Disclaimer:

Okay, I am not an expert modder. In fact, this is my first endeavor into the trade so I would love to get some help from the community. Which is the whole reason that I made this blog. It is not, in any way, a guide. So with that out of the way, I'll start going into my plan so far.

Quick Overview:

Woodwork:

Going for MDF over plywood was my first major choice as it will affect the budget for the rest of my build. My local builders merchant had a special so I grabbed a 2.5m by 1.5m, 9mm sheet for like £11. Once I have the Drawer bottom cut out and holed, I will test this with all the guts of my PC. To actually fix everything down, I am grabbing a 50 pack of M3 55mm screws and 100M3 nuts. This cost me arround £10 but is alot more that I hope to use.

Screws:

M3 screws will fit motherboard and radiator holes nicely and in my case, they fit my GPU too. This is a bonus because I can now mount my 290xs flat, and lower the height of the drawer. Length wise, 55mm is enough for the; front radiator, fan, filter and grill arrangement. Moreover, longer screws mean I can fix the motherboard and GPUs higher above the base for better cable management.

Graphics Cards:

As for my GPUs I intend to red mod my 290xs with Corsair H60s. I understand that circular coolers are easier to mod but at this time, I can get a refurbished H60 for only £5 more that a H55. 12 black cable ties where enough to mount the cooler well enough to get contact but I don't have any VRM coolers at this time so I could bench the card. Geil do some 290x/290 heat sinks but they are only available from the US, still waiting for them to turn up. Should only be a week now and they come with pads. I have some MX2 Compound for my cards and CPU and I will use small amounts of this for the VRAM sinks.

RAM:

My Avexir RAM is great but has yellow LEDs that will clash the the black and white color scheme. I could sell the and get some better RAM but that would take a while and cost me. So I went for just getting some basic black and while, full cover heat sinks to block the LEDs.

Storage and PSU:

Finally, I have a HDD and an SSD that I need to mount with velcro to the bottom on the drawer. Next to each other, the velcro should provde enough height for the SATA cable to attach. My PSU s the last component I need to fix into the case. More velcro for this, I will mount it with he fan facing down so I can cut out a hole and fix filters to the 120mm fan. I will also cut ventilation holes in the bottom portion of the case to allow air to get the the fan.

Bottom Compartment:

This bottom compartment will also hold all the elongated cables so I can open the drawer fully without having to unplug anything. Cut off from the drawer by a rubber grommet so that no air can escape this way, I will have three 120mm fans at the rear of the case to match the 120mm rad and fan arrays at the front.

Whats next?

The next entry will be on the GPU; modding, testing, overclocking and benching. For much more detailed look at this, check out my other blog £Smokey Attempts: The Red Mod".

Thank you. :)