This is a mini-project, designed with my wife in mind. (she was complaining about the rig being at work and staying there cuz there was no case and she wanted it at home to look up recipes)

Basically, the hardware in this thing was originally intended for Project: BADWORD!!!. I had planned in P:BW to use a 120mm intake and a 120mm exhaust and that's it...no other case fans...(except what comes on/in components). The original P:BW case simply did not have the space for this, especially considering the fact that I wasn't going to stick a clowhole on the front bezel - I wanted it clean. The 120mm fans were received after I started the mod, so a new plan was necessary...enter AE Computare, my computer vendor at work.

I have an excellent working relationship with Albert, the owner. I told him I wanted an Antec Sonata case, (because it had exactly the fan config I was looking for) but I didn't want the power supply. He made me a deal: he would buy the PS for $100 and I just had to pay $50 for the case. Sweet...I picked it up the next day.

Here it is, in all it's glory:


Man this is a good-lookin' case, and very well-built. Priority-1b with this case was a 1-GHz overclock. Priority 1a was for it to be quiet (the wife's stipulation - she hated the delta on my last PC )

The first job was to get it home. I slapped all the components in, did a reasonable job of hiding the wires & stuff, and installed XP on my 40GB HDD.

(sorry no pics of this stage)

I got caught up trying to finish NFSU and the project fell by the way-side for a while. With all the turmoil at PR with lack-of-content and general bitching going on, I decided to put forth an effort and make some more progress, and actually start the MODDING of this thing.

I read Nomad's "Original" sleeving mod yesterday, and thought I would try a variation on it last night, using tennis raquet handle-wrapping stuff (whatever the hell it's called) cuz I wanted to have black, matte wires. I didnt want them showing up when I install my UV light mod. Damn that stuff's expensive, so I said screw it. On my way outta Wally World, I spotted exactly what I was looking for. Leave it up to a Canuck to think of this:

HOCKEY TAPE!!!

Damn right! I bought a 28m roll for $2 and some Pringles went home and got my mod on.

We all know what an unsleeved PSU looks like, so I'll dispense with the 'before' pic. Here's the 'after pic:


Not-a-bad if I do say so myself...all in all it took about an hour, and the WHOLE ROLL to do it. (watched CSI:LV from start to finished while doing the mod) Each wire was done twice, that's why it tool the whole roll. After the first pass, it looked like crap; all bumpy,and the wrap was uneven in a lot of places, so I went over it again. MUCH better. Not as good as some of the other sleeving mods I've seen, but I didn't have the time to put into it as I would have liked.

Here's some close-ups of the PSU installed:




Overall, it's starting to shape up. It's still on air, but that will change hopefully by the end of the summer. I won a copper TDX block (thanks Rokk & the boys at DangerDen!!!) and will be putting it to good use on this 2.4c which I've got at 3.3 (on air) and hopefully the water cooling will get me over the 1GHz overclock barrier.

Here she is hooked up to my 50" Toshiba big-screen TV with NFSU on it

There's nothing like bumpercam on a 50" TV w/ surround sound to immerse you into the game!


So, whaddya think? Let me know...opinions, flames, jokes - let 'em rip!

I have to agree with you on the case.. I just finished Project: Clean Management (not posting pics or updating... didn't come off anywhere as good as hoped.. prolly gonna delete the thread... )

That case is fscking awesome to build with.. my only, ONLY bitch with it is that the 5 1/4th drives do not click back into the case.. thus, I kept popping them out of the front of the case when plugging them in

Wish I'dve thought of the hockey tape thing.. the PSU killed me on mine... as it is, yours is very

Does the red from the fans glow through the antec stamping? I think that would look pretty cool... almost make it worth having those damn holes in the sides.

Quote: Originally Posted by TheOutcast I have to agree with you on the case.. I just finished Project: Clean Management (not posting pics or updating... didn't come off anywhere as good as hoped.. prolly gonna delete the thread... )

Dude, update it anyway...sometimes you need closure, even if it didn't turn out how you hoped.
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Quote: Originally Posted by TheOutcast That case is fscking awesome to build with.. my only, ONLY bitch with it is that the 5 1/4th drives do not click back into the case.. thus, I kept popping them out of the front of the case when plugging them in

I'm not having that problem at all...the rails in mine all work fine...
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Quote: Originally Posted by TheOutcast Wish I'dve thought of the hockey tape thing.. the PSU killed me on mine... as it is, yours is very

Thanks!!
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Quote: Originally Posted by TheOutcast Does the red from the fans glow through the antec stamping? I think that would look pretty cool... almost make it worth having those damn holes in the sides.

Yeah it does, to an extent...it'll look better once I get some cc's in there...I've also got plans for a window, a black 52x CDRW, a black 8x DVDRW, a fan controller, some UV cc lights, and a few other tricks that shall remain a secret until they're done.

Hockey tape! Living in Maine I shoulda thought of that.

Looks good! I like how you can wrap right up to the plug without having to heatshrink everything. Hmm... Now that I've seen what it looks like, I may do something similar on my fiancee's PC...

Also, I like how you have the blue lights shining out the front, while the inside is pure red (if I'm seeing that last pic right).

EDIT: By the way, I know what you mean about the bumper cam on a big screen -- first time a video game ever made my palms sweat!

Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyFresh Also, I like how you have the blue lights shining out the front, while the inside is pure red (if I'm seeing that last pic right).

Yep, you're seeing that right...those bloo lights are stock with the Sonata case...I'm seriously considering changing them to red though...I really havent decided yet...they're hella bright too

Hell I'd say Project Good Word...lol...Looks good pj, and those are some sweet cases.

Great idea!

One other thing that I thought of was the same stuff (at least I would think that it is) only for baseball bats. Same type of fabric though.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nomad Great idea! One other thing that I thought of was the same stuff (at least I would think that it is) only for baseball bats. Same type of fabric though.

Isn't is just the same stuff as hockey tape though?

Thanks jinx©!

Looking like it will be nice after all PJ, good job......... now bring us more pics!

PJ,

Looks good man. I have a Sonata as my HTPC. I just might have to bust the case open and do some wiremanagement like yours

SAD

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot Looking like it will be nice after all PJ, good job......... now bring us more pics!

Well, honestly, there really isn't more to see...that's about it...

I'm getting a new desk this weekend though...it's a hutch-type thingy that closes up...got it off of a friend for $125.00 (He paid $400 2 years ago...thanks CB!)

Planned future mods:

Paint interior black
Watercooling
Window
Fanbus...and more TBA later...

^^^ bump for the evening crowd ^^^