F4DE | By C4B

[C4B]

Hello again!

After months of wedding planning, moving to a new apartment, new job and everything else Im back, and this time with a casemod, usually Im working from scratch. I will hopefully learn a lot by this small project and get more modding experience.

In my opinion I've found the ultimate mini-itx case, the Cubitek Mini Cube. Ever since I installed a computer for a friend in this case I have been in love. It is clean-looking, has A LOT of space behind the motherboard for both cablemanagement and harddrives.

My idea of this casemod is to make a "stealth" mod. Everything will be black except for some small details that will be the small contrast to all the black. So I will start by taking the case in two parts and paint everything that isnt black. Then I will be installing a 240mm radiator in the front, yes you heard me, I will be making a big hole in that nice-looking frontpanel. But dont worry, I will be covering it up with one of the most awesome-looking radiator grills from Aquacomputer.

This is the hardware Im aiming for, most of it I already have.

MB: MSI Z87I
CPU:Intel I5 4670K
GPU: Zotac GTX 760
RAM: 2x4gb Corsair Dominator Platinum
SSD: Samsung 840 120gb
PSU: Be-Quiet! Dark Power Pro P10 550W
CASE: Cubitek Mini Cube

__________________________________________________ _______________________________

EKWB is sponsoring me with new watercooling gear for this build! Thank you!



I want to thank Cubitek for providing me with the Cubitek Mini Cube. In my opinion the best mini-itx case there is!



I also want to thank MSI for providing me with the motherboard for this build, the MSI Z77IA-S01. A nice looking black motherboard, perfect for this build.



Im grateful for CDON.com. They helped me with the ram, a 2x4gb kit of Corsair Dominator Platinum.



Be-Quiet! also helped me with the power supply, the Dark Power Pro P10 550W.



Icemodz.com gave me a really awesome led-stripe to use, thank you Mundi!


__________________________________________________ _______________________________


Here is a overview of the motherboard with the Alphacool XP3 Light block installed.



I didnt like the blue/alu caps so I made them and some other stuff black, F4DE in to black! :rock:






Thats all for now. Im currently planning and measuring out where to put the radiator and window and stuff like that. But I will update as soon as possible. I hope you like it. While you wait I would really appreciate if you liked to check out my facebook-page. There you will find more updates, giveaways and other computer related stuff.

With kind regards
Johan Nyman

[C4B]

Well here is some more hardware pictures. The radiator grill I talked about from Aquacomputer, one of the most cleanlooking I seen. Also love the kind of darker shade on it.





Also got the Samsung SSD yesterday, nice design on it I think. Dont have to make a cover for this one I think.



Last of all, the waterblock for the GTX 460, I think I will go with this card. I already have it and it still got a lot of power so why not. Easy to upgrade if I get ahold of a 760 later. I will probably paint the acrylic piece black so it fits the theme even more.



As soon as I get the case I will be updating a lot more.

[C4B]

I couldnt wait to do something so I painted the waterblock today. I like it, going to fit better than clear acrylic.

Before



After

[alpha0ne]

Looking good C4B, I have two sammy SSD's and they are great

[miptzi]

gotta love them ITX builds....

[C4B]

Looking good C4B, I have two sammy SSD's and they are great

Yes they are.

gotta love them ITX builds....

Oh yes!

Installed the waterblock and backplate to the GTX 460 and took some pictures of it together with the motherboard. I love the backplate, that and the radiator grill will make a sweet contrast to all the black.







Some Corsair Dominator Platinum would look awesome here!

[Net]

nice mini project, gogo next photo.

[C4B]

nice mini project, gogo next photo.

Thank you!

Im still waiting for the Cubitek case, they are shipping it from China so I guess its gonna take a while. But I got some good news for you, two new sponsors!

Im grateful for CDON.com. They helped me with the ram, a 2x4gb kit of Corsair Dominator Platinum.



Be-Quiet! also helped me with the power supply, the Dark Power Pro P10 550W.



Check them out and support them and me!

[C4B]

Finally!

I got the case from Cubitek. Before I start mod it I will be making a review for my website. But I have some other pictures to share with you.

I would like to start and thank all the sponsors again for making this possible.

Thank you:
CDON.com | Be Quiet! | Cubitek | MSI

The Corsair Dominator Platinum arrived a few days ago, really nice ram.





It really fit in with the shiny backplate too!



I also got the Be Quiet! Dark Pro 10 550W power supply. Really nice package with a lot of cables and extra stuff.





Thats all for tonight... Or wait, Ill give you a sneek peak.



I think some will hate that radiator grill and the contrast to the black, I love it though. It will look even better when everything is done.

I will be back with some real updates soon. Please check out Minimalistic PC for my projects and reviews. Means alot!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman

[C4B]

I installed the hardware to measure out where to put different things. Everything really fit together, I cant wait to paint the bare aluminium black.





As you see its not a problem to fit a 240mm radiator, this one is 30mm wide but I could have a 45mm if I wanted too.



Im thinking about having a 150mm tube res either to the right of the motherboard or where the back fan is mounted. About the back fan mount, its 80mm or 92mm, with a little violende I managed to fit a 120mm fan there though, doesnt look good though so Im thinking about having the res there instead.



One more thing, I said that I would use regular tubing for the watercooling, I changed my mind! Im going for chromed copper tubes, 12mm. Going to look awesome together with the shiny backplate and the radiator grill.



Here is my review of the case. Next thing to do is start measuring out the holes for the radiator and fans. Ill be back!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman

[C4B]

Oi!

Update is here! Today I made the cutout for the front fans and radiator, just some filing to do left. I really love this radiator grill!









I also made a shroud that will cover the power supply and pump.





Thats all for tonight, Ill be back for more in a few days. I have a lot of fun stuff to share. I have many new ideas!

Stay tuned!
Johan Nyman

[C4B]

Hello!

Im back for a little update. This is what I have done so far.

• Painted the case
• Fixed the cutout for the radiator
• Changed to MDPC black M3 screws
• Done some sleeving and shrouds

Primer



Add some black to that!



This is how it looks. What do you think?



All black and empty.





Shiny!



Although I have some sad news, I have to drop the chromed copper tubing. I cant manage to get it working with the loop in this case, its too small for me. I having problems even with regular tubing. I still think it will look good, I will use regular transparent tubes with regular water to keep it clean.

Keep checking in!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B]

Hello!

Got a small update today. The powersupply is now sleeved in all black. I tried to make the cable management as good as possible. I really love the p-clips. This is how it looks anyhow. I will cover the SSD with a plate from the front that Ive cut, so it gets the same finish as the outside case.



And this is how it will look on the inside, not completely finished though, some fancables and stuff left to sleeve.



The blue is the res and the red is the pump. I will be using a DDC pump together with EK DDC X-RES 100mm.



Im currently waiting for the res and some Noiseblocker fans. What I have to do right now is to make the coverplate for the ssd, finish the shroud and paint it, start working on the window mod.

Thanks for now!
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[bigmac11]

Nice

[C4B]

Nice

Thanks!

Today I was nervous while modding, why? Because I was soldering cables to the pcb of my GTX 460. Now why did I do that? Well this is a small case, the GPU is 210mm long and the PSU 170mm, so from the powerconnector on the GPU to the PSU isnt long, why route the cables around the back of the motherboard tray and to the GPU when I can go straight to it. But soldering on computer hardware isnt my every day thing, but, I started it up and it was no problemo!









Here you see how close it is between the two.





I also added some p-clips to support the cable management on the back and made a ssd cover out of the spare material from the fan holes in the frontpanel.



Well what do you think of this casemod this far? Give me some criticism!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[Neox69]

Awesome Sauce!!!

[zalbard]

Nice work so far!

[C4B]

Awesome Sauce!!!

Nice work so far!

Thank you!

Time for a little update. I received the last hardware this week. Some Noiseblocker fans and a EK X-Res 100 DDC.



Really love these fans. 2x 120mm and 1x 92mm PWM versions of Noiseblockers Blacksilent. Really fits this mod, still looks very clean though.



This res pump combo is really nice too. I modified a DDC plexi mount from XSPC to install it in the case.







This is how I will run the loop. Im going to finish the shroud and add some fittings to it to get the tubes through it and down to the radiator.



Really love these Noiseblocker fans!



This is also how the cable management will look on the inside.



And here is the finished cablemanagement in the back.



Im pretty satisfied with it now. The molex is for the 18W DDC pump. Dont have much left to do before this project is finished.

• Clean the case.
• Repaint.
• Finish the shroud.
• Finish the loop.
• Window?

What do you think about a window mod? Do it or dont do it? Full window or a smaller one?

I will be visiting Dreamhack Winter in november to show this project and my earlier build CURV3D at the Expo they have there for a sponsor. So Ill hope I see some of you there.

I am also hosting a modding contest for those who live in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland at my website. Check it out, got prizes from Bitfenix, Cubitek and others.

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B]

Hello!

It is time for another little update. I have been working on the loop a little bit, right now Im just waiting for the last three fittings then its time to fill it up!

I also finished the shroud/psu cover. Got some time today to work on the window too, just need to file and sand the edges.

Installed two fillports to the shroud and painted it black.







This is how the full shroud looks like, I like it!



This is how Im going to run the loop. Only thing left is from the CPU to the RES and down to the rad.





I also started working on a window, this is the layout Im going for. Just need to trim the edges a little bit.





What do you think?

The only things left to do is to fix the paintjob, finish the loop and fix those edges for the window. Almost done with this project, feels great!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B]

Its been too long since I updated, so here it is.

I have finished the loop, shroud and installed OS and so on. The last two things left to do is to fix some scratches and install some lights.

I dont want to use a u-channel around the window edges and I dont really know if I want to have it like now either, maybe a frame in the same finish as the radiator grill?

However, here are some pictures on how the case looks like 95% finished.











I will probably get the lights next week so I will install that as fast as possible and then start working on the final pictures.

MSI provided me with the motherboard for this mod, a MSI Z77IA-S01 and I got some sweet news regarding to this. Dreamhack Winter is now in the end of november and they have a pretty nice Expo there with a lot of big companies. I got the privilege to show this casemod at MSI's booth there. Its going to be awesome, I hope I meet some of you there.

I hope that next update includes the final pictures! This is my first "official" casemod and Im really satisfied with it, I learned a lot. I still prefer scratchbuilds though. :rock:

Ill be back!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B]

Well as of right now, I say this mod is finished. It has been a lot of fun to make a real casemod, I have of course built PC's in cases before, but not modded them that much, mostly been making scratchbuilds. But I learned a lot and I think there will be more casemods from me in the future.

I was not really satisfied with my pictures so I took some more this morning from different sides and angles. Im going to talk to some friends who maybe could work on the pictures in Photoshop to make them better.

I also want to say a big thanks to all my sponsors who helped me with all this. Wouldnt be possible without them! Support me and them by clicking on this links and checking them out.

I want to thank Cubitek for providing me with the Cubitek Mini Cube. In my opinion the best mini-itx case there is!



I also want to thank MSI for providing me with the motherboard for this build, the MSI Z77IA-S01. A nice looking black motherboard, perfect for this build.



Im grateful for CDON.com. They helped me with the ram, a 2x4gb kit of Corsair Dominator Platinum.



Be-Quiet! also helped me with the power supply, the Dark Power Pro P10 550W.



Icemodz.com gave me a really awesome led-stripe to use, thank you Mundi!




























I also want to say thanks to everyone here for all the comments and help!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[Neox69]

Looks amazing my friend... what are the temps?

[C4B]

Looks amazing my friend... what are the temps?

A little higher than normal, but Im not overclocking it so no problems.

[C4B]

Hello everyone!

Im back and Im going to remake this build. What Im going to do is upgrade the hardware aswell as the watercooling gear. I will also go for the solid chrome copper tubing idea I had at the beginning.

The new hardware will be:
MB: MSI Z87I
CPU:Intel I5 4670K
GPU: Zotac GTX 760
RAM: 2x4gb Corsair Dominator Platinum
SSD: Samsung 840 120gb
PSU: Be-Quiet! Dark Power Pro P10 550W
CASE: Cubitek Mini Cube

I also want to take this opportunity to announce a new sponsor:

EKWB is sponsoring me with new watercooling gear for this build! Thank you!



More updates will come soon!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B]

Im still waiting for all the watercooling gear from EKWB so I havent started modding yet, I need the radiator to start measure out things. I could give you some pictures of the new hardware I got though.

I got Be-Quiets silencing kit, cause Im going to make two sets of sidepanels, one with windows and one without and with silence mats on it instead.



The MSI Z87I looks really good, black caps is awesome!



This GTX 760 from Zotac is really cool to, really short cooler and it still fit a waterblock if needed.



I also want to say thank you to Caseking.de for giving me awesome prices on this hardware!



I hope I could start give you real updates soon!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's