[Build Log] Woodland Raven - Case Mod Project [WIP]

[MEC-777]

OK, figured out how to make the tool-less dust filter. Basically will be a thin wood frame with the foam sheet cut-to-size and sandwiched between the filter frame and the bottom of the steel chassis. Will use some magnets to hold it in-place. To remove it, I'll just lift up one of the side panels and pull it out. The foam sheet can then just be popped out of the frame and cleaned off.

 

Ordered the foam material from modDIY this afternoon.

 

Will be picking up some wood/MDF material and grab as much of the hardware fasteners as I can from Home Depot this week to get started. Also, decided to go with a hidden hinge for the top panel instead of the bulky spring-loaded hinges shown in the drawing. Clean and discreet is the look I'm going for. To hold the top panel open, I'll source some low-pressure gas struts.

 

The hinges for the top panel (12mm brass barrel):

 

 

[KrMaH]

Really looking forward to see where this one is going!
Love DIY and heavy modification builds, and love the clean aesthetics of wood even more! 

[MEC-777]

Picked up some MDF yesterday. Home Depot didn't have the fasteners I need, but that can all be order through McMaster Carr anyways.

 

Also picked up this neat piece of kit. It's an adjustable lid support mechanism that will hold the top lid open at various angles and is also a soft-close device, so the lid won't slam down.

 

 

 

[MEC-777]

Finalizing the details and dimensions. Also, this is a glimpse into what I do at work, but with architectural building drawings.

 

Feeling pretty confident about this layout and I think it's going to work out well. The most difficult part is yet to come, where I'll have to be as accurate as possible in drilling all the holes and making sure all the cuts are done properly and everything lines up nicely. If it doesn't, my OCD won't let me rest until it does. lol. 

 

Also, it looks like I might be able to fit a 92mm fan between the graphics card and PSU for additional exhaust. While there is decent ventilation in that area, I didn't want it to become a somewhat stagnant zone. Pretty sure it will fit though. The more flow, the merrier.

 

[TVwazhere]

7 minutes ago, MEC-777 said:

Also, it looks like I might be able to fit a 92mm fan between the graphics card and PSU for additional exhaust. While there is decent ventilation in that area, I didn't want it to become a somewhat stagnant zone. Pretty sure it will fit though. The more flow, the merrier.

Spoiler

 

I almost opened my mouth to point out the 92mm fan would fight the "top" gpu fan, but that was assuming (make's an ASS out of U and ME) the GPU was open air..... Good thing I double checked and saw it was a reference card LOL 

[MEC-777]

25 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

I almost opened my mouth to point out the 92mm fan would fight the "top" gpu fan, but that was assuming (make's an ASS out of U and ME) the GPU was open air..... Good thing I double checked and saw it was a reference card LOL 

Even if it's an open air cooled GPU, it won't be fighting the fans on the GPU. There will be a hefty column of air flowing up from below, and that will be further energized by the extra fan exhausting at the top. So there will be plenty of clean, cool air for all the fans on the GPU to pull from. What I was more concerned about is to help remove the hot air that's exhausted out the top, sides and bottom of an open-air GPU cooler. 

 

Not sure yet, but likely will use a reference/blower card (they just look much better, IMO). Will depend on pricing when I go to buy one.

 

Also toying with the idea of running a 3D printed air duct from half of the left-side intake fan and directing that straight into the intake on a blower card. That should help keep the card cooler overall and keep noise down at the same time.

[TVwazhere]

5 minutes ago, MEC-777 said:

Also toying with the idea of running a 3D printed air duct-

Say no more! Do it!

[MEC-777]

Here's the bottom side of the chassis. I'll have to drill out the 4 rivets at each corner and widen the holes for the feet to be mounted. Trying to use as many existing holes as possible.

 

Also working on simplifying the design for the removable filter on the intake.

 

 

[MEC-777]

Alright, did some test fitting this evening. I knew it would be tight to fit a 92mm fan between the PSU and GPU, and well, it is... too tight.

 

However... 2x 80mm fans fit perfectly.   

 

 

 

 

[MEC-777]

I love modDIY.com. They have so much cool stuff for case & PC modding, and their prices are extremely reasonable too.

 

They have this air duct that I might use for a blower card to help guide more air into it.

 

[MEC-777]

Did some quick testing last night with the AP181 fans. I can confirm, they operate exactly as they show in the video below. Not sure what speed I had them running at, but they were almost silent and I could feel a substantial flow of air exhausting out the top of the chassis with no other fans running. Very impressed!

 

 

[MEC-777]

Hmmmm...

 

Spoiler

 

[MEC-777]

Soooo, I just discovered something and glad I didn't toss the front panel away. On the AP181 fans, there's an extra 3-pin connector, which I assumed was for daisy-chaining other fans to them. After looking on Silverston's website, I realised those connectors are for the 2 fan speed controllers mounted in the back of the RV05's front panel. So, I promptly removed those, hooked them up and yeah, the fans only run on "low" by default with no controller...

 

WOW do they move a TON of air!!!! They do start to make some noise on high, but medium is still pretty quiet. Definitely won't need a fan on the CPU cooler. Might not even need any exhaust fans... O___O

 

Will post up a short video showing them in action later on.

 

 

 

[MEC-777]

Filter material came in. Has a nice balance between filtration and breathability.

 

 

[Meganter]

Thicc (sponsored by XFX) !  

[MEC-777]

The AP181 fans in action.

 

 

[TVwazhere]

29 minutes ago, MEC-777 said:

The AP181 fans in action.

I'm starting to think you dont need the dual 80mm fans

[MEC-777]

1 hour ago, TVwazhere said:

I'm starting to think you dont need the dual 80mm fans

Indeed. I've decided not to use them. Even while running, I think they'd be more of an obstruction than an enhancement. The 120mm exhaust fan, I will keep, but it will probably rarely ever need to run. lol.

[MEC-777]

My PC room was in quite a state of disarray and there was barely any space to work. Was making me twitchy, so before going any further, had to tidy everything up. All good now.

 

 

 

[MEC-777]

H A R D W A R E

 

 

Some of what I need. Was able to scoop these up from Brafasco, just across the street from where I work. The longer cap screws I need are coming in later this week and a few other things they don't carry, so I'll have to order from McMaster Carr.

[MEC-777]

Marking up the first piece to be cut. 

 

[MEC-777]

Lost count of how many times I've changed and flip-flopped on the final specs now. Found a few ways to save a good chunk of cash and not really lose out on anything in terms of quality and performance.

 

The following are final component choices:

 

Ryzen 5 3600 - This is just a beast of a chip at $250 CAD and 6 cores/12 threads is more than plenty for my usage. Debated going with a 2700/X for around the $200 range from ebay, but I'd rather have the stronger IPC and higher clocks of the 3600 for gaming.

 

Deepcool Neptwin V2 - 6 heat pipes, dual-tower cooler, easily capable of cooling the 3600 passively (with the breeze from the AP181's) and is priced in the $40-50 range. Considered a few options from Noctua and BeQuiet! but the Neptwin will perform just as well, looks awesome (to me), and is less than half the cost. No-brainer.

 

Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite - Saving about $50, I'd rather go with a solid B450 board that can handle a 3900X (down the road), instead of an entry-level X570 board. Just makes more sense to me. (change of plans)

 

Asus Prime X570-P ATX - Best value X570 I could find and costs only a little more than the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max and B450 Aorus Elite I was considering. Decided it's a better option for future upgrades.

 

Deepcool DQ-M 650w - High-quality, independent-reg'd, fully modular, 80+gold and well-priced. Also looks fantastic. These are fairly new though and supplies are slim so could be tricky finding one. I'm a big fan of Deepcool though. They make really solid products without massive pricing and I want to support them if I can.

 

Still TBD:

GPU - Likely one of my RX 570's at first, then upgrade to a reference RX5700 later.

RAM - Capacity will be 16GB and 3600MHz, but brand will vary depending on pricing at time of purchase.

Storage - Will be 2x 1TB NVMe SSD's. 1 for the initial build and then I'll add the 2nd later on to keep initial costs down. Brand, again, may vary, but likely the Crucial P1.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by MEC-777
Updates

[MEC-777]

One of the things I've been trying to figure out is where to get custom-sized glass panels from, if I do decide to include windows on the final build.

 

Last night we were at a local Michael's store (a popular arts & crafts store here in Canada), and the answer was staring me right in the face. Just buy a couple picture frames with dimensions as close as I can find to what I need, and remove the glass from the frame. Yes, the glass will be thinner and likely not tempered, but that doesn't really matter. It's a super-cheap solution that will work just fine.

[MEC-777]

Looking into some wood species, trying to decide which to go with for the final build. My wife sold a cedar-lined chest she recently re-finished a while back. The look and smell of aromatic cedar is SOOO nice. I think that might just be the wood to go with. 

 

 

[MEC-777]

Been working on refining the design to give it more "style" vs just a wooden "box" with a few rounded edges. Going for a more modern, yet functional look that will help with the breathe-ability. Hoping to get some time this weekend to cut the mock-up pieces, just haven't had time yet. 

 

Anyways, here's the "new look".