HotBox

[x88x]

It looks like you have plenty of space in there to mount rads internally (well, at least a 120mm and an 80mm (revised from my last statement))...ok, maybe not 'plenty', but enough It would be fairly expensive though...that's always the problem with watercooling...

BTW, in my previous post, I was referencing the CNPS8000, not a video card; good to know it fits though. Is the fan it almost hits the front fan?

[Jonsta]

I'd have to ditch the front fan if I wanted to mount any sort of rad in there. I think one of those purpose built all in one systems with the single 120mm rad and fan would be excellent for this case. (example: Corsair H50)

Time for more piccies!

The slim optical drive mounts in a sort of cage that sits up the top of the case at the front. I felt that this cage could have been a little smaller to allow for more cable management, but it does seem like it was the easiest way to fit the drive to the case.

The hard drive has it's own little cage that mounts under the slim optical drive's cage. The only downside to this is that the optical drive's cage needs to be installed before you can securely fix the hard drive cage to the case (it actually clips onto the bottom of the optical cage).

I took out the black 120mm grille from the front, then after sanding and spraying on some plastic adhesion primer, I gave it a lick of Engine Enamel. I used this paint because that guy from MNPCTech used it, and achieved a really nice finish. Unfortunately, I didn't get the same result, but I'm still pretty happy with it, and I think it looks a lot better than the original black plastic.

I mounted the little optical drive cage, but look what happened! The front of the optical drive doesn't line up with the front panel of the box. I was about to take the optical drive cage out again to see if I can line it up better, until I saw...

...that Silverstone actually drilled holes in the frame so that I could adjust the position of the optical drive while the cage was installed in the case. What a neat feature!

Fix'd.

Cable management is a ****ing joke inside this case, regardless of the cool features it has. This may not look very messy, but imagine how I'm going to fare with two SATA cables and a power supply full of relatively long cords. I'm definitely going to have to get my Sta-Kons and make a few 'modifications' myself.

That's all for now, but there's still more to come! Meanwhile, is there any other ideas that you guys have that could improve the mod any further? I'm still looking at the water cooling route, but I want to add something quirky. I'm definitely going to fit a chunky handle on top, so I can take it places easier.

Jonsta

[x88x]

Can we get a shot of the case with the GPU in there? I'm wondering about something for WC...

Also, for the SATA, get some shorter cables; I think 6" or 8" cables would work nicely for the distance you need to go..just..don't get 4"...they're a lot shorter than you think they are..

[Jonsta]

I have a few more photos for you guys, I didn't get a very detailed picture of the GPU inside the case, but I want to do a few more things to this PC yet, so stay tuned.

After mounting the power supply, I noticed that the grey PSU and the black/red theme go together like pizza and ice cream (read: CRAAAAAP) but I don't want to void the warranty by painting it. I'll find a way to make the power supply look a little better later on.

The 24-Pin plug was a bastard to manage but here I think I reached a good compromise. It keeps it out of the way, and you wont be the wiser when the cover is on anyway XD

Here's the inital test run without the cover on, and I must say that this little guy has quite a mouth on him. The 8800GT is really loud for the first couple of seconds, but quiets down shortly after POST. The main problem is defintely the CPU heatsink fan. I'll need to get myself a good Zalman fan sometime soon, now that I have a bit of money to spend.

And here is what it looks like currently while sitting in my room. I bought the handle from Bunnings Warehouse, and it supports the weight of the pc just fine. I'm actually using it as a gaming machine to play Fallout 3 and NFS Shift. I still want to do a few more things to it, though. I'm still looking to cover that PSU with something, I'm still thinking about water cooling (or a good air cooler), and I was also thinking of putting a window in the GPU side of the case

As for how it works, I decided to run a real-world test to make sure that it would do what I needed it to do. A few days ago I used the handle to take the box and some peripherals down to a friend's place, where we played games for 8 hours in a non-air conditioned carpeted room. We even had the pc in a corner sitting on carpeted floor, and it still remained stable enough to game all the way into the night. Regardless of how it looks, I think I succeeded in my original tasks ^^

Any ideas floating around that I could put into practice on this little box? Let me know!

Jonsta

[Loki]

Nice mod!!

Any ideas floating around that I could put into practice on this little box? Let me know!
Jonsta

Maybe flexing the PSU cables will add a touch of esthetics to the interior of the case

[x88x]

Looks nice...though there's that big empty space in the front It needs to be filled up

[Jonsta]

Looks nice...though there's that big empty space in the front It needs to be filled up

Thanks for the kudos guys

I decided to get a smaller video card after all (but not less powerful!). It cost about 160 and I should be getting it tomorrow. Can you guess what it is?

As you would imagine the space in the front of the case will be inviting to a water cooling solution, as I have a special idea for a loop design that will make this thing look beastly.

I like the idea of water cooling as i dont have to be limited by low space around the cpu but i still get effective temperatures. I cant overclock on this power supply, even if my new video card has such a small die size

Jon

[Airbozo]

Use some contact paper to cover the PSU bits that are noticeable...

[x88x]

I'm gonna guess a Radeon 5750?

If you weren't worrying about the warranty, you could flip the PSU over and re-route the cables through the 'top' (now bottom) of it, either looping the unused length inside the PSU or shortening them.

[Jonsta]

Hey guys, got a few more pics for you.

Airbozo: I've been thinking about that for a while now and it does seem like the way to go. Next time I'm at the Golden Casket I'll pick up a roll of whatever looks the best.

x88x: You've got it in one. I just wonder if me putting it in my system list had anything to do with that

On to the pics!

The great thing about this card is that it's quite a bit shorter than the old 8800GT was, which gives me way more clearance near the front of the case for watercooling setups. The bad thing is that it's an Asus and being a mid-range Asus card, it comes with one of those ****house Glaciator heatsinks. I can't even count how many cards I've had to return because of the fan on these coolers failing and making the card overheat. Let's hope I'm not one of the unlucky ones.

Here you can see just how much space there is inside this little box. Now that I have all this space, I may not need to mount an external radiator. Is there anywhere in Aus that I can pick up a simple 80x160mm rad with G1/4" fittings? In fact I'll need a few things like a pump, a waterblock, tubing and a fill kit. I don't think I have enough space to mount a rez in there.

Lots of room in there even for the most unweildy of LCS setups. I tried hard with the cable management but I think I'll need to work out a better solution than just having the 4-Pin P4 connector hanging there.

I'll be getting that contact soon and we'll see how the power supply comes up. That'll give me a chance to reroute the cables and make it look a little neater for next post's photo shoot

Jonsta