Ok pimps and pimpettes, got my new case and my new gear all thrown together. Here is a short rundown.

Maxtor SATA 250GB HDD w/ 16mb : PITA factor: 9

After ripping a floppy drive out of the wifes HP (Thank god I sent her and the baby to Disney world or I would still be getting grief) I had issues getting the darn floppy to work. Well, I got that one figured out. Then, my mobo would see the drive, loaded the drivers, formated and installed the first steps of windows, but when it rebooted it wouldn't see the drive and go back to the first steps of windows installation. Now this one had me going nuts. I tried every darn thing I could think of, a dozen or so drivers, changed everything in bios I could think of etc... At the end, I changed the boot drive from SATA to SCSI and the sucker worked. Go figure.

Also threw in a gig of Patriot 3200 mem (tccd chips and brainpower pcb ooooh yeah)

Also threw in an Aerogate 5. Talk about nice, 4 fan controllers complete with extension cables for your fans. Saved me a ton of time from having to cut a solder the fan power lines. Also has 4 included thermal sensors complete with temp alarms and a jazzy faceplate that looks pretty darn nice if ya ask me.

All of the above thrown into my new Mountain Mods case custom painted by Lunamods. First of all, let me give props where they are do. Luna has some mad skills. I mean, this thing is nothing short of spectacular. I feel like a doctor when I work on the case. Each screw is taken out so slowly as to not slip and chip this awsome paint job.

Now on to the case. This thing is HUGE, and I do mean FREAKIN HUGE. Working inside this case is like working on a 4 cyl engine that was thrown in a Dodge Ram. If I took the mobo tray out I bet I could fit a dead body in this case.

How about airflow you ask. Well, they didn't spend a whole lot of time engineering this case for perfect airflow. They said screw it and went with straight brute force. 5 120MM fans and 4 80MM fans, not to mention the PSU fans, HSF, mobo and vid card fans. I have a vantec fan controller and the areogate and I still can't put all my fans on controllers. I let my 92mm HS fan go full blast and put one of the 80mm on an inline resistor. Needless to say, my temps are great. Went from 41C in my last case to 34C in the mountain mods. Case temps hover around 1C above room temp. You would be hard pressed to find a case the results in better temps with air cooling.

I do have a gripe. The case has 5 external 5.25 bays, but does not come with ANY bay covers. Who the heck has 5 devices to fill that? I had 3 in my old rig, and the areogate took up 2 drives so it worked out.

The wife took the digi cam with her to Disney World so I will post some pics on Sunday when she returns.

BTW: Another big thanks goes out to Pimprig for their holiday giveaway. The case is a thing of beauty.

Good deal! Larger cases really are a pleasure to work in (if not on).
The main challenge is lengthening wires for better routing and somehow stealthing the wire going to my side panel 120mm.

yeah i was working on my pr special edition case last night and realized i don't have enough bay devices . .. only got a dvd+-rw drive and a two bay res. so now i'm looking for a fan controller and something else. maybe i'll just get two of these controllers from mnpctech . ..

i just picked up a aero gatewatch this morning before work. figure i have 5 slots on my front panel to cover up, and only using 1. so this will take up alot of that and make it look nicer.

I got to see the case right before Luna finished it and I can attest to what castertg is talking about. The paint job on that cube is nothing short of absolutely sweet. Glad it went to someone who appreciates it.

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by Rob I got to see the case right before Luna finished it and I can attest to what castertg is talking about. The paint job on that cube is nothing short of absolutely sweet. Glad it went to someone who appreciates it. Rob

Absolutlely.

Not only is the case a thing of art, its practical as well. It has lowered my temps to a level I thought to be unachievable on air cooling.

It may be by sheer brute force, but I get those temps with the fans only 30% up or so. I am waiting till I bolt it to the floor to crank the fans to full power. I am afraid it may go airborn and scratch the paint