Say hello to Martha!

[Psmall5]

Hi All,

 

Back Story:

I got given a old mid tower pc by a neighbor. He didnt want it fixed, so he said keep it.

I had just finished re-watching the sleeper series.... So got to thinking, could I fit a fat 360 in there?

 

Hardware for build... 

 

6700k

Z170 GA Gaming 6

Ram (need to buy)

Storage: Sata SSD's and NVME for boot (need to buy nvme)

GPU: Inno3d 1080 8gb 

PSU: HX850

 

Water Cooling Components

EK XE360 Rad

EK Monoblock for z170 mb

XSPC Photon 170 d5 combo (ordered)

XSPC 14mm Hardline Fittings (matte black)

XSPC 14mm PETG

Mayhem's Black Pastel 
 

Case alterations!

 

First thing to go, were the plates covering the bays, nice and easy. 

This gave me the first look of the space available. 

 

Eye balling it, i figured it should fit... should... 

 

Next up, how was i going to mount the rad to the case!

Maybe an acrylic panel? Decided to test the theory... 

At first, i was going to cut it smaller to fit inside the front cover.
First fail of the project!

Where was i going to fit the fans? I knew they would not fit on the back of the rad with what i had planned... 

 

So cut another panel out; marked and drilled the mounting holes.

I did have to mod the front panel's lugs so it would clip on to the case. 

 

I then completed the test fit process.

I tried both a 150mm EK Res and a 250mm Singularity PC res... 

 

At this stage I decided to use the EK res. That would change soon... 

 

I was going for/attempting a sleeper type build. 

 

Time to make the insides a little better!

So i popped the rivets and dismantled the case. 

 

Once it was dismantled I got concerned with how weak the case was.

I got the dremmel out again and cut out the drive mount sections.

I cut to size two acrylic panels which in theory would make the case stronger... 

I secured these with Rivets; and realised the difference straight away!

 

Looking at the pics below, the panels blend nicely and dont stick out too much! Winning!

 

Time for paint! I decided to paint all internal sections a Flat White; took about 4 coats to get it looking ok.

Next up, the rad!

I had an old EK Xe360 from a previous build; its outside had seen better days
So it got the white treatment too!

Time for reassembly; this was my first time riveting a case back together... As it was free, i was less concerned.

 

Took about 15-20 to line it all up and get it square'ish. I didn't realise how many rivets were needed to go back together.

I'm more than happy with how it looks now, almost too good imo.

 

Just have to wait for my acrylic order, along with my xspc fittings etc. 

 

If you have any suggestions, fire away.

This will end up being used as a VR Rig. 

 

Cheers

Peter

 

[Jimkirk363]

Wouldnt it have been easier to simply buy a new case?

[myselfolli]

4 minutes ago, jimkirk363 said:

Wouldnt it have been easier to simply buy a new case?

Well yes, but it's also easier to buy a prebuilt PC. But that's not why we do it.

 

I really love the project, it looks sick. Tactical dot deployed

[Psmall5]

3 minutes ago, jimkirk363 said:

Wouldnt it have been easier to simply buy a new case?

1000% but thats the easy way!
I wanted something to have fun with. I've recently finished my dual loop tower 900 build; which was blinged out etc.

This was my attempt at a Sleeper build with mostly spare parts, saving them gathering dust..

[19_blackie_73]

8 minutes ago, jimkirk363 said:

Wouldnt it have been easier to simply buy a new case?

that's not always the question, sometimes the process of doing something particular and creating your own thing is much more appealing

[Psmall5]

4 minutes ago, myselfolli said:

Well yes, but it's also easier to buy a prebuilt PC. But that's not why we do it.

 

I really love the project, it looks sick. Tactical dot deployed

Cheers,
 

I didn't know what to expect when I started it, and as it's costing next to nothing i'm enjoying the process even more!

You're absolutely right, it's not so much about the end result; its the about the fun you have along the way!

i'm hoping my orders arrive soon, so i can get it finished over the xmas period... here's hoping!

[Jurrunio]

Who expected this shit box to be a strong gaming rig  It's even missing a piece from the front as if it was a salvaged case.

[LaserLion]

This is going to be an epic sleeper, I can tell.

[Don Iron]

Damn that's a hell of a case!

[Psmall5]

19 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Who expected this shit box to be a strong gaming rig  It's even missing a piece from the front as if it was a salvaged case.

It definitely suited the prehistoric Anthlon setup it had inside... from a time where 'ketchup and mustard' was deemed acceptable.

 

Prior to been given the case, i went as far as looking on the side of the road. not sure if that's sad or pure genius haha

[Psmall5]

16 hours ago, LaserLion said:

This is going to be an epic sleeper, I can tell.

Here's hoping!! 
 

[GrogStache]

*Gritty Batfleck voice*

"Wait, my mother's name is Martha. Guess I don't have to kill your PC now. We're friends now."

 

But seriously, this looks like something I'd do. Nice project!

[Psmall5]

Update!

I've managed to find some time over xmas and nye to work on 'Martha'

Finally have all the parts to complete the build, except one!! Australia Post somehow lost my 1080 
Luckily it was insured, so i've placed a order for a replacement... 
 

Changes made since last OP;

1: Created PSU shroud
2: Created acrylic panel for base of case

3: Rad brackets for res combo

4: Sleeved Pump Cables

5: Front Panel Cover

6: Rad Mount Plate

7: Test fit.... this is where it got interesting

 

PSU Shroud: 

This was created by bending 3mm acrylic, once bent I marked the PSU fan location and cut the hole.

I had some modders mesh from a previous project, so cut to size and sprayed it white. 
 

   


   
 

I will be putting the build name on the shroud, i'm waiting for the stickers to be created 

 

Base Plate:

 

Once again 3mm acrylic. I used cardboard to create a stencil and then transposed it to the acrylic.

I had a piece that was the exact width by luck, which mean I only had to allow for notch of the drive bay.

 

 

Radiator Brackets: 

 

I'm not going to lie, this took a few attempts. I originally wanted to use 3mm aluminium or 1.6mm galvabond as i had some spare.

After a day of grinding, cutting, filling and many hours later I had enough!! I dont like to give up, however I wasn't happy with any of the brackets.

I trialled thicker ones, thinner ones, easier designs but still nothing was standing out to me.
 

 

 

This was not counting, the many attempts at drilling the holes required. I don't have a drill press at present; so with a normal cordless drill this was painful!

 

The next day i had a 'eureka' moment! I had some pieces of thick white acrylic in my spares draw!

So I imported a tech drawing of the EK rad into Photoshop and designed the templates.

This let me allow for the distance of the mounting holes for the XSPC res.

 

I then pasted the templates onto the acrylic, and soon there after holes were drilled to exact spec and the brackets were made!

If you're wondering why not just use the XSPC brackets which came the photon res......

Well, the bracket isn't designed to fit neatly across the rad mounts, and is only a single side mount. Basically I didn't like it! 

 

This is how the brackets ended up looking once mounted

 

Pump Cables Sleeved:

 

The cables were not sleeved from the factory, so I wanted to neaten them up. The pump also came wired with Sata power. 

Unfortunately the Sata connector was sealed up with what looked like no way of popping it open. Due to this; I re-wired it using a Molex header. 

 

I broke my 'no work when tired' rule and wired it using a female molex connector.... 

 

I also wasn't happy with the para-cord i used to sleeve it, so off went the sleeving and incorrect connector. 

 

I re-sleeved it using 3mm braided sleeving and am happy with the results. 
 

 

Front Panel Cover:

 

I used cardboard once more to get a rough shape of the insert. This had to be mm perfect as it was going to be a press fit into the original front cover.

I will be using glue/ epoxy to seal it once the builds up to assembly
 

 

 

Rad Plate:

 

I opted for a thicker 5mm sheet for the plate. I have pre-drilled all the holes for the front cover.

This includes the holes where it will be riveted to the case body

 

I decided to cut 105-110 mm holes for the fans; as true 120mm holes was cutting it to fine, as i was using a cordless drill.
 

     
 

I ordered some 1 1/2 and 2 inch 6-32 screws from a fasteners shop. I wasn't sure of the exact length i'd need so got both...

I got 50 in total, giving me plenty of spares all for under 20 AUD bargain! 

 

The 1 1/2 inch aren't quite long enough, so I'm going to cut the 2" to required length, for now they can stick out.

 

Test Fit:

 

As you can see, this is a very tight and packed build. Even without the MB and PSU in; you can tell it's going to be tight!
 

   


  
Excuse the tape.... needed something to keep it in place 

 

At present I'm using a fat 60mm rad. If i reduce this to a 30 or even 40mm rad; it will give me the extra room to tuck the res back, and perhaps using a 30mm rad even fit the fans behind the mounting plate. Not sure what exactly i'm going to do.. 

 

I'm not worried about room for the 14mm hard-line, as it's going to be a simple loop. 

 

If you have any ideas, please let me know! 

 

Now I just need to wait for my 1080 to arrive, once I have it I can order the WB for it. Trying to decide between EK and Heatkiller.

The Heatkiller blocks look amazing but shipped to AUS it's over 200  

Thanks for looking! Any feedback, questions; feel free to comment.