Show Us Your Rig

[ZaLiTH]

So sounds like I didn't get a bad deal, considering I only need one size for now (PSU was already sleeved).

Yeah, it would've worked out cheaper if I bought a single thickness, but my PSU isn't sleeved, and I'm not planning to sleeve the individual cables, so a kit makes more sense for me...

The mesh idea is not a bad one. How do you plan to fit it to the fans? On the outside, inside, between fan and case or on the inside of the fan with a second set of screws?

~Lordbob

The side fans I'll place the mesh between the fans and the perspex, I'm going to try and model my fan covers around the NZXT M59 case, it will obviously look a bit different thanks to the fact that my mesh has larger holes, but I'm going to try fix it to the fans similarly to this:

I don't need to worry about covering the inside of the fans as my cables are nowhere near the fans now, and they'll be even further away once I'm done with my cable management..

The front panel is going to be the interesting one though (expect lots of photos of that task). Currently, I have a curved plastic panel with four clips that hold it in the case, but to mount the mesh I still need those four clips... So I'm going to cut the face out of this front panel, and mount the mesh onto that using the double-sided tape. That way I should hopefully have a frame with the four case clips and a mesh front.

The only points I haven't quite worked out yet is exactly where to fix the mesh to the frame, and whether or not I need to reinforce this plastic frame at all.. I might be able to fix the mesh onto it in such a way that the mesh itself actually makes it stronger, but I'll see how it goes.

A good friend of mine was kind enough to lend me his Dremel 300 with a nice assortment of tips, so between that and my jig-saw and drill, I should be able to make this all work quite nicely.

 

[Lordbob75]

So sounds like I didn't get a bad deal, considering I only need one size for now (PSU was already sleeved).

Yeah, it would've worked out cheaper if I bought a single thickness, but my PSU isn't sleeved, and I'm not planning to sleeve the individual cables, so a kit makes more sense for me...

The mesh idea is not a bad one. How do you plan to fit it to the fans? On the outside, inside, between fan and case or on the inside of the fan with a second set of screws?

~Lordbob

The side fans I'll place the mesh between the fans and the perspex, I'm going to try and model my fan covers around the NZXT M59 case, it will obviously look a bit different thanks to the fact that my mesh has larger holes, but I'm going to try fix it to the fans similarly to this:

I don't need to worry about covering the inside of the fans as my cables are nowhere near the fans now, and they'll be even further away once I'm done with my cable management..

The front panel is going to be the interesting one though (expect lots of photos of that task). Currently, I have a curved plastic panel with four clips that hold it in the case, but to mount the mesh I still need those four clips... So I'm going to cut the face out of this front panel, and mount the mesh onto that using the double-sided tape. That way I should hopefully have a frame with the four case clips and a mesh front.

The only points I haven't quite worked out yet is exactly where to fix the mesh to the frame, and whether or not I need to reinforce this plastic frame at all.. I might be able to fix the mesh onto it in such a way that the mesh itself actually makes it stronger, but I'll see how it goes.

A good friend of mine was kind enough to lend me his Dremel 300 with a nice assortment of tips, so between that and my jig-saw and drill, I should be able to make this all work quite nicely.

Sounds good.

Can't wait to see it all done.

~Lordbob

 

[Dave76]

Looks like fun ZaLiTH, keep us posted and some pics

 

[ZaLiTH]

Looks like fun ZaLiTH, keep us posted and some pics

Thanks Dave.. I'm enjoying this project so far, so I'd definitely call it 'fun'. I don't have any internet access at home unfortunately, so I'll see what I can get done this weekend and upload some more photos on Monday.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Looks like fun ZaLiTH, keep us posted and some pics

Thanks Dave.. I'm enjoying this project so far, so I'd definitely call it 'fun'. I don't have any internet access at home unfortunately, so I'll see what I can get done this weekend and upload some more photos on Monday.

We'll be here mate!

 

[A Guy]

Hello just visting again this thread wanna share my current setup

Very nice!

A Guy

 

[ZaLiTH]

Well well, it's been a good weekend...

Got some good work done on my case mod. As usual, I apologise for the creally crappy photo quality, my HTC phone camera was all I had handy this weekend...


First things first, getting all my tools together, can't forget the coffee... It's a vital part of anything that requires thought:

I started by bending the mesh panel to shape and drawing the basic outline of the front panel onto the mesh, no big sweat here:

Next I tried to cut out the old front panel and use the edges as a 'frame' to mount the new mesh panel onto:

But that didn't work too well. It broke when I started filling it back to mount the mesh:

So, I layed the mesh over the front panel, had a staring competition with my front panel (it won, by the way), and waited for some divine inspiration to hit me.

A cup of coffee and a smoke helped clear my head, and I decided to may use of the two silver plastic strips above and below my old panel to mount it.

The basic idea is that these two strips are actually screwed into the case from the inside, and they're not thin and flimsy pieces like the clear plastic panel was. So I cut two lines into the inside edges of these two silver pieces to slot the mesh into, then I cut out the corners of the mesh to fit into the slots I'd cut in the plastic... This took much tweaking and cutting and trimming and coffee and more cutting.

But it all paid off at the end! Starting to look like a fan cover now.

I got a bit worried at this point because I hadn't measured it against the actual front panel for a while, but when I put it back on, everything just fell into place and it lined up perfectly. I am going to be covering the left and right hand sides of this mesh at some point, I'll just strip some wire and put black wire insulation over the sides, but I didn't have any spare thin black wire lying around, so I'll do that next time.

Finally, I collected all the parts spread all over my double bed and put my case back together.. I must say, I was satisfied with the outcome:

Next was the side panel, I'll keep this part short though, this post is getting way too long now.

I started by cutting the basic shape of the mesh and lining it up. Did a bit of trimming on the edges here:

I decided to go with the idea of cutting awy the corners where the fan screws were, instead of tring to line up mesh holes with fan holes:

When I put it against the fans on my side panel, I found a few small corners that I needed to trim away a bit, but it was looking pretty good:

Once I was satisfied with the shape, I put my side panel back together:

And put it back on my case:

I'm not sure if I should put some sort of surround on the side fan mesh or not, perhaps do the same as what I plan for the sides of the front mesh? I'm not sure though... It's not vibrating now, but I suspect with the mesh being aginst the perspex side panel, it may start to vibrate in a few days once the screws start to settle a bit.

Also, I haven't done the cable sleeving yet, I'll sort that out when I re-spray my case... After all, my PC will be out of action for a few days anyway, and everything will be stripped from my case, perfect time to do sleeving. What do you guys think so far?

 

[derekimo]

Nice work, handy step by step walk through too. Looking good Zalith!

 

[Lordbob75]

That is looking really good Zalith!

I have unfortunately borked my work a little... I blew out the LEDs on my fan by running 12V through them, about 10 times more than I should have...
So that ended my work for today.
It also appears that I need to go with a regular rocker switch because the LED ones won't work with the setup I was to use.

~Lordbob

 

[ZaLiTH]

Nice work, handy step by step walk through too. Looking good Zalith!

Thanks.. I figure if anybody else is looking to do the same sort of thing, the least I could do is tell people what did and didn't work for me..

That is looking really good Zalith!

I have unfortunately borked my work a little... I blew out the LEDs on my fan by running 12V through them, about 10 times more than I should have...
So that ended my work for today.
It also appears that I need to go with a regular rocker switch because the LED ones won't work with the setup I was to use.

~Lordbob

Ouch... That really sucks, what about using an in-line resister on the positive point of the LEDs though? Using the +5v line from a molex connector should do the trick, although I must admit that might affect the LEDs in the fan itself, unless you use a totally separate +5v line to the fan connector.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Nice work, handy step by step walk through too. Looking good Zalith!

Thanks.. I figure if anybody else is looking to do the same sort of thing, the least I could do is tell people what did and didn't work for me..

That looks really good mate!

 

[Fumz]

Very nice job! Sounds like it was a lot of fun.

 

[smarteyeball]

What do you guys think so far?

That this ▼ was worth quoting as I know the feeling well

had a staring competition with my front panel (it won, by the way), and waited for some divine inspiration to hit me.

Other than that, it's looking good

 

[ZaLiTH]

Thanks guys.. It has been fun so far, I just can't wait for a chance to get the painting and cable sleeving done as well. I'm still doing some research on the best way to spray the case though, I'd love to use a proper spray gun with a compressor, or even an airbrush (although that will take hours to complete), but it seems my only option will be normal spray paint...

Unless somebody else has any suggestions? Powder coating is another option, but I have no idea how much it costs...

 

[Dave76]

Nice work, handy step by step walk through too. Looking good Zalith!

Thanks.. I figure if anybody else is looking to do the same sort of thing, the least I could do is tell people what did and didn't work for me..

Great pics, turned out very nice

That looks really good, makes me think about what I might do to mine.

Powder coating is a good option, very durable, just find a shop and give them a call.

 

[Lordbob75]

Thanks guys.. It has been fun so far, I just can't wait for a chance to get the painting and cable sleeving done as well. I'm still doing some research on the best way to spray the case though, I'd love to use a proper spray gun with a compressor, or even an airbrush (although that will take hours to complete), but it seems my only option will be normal spray paint...

Unless somebody else has any suggestions? Powder coating is another option, but I have no idea how much it costs...

Spray paint worked fine for me. Though it did leave a rather rough coating.

~Lordbob

 

[ZaLiTH]

Thanks guys.. It has been fun so far, I just can't wait for a chance to get the painting and cable sleeving done as well. I'm still doing some research on the best way to spray the case though, I'd love to use a proper spray gun with a compressor, or even an airbrush (although that will take hours to complete), but it seems my only option will be normal spray paint...

Unless somebody else has any suggestions? Powder coating is another option, but I have no idea how much it costs...

Spray paint worked fine for me. Though it did leave a rather rough coating.

~Lordbob

I see.. Well that is good news at least then; most of what will be sprayed black will be on the inside of the case anyway, and I'm not going for a shiny surface anyway. I don't really want the lights in my case to reflect off everything.

So, spray paint it is then. Hopefully I'll still be able to get the rest of the stuff I need with the maintenance and license costs my Camry is going to set me back this month.. But I'll find out soon enough, payday is less than a week away!

 

[iseeuu]

I have changed the angles in the last 1/2 hour bringing the outer screens at a bigger angle and closer to me, this does seem a lot better and I think with a little more adjustment I may be able to live with this setup.

Any update on the new multi-screen setup?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I have changed the angles in the last 1/2 hour bringing the outer screens at a bigger angle and closer to me, this does seem a lot better and I think with a little more adjustment I may be able to live with this setup.

Any update on the new multi-screen setup?

I was wondering about that earlier myself.

 

[Dave76]

I have changed the angles in the last 1/2 hour bringing the outer screens at a bigger angle and closer to me, this does seem a lot better and I think with a little more adjustment I may be able to live with this setup.

Any update on the new multi-screen setup?

I was wondering about that earlier myself.

Looks like he's going to make us wait, just like Joan did