Laucha

Around 20/30 hs, but again, that's with a partial OCD Actually, there's a partial solution to the RGB theme by NZXT, with the HUE controller. It would be better to make an universal controller software that takes all RGB devices and unite them under the same light pattern, right? Whatever, thanks for your replies, guys. Hope to see you around!

So, this is my very first post, and not even in my native language... so please be kind What is this about? As you may guess, it's an illumination modification from the standard Razer's acid-green to a IR controlled RGB led stripe, on the NZXT H440 case. (Actually, it looks better than the photo... damn cellphone's cameras) How difficult is this mod for me to perform? Well, OCD aside, it's quite simple. That, of course, depending on how much time and effort you wanna put onto it. How much does it cost? Around US$ 30/40 (assuming you already have all the tools) What do I need to perform it? 12V RGB LED Stripe (duh), 2 or 3 m IR LED controller Precision wire cutter Knife or Cutter Phillip screwdriver (N°1 will do) Soldering iron Tin (I recommend a 0.8 mm diameter) Thermal-shrink tubes (for about 2mm, 5mm and 10mm final contraction) 5m of 22 or 24 AWG wire (an ethernet patchcord CAT 5e or 6 will do) Zip ties, electrical tape, wire ties (optional). Glue gun (optional) OK, lets get started... BEFORE ANYTHING Think! Visualize what you want, then draw it on a piece of paper, a nap, or whatever you have in order to calculate wire longitudes, paths and final layout. Even better, surf the web for ideas, past experiences from other users, and tips and recommendations. When you're on unexplored waters, you definitely want to have a compass... or a great amount of faith Also, make sure your workplace is wide and tidy, I can't tell you how much annoying is to lose a precision alignment or a critical soldering because you just don't want to stack away something that blocks your angle or visual. (yep, it doesn't matter how ugly you draw it, as long as you make a clear work route) Remember that the wires lengths should keep a fair amount of gain (this is: a + 10/20% of length of your base calculation) for those places where the original "diagonal-direct path" have several centimeters less that the "go neat and tidy by this path, and then over here, here and here...". If you have no trouble in cable's supply, let the maximum calculated length be the limit... and even, add a 20% more of length just in case (yep, better more than less). Of course, the stock lights need to be put aside. For the bottom ones, they are fixed by a couple of screws that holds the enclosure. Not a challenge... The side and front logo? Keep reading! And so, it begins Ok, so according to your mental blueprint, you should measure each stripe and cut it by the dotted line, followed by stripping the insulation (in case you have a water-proof stripe). A great explanation for it, as a guide in general, is provided by M-L on this post, and this images. (Always measure the length of each stripe to be LESS than the housing where you're going to use it. Remember that any cut made beyond the soldering copper, will leave the RGB LEDs inoperative) Remember that each stripe should be daisy-chained in a linear fashion, that eventually ends in a 4 pin connector that hooks up onto the RGB controller. In my case, I used the 3 pin fan hub to concentrate all the "circuits" of light, and then on the 4th pin (the +12V one), twisted all together and insulate it properly. Make sure you use the same colors in the order established by the LED stripe, or some circuits will light up different colors than expected. (Order is fundamental, take notes of every "convention" you use and stick to it, no matter what you read or what someone tells you) Also, take your time to insulate the connections properly, don't forget that this is an electric connection directly powered by your PSU (more of this later), you DON'T want a short circuit of any kind. You can accomplish this by using thermal shrink tubes of different sizes (according to the weight of your wire), electrical tape, or even a glue gun. Proper insulation is fundamental, this is an ELECTRICAL MOD (And YES, a heat gun would have been a better choice...) The PSU Shroud The first major mod will have place on Razer's logo, both on the side within the PSU shroud, and the front main logo. Regarding the side panel, the whole side panel is held by several metal "tongues", which you must straighten so the plate gets free. Once outside, four screws hold the inner case where the green light is housed. (The side panel comes out with little effort... not so the green layer of paint) Once there, comes the most hateful of all parts: removing the green layer of paint that covers the acrylic panel from the logo. (SPOILER ALERT: it won't look good) (I wish someone had told me "Dude, just DON'T") At first I tried with a pointed tweezers, but then I found that a small torx screwdriver fitted better. You may find useful whatever tool you have, as long as the job is done. Keep in mind that an inner bevel help you a little bit by letting the tool "travel" along the groove. I have no idea if a dremel drill tool with a small point could make this less hateful, but if you have one to try and come back with your expertise, BE MY GUEST. (It keeps getting worse) Anyway, no matter what I used, it was an awful experience. The type of material was a kind of synthetic paint that, even with care and patience, it peeled off and cracked it beyond the logo lines... man, I hated myself, at NZXT, and even Min-Liang Tan. You may think that the same goal could be achieved by using some kind of black tape, or even a plastic cover... but no, green-vomit paint will be. The partial solution when the cracks spread out too much, is to paint it back with a black sharpie the borders above the bevel and the inner snake pattern. Hopefully, this will make a little less horrible the final product. In any case, the final outcome will be camouflaged by the light, making this a little more hopeful... unless you get to look at it at 1 feet away (Same kind of Death was encountered at front logo) The next step will be attaching the light strips so most part of the logo gets covered. All this, aligned the most centered you can, in order to avoid light diffusion problems or unexpected shadows. Keep in mind the screw holes, and the subtle elevation that the cover has on that side of the plastic (inevitable if you want that the lights be at center respect to the logo). I even had to peel off the inner sides of the screws holes so the lights fits in properly. (Daisy-chain in a way that the cables don't make too much bump) Find the most suitable path for the cables to get out of the enclosure, in a way that they don't cause congestion and generate problems when closing the cover. Help you out by using some tape that sticks the stripes and cables to the desired position. Zip ties here won't help, since the inner space of the enclosure won't let you use them... (also, they won't help you on fix the movement. Maybe a glue gun?) The Front Logo Now, regarding the front logo: obviously it's on the front panel, and the enclosure is behind the acoustical absorption foam. This foam, of course, it's glued to the panel. Not that it's impossible to remove, but it does get difficult when the glue tears apart with the foam included. (Go easy on the foam, use your fingers by lifting it enough so the cutter goes smoothly) Make your way until the front logo panel it's at hand. Then, use the same technique used on side logo by keeping in mind the small increment on size (you'll need 5 stripes instead of 3 for full cover). (Once again, daisy-chain several stripes to cover almost every corner of the logo) When you get the stripes presented and glued/fixed/taped/whatever on position, go backwards and re-glue the foam. (Make sure you cover nicely the surface of the foam) The final step with this cover will be to glue a stripe along the mesh. I separated a couple of cm from the edge so that the light can get inside the case (at that height, the fan's stand won't cast a shadow from the lights) (Choose the side where the cables will go down so that matches with your hub location... or at least, the most shorter path) REMEMBER: the front and top panel needs additional cable length in order to give you the ability to move them and rearrange the front/top fans if needed. Except if you use a 4 pin connector between the case and the panel, you'll need approx. 20/30 cm of "loose" cable. (when closed, this cable length goes inside without zip ties). 20160119_175242000_iOS.MOV The logo won't be perfect, but at distance it's acceptable. Top Panel Just as the front panel, glue a stripe along the mesh a couple of cm of the edge, and leave enough cable for later management. (Nope, no picture of top panel... but take a look at my gorgeous cat!) Under Motherboard First step is obvious: take note of the size of your motherboard and cut the stripes accordingly. In my case, an ATX form factor takes about 2 by 4 stripes and 1 by 5. Take a look again of where are you going to connect the cables, and daisy-chain the stripes respecting that layout. The inner frame from the standoff screws gives you the path for the stripes. In this case, I found that for an inner glow that stands out without pumping out too much bright, I should follow the standoffs for the mobo, following the inner frame. At that instance, the light will come out as decoration and not so much as illumination. 20160125_174627000_iOS.MOV More or less, the MOBO light effect. Backplate light You'll need to remove the leds stands that are on the backplate, so that you can stick a single stripe onto it. The only precaution here will be that the width of that plate makes it very difficult to manage the cables to go smoothly and won't let you work comfortably. Once again, take note of the insulation of the tips of the stripes! Check the image above, I even had to cut one side of the stripe contacts so that fits in the plate. This won't affect the RBG leds since the cut it's at the end of the copper contact, and wont' brake any circuits paths. For the cable management, you may find that the narrow opening between the plate's folds won't be enough, but with patience and fitting one cable at a time, you'll make them bend over it. The On/Off light switch Originally, this case has a global on/off switch for ALL the lights on the case, but since the RGB controller can be turned off by the remote, I thought in using the switch for a A/B light configuration. The light switch has two modes for operation, not just an "on/off" capability. Again, since you have previously invested an amount of time to think the lights and circuits of lights on the case (recall the BEFORE ANYTHING part of this post), at this point you should have an A circuit and a B circuit. What I've done is give at the A circuit an "always on" state (no matter the switch position, as long as the RGB controller it's ON, the lights will be ON), and give at the B circuit a "conditional state" that depends on the switch (the lights will only turn ON if both the RGB controller and the switch are ON). What this allows me to do, is that if I feel like I don't want too much bright from the lights or just WHATEVER, I can simply switch it off and be happy In order to do this, you'll need a tester to figure out which pins close, which ones open, and where are the common ones. For this model, the pinout for the switch is as follows: The switch allows you to command two states and two circuits. So 2 combinations can be made by the "on/off" capability. In my configuration, I only use one side of the switch (and only the "on" state). So when I turn it ON, all the lights pop up, but OFF will leave the logos and under MOBO circuit. In other words, the "common" pin goes to the +12V on the led strip and the "on" pin goes to the +12V from the PSU. Final lap! You've come a long way down, and now it's time to put all the pieces together. If you done this in a orderly fashion, all the cable management will be neat and tidy, and all the led cables will be concentrated on the "fan hub", leaving the 4th pin (the +12V) all around the hub. The next step will be to "grab" the +12V rail from a molex connector. Remember this pinout to identify it (no worries if you fail and connect it on the +5V like I did... it just won't light up and you then will realize it ). When done, you'll be finally over with all the soldering, zipping, taping and blah and, cable more or less, end up with something like this: Final outcome (opposite to window-side) Nope, nothing to describe here... just showing off (Window-side) Only thing to take note here is the IR receiver from the RGB controller. Since the length of the cable is quite short, you'll need to secure this little box to the bottom panel, and use the hole for the bottom lights to slide in the receiver. Since the receiver it's quite directional, you'll need to slide it out just enough for it to be seen at sight. Chroma, completed! Congratulations! Now you have a custom made RGB controlled case! You can also buy an RGB controlled keyboard and mouse to complete the scheme, and even RGB light bulbs, and since you are onto rainbows, AN UNICORN! But, whatever the choice you made, now you can set your lighting scheme according to your mood! Enjoy, and remember: maybe one day this will be an official product and sold by hundreds of dollars more! Now, some photos of the case! Yeah!!! Purple theme Orange (again: damn cellphone cameras) And even the Razer's Acid Green And full bright power from white combination. 20160212_005256000_iOS.MOV Video Show!