finally decided on a full tower

[juliendogg]

I have all my watercooling and and everything else crammed in an enlight mid tower that's modded to the gills. i've got loads of time and work in it, but it's driving me crazy how tight it is in there. no room for anything else. So i've finally gone and ordered this case from newegg..

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-130-141

lemme know what you think, i ordered also a slightly smaller h/c than the one i have so i can fit it in the bottom front. i think i'll put the two hdd's i have above the psu, i have also a nf-7s on the way, i'll use sata-ide adapters to run my two 30gig maxtors on the serial ide.. wow things are really opening up :D. i so happy, lol.

anyways lemme know what u guys think of the case, it's relatively new from Aopen, so far as i know it's their first attempt at a sexy full tower. their other full towers which i've been looking at in the past are great for room and features, but not so asthetically pleasing. Myself i think the H700B is a beaut!...



J.

[dustybyrd]

i like it....it's like the world trade center tower or something...it's huge

and it does come with good power supply...that's good enough for ~2.5ghz AMD's or 3.2ghz p4's

a fortron 350...

[wannaoc]

It does look nice and it holds a load of fans thats for sure. Be sure to cut those 80mm out and make them 120mm. Once I went with a slide-out mb tray I'll never go back though. The Inwin Q500 is a full tower with one just for reference. :D

[CrashOveride]

Lotta room for a rad there in the front... I would use the space.

and you could make it look real nice if you put the pump in the floppy drive bay or the 5-1/2in ones...

[squirtle632]

I have the Inwin................ /shameless plug....... go to www.freewebs.com/squirtle632/index.htm....... /end shameless plug

[juliendogg]

yeah i like it too, price was a bit steep. i will be cutting out all the fan holes and using wire grills, and of course the 120mm for the rad. lower front probably. not sure where i'll put the pump yet until i have it sitting here in front of me. Also i'll be putting my sparkle 400w in it, and using the 350w for something else in the tower i have now. i like the inwin towers as well, built a box for a friend a while back in one, and i'm just finishing a watercooled tower in a chieftec case for another friend, just lacking the power adapters for the darn barricuda sata drives. i forgot to order them. :|. I like the chieftec cases, but they are so common, this Aopen is similar in appearance, from the front, but it's about 4 inches taller, and Mmmmm so much room, i'm afraid it won't fit under my desk though.. ah. time for a new desk maybe? lol.



J.

[juliendogg]

before and after some mods, should have gotten more pics in progress but you know, i wanted it done.


http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DaDogg00.jpg

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DaDogg01.jpg

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/DaDogg02.jpg

the psu wiring is temporary. i'm getting by with the fsp350w that came with the case while i wait for RMA on my fsp400w. after that it will be cleaned up and sleeved.






thought ya'll might like to have a look at my work :D.
criticism good or bad is welcome.


J.

[juliendogg]

while i'm here, a couple pics of my buddy's rig we threw together last week, about the same guts as mine, nearly = on o/c as well.

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/FactorPC01.jpg

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/FactorPC02.jpg



i been busy, lol.

J.

[juliendogg]

no comments eh? lol. thought for sure some of you guys would have somethin to say on it.

i've managed 2.5 on my xp1700 dlt3c @ 1.95vcore, 220fsb on my nf7-s. pretty impressive. when i swithced towers i added the nf7-s and some bufallo pc3700, performance increase is pretty wicked coming from my epox 8k5a2+ @ 166fsb. the rest of the components came from my old rig. of course the 9800 is pretty recent as well, few weeks.


J.

[CrashOveride]

Thats a nice window... and your tubes look abnormally large for some reason.. lol

I would put another 80mm on there, or at least seal that top one, as well as cut out those stamped grills and put some real ones on, should help with noise and looks.

(you can give us some time, its only been a few hours, I only check up every 3 or 6 hours during the day you know.

[juliendogg]

heehee, yes yes i know.

the window is glass not plexi, actually it's original purpose in life was a shelf on the desk, right about where the tower is sitting now, had to take the shelf off to have a place to set that huge freakin tower, so i figured i had a good use for the glass :D. it's tempered glass about 3/16'ths thick. hefty. the tubing is half inch clearflex, o/d is about 3/4 so yeah, 'tis a bit large.

oh yes, i am getting a slew of low db 80mm fans, two for the top rear where the hdd's are, two for the spots below the psu, and another one or maybe two for the other side panel. for now the 3 empty fan holes are sealed up with clear plastic inserts that came with the case.


J.

[CrashOveride]

Originally posted by juliendogg
heehee, yes yes i know.

the window is glass not plexi, actually it's original purpose in life was a shelf on the desk, right about where the tower is sitting now, had to take the shelf off to have a place to set that huge freakin tower, so i figured i had a good use for the glass :D. it's tempered glass about 3/16'ths thick. hefty. the tubing is half inch clearflex, o/d is about 3/4 so yeah, 'tis a bit large.

oh yes, i am getting a slew of low db 80mm fans, two for the top rear where the hdd's are, two for the spots below the psu, and another one or maybe two for the other side panel. for now the 3 empty fan holes are sealed up with clear plastic inserts that came with the case.


J.

Wow.. that has got to be heavy...

[snvpa]

Really nice job with the window though, looks better than anything you can get commercially. Does the increased wall thickness of the clearflex your using decrease its flexibility?

[dustybyrd]

no comments eh? lol. thought for sure some of you guys would have somethin to say on it.

i've managed 2.5 on my xp1700 dlt3c @ 1.95vcore, 220fsb on my nf7-s. pretty impressive. when i swithced towers i added the nf7-s and some bufallo pc3700, performance increase is pretty wicked coming from my epox 8k5a2+ @ 166fsb. the rest of the components came from my old rig. of course the 9800 is pretty recent as well, few weeks.


J.


that is definitely one fine looking system...the winow job is very professional...

the insides look a bit like alien guts ;) but looks good...must be very fast 2.5ghz, heh? probably about the same as a p4 with so much fsb...do you have dual channel ram?

[juliendogg]

Wow.. that has got to be heavy...

yeah, don't think anyone will be carrying it out of here. lol. the shipping wieght on the case was 30lbs. not sure how much i've added. i guess it's around 50lbs now easy.

Does the increased wall thickness of the clearflex your using decrease its flexibility?

this clearflex is the only clearflex i have experience with, and it's 100% more flexible than the vinyl tubing i was using in my old rig.

do you have dual channel ram?

only single channel for now, until i can swing $70 for another stick. i'm amazed at the bufallo pc3700. 220 @ 2-2-2-6.


thanks for the compliments on the window, i was terrified to cut it. did it with a jigsaw and a fine tooth metal blade and 1 very intense hour. lol.

J.

[unreal]

very nice,,,, i hope mine comes out as good,, but in a mid hehe

[cherryp00t]

nice work.. very clean =)

[juliendogg]

Thanks everyone, i'm temporarily satisfied, until next time :S. lol.
I have to add the extra fans, get my 400w psu back from rma, and work the wiring in all clean, sleeved. After that.. what shall i do? watercool vid and hdd? :)

[Timmybighands]

How'd you hold the window in place?! I see no screws or bolts and it looks flush against the back of the panel - eliminating my idea of double sided tape... let me in on your secret.

[juliendogg]

a very very very thin layer of rtv blue silicone gasket maker on the edge of the glass, and another very very thin layer on the back of the side panel where the glass touches. i set it flat on the counter, set the glass on, and put some wieght on it. believe me, it is completely secure. I bet that i'd have a hard time prying it off without damaging/bending the side panel.


J.