PROJECT LOG F4DE | By C4B

Hello again!

After months of wedding planning, moving to a new apartment, new job and everything else Im back, and this time with a casemod, usually Im working from scratch. I will hopefully learn a lot by this small project and get more modding experience.

In my opinion I've found the ultimate mini-itx case, the Cubitek Mini Cube. Ever since I installed a computer for a friend in this case I have been in love. It is clean-looking, has A LOT of space behind the motherboard for both cablemanagement and harddrives.

My idea of this casemod is to make a "stealth" mod. Everything will be black except for some small details that will be the small contrast to all the black. So I will start by taking the case in two parts and paint everything that isnt black. Then I will be installing a 240mm radiator in the front, yes you heard me, I will be making a big hole in that nice-looking frontpanel. But dont worry, I will be covering it up with one of the most awesome-looking radiator grills from Aquacomputer.

This is the hardware Im aiming for, most of it I already have.

MB: MSI Z87I
CPU: Intel I5 4670K
GPU: Zotac GTX 760
RAM: 2x4gb Corsair Dominator Platinum
SSD: Samsung 840 120gb
PSU: Be-Quiet! Dark Power Pro P10 550W
CASE: Cubitek Mini Cube



Here is a overview of the motherboard.



I didnt like the blue/alu caps so I made them and some other stuff black, F4DE in to black!





Well here is some more hardware pictures. The radiator grill I talked about from Aquacomputer, one of the most cleanlooking I seen. Also love the kind of darker shade on it.





Also got the Samsung SSD yesterday, nice design on it I think. Dont have to make a cover for this one I think.



Last of all, the waterblock for the GTX 460, I think I will go with this card. I already have it and it still got a lot of power so why not. Easy to upgrade if I get ahold of a 760 later. I will probably paint the acrylic piece black so it fits the theme even more.



I couldnt wait to do something so I painted the waterblock today. I like it, going to fit better than clear acrylic.

Before



After



Installed the waterblock and backplate to the GTX 460 and took some pictures of it together with the motherboard. I love the backplate, that and the radiator grill will make a sweet contrast to all the black.







Some Corsair Dominator Platinum would look awesome here!

Thats all for now. Im currently planning and measuring out where to put the radiator and window and stuff like that. But I will update as soon as possible. I hope you like it. While you wait I would really appreciate if you liked to check out my facebook-page. There you will find more updates, giveaways and other computer related stuff.

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

I look forward to future updates! I became a fan after seeing one of your scratch builds, so I'm excited to see how this case mod turns out!

gankernation said:

this looks amazing. following!

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Thank you!

Im still waiting for the Cubitek case, they are shipping it from China so I guess its gonna take a while. But I got some good news for you, two new sponsors!

Im grateful for CDON.com. They helped me with the ram, a 2x4gb kit of Corsair Dominator Platinum.



Be-Quiet! also helped me with the power supply, the Dark Power Pro P10 550W.



Check them out and support them and me!

Looking forward to the updates! Looks promising already!

Looks like fun; subscribed!

Looks awesome, can't wait to see more!

cullam3n said:

Looking forward to the updates! Looks promising already!

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hokiealumnus said:

Looks like fun; subscribed!

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ATMINSIDE said:

Looks awesome, can't wait to see more!

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Thank you all!

Finally!

I got the case from Cubitek. Before I start mod it I will be making a review for my website. But I have some other pictures to share with you.

I would like to start and thank all the sponsors again for making this possible.

Thank you:
CDON.com | Be Quiet! | Cubitek | MSI

The Corsair Dominator Platinum arrived a few days ago, really nice ram.





It really fit in with the shiny backplate too!



I also got the Be Quiet! Dark Pro 10 550W power supply. Really nice package with a lot of cables and extra stuff.





Thats all for tonight... Or wait, Ill give you a sneek peak.



I think some will hate that radiator grill and the contrast to the black, I love it though. It will look even better when everything is done.

I will be back with some real updates soon. Please check out Minimalistic PC for my projects and reviews. Means alot!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman

I installed the hardware to measure out where to put different things. Everything really fit together, I cant wait to paint the bare aluminium black.





As you see its not a problem to fit a 240mm radiator, this one is 30mm wide but I could have a 45mm if I wanted too.



Im thinking about having a 150mm tube res either to the right of the motherboard or where the back fan is mounted. About the back fan mount, its 80mm or 92mm, with a little violende I managed to fit a 120mm fan there though, doesnt look good though so Im thinking about having the res there instead.



One more thing, I said that I would use regular tubing for the watercooling, I changed my mind! Im going for chromed copper tubes, 12mm. Going to look awesome together with the shiny backplate and the radiator grill.



Here is my review of the case. Next thing to do is start measuring out the holes for the radiator and fans. Ill be back!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman

I wouldn't be surprised if it needs more than a 120.2 radiator, but it looks awesome so far

Very nice looking so far Looking forward to more progress and the final build, good work!

ATMINSIDE said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it needs more than a 120.2 radiator, but it looks awesome so far

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I will not be overclocking so I think it will be fine. Thanks!

MunkyTOS said:

Very nice looking so far Looking forward to more progress and the final build, good work!

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Thank you!

Update is here! Today I made the cutout for the front fans and radiator, just some filing to do left. I really love this radiator grill!







I also made a shroud that will cover the power supply and pump.





Thats all for tonight, Ill be back for more in a few days. I have a lot of fun stuff to share. I have many new ideas!

Stay tuned!
Johan Nyman

Build looks awesome man !

Volumetrik said:

Build looks awesome man !

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Thanks!

Im back for a little update. This is what I have done so far.

• Painted the case
• Fixed the cutout for the radiator
• Changed to MDPC black M3 screws
• Done some sleeving and shrouds

Primer



Add some black to that!



This is how it looks. What do you think?



All black and empty.





Shiny!



Although I have some sad news, I have to drop the chromed copper tubing. I cant manage to get it working with the loop in this case, its too small for me. I having problems even with regular tubing. I still think it will look good, I will use regular transparent tubes with regular water to keep it clean.

Keep checking in!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

I really like the all black theme. I like these itx builds.
I do have to admit, though, that I do not like the white fan grill. I formed my opinion of that before I read your prediction of that above. I think it looks like you took a heat register from home depot and slapped on there. Black would be much better, or dark grey or silver or chrome, or about anything else...

xsuperbgx said:

I really like the all black theme. I like these itx builds.
I do have to admit, though, that I do not like the white fan grill. I formed my opinion of that before I read your prediction of that above. I think it looks like you took a heat register from home depot and slapped on there. Black would be much better, or dark grey or silver or chrome, or about anything else...

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Thank you! Its not white though, its dark grey. Its the light that maybe make it look white for you.

Got a small update today. The powersupply is now sleeved in all black. I tried to make the cable management as good as possible. I really love the p-clips. This is how it looks anyhow. I will cover the SSD with a plate from the front that Ive cut, so it gets the same finish as the outside case.



And this is how it will look on the inside, not completely finished though, some fancables and stuff left to sleeve.



The blue is the res and the red is the pump. I will be using a DDC pump together with EK DDC X-RES 100mm.



Im currently waiting for the res and some Noiseblocker fans. What I have to do right now is to make the coverplate for the ssd, finish the shroud and paint it, start working on the window mod.

Thanks for now!
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

I like the black sleeving. Try looking at some cable lacing pictures, perhaps learn to do that. I have been thinking that it would really dress up cable routing if done right. I haven't done it in ages, but with some black string, it could look nice.

http://makezine.com/2009/07/28/lost-knowledge-cable-lacing/

Looking great! Why cover the SSD if it's not visible behind the mb tray?

xsuperbgx said:

I like the black sleeving. Try looking at some cable lacing pictures, perhaps learn to do that. I have been thinking that it would really dress up cable routing if done right. I haven't done it in ages, but with some black string, it could look nice.

http://makezine.com/2009/07/28/lost-knowledge-cable-lacing/

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Thank you! I dont think I will do cable lacing though, I think its enough like this.

hokiealumnus said:

Looking great! Why cover the SSD if it's not visible behind the mb tray?

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Because I want every little detail to be perfect.

Today I was nervous while modding, why? Because I was soldering cables to the pcb of my GTX 460. Now why did I do that? Well this is a small case, the GPU is 210mm long and the PSU 170mm, so from the powerconnector on the GPU to the PSU isnt long, why route the cables around the back of the motherboard tray and to the GPU when I can go straight to it. But soldering on computer hardware isnt my every day thing, but, I started it up and it was no problemo!









Here you see how close it is between the two.





I also added some p-clips to support the cable management on the back and made a ssd cover out of the spare material from the fan holes in the frontpanel.



Well what do you think of this casemod this far? Give me some criticism!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's