Cooler Master Possessed By Silverstone | Cosmos Ii And Tj-11 Hybrid Mod | 10/11/2014 Updated

[jiyang1018]

Original title was:
Unusual Unboxing | Cooler Master Cosmos II Mod | Surprise Alert
I guess I really tricked a lot of people believing this was an unboxing thread, so I decided to change this title so people know this is a case mod build not a traditional unboxing, even when this is not traditional at all.

 

 

Original unboxing pictures from early October.






That's me measuring MB tray and planning this mod.

[jiyang1018]

Cooler Master Possessed by Silverstone | Cosmos II and TJ-11 Hybrid Mod | Metal Work


I will skip my planning phase since I did not take any pictures of my brain activities nor recording what I was talking to myself. Taking a case apart should be very easy for people here, I will jump into the modding details.

I want to thank my dad (he won't be able to see this since he's gone back to China already), and when I use "we", that refers to my dad and me.

All the big pieces are from this scrap material. I have no idea what it was originally for when my friend gave it to me. All I was thinking was: great, I only need to bend 2 sides. It turned out to be a very bad decision later in the build.


Thanks to mnpctech, I downloaded their fan template, printed 3 copies of 2x120 file and taped them together to make this 480 radiator compatible. Fan/radiator screws holes were really hard to make. we don't have a lot of tools here at my friend's garage, so we marked all fans holes, then drill 2 holes on 2 of the opposing quadrant points, then a milling bit, then file all the edges straight. At least as straight as possible. If I had a milling machine, all these screw holes and fans holes may take 10 min, at most, operating by hands. Hydro cut may be a even better solution. But we got to stick with we what we had.


The top piece was the same type construction, use 2 bent edges from the scrap material, and use angle aluminum (1/8in thickness). I/O shield and PCI slot bracket holes drilled as well.


Angle aluminum cut to fit existing structure, it turned out to be more difficult to match than expected.


Original top panel as reference to mark rivet holes. Some turned out to be unusable since we changed so much on top panel.


Don't know why I took this shot, but there you have it.


Motherboard tray roated 90 degree and flipped side. Originally, if you face the case, motherboard try is on right hand side, and all PCI-e slots are horizontal. Now, when you face the case, MB tray is on left hand side, and all PCI-e slots are vertical. I would say it is the same way as FT-02, RV-02 and TJ-11 from Silverstone because window on RV01 and RV03 are on the other side.
Another thing I want to point out is the MB tray is not a square, but very dann close. Originally, it is above the mid plate, now the bottom edge is about 1/8 in or 3mm below the mid plate. My mid plate is at the same position as the original panel, except being thicker.


If you want the MB tray flush to the rear panel, this sacrifice has to be made. All the rest are flush against each other. I might need to drill 2 holes on the edge you see now because when I was building my system later on, I realized MB tray does not feel solid enough since only top were fastened, and only 1 rivet on the bottom edge. Any way, you should see more detailed later in this post.


Flipped the top panel to mark cable routing hole, which turned out to be extremely useful.


If you haven't noticed, this is the drive cage from bottom compartment. My original plan was to mod the existing structure right underneath optical bay, and above mid plate. Flip two walls upside down would work, but that makes all drives upside down. That made us to switch the two walls, then more problems appeared. When I almost give up placing any hard drive above mid plate, I saw the drive cage from bottom compartment, and this is how I mark my drill holes.


Transfer the hole pattern to the bottom of optical drive cage.


4 holes drilled, but at the end when I was assembling, none of them was used. Why? 2 of them were interfering with hot swappable cage, so I made 2 new holes. Installed hot swappable cage, then I realized I did not install front fan. Took it apart, isntalled front 200mm fan, hot swappable cage would not fit; when I transferred the hole pattern I did not leave enough space for the front fan. We had to make 4 new holes to fit hot swappable cage. If I show you this cage now, it has about 12 holes on top and side. LOL

 

[MzCatieB]

i hope this comes out well, from what i can see so far this looks like its gonna be a mental build

[KyonCoraeL]

This build boggles my mind! I can't wait to see it completed.

[alpenwasser]

Oh yes, you have my attention :)

[jiyang1018]

Cooler Master Possessed by Silverstone | Cosmos II and TJ-11 Hybrid Mod | Powder Coating and Hardware

 

 

Received parts from power coating. All piece came back wrapped.

 

I am very happy with the end result.

 

We do not have a very good jigsaw blade for this thick sheet, most cuts were done with grinder cutting disc. Forgot to drill holes before cutting, so the corners are not perfectly smooth.

 

Top panel. I wish we had a press or some sort of tools to make it closer to factory look and strength, but at the end of day, it is still 3mm thick; should be fine.

 

 

The one in the middle is factory top panel. I would say they are the same finished result. Please ignore those hammered dents. They were invisible before powder coating.

 have to say powder coating finish feels just like factory finish, and it should be a lot more durable than painting. Best part is if you have all the equipment, you can do all this in 2 hours from sanding, spraying powder, to baking in oven and cooling off. I just wish I had a junk oven that I can play with. And because I don't have one, all the pieces cost me $60.

Some hardware I plan to use:
Label says everything. Home Depot and Lowe's don't carry black rivets. Can't believe it.

 

This is the most annoying part. When I ordered the black screws from Amazon, the same seller did not have black nuts in stock; I would have to wait about 1 month to get it. I thought I could live with this finish, but I can't. Ordered 10mm, M3-0.5 and black nuts when they both showed on back order. 10mm screws arrived within a week, but still no news of the nuts. I will probably wait for the black nuts to take new pictures.

 

Socket head, 6mm, M3-0.5.

[Tim3Shift3r]

you gonna combine two cases into one?

[MzCatieB]

i hope companies like cooler master, antec and corsair release blue prints of all the cases from now on... makes modding so much more easier 

[jiyang1018]

you gonna combine two cases into one?

TJ11 is so expensive. Cosmos II is not exactly cheap. This is a case mod for Cosmos II inspired by TJ11.

[jiyang1018]

Cooler Master Possessed by Silverstone | Cosmos II and TJ-11 Hybrid Mod | Hardware Overview

 

I have to admit that this part may have come a bit too late.

 

 

Don't whipe your screen, the box cover is dusty.

 

One of the things I fell for, paid for, but never used. Shame

 

Who still have time for this?




 

 

[Snef]

I will foloow this one for sure

[jiyang1018]

I will foloow this one for sure

Thanks for your support.

[greedy09]

cant wait to see how this one turns out! Ill definitely be following... GOOD LUCK!

[jiyang1018]

Cooler Master Possessed by Silverstone | Cosmos II and TJ-11 Hybrid Mod | Assembly, Custom Cables, Silver Plated Wires

 

Harddrive cage took from lower conpartment ant hung right underneath the stock dual hot-swappable bay cage.

 

Custom made silver plated cables for motherboard 24 pin. I just love the looks. I wish Asus could have made the USB 3.0 header right angled, and I wish Cougar could have made some total black vortex fans with black rubber pads. I can remove them tough since I mount them with short screws from the open frame.

 

PSU side short run loop of 2 to 1 cables. So all cables above look great, and there is no soldering needed.

 

A look through PCI-E slot down at Cougar 120mm black Vortex fan, right inbetween EVGA GTX680 and PNY Quadro 4000.

 

With the way I modded this case, the first 2 USB 2.0 ports are partially blocked. This is with top cover off.

 

And with top cover on.

 

PSU 12 pin to PCI-E 8 pin + 6 pin. Because my GTX 680 requires only 1x8pin+1x6pin, I leave the extra 2 pin connector out. I can be easily added when necessary.

 

Motherboard 20+4 pin, I did not have a 24 pin connector, but this one has sliding grooves, which means it does not come off easily.

 

PSU side of 24 pin is 18 pin + 10 pin. This is very common for Seasonic modular design, and in this case, I strongly believe that XFX 1250W is either made by Seasonic or designed Seasonic, because they sue exactly the same modular connectors. Some low wattage earlier models have 16+10 on PSU side for 24 pin. Some PCI-E connectors have 8 pin connector on PSU side, and 2x6+2 between which is short run cables. I hope that is the right way to call it.

 

PSU 8 pin to CPU 8 pin, one connector

 

and the other.

 

End result.

 

Close shot.

 

Close shot at PSU side. All 2-1 cables were done on PSU side with short run method. Right now, SATA and Molex are still factory all black flat cables yet to be custom made. I need to mention that XFX PSU does not come with all black flat cables, they are from a Seasonic unit. Here I like to thank Seasonic because they replace my older version of X650 with 16+10 to 24 pin conector sleeved model with their newest X650 with 18+10 to 24 pin connector and all black flat cables for SATA and Molex. They even sent me an extra bag full of modular cables; a whole extra set. All these at no charge and were done in about a week.

 

 

This project will halt at this stage for a while. I will answer any question, but there isn't much left until I get the funds to do a water cooling loop.

[TommyHItmarkers]

What an awesome build and mod work. Love it!

[jiyang1018]

What to expect

 

Harddrive cage will be removed for sure if I start doing water cooling.

 

Harddrives and SSDs will go into this:

SilverStone CFP52B 5.25-Inch to 3.5-Inch Bay Converter with Hot-Swappable Function (Black)

 

[Calavera]

Awesome build... looking great! 

[jiyang1018]

Awesome build... looking great! 

Thanks, my friend.

[MzCatieB]

O.O this makes me want to rotate the motherboard tray on my build, but i dont think i have the skill for that D:

[jiyang1018]

O.O this makes me want to rotate the motherboard tray on my build, but i dont think i have the skill for that D:

what case are you working on?

[MzCatieB]

what case are you working on?

Cosmos 2, im trying to order one from coolermaster in parts so i can mod it with less issues

[jiyang1018]

Cosmos 2, im trying to order one from coolermaster in parts so i can mod it with less issues

Well, my whole process is here, it's definitely doable. All you need is proper tools, lots of rivets(I used a lot while test fitting), time, a friend or wife that can help, and a little push by yourself.

[MzCatieB]

Well, my whole process is here, it's definitely doable. All you need is proper tools, lots of rivets(I used a lot while test fitting), time, a friend or wife that can help, and a little push by yourself.

it will be fun to atleast try, will see how i feel 1s i get the case though

[MEE]

cant wait to see the finish product, also like the idea of your gf's rig with the Apple case  :)

[jiyang1018]

cant wait to see the finish product, also like the idea of your gf's rig with the Apple case  :)

Water cooling part won't start until I get enough money to do it. And if I do it, I will do it right.