Just wondering; I just put together my first build (just missing my 8800GT's) in a new Antec 900. How do you mount the HDDs? Sorry for the somewhat idiotic question but please bear with me.
Just wondering; I just put together my first build (just missing my 8800GT's) in a new Antec 900. How do you mount the HDDs? Sorry for the somewhat idiotic question but please bear with me.
The fans/tray is removable...Originally Posted by DarK 1217
After that it will make sense
ʇɐɥʇ ǝʞıl pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ƃuıuɹnʇ ǝq ʇ,uop
Ch3ck5um, you are my hero, this looks incredible...Maximum airflow with slimline dvd/rw mod
Ch3ck5umin fact, I'm gonna steal your idea (better to steal a good idea then make a bad one up)
I also want to reroute all my cables. Guess that is a crappy job.
Also thinking about painting the inside or cover it with isolation material (also shown in this thread).
Then the idea about the backward drive placing... how do you guys come up with it[x]Check (steal this idea as well
).
Pictures will follow... but Antec is not able to send me the correct parts (how hard can it be to send a drive bay... DAMN hard I can tell you, because I received one without the front-bezels and 120mm fan... altho I send a picture and link with itOh well, have to have more patience then...
Keep them pictures and ideas coming, fellow 900-mates!
Nice mod checksum
No, I can get them in...LOL
Is there a way to screw them in?
Que?
The holder or the drives?
ʇɐɥʇ ǝʞıl pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ƃuıuɹnʇ ǝq ʇ,uop
The drives. I don't see a way of securing them in the tray.
Long screws through small plastic things.
The tray has to be removed.
ʇɐɥʇ ǝʞıl pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ƃuıuɹnʇ ǝq ʇ,uop
@ Dark 1217: The drive cages come out this way:
...and you secure (read: screw them tight) to the drive cage via these holes (where Timber715 drilled new holes, you can use the original ones):
...use the long screws, like Brian MP5T suggested (there are no other screws you can use, originally).
And DON'T remove the black plastic plugs inside the holes like someone else did in this thread
Intel Q6600, Big Typhoon 120 VX, Akasa AK TC 5022 pro-grade+ Thermal CompoundThe MS tech told me that I would have to pay $60 to get help with this since it is an OEM vers. I told them to pound sand and hung up.
4GB OCZ PC6400 Special Ops @ 4-4-4-12
Asus Commando
Jetway 8800GT 512MB
Zalman ZM-600HP
Maxtor Diamond Max 21 250GB
Seagate Barracude 7200.10 320GB
Western Digital 1TB Caviar GP WD10AECS
320GB Toshiba External USB HDD
Logitech G9 mouse, G15 Keyboard, Z-5400 Speakers
Acer AL2051W 20.1" Widescreen Crystal Bright
Antec Nine Hundred
Acer Aspire 1641WLMi
Sony PS3
Sony PS2
great stuff!
Intel™ I5-750 @ 2.7 160 x 17
Asus™ Maximus Formula III 1156
e-Evga GTS 250 1gb DDR3
4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1600 (PC2 12800)
CORSAIR|CMPSU-750TX 750W RT
2x Raptor 74gb in Raid 0
WD Cavier SE16 250GB 7200RPM SATA (as back up)
3DMARK06 Score : n/a
Having to upgrade from dual core AMD to Intel Quadcore... pRiceless!
@cabbspapp
I have a few questions about your setup because I have planes on some things similar.
On the reversed hard drives are you using the 18" L-Shaped SATA cables like this?
Where can I get some extensions for the top panel controls?
I'm using the L-shaped SATA cables, but I had to cut a bit off of them to get the cable to bend.
As for the top panels, I don't know. I took the USB plugs and such out because it looked bad in the case.
Did you have to drill new holes to reverse the hdd's?
Intel Q6600, Big Typhoon 120 VX, Akasa AK TC 5022 pro-grade+ Thermal CompoundThe MS tech told me that I would have to pay $60 to get help with this since it is an OEM vers. I told them to pound sand and hung up.
4GB OCZ PC6400 Special Ops @ 4-4-4-12
Asus Commando
Jetway 8800GT 512MB
Zalman ZM-600HP
Maxtor Diamond Max 21 250GB
Seagate Barracude 7200.10 320GB
Western Digital 1TB Caviar GP WD10AECS
320GB Toshiba External USB HDD
Logitech G9 mouse, G15 Keyboard, Z-5400 Speakers
Acer AL2051W 20.1" Widescreen Crystal Bright
Antec Nine Hundred
Acer Aspire 1641WLMi
Sony PS3
Sony PS2
Looks greay, Can I suggest that a computer should not be anywhere near that Scuzzy Shag Carpet.
"Get that Rig Off da Floor"
No, I did is simply by sliding the drive back until the holes matched the stock holes. I only used one on each side to hold the drives.
Modding The Antec 90 was not on my mind initially, but after seeing several before and after photos of some great Antec mods, I decided I had to do something. I have a pretty well equipped home workshop, so the work did not particularly put me off. However, I am a total amateur at building my own computer; this was my first effort.
There are some beautiful system mods out there on the Antec Nine Hundred case, but that level of aesthetics was more than I wanted to do. I was looking for a moderate attention to aesthetics, with an eye to aid cooling performance as my main goal.
I have one heck of a lot of detail here. The experts will be bored. My real hope is that the detail may help some other beginner deciding how to go about the process. I am sure there are other equally effective ways of doing things, but this offers a general start. This also gives one approach to how the Asus Striker Extreme board looks in combination with the Antec 900.
Another reason for posting my modest mod is that I had an idea on covering the edges of square holes that I thought might be useful to others.
Considerations for wires
After reviewing some of the great Antec 900 mods, I decided that I did not want the really fancy cable and wire hiding people were doing. Certainly, the mods in general were really great. However, there were trade-offs to consider. First, the more you hide connectors, the more tedious adding and removing components becomes. A good example of this for me was the drive bays. On the Antec, mounting or dismounting the hard drives requires the bays be pulled out. Many people modify the bays by cutting through the bay and case side to run the power and signal cables along the right side of the case. These mods do an exceptional job of hiding the cables, but in my estimation this slows disassembly quite of bit. Admittedly, reducing the amount of visible cables makes the case look great, especially since the interior is lit by the fans and mb LEDs. Another component of my modding philosophy is wire length. Many of the more aggressive mods also require extension wires. I wanted to avoid that for several reasons. More connectors means more chance for corrosion and contact problems. Second, more money spent! So my goals: Reduce the visible wiring footprint as much as possible, not use extension wires, and minimize, but do not compromise ease of removing components. Lastly, I hoped I was concerned I might be one of the far to many people who have had trouble with their Striker Extreme board. Being able to quickly dismount the board seemed like a good precaution.
Designing
I prefer to handle the electronic components as little as possible until the actual assembly, but I did need some way of visualizing the inputs and outputs to the mother board to plan a good layout. So I started by scanning in the mb general layout picture in the Striker Extreme manual which provided most of the details on the connectors. I then loaded the image into CorelDraw. (Any drawing program that shows you ruler bars will work.) By using the ruler bars as size monitors, I enlarged the B&W image so that the board outline fit to 9.6" x 12.0". I then printed the board layout in two sections using Landscape format. (In CorelDraw you can go to Print Preview and select exactly what portion of an image to print. I then matched up the two sheets and tapped them together as my motherboard pattern. I then decided that I wanted to also have a good idea where the mb was from the inside and the outside. I mirrored the image left to right (different operation from rotation) and repeated the printing process. At this point, I did overlay the Strike motherboard on each of the drawings to get the proper screw hole alignments (there are also ATX standard measurements definitions you can use instead).
I then punched out all the mounting holes on the paper layouts. (I actually drilled out the holes using a 5/32" drill for the outside and a 1/4" drill for the inside, but as long as you don’t make the holes oversize, use whatever works.) I then put all the standoff screws on the case and pressed the drawing in. If you do the holes right, you will not need any tape or glue to hold the plans in place.
For any modifications to an expensive piece of material, I use a modified builder's rule:
Think three times, measure twice, and cut once.
I spent a lot of time staring at other people's mods, tracing the wires, and considering what looked good. However, it became clear that each mb presents its own set of configuration issues, and at some point you are on your own.
In the end, I decided on the following:
1. Run the 8 pin ATX12V power connector along back of case mounted around the rear fan. The OCZ PSU wires were too short to run up outside the case and as I said I did not want to buy extension wires; this configuration also reduces stress on the connector.
2. Run the two PCI-E 6 pin PCI-E graphics power connectors on the backside of the right panel and up to a mid center slot. Measuring the width of one connectors and one wire bundle, decided on a 3/4" x 1 3/4" slot placed 3/8" from the drive bay case This slot started d 6.75" from the case floor.
3. The main power 20+4 cable was again fed from the back of the side panel using a 3/4" x 2.5" slot placed directly in line with the EATXPWR connector. The bottom of the slot was 9.375" from the inside bottom of the case.
4. Tuck one power cable into the outside of the right panel for safe keeping.
5. Run the other power cable up the right side front to accommodate the case front fans and the cdrom
6. Run the second power cable to the back to power the rear and top fan
7. Cut a 3/4" x 1.5" slot in top right side of the right side panel for 200 mm fan wire. Slot was placed 1/4 from bottom edge of the double wall and 1/4" in from drive bay
8. The main slot to move the cables to the back of the right side panel was placed 2.25" from the drive bay and 1/2" up from the bottom seam. The slot was 1.5" x 2.75". This was the optimum size when using a cross section of the bundle of wires to be placed behind the right panel and the cross section of one of the PCI-E connectors.
9. Although it would have been a cleaner build to cut a 3/4" x 1.5" slot through the left side top of the right side panel for the rear fan I decided against this for structural reasons and the difficulty of cutting through two chassis walls.
Cutting the slots:
The 3/4" slots were cut with a 3/4" bi-metal hole cutting saw on a portable drill from the inside of the case with the case laying on its right side. This produced a smoother inside edge cut, leaving the rougher cut on the outside of the panel. A 1.5" x 15" piece of 1/2" scrap plywood was placed under the case where the slots were to provide backing to support the panel and prevent the panel from buckling. I first laid out and center punched where the holes should be on the right side panels. I drilled a 5/32” pilot hole and then drilled out the full size hole with the hole saw. A Dremel tool with a fiber cut off wheel was used to cut between the holes. Burrs were removed with a file. A Greenlee punch would have been ideal for the holes, but I had no intention of putting $60 into a used set. The large rectangular hole at the bottom was cut with the Dremel.
Two methods were used to cover the sharp edges of the slots with some kind of protective channel. These were in the form of explorations, but both methods turned out to work well. The final result is a mix of both methods. As with any work you do this at your own risk. Since I am also discussing a variety of power tools, realize that safe work is your responsibility. Know the tools before you use them on the kinds of work I describe here.
You can buy U channel for edge protection. The material is fairly cheap. My problem was that the shipping was going to cost twice as much as the material itself. None of the local computer shops supplied any kind of decent U channel. So I went into creative hunting mode and spent some time browsing the local Home Depot and auto parts stores. I found two items I thought would fit the bill. One was vinyl F channel used for suspended ceilings, the other was automotive protective beading. I have caught references to the use of the latter, or some variant of it on the internet.
5/8" vinyl F Channel was also used for trim. (Obtained from the local Home Depot.) A 10' strip is $3.00. The channel can be cut with Dremel, then sanded smooth. I first tried cutting the channel with a table saw with my rip/crosscut blade, but that resulted in too much chipping. I then tried a thin diamond concrete cutting blade I had around and this worked great producing a nice smooth cut. (A plywood blade might also work). The edges were touched up the cut edge with a belt sander to give it a clean edge. I rough cut the ends at 45 deg angle with a scroll saw and used my belt sander to smooth the edges, although the Dremel will work for this as well.
The F channel material comes in white or brown. One strip is probably good for a lifetime of cutouts for the casual modder. There are various designs of F channel. The important aspect here is that the material contains two loops of material that make up the arms of the “F”. Note how it pinches together at the base, which is also important for holding. What I wanted was a 0.25” trim around my slots. You can also slice the “loop” ends off with a Dremel tool using a cut-off wheel. I tried this and then used my belt sander to clean up the cut edges. However, the best way was as I mentioned above, was to use a table saw…
The vinyl loop material is not very easy to cut with a knife or razor blade; it can be easily and cleanly snipped with tin snips or side cutter pliers. The large slot at the bottom was covered using this material. 45 deg mitered corners were used as in picture framing. Although mitering is a bit inconvenient and takes more time, there is specific reason for doing this. Once the pieces are fit in they automatically interlock at the corners and will not come loose. Thus, no adhesive is needed. The technique I used was to snip the material close to correct size and then use my belt sander with the miter rest set at 45 deg to sand down to the final size. It takes a bit of back and forth to get good tight corners. Also, start from one side and work clockwise or counter clockwise around the slot. The last piece is a bit tough to get in place because you must slide one end over in-place channel. The vinyl is flexible enough to accommodate this, and there will be satisfying click once it moves into place. Note that this material does will not work for curved slots. All attempts to form a tight curve left me convinced it was not going to be worth the effort. The edges would splay around the curved area.
The second method uses a protective beading I picked up at my local auto parts store. This material can be used for both rectangular slots and curved slots. The bead version I use was sold in two three foot lengths for about $4.00. The material I found came in clear and chrome. Since I was not sure the chrome would stand up to what I wanted to do, I decided on the clear material. This material can be cut with a utility knife or single edged razor. The interior of this bead contains some kind of sticky adhesive that helps hold it in place. However, the adhesive does not hold tight enough that the trim cannot be removed. Cutting for rectangular slots is somewhat easier than for the vinyl used above, because you can make nice clean cuts with a sharp blade.
Covering the edges on a circular opening is more work. The plastic material is quite stiff and does not conform easily to a tight curve. I would not recommend using this material for single holes smaller than a couple of inches in diameter. You’re best bet in these cases is to buy rubber grommets. However, with a bit of effort this did work out nicely for my ¾” wide rounded end slots. The problem is that on tight curves the material does not stretch to easily fit around tight curves. Instead the natural tendency is for the bead opening to bend out of the plane of the curve, making it impossible to fit over the metal edge. To get around this you reform the bead using heat. First, I suggest you make a “mold” to work with. My first test of the bi-metal hole cutter was on a scrap of thin iron sheet metal, nearly the same thickness as the case panel. This turned out to be a perfect mold to form the bead to a tight round curve. The picture shows what I ended up with.
I used a heat gun to just soften the bead and push it into the curve. This is more difficult than it sounds. You have to work against the natural tendency of the bead slit to stay shut and move out of the desired bending plane while the plastic is still warm and flexible. Like everything it takes a bit of practice. A hair dryer might also work sufficiently to heat the bead, but I had a paint stripping heat gun available and it heated the bead very quickly. Remember you do not want to melt the material, only be able to stretch it! (You also don't want to burn your fingers!) If you cannot hold the material, you are overheating it. Several cycles of heating and pushing were usually required to get the bead reformed. Once the material was formed I applied just a bit more heat and held the curved edges together to make sure it was going to hold the stretch and keep the outside edges closed tightly against the metal. To get both ends of the bead sized and curved for the full slot is a bit tricky only from the measurement standpoint, but there is enough pliability to overcome minor measurement misjudgments. Make sure you cut the starting piece a bit oversize so you can trim down to snuggly fit the slot. Once the loops are done fit them in the slot and clip off to the needed size.
You can see the results of my efforts in the accompanying photos. The key for the slots in a clockwise fashion:
Top right rectangular slot: Used to run out the fan wires behind right panel and connect to PSU power connectors on outside of right panel. Run out the Zalman cpu fan power and control.
Large oval slot. Run in the motherboard power 24 (20 + 4) pin connector.
Small oval slot: Power cables for 8800 card(s) and SATA power cable
Lower rectangular cut out: Run out all cables for "storage or operations except for power cable for the DVD and upper fan. Run in the cpu fan (FanMate) control cable.
Power cable to run DVD and fan was run up against the drive bays, along with several front case wires.
Putting it all together:
No real problems, but as suggested in a few reviews, putting the hard drive screws through recessed holes in the case mounts was the most frustrating task.
The final wiring array:
Final product:
In the end I am pleased with the result. This system has been running now for six months without any problems. Still one heck of a lot of wires showing, but better than throwing everything in and slapping the side wall on.
Striker Extreme|Intel E6700|Zalman 9700 LED|OCZ GameXStream 700W|Crucial Ballistix(2x1GB)DDR2 800|EVGA 8800GTS 640MB|2x WD Caviar 250GB SATA|Antec 900
i just got antec 900 case yesterday, it is very nice but i noticed something today when i was reading the thread, i was looking where all the people were drilling holes to hide there cables , but i was thinking why would they do that when the case already comes with holes, well i noticed that they don't come with holes to hide cables, but mine did
here is a pic, the holes don't look like someone took a dremel to the case or anything, it looks like it came from antec with holes pre drilled
the case has 2 of them, one by each of the black tie things
the case was brand new and had never been opened, the plastic was still on the window and everything, i got it from the micro center in Fairfax, VA
Asus Crosshair III
Phenom X2 550@X4
Cooler Master V10
2x2gb G-SKILL DDR3
ASUS HD 4890 Top
Antec 850w
WD 500gb
WD 80gb
They updated the case last year. You have Ver 2.0.
If you look at the original date of this thread, you will see a trend of modding and then it stops after the second version came out.
yea, msot of ur modded cases were 1.0, then they added grommets and some other crap on 1.1, now 2.0 kind of takes care of everything to a degree.
But it's not on the floorLooks greay, Can I suggest that a computer should not be anywhere near that Scuzzy Shag Carpet.
"Get that Rig Off da Floor"
What's that then... The ceiling?
it's clearly not on the floor
Ever heard of a desk?
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