(Planned) Project Stack Attack

jamesman32 · Jul 6, 2010

Stack Attack

First off, :welcome:

to my first *official* build log, a project titled Stack Attack.

I've been doing small mods on my cases for about 2 years now. I started in the summer of 08 with a custom window and paint job, and have been working my way up since then. When I first started out, I had a pair of tin snips and some spray paint. I've now got a full machine shop I can use, with such tools as a chop saw, band saw, lathe, Bridgeport mill, belt sanders, and a plethora of hand tools, so we may be doing some custom fabrication this time around :clap:

Case
The case we'll be modding is the tried and true Cooler Master Stacker 832. An all aluminum full tower blast from the past.

The case will be painted gloss white on the exterior, with a matte black interior. The fans will all have blue LEDs.

Parts List

Cooler Master Stacker 832 refurb - $50 from CM - Received
Cooler Master R4 Blue LED fans - $8 each (11 total) - Received
Cooler Master 4 in 3 SATA cage refurb - $10 from CM (3 total) - Received
Apevia Black steel fan grills - $1 each (11 total) - Received
Custom 12 switch fan controller - $20 from OCF Member - Received
Powder Coating - $80 from local shop - Need to schedule

Plan of Attack

Strip down case for powder coating
Paint fans matte black (currently clear plastic)
Send case, panels, and accessories to powder coater
Receive parts back
Sleeve all fan and case wires
Make any fan cable extensions and sleeve
Install all fans, drive cages, fan controller
Sleeve PSU
Install hardware

And that's all I've got planned for the moment

Once all of the parts arrive this week, I may tinker with a few other ideas and mods on the case. I will provide pics and updates as I start the work. What do you guys think? :thup:

elxx · Jul 6, 2010

...white gloss with black interior...

How about a white gloss exterior with a red decal (about 10-15% of the total surface) and then the inside is a red gloss with a white decal. Make sense?

Possibly something like this color scheme

jamesman32 · Jul 6, 2010

elxx said:
...white gloss with black interior...

How about a white gloss exterior with a red decal (about 10-15% of the total surface) and then the inside is a red gloss with a white decal. Make sense?

Possibly something like this color scheme

I like that color scheme...but I'm kinda stuck because I already purchased all the blue LED fans...and that was quite a lot of money. I'm not opposed to suggestions, but red doesn't exactly flow with blue very well for the interior :chair:

Outside of blue, black, and white, I don't know what else might work well with the blue LEDs.

Also, I cant do anything extremely complicated with the paint job, because of the way powder coating works. It pretty much has to be one color per surface.

jamesman32 · Jul 10, 2010

Small update!

Got all the parts in that I needed, so here are some beginning pics after installing the fans

Above I actually used spraypaint to paint the fan door black. It used to be clear, which I thought was a little tacky and gaudy for such thick plastic.

3 front fans, all in front of 3x4 bay devices behind them for a total of 12 HDDs

Slight mod for 2 bottom fans

Fan door cable management? :rock:

Hope you guys like the minor work so far. Gonna start on the powdercoating sometime this week

JustDepends · Jul 10, 2010

I effing love this case!

jamesman32 · Jul 10, 2010

JustDepends said:
I effing love this case!

After using for less than an hour, I fell completely in love with it. My 3 years of longing for it but never being able to justify the retail price ($230) have been erased from my mind. Just the stock features alone have me in love with it. All aluminum, tool-less side panel and motherboard tray removal, capacity for 11 fans without much effort, and the list goes on. Of course, the case is a little dated. It doesn't have the CPU backplate hole, cable management, a black interior, or a bottom mounted PSU, but it's more than made up for, I think.

deed · Jul 11, 2010

jamesman32 said:
After using for less than an hour, I fell completely in love with it. My 3 years of longing for it but never being able to justify the retail price ($230) have been erased from my mind. Just the stock features alone have me in love with it. All aluminum, tool-less side panel and motherboard tray removal, capacity for 11 fans without much effort, and the list goes on. Of course, the case is a little dated. It doesn't have the CPU backplate hole, cable management, a black interior, or a bottom mounted PSU, but it's more than made up for, I think.

Looks like it beats any antec or 932 for cooling. I think I am going to contact them and see if they would offer a updated model.

McLovin' · Jul 11, 2010

Looking GOOD!
Subscribed :salute:

Savvy. · Jul 12, 2010

Looks nice so far, can't wait to see the final result!

hokiealumnus · Jul 12, 2010

This looks like fun. Subscribed!

jamesman32 · Jul 13, 2010

deed said:
Looks like it beats any antec or 932 for cooling. I think I am going to contact them and see if they would offer a updated model.

They actually still have the 832 on sale on the CM website for $50 as we speak, despite not sending any "new" Stackers to retailers!

http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/product_info.php?cPath=18_37_19&products_id=111

McLovin' said:
Looking GOOD!
Subscribed

Thanks!

Savvy. said:
Looks nice so far, can't wait to see the final result!

Shouldn't be much longer! Just need to get the powdercoat done...and then wire sleeving

hokiealumnus said:
This looks like fun. Subscribed!

Thanks Hokie!

In other news, noxqzs has finished my 12 port fan bus!

Savvy. · Jul 13, 2010

Wow, I haven't seen that before. Nice idea! :clap:

deed · Jul 13, 2010

The refurb says product not found so I am assuming it was bought. I hope they start making them again it looks great.

McLovin' · Jul 14, 2010

Is the Core i5 build with the H50 going in this case?

jamesman32 · Jul 14, 2010

deed said:
The refurb says product not found so I am assuming it was bought. I hope they start making them again it looks great.

Aww, musta only had a few left. Seems like they're clearing out whatever was left over from when they stopped production :-/

McLovin' said:
Is the Core i5 build with the H50 going in this case?

Nope. It's gonna be a 1055t with SLI GTX 460s

McLovin' · Jul 14, 2010

jamesman32 said:
Nope. It's gonna be a 1055t with SLI GTX 460s

Well you got be jealous, and ashamed.

Something tells me my AMD 64 3200, is past her prime. :rain:

I think that case might sound like a tornado with 11 fans, might even take fight.

jamesman32 · Jul 14, 2010

McLovin' said:
Well you got be jealous, and ashamed.
Something tells me my AMD 64 3200, is past her prime.

I think that case might sound like a tornado with 11 fans, might even take fight.

Actually, I tested it with an old PSU, and the thing is damn near silent! All the fans run about 1200rpm around 19dB. It doesn't seem like a lot of airflow, but have 10 intake and 1 exhaust creates a ridiculous push to the back of the case. :rock:

McLovin' · Jul 14, 2010

jamesman32 said:
Actually, I tested it with an old PSU, and the thing is damn near silent! All the fans run about 1200rpm around 19dB. It doesn't seem like a lot of airflow, but have 10 intake and 1 exhaust creates a ridiculous push to the back of the case.

Im no air-cooling master or anything, but i think the problem with not so much airflow, is you dont have enough fans pushing out. I was reading the other day, and it was talking about you want to have more exhaust than intake.

jamesman32 · Jul 15, 2010

McLovin' said:
Im no air-cooling master or anything, but i think the problem with not so much airflow, is you dont have enough fans pushing out. I was reading the other day, and it was talking about you want to have more exhaust than intake.

I always like to have positive case pressure. It keeps cold air pumping in, plus if there's a lot of air trying to escape because of the positive pressure, less dust is built up.

Now, with the Stacker, positive pressure is almost necessary, just because of how large it is, and the amount of mesh and grating everywhere allowing for air to freely pass in and out. I want as much air to be forced out as possible, and having nearly all fans on intake allows me to just expel the air passively through the holes.

infam0ussteven · Jul 15, 2010

Very nice work in progress! Subscribed. :thup:

(Planned) Project Stack Attack

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