Hello fellow modders! I’ve been perusing through TBCS for about 2 months now and I have to say I’m impressed. J So, as such, I’ve made up my mind to do my project work-log here. I’ve been building systems for years now, and have one real heavy mod to my name (did it about 6 years ago, when modding was still pretty uncommon).
Anyway…moving on to project DEEP PURPLE. Currently I’ve got a system on my desk, built in a plexi box, with 6x 80mm system fans, 2x 40mm fans on the HD, 2x 80mm PSU fans, a 40mm chipset fan, a 40mm VPU fan, and a monster Athalon cooling fan. Needless to say, it’s loud, well, it’s worse than loud, I seriously thing I’m going deaf from it. That, and the fact that the system is a good 4 years old, has finally pushed me over the edge and forced me to start building my new system.
Now, I’ve grown a few years since my first mod (not the plexi, that was more of a parted out build than a mod), and I think I know where I want to go with this system. Basically, I want silent, smooth, and elegant. No harsh red neons, no multi-color eyesores, I want something that will blend in with my personal taste and style.
I’ve spent a couple of months just researching what I want, looking at part and company reviews, and most importantly surfing the internet for the perfect case to begin with. Oh, did I mention that, due to my job, I live in India right now so I can’t just run to Home Depot or BestBuy to pick up parts? J My challenge is limited to what I can mail-order from the states, which is 99% of my new build.
I was going to hold off on starting the project log until I got all of my parts in, but, you know how it is when boxes start showing up. You just can’t wait to get the approval of your peers and start detailing all of your work. So without further ado, here is what I’m going for overall, I wanted a strong gaming system, that would look great, for around $2k, not too bad a goal and I think I hit the mark:
Primary System Specs/Components:
CPU: Intel 820d Dual-Core 2.8Ghz
RAM: 2Gb DDR2-667 Patriot Memory
MOBO: Gigabyte GA8NSLI (Couldn’t find any mobo’s with a purple PCB, but this one had great reviews, and it’s blue, pretty close, it should work great in the end.)
VPU: XFX GeForce 7900GT
HD’s: 2x (striped) Maxtor 200gb SATA’s
Optical: Lite-On DVD/RW
PSU: Rosewill Modular Black 550W
Cooling System Components:
Pump: Danger Den D5 Pump
Blocks: DD RBX775 CPU, DD NV-78 VPU, DD Maze-4 Chipset, DD Aqua-Drive HD Block,
Rads: 2x DD Black Ice Extreme 120mm single radiators
Reservoir: Innovatek Tank-o-Matic w/ Black Aluminum caps.
Fans: 3x Coolermaster Silent 120mm Purple LED fans
(1 for each rad, one to replace the blue, loud fan in the PSU)
3x 120mm silicone fan silencers
Fluid: Blue & Red PrimoChill Ice fluid (hoping to mix for purple)
Case & Accent Bits:Case: ThermalTake Armor, aluminum (silver, but it’s the first thing to get changed)
Light: 15” Purple Lava Neon tube from StreetGlow
Light: 2x 15” Black-Neon tubes from StreetGlow
Control: PC-Neon connector kit from StreetGlow (I love how clean and simple this thing is)
Misc: Copious amounts of black cable sleeving, heat shrink, and tie wraps. I’m doing this one right.
My Plan:As far as modding, I’m going to do a total case destruction. J The internals are all going to be a nice high-gloss black. Outside the case is going to be a deep midnight purple, with black accents. I have in mind exactly what the accents will be, but I’m not going to spoil the fun yet. I’m hoping to replace the bottom window that comes in the case with a piece of un-etched plexi, since this will be my case and not ThermalTakes. I’m going to try my hand at replacing the system LED’s on the case with purple ones as well.
The entire water-cooling system is going to be a ½” ID setup, with the purple UV reactive fluid. All my other cables inside the case will either be totally buried (behind the mobo, through the racks, routed out of window view, etc.) or done in black to hide. Between the black lights and purple fluid, and purple lights, I’m really trying to do a subtle highlighting of the water-cooling setup. I’m also thinking of putting some holes in the case windows and weaving some extra tubing in and out of the case for effect, but I’m not sure if this’ll be feasible without overstressing my water pump.
As pieces start coming in the mail, I’ll do individual component, and small-step pictures (as I’ve got a lot of friends who have never seen a PC built from scratch, and it’ll be a fun way to show them what goes into building a computer, and what goes into modding one). The first couple of boxes are in, so when I get home this evening, I’ll do some pictures and start putting them in.
My Problem:
As I said, I live overseas, and I have a limit on box-size I can receive in the mail. So, I can’t actually pick up my case until I head home on vacation this summer. In the meantime, I’ll start with this intro, and the photos of what I’ll be doing with the components I get in (mounting water blocks, changing out fittings, looming cables, all the little stuff). When I get back from vacation on the 24th of July, then the true fun will begin (rivet drilling, sanding, cleaning, painting, assembling, all that stuff).
The Conclusion (for now):
So, I hope you will all enjoy looking at the (slow) evolution of my new beast. I’m up for comments/suggestions as always, and I am more than happy to just chat about my design with people.
Cheers for now, the next post will follow with pictures of the first couple of boxes I’ve gotten in.
-Modding Fan