PROJECT LOG Project Insomnia

[reap3r]

*Disclaimer* - I am an amateur modder and this is my first (documented) attempt at modding. Just want to make that clear before I step into the company of some really skilled individuals.

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Well, like I said, this is my official debut in the case modding realm. I have tinkered around with cases before and stuck blowholes here and there but I've never tackled anything bigger than that. I've been mulling over a new build for the last few months and a couple weeks ago made the decision to go through with it. Then I decided to take it to that next level.

Here's a basic rundown of the components as it stands. It's still subject to minor changes (A lot of "overkill" parts, yes, but that's part of the fun! Also don't worry, this isn't just for gaming).

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
CPU: Intel Core-i7 3770k
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z77
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100
RAM: 32GB 1866MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum
SSD: 1x 60GB Intel 520 SSD, 1x 240GB Intel 520 SSD
GPU: 2x EVGA GTX 680 4GB Classified in SLI
PSU: Corsair AX1200i

As you can no doubt tell I am a big fan of Corsair products.

I haven't bought any of the internal components yet - I'm delaying that until I actually nail out all the modding first. I have the H100, the case and almost all the supplies I need (should get the rest over the next couple weeks) so this post is really the bare, bare, bare starting point for the project. Wanted to get the thread going so I could just post updates as I go along.

Time for pics so far!

Note: I accidentally had my camera set to low resolution so upcoming posts will have full-res images. Sorry about that!

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Corsair 650D gutted and ready for action



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Front panel taken out, but the hot-swappable drive bay remains.



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Both front panel and hot-swappable drive bay have been removed.



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Gutted front panel & Hot-swappable drive bay




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Add a little more surgery to the front panel and all the cables are now free.




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And then here's a little teaser for the color scheme... I'm a huge fan of a simple black and white scheme so that's what its going to be!



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That's all the images I can share for now, I'm working on some mockups / schematics of the mods I currently have in mind and I'll upload those either tomorrow or the day after.

To give you a general sense of what I'm starting with though:

1) Remove the front panel push-door and power/reset button housing from the case faceplate.

2) Create a new custom front panel with 2x LCD temperature sensors, a Bulgin vandal switch style power button and maybe an few LEDs too.

3) Figure out what I'm going to do with the opening at the top of the case made by removing the hot swappable drive bay cover. Contemplating stenciling out the project name into a metal plate and backlighting it (is it a cliche yet?).

4) Design custom stickers/labels for fans and internal components. Inspired by a number of builds, including one on these forums.

5) Infinity and beyond! This is still a project very much in the works so who knows what else I'll come up with.

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Apologies if you came here looking to see a 40-80% complete build instead of a 0-10% complete build but it'll be coming soon to a forum near you!

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

Sub'd I'll be looking forward to whats next... I'll be watching O_O

 

[reap3r]

Thanks Dancer

It may take a while before I get some major updates rolling in but as promised here's a mock-up of what I'm planning to do with the front panel. In the years and years I've used PCs I could probably count the number of times I've actually used front panel connections with a few fingers. Even though they're hidden behind a door in the 650D, I wanted to get rid of all the unnecessary things (audio, firewire, etc) and replace it with a nice, clean interface.

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So the change is going from stock:



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To something that looks *kinda* like this (Not quite to scale, colours aren't accurate either):



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[Modz 4 Higher]

Sub'd !!!! Moar pics

Modz

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

That would be a fun and unique idea while keeping it simple. Sometimes less is more and that seems perfect.

 

[yamaharacer19]

Pretty neat ideas for your build. I'll be watching this build closely as well.

 

[reap3r]

Thanks for the positive commentary everyone!

Alright here we go, another update!

I'm putting off any work on the front panel for now until I really figure out how I'm going to go about doing it. So instead I've started on something else. I've decided that I'm only going to have two hard drives in this computer (both SSDs) so I'm just going to mount them in a 5.25" bay using a bracket.

However, by removing both the hard drive bays I am left with this less than attractive stump sticking out just in front of the front intake fan that makes it clear that "something was supposed to go here". So I wanted to fix that.

I don't have access to any fancy metal working tools so I'm just throwing together random things from around the house / miscellany from hardware stores.

Here's what I came up with:


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Unattractive hard drive bay stump.



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Took some sheet metal and scribbled on it.



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Cut it to shape using some heavy duty scissors.



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Folded accordingly using a table edge and a hammer.



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Decided to use some silicone based adhesive sealant to close it up into a box to give it a little more flex since it's a bit of a tight fit on the stump.



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Waited a few hours for adhesive to dry.



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Trimmed away excess - not bad at all!



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Results! It's a perfect fit.





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It's still a little rough around the edges, but a little TLC will fix most of the minor dents and whatnot.

Now the fun part is still to come. I haven't decided on a design yet, otherwise I would have finished it and had those pictures to share, but I'm going to:

- Cut out a design out from the top of the box
- Spraypaint the box black
- Put a length of LED strip lighting along the inner walls of the box.
- Place on top of the stub.
- Enjoy a backlit design inside my case instead of a stack of unused metal drive bays!

If only I could be less indecisive about what to put on the darn thing....

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

Very creative idea, and I wish you luck on deciding what to use!

 

[wagex]

lookin pretty sweet subbed

p.s. dancer where u at foo work is boring today lol.

 

[reap3r]

Update!

Finally decided upon a simple design that was not outside of my ability to do. I am not the most adept when it comes to cutting out fancy designs so.. With that in mind I think it turned out alright

This part is now pretty much complete! Just going to wait until my next parts order to get the LED lights to put inside before I install it into the case.

This project's coming along slowly but surely!

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Hard drive bay stub cover from a few angles (Looks much better in person, the metal had a texture on it, and combined with glossy paint and my camera picking up way too much light it looks messy in photos)









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And for demonstration sakes I stuck a couple mini LED flashlights underneath it and turned to lights off to emulate what it will look like once I get the LEDs in there. Obviously the end result will be much brighter, with more even light distribution.

 

[yamaharacer19]

Awesome idea with the design and lighting it up. Looks sweet.

 

[White Runner]

I love seeing 650D mods, sub'd and looking forward to seeing your progress!

 

[reap3r]

Well, I am sorry to say this but I have pulled the plug on (more accurately delayed) this build until further notice. I decided against my plans here and instead am going to put together a Bitfenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Build. I am going to put this case away in storage for now.

Project Insomnia... has been officially retired.

Sorry to all those who were following! I'll post up a new thread with my Prodigy build soon though, so it's not a total game over!