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PROJECT LOG Dell XPS 630i case & modding log
- Thread starter stompah
- Start date
Actually, no. Good point Ben. I missed that he used Plastidip. You need to use a thinner to smooth it out before hitting it with a final coat (or 2).
Here's a good video
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #24
Came from a can, can't thin it out.
I was talking to my wife about it last night. I will do it again when it's warmer/dryer out. And I will put down a few layers of primer. I hope it will help keep the striping to a minimum. I sprayed it horizontally, vertically and diagonally with 50% overlap. Except for that last coat which was 75% overlap. The striping was hard to avoid. Plus when I saw that bubbling I knew it was a lot cause so I went a little fast.
Or if I get a compressor from now until I redo it I will lay down some nice thick coats. Spray canning is tedious. The fan is small and their can requires a lot of finger pleasure to get maximum flow. Plus the nozzle spit a few times. I bought one of those can guns but it didn't fit the Plastidip can.
I was talking to my wife about it last night. I will do it again when it's warmer/dryer out. And I will put down a few layers of primer. I hope it will help keep the striping to a minimum. I sprayed it horizontally, vertically and diagonally with 50% overlap. Except for that last coat which was 75% overlap. The striping was hard to avoid. Plus when I saw that bubbling I knew it was a lot cause so I went a little fast.
Or if I get a compressor from now until I redo it I will lay down some nice thick coats. Spray canning is tedious. The fan is small and their can requires a lot of finger pleasure to get maximum flow. Plus the nozzle spit a few times. I bought one of those can guns but it didn't fit the Plastidip can.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #26
I read about doing that. I didn't watch the video. I wonder if there will be an adhesion problem since it was caused by water.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #27
Temp mounting of the radiator. The top mount is my permanent solution. I will have to do a little modding to center it. Down below I do not want to mount it to the mesh since I don't feel it is sturdy enough for a long term solution. Plus, have those bolts showing are not aesthetically pleasing. I am using some shorter bolts as stand-offs for now. I have some aluminum that I will bend, drill and paint black to create a bottom bracket.
Now on to the hard drives. For my main system I have a 1TB NVME, an old 1TB WD Black drive as my game drive, 4TB WD Black drive as my catch all and a 4TB WD external drive as my Plex drive.
I bought a 3TB Seagate internal drive that I want to migrate my Plex files to and eliminating the external drive from the system. Then I want to move the game folder over to the 4TB drive eliminating the 1TB drive from the system.
This will leave me two 3.5" drives I have to mount. I can mount one in the 5.25" optical bayt and cram the other somewhere else. One will be in a nice spot the other will be peeking out from somewhere. Or, I can go fully functional but not aesthetically pleasing by mounting them in the area at the bottom where the CPU cooler would occupy if it was an air cooler.
I am still not 100% on board for making this my main PC. I am not sure how the 1700 & 5700XT will like this case with it's limited airflow.
Now on to the hard drives. For my main system I have a 1TB NVME, an old 1TB WD Black drive as my game drive, 4TB WD Black drive as my catch all and a 4TB WD external drive as my Plex drive.
I bought a 3TB Seagate internal drive that I want to migrate my Plex files to and eliminating the external drive from the system. Then I want to move the game folder over to the 4TB drive eliminating the 1TB drive from the system.
This will leave me two 3.5" drives I have to mount. I can mount one in the 5.25" optical bayt and cram the other somewhere else. One will be in a nice spot the other will be peeking out from somewhere. Or, I can go fully functional but not aesthetically pleasing by mounting them in the area at the bottom where the CPU cooler would occupy if it was an air cooler.
I am still not 100% on board for making this my main PC. I am not sure how the 1700 & 5700XT will like this case with it's limited airflow.
Attachments
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
That blue is going to look killer. You don't always have to use primer, if the existing surface is/was prepped properly (slightly sanded and wiped clean a few times with rubbing alcohol should suffice). A little late for regrets now, unless you plan on stripping it off.
I'll only use server class mechanical drives now, the fail rate on retail drives is way too high to bother. Ebay has a lot of good options for refurbs, or you work in IT like I do and something inevitably falls into your lap parting out a server being decommissioned. And really, SSDs are coming down in price and even the ones leaning toward poorer chip longevity will outlive most mechanical drives. Something to consider for anything 2TB or smaller. In a case that size, you could load up some cheap SSDs in a JBOD.
I live close to a Fry's now (Las Vegas), but they're a day away from going out of business. I miss having a Microcenter (Yonkers) about 2 hours drive away.
Hope all is well with you old friend.
I'll only use server class mechanical drives now, the fail rate on retail drives is way too high to bother. Ebay has a lot of good options for refurbs, or you work in IT like I do and something inevitably falls into your lap parting out a server being decommissioned. And really, SSDs are coming down in price and even the ones leaning toward poorer chip longevity will outlive most mechanical drives. Something to consider for anything 2TB or smaller. In a case that size, you could load up some cheap SSDs in a JBOD.
I live close to a Fry's now (Las Vegas), but they're a day away from going out of business. I miss having a Microcenter (Yonkers) about 2 hours drive away.
Hope all is well with you old friend.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 30, 2004
SSDs can be unpredictable and the same with HDDs having a PCB problem, including a bad cache. Got silent Windows 10 corruption? Then you should try another drive!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
All things being equal, mechanical drives ALSO have all those "moving part" failures. I'm not talking bargain SSDs, even the reliable brand names have lower tier, high capacity options that will outlive any retail mechanical drive. The raw data on SSD versus mechanical drive fail rates and reliability speak for themselves. It's not even something to be debated, unless one likes to just be contrary.
- Joined
- May 30, 2004
I agree there, as things have been going well with my Crucial MX500 SSD. The same with the Samsung Evos.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #32
Primer comment was to help eliminate the shiny aluminum peeking through. Even though I had multiple layers and heavy coat it still has a stripe look to it in some spots/angles. Edit: I also painted horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
The build is stalled for the moment as I contemplate upgrading to the x570 platform. Unfortunately, I have a b459 MB and an OG Zen CPU. So, my upgrade path is a little bumpy.
Pinky, I'll be in Vegas on the 15th.
The build is stalled for the moment as I contemplate upgrading to the x570 platform. Unfortunately, I have a b459 MB and an OG Zen CPU. So, my upgrade path is a little bumpy.
Pinky, I'll be in Vegas on the 15th.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Ha! Well your timing stinks due to the whole pandemic thing. Do you come here often??
You may have put on more paint than actually necessary. It's challenging with cans. Too bad Dino's not around, he was skilled.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #34
With kids it is hard to go anywhere that is adult oriented. been a decade since I have last been to Vegas. We planned this pre-pandemic, bought everything early pandemic figuring this would be over by now. Looks like we might be wrong. But it will be fun nonetheless.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
Vegas is only kinda-sorta opened. If you like the outdoors or off-the-path things to do I can help with recommendations, in general we (as well as most other locals) avoid the strip. My advice unless you're looking to get sick is to wear a mask and have/use hand sanitizer a lot. Not only is covid spreading here at a high rate, many of the people coming in are the "f%$% you" types with no regard for anyone but themselves, and that demographic is the one spreading things at the moment.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #36
Kevin, don't worry about Covid. Once Biden is our president elect Covid will go away.
/political humor
We wanted to go to see shows, eat and see sights. My wife did buy Cirque's MJ show. We have not got a cancelation notice for that yet. Other than that we are expecting a laid back trip. My wife likes to walk so... she will be walking alone haha.
She did try to book a couples massage but every google search linked her to "couples" massage wink wink nudge nudge. Not into that. So we will probably find a masseuse when we get there.
I want to rent a convertible and go for a ride. For some reason she isn't into that.
And I've spent my fun money elsewhere. So buying MB/CPU/RAM for this system is a no-go. And my AM3 systems are not booting for some reason. I am thinking is a MB issue. New RAM and CPU. *shrugs*
- Joined
- May 30, 2004
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #39
LOL!
If it was not so filthy inside I would probably pick it up and do an Iron Manesque case out of it. But its kinda ragged. At least for me. Maybe next year when I go back I'll pick it up.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2001
- Thread Starter
- #40
It's alive!!! Sorta.
First off the power supply when connected to my 5700XT has a high pitch whine. So I'm going to have to swap that out.
The front panel connection is Dell specific. I will have to do some research and experimentation to see how I can adapt it to work.
One of the front USB cables is too short to rear the header on the motherboard. I will need to extend that.
I still need to sort out the storage. I might just bite the bullet and pick up a large SSD.
So I'm looking at several hundred dollars in SSD and PSU to make my cheap but awesome looking case work. Just another day in the life of stompah.
First off the power supply when connected to my 5700XT has a high pitch whine. So I'm going to have to swap that out.
The front panel connection is Dell specific. I will have to do some research and experimentation to see how I can adapt it to work.
One of the front USB cables is too short to rear the header on the motherboard. I will need to extend that.
I still need to sort out the storage. I might just bite the bullet and pick up a large SSD.
So I'm looking at several hundred dollars in SSD and PSU to make my cheap but awesome looking case work. Just another day in the life of stompah.
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