Hello,

I'v been fond of your forums for some time now. Well I finally decided to join.
Well little about my self. I'v loved computers for a long time. I work on them and mod them in my free time. I'v never really modded a full case before. Just a little here and there on my case. But I finally got a Brand new case from Newegg for modding. I decided to get the Chieftec case. Well heres what im planning on doing.

Well im planning to make it a Really good air cooled computer. Im going to hook up a duct to my Cpu and may a vent for my hard drive blowing the air out of a duct on the side of the case to keep the Computer Temp down a little bit. Instead of letting the air circulate in the case just isolate the hard drive and blow it out. Going to try and make it a really clean computer with hardly any wires in site and the try and make it quite as possible with out ruining the performance.



I dont like the clip in fance that go in the back of the case. So tommarrow im going to cut them out and putting a new back in. Heres my Cardboard template sitting int he back where my peice of sheet metal will be.



I drilled out the rivets for these ugly trays. I will no longer need them becuase im gonna to make a special mounting system in the Cd Rack for my hard drive.





Decided not to use these becuase they will restrict too much airflow.
I found these cool little vents at Ace Hardwear. There perfict size for a 80mm fan. Im planning to use them on the back after I install a different plate on the back for the fans.



The case came with these dinky little plastic clips holding the Acrlic window on and that just would not do. So when I was at Ace I found these little cool Hex heads and to my luck they fit perfict. Sorry for the blurry picture.



I was testing out my paint on this peice of scrap metal a had to see how it would turn out. Im going to paint the interior of my case this color. It seems really green but I figured once I get all my parts in the case it should be less noticable.




Well this is my first ever project log. Let me know if my doing alright and if anyone has any ideas just post them and let me know. I'll be shure to add more tomarrrow.

Thanks Abunch,
Tweek

Those round vents are pretty sweet looking. Putting an LED fan behind them might look pretty nifty.

first and foremost,
WELCOME ABOARD!!!

Those chieftec cases are brilliant to mod - have seen a ton of people (and companies too) use them in their designs - sounds like you've got it all rather well planned out - and I'm loving the green!

One thing though, those vents on the back may hinder airflow out of your case - personally, I'm a fan of having as little restriction in front of fans as possible - it impedes airflow and also makes the fan noisier.
... but that's just me

lobey - Yea I was thinking of wiring up some LEDS behide it to make it look pretty cool.

MasterP - Thanks for the welcome. Also I was thinking about that today. I tested out the vent on a fan and I noticed it cut off quite alot of air flow. So now im trying to think of something else I can do in place of those vents. Guess its time to head off to the hardwear store agian.

My next step is too fill in the vents on the front of my case with bondo and make an hood scoop looking vent on the front panel. This is goingto be my first time working with bondo so this might take awhile.

EDIT: Ok well I want to bondo the front, but I want to keep the same color I have the case right now. Its power coated though. Is there anyway that I can get the powder coat look agian after I bondo it? Or get it to match the rest of the case without having to paint the whole case?

Quote: Originally Posted by Tweekerrr Hello, I'v been fond of your forums for some time now. Well I finally decided to join. Thanks Abunch, Tweek

PCApex welcome all new members to the funnest, inviting, intelligent, and knowledgeable community, full of modding and hardware enthusiasts.

Here are some Sweeeet Links
PCApex PC Gallery
Project Worklogs
Modding Tips and Guides


If you don't already know about this little thing called Folding@Home here is some info about it. Here

With that in mind you should read up on our team Team PCApex linkage. It is a great way to help humanity and PCApec alike.

If you are the competitive type you might want to join up in one of PCApex's sub teams for more info on them check these links.

T2's Folding Army

That is a really cool green paint.I like your ducts but afraid of air resistance they might cause.Keep us posted with updates and pics,Jo

Quote: Originally Posted by Tweekerrr EDIT: Ok well I want to bondo the front, but I want to keep the same color I have the case right now. Its power coated though. Is there anyway that I can get the powder coat look agian after I bondo it? Or get it to match the rest of the case without having to paint the whole case?

Don't know about that - I'd say your safest bet would be to bondo then paint the bezel in a colour that is as close as possible to the powdercoating on the rest of the case - failing that, painting the whole case could be kinda cool

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP Don't know about that - I'd say your safest bet would be to bondo then paint the bezel in a colour that is as close as possible to the powdercoating on the rest of the case - failing that, painting the whole case could be kinda cool

Woo, Ok I think i'll try that. I hope it blends in well, so I dont have to end up painting the whole case. But yeah today I'v been just messing around with the dremel and cutting out of peices of sheet metal.

I'll try and keep you updated with pictures.

I love this warm welcome. Thanks All

My case has the same front bezel, but in the mid tower ASUS. I have a fan duct ordered for the front bezel for my 92mm intake. I'm going to mountthe duct first and figure out what to do. The bezel is a dust magnet and looks really bad in a very short time. I'm going to have to fill it in and add a second duct for the HDD Fan (80mm) below the intake fan. Not sure how the two ducts will look, but I hate the bezel. I'm trying to see if ASUS has a smooth bezel available.

Good luck on the mod, can't wait to see how it turns out. Also I too am concerned about air resistance on the back of the case. The most effective way to get optimum airflow is to have a wide open hole. Keep us posted...

Personally, that's the colour I wanted to paint the interiors of my project case with, but I decided black'd be better with the UV. Otherwise, I would have gone with that, the vibrant green goes well with a black. The only concern I would have is if there's "too much green" on the inside of the case - an imbalance - but once the hardware's all in, it'll likely be quite nice. You could always balance it with more black accents.

Keeping my eyes on this!

Ok well I cut out the back and im not really happy with how its going to look. So im just going to make a ll new back panel out of some sheet metal.

Here it is before filed it and smooth it out.

Well I decided I didn't have the tools to make a new back panel so im just going to lay on the piece of sheet metal with the two 80mm fan holes on and bondo themtogeather and smooth it out then a paint it. O think it will be a little more effort but it will be easyier than making a whole new back panel with the tools I have right now. Hm but I think it'll turn out nicely.

I suppose you mean that it will be screwed or riveted together and then smoothed out with bondo.

Quote: Originally Posted by jofultner I suppose you mean that it will be screwed or riveted together and then smoothed out with bondo.

Exactly. Im ordering some fan dampeners and a power supply dampener. Im going to try and have this computer quite as possible without water cooling. Also ordering two green led fans.

Hah! That's what I've been doing the last few years... (although, I'm leaning towards WC more & more... especially with those "non conductive" coolants)....

Anyhow... some "words of advice"... (from and 'old farth..lol..) ;

- like you found out... silicone or rubber "dampeners" be it "frames" or "connectors" really help to eliminate vibrations....
- "stamped out" air intakes/exhausts in the 'chassis gotta GO! They hamper air flow, give turbulence & genererate noise... so.... out with them! If you need "protection" use a "wire grill".... for the intake, you can use special "fan filter holders"... sure... these restrict airflow a little but you get rid of the dust....
- passive videocards are perfect for noise reduction but there are few ones out there which perform "Top Notch".... fitting a Zalman VF900, Thermalright VF1 or Arctic Cooling device will perform better than "stock" coolers & generate less noise...
- As far as the processor goes.... fit a large heatpipe cooler with a slow turning fan... keeps things cool without driving you mad!
- Active mainboard coolers are a no-no....
- Fit a quiet Samsung or Seagate HDD or be prepared to put your faster but noisier hdd in a dampened enclosure...
- Be on the lookout for a quality PSU with a large, slow turning fan.... heck... maybe a semi-passive one... but look CAREFULLY as most PSU's get LOUD when "warmed up"...
- Ok... "Silent Fans" cost more... but ... they usually have better bearings & more cleverly designed fan blades... plus they often start running with as low as 3v...
- ANY fan is practically "silent" at 5v...(if it will 'spin at that voltage..)...
- Fan Controllers Are Your Friend!

'nuff said.. lol...

TDR

Thanks for the tips.
I definally have to get rid of the heatsink I have right now. Way too loud. I can literally hear it from the outside of my house. Im thinking of get the Zalman CNPS95000 and the Zalman VF900 for my Video Card.
Well for my hard drive I was thinking of just putting it in a Dampend enclosure. Becuase I just got a brand new 250gb Maxor. Its not too loud but it could use some silencing. Yeah im making shure to take out all of those stamped inclosures. Thanks for all your advice though.

Ok well I have to get a 3" hole saw to finish the back blow holes for my case. Also im just waiting for my 2 120mm fans and my Vibration dampeners to come in the mail to get started on the front of my case.
Im kinda going slow on this case. Becuase its my first case.

EDIT: ok im putting two 120mm fans in the front. Im gonna have it stright alway ducted. The thing is my PVC duct will interfer with my door so im going to cut out the piece of the door where the pvc duct will be. But im just hoping the door will still close right. Guess i'll just have to hope for the best.

Take your time and do a quality job.Jo

Well I got a new piece of plexiglass for the side window becuase I didn't like the 80mm hole in the side. So im just goingto make a new window and install Green Led's on it so It has that glow effect. Got the 3" hole saw for the back 80mm fans and picked up a bunch of Hex Heads from Ace. Also any suggestions how to cut the plexi glass? I was thinking using the dremel but im not shure what bit to use and how fast.