some current system picture to tide you guys over
   

Oredi seeing dust on the GTX680 cooling fins..


Here is a picture that was, since before CNY 2015




Have to move quick before the onset of grease.... and throw everything down the drain

what switch?

oth that is vandal resistant switch i bought back 2 years ago

from a lowyat forumer as well limhongwan or something

slow slow slow day

weehheelllllll, what do we have here...?

Sand paper in sink????!!!


Super simple setup for "super simple" job



The best sandpaper block i can find



Sanded down the corner to a smother surface


as compared to previous





it seems i lost some of the picture of the whole case sand down....

now all unit is sanded down and readied for Painting...


Now where to buy spray primer...

After a hiatus

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!

Lets see, what would be my excuse(s)
1. GTX 680 Lightning?
2. CG:GO at RM 15.50?
3. Workload?
4. Life crumbling around me
5. Just lazy
6. All above??

Well installed GTX680 (finally ) and just started to play a slew of games my old 9600GT cannot handled

Then CS:GO happened, and this is from Mar till now.. almost 5 month and chalked up almost 600hrs gameplay




also coupled with work load from my life-paying job
and just a sudden bout of laziness, apathy really, and my life equipment sort of strat to break down around me
(my phone DIY wireless charging is a NG, GPS unit acting up, car start to sputters, line shaft cover broken.... )

things just sort of slowed down

well I did get to go to Germany for a week, all expense paid...

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3682120&hl=


just recently fixed my GPS unit

and this Case mod feeling is coming back, BABEH!

before anything lets see the setup as it is now..

My Components:
Processor : Intel Core i7 2600k @ Stock
CPU Cooler : DIY Mod from Gigabyte 4 Heatpipes Cooler + Freaking Loud Delta Fan
RAM : 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance Light Blue Heatspreader
GPU : MSI GTX 680 Lightning @ Stock
Display : Dell U2414h FHD LCD
PSU : Seasonic S12D 750W
Storage :
---> 2X 256GB SSD (Plextor M6S and Liteon L9s) in Raid-0, Mod BIOS for Trim Support **NEW**
---> 3X 2TB HDD (2X Samsung HD204UI, 1X WD Red )
---> 1X 320GB Seagate
---> 2X 80GB WD Black

Peripheral :
---> El-cheapo Keyboard,
---> Gigabyte G402 Mouse **NEW**,
---> REAL Carbon Fiber Mouse Mat
---> Sony In-ear headphones, very nice for CSGO (bundled with Xperia Z)
etc etc...


well enough chit chat,
you all here for the pictures, right?
a disaster waiting to happened, perhaps?



A disaster you say?
well you're in the right place!

a 5 months open air setup and the system is hocked full of dust!!!!
this is the Graphics and mobo, with fins filled with dust!


then this is above it, all HDD/SSD with the PSU
Active air will kill your system guys...



the back of the system, filled with hanging wires and co...


Any hoo, my road back to finishing this project starts...

on the next post

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 09:33 AM

Here is the start

have to take a Leave on Friday to get self motivated to start


a simple setup, with lots of cellophane tape to bind those newspaper together


closeup,


Parts to spray Base Coat


Self Etching basecoat for steel parts





Sprayed Main Body case with white colour base coat



Some plastic parts test spray



metal top is base coat, plastic parts is white colour
can you all guess what colour I am going for here?


After some time, lets start the Spray paint process!


TBC next post

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 09:32 AM

HUHU~~...

Spray 4 coats of white, and need only one mistake....
have to add more layers again to cover up the mistakes



Another 3-4 layers of paint and the defect is barely able to be covered up

night comes and 1st round of painting is finished


the main body, painted white as snow....


a few layers of paints and the colour is solid


parts solid colour



Front panel


Still some imperfection, might fill up with something for next round of spray



TBC next post

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 09:31 AM

Another day, another zzzzz



Hazy as FK!


Not much happen
today, just laze around

but heres something interesting



its a Firewire External DVD player writer from Acer Ferarri
from here


company have this laptop, and after much abused
the unit finally breath it last breath last year
and now the company going to scrap the asset and I swoop in to get this rarely used gem




the firewire plug, luckily my mobo have such port at the back and the mobo header as well
So Got me self some couple of them mobo headers



Something unused for so long, dunno whether this is grime or just the Soft-touch layer breaking down...

so some methanol and some elbow grease walla!


nice and clean, not so much for the methanol tissue laden with the gunk


This is a slot based drive



Max pic achieved
so TBC next post for the conclusion....... of this week updates

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 09:35 AM

and it fits the ODD bottom slot just nice on the front panel




Wadaya know


then there is this..





Here's the thing
top Picture is the normal spray on 1 side
the bottom picture is spray with a clear coat on the other side

It seems that this clear coat gives a yellow tint to the white...
this won't do... this won't do one bit



So my conclusion for this week and more planning to be had
1. First round of Paint done, Parts are touched up on rough sprays area with Wet sandpaper, so another round of spray paint is needed
2. HDD cage need to be dismantle from current system to be spray paint
----> 2a. More Base coat spray needed
----> 2b. More paint require
----> 2c. What colour for the front panel ?
----> 2d. Clear Coat for all???
3. Clean System
4. Remove the Heatspreader from ram, Spray paint perhaps?
5. Buy Noctua U14s or D15
6. GET FANS FANSSS FANSSSSSSS!!!, also some Fine Fan Filter
7. Clean up the fking ROOM!

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 09:28 AM

oh...

Thanks for the heads up...

old rant


btw...
if anyone have issue with the picture formating
my apologies while I fine a more permanent solutions

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 5 2015, 10:17 AM

some weekdays updates:

the bane of my system :



The RAM...
Bought this back in 2009???, 16GB babeh...

but sadly the colour clashes with the mobo
and the height makes it impossible to use a dual stack heatsink such as Noctua NH-D15 or Phantek TC14PE
with the fans for-sho overhangs the ram slot and what not...

so IT HAS TO BE DONE!







RIP THEM APART!!!


And some of this


and with the trusty ol' elbow grease, and two hours sitting on the floor



and the RAM now is happy with all the gunk cleaned off
and currently back to running the system




and the heat spreaders?


lets see shall we?

and thats all for some weekdays updates

Phriday's here and I'm stuck at my work

luckily sneak some time to do some stuff




these is all the sticker to the ram heat spreader
remove slowly to retain structure, shape (will it be reused? Dunno...)


here is the stripped Heat spreader
if you look closely, there is a two tone to the anodized layer
covered layer is bluer than the exposed


then the Thermal tape remove and left with the double sided tape

off we go to the Chemical Lab

Today we have two choice
Both is very capable to clean off gluiee stuff


Top is un-touch
bottom is dip in MEK for ~5 sec and wiped off a bit


Hand with the chem, so no pictures until finished and wash with soap and water
Clean as a whistle

TBC next post on the reason of this job

This post has been edited by mcchin: Oct 9 2015, 07:29 PM

Now why I go to the length to Do this RAM thingy

well

Noctua NH-D14/15 or Phantek TC14PE

I could go the way of Noctua NH-U14, but let see how

I have been visualizing stuff only in my head so it can be a bit daunting to get things right

but a video in youtube subscription by Linus gave me a great idea

www.sketchup.com <-- nice beginner 3D program

So apparently Linus did a project build by 1st making a 3D sketch (when I say Linus did, the 3D is done by Taran)
and he found out that there is quite a lot of available 3D sketch of PC Component already done and on the internet/web

So.....


Got a precise mobo as reference
Not my model, but it will do


This Noctua NH-D14 seems good


Then my current ram, with the ridiculous Heat spreader


The Heat sink just fit in nicely

So lets add the ram

WTF!!!!!!
So.. the two item, mobo and HS is spot on to real life scale
the Ram not so, with measurement made in Meters

So with some self adjustment, Walla!


So you see where the problem starts already, right?


Not only the Fans will have issue, the inner two Ram slot will interferes with the Heat Sink as well

Problem can be alleviated with the Use of Noctua D15
but the fan, in push config would still be the same
The recommendation by Noctua to push the fan up higher would spell a problem to the top clearance within the case


So Now the most logical choice to move forward is to cut down the Ram Heat spreader height and while at it, spray to a more thematic colour
That 2nd part of colour changing to anodized part gives tonnes of problem in it self

A check on the net, say anodized part not gonna hold well with spray paint
and it is better to remove this layer before spray painting...

more work more problem....

To be Honest, I cant wait for TS to finish the blardy project. It like TS doesn't care at all....
oh wai...


work work work
stationed to indo for two weeks threw a spanner in the works

Need to help setup Indo plant...


The hostel I am staying in



well on 30th Oct I AM BACK!!!!!! (pic of Indo airport)

Lets see...

Just yesterday done something....
hmm...
dunno whether to share or not....

awwww what the heck


Some things done before I went to Indonesia

tried painting over the Ram Heat spreader


Not good... not good at all


Direct paint would not really adhere well


Well off with the paint



The idea now is to put a light coat of white base before spraying the wanted colour

which is...






Red, Candy Red to be precise....


Those were test colour on matte spray paint
good enuff for me

So on Saturday did this





and dangnamit!!

Who would have guess... 1 can of spray paint is not enuff

so try to get sum more paint and the shop is closed for sunday.....

This post has been edited by mcchin: Nov 16 2015, 12:23 AM

project get moving along again...




more coats of the paint



same goes with main body

(sorry for the crap pic)



as usual, close-up




This is for Today
maybe another 1-2 coats of paint before calling it

Remember this one?





and latest iteration


Cause it been on the system all this while
It have finally been dismantled for prep



washing all the dirt and grime




nice and shiny


so while prepping the HDD cage
Found out I missed one crucial part



yup, the front panel, DOH'!







Learned to be patient
Spray lightly each coat to enable quicker drying time between coats
and no sagging happening



But by golly the orange peel...


Should I go with the textured feel?

Alright alright....

it is now officially 1 month before the 2016 be upon us

Alright alright....

it is now officially 1 month before the 2016 be upon us
And I'll be damned if this project bleeds to the new year


Now, to be clear,I really have another couple of weeks to work on it
since I am shipped off to Indonesia for 10 days in mid Dec

so My target finish Date : Before CNY 2016


now where was I...



This is the last of the major Paint, which takes up like 2 + month?




nothing much, lazing around waiting for the paint to dry

Now the above was done on Nov End

For Dec, this is it





The HDD cage,

The Gold Tape is Kapton tape, used here to prevent paint scratch
Yes I know it is leaning, nothing wrong with my *New Z5 Premium* phone camera





Install some unused HDD as place holder to get the sizing right, then tighten

Then we move on to the main *Dish*





The aluminium frame is slowly install back and riveted
I had to look back my own post to see which part goes where


speaking of rivets
next post would be some tips to rivets mod

This post has been edited by mcchin: Dec 5 2015, 11:32 PM

Now the tips on modding rivets

I dunno about you
but precise rivets is hard to come by in my place
(more like, lazy to go to search it out)


So here's a tip


you have here is a typical rivet, correct diameter, but a tad too long




now you knock out the mid pin, very easy to be done


now find an used broken pin and inserted into the middle


use a plier, or cutter, with sharp cutting edge and pinch the rivet
the pin in the middle to prevent the collapse of the soft and hollow alluminium rivet
used pin is to ensure the original pin is is unharmed


now you have this and remove the mid pin from the rivet


you get this


knock back the ori mid-pin to the rivet, use the rivet plier to do it


and there you go, custom sized rivet, precisely what you need

normal program will resume after this

cont'


here's the look of the build so far



Side view




front view




Back side view




back view


*pardon the pants, old cloths used as safety layer between build


so that's it so far