Antec 900 Mod (56k Warning)

[Short_CirktZ]

I should have an update tonight, hopfully.

I'm not a fan of Yate loons, they are really good value, but there just too loud for me.

Ok.. Thanx for the heads up, tho... I was un aware that they had a db issue.. I just knew they they pumped a lot of air.

 

[deadlyapollo]

Most of the yate loons I have been looking at were above 25db but moved a LOT of air around....

 

[Jolly-Swagman]

Great work there so far zbo, makes for easier CPU HSF changes and cable management, will be watching for further update too!!

 

[zbo]

Cable management holes finished.





I nearly died on the last one, the HDD SATA + power hole to be precise. I started fileing down the edges but I was going to quickly and completly ripped the template in half and off the metal. Luckly I had printed about 300 templates of differnt sizes so I just grabbed another one that was the same and put it on. To make sure it still lined up I ended up having to but my laptop inside the case do shine through the paper.

Next up is painting and a mock-up faceplate!

 

[grishenko45]

could i ask how would i cut holes in my 900 for the cables?? do i need a special drill bit? or a piece of wood behind where i cut to stop it from cracking??

 

[zbo]

You can use a drill bit, called a hole saw, this would give you perfectly circular cuts. They are very good for fan holes etc.

I just printed out a template, stuck it on to the metal and used a dremel with a normal cutting disk. I used the disk to cut out as much of the inside as possible just making sure you leave as big a gap between the cut and the line as possible. Then using a file used grind it down till its perfect and then sand it with paper so that it wont cut the cables at all.

Heres a few photos to explain what I mean.
Dremel
File 1
File 2
and then after a little more cleaning up it looks like the ones in this thread.

Any more questions just ask.

 

[neonblingbling]

Are you planning to line the holes with some type of insulation, so you don't cut your wires?

 

[grishenko45]

yeh some rubber gromets

 

[zbo]

Nope not at all. I've gone down to 1000 grit on them so they are completly smooth. I've tested them with an old fan and they didnt even mark the wires when i was pulling on it. I see a lot of people using the edging, and I was going to get some, but once I saw I could get away without using any I jumped at the chance. I dont think the edging looks very good IMO.

 

[chevro1et]

You gotta get rid of that factory grill on the rear exhaust fan before you retire the dremel. But man, some very clean, precise work! gonna be sweet when its all put back together.

 

[Marshmallow64]

Very nice mod so far!

 

[Tsnowflake]

You gotta get rid of that factory grill on the rear exhaust fan before you retire the dremel. But man, some very clean, precise work! gonna be sweet when its all put back together.

seconded, on both the removal of the grill and the awesome work

 

[ChanceCoats123]

This is looking good! I am excited to see it finished and wire managed with some sexy hardware!

 

[zbo]

You gotta get rid of that factory grill on the rear exhaust fan before you retire the dremel. But man, some very clean, precise work! gonna be sweet when its all put back together.

seconded, on both the removal of the grill and the awesome work

I was thinking about it but dont think I can. I could easily take out the mesh but it wouldn't be a circle. Stock the punch out is a hexagon, I could cut it so it was a hexagon but I wouldn't be able to do a circle with the dremel and I cant afford a hole saw :'(

You think I should do it anyway and leave it as a hex?

 

[GrimX9]

I was thinking about it but dont think I can. I could easily take out the mesh but it wouldn't be a circle. Stock the punch out is a hexagon, I could cut it so it was a hexagon but I wouldn't be able to do a circle with the dremel and I cant afford a hole saw :'(

You think I should do it anyway and leave it as a hex?

Look at TSnowflakes case where he removed the fan grill and put mesh. Hopefully you can do better

 

[aerick]

Looks Good Bro Can't till its done.

 

[chevro1et]

A nice clean hex w. a round wire fan grill wouldnt look so bad imo. You could template out the 6 arcs of the circle (using the center axis of the hex as the diameter of the circle) from the corners of the hex if you want to drive yourself crazy heheh. Or just leave it. Its your project, just throwing out ideas.

 

[Tsnowflake]

Look at TSnowflakes case where he removed the fan grill and put mesh. Hopefully you can do better

I've done no such mod to my case.

You think I should do it anyway and leave it as a hex?

Yes! And if you get some u-channel to cover the edges I think it would look really professional.

Go check out some of the PCs in the gallery section over at silentpc if you want to look at some examples or get some more ideas. Some of the guys there do some really nice work. (And the people here do to )

Or just leave it. Its your project, just throwing out ideas.

essentially it comes down to this. Still looks awesome no matter what you choose to do regarding the grill.

 

[Agarfin]

Cutting a near perfect circle with a dremel is actually surprisingly easy. Put on a new cutting wheel and hold the dremel at a 45 Degree angle with what your cutting. I used this technique to cut rounded corners for my Cosmos 1000 window mod.

Heres a video on doing it from MNPC Tech.

The circle part starts at 2:20.

 

[zbo]

Argh, bad news guys. It looks like the mesh stays.

I woke up today, dremel ready before breakfast. My plan was to cut out the fan from a fan to leave just the housing. Then I was going to use housing as a template to cut out the hole.

However......



The mesh is just larger then the fan. Now I could still cut out the hole, leaving just a large hex hole, but that would be bigger then the fan itself and I think it would look bad. What do you guys think?