A little over a week ago I was contacted by Corsair to do a custom built PC for them for the upcoming Intel Developers Forum on August 23rd. Corsair wanted a nice case to show off their XPert RAM product. After a little thought I came up with an idea that I felt I could bring to life in the given time.

Here's the idea... An acrylic cube case with the motherboard layed flat in the top half of the case. The acrylic will be smoked with a V designed backing of mirrored blue acrylic.

There will be two large Corsair logos cut from sheet aluminum and then chromed. These will be mounted on two sides of the case using risers to keep it hovering above the actual side panel. I will use two dragon meters (one behind each Corsair logo) and arrange them so that with more activity the backlighting will increase behind the panels.

The front of the case will feature a large Corsair logo displayed via acrylic in-lay and backlit.

To really draw attention to the XPert RAM used in this case I will create two arrays of mirrors. one will be a cone that goes down to surround the RAM itself and the other array will be a cone that sits hovering above the center hole. This should create an effect that will allow you to see the RAM activity/message from any angle around the case. Although, if you are on the opposite side as teh message it will appear upside-down.

Case handles will be mnpctech billet handles which are dipped in black-chrome. I will be using various other mods n' ends and will post them here.

Since I don't have much time to get this puppy together Corsair is gathering all the hardware and sending it over. What an impressive list of hardware it is at that... check out the list below. For virtually all of the custom fabrication work I will be going to Voyeurmods.com who have the capability to to machine work, steel/aluminum cutting, acrylic cutting, chroming, anodizing, plus they have all the materials I will need. I will be creating panel schematics for them to follow and cut the panels for creating the case.

It really is an awesome opportunity... building a completely cutom PC with TOP NOTCH hardware and not having to foot the bill. I just hope I can make Corsair proud with the creation I have planned. You can see a real basic sketch attached to this post to see where I am going.

Here is the hardware list:
ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe
Intel CPU (not decided yet)
Nvidia G70 (x2, SLI)
1GB Corsair DDR2 XPert
WD 250GB drive
Pioneer 8X DVDRW (Slot loading)
Corsair COOL Water Cooling Kit
Silverstone Zeus 650W SLI ready PSU

So, feel free to drop me links to other acrylic builds... maybe I can find a tip or two that I will find handy. Right now I am still deciding how to construct the main inside frame of the case. My original idea was to use a couple Tech Stations to build the skeleton. While that may still work, I think there may be a better solution.

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Quote: Originally Posted by GlitterKill So, feel free to drop me links to other acrylic builds... maybe I can find a tip or two that I will find handy. Right now I am still deciding how to construct the main inside frame of the case. My original idea was to use a couple Tech Stations to build the skeleton. While that may still work, I think there may be a better solution.

This one come to Mind.... CASE.....Sweeeeeet Plexi-Case and this One.....CASE...

Sweeeet new Project...GlitterKill

Quote: Originally Posted by GlitterKill There will be two large Corsair logos cut from sheet aluminum and then chromed. These will be mounted on two sides of the case using risers to keep it hovering above the actual side panel

Man I had the same idea for a case mod that I just started working on. Spikeshot didnt happen to give you this idea did he? Oh well good luck with it. It should be pretty awesome.

Wow, that Sapphire case looks amazing!
Can't wait to see your take on the acrylic cube GK, I am sure Corsair will be proud.

Here's some ............

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2005...zzlebox/1.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2005..._part_3/1.html

http://www.mashie.org/casemods/d3_01.html

Quote: Originally Posted by Cpt.Planet Man I had the same idea for a case mod that I just started working on. Spikeshot didnt happen to give you this idea did he? Oh well good luck with it. It should be pretty awesome.

Um...no I never gave Gk any ideas. He told me this Sat. and I was just like dam...This better be the **** or its your ass! But having seen some of his crazy ideas and former projects, this should be something both original, and mind blowing.

He does have 2 7800's sitting on his desk, like I told him, I AM MOVING IN!

Good luck, I know all of PR will be keeping their eyes on you.

Quote: Originally Posted by GlitterKill Right now I am still deciding how to construct the main inside frame of the case. My original idea was to use a couple Tech Stations to build the skeleton. While that may still work, I think there may be a better solution.

As far as making the internals for it why not do something like Design Cognition's "The Stack" Where he just used pieces of acrylic for the different levels then they were held up by a rod. Also as far as support for the video cards in the back you could just glue another piece of acrylic onto the back and then drill the holes into it for the screws. Good Luck cant wait to see some progress.

http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....ighlight=stack

I think the idea behind the design has to show off the memory modules....

I had one thought about this case....cubes have been done to death.

While I understand that cubes are the most practical shape for ease of construction purposes, I don't see why this couldn't be made a bit more interesting. The first part of this idea could be done rather easily. It's just a stand after all:



The second part I'm not so sure about, but if it worked, could be used with your prism idea GK, or maybe without. The idea is to use a strip magnifier to "project" the LED readout of the Corsair RAM onto the clear or lightly frosted inside of the top panel...just larger. I don't have the RAM or the strip magnifier to test it out, but in lower light conditions, it should show up.

Even if you just stick with your prism idea, tilting the case would make it stand out much more, and you could even make that temporary, setting it flat on a desktop to take up less space.

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Quote: Originally Posted by Wordbiker I had one thought about this case....cubes have been done to death. While I understand that cubes are the most practical shape for ease of construction purposes, I don't see why this couldn't be made a bit more interesting. The first part of this idea could be done rather easily. It's just a stand after all: The second part I'm not so sure about, but if it worked, could be used with your prism idea GK, or maybe without. The idea is to use a strip magnifier to "project" the LED readout of the Corsair RAM onto the clear or lightly frosted inside of the top panel...just larger. I don't have the RAM or the strip magnifier to test it out, but in lower light conditions, it should show up. Even if you just stick with your prism idea, tilting the case would make it stand out much more, and you could even make that temporary, setting it flat on a desktop to take up less space.

Damn great idea Wordbiker..........and maybe watercooling could be incorporated into the base.....

Oh yeah, the base as the res. If it is angled like that there needs to be a spotlight projecting an image off one of the upper sides.

Quote: Originally Posted by Wordbiker I had one thought about this case....cubes have been done to death. While I understand that cubes are the most practical shape for ease of construction purposes, I don't see why this couldn't be made a bit more interesting. The first part of this idea could be done rather easily. It's just a stand after all: The second part I'm not so sure about, but if it worked, could be used with your prism idea GK, or maybe without. The idea is to use a strip magnifier to "project" the LED readout of the Corsair RAM onto the clear or lightly frosted inside of the top panel...just larger. I don't have the RAM or the strip magnifier to test it out, but in lower light conditions, it should show up. Even if you just stick with your prism idea, tilting the case would make it stand out much more, and you could even make that temporary, setting it flat on a desktop to take up less space.

You know one of those 7" X 10" 3x PVC Fresnel Lensses they sell on ebay would do that well....
http://cgi.ebay.com/100-inch-Video-P...QQcmdZViewItem

Quote: Originally Posted by Digital-World You know one of those 7" X 10" 3x PVC Fresnel Lensses they sell on ebay would do that well.... http://cgi.ebay.com/100-inch-Video-P...QQcmdZViewItem

just thinking WAY out of the box here... no pun intended.
how about one of those small webcams (or two) INSIDE the case. Send the real time images to a screen saver.........or active desktop. small LEDs in appropriate places can give more light if needed.
I have been wanting to try this myself, but who knows if I will get around to it.

Corsair is alrady keeo n the regular cube. The build needs to be pretty durable and compact sinec they will be toting this thing around the world to be shown at various events.

I finally have got all teh hardware for the PC in today... guess what CPU will be in the bad mamma jamma?

The Intel Pentium Extreme 840 (3.2GHz Dual Core CPU). Yes, they want this bad boy overclocked, too.

Quote: Originally Posted by GlitterKill Corsair is alrady keeo n the regular cube. The build needs to be pretty durable and compact sinec they will be toting this thing around the world to be shown at various events. I finally have got all teh hardware for the PC in today... guess what CPU will be in the bad mamma jamma? The Intel Pentium Extreme 840 (3.2GHz Dual Core CPU). Yes, they want this bad boy overclocked, too.

Sweet cant wait to see some progress on this baby.

Holy sheep dip! That processor is worth more than my entire rig!

At least you will get the chance to play with it a bit before you have to turn it over to them. Make sure you run benchies for the OCing contest before handing it over.

The only duel core cpu's that work with the nforce 4 intell edition are the extreme editions versions:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25036
be carefull when choosing the cpu.


As for the mod, your ideas are looking great, even if I didn't understand what you were refering to with the mirrors. It's always good to have fun and let somone else pick up the bill

You should paint the circuit traces coming out of the ram on the mobo with flourecent paint. . .

SO all the main components of the case have arrived. It sure is nice to see it all laid out like that.

I will setup the hardware and begin to install Windows, etc tomorrow. I just need to do a couple more Illustrator pics of the panel designs then they will be sent off to Voyeurmods.com for the cutting.

One thing I am not happy about is that I will need to hook the system up for testing with a fully functioning water cooling setup to get the overclocking right. Then I will have to drain the cooling system again for shipment. I just would not feel good at all about shipping it full. Who know what would happen.

You can see the Corsair logo for the side panels. These will be cut out of an aluminum sheet and then chromed and backlit. I had to tweak the logo a bit to make the logo a one piece sheet. Well, I guess I didn't HAVE to do that but it sure will make things easier. I was able to keep the resemblance of the logo intact pretty good I think.

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