Which UFO

[Albaholic]

I FINALLY am going to lay this s478 rig in my sig to bed. So im going to do this right.

I have the following on the way to me
-------------------------------------------
1) FSP Group (Fortron Source) FX700-GLN
2) ABIT AW9D-MAX
3)Retail E6600
4) 2gb G.Skill HZ
5)VisionTek VTK X300256PCIE (Just a backup till my x1900xt arrives)
6) Seagate 320gb
7) Mountain Mods U2 Ufo Black Orig top

What I have
-----------
1) Dtek WW (not sure if ill be using it or if i can)
2) Creative X-fi Fatality
3) D5 Pump
4) Thermochill 120.3 (in the trash) RIP
5)Crap load of 120mmdeltas (somewhere) Also gone
6) X1900xt on the way from an ocf member
7)Couple of DVDrw drives

What I need
-----------
1)kick ass fan controller
2)Cpu wb (either storm or Apogee)
3)Masterkleer Tubing

The plan
------------
No more Half done jobs, this will be THE case for me for a very long time. Sticking with stock air cooling till I get everything I need. Not sure if I want to WC the vid card. but a possibility in the future. I eventually want to have a nice 1tb+ raid5 setup. I have very bad experiences with data loss. I have no plans for crossfire, at least not at this time.

The Issues
-----------
1) Im tired of changing cases.
2)I know im taking a chance with this abit board. Hopefully they dont disappoint.

I have a Nikon D200 waiting to document it all.


All that said which UFO would you pick?

[hainer36]

IMHO the new white UFO U2 cases look the best yet. http://www.mountainmods.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_32&products_id=336

if you like blue then thats for you (also got green, smoke grey and red)

they look very nice and i could not see why you'd need more space (unless youve got another setup that you want in the case) then youd have to get the duality....but i think it kinda looks ugly compaired to the originals

[Albaholic]

Yeah I dont really like the look of the duality. hmm white... thats something new. Kinda like the original Black U2 though

[hainer36]

i like the black ones too....except they show dust faster than youd take it outa the box.

look at this http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6343/dscf0021ct0.jpg

notice all the dust on the case (its a bad camera and you can see the dust, and i just cleaned it a week ago)

the white wouldnt be too bad with the smoke or the blue panels, or even completely solid. just because youd be one of the first to have it.

[Albaholic]

Yeah, but you know most comp stuff nowadays is black. and I have yet to see any real high res pics of the white ufo

[Mr. Roboto]

Get the Sunbeam Rheobus for your fan controller. It uses rheostats as opposed to PWM, so fans don't buzz when attached. It's cheap too, but of very good quality. Ton's of people use it.

[Albaholic]

Get the Sunbeam Rheobus for your fan controller. It uses rheostats as opposed to PWM, so fans don't buzz when attached. It's cheap too, but of very good quality. Ton's of people use it.

If I remember correctly. my deltas draw too muuch current to work safely on those fan controllers, I'd check but somebody decided it would be a good idea to throw my huge container of deltas at the VERY back of storage. It'll take me all day to find them

[Adragontattoo]

I used a delta on the 20w per channel Sunbeam that I have and it worked fine. Once I get the YY case built (probably not for a few weeks, Im moving next weekend) Ill stress test it to double check.. 20w per channel will take most fans and not have any issues.

Im also using the little Coolerguys PWM inline modulator and not having any issues on my main rig.

[Milkman]

I have a brushed U2 Ufo and love it, I thought at some point of getting it machined polished but haven't thus far, I am using a Nexus for the Dtek core and a few assorted fans and a sunbeam for everything else on a seperate switch and power supply it is great having a spot for a second power supply, overall it's all the room anyone could ask for and very well built:)

Milkman

[Mr. Roboto]

Yeah, the rheobus does 20W if i remember correctly. Just look up your order history and see what W the fans run at.

[Alchemy1]

Yeah, the sunbeam can handle 20w per channel.

[Albaholic]

52978

52979
I dont know if you can read the label but it says 12v@1.5a now if my math is correct thats 18w per fan :D Id never run these beasts at 12 though, they are loud. I dont even know if i would use them in my build. but i found them while digging for my 120's

[Alchemy1]

Those should be 18w fans if the volts and amps you provided are correct. You should be able to use one of those fans per channel on the sunbeam rheobus. Jab-tech sells the sunbeam for $10.95 before shipping. That is the cheapest price I have been able to find. Let me know if you find one cheaper than that. I am looking for a black one.

[Mr. Roboto]

nah, besides ebay, jab is the cheapest.

[Albaholic]

Ordered ufo today. Also found out that someone thought my thermochill and blackice and some of my deltas look like "trash" so thats where they ended up without my consent. I'll be needing a new rad and fans too

[Alchemy1]

Which UFO did you order? Sucks that someone threw away your watercooling gear.

[hainer36]

Ordered ufo today. Also found out that someone thought my thermochill and blackice and some of my deltas look like "trash" so thats where they ended up without my consent. I'll be needing a new rad and fans too
what landfill does your trash go to? ima need a plane ticket to hawaii...wait...thats gonna cost to much to go routing through the trash for that stuff....dam, i coulda had a new rad :D

sucks though.

what UFO did ya get?

[Albaholic]

Which UFO did you order? Sucks that someone threw away your watercooling gear.

I got the Powder coat black UFO with original top. I bought a display model and they knocked off 75 dollars. I was insured that it was in near perfect condition with exception of some minor scuffs on the bottom. not enough to ruin the powder coat. Ill post pix when i get it.


My mom was the one who threw it away :bang head (the wc gear that is)

[Alchemy1]

You got a good price. How much was shipping and what shipping method/options do they offer?

[Albaholic]

They offer tons of different methods of shipping. USPS express which was like 90 for me USPS priority which i got was like 60. Fedex and ups wanted something like 300-400. hmmm that was a no brainer

[hainer36]

They offer tons of different methods of shipping. USPS express which was like 90 for me USPS priority which i got was like 60. Fedex and ups wanted something like 300-400. hmmm that was a no brainer
im guessing you chose UPS :D, imagine how bad that case would look after they got to it :p

post up some pics when it gets to ya, and i still cant believe that your mom threw that stuff out....id be takin her CC and gettin some new stuff for free if that happened here.

[Albaholic]

Good ol' united package smashers. I will def post pix when it gets here. Stupid newegg multiple warehouses.. Got my psu and HD today. Still waiting on everything else

[Adragontattoo]

Ordered ufo today. Also found out that someone thought my thermochill and blackice and some of my deltas look like "trash" so thats where they ended up without my consent. I'll be needing a new rad and fans too

BLASPHEMER! Speak no ill against the DELTA'S!!!!

btw kill whoever trashed good gear!

[Sleepy_Steve]

Nah, but seriously... make whoever tossed it out pay to replace it.
I would be extreemly ****ed off if that happened to any of my car / PC stuff.

[Albaholic]

BLASPHEMER! Speak no ill against the DELTA'S!!!!

btw kill whoever trashed good gear!
I wasnt literally calling them trash. Its just that my mom thought i had so many I wouldnt possibly miss these :rolleyes:

Edit:Looks like the PA120.3 is sold out EVERYWHERE. So is the storm but that was to be expected

[Daddyjaxx]

They don't have any cases in stock. Everything is on pre order.

[JudgeDredd]

Are there any reviews and extensive picture sets of the Horizon? I can't find any good shots of the interior, and due to the name it kind of makes it hard to search for on Google.

[Patched]

mountainmods has a gallery http://www.mountainmods.com/gallery/ but no horizon yet.
for the prices of those cases they really need better pictures to show them off

[sixshot666]

I would love to see a U2-UFO made with aluminum diamond plate.
Thinking about getting some for the sides an top of my case.

[Albaholic]

I would love to see a U2-UFO made with aluminum diamond plate.
Thinking about getting some for the sides an top of my case.

I'm sure if you contacted the folks at mountainmods they would be willing to work something out. they've got great service

[Alchemy1]

Edit:Looks like the PA120.3 is sold out EVERYWHERE. So is the storm but that was to be expected

They have some for sale at danger den. That is the only place I looked.
http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=205&cat=76&page=1

[Albaholic]

lol i dont know how i missed that alchemy, i could sworn i looked there.... thanks, all my hardware is at my house and im still sitting at work


Edit: At home now. Some very big boxes waiting for me. Christmas come early

Holy Mother of Dane Cook that motherboard box is HUGE

Still waiting for the UFO though
http://obsessionwithfire.com/conroe/_DSC2293.jpg


http://obsessionwithfire.com/conroe/_DSC2298.jpg
http://obsessionwithfire.com/conroe/_DSC2308.jpg

[hainer36]

:eek: :drool: :drool: :drool:


wow, not i see why you had no hesitation in ordering a UFO, your not hard strapped for cash i see :p

[wa77ss]

Abit board kicks some a**, very solid 975x choice :D

About time Abit made a good board ...

[Alchemy1]

lol i dont know how i missed that alchemy, i could sworn i looked there.... thanks, all my hardware is at my house and im still sitting at work


Yeah, it's too bad that the cupon doesn't work any more. At least not the last time I checked. I got my PA120.3 for ~$110.

[Albaholic]

w00t first post from conroe...well rdp into conroe

Edit: UFO shipped.

Getting stuff shipped from all over the place sucks....waiting... waiting

[Albaholic]

Yeah, it's too bad that the cupon doesn't work any more. At least not the last time I checked. I got my PA120.3 for ~$110.


WTF last night when i checked it was at 119. ready to order now its at 150 :mad: i think ill wait. I still need to find a storm anyway

[Alchemy1]

Damn!!!! Don't know about the rad, but there is a storm for sale in the classies. I was about to scoop it, but I just got a MP-05 LE. The MP-05 is more restrictive, but it has a larger cooling area. Besides I have two DDC+'s I think I can handle one restrictive block in my loop.

[Albaholic]

thanks for the tip about the storm. Alchemy1 I owe you a :beer:

[Alchemy1]

Your damn right;)

[Albaholic]

Update

Ended up placing a second order to mountainmods. Since I didnt realize that my rads were laying in a dump somewhere. It was 119 +20 for shipping still cheaper than dd'S 150+shipping. Originally wanted to go with a fusionHL but decided the wait and effort it takes to get them is not worth it. So now I need to find a maze4 and some BGA ramsinks. Also I placed an order to mcmaster for some 7/16" masterkleer, sleeving and heatshrink.
this build is costing me a lot more than I originally projected but hopefully it lasts me a while. Still waiiting on the storm (I want to try removing the IHS on my conroe). UFO on the way, should be here mid next week. Sanyo Denki's are also on the way to me. Still need to get around to ordering those fan controllers.

[Albaholic]

Another update... the kind that you guys care about the most. PICS

Hi res available if you guys want them

http://obsessionwithfire.com/ufo/Box.jpg
http://obsessionwithfire.com/ufo/2.jpg
http://obsessionwithfire.com/ufo/1.jpg
http://obsessionwithfire.com/ufo/_DSC2329.jpg


Got the Pumps, storm on its way, got the tubing, got the Sanyo Denkis.
Still need Fan controllers, more sleeving, heatshrink, WB for GPU. Thing that's killing me is that no one e-tailer has everything i need and end up shopping at 10 diff places. I still have no idea whether I want to go with a t-line or a res. Regardless, this is starting to look a lot like sneaky's and nik's ufo builds (though no where near as good). Comments & or suggestions welcome. I may start a thread in WC and alt modding just to get a bit more feedback with regard to those subjects. I'm seriously considering making this E6600 nekkid, the question is if i have the balls to do it :beer:

[JudgeDredd]

Looks sweet, can't wait to see it built.

Between now and when I asked my earlier question I figured out something that I had not realized before. The Horizon is just an original UFO turned on it's side and with a motherboard tray brace. I'm not sure why I didn't notice this before. So now it makes it easier to see how the interior will lay out, obviously the hard drive cage will be on it's side. Still it'd be nice to find some more pictures of this case.

[JudgeDredd]

BTW, how much did MM charge you for shipping on that thing?

[Albaholic]

About 60 dollars, the post office is holding my storm and rad hostage 'till tuesday. damn discoverer's day. Still waiting on maze4 and havent decided on fan controllers yet. I know everyone swears by the sunbeams but i dont like the look of them. I also dont know if im going to go with a res or a tline. I liked the custom rez that nik has. waiting for him to get them in the classies

[wun911]

The black U2 UFOs are now in stock, mine just go sent recently....

I find mountain mod's service was quite good....

It was just a tad werid that they HAD to send my case via Fed Ex (I live in Australia).
Apparently it would not fit in normal International Air Mail...

I also asked if they could pre drill the holes for a BIX III instead of thermo chill.... but they just said no because the thermo chill is a better rad. (I wish they could be a bit more flexable)

There are other alternatives for controlling your DELTA Fans....

http://www.pccasegear.com/prod4041.htm

(sorry the site it from Australia but thats where I live)

I would have got tubes by Tygon but thats just a personal preference...

[hainer36]

looks nice, cant wait til i see a project log....hint hint :D

[Albaholic]

looks nice, cant wait til i see a project log....hint hint :D


that is my plan.... one of my switches are missing.. i sleeved it and left it on my desk and its missing ....argh :confused:

[fight556]

Great choice of case, lots of room for all sorts of fun stuff. With more people getting them I really need to actually do something with mine...

Organization is my nemesis...

Shot 1 (http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/fight556/IMG_0005Large.jpg)
Shot 2 (http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/fight556/IMG_0004Large.jpg)

[wun911]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/6770/img2331yd2.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2331yd2.jpg)

Did your UFO come with these strange brackets?


The old UFOs had a single 9 HD rack but the new ones only hold 6???

Or am I missing some brackets here???

[Alchemy1]

If you read the updates on MM's homepage they talk about the "evolution" of this series of cases and how they now come with two 3 hard drive racks.

[wun911]

the old ufos used to hold 9 hds now you can only hold 6 hds? thats backwards evolution.... like next generation pplz have 4 fingers instead of 5!

[SeasonalEclipse]

the old ufos used to hold 9 hds now you can only hold 6 hds? thats backwards evolution.... like next generation pplz have 4 fingers instead of 5!

actually if you have 4 fingers it might be a good thing.. who uses their pinky anyway?.. and same with 9 HD slots.. who actually uses up all 9 HD slots?.. you would need to fill up quite a few PCI slots with ATA/SATA cards to pull that off.. and have a second PSU. lol

[wun911]

true true but I still rather have a pinky than no pinky at all. I ordered my case at the time of just a bit befor the shortage of the black cases. I must have been one of the first to revieve the new evolution of cases.

I have only one gripe or concern... The HD is now mounted to a fan, the fan vibrates slighly and I am worreid this will make the HD move a bit while its working at 10,000 rpm...

[Alchemy1]

the old ufos used to hold 9 hds now you can only hold 6 hds? thats backwards evolution.... like next generation pplz have 4 fingers instead of 5!

I take it you didn't read the homepage?

This allows for the mounting of 6 Hard Drives out of the box, but with the purchase of additional sets up to 18 hard drives in some models of U2-UFOs. This change makes sense, it allows for the use of the Black Ice Extreme 2 radiator without losing the HD rack options as well as extending the available number and optional placement of drives.

[wun911]

You have to purchase these brackets as extra cost....

If you pay for the the extra brackets then ship them to Australia for me (then tell me the evolution is all good)

[wun911]

Also the bit where they say:

"This change makes sense, it allows for the use of the Black Ice Extreme 2 radiator without losing the HD rack options as well as extending the available number and optional placement of drives."

After installing my BIX II and a panflow fan. The HD does not quite fit! Because the back of the HD is now so close to the back of the CD/DVD rom that you CANT plug in the SATA and power cables properly!

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/416/img2364yb1.th.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2364yb1.jpg)
This is a pic a top down prespective of the HD and CD rom and you can see that I have installed my BIX II and my CD rom but I just cant quite plug the cables into my HD.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/5544/img2361hl1.th.jpg (http://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2361hl1.jpg)
Here is a close up just to illistrate how close the HD is to the CD rom and how you just CANT quite squeeze the cables into the HD.

Thus at this point I dont quite see the positive foward "evolution" considering things just dont quite fit anymore.

I would still rather have five fingers than four..... I would still rather have the old evolution than the new one.....

[Adragontattoo]

I am still debating either a UFO Horizon or the Tt one that holds two MB's.

It would be nice to have a single case on the floor that holds my either my Main rig and Linux rig or Linux and Fileserver.

[wun911]

Thus far the UFO has its limitations

I will be ordering an horizon to compare to my UFO next week because frankly I was a little disapointed wit the UFO.

[Adragontattoo]

What are you disappointed about with the UFO?

[Alchemy1]

You have to purchase these brackets as extra cost....

If you pay for the the extra brackets then ship them to Australia for me (then tell me the evolution is all good)

Everything costs money in this hobby. How much are the brackets...$15? If I can spend $300+ (I am planning on buying one...so I am in the same boat) on a case I am not worried about $15. The extra shipping thing...you have to know about all of the options with these cases before you order...especially if you live in another country.

There are so many options/mods that MM offeres that aren't posted on the web page. That is one of the things that is holding up my order. I want to get a U2-UFO, but I don't want to order the damn thing and realize it is not what I wanted or how I wanted it setup. The only way to do that is to literally place a phone call and speak with CS to place the order for the correct case/parts the first time.

As far as the hard drives not quite fitting...I don't know what to say about that. Maybe they expect you to use 25mm thinck fans?

[Albaholic]

Thus far the UFO has its limitations

I will be ordering an horizon to compare to my UFO next week because frankly I was a little disapointed wit the UFO.

I'll take it if u dont want it :beer: Seriously though, every case will have limitations. the ufo just happens to be one of the most versatile ones on the market

[wun911]

Yes the brackets at an extra 15 + shippin to Aus another 20 bucks (Aus$) is a bit of a pain for me.

Yeah maybe I should sell up the panflow fans and go for smaller 25mm fans instead. Do you think the thinner fans will still push as much air?? I admit there are other places to mount the HDs... so its not like the sky has fallen down. I just thought if a raptor X was mounted there it would look nice as you can see it move.

Look at it from my point of view: The case + fed ex shippin cost me close to 1 k aus (thats two days hard work for me), why not include a few extras?

Like some extra screws to screw in my 2nd PSU?
An extra set of brackets for the HDs (not just for HD but also for HD sized res)?
Or some thumb screws for installing the 7 PCI cards (would make life easier)
Or maybe even a front mounted USB outlet, considering even the most cheap and nasty china made cases come with a front mounted USB ports these days.

Sure the extra thumb screws are like a 2 bucks but why not just add those nice finishing touches and incorporate it into the costs? Will the extra 11 thumb screws really send MM broke? (you can only buy screws in packs of 10)

Consider this, Lian Li makes cases that are about the same price. They come wiff farkin thousands upon thousands of spare screws and even tools (enough to use for a 2nd rig). Although I admit their case is not as water cooling friendly as UFOs, but you can feel the quality and thoughtfullness is there. I dont quite get that same impression with MM.

Yes I'm slighlty disipointed, but maybe its because I had such great expectations after all the good MM reviews and stuff. Maybe its because I have been a fan of Lian Li for too long. In all honesty the UFO just falls a little short of beaing a Great case. There are just a lot of LITTLE things that are missing, and the "evolution" is taking a little too long.

Can any of you recomend a case better than MM?