I did as I said and took the 320 grit (and some other grit) to my gpu water block, as well as some metallic paint to the screws. I couldn't stand the fact that I would have had a super shiny chrome-looking water block sitting on my build that didn't match with anything! Sanding nickel off of copper by hand is hard! Keep in mind, this water block will have orange lights (modded from blue) shining around the edges and through where it reads Koolance on the front.
I also (finally) cut out the hole for my RAD in my aluminum back plate. More cutting for the shaping of the top to come later in the weekend.
Got some gift certs for Christmas and will be ordering some more parts here soon! Am going to get the PSU and pump next which should allow me to finish the case almost completely. Can save the CPU and GPU for the last order as they wouldn't technically help with the case build much!
As always, I'll keep more pics and progress coming!
Just getting started!
The front plate.
All done! MUCH better! Matches my CPU block (and everything else) perfectly now. (See pre-modded pic above).
Hole for RAD. Will be finishing and cutting top area next.
That was definitely an option. I opted out of it though since i already had a drill press and routers with extensions on them have always made me nervous.
You know you can replace the brushes in them right?
Okey dokey, Got my PSU in... this was the first (well maybe the second) time I've asked myself what the heck I'm doing! Lots of wires to route and what not!
The front two pipes are completely routed and have all their designated cables in them.
Going to need to order a few different cable extensions, etc in order to fully complete the wiring. It's hard to guess on all of that before actually building it and having all the other parts.
I finished the backplate (except for the holes for the pci cards and the motherboard i/o panel, will do this carefully as to get them lined up just right). I ordered that sheet in a pretty soft aluminum though, so it's pretty easy to work with, more gummy than anything.
I also got all the hardware (screws, nuts, etc) to mount my fans and shrouds on the Rad. I actually had to re-tap the threads on my Rad 'cause I couldn't find screws in its thread type that were long enough (even searched for hours online). If I didn't have the shrouds I could have found them, but hey, no biggie, the tapping took 10 minutes.
Decided to go 2.5" drives instead of using 3.5" drives as I could use all the space I can get. 1tb 2.5" drives are only $100 so, not too bad! I already have the 2.5" SSD and may get another for a raid0 eventually. (Don't worry, I would use a partition on the 1tb dedicated to backing up the SSDs!)
Am going to have 2 purple UV LEDs shining under the motherboard for some nice dim lighting effect.
Anyway, here are the pics!
Printed out the drawing to trace (same concept I used for the shelves)
Used a drill press and a rough file to get the edges. Wasn't too bad actually. I must have some sort of mental block when it comes to using jigsaws!
Almost done. Just have to finish the holes for the pci cards and the motherboard i/o panel.
4 of my fans mounted to the plate for the back.
What a mess! (Don't worry, I'm good at cleaning)
Bottom shelf with some wires properly routed, etc.
Top shelf. I'm gonna have to get creative here to get this bulk of wires routed well. It'll happen!
That's pretty much it for now. I got my work cut out for me getting everything routed and what not. I'll be taking pics of the progress along the way and will keep you guys posted for sure!
Thanks again for the support, input and compliments. Much appreciated!
Yeah, lol. You're looking at the case from the bottom.
Check out page 1!
Here's the bottom mesh panels in case you missed them
You won't see ANY cabling or wiring on this build except right where it comes off the motherboard for an inch or two and then goes straight down into the shelves. Also, what you will see will all be sleeved and heat shrinked black.
I finally have ALL the parts in to completely finish building this beast.
It will be fully up and running in 4-6 weeks when I can afford to buy the HDD, CPU and GPU (the last of the parts left)
I am working heavily on this at this point making sure all the final details are in place and I'll be posting the ultimate and final build post here with pics soon!
Of course, there'll then be and ultimate ultimate build post too once I get the CPU, GPU and HDD on it!
Thanks to EVERYONE for all of your support, questions and advice on this build from the ground up. I'll have a credits and special thanks thread I'll be compiling too.
One thing I'm not sure if I've mentioned is I've made sure to leave room for an additional pump and 120.2 RAD in the future if I ever plan to add on!
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Keep in mind, this water block will have orange lights (modded from blue) shining around the edges and through where it reads Koolance on the front.
