TheCamba

I've finished cable work in the basement.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Not a lot has happened with this build due to time and money, but i have setup and reinstalled with Windows 98 and done some Basic tests.
 
I have changed the Hard drive in it so i could preserve the original ME install plus the hard drive that was in it is old and noisy.
Also added a Gigabit PCI Ethernet card for ease of file transfer over the network.
 
Tear down\Clean + Upgrades will start in the summer.

Whaahha
Okay why not go with liquid nitrogen cooling while your at it?
Keeps it at a nice sub zero temperature.

Blocks on cards
 

 

 

 

 
 
Also M3x40mm button head black screw arrived. I've encountered problems with sourcing such screws in my country, so I had to order them internationally.
 

 

The Mac Book life

Next thing to do is give the clear vent panels some matching white tops.   Back over for some more Jig sawing.....              Some temp d'sided tape and time for some router profiling fun!                 A quick fit check ,  gaps are ok at this stage.         Next is to ruff cut and router profile a frame to attach the vents to.                     The Vents are each laid into position marked and drilled for the swing pins.           To keep the holes aligned and straight a simple jig is made for the drilling.           I envy the modders that just draw this all up in a program send it off and have some one else do all this shit for them......   Not!   one at a time bishop one at a time.       All the swing pins are counter sunk  to keep flush         Some time later ....   Ta da !  a real sense of " i can mod!"         To lift the vents a simple cam/servo method will be used.  For now just to see vents will work a qick cam was made.   The lift is too aggressive and will be rounded to a fuller profile in the next revision.....   Also the timing has to be set better, as i want the lift to work 5>4>3>2>1 rather then all lifting @ the same time.\                              

A Disco Scorpion Tail.

It started with a pretty simple design. Some months back.... and had grown into what has ended up being almost a full mod by it's self.




Transfer the design to a piece of clear for a template.





Then transfer that Via router to a 10mm section of solid white






Again 2 more times in clear



Next up! some Exo Armour! (i like making up names)


 



Once all the Exo armour plates are cut and edge routed the back sides are first sprayed White and then sprayed black,
This stops light bleeding through them.....

 


White

 


Black


 


Next is to hollow out the solid white 10mm middle section.... this is to house the led strip and the ........




Next is to put some STING into this Disco Tail.

The Stinger will start out as a solid piece of 10mm white with a simple swing hinge added using 2 bits if frosted clear.





It's a very simple design but for it's purpose simple is best.



 

The Stinger has to be RGB! So some gutting and affixing of RGB happens

 

 


A hole is drilled for the wire's to pass thru into the main tail section



Quick test of that RGB goodness!



Find a donor hing pin!



 

Chuck in a micro server and an old girls bike front brake cable!



Work out the travel




Chuck in an RGB strip and route the wires through the side




 

Glue back the clear frosted side plate and Exo armour plates





Add some volts and a controller and BINGO it's Disco Time again!


 


 


Look's kinda boring now but once the top and sides are completed the theme will meld better!




 

And of course! the mandatory FULL DISCO RGB PIC FLOOD! 


 

 

 

 

 


 

B O X H Y P E

I like the idea of re-using the old case.  Its not modern by any means, but the aggressive styling lends to it to say, "I'm gonna kick some ass!"
 
And it reminds me of good old LAN days.

Nicely Done!  I really like it.

Nicely Done.  I really like the look of it.

Ghetto inventors Rule. 

This is a project that me and my brother have been working on since August. He was in need of a new computer and he wanted something that was unique looking so we decided that we wanted to do a case mod. I had this old HP Compac DX2300 just laying in my room and I had no real plans for it so I asked if he wanted to use the case and he said that he liked the look of it so we decided that we were going to use it. We thought about some ideas and we decided that the
case should have a side panel window, be painted black on the inside and the rear and we hade to figure out a better airflow solution since the case only had a rear 92mm fan mount originally.
 
(We don't have all of the components yet, that is why there are non installed in the case. We are thinking of going with Ryzen since it has good price to performance.)
 



 
I looked at the front of the case and thought that we maybe could mount a 120mm or 140mm fan in the front to solve the airflow problem.
 

 
I took some mesurements and it looked like it would fit, but we needed to cut away the grille and some of the surrounding panel to make space for a new panel that we could attach to the case and then mount a fan to it. So I started by removing the grille with a Dremel and after that I sketched out roughly where we hade to cut to make space for the new panel.
 



 
We used metal shears to cut the panel. Then we made a panel from sheet metal that fit in the front of the case and mounted it with some rivets. we used rivets in stead of screws to make it look more factory.
 



 
I made some mesurements to see what size fan we could fit and it turned out that 120mm was the largest that would fit. So we used a hole saw to make the hole for the fan and drilled 4 screw holes around it that we used to mount the it. I hade some rubber vibration dampers that I got from my 200R case so we put those in the screw holes to get rid of some of the vibrations from the fan. We test mounted a fan to see how it all would fit. It looked good so we got to work on the side panel window.
 



 
We measured and sketched out where the acrylic would fit the best and then we cut the panel with the metal shears. I then put some rubber trim around the edge to make it look a bit nicer and then attached the acrylic with some double sided foam tape.
 


 
It turned out that we hade to modify the front panel connectors becasue they were going to be in the way of the fan otherwise. I cut awas as much of the plastic as I could and then used a hot glue gun to seal and protect the cables. I had cut away the mount for the FPCs when earlier so I just glued them to the front panel. I drilled a hole beside the fan so that the cables could enter the case. 
 



 
Because this is a HP case, it was designed for a specific motherboard and that means that you can not remove the I/O shield. So I used my Dremel to cut it away so that we could fit another one insead. It took it's time but in the end it worked out great. I test fitted an old mobo and a I/O shield (wich was not the correct one but it worked for testing). Those were the major things that had to be done before I could paint the case.
 




 
I masked of the things that I did not want to paint and painted the rest with a black semi gloss spray paint. I am not the best at painting but I think that it it looks decent. The inside was a bit hardes since there is less space and more nooks and cranys that had to be painted. 
 




(Sorry for dark pics)
 
So here we are then, a few months later we have a unique case that nobody else has. Mission acomplished
It was a fun and educative project that I learned alot from
 
Thanks for reading and I would like to hear what you think about it in the comments!
 

Just gonna throw my two cents here
 
-The case needs a paint job
Spray paint should work, but will need a clear coat to make it durable.
 
-needs to be hollowed out (theirs Dell brackets and stuff in there that need to be removed)
Not too hard, just a dremmel and a drill bit for riveted components
 
- Need mounting holes drilled for the mobo, and a sata ssd mount and hard drive mount.
This could be easily done with a drill and some standoffs, assuming the internal mobo tray isn't right up against the side panel
 
-Slight I O port adjustment 
I'd recommend replacing the entire back panel, as its a bATX layout.
 
- A gpu mount
For a sideways full size GPU, like my Node 202 does? This and the one above are probably the hardest thing here.
 
-PSU port adjustment
To fit what PSU? A flexATX or SFF form factor?
 
- Need a window if possible
They make a gasket thats designed to go over the end of sheet metal, find enough of that and you could put a panel of acrylic plastic on the inside of a hole cut in the existing side panel, it'd look like this
 
-need logos removed 
Bondo
 
-rubber feet need to be added
Most stores have furniture feet pad things that should work.

You know that buying a new case will cost over 10x less, right?

Not bad! I enjoy seeing older cards on forums like these, I feel like they're too underrated with everything else that's releasing

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Y37LzM
I am very happy, After a long time of waiting for deals and finding used parts, I am almost done with my building my gaming pc. Well, I am done and can use it as soon as my parts get here. I upgraded from 4gb ram to 8. And from a GTX 460 to a GTX 780. It is pretty much using all 600 watts since the 780 is power supply eater. But I am happy, I can play fallout 4 and Destiny 2 and every game I want. My Goal was a pc that can play games at 720p 60fps. The CPU/MOBO/HARDRIVE and 4gb of the ram where given to me free from a family member that got a free pc from his friend. 
What do you guys think?
I can finally stop paying 60 bucks for PSN.

Cheers Camba tyvm   it wouldn't be the first time that's happened   what'd be nice is if we could for once steel an idea back off them
 
Another small/ish update...... i wanted to get back to work on the front panel and finalise the lighting.... but connecting 5 RGB headers into 2 of these (below) made no sense...
 

 
 
 
And after a pretty long search... there's not much out there that i can just buy... unless it's in a full RGB kit......
 
So  i decided to break out the old etching kit and make up a my own.
 

 
As you can see ive done a bit of this in the past for car head light mods.
 

 
Just one is cut out and  the copper pcb is sanded clean
 

 
The transfer paper is layed on the pcb
 

 
The wifeys old iron is pinched and some heat applied
 

 
 
With the pattern stuck the pcb is dipped into solution then drilled and some headers added.
 

 
As you can see it functions as needed...... but looks unfinished for this mod.
 

 
 

 
So it's off to the router with a small chunk of white plex and with some deft finger work a housing is made.
 

 
Hot glue!
 

 
Some D'sided tape
 

 
 
Taaa daaa  ..... not the sexiest but still better than the crap in the first pic...
 

 
And finally placed in its new home.  i may counter sink it a little for a more pro look.
 

 

 

Cheers  mate tyvm ,   it's old skool hands and tools modding the feedback is very much appreciated  
 
Small update. literally !

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

Rust effect paints
 

Any day i learn some thing new is a good day, and i learnt some thing new today   
 
I got a bit distracted this weekend trying to finish off a build i started yonks ago.
 
Did get some vital shit done yesterday tho!   I wasn't  happy with the FRONT panel... i didn't address power or reset and wanted to add a solution for LED strip replacement.( down the track i would like to go full  IC strips)  
 
 
Anyways... i thought best to show how the original panel was made then onto the new MK2 version.
 
Starts off as a sandwich of plex....  an initial hole x 2 is drilled thru all 4 pcs
 
 

 
 
Next is to start the hole making process.....  x 8.........
 
 

 
 
 
Coasters anyone?
 
 

 
 
Chunky front!!!!!
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
i couldnt resist hookin up some rgb's
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
With the RGB sickness out of the way it was time to cut the LED strip channels. this only needs to be cut in the clear layers.
 

 
 
im still sick!
 

 
 
 
Again i wont show you pics of me soldering ends onto wires ffs.... no one wants to see that shit.
 

 
 
 

 
 
Blockout film applied
 

 
 

 
 
Finally panels glued and clamped
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Edge is routed to 45 degree
 

 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Good morning DDCM fans and followers!
Time for another #DDCMdesk update:
 
We’ll start off this update with the updated renders.  Made to match the cabinet shape a little better and shortened the length to fit in the new room.  We lost the Sketchup file and had to rebuild from scratch so I apologies if things are a little off.







 
 
Next we’ll move onto showing off our legs….. our black IKEA table legs that is.  Black polished metal and adjustable.  Going to work perfectly!
 



 
 
While waiting for some paint to dry on our client’s build, we got some backplates marked out for the desk.  Motherboard, GPU, 2x SSD, PSU bracket
 

 
 
Also we set up a temporary desk as the wife was going to kill me if she had to work on the budget using her Macbook only.  *chuckles*
 

 
 
Finally, we’ll wrap up this update with a picture of our part’s shelf getting full and linking our unboxing from Inwin below.  Thanks for tuning in and having patience as we work through this desk project.
 


 
Unboxing Video of InWin goodness!(PSU and Aurora Fan Kits):
https://youtu.be/U_Z91F2SCAM