Project DFI

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Willsonman

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
1,195
OK, so I've been kicking myself for cutting corners when I did my water loop. I'm getting a new MOBO for Christmas(from the wife) and have decided to go with the DFI colors and clean up the case and do things RIGHT and patiently. This shoudl be a good project through the next couple weeks since school is out. OK so on to specifics.

Outside Stuff:

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So, to start off I'll be keeping the black on the case but the silver will be Yellow. The DVD tray will also be yellow. I will flip the rad to conceal the hoses and add a mesh surround that will also be yellow. I've hated the front buttons and power and drive LEDs so those are going bye bye. There will be a flared port there for the 80mm fan that cools the HDs. BONDO!!! Debating whether or not to ditch the audio/USB connector at the bottom but prolly will. The Power and reset buttons will be relocated to a 3.5" bay cover with LED push buttons. The buttons will have Yellow LEDs. The Power button will have the power LED while the Reset button will have the HD activity LED. Also the Power cord for the second PSU in the front has GOT to go so some electronic work there. I want to keep the power switch but will prolly paint it black or yellow any thoughts on this one? PSU grille will be black as well as the screws.

Interior Stuff:

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This shot shows the detail I really kick myself about. I did not bother to finish off the edges where I had to cut the case to fit the second PSU. That WILL be done.

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This shows the Horrible Chaos of a deranged mind with 2 PSUs!! Cable management in conjunction with cleaner hose routing will be the main goal inside. Paint the interior black and the floor of the case as well as the removable sides will have a sheet of yellow neoprene foam.

Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated. I want this to be done right so help me out if you feel the urge.
 
wire up that plug on the second psu from the back side and tap it into either your other psu or make a new jack, you can leave the plug in there and just solder on the back side of it (note the exposed pins where the cord would go will be live, so on second thought, you may want to remove the jack. other than that, just take your time on those wires. you've addressed everything else.
 
I was planning on just removing the jack and making a cover.

UPDATE:
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Optical Drive...Done!

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Front panel ready for bondo in the morning. Still need to file down that little bit above the tube where the buttons were.
 
I like how you ran the tubing through the top of the case like that, with the radiator facing up.
 
Borgschulze said:
I like how you ran the tubing through the top of the case like that, with the radiator facing up.
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Really? that was one thing that kind of bothers me. In the mod I'll be flipping the rad and concealing the tubing. Big day today with Bondo. I'll post updates this evening.
 
OK, so bondo day done, though I am not through with bondo. Still need to do some work on the top of the case to cover up some holes. So,

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Here is the flared vent for the fan with other stuff patched over.

Went through and did a bunch of small electrical things. Since the new mobo has 8-pin 12v connector I got a converter BUT.... I'll use the 4-pin 12V from each PSU. Cleaned out old green neoprene and just tidy up in general to get really organized.

Had a thought....
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Yeah, better get an idea for a fan guard so little fingers are not removed or injured.
 
Heh, Cute!

If your going to finger proof the case i see the radiator fans getting some TLC as well. =-)

Looking good.
 
yes, As staded in the first post I'll add a wire mesh there to conceal the tubing for the rad and it will be yellow as well.
 
OK, so I got done with the port today and did a MAJOR hack job on my second PSU. COmpletely removed the MOBO cables and made a cable for a GPU. Put the old 4-pin 12v lines to the new 8-pin plug.

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And I managed to get the primer done. Made sure each layer was perfectly dry.

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May have some time tonight to put on some yellow. Also got a new fan today for the front that is quieter.
 
Finished the front panel. New buttons for power and reset come tomorrow.
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So I am currently working on the side panels. Had this ugly textured paint so sanded down and painted and drying. Removed the plug from the second PSU and going to relocate it. Painted the fan grill black as well. Have a final at school tomorrow but its my last one. Look for more updates frequently. :)

Just another pic...
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I think it would look pretty cool with yellow or orange dye for the water.

And that's a nice piece of bondo work on the front fan.
 
Hrm... I think thats a great idea! I'll try to play around with some food coloring. Just have the only thing that is orange be the water. I like it.
 
OK, so, more work done. Cleaned up the holes in the case and reinstalled the rad. Installed the goods...

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This one was just for kicks when I took off the lid to my opty.
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OK, finished the sides of the case.
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Just need to finish the grille around the rad and fix the stoopid Power button, I goofed on my wiring.Oh, I also need to change out that green neoprene on the CPU block. Red? Black? out of yellow neoprene but can pick up more if there is an opinion.

khanable: That is the only place I could fit another PSU. I had 2 so rather than spend a fortune on a third one that overpowered them both I just added. 1100 watts of computing power. The water color is not as vivid as I would like but I think that is due to the color not being UV reactive. Just coloring. Nothing too fancy. anyways, thanks for the compliment.
 
After looking at the images some more Ive come to the conclusion that the 2nd powersupply does look really sweet there. Gives your rig this kind of heafty look.. like it's jam packed with all kinds of nifty goodies.

On the side panel, the top yellow square.. is that or a vent? Looks like cpu pins! Really cool.


Good work man!
 
yeah, that used to be a vent, not quite sure why I'vew not covered that with bondo. I guess mostly I just like to tell people my case only cost $35 :cool:
 
Great bondo and paint work on the front panel there. And I love the idea of the front mounted PSU. I have done a few concept drawings since I first saw this and will definitely be using this idea. Keep up the good work man.
 
Nice job, this looks great :D Only thing that I don't like is that u didnt cut out the fan grills :-P
 
The only thing about the PSU in the front is that is was ever so slightly wider than a drive bay. That is why I had to cut the case a little. You can see where I removed the sides to make it fit. You may have to do the same but I think it may depend on the PSU and the case you are putting it into. Thanks for the compliment.
 
OK, I'm not sure if I am finished but here is what is done so far.
Fixed the Power button LED and added a toggle and momentary push button for resetting the CMOS without opening the case and using a jumper. It also helps prevent my kid from resetting it while it is on or off. I am not sure about the grille but here it is as well.

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Let me know what you think.
 
I think if you replaced the blue fans in the front PSU and painted the fan grill yellow, it would completely set it off. Those are the only 2 things that stand out to me.
 
sowingseason said:
dfi cfx3200-dr ftw! looks good bro keep it commin!
Click to expand...
What more is there to do? I'm not entirely happy with the rad shroud because of teh bends. I really do not know what meterial to use here that is easily accessible. any suggestions on this? Possibly a fan change for orange LED color. The fan on the coolermaster PSU is a little loud to my liking so I may splurge for another. Not a lot else to do really. Any suggestion?
 
pretty unique how you have the psu in the 5.25 area. never seen that before.

your kid looks happy. that's nice.

where did you get those brass joints?
 
Home depot. Like 2.50 a piece. Lowes has them as well. She is a happy little girl, though not today because she is sick.
 
holy crap that's what i call a 90degree elbow nightmare, are you aware that you are loosing a lot of cooling power because of those elbows, to me it looks damn restricting.
why so meny? i counted 13.
got to ask what are your temps with that loop?
everything else looks nice and tidy, but the elbow's good god :eek:
 
Yes I know the elbows impede flow a lot. I have actually removed the cooler to the NB and GPU because I am planning on a crossfire setup and I'll have to change things eventually. The mounts for the chipset are too tall to allow a card to be in the 1st slot. So that is why that went. I may just ditch that altogether because of the elbows and also because the ati chip just plain does not get that hot. 39C right now. So.. to answer your question... with just a waterblock on the CPU and NO pelt I am idleing at 23 and load at 29 at 2.7 Ghz at the moment. Need to tweak like crazy to get this thing over 300 FSB. I went with the elbows in the first place because I hated how stoopidly cluttered the guts looked. Its a small case to begin with and it just looked trashy . So I just thought the D5 would handle it. As I recall at stock speed before I removed the other blocks idle temp was 25 and load was 32. Not bad.
 
OK, so in the process of making my OC on this new rig I encountered some noise that I thought I might find. The NB fan. I took off the waterblock because it restricted me from putting a card in the first PCI-E slot so now that I also think my OC is limiting because of some heat issues I dove in to try and solve 2 issues here. I will be honest here... I have never worked with metal before. I am a great carpenter but metal is a bit more difficult for me... Be kind :D
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I'll let the paint dry more before I mount it but I thought I would post pics now since my rig will be in pieces AGAIN tonight.
 
Nice work. I have a suggestion for the water color...not sure if this would hurt anything. Try taking an orange highlighter and taking the "ink thing" out and squeezing the "ink" into the water. This should give it the vibrant DFI orange and make it UV reactive. Not sure if it would work with water cooling, but I used to have a gargoyle fountain and I colored the water with highlighter ink to make it UV reactive.
 
Willsonman said:
would that stain the acrylic in my res?
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Not sure, the only material I have ever used it with was black rubber. Hopefully someone else has tried this and can confirm....if not maybe you could take a spare piece of acrylic and soak it in the solution to test?
 
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