No idea

[Bucko]

I decided to head down to my local PC shop. I had money burning a hole in my wallet and I thought there was a good place to spend it.
I went down with no real plan, just have a look and see what grabs my attention.

Well for not good reason other than it was on sale I bought this:

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/4496/cameradump003ep0.jpg

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/3092/cameradump004vw3.jpg

A nice looking iCute case with a bloody big fan in the side.
It also has drive bays from top to bottom which will make it easy to play with.
The front drive bay covers are all mesh with a sponge filter and there is a 120mm fan mounted in the drive bays that can be positioned where ever is needed.
4 USB ports in the front too.
Did I mention it has a bloody big fan in the side?

So now I need to mod it. I've been looking around here and other sites trying to get some inspiration.

Hence the project name of "No Idea".
I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, I have no idea why I actually bought it (other than being on sale, and did I mention the bloody big fan?)

Rest assured, it will be modded though!

Things that I will do for sure:
Paint the inside.
Hide as many wires as is humanly possible.
Procrastinate.
Mention the bloody big fan!

[Zephik]

Cool looking case, looks like you could have some fun with it!

I could see that case being a dark blood red with some nice heavy metal flake. ^_^

[Foxtrot9000]

thats one big fan

[b4i7]

that case sucks!
/pun

[Zephik]

that case sucks!
/pun

lol nice, at first I was like, YOU JERK! Then I read the /pun part. ^_^

Have you tried that fan out yet Bucko? I wonder if it's a silent or a loud fan? Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it does suck! :p

[Bucko]

I haven't tried it out yet. However I have attacked a Pentium III motherboard with pliers and a screwdriver for this mod...

Stay tuned.

[Bucko]

One stripped to bare bones P3 board:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8743/cameradumpyy5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I could give all a hint on what I'll do with it, but I'd rather you have "No Idea".

[Drum Thumper]

Damn, that's one big bloody fan...what's the dimensions on that beast?

And where can I get one?

Cause I've got this plan that I've been hinting at in some of my posts you see...

+rep for the find!

-Edit: Perhaps you should paint the blades blood red?

[Bucko]

It's a 200 or 220mm fan (I forget which and my tape measure is outside).

edit: It's a 220mm fan.

[Thallion]

That case doesn't suck...
That case Blows!
/pun (ver 2)

[agnat]

Hey man, why didn't you mention that big ass fan on the side? LOL
I am really curious what you are going to do with a Pentium III board, especially stripped down.
Good luck with this mod and keep us posted.
Agnat

[Omega]

Go all DaveW on that board and turn it in to a window decoration (See DaveW's project "TIP-3000" to see what I mean).

Btw, yeah, that case must blow. /pun

[progbuddy]

That's a Hugh Jass fan :p. Anyways, I think a case conversion would be kinda cool (make it lay horizontal and change the optical drive orientation, blah, blah, blah) and have the fan on the top sucking in air.

[Bucko]

Go all DaveW on that board and turn it in to a window decoration (See DaveW's project "TIP-3000" to see what I mean).


Oooooohhh, so close, but not quite.
I saw that and thought "Don't tell me he has already done what I am doing?"

I'll be putting up pics shortly once the epoxy dries. The Motherboard has been cut in half and glued to the inside of the case side, so it will hide all the drive bays.

I was hoping to get some painting done today, but it's just too wet outside to want to try it.
Maybe tomorrow the weather will be better and I can get the insides painted.

[Bucko]

Here's a pic of the side with the MoBo installed in the window:

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6149/cameradump012ts9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I plan on painting the insides a darkish green to match the colour of the MoBo.

[Bucko]

Finally there was some sunshine! After almost a week of rain I could do some painting today, so here is the green insides.

I started fitting up the Pioneer DVD drive, front fan and cup holder. I'm waiting on my second Pioneer drive to come in to the shop so I can fit it up too.

Green:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3017/cameradump023nm7.jpg


And side cover with motherboard on:

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4434/cameradump021mp1.jpg


I will fit the HDD up near the top, as well as the fan control panel (which I am yet to make).

[Drew]

Consider the motherboard idea Stolen.

Or taxed.

Whatever.

+rep for finding a use for all my old ****e...

[Drum Thumper]

Finally there was some sunshine! After almost a week of rain I could do some painting today, so here is the green insides.

I started fitting up the Pioneer DVD drive, front fan and cup holder. I'm waiting on my second Pioneer drive to come in to the shop so I can fit it up too.

Green:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3017/cameradump023nm7.jpg




Green....Yellow...looks familiar...

Nice work so far!

+rep

[Bucko]

Consider the motherboard idea Stolen.

Or taxed.

Whatever.

+rep for finding a use for all my old ****e...


Got a link to your MoBo mod? Here I was thinking I was all clever making it up on my own and it's been done.:p

[Drew]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

I'm stealing it.

From you.

So there.

I dont do original. I steal. I cheat. And I lie.

<steals idea> Runs his ass off </steals idea>

[Bucko]

Ahhhhhh!
Now I see.

Thief! Thief!

Other jobs to be done are buy green LED's and replace the blue ones in the bloody big fan.
I might add a green cold cathode tube too, depending on my mood.

[NocturnaL]

Wow nice mod so far, you need to put a propellor cone on the middle of the fan and your case might fly away! lol keep it up

[Bucko]

Finally some progress on this mod!

No Idea will not become a games machine afterall. The Ratputer will take that role.
I have transferred the guts of Project: Bruised (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6649) into it and No Idea will be a Media Centre. I'll keep the TV tuner card and all my music and TV shows on it.

Here is the first step, the new guts:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1135/cameradump066fn8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Looks rather neat while the PSU cables aren't hooked up, doesn't it?

Once they went on it looked like this:

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2511/cameradump068kx9.jpg


So I have some tidying up to do there. I want to keep as many cables hidden and neat as possible.

[Bucko]

I started doing the cable management today.

I basically rerouted the cables forward to the spare drive bays and used some zip ties to hold the wires in place.

Starting out:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2926/cameradump069bh0.jpg


I ran the motherboard power cord behind the PSU and brought it out under it so it has a neat run to the plug:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6820/cameradump070sh9.jpg


The HDD I turned around so the plugs were at the front of the case. Makes the insides look a lot neater:

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5264/cameradump071hh6.jpg


And here is how the inside is now:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8455/cameradump072xq5.jpg


I still have to install the exhaust fans at the back of the case and run the power to them. I was having issues with the computer seeing the DVD drives with the other cable. It works fine with that blue one, but I'll go out during the week and get two green cables and use both IDE plugs in the MoBo seeing as the HDD is SATA. I'll also be installing a second SATA HDD when I have a few spare bucks.

[Bucko]

And a pic with the side on:

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/8182/cameradump073uk2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'll either change the blue LED's in the fan for green ones, or remove them altogether. Surprisingly that big fan is very quiet.

[MaxOC]

yeah the bigger the fan is the quieter it is, like i have a 200 sitting on top of my antec 900 and its max setting is like 105 cfm, INAUDIBLE i can put my ear up to it and barely hear it, same with my psu fans but theyre just a 120 and 80 going at low rpm

edit: btw thats how my case is too, nice and neat until the psu is in then all hell breaks loose lol. hopefully it wont be long till they get from 5v to 12v wireless electricity

[a.Bird]

"5v to 12v wireless electricity"
:neutral:

[MaxOC]

well its true lol, they developed a way to use really low radio frequencies to give out wireless electricity to like phones and stuff if its sitting within like 2 feet, so your lamp could be your charging station, but its only like 3-5 volts right now

[.Maleficus.]

:neutral:
Took the words (well, face, actually) right out of my keyboard.

Nice job on the mod Bucko, it's coming along real nicely!

[progbuddy]

well its true lol, they developed a way to use really low radio frequencies to give out wireless electricity to like phones and stuff if its sitting within like 2 feet, so your lamp could be your charging station, but its only like 3-5 volts right now

This is true. My dad's sonicare toothbrush charges wirelessly :p

[Bucko]

I put the exhaust fans in tonight. I wanted a neat wiring job, so here is how I went about it.

First step, take two 80mm LED fans. They had 3 wire small plugs on them:

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/3249/cameradump074oz1.jpg


I peeled off the stickers, then with the soldering iron out, I removed the yellow wire as I wasn't using the fan speed monitor:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/334/cameradump075ad3.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9446/cameradump076as4.jpg


Next I trimmed down the red and black wire and soldered them together, then soldered on a longer set of wires to hook them up to power:

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2562/cameradump077yv2.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5310/cameradump078tz4.jpg


At the other end of the wires I soldered on a molex plug that had the 12v wires sticking out. It's the easiest way to hook it up, but not waste a plug from the PSU:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/1051/cameradump079aq7.jpg


And here they are installed in the case with a pic with and without the flash:

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/7415/cameradump080dn9.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/612/cameradump081xw0.jpg

[Eclecticos]

O,yea.. Now thats one Big Fann. . I'm Jealous.

I suppose that fan came with the Blue LEDs in a circle like that.

Lookin' Good!

[Bucko]

Yeah, the fan came with the LEDs in a circle.

I ended up using a different fan without LEDs in it. I also turned it around so it is an exhaust fan too. It should help keep the case cleaner and free of dust as the intake is now all at the front through the filters.

By turning the fan around and taking the sticker off it, there is now another circuit board shown in the window.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7501/cameradump088ut4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Bucko]

Small update. I got my green IDE cable today for the second DVD drive and I got a Samsung 500GB SATA HDD for $185 from my friendly Computer shop.

Now to turn off my machine and install them. *sob* I hate turning off my machine. It's like saying goodbye to a loved one.

[Bucko]

Well it's in and now formatting. I was down to only around 30Gb on my 320Gb drive, so this will be a nice addition of space.

[$loth]

Very nice idea going with the green theme, not too sure bout the motherboard though, if the ide/sata/psu cables were tidy or hidden it could look good.

How many layers of primer and colour coat did you use for the inside?

[goofazoid]

Surprisingly that big fan is very quiet.

I wasn't surprised at all. :)
I have been doing a lot of reading up on the larger fans for a custom built rig I am in the planning stages on. (I am looking at using no less than 3 of these 250mm (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=327&products_id=21357) fans.
Why these fans?
At 820rpm they move 105cfm of air and only produce 19dBA. Since dBA is a logarithmic scale, the 3 of them will produce ~ 23 dBA. (or so I was told on another forum by someone in the know. :))

I like the idea of using the old mobo to hide the drive bays BTW. :)

+ Rep