My first modded PC - What do ya think?

2FastFX

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• Jun 17, 2004

• #1

My first modded PC - What do ya think? 56k Beware

I bought an A-Top X-Blade case, but they didn't have the color I wanted so I decided to paint it myself. Here's the case I got...

And here's the color I decided to paint it...

It was a pain to disassemble because of all the small hardware, and the switches and lights were glued into the front panel. But it's just like a big model. I'm lighting the interior with three Sunbeam UV Laser LED lights and all the cables on the power supply are being wrapped with UV green sleeving and the connectors are all being swapped over to UV green as well. I'm just using air cooling right now with two 120mm fans and two 80mm fans. I also have a Cooler Master Jet fan for the CPU.

Now for the goodies...
Asus A7N8X Deluxe MB
AMD 3200+ Barton CPU
1024mb CMTWINX1024-3200XLPR Corsair extreme low latency memory
ATI Radeon 9800XT video card
WD 250gig IDE Hard Drive
Dell P1110 21" Black CRT Monitor
Plextor PX-712A 12x DVD±R/RW DVD/CD
Lite-On XJ-HD166S DVD ROM
Mitsumi Combo 2-in-1 Memory Reader/Floppy Drive
Logitech diNovo Bluetooth Media Desktop wireless mouse/keyboard combo

Any suggestions/comments?

 

Last edited: Jun 19, 2004

CandymanCan

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Aug 14, 2003

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Woodbridge, Va

• Jun 17, 2004

• #2

Oo i love that one in the pic the blue one with all those speakers and the moniter they all look so sexy...

Orange BTW is my fav color so i love that color you chose. I painted my case red.

 

mtb856

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• Jun 17, 2004

• #3

nice job , so when are we going to get pics of the entire thing?

 

D

daniel_dynasty

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May 12, 2004

• Jun 17, 2004

• #4

hey what method did you use to paint your case? im thinkin bout gettin a white case and painting it purple

 

enduro

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Mar 31, 2004

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Montgomery Alabama Yall

• Jun 17, 2004

• #5

Awesome job man. Great color. I need to paint my case black with blue designs on it to compete with your case. That orange looks cool. Need some pics of the finished product.

 

OP

2FastFX

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• Jun 17, 2004

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• #6

Thanks for the compliments. More pics will be here soon. I have most of the plastic parts painted, but they all still need one or two coats to get them really glossy and have enough coverage to buff and polish. I am cutting a hole in the top for a window and a fan tonight and painting the top and sides as soon as that is done. It will be a few days before I feel comfortable putting the case back together.

daniel_dynasty said:

hey what method did you use to paint your case? im thinkin bout gettin a white case and painting it purple

Click to expand...

Basically I just wet sanded everything with 600 grit and primed it with Plasti-Kote T-235 Gray sandable primer. I gave it two coats wet sanding with 600 grit between. Then I wet sanded everything with 1000 grit and gave it a quick coat of Krylon 2411 Pumpkin Orange Gloss making sure to cover everything. Then I wetsanded with 1200 grit and gave everything a real good coat to the point it almost wanted to drip off the edges. Basically, you have to watch overspray doesn't create dry spots. Keep moving and don't stop 'til the whole thing is shiney and wet, watching not to create swimming pools in recesses and pockets.

 

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Vio1

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Toronto Canada

• Jun 17, 2004

• #7

looks good.. want to see more

 

Aphex_Tom_9

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Brooklyn

• Jun 17, 2004

• #8

great job, nice coloring!

 

Stiffler69

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Jul 16, 2003

• Jun 17, 2004

• #9

where is the rest of the system?

 

DeViL_909

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Mar 27, 2004

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NC

• Jun 17, 2004

• #10

I am surprised no one said it, but WELCOME TO THE FORUMS.. Case is definatly looking good. I painted one of my first cases orange also. Keep us posted on the work and show us some pics of the inside as you go. Good luck.

 

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2FastFX

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• Jun 18, 2004

• Thread Starter
• #11

Thanks for the welcome DeViL_909.

I'll post pics of the parts as I get them done. I am working on them in my spare time at work so it's a slow process. I got the hole cut in the case top for the window tonight and I got the first coat of paint on it. Here's a shot of that...

The only other pieces I have painted are the drive bay covers, the drive bay door, and the I/O door. I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

 

Last edited: Jun 18, 2004

f00t

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Oct 20, 2002

• Jun 18, 2004

• #12

wow. thats a nice choice of color. very clean and polished looking

 

OP

2FastFX

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• Jun 18, 2004

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• #13

Here's the front door, a couple covers, and the I/O door.

With the aluminum cover removed from the door you can see where the wires run for the LEDs that mount in the door. I'm thinking of switching to EL Wire instead of LEDs. Anyone ever used it? Is it very bright?

 

PHILIP1193

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Feb 25, 2004

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• Jun 18, 2004

• #14

how u cut that top out??? and by the way mate how lush is that case. Keep it up you are doing welll and for a first mod you making a nice computer nicer

Phil

 

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2FastFX

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• Jun 18, 2004

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The case itself is wicked. It has a mounting for a slim 80mm fan blowing right on the hard drives. The hard drives mount with screwless fasteners which make them easy to remove. The case features all aluminum construction, full fan openings (no need to cut them out, 120mm openings front and rear, and lots of other cool stuff. I'll post some pics tonight of the stripped down unit.

I cut the hole in the top with a jigsaw and an Aluminum fine tooth blade. I cut the same size opening in a block of wood and made it fit in the bottom of the panel for support before I cut the metal. Otherwise you will probably tear the aluminum from all the vibrations.

 

Mushudo

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May 29, 2004

• Jun 18, 2004

• #16

looks good man

 

Alice

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Ca USA

• Jun 18, 2004

• #17

Awesome! If ever I could afford a real case (the one I'm using now is from an old dell), I would paint it orange.

 

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hanleychan

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Jun 22, 2003

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• Jun 18, 2004

• #18

You did a really nice paint job. I LIKE!

 

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2FastFX

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• Jun 19, 2004

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• #19

More updates. I started work on the top plate which will be over the Lexan window in the top of the case. I plan to cut the text "FX FUSION" into it. The top plate is basically a .125" thick sheet of aluminum with a flange cut around the perimeter to lay down into the opening I cut in the top of the case.

This is the beginning of the project with the plate clamped on a Bridgeport mill. I am milling the flange into the plate that you can see a close-up view of in the next pic.

Here's the close-up of the flange.

The bottom of the plate.

The plate laying in the opening.

 

Remove

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Jun 14, 2003

• Jun 19, 2004

• #20

Very nice job so far. Looking forward to seeing more.