Color scheme for the outside panels/bezel |
Flat black with "subtlety" in glossy black |
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88% |
[ 8 ] |
Glossy black with "subtlety" in flat black |
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11% |
[ 1 ] |
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Total Votes : 9 |
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Nikola
Hung Like a Flea
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
Posts: 790
Location: Edmond, OK
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Subtlety
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Alright, so here's my current build which is stalled in the waiting-for-moniez-to-buy-watercooling phase. The whole theme for the build was subtlety in design yet the hardware is anything but subtle. I'd had an idea for a Lian-Li PC-71B build for almost 4 years now and this is what I eventually decided on.
Specs:
Intel Core i7 920
eVGA X58 3X SLI Mobo
6gb Corsair Dominator PC1600 DDR3 @ 8-8-8-24
2x BFG GTX 295 Quad-SLI
X-Fi Titanium "Fatal1ty" Pro sound card
2x 74gb WD Raptor RAID 0 - OS drive
300gb VelociRaptor - Apps/Games drive
CoolerMaster UCP Ultimate 1100w PSU
Lite-On Blu-Ray ROM/DVD burner
Dell 3007WFP-HC 30" monitor @ 2560x1600
Logitech G15 and G5
Logitech Z-5500
So far I have all of the hardware, including the monitor , minus the Z-5500 speakers. This setup is smoking fast, but I'm still debating on whether or not to trade up to 2x GTX 295s so that I can push Crysis a little harder @ 2560x1600. I absolutely cannot wait to get this thing on water, I was able to hit 4.2ghz on the stock cooler and run 3DMark06 and 3DMark Vantage back to back and then loop 3DMark Vantage for 2 hours with no problems; unfortunately it dies on Prime95 and linpack but I'm confident that won't be a problem at all on water.
Forgive the bad pictures, my camera sucks and despite my mother being a professional photographer I am incapable of taking a good product shot.
This is the front panel after I smothered it with way too much Bondo. It was my first experiment with bondo and while it ended well, I did WAY more sanding than I should have had to. Idea was to smooth the front of the case and make new air vents on the side of the front panel. You can also see the new vent cuts here
I should have trimmed down these other shots, but anyways here are links so the page doesn't take 2 years to load.
Front after initial sanding and reset hole drilling was finished, with Bulgin Vandal switches in a test fit.
http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63371.jpg
Back after initial sanding - Here you can also see the cutouts I made for the new front grills, these will have modder's mesh behind the cutouts to make the new vents
http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63371.jpg
I disassembled the frame entirely and drove it down to Golden, Colorado to Powder Coating Specialties where they did an excellent job on the interior of the case. There are a few blemishes, but nothing serious or in any visible areas and considering this was their first PC case to do it was more than acceptable. I went for a Fine Texture finish 10% Gloss Black and it looks great in person.
Case frame
http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63377.jpg
Bad close up on frame
http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63379.jpg
Rear interior
http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63380.jpg
Various parts before I riveted it all back together
http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63383.jpg
Mobo tray
http://img18.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63385.jpg
Here's a special window I found, not sure which Lian Li case it goes with by default, but it fit the PC-71B perfectly
http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63386.jpg
Partially put together with my CM UCP Ultimate 1100w PSU... This PSU is an absolute monster and it's going to be a nightmare hiding all of the extra wiring
http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=stp63389.jpg
This coming Tuesday I should be able to order my 3x120mm radiator so that I can get the top panel cut and sanded. At that point the top panel, both side panels and the front bezel should all be ready for paint. I'm still on the fence for color scheme on the outside though so I welcome opinions.
Options are:
Flat black with subtlety logo on the mobo-side panel in glossy black with the L in subtlety in purple continuuing across the case side to side.
OR
Glossy black with sublety logo in the same spot in flat black, L in subtlety in purple same as above.
Last edited by Nikola on Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:57 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:37 am
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Nikola
Hung Like a Flea
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
Posts: 790
Location: Edmond, OK
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Well the forumz have spoken and I'm going to go with Flat Black and glossy black lettering with purple accents.
I have put the watercooling on hold for a couple months until after I've moved back to Oklahoma which will hopefully be soon.
I did however make a new order at SVC for a TRUE 120 Black edition heatsink which is just... gigantic. I think there's less than 1/4" between the top of the heatsink and my side panel.
TRUE 120 Black
Anyhow, I did alot of cable management, but there's still alot more to be done (vid card power /cry). I have dual GTX 295s in the mail as I type so when those arrive I get to redo alot of this and then of course it will be painted in the coming two weeks hopefully which means I can put alot of this together for the tentative final result sans watercooling.
Here's a little taste of what I've been working on until a check clears for the 2nd GTX 285 I just sold. I absolutely LOATHE sleeving cables, and as I found out I hate sleeving SATA cables ALOT more. Finally, I hate sleeving power supplies that are already sleeved and were done shittily, granted not by most people's standards, but for mine and this build.
Crappy iPhone pics incoming:
Here are my Power/Reset and HDD/Power LED cables, and one so far unused SATA cable, that will run to my Bulgin Vandal switches. After sleeving them I'm glad I went with the heavier gauge wire to fill up the sleeving, but I foresee these being a pain in the ass to make them look nice.
Here's a closeup of my HDD cable management which I personally think looks good. I may go for a bit more minimalistic look and get left-angle SATA cables to plug into the hard drives and head straight back, but I really like seeing the sleeved cables. Looking for input here on whether or not you guys like seeing the SATA cables.
This is my big concern at the moment. I know I am redoing the sleeving on the main 24-pin mobo connector, the question is how. I am really leaning towards resleeving it the way it currently is done, and where it stops, I continue to sleeve each individual wire all the way into the molex connector. So it would be one giant sleeve exiting the PSU until approximately 2-3 inches short of the molex connector where it splits into 24 individually sleeved wires. If you are familiar with the "murdermod style" of sleeving, this is very similar, but I do not like the prospect of sleeving the entire length of cable that style, I think it's much cleaner and easier to deal with when you only sleeve the last few lengths of the cables. GIVE ME INPUT ON THIS!
Here's a nightshot of the case in it's current condition, unfortunately it will remain mostly blacked out until I get watercooling inside where the plan is to have only the water tubes glow, and of course the fans that you see in the picture.
_________________ Failure is just success rounded down.
Last edited by Nikola on Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:03 am
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