Project: μ-Blaze

Coelacanth · 04-January-05, 02:22 PM

Well, I'm almost done the "Coelacanth" case mod, and thought I was going to be finished modding for a while, then I came across this sweet little beauty of a Micro-ATX case:

Powmax Micro-ATX case

Looks like a cool case to mod, eh? And the best thing is, it's only $47.99 Canadian! It's gonna be a l'il speed demon too, I also got an MSI M-ATX motherboard to slap into it, which will go with the P4 1.6 Northwood I used to have in the Gargoyle case (which overclocked to 2.45 GHz with that rather radical ducting mod), a spare Corsair XMS3200 RAM, and everything else is onboard.

Hmm...now I just need a video card, which I can't afford now, but I have my eyes on the new Nvidia 6600 GPU for the "performance on a budget" level...

DuckWarrior · 04-January-05, 02:23 PM

Looking forward to the hacking and flying sparks.

Coelacanth · 04-January-05, 02:25 PM

Oh, I forgot to ask (I'm not posting this as an Edit to set it apart from the original post): This case has a silver look to it, it's finished with something called Zinc thermal heat electroplated steel (SGCC). Anyone know anything about this? What about painting it? It looks like aluminum, but I've never heard of this steel treatment method....?

FunkyFresh · 04-January-05, 02:30 PM

Nice! That's a pretty serious looking case -- so many Micro ATX cases look polished or wimpy, but this one looks solid and industrial. Can't wait!

Coelacanth · 04-January-05, 02:50 PM

And it looks like they're using Modder's Mesh. Isn't it interesting how some of our ideas end up in mass-produced cases? I remember wayyyy back when--oh, about 2 or 3 years ago, when I designed the ducting mod in the Gargoyle case--I suggested my ideas for a near-optimal cooling solution for a heatsink; 2 80mm fans on either side of the heatsink, one pulling and one pushing, exhausting directly outside the case. (You could probably even find it in an exhaustive forum search.) Well, except for the direct-exhaust, there are now a number of heatsinks with this exact design now (ThermalTake is one of the manufacturers making them).

God only knows how many of our modding ideas end up being copied by manufacturers.

stereomod · 04-January-05, 03:06 PM

Quote:


	God only knows how many of our modding ideas end up being copied by manufacturers

I know one mod that won't end up w/ a case......my 10 foot long ducting mod!

ThomasMF3D · 04-January-05, 04:13 PM

i used that case on my girlfriends moms computer i built (no mods tho).its a nice little case, cheap price too.

stock it has space for 3 60mm fans, two 80mms above the proccessor area and an option to put a 80mm fan instead of using any of the pci expansion slots..

one warning... becareful putting the side panel back on, i had some troubles with mine, i scratched mine up where the side panel slides over the chassis by the bezel, (mine accidentally went under the chassis lip and scratched the paint a bit.... you can even see in the first pic you posted that the side panel is bowed where it meats the bezel on the left side.. looks like they didnt seat the panel right...

Coelacanth · 04-January-05, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasMF3D


	stock it has space for 3 60mm fans, two 80mms above the proccessor area and an option to put a 80mm fan instead of using any of the pci expansion slots..

I'll probably use up a slot for one of those VGA Coolers on the GeForce 6600 card, and might eventually need to put in a soundcard with digital optical output.

Quote:


	one warning... becareful putting the side panel back on, i had some troubles with mine, i scratched mine up where the side panel slides over the chassis by the bezel, (mine accidentally went under the chassis lip and scratched the paint a bit.... you can even see in the first pic you posted that the side panel is bowed where it meats the bezel on the left side.. looks like they didnt seat the panel right...

Yep, I did notice that, but I'm also pretty familiar with modding cases of cheap construction...none of the cases I've done were worth more than $50 CDN. Sometimes there will be fitment issues...

THRASHER2 · 05-January-05, 07:11 PM

This case you can it Cut Up.....And don't have to worry about the $..
It's only $5.00 USD
http://www.dumpinggoods.com/dumpingg...2D0023&cc=&tpc=

Spectrum · 05-January-05, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THRASHER2


	This case you can it Cut Up.....And don't have to worry about the $.. It's only $5.00 USD http://www.dumpinggoods.com/dumpingg...2D0023&cc=&tpc=

I think a $5 case that costs over $40 to ship to central Ohio is overall a bad deal, especially when they are located in the USA.

Anyway, Coel, this looks promising.

shusa · 05-January-05, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THRASHER2


	This case you can it Cut Up.....And don't have to worry about the $.. It's only $5.00 USD http://www.dumpinggoods.com/dumpingg...2D0023&cc=&tpc=

Hey Thrasher, I just checked out that site and d*mnÃ‚â€¦. Cheap prices.

IÃ‚â€™ve never heard of it. Have you ever bought anything from them? if so, how was the experience and their product(s)?

Iateronmly · 05-January-05, 08:39 PM

I had one of those, threw a 120mm fan on the side and called it good for case cooling even.

Yah - it's a fun case, but the PSU isn't worthy of paperweight status it's so light and cheap.

Coelacanth · 06-January-05, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iateronmly


	I had one of those, threw a 120mm fan on the side and called it good for case cooling even. Yah - it's a fun case, but the PSU isn't worthy of paperweight status it's so light and cheap.

What would you recommend for a PSU? You don't have a lot of options, unfortunately...I'm building my own with a P4 1.6 that I intend to overclock, and another (for the parents) with a 1.2 GHz T-bird I had lying around, planning to leave that stock. With any case costing under $50 you gotta wonder what crappy PSU they'll stick in there...

THRASHER2 · 07-January-05, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shusa


	Hey Thrasher, I just checked out that site and d*mnÃ‚â€¦. Cheap prices. IÃ‚â€™ve never heard of it. Have you ever bought anything from them? if so, how was the experience and their product(s)?

I buy stuff from them every week....
Knoc....Knoc.....Who is it ! FedEx.... with another Case! Sweeeeet.

Coelacanth · 11-January-05, 04:39 AM

Update: I received two of these cases and immediately proceeded to totally tear-down one of them (the other I'm using to build a new PC for my parents, they're gonna be blown away by how small it is, but I'm not gonna mod it much). Here are some of the pros and cons.

PROS:

-Very easy to disassemble, with the minor exception of removing the side panels, as stated by ThomasMF3D. It actually just takes a knack; not only do they have tabs that slot in at the front bezel area, but they slide along a sort of rail along the grooves at top and bottom. The bezel just pops in and out with 6 plastic knobs. The case has 3 thumbscrews at the rear that are nice and shiny. The CD/DVD caddy has 2 metal tabs for a hard drive, and the entire thing pops out with 3 screws. There's a caddy for two 3.5" drives on top, and this pops out with 1 screw. In less than 10 minutes I think the whole case was in pieces.

-Very neat design. I like the vents and the vent mesh-holes beneath; I like the looks and feel, the steel is a polished, smooth silver color, and looks almost like aluminum, but has a clear-coated kinda look & feel. The plastic bezel is painted and matches perfectly. It really looks like a much more expensive case than what you get for under $50.

CONS:

-Cooling will be a problem. Note the center grooves at top and bottom, this groove turns out to be a rail attaching the front to the rear of the case, once you remove the two C-shaped wraparound side-panels. This rail prevents you from installing a blowhole on top or a floor fan on bottom. I was hoping to put in a floor intake, but I had to scratch that idea. The rails are there for structural rigidity.

-The steel quality is pretty weak. This thing would bend pretty easily if you leaned on it. It's strong enough when assembled, but the individual parts are rather weak. But hey, it's less than $50.

-There are some rough-cut areas on the front bezel, they looked like afterthoughts to make room for the power switch and a USB/audio port I/O panel. No worries, you don't see it when the front bezel is installed, anyway.

-BE VERY CAREFUL how big a heatsink you choose! The case has adequate depth, but you have a problem, at least with P4's, and the damn CD/DVD caddy. The drive obstructs with the heatsink if the HSF is too tall. If you're gonna use a mobo with a top-central-located P4, or ANY mobo with a CPU in this location, you better shop around for a low-profile copper HSF. And you'll find there aren't many to choose from.

-There is barely enough room, I think, for a side-panel-mounted 80mm fan, if you buy one with the standard 25mm thickness. I used 15mm-thick 80mm fans for my Gargoyle case, and I'd LOVE to have some of those units for this rig, but I'll be damned if I can find any more! If you're hoping to use 92mm or 120mm fans, fuhgeddaboudit.

I'll take a bunch of pics of the unit, assembled and disassembled, with some of my modding plans, shortly. Overall, I was impressed with the visual quality and appeal of this case. With a little modding this will be a sweet, kickass little beast!

04-January-05, 02:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Coelacanth Apex Tech God Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,993	Project: μ-Blaze Well, I'm almost done the "Coelacanth" case mod, and thought I was going to be finished modding for a while, then I came across this sweet little beauty of a Micro-ATX case: Powmax Micro-ATX case Looks like a cool case to mod, eh? And the best thing is, it's only $47.99 Canadian! It's gonna be a l'il speed demon too, I also got an MSI M-ATX motherboard to slap into it, which will go with the P4 1.6 Northwood I used to have in the Gargoyle case (which overclocked to 2.45 GHz with that rather radical ducting mod), a spare Corsair XMS3200 RAM, and everything else is onboard. Hmm...now I just need a video card, which I can't afford now, but I have my eyes on the new Nvidia 6600 GPU for the "performance on a budget" level... __________________ Flipping the bird at 400 million years of evolution "If assholes could fly, the skies would be black!" "The human brain can be amazingly resistant to accepting an inconvenient truth" ~Moi Completed Projects & Worklogs: Charger Gothic Gargoyle Pisces Micro-Blaze Modding On The Cheap View My Gallery Last edited by Coelacanth; 13-June-06 at 09:28 PM. Reason: Project renamed, didn't care for "Micro-Beast"; too ambiguous

04-January-05, 02:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
DuckWarrior Retired Admin In Charge of Death and Destruction to All those Who Oppose My World known as PimpRig Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Behind the Lens & in front of Models...it's home Posts: 4,157	Looking forward to the hacking and flying sparks. __________________

04-January-05, 02:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
Coelacanth Apex Tech God Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,993	Oh, I forgot to ask (I'm not posting this as an Edit to set it apart from the original post): This case has a silver look to it, it's finished with something called Zinc thermal heat electroplated steel (SGCC). Anyone know anything about this? What about painting it? It looks like aluminum, but I've never heard of this steel treatment method....? __________________ Flipping the bird at 400 million years of evolution "If assholes could fly, the skies would be black!" "The human brain can be amazingly resistant to accepting an inconvenient truth" ~Moi Completed Projects & Worklogs: Charger Gothic Gargoyle Pisces Micro-Blaze Modding On The Cheap View My Gallery

04-January-05, 02:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
Coelacanth Apex Tech God Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,993	And it looks like they're using Modder's Mesh. Isn't it interesting how some of our ideas end up in mass-produced cases? I remember wayyyy back when--oh, about 2 or 3 years ago, when I designed the ducting mod in the Gargoyle case--I suggested my ideas for a near-optimal cooling solution for a heatsink; 2 80mm fans on either side of the heatsink, one pulling and one pushing, exhausting directly outside the case. (You could probably even find it in an exhaustive forum search.) Well, except for the direct-exhaust, there are now a number of heatsinks with this exact design now (ThermalTake is one of the manufacturers making them). God only knows how many of our modding ideas end up being copied by manufacturers. __________________ Flipping the bird at 400 million years of evolution "If assholes could fly, the skies would be black!" "The human brain can be amazingly resistant to accepting an inconvenient truth" ~Moi Completed Projects & Worklogs: Charger Gothic Gargoyle Pisces Micro-Blaze Modding On The Cheap View My Gallery

04-January-05, 04:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
ThomasMF3D Apex Techie Lite Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 21	i used that case on my girlfriends moms computer i built (no mods tho).its a nice little case, cheap price too. stock it has space for 3 60mm fans, two 80mms above the proccessor area and an option to put a 80mm fan instead of using any of the pci expansion slots.. one warning... becareful putting the side panel back on, i had some troubles with mine, i scratched mine up where the side panel slides over the chassis by the bezel, (mine accidentally went under the chassis lip and scratched the paint a bit.... you can even see in the first pic you posted that the side panel is bowed where it meats the bezel on the left side.. looks like they didnt seat the panel right... Last edited by ThomasMF3D; 04-January-05 at 04:23 PM.

04-January-05, 02:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
FunkyFresh 'Da Doctor of Funk Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Maine Posts: 3,021	Nice! That's a pretty serious looking case -- so many Micro ATX cases look polished or wimpy, but this one looks solid and industrial. Can't wait!

05-January-05, 07:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
THRASHER2 PCApex Newscaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Long Beach --- CA --- New Pimp Welcome Posts: 3,500 Babe Posts: 3k B-Day Posts: 675 Pimpin' Deal Posts: 6.1K Posts: 11,248	This case you can it Cut Up.....And don't have to worry about the $.. It's only $5.00 USD http://www.dumpinggoods.com/dumpingg...2D0023&cc=&tpc= Attached Thumbnails __________________ T2's F@HOLDING ARMY IS RECRUITING * T2 TEAM STATS * F@HOLDING DOWNLOADS

05-January-05, 08:39 PM	#12 (permalink)
Iateronmly Smooth Operator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Eugene OR Posts: 5,256	I had one of those, threw a 120mm fan on the side and called it good for case cooling even. Yah - it's a fun case, but the PSU isn't worthy of paperweight status it's so light and cheap. __________________ I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator.