My Chieftec Dragon CS901-Mod

[GrossmeisterB]

Hey guys,
today I started with my project.
I have an Chieftec Dragon CS-901, I got that very cheap about 2 years ago, it was silver when I got it, but I painted it matte black...
But now I want to really modify it, because the only thing I did to it was to add a radiator and a reservoir on top, and I've added two 120mm fans into the side panel...

Now I want to paint the whole thing black from the inside and the outside, together with a large plexiglas window...all cables will be sleeved ("murderbox-style" ), I will modify my watercooling parts so they fit into the color scheme...
I will add some 1/2" inner diameter and 3/4" outer diameter red/UV red tube together with some nice UV cold cathode lights, and I will add some sheets inside, so some parts and wires can be hidden better...

Well, I think that's it so far, let's start with some pictures of the "victim":





I allready unmounted all the internals, as I sold my old hardware, and I used my watercooling-setup for testing on the new hardware...so everything's ready to be modded!!

First thing I did today was to cut out that stupid sheet in the middle of the case:



There it is:



5 minutes later the part was cut into two pieces, because the one part will be installed again, to remain the solid structure:



Next thing I did was to cut a sheet of stainless steel, so it will fit right where I want it. I will have to cut away in the shape I marked there, because I don't want it to cover ALL of that like it does now:




Another sheet of it (they both will be painted black to match the rest of the inside) will go on the backside, right above the motherboard-tray, so I can hide all the wires there:



I will have to cut that into the right size first, I will do that tomorrow maybe...

Next thing I did today was to fit the 2nd radiator into the front:






You will see the position where it will sit, the steel sheet will cover it when looking from the side, but when looking from a different angle you will see it!! I think that's a real nice idea, how do you like it?
As you can see I allready marked the area that needs to be cut out, and I allready drilled the mounting holes...

And here are some of the materials I got allready:





35m Techflex Flexo PET - I hope that's enough...

I allready got the plexi-window sitting here, but I have it in the box to prevent it from getting damaged...

Hardware that's going to be installed:

Asus P5Q-E (I think I will mod that a bit, too, I will watercool the NB and add some of these aftermarket MOSFET-coolers...)
E8200/E8400
2x2GB Corsair XMS2 Dominator
PowerColor HD4850...

and a lot of other parts, too...



Now your comments please!!

[Dangals]

This should be good....you have a lot of case to work with there!

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[GrossmeisterB]

This should be good....you have a lot of case to work with there!

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Yeah, that case IS huge!! But both my harddrives are packed in "silencer"-boxes, so I need 4 of those 5,25"-bays, plus the "Aquatube"-reservoir which sits on top needs another 2 of those...

How do you like my idea with the "cover" on the bottom right area?? ;-)

[Dangals]

How do you like my idea with the "cover" on the bottom right area?? ;-)

Interesting concept - looking forward to seeing it come together and how it looks once more of the components are in....good work so far though

Keep the pics flowing!!

[GrossmeisterB]

Interesting concept - looking forward to seeing it come together and how it looks once more of the components are in....good work so far though

Keep the pics flowing!!

I think that's going to take a while until the components will get in... :-D

But I will keep fotographing, because on all my last projects I just started building, and then I just could post the final result, but this time, as it's going to be a longer project, I want to make a real "worklog"... :-)

[emoners]

good luck on your build mate!

wow 35m of Techflex! :wow:

[GrossmeisterB]

good luck on your build mate!

wow 35m of Techflex! :wow:

Maybe those 35m are a bit too much, but better having a bit too much than having too less... :-D

[GrossmeisterB]

OK, today I finished the front radiator mounting as long as the metal sheet on the lower right part:

Removed some stuff there:




Then mounted the rad to test:




Then I cut the cover in the lower front into shape:




I really like it, can't wait to see it all painted black!!

Because I liked it that much, I started to build the mounting parts for it:



And then I mounted it in its place - looks good so far I think...





And this is the hardware that's going to be thrown in:



I'm allready testing some parts for their overclockability...

Any comments - especially on my "front cover"-creation - are really appreciated!!!

[GrossmeisterB]

I was a bit bored today, so I took my Powerpoint and "designed" a possible windows-style for my project...how do you think would such a window look like? I would have to remove the "quick open handle" on the chieftec, but I don't like that thing anyway, so it will have to be removed...
Well, here's what I though about:



What'ya think guys?

[charles_h]

So far so good. My only concern is that you may not have enough sleeving...

Seriously, looking good there Bro. The window design looks great but how will the inner "G" cutout stay in place? Will it be attached to the plexiglas?

[GrossmeisterB]

So far so good. My only concern is that you may not have enough sleeving...

Seriously, looking good there Bro. The window design looks great but how will the inner "G" cutout stay in place? Will it be attached to the plexiglas?

Well, I really hope that I won't run out of sleeve!!
But 35m of the 1/4" and another 2m of the 1" should be enough for my needs...

I checked my window-design again, but that "G" won't work like I want it, because there's the side-door handle, so I'll have to think about another shape/design...

But that "G" really is a good idea I think, I gotta do some more planning tomorrow, my wife's out tomorrow evening with some friends, so I'll have a lot of free time...

[Mankz_91]

Ahh. The Cheif...

I have had the Midi Tower varient of this case for 4 years now. Brilliant cases, and very easy to WC.

[GrossmeisterB]

Ahh. The Cheif...

I have had the Midi Tower varient of this case for 4 years now. Brilliant cases, and very easy to WC.

Yeah, it's a brilliant case, brilliant quality!! I also had a midi-tower a few years back, I really LOVE those cases!! That's why I will NOT mod the front in any way!!

BTW, I was lazy today, went shopping with my wife, so the next update will be on monday!!

[Janno]

them chieftec's are very popular here, too
can't wait to see how this one turns out

too bad you're not modding the front, though... not my taste at all

[GrossmeisterB]

I finally decided on my window-design:




I don't know yet how to put that "GrossmeisterB" down there, maybe I will ask a shop to do a sticker for me, or I will paint it in any way...
But that's the window-shape I'm going to use!!
The round edges will all be the same size, no worries, just did a quick Powerpoint-painting, so that's why it doesn't look "100%" like it will look later...but you get the point though...

I'll go and cut it out now!!

[Tile]

Be careful with the window design when executing it. Leave enough metal to have the possibility to attach the plexiglass to it and be able to close the sidepanel.

[GrossmeisterB]

Be careful with the window design when executing it. Leave enough metal to have the possibility to attach the plexiglass to it and be able to close the sidepanel.

Yeah, I measured it out, I allready finished cutting it, it came out REAL good, I'll upload some pics in a few minutes!!

[GrossmeisterB]

Here is the "result" - I will have a lot of work to "smoothen" all the edges etc...but I'll do that tomorrow!!











How do you guys like it??

[dsecrieru]

Looks good!

[GrossmeisterB]

Looks good!

Thanks!!
I hope I'll have some more free time tomorrow so I can finish that cutout, and maybe cut the Plexiglas into shape!
And then I'll have some more things I wnt to mod on the back...but I'll show you tomorrow...

[Dangals]

coming along nicely - I like the window design you have now.

More Pics!

[GrossmeisterB]

coming along nicely - I like the window design you have now.

More Pics!

Thanks a lot!!
I will do some more work today, so I will post some more pictures later on today!! :d

[GrossmeisterB]

No work on the "case" today, because I had to search for what parts to get for the rest of my watercooling-setup...I will remove my Eheim 1046 and replace it with an Aquastream XT, the HD4850 will be cooled by a Heatkiller GPU-X², here are some photos, I hope they'll be here on monday:







The CPU will be cooled by a Zern PQ+...I will paint it black...

[GrossmeisterB]

Some updates on the parts:
Before:


After:


I will just have to clean the copper base, then it'll be perfect!!

[Prozzac]

Looking good!