Sleeper PC - Red Flake Interior

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 5:58 PM

CURRENT PHOTOS:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

OP:

So I wanted to start a new rig, solely for LANs.
I searched through the web for a case, I wanted something that would stand out from the sea of HAFs at the local LANs that I attend, but couldn't find anything that really stood out.

So I had this crazy idea of building up a pretty good PC, but have it all in a beige case, like a sleeper. Not only that, but have the exterior completely stock standard, beige, but the interior completely kitted out. Custom paint, lights, cable management etc.

And so it began.

The donor case. Looking pretty sad...

What a mess... They didn't plan this case for what I'm about to do tio it.

Gutted, ready for cleaning.

Cleaned and masked, ready for paint.

Undercoat down.

Undercoated the hard drive bay.

First coat of the red I'll be using. It's bright, but it's not an orange. I love it.

Nice glossy finish on the red in the case. Not done yet though..

On the left is the red I use. We use this brand at work to paint brake calipers. It's good stuff. On the right is the flake I'll be adding.

Flake applied.

Close up of the flake indoors.

Unmasked - looking pretty good with the contrast of the grey exterior.

Not perfect, but hey. Who cares? It's better than it was!

You can see the flake a little better here.

Hair dryer to help, well, dry the paint.

It's a pretty wide case for what it is, which is good.

Photos really don't show the flake out as much as it shows up in person.

Time to start swapping!

Motherboard in.

Mostly done, no cable management though.

Test run.

The guts.

The ultimate sleeper.

Dry outside, wet inside.

Paint came up nicely.

If I were to do it all again, I'd choose a blue flake. I'd also use soe sort of clear coat, the paint scratches extremely easily and looks tacky quickly.

Did a quick tidy up of the cables, and chucked a V8 badge on the Coolermaster Hyper 101 in anticipation of replacing it with the coolermaster V8.

V8 power!

Bit of cable management + pretty lights.

You can see the flake a little better with the camera flash. Still nothing like what it is in person.

New cooler going in:

Sorry6 · 18th July 2012, 7:23 PM

Looks nice, i like it. Gives me ideas on my H1 build
Good work

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 7:28 PM

Thanks, I've always had flashy cases, I wanted to finally try a sleeper, but still have an essence of spectacularity on the inside.
Only took a couple of hours to do, most of it was waiting for paint to dry.
It gets a few comments and looks at LANs, I just need to upgrade the internals so it's up there with most other gaming PC's.

proffesso · 18th July 2012, 7:48 PM

looks good, reminds me of the Windy pc cases

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 7:50 PM

I didn't even know they existed.
Wouldn't mind one for a sleeper actually, I really miss the front USB 3.0 ports.

JonathanB · 18th July 2012, 8:06 PM

I reckon what you should do there is move the cd drive to the top, get two 5.25" to 3.25" converters and put the hard drives in the optical bays. The hard drive bay could be a spot where you toss cables

There's fans at the bottom but no vents :S
Cut out some fan holes and cover it with a mesh grill (http://www.mnpctech.com/120mm_Custom_FanGrill.html), no one would see the bottom of the case i guess so it won't affect it so bad unless the light would leak out which i didn't think of but you dont want quality components stuffed by overheating.

Uhm, whats with the cutout at the back top of the case? is there spacing between that and the side panel?

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 8:09 PM

At the moment most cables are smooshed above the optical drive.

Hard drives are full of bad sectors and will be replaced soon.

Yeah, the fans aren't even supported at the moment.
I will be doing a lot of drilling and cutting soon, and I'll be getting a nice big fan for the front, as well cutting some room for an exhaust fan at the rear.

That or go liquid cooling.

JonathanB · 18th July 2012, 8:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master__09

That or go liquid cooling.

Liquid cooling still needs air cooling i guess

3th4n · 18th July 2012, 8:23 PM

Liquid cooling would look awesome but would hardly be worth it if you cant do both the cpu and graphics card.

Floor mounted 360 rad would be awesome. Cut some of the front of the case to allow for the barbs end and mount the pump and res internally (some 120mm brackets to mount stuff on the rad would look good) for ultimate stealth

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 8:31 PM

To be honest, I'll probably just cut holes in the front, bottom (for the 3 fans) and rear for the exhaust fan, and chuck one of these on the CPU.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=13996

Always thought that those were bigger though, I want to try and get the tallest cooler powwible, and set it up with a hole in the side of the case, the way that cars have holes cut in the bonnet for the air filter to draw in cold air.

Would keep with the retro stylings of the case.

Could even use one of these, but I'm not sure if it would be tall enough to stick out of.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=7980

EDIT:
Did some measuring and it would need to be close to 200mm tall to stick out.

JonathanB · 18th July 2012, 8:36 PM

It would look odd haha.

EDIT:
You could solely get airflow from the bottom, but i suggest getting case feet to rise the case up a bit, this would give the fans more area to intake air.
Rotate the CPU heatsink so it intakes the air from the bottom and blows up and cut an exhaust fan spot at the top to expel the heat.

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 8:39 PM

Odd is what I like

Would turn heads, that's for sure

But now my quest has begun to find the tallest available CPU cooler.
Can't seem to find any that are 200mm tall...

Draxx · 18th July 2012, 8:47 PM

Interesting mod for an Aopen KF-45 case

Built many a PC in that case about 10 years ago...

Master__09 · 18th July 2012, 8:48 PM

This was my first ever PC case

Good old days of COD2...

Mr Blue · 19th July 2012, 3:06 AM

Ahh, the KF45A great old case, the revised edition had awesome cooling potential... twin 60mm fans in the rear, lol.

Good job on the interior paint job, should make for a nice sleeper.

18th July 2012, 5:58 PM	#1
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	Sleeper PC - Red Flake Interior CURRENT PHOTOS: BEFORE: AFTER: OP: So I wanted to start a new rig, solely for LANs. I searched through the web for a case, I wanted something that would stand out from the sea of HAFs at the local LANs that I attend, but couldn't find anything that really stood out. So I had this crazy idea of building up a pretty good PC, but have it all in a beige case, like a sleeper. Not only that, but have the exterior completely stock standard, beige, but the interior completely kitted out. Custom paint, lights, cable management etc. And so it began. The donor case. Looking pretty sad... What a mess... They didn't plan this case for what I'm about to do tio it. Gutted, ready for cleaning. Cleaned and masked, ready for paint. Undercoat down. Undercoated the hard drive bay. First coat of the red I'll be using. It's bright, but it's not an orange. I love it. Nice glossy finish on the red in the case. Not done yet though.. On the left is the red I use. We use this brand at work to paint brake calipers. It's good stuff. On the right is the flake I'll be adding. Flake applied. Close up of the flake indoors. Unmasked - looking pretty good with the contrast of the grey exterior. Not perfect, but hey. Who cares? It's better than it was! You can see the flake a little better here. Hair dryer to help, well, dry the paint. It's a pretty wide case for what it is, which is good. Photos really don't show the flake out as much as it shows up in person. Time to start swapping! Motherboard in. Mostly done, no cable management though. Test run. The guts. The ultimate sleeper. Dry outside, wet inside. Paint came up nicely. If I were to do it all again, I'd choose a blue flake. I'd also use soe sort of clear coat, the paint scratches extremely easily and looks tacky quickly. Did a quick tidy up of the cables, and chucked a V8 badge on the Coolermaster Hyper 101 in anticipation of replacing it with the coolermaster V8. V8 power! Bit of cable management + pretty lights. You can see the flake a little better with the camera flash. Still nothing like what it is in person. New cooler going in: Last edited by Master__09; 15th October 2012 at 5:44 PM.

18th July 2012, 7:23 PM	#2
Sorry6 Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 100	Looks nice, i like it. Gives me ideas on my H1 build Good work __________________ Current Build= XSPC H1 , RX360 x 2 , RX240 x2 , EK Full MB Block, EK Dominator HF Block, EK Supremacy Block, VGA HF Bridge Edt Block x 3, EK Triple Parallel Link, EK Spin Res x 2, EK 13mm Compression Fittings x 16, EK 90degree Fittings x 6, EK 45degree fittings x 6, 120gb Corsair Force 3 x 4, i7 960 , Rampage 3 Extreme, 24gb Dominator GT 2000mhz, Enermax 1250w, and a partridge in a pear tree.........

18th July 2012, 7:28 PM	#3
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	Thanks, I've always had flashy cases, I wanted to finally try a sleeper, but still have an essence of spectacularity on the inside. Only took a couple of hours to do, most of it was waiting for paint to dry. It gets a few comments and looks at LANs, I just need to upgrade the internals so it's up there with most other gaming PC's. __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.."

18th July 2012, 7:48 PM	#4
proffesso Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Watsonia, Melbourne Posts: 8,620	looks good, reminds me of the Windy pc cases __________________ If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.

18th July 2012, 7:50 PM	#5
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	I didn't even know they existed. Wouldn't mind one for a sleeper actually, I really miss the front USB 3.0 ports. __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.."

18th July 2012, 8:06 PM	#6
JonathanB Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 27	I reckon what you should do there is move the cd drive to the top, get two 5.25" to 3.25" converters and put the hard drives in the optical bays. The hard drive bay could be a spot where you toss cables There's fans at the bottom but no vents :S Cut out some fan holes and cover it with a mesh grill (http://www.mnpctech.com/120mm_Custom_FanGrill.html), no one would see the bottom of the case i guess so it won't affect it so bad unless the light would leak out which i didn't think of but you dont want quality components stuffed by overheating. Uhm, whats with the cutout at the back top of the case? is there spacing between that and the side panel? Last edited by JonathanB; 18th July 2012 at 8:08 PM.

18th July 2012, 8:09 PM	#7
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	At the moment most cables are smooshed above the optical drive. Hard drives are full of bad sectors and will be replaced soon. Yeah, the fans aren't even supported at the moment. I will be doing a lot of drilling and cutting soon, and I'll be getting a nice big fan for the front, as well cutting some room for an exhaust fan at the rear. That or go liquid cooling. __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.."

18th July 2012, 8:23 PM	#9
3th4n Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 265	Liquid cooling would look awesome but would hardly be worth it if you cant do both the cpu and graphics card. Floor mounted 360 rad would be awesome. Cut some of the front of the case to allow for the barbs end and mount the pump and res internally (some 120mm brackets to mount stuff on the rad would look good) for ultimate stealth __________________ My Rig - Core i7 930 @ 3.6GHz - Watercooled - ASRock x58 Extreme - 6GB Corsair XMS3 @ 1600MHz - ASUS GTX570 - 120GB SSD - 3TB Storage

18th July 2012, 8:31 PM	#10
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	To be honest, I'll probably just cut holes in the front, bottom (for the 3 fans) and rear for the exhaust fan, and chuck one of these on the CPU. http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=13996 Always thought that those were bigger though, I want to try and get the tallest cooler powwible, and set it up with a hole in the side of the case, the way that cars have holes cut in the bonnet for the air filter to draw in cold air. Would keep with the retro stylings of the case. Could even use one of these, but I'm not sure if it would be tall enough to stick out of. http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=7980 EDIT: Did some measuring and it would need to be close to 200mm tall to stick out. __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.." Last edited by Master__09; 18th July 2012 at 8:36 PM.

18th July 2012, 8:36 PM	#11
JonathanB Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 27	It would look odd haha. EDIT: You could solely get airflow from the bottom, but i suggest getting case feet to rise the case up a bit, this would give the fans more area to intake air. Rotate the CPU heatsink so it intakes the air from the bottom and blows up and cut an exhaust fan spot at the top to expel the heat. Last edited by JonathanB; 18th July 2012 at 8:41 PM.

18th July 2012, 8:39 PM	#12
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	Odd is what I like Would turn heads, that's for sure But now my quest has begun to find the tallest available CPU cooler. Can't seem to find any that are 200mm tall... __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.."

18th July 2012, 8:47 PM	#13
Draxx Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Bendigo Posts: 696	Interesting mod for an Aopen KF-45 case Built many a PC in that case about 10 years ago... __________________ Draxx's ABIT FTP Mirror: PM for access Daily Driver: 2008 FG Falcon XR6 \| 4.0L I6 \| 6SP Auto \| Nitro (FOR SALE) Second Car: 1984 Nissan 300C (Y30 Cedric) \| 3.0L V6 \| Auto \| Metallic Beige (FOR SALE) Wife's Car: 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer CH "Velocity" \| 2.4L 4cyl \| 4SP Auto \| Effect Grey (FOR SALE)

18th July 2012, 8:48 PM	#14
Master__09 Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Adelaide Posts: 68	This was my first ever PC case Good old days of COD2... __________________ "Ghetto" is just a way of saying "yeah, shit, I ran out of money, so excuse the 10 billion cable ties.."

19th July 2012, 3:06 AM	#15
Mr Blue Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Perth WA Posts: 119	Ahh, the KF45A great old case, the revised edition had awesome cooling potential... twin 60mm fans in the rear, lol. Good job on the interior paint job, should make for a nice sleeper.