Project CheckMate by E.E.L. Ambiense

Time has come again for a new project log! I'm retiring my prior LAN rig, "Building Better Worlds", and putting it out to pasture. Hardware is getting a bit long in the tooth, but mostly I'm just bored with it.

I've decided I'm going to go to liquid in this LAN rig. I have an abundance of liquid cooling gear laying around that I hadn't even touched yet, so I figured I'd use it up before it rusts away into nothing. The chassis I decided on for this project is the Lian Li A05. I chose this particular case for a few reasons; there's a plethora of room inside due to the design and orientation of the tray, and it was bloody cheap at the time that I nabbed it.

Oh, I should also state right now that the case has nothing to do with Chess, in case you're wondering about the name. It's just a name that I was using when I was thinking stuff up a while back, and it just seemed to stick for some reason.

This project really began, at least pre-planning, color-scheme, ideas, designing, etc. about 6 months ago (Nov. '08, I believe?) when I was hard at work on a commissioned build that used this very same chassis, and really enjoyed working with it at the time. It's getting the typical treatment of full powder coating, etc. But here's the funny thing; since I've been AFK for a couple months or so dealing with IRL stuff as well as other issues and have finally gotten around to getting back on the forums and actually starting this build, I've come to realize there's quite a few new projects over at B-T that utilize the same exact bloody color-scheme! :hehe: So, I guess I'm going to get the usual, "ah, another white & black theme, huh?" etc. comments. Oh well. :sigh: What can I do, right?

In all seriousness, let's get right to it, shall we? Here's a mock-up of how things will look when finished...



Here's some of the gear going in the rig...



The system, at this time, will consist of:

Mobo: Asus P5Q-E P45
CPU: C2D e6750 CPU
GPU: XFX 8800GTS G80
HDD: Western Digital 640gb
OS: ? Probably XP though

Not exactly cutting-edge stuff, I know...but it's a LAN rig; not worried about it! It'll be plenty zippy for what I'm going to use it for. The GPU is my old (admittedly ancient) XFX 8800GTS G80 from an old Noire rig. It's going in the loop because I still have a EK water block for it. I've also replaced the original delrin top for it with a new acrylic top, as well as replacing the o-ring in it after a thorough cleaning that it probably needs. The CPU's block will be my old EK-Wave, but the delrin top has also been replaced with a new acrylic one as well as the o-ring. It's going to be fun cleaning these!

The typical mods will be performed on this chassis. I will be installing a triple rad up top with custom acrylic grills; a custom side panel with fan intakes; and I'll be modifying the chassis itself to enhance airflow because this chassis stock really suffers from awful airflow.

I love these new Gelid fans. Well, they don't seem to be new anymore, but they're nice. I've been playing around with them. Pretty decent airflow for the noise level too. Frames seem kinda chintzy though.



The top rad will get some low-speed Akasa white LED pearl fans.



I just loved how they looked. They may not move much air, but they don't really need to in order for them to do their jobs.



Let's start to strip this thing down for sanding. Augh, sanding... :sigh:



I need to yank literally everything off the case.



Removing the rear fan is a breeze, at least!



And the little rubber silencers too.



Now, I'm only putting one HDD in this rig (that's all it needs), so I'm removing the entire stock HDD rack from the case. You'll see why in the near future!



Let's drill out those rivets, now...



There. Easy! I love working on this chassis.



Originally, I was going to install the HDD into the 3.5" bay, but I decided on a fan controller to go there. This one...



So in order to mount the HDD, I acquired a little Lian Li HDD kit to mount onto the 3.5" bay's mount-holes. Perfect, and cheap too.



The HDD will go in the top-most slot, and the DDC pump with Alphacool top will go in the bottom-most slot with mount-screws for it. Should work great and have just enough room for the hosing to be run without issue. I hope.

A quick test-install of the Lian Li bracket along with a dead HDD I keep around just for this reason; testing!



On to the liquid loop itself, I had an entirely untouched Swiftech MCR-320 sitting in my parts closet, so I figured what the hell.



After a lot of measuring and re-measuring, instead of one of the handful of XSPC RX rads I've really been wanting to use, I decided to use this rad because it's thinner, lighter, and **ahem** cheaper **ahem**, so in the event of screwing up the rad I wouldn't be too upset.

Why would I screw up the rad? Oh, I should probably show you then, right?

After a through cleaning with lacquer thinner and completely masking off the fins with some special high-temp tape...



There we are....



And presto!



Just to make sure I didn't bake the thing so bad that the plenum chambers and all the tubes inside have been ruined, I hooked up a quick little test-loop to check the rad's health out.



After 24 hours of running the loop there wasn't a single leak, so it was a successful experiment!

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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

That rad looks pretty, let's see more!

Oh yeah. Definitely /subbed.

/subbed

subbed

Looking good so far!

looks pretty sweet so far cant wait to see the rest

I absolutely loved the last mod I saw from you (Lumière Noire) and hope that when I'm older I'm doing mod work like you.

Anyways, it looks great so far, can't wait to see more, will definitely be checking this often. Good luck!

guitarslingerchris said:

That rad looks pretty, let's see more!

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Thanks! It's coming.

Fendrix said:

Oh yeah. Definitely /subbed.

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Thanks!

Snobok said:

/subbed

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Thank you!

dystopic said:

subbed

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Thanks!

cnealjr said:

Looking good so far!

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Thank you!

voklskier4452 said:

looks pretty sweet so far cant wait to see the rest

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I appreciate it.

Eccentrix said:

I absolutely loved the last mod I saw from you (Lumière Noire) and hope that when I'm older I'm doing mod work like you.

Anyways, it looks great so far, can't wait to see more, will definitely be checking this often. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliments! I appreciate it.

Alright, the first update to the log. Let's get right to it!

I continued to strip down the case to the essentials to allow future sanding/coating. I drilled out the rivets holding the top panel on the case; two in the front and two in the back. 1/8" drillbit and go slow and easy; it'll take it out in no time!







All done!



As I was looking at the case during stripdown, I noticed the stock 'slots' for the rear mobo tray for access to the CPU's cooler mountpoints seemed kind of...off for some reason. So I decided I'd just cut out the whole area to make sure just in case I want to swap CPUs or blocks or whatever and not have to remove the whole bloody install to get at it.



I'll get to that shortly, but not right now.

Here's a (growing) pile of stock crap removed so far.



I got to thinking... I didn't like the idea of solid PCI slot covers, and didn't want to use the stock 'slotted' ones that now come with the latest version of the A05.



I've decided, in order to keep in the theme of the white mesh, I'll use these instead for the PCI slot covers.



Here's a test-install to see somewhat how they'll look. Nice, I think. They're very flimsy, obviously, but that's okay. It's not like it needs to stop a bullet. Right? :worried:



With a quick little fill-in order placed with Performance-PCs, I obtained some fan mesh inserts.



I also had one 8800 series single-slot PCI bracket left laying around from previous ventures into the modding realm that I never used. This will be used for the the GPU mounted in one slot instead of the annoying dual-slot stock brackets many of these cards come with. I have a mild pet-peeve about those things, lol.

Now to cut some mesh to go in the front panel. I measured it out quickly using a master template I created to size, and took it over to my scroll-saw. Personally, I don't like using a scroll-saw, but it's a necessary evil.



A quick couple of passes, and I have my piece to size.



A quick mark-out and drill-press love for the four holes for mounting behind the front panel.



Here's everything all cut and ready to be coated. Of course, after a thorough bath of lacquer thinner and tack-cloth treatment.



And all coated now.



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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

nice tools

This should turn out nicely.
/subscribed

Watching. White seems to be the new black.

Looks great so far. Love the all detail. Perhaps I'll be brave enough to mod my case... maybe.

Nice work, looking forward to the next round of pics!

Looks good so far, keep it up! /sub as well!

Adidas4275 said:

nice tools

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Thanks!

SC385 said:

This should turn out nicely.
/subscribed

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Appreciate it!

silent-circuit said:

Watching. White seems to be the new black.

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Thanks! Yeah, kind of ironic because I had planned on doing something a bit different. LOL.

Noteleet said:

Looks great so far. Love the all detail. Perhaps I'll be brave enough to mod my case... maybe.

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Thanks!

Ya gotta do it. Have a little faith and relax. Don't rush it!

skyline889 said:

Nice work, looking forward to the next round of pics!

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Thanks!

Mechawyvern said:

Looks good so far, keep it up! /sub as well!

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Thank you!

Should be an update coming soon.

Admit it, you love using power tools, even if it's a scroll saw

Elledan said:

Admit it, you love using power tools, even if it's a scroll saw

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Who doesn't?

E.E.L. Ambiense said:

Who doesn't?

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I still miss my power tools and workshop

*hates on moving to new, lesser places*

Good job painting that rad.....

Elledan said:

I still miss my power tools and workshop

*hates on moving to new, lesser places*

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Sorry! I know the feeling. Forgive me for saying it, but chick modders rawk!

F.E.A.R. said:

Good job painting that rad.....

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Thanks, man!

Update time! *Insert Sarcastic Comment Here*

Alright, right to it. Last we left off, I needed to cut out the backtray area behind the mobo to allow eventual easy access to the backplate for CPU removal and replacement...assuming I'll even need to. But that's beside the point.



I'm marking the areas out that I'm going to remove, and where I'm going to make my cuts...



If I were installing an AM2 setup, the backplate would clear it fine. But I'm not installing an AM2 setup, so I suppose that was pointless.



Since I'm installing a 775 setup, it clears fine as well. So I suppose that does, in fact, make a little sense.



And I begin cutting with my rotary tool. I'm a big fan of the Flex-Shaft for it, since I hate holding the bulky tool itself in my hand.... Alright, you sick gits just keep those foul thoughts to yourselves! I should know; I'm a kindred spirit!

I also tend to use the reinforced cutoff discs, because my close friends will tell you I'm really hard on rotary tools!



Slow and easy, not pressing hard...allowing the tool to do its job. It's always good to be gentle with them, because they can be your friend!



And all done! A big metal M for "MOD"! :eyebrow: Yeah, that was stupid, sorry.



And I begin to clean up the edges by filing with a flat-file carefully, followed by a pass with the sanding drum attachment for the rotary tool.





And completed. I really didn't need to spend that much time and attention on that, because it's being hidden by the mobo, but it's merely for the sake of completion.



Alright, moving on...

I laid out my custom template for all the cuts and holes, etc. going on the top of the chassis.



And to make sure it's clearing all rivets, etc., I checked the frame as well. All good.



The handles I chose are the typical hardware store fare. I've used these before on "Building Better Worlds", but I chose the longer units this time. I would've chosen the really long ones, but they wouldn't clear the rivets on the frame. Err on the side of caution, sometimes.



And the top stencil adhered with double-sided tape to hold it in place as I mark the holes out. Handles to show where they're going.



This is funny. I'm a freak about my measurements. I mean, insane. If they're even a little off, I go ape-. Looks like Lian Li made their machining cuts just a hair off here, lol. And yes, it's aligned on the opposite side though. It may be just this particular chassis. I just found that funny. It's such a small amount, that no one would notice it, short of fruitcakes like me.



Alright, should get around to the cuts soon. I need to go home and unwind from the week!

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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

Good job on the cutting and measuring! Sadly I know what you mean with measurement obsession. Either it's perfect or it's wrong

E.E.L. Ambiense said:

Sorry! I know the feeling. Forgive me for saying it, but chick modders rawk!

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I'll forgive you this once

Sadly I'm all out of tools, materials and money to mod with at the moment Yes, that makes me a sad kitten

Alright, update time. I was able to get a few more things done today. Let's get right to it.

I wanted to drop something in here that's not really log-related, but that some of you may find humor in. See, E.E.L.'s family is full of a bunch of deviant, disgusting and hilarious people, with an equally twisted sense of humor. This is just one small portion of said humor...

My younger brother had told me that he was sending a belated birthday gift for me, but that it'd take a few weeks to show up in the mail. Well, it showed up yesterday.



And as I opened the envelope, I was accosted with this...



Nothing like a personalized autograph from Judge Judy. Man, we're both certifiable! Apparently, he has one for himself that he framed in an expensive frame and it's hanging on the wall at home. LOL.

*Note: This post is in no way affiliated with CBS Broadcasting Inc. or it's parent company, Viacom. All rights reserved.

Anyways, on to the update proper.

Last we left off, I needed to mark out and drill the top holes for the rad's fans. Let's get to that. First off, I switched my custom stencil to the underside of the top panel so allow easy fit on my drillpress. I marked off the holes needed to be drilled in it with an exacto knife. Anything would probably work, but I'm an artist with artist's tools, and that happens to be exacto knives.



After I removed the stencil I was left with marks in the aluminum which is sufficient for me to be able to drill out. Everyone has their own methods.



Before going to press with the top, I flipped around and taped off all the aluminum. Sometimes I skip this step since I've done it a hundred times at this point, but it's a good idea to do so, so you're not running the risk of the drill and/or hole saw jumping up and skittering across your new panel ruining the finish. If you're painting it's not as much of a deal, but it's still good practice. I taped this off since that's the side laying down on my drill-press and I don't want to deeply score the aluminum with shavings, etc. It's just a good habit to develop.



One-Two-Three-Four! I like drilling holes in aluminum more! :hehe:



After I hit it three times with the hole saw, I removed it and cleaned off the majority of shavings from the work. I prefer drilling the fans' mount holes with a regular drill, but again it's personal preference.

After I drilled out the four holes for the two handles, I did a test install. There we are!



Now I have a convenient way to get the top panel up off my bench for easier drilling!

Drilled holes for one fan, and quick test-install of a crap fan laying around...



And again for the next one...



And of course for the third one...



And flipping the panel around, we find this...



All done! Now I just need to clean up the edges of the cuts with a sanding drum attachment for the rotary tool.

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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

Nice! How'd you put together that custom template?

I can't really see what measurement is off, unless that hole is supposed to line up with that circle.

Monkeypillow said:

Nice! How'd you put together that custom template?

I can't really see what measurement is off, unless that hole is supposed to line up with that circle.

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Thanks! Graphic designer by trade, so I've always used my strengths. The edge of the little compartment is supposed to be at the edge of that line on the template; it's not. Lian Li... No biggie.

Where did you buy the mesh for the front panel?

My project's going to be using the same type of mesh, but I haven't been able to find anywhere to buy it yet.

AVT said:

Where did you buy the mesh for the front panel?

My project's going to be using the same type of mesh, but I haven't been able to find anywhere to buy it yet.

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AC Ryan's 'Meshxpanel'. Personally, it's crap. Too restrictive, but this project called for this type of mesh. I'd go to MNPCTech and snag some of Bill Owen's famed 'modders mesh'; way better quality IMHO and more open to flow.

E.E.L. Ambiense said:

AC Ryan's 'Meshxpanel'. Personally, it's crap. Too restrictive, but this project called for this type of mesh. I'd go to MNPCTech and snag some of Bill Owen's famed 'modders mesh'; way better quality IMHO and more open to flow.

Click to expand...

I'll have to order some then and see if it's good enough for what I need. Thanks!

edit: Looked at it again, and yeah, that IS restrictive - they could've made the holes bigger. MNPCTech's Modders' Mesh has holes far too big for what I need, though. How does the AC Ryan stuff compare to the mesh those Nexus PCI slots were made from?

very nice work bro, im likin it alot, very clean!

the judge judy autograph is hilarious

AVT said:

edit: Looked at it again, and yeah, that IS restrictive - they could've made the holes bigger. MNPCTech's Modders' Mesh has holes far too big for what I need, though. How does the AC Ryan stuff compare to the mesh those Nexus PCI slots were made from?

Click to expand...

The AC Ryan stuff is definitely more rigid in build, due to the thicker material used. The holes are definitely fewer per inch than the Nexus slot covers, but the slot covers are very flimsy.

FrEaKy said:

very nice work bro, im likin it alot, very clean!

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Thanks, man!

dystopic said:

the judge judy autograph is hilarious

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LOL, it is.

Alright, I have another update! Let's jump right in, shall we? Everyone have their swimsuits? Good.

Last we left off, I needed to mark out and drill the four holes going into the chassis frame itself for the top handles. This is great because it creates even more stability and reinforcement for the case overall when it's being carried.

I dropped the top panel onto the chassis and slipped in a pop-rivet into the holes where the panel is fitted to the case, that way I know I'm aligned properly.



After that, I mark off with a simple marker and remove the top panel again.



I drill the holes out and test things again. Eureka. Moving on!



I decided when I was compiling to start this mod, one of the first things I would do is actually mod the chassis itself; namely the fan up front. I do not like the way it's cantered to the right as you at the front of the case. So I decided I'm going to fix that. This way it will align with the eventual custom front exhaust grill the case is getting, as well as looking more tidy to me, not to mention increasing the flow-rate of the hot air coming out of the rig. One thing this chassis suffers from stock is terrible temps!

Here's my custom stencil that corresponds to the front acrylic as well.



With a simple piece of scrap aluminum from a side panel I think (?), I marked out the holes and cuts I'm going to make to the aluminum. Mind you, I'm not totally worried how this is going to look, because the bottom line is it's getting covered by the front panel anyways.



After a quick bit of work with my jigsaw and drilling pilot holes for the jigsaw again, I have this.



Now, after a few mins. of struggling with keeping the thing clamped down, I finish it off. Now comes the fun part....if you enjoy this sort of thing, anyways... Filing the edges straight and clean. I was at it for 1.5 hrs. or so until I was happy with the results.



The holes I drilled along the sides actually correspond to the previously-drilled out rivets that held the stock HDD cage. No sense in drilling more holes if you already have a perfectly good set of them already available!

Wait-- that came out wrong... :worried:

Anyways, here's a quick test-fit to make sure I'm on the right track.





The holes for the fan itself was actually drilled out for the rubber grommets that was in the stock holes on the case. Might as well use them, right? I had to figure out the right hole-size for the grommets, so I simply measured the stock holes, and figured out the approx. size hole I needed to drill.



Since the holes are approx. .3", that means the grommets are probably .4" in outside width. So I simply drilled holes using a 5/16" drillbit. You'd think I'd use a 3/8" bit, since that's .375 in decimal size, but nope. I wanted it snug, so the grommets don't just push through with the fan installed. .3125" works great!

Let's drill out the two holes to the left for the plate mounting really quick...



Now, let's cut out the stock metal to allow a place for the new plate, shall we?

After marking out using my stencil, I began cutting with the rotary tool.



Frequent breaks are good for both you and your rotary tool. Don't want to kill it before its time, right?

And here we are after a bit of cleanup and sanding with a flat-file...



Now, if you look here, I had attempted to keep some small strands of metal connecting across the chassis to try to allow a bit more stability, but there's a small problem; the fan's grommets themselves.



I attempted to sand out little areas for the grommets, but realized I'm running out of room thickness-wise between the chassis and the front panel. Considering a layer of modders mesh is going in front of the fan, I'm going to have to do something else. Granted, I chose to use a 20mm "thin" Yate Loon up front to try to gain back some space, but still not enough.

So I decided to mount the new panel on the inside of the case. This way I gain back a few millimeters of space to account for any mishaps, etc.

I went ahead and finished the work on the plate itself, including drilling the hole for the power switch to run through, as well as additional filing.



And after some sanding, I have this...



I'm not totally worried about finishing everything silky smooth. I'm going to media-blast the chassis before I coat it, so sanding is irrelevant at this point. LOL.

And a test install of the plate showed additional problems...



Now I can't use my grommets because of the very same lips I decided to leave on the chassis, even after I attempted to clear the area. Oh well. Let's get rid of them. That should fix the problem!



There we go. I was just paranoid. It's plenty strong.

And after final riveting...



Now, because I was using the previous rivet holes for some of these, I decided to drill out the other two. Why not, right? More structural integrity!



And now let's slip in those grommets...



Perfect fit! Yes... Now let's install the Yate really quick and see where we are.



Great. Seems fine! Now let's slap the front panel on and see how things look...



Seems to clear fine! Let's have a look down the back side here...



Yay! Everything's fine. I could've saved myself the trouble and just ditched the grommets, but I wanted to use them, dammit!

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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

Just a quick lil' update here since I had a moment to waste...

I've been pretty busy with other commitments, so I'm not back-burnering or neglecting the build or anything; just need some sufficient time to afford to it, is all.

Anyways, on to the lil' update!

I finally received my killer casters I'd decided on using for the build that I ordered *cough* two months ago *cough*, and here they are. A nice little pile of them! And they're definitely not a pile of either. A little on the expensive side though.







I think they're gorgeous and fit the theme just fine. A little excessive maybe, but then again, has E.E.L. ever really done anything toned-down? Oh, geez...did I just refer to myself in the 3rd-person again?

Here's a, uhhh, small bundle of white sleeving here...



Let's take care of the Gelid fans...



There we are! ...And the Akasas as well...



I'll have some more to show soon, but this slacker needs to get back to work! :worried:

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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

Sexy looking mod so far. You keep referring to "coating" the parts. Are you dipping them somehow? What method of painting are you using?

Shadowspawn said:

Sexy looking mod so far. You keep referring to "coating" the parts. Are you dipping them somehow? What method of painting are you using?

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Thanks!

"Coating" as in powder coating.

I detect a slight 'black/white' theme

Elledan said:

I detect a slight 'black/white' theme

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Just a bit....

Well, here we are again. Another update. I'm going to take this opportunity to state that I will be doing this particular log update with a James Mason voice.

Let's get to it shall we?

These Gelid fans look nice, but let's make them fit in a bit more with the theme than they already are...

Let's peel off the stock center-cap stickers, here.



And a nice little swipe with some rubbing alcohol will get rid of the rest of the gooey sticky crap.



And presto....we have an official CheckMate case-fan!



I'm not sure you've noticed yet, but the white is actually a psuedo-carbon fiber white instead of plain white. Just wanted to 'jazz' things up a bit, is all.



Let's do something similar to the top rad fans...





I think I'm leaving these plain, since you really won't see the tops hardly at all through the radgrill and mesh. Trust me. With the light from the fans themselves running up through the openings will make the area glow a bit more, and any black in the area will probably retract from that.



I cut a custom rad gasket out of sound-deadening material like I always do to make the fans seal a bit more to the rads, cutting down on possible pressure leak as well as rattling operating noise. Doesn't have to be perfect, but enough to do the job right.



And applied to the top of the rad...



I needed to tap the fanholes with a 6-32 tap to make sure the threads are right and clear of debris.



I laid out the fans on the spots they're going to be installed at...



People have different methods for fan mounting on rads. I tend to use 3/8" length 6-32 socket-cap screws for open-cornered fans. It's just easy and I know the screws won't go into the rad's fins when I crank them down on the fan. Plus it's easy to stick the Allen wrench through the top of the fan to get at the socket-cap screw itself.

After a couple mins, the fans are all installed.



And a small test...



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Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb: