think.

[p3nnyw1se]

I got a couple things done tonight on DAs build.
Here are a couple pictures for you guys.

[p3nnyw1se]

Ok, so I'm finally done with the DA edition Build.
Here are a couple photos. DA is going to take some nicer pictures of it this week. I'll put some up when he get them done.
Time to get back to my AcidBurn mod.
Hope you guys like the pictures from the DA rig.

[p3nnyw1se]

Its been very busy for me lately, so I've been fitting in my AcidBurn mod when ever I can.

The power supply's logo was was upside down for me, so I decided to fill it in and build out an EVGA E.It was hard to tell when all the dents and flaws were out so I sprayed a coat of black gloss on it. I still have a few more flaws to sand down.

I was planning on trying my hand at airbrushing flames on the outside of the case, but It will take to long to get my skills up to were they need to be. I put up a picture of my first attempt at flames. I defenatly need to practice more.

I have decided to have a local airbrush artist Dan with Splat-Designs.com help me out with the flames on the outside of the case. I went out today to preview some of his work. I am very excited to see what he can do with AcidBurn. He is a very talented artist.

I was also able to get my 24 pin cable sleeved and sewn as well.It is going to be very tricky to get all these cable in here, and make them look good. I took some pictures so you can get an idea of the process and see how the cables turned out.

Let me know what you guys think.

Power supply




My first attempt at airbrushing flames.


Let the sleeving begin.

[p3nnyw1se]

I would like to welcome Adata to the list of Sponsors for AcidBurn.
These guys make some outstanding products.

[p3nnyw1se]

So I tried out the white thread and I can't make up my mind on the black or white. What do you guys think? I'm kind of partial to the black.

[p3nnyw1se]

So the case panels and power supply are off to Dan at Splat-Designs to be airbrushed. He will be sending me. I am thinking about having him do a couple other things when they come in. I got allot of sleeving done this weekend, and I decided to go with the black thread. I would need a UV reactive thread. I prefer to use a wax based thread. It holds better and the knots are much tighter. The white I found would show up kind of blue under the UV lights. Most other colors would still show up allot darker to the wires. I'll get some pictures taken of the sleeving in the next couple days.
I also started working on the case feet. I built a prototype to see what it would look like. It looked pretty sweet. The only problem was when I polished it up, It just didn't look right. I'm going to start working on a couple others. I built some round ones that have a single stripe in the middle just in case I can't find a design that works. The pictures is before I polished it up.

[p3nnyw1se]

I couldnt find any EVGA GTX 690 backplates anywhere.So, I decided to make one.
I'm trying to decide what combination to do.This is what I have so far.
I was thinking about having flames airbrushed onto the modders mesh behind the acrylic.
Its not completed, there will be some vinyl decals as well, but What do you guys think so far?

[tool_462]

Love the backplate.

Have you thought or tried an LED right at the junction of clear/black? Would need a low wattage one to keep it subdued but the subtle flame glow might be cool.

[p3nnyw1se]

Love the backplate.

Have you thought or tried an LED right at the junction of clear/black? Would need a low wattage one to keep it subdued but the subtle flame glow might be cool.

I did try to put an led at the base to see what It would look like, I would need to have some kind of frosted vinyl rod at the base to defuse the light, other wise it looks like a spot light.

I've been kind of all over the place lately. Skipping around from piece to piece.
The feet are all done, and I just need to mount and wire them. If I have time, I'm going to work on the feet that have more layers to them.
I decided to put some of this bright green vinyl on my Koolance reservoir, Cougar fans, Adata ssd and Hard drive. I am also using a chrome vinyl on top of that.
The decals for the Adata ssd and Cougar fans are complete, but I still need to make the decals for the Koolance reservoir, and hard drive.

[p3nnyw1se]

Ok guys, I got a sneak peak for you.
I'll have more photos up in the next couple days.

[Saltire]

Looking good... not something I'd do myself but I love the work thats gone into it so far

[p3nnyw1se]

As promised, here are the pictures of the airbrush work.
The panels, power supply and the GTX 690 backplate turned out really great.
I still have a few things to finished up, and a couple more things to build.
Everything should be done in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to be trying to get the wiring and uv dimmer finished up this weekend.
Hopefully I should be ready to fill the system soon. (I can't wait to see the fluid flowing.)

[p3nnyw1se]

It's been pretty crazy the last couple weeks, with work, modding, and PDXLan.
I have finished AcidBurn, and am working on getting some final pictures done.
It was going to be tonight, but that fell through and I will have to wait till it gets back from Quakecon.
AcidBurn was in the top 5 for the PDXLan case mod contest. Bob Stewart and Rod Rosenberg won with there Throne Industrial mod. There were some really good mods in this contest. There was also Richard Surroz with his awesome Queen of Blades rig, and Anthony Lackey with his White Lightning (Bling, Bling.) Congratulations to everyone. They were all killer mods.
For any of you that are going to Quakecon this August, AcidBurn will be displayed in ADATA's booth.
I have also built a custom info plaque for it.
Here is a video of the reservoir. The camera makes the video allot darker than it is. I will try to get some better shots for you guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyjxXgyIaI