Just ordered new acrylic case

Just remember everything, and I mean everything is going to be visible.

Good luck with the build, would look at going with a "breating effect" with cold cathode lights, and google ways to keep it clean without scratching the case as acrylic scratches easily.


Lastly wiring would be key here so invest in some decent wiring tidies for the case

They are a joy to work on aren't they.

That kind of defeats the object of the exercise.

It's an Abit IN9 32X-MAX Wi-Fi circa 2006/7 but the mobo it replaced, an Abit AN8 32X circa 2005/6 also had them.

Also, is it bad that when I first opened it up, I yelled "Where's my gloves, dammit!!"

No, it's worrying that "and felt mat?" was not included.

So I got it all put together! It took like 5 hours (because I'm WAY too OCD about all the wires being everywhere). I started around 9PM (I was waiting for a friend to get off work to see if he wanted to help, but turns out he couldn't make it), and finished at 1:53AM, which resulted in a stream of obscenities, as I had to be here at work at 7:45, so I had to be up at 6:30.

All in all, it wasn't difficult, just time consuming to make sure I was using the right screws (as there was around 16 different kinds to choose from) and got the panels on straight.

I took a bunch of pics during the build, however, only had my camera on my phone, the LG Dare. It's better than most all other cameras on phones, but it still doesn't hold a candle to a normal camera. Stupid sister and her not wanting to come over!



My kitten, Clyde, on her never ending quest to find a new source of cheezburgers.



Found the dammit gloves!



Here is where I realized that I couldn't use the top as the bottom to make room for two large 120mm fans, as the slots to hold the drive bays upright were keyed in only one way.



She really doesn't give up.



And at this point, even trying to distract her doesn't keep her away for more than a minute.





After I've ripped out the guts of the old case. Goodbye, Chakra, you were a good case, but nowhere near clear enough.



The rest of the parts. Note the two graphics cards, mousemonkey. And yes, that's two laptop hard drives. I use them for backup of game images and software and stuff.



Check out the shine on that butterfly!



This is when the time consumption really began: hiding as much of the cabling as possible!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y [...] 090102.jpg

All closed up.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y [...] 90102a.jpg

A close up for you, mousemonkey.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y [...] 090120.jpg

And voila! All done!! Now to reroute the cabling on my desk so I can keep it on my left now, instead of my right.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y [...] 090714.jpg

Evelyn 3.5, in all her glory!


Now I just have to cut the hole in the top for the 120mm fan and get a front panel for USB / Audio and everything will be peachy!

Thanks for staying with me, everybody! I look forward to your feedback.

Edit: Those last few images are just showing up as links for me, even though I have the [img] code in there. Oh well.

I wish that I had a normal camera so the pictures didn't turn out blurry, I tried to get some from when she was tasting the case. She gnawed on it for a good 5 minutes before I even caught on to what she was doing. Didn't scratch it or anything though. It must have REALLY tasted like a cheezburger.

They were only 10 LED strips, but I couldn't find those. Also it worked pretty well, the point was to eliminate shadows in the case so that one could see it clearly even in sunlight, his computer desk was in front of a large window.

Love your case and love the Cat, she is very cute.

i was game to help but sammi was not a fan of me goin that late

Typical. What are we gonna do with our girls?


Well, the only things I want to do with it now are drill some holes in the acrylic (with mattidallama's help, as I've never actually used one before) for some bigger fans, then get fan grills for each one, and buy a front panel USB/FPaudio/Firewire/SD card reader, and I'll be peachy.

What would you guys here think about me changing out the two side fans and cutting holes for 120mm fans instead of 80mm, in addition to making another hole on the top front for another exhaust?

After having both graphics cards in there last night, the 4870 was absurdly hot (like 78C idle), but immediately taking out the 8800, it dropped to 45C idle.

Then, upon stressing my CPU, it hit 100C and shut down. O.O However, like in the other case, I put a 120mm fan blowing on it towards the exhaust fan and it dropped to 45C idle and 68C load. I think that maybe if I had a 120 in that slot instead of the 80, then I could take out the 120 that's just sitting in there. But, then again, it would be pretty much blowing on the top fin, and not blowing air through all of the fins.

Anyone have any ideas?

Wow, I never would have thought of that! Make such a negative pressure inside so that it has to flow back in from somewhere.

Also, were you always a moderator? I just noticed that this morning, and it's been bugging me all day that I could have missed it for this long!

Ok, makes sense now! How'd you land the gig?

Nice. I know you deserve it, you're always very knowledgeable and helpful.

Thanks . Never heard that one before, but I'll be damned if it doesn't make sense!