Rapture (a 900D build)

[glup]

Before I even begin, this worklog is not completely exclusive to the Linus forums as it started before I signed up. I still want to share my building experience and maybe get some feedback on the stuff done. (Even though the next steps are already done). 

I was thinking maybe doing an update every day until I catch up, allowing you to see and comment before each one is released. 

 

I'll do as with this one when I catch up with the present, and tell you, so you know when your feedback and comments will be received in a way they can help the imediate result/next step. So for now, I guess feedback on my way of writing the buildlog is nice, and if you want them all right away, or with a week between them, still lots of stuff I want to know

 

And for those wondering why I'm also sharing here, and don't just stick to my other forum, is because the other forum is sealed shut for anyone without an access code you need to get personally from the creator. Basically I can't share the worklog with anyone not on the forums, which includes my friends. (unless I give them my username/password, but I really don't trust them with that info)

 

And now... To the worklog

 

 

So, this is my first Worklog, and my second PC built, and I have no idea how to do this, and as far as I know, I just post regularly updates, and answer questions anyone might have, though I won't limit myself to this if the family don't want me to. Also, pictures, I know worklogs require lots of pictures, and because of that I'll be borrowing the skills of my Girlfriend to help me with pictures for some photos with a really good camera, :rofl: and other photos will be from my potato. 

 

Some background of the build:

The case I'm going to be working on is a Corsair Obsidian 900D, and I'll be sticking to mostly stealth mods, though I will add blue LEDs to the inside, and change some existing LEDs. 

The name "Rapture" comes from the color scheme Black and Blue which I'll be using here. The word Rapture also referst to excitement, joy, feelings of extacy, and similar stuff, which I find fitting for my PC.
....Aaaaaand there's always Rapture from Bioshock  :rolleyes:

I'll be reusing the same components as that's all I can afford to do, though I'll be doing lots of work on the components before putting into computer.

 

I did get a few new things though, like a few fans (about half is mine, we bought in bulk to save money), a new 3TB HDD, some wires, a switch, and other small cheap stuff.

 

I also got myself a new toy to use:

 

 

Anyways, off to the worklog. 

 

So, the first thing I wanted to do was cut out a hole on the inside of the case to add a switch, and what I did was construct a correctly sized square on a piece of paper, then tear out the square, and use this to draw it on place as shown here:

 

And after a while of doing this, the hole is marked out:

 

 

Though, to manage to do this, I had to clean out the bottom:

 

And here's the stuff I took out:

 

All using my trusted Screwdriver: 

 

 

I'll also be sleeving all visible cables in the computer, including the ones from the I/O Panel, so I opened it up to get an overview of how difficult that will be to do:

 

I wanted to change the LEDs in the front of the case (on + H.D.D), but I actually couldn't get them loose. I'll try again once the cutting is done and I get my case back home to my place, where I can work at all times.

 

Sorry for taking pictures with a potato, I'll get some better pictures in later updates, when my Girlfriend can lend me her skills and camera. (She won't allow me to use it myself)

 

 

Was this a decent first post for a worklog? Hopefully I'll get some feedback and have some people follow my work. I think that'll be fun

 

 

And I know you love seeing naked cases, so here's the 900D naked, and I'll leave you with that B)

[Lord Pantaloons]

Wow this already looks so professional compared to my casemod, also all dem fans.....

[SAV1OUR]

all them fans... i think you need about 2 times that just to get good temps
cool build OP

[Ryan Leech]

How much rad space you adding?

[glup]

 

Wow this already looks so professional compared to my casemod, also all dem fans.....

Thanks   
Compared to where I originally posted this, this is pretty average, if not crap.

 

all them fans... i think you need about 2 times that just to get good temps
cool build OP

I have pretty decent temps with "only" those installed

 

How much rad space you adding?

I'm reusing most of my old hardware, so I'm actually stuck with My Corsair H80 for now.. soo... 120mm rad   

I do not plan on watercooling this beast. I simply cannot afford the risks involved, and untill I need to overclock a good amount, There's no practical use to it. 

[Karumu]

wait... you aren't watercooling a 900D? why if you did not have this case already did you not bo and buy a 750D? i have a 750D and it looks empty, can't imagine what a 900D will look like with no w/c

[glup]

wait... you aren't watercooling a 900D? why if you did not have this case already did you not bo and buy a 750D? i have a 750D and it looks empty, can't imagine what a 900D will look like with no w/c

Simple reason really.. Upgradability (I think I just invented that word)

I don't currently plan to install W/C, but I might in the future. 

I also chose the 900D becasue it has much more potential for modding than a 750D or even an 800D. 

You might see that it isn't as empty as you'd think when I get further into the buildlog. 

[CtW]

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

[Haywalker]

Simple reason really.. Upgradability (I think I just invented that word)

I don't currently plan to install W/C, but I might in the future. 

I also chose the 900D becasue it has much more potential for modding than a 750D or even an 800D. 

You might see that it isn't as empty as you'd think when I get further into the buildlog. 

 

i always get asked the same question. why did you get this when you are not planing on doing that.... well what if i told you i plan to do that in the future after my wallet has recovered from bankruptcy..

 

anyway nice build dude. 

[glup]

Still an old update folks, but I promised once a day, and I'll let you know which are new and which are old. 


So, I'm back from London, and I've had one night at a garage, having fun with the case, and my new camera.

 

Basically, this means that I no longer need to post any potato pics at all! 

 

It also means that I got a few pics for you guys, because I know that's why you're here.

 

Lets start a bit with my first two pics using the newly acquired camera. (Actually my first camera that has more functions that a phone/potato)

 

So, I started off by taking a pic of my headset, and because of the strong lights in the background, I pretty much had to make it black/white to keep the focus on the headset.

 

 

 

Ohh, and I got myself a new lens as well!  a 22mm pancake lens, which I'm using most of the time because of its much more compact nature, and because the aperture goes to 2.0 instead of 5.6 as the 18-55mm.

Well, anyways, I took a picture of the "old" lens and it came out pretty decent I'd say 

 

 

 

And while this picture happened later, its on the topic of testing the camera. I figured out how to manually set the ISO and shutter time, along with other things, and tested the picture on my new hat I brought with me from London.

 

 

 

 

Continuing on, I got my package from mdpc-x.com. He even drew me a little something on the package

 

 

He was also nice enough to send me some extra short pieces of sleeve of different colors. I used these to practice sleeving with. Used them on 2 old fans I won't use, and a SATA cable I also won't use.

 

 

1st attempt at sleeving:

Didn't really turn out great, the heatshrink wasn't straigth, and I burnt a hole in the sleeve itself.. so yeeeaaahh..  <_<

 

 

 

 

 

2nd attempt:

Better. The heatshrink was fairly straight, though has a curve. I also smelted the sleeve a bit, but much less than last time.

 

 

 

3rd attempt:

Much Better.   Its pretty straight, though a small curve at the end with the sleeve, and no smelting of the sleeve this time!  

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now off to the actual update

 

 

 

 

I stripped down the 900D to bring to the garage where I could work, brought with me my trusted screwdriver, my new Dremel, and a few other tools, and got ready to work 

 

 

 

 

And here's a picture of me having fun  

 

 

 

 

The hole definitely didn't turn out perfect as I couldn't reach more than 2 sides.

 

 

 

 

I figured out I could actually remove another piece of the case, which made it slightly easier to work with, but still couldn't reach where I needed perfectly. 

 

 

 

 

But I made the switch fit anyways

The Hole actually ended up being a bit larger than it was supposed to, so the button sits fairly loose, but I'll find a way to attach it when I've wired up everything.

 

 

 

 

Also had to be pretty careful with where and how I used the tools, because I was sharing the garage with this beauty

 

 

 

 

I was gonna go and use a compressor to clean out the metal dust, but the one there was broken. We actually did manage to open it up and fix it by changing the fuse, but the end piece we needed to blow air with was gone. I'm going back there once I've made this post today

 

 

 

 

 

And for the picture of myself, there's my lovely Girlfriend, who also got the same camera *.*

That jacket is mine, and she had to wear it because it was cold when she was sitting still. 

 

 

 

 

And for my favorite picture thus far with my new camera, its the visitor we got down in the garage, my friend's dog, Happy! :wub:  I'll leave you with that  

[glup]

Next update for you guys! Still an old one, but now I'm getting somewhere. Enjoy!  B) 

So, Today, I managed to get a few hours of work on my case at home, which is nice.

 

 

So, just gonna start of with a picture of some sleeving I ordered from mdpc.

 

 

 

Then continuing on with today's update. I spent the whole day working on the I/O panel, and wanted to do 2 things. I wanted to change the LED color of the H.D.D. and Power signals, and I wanted to sleeve every cable/wire in there.

 

 

 

I started off with opening up the I/O panel again, as shown here:

 

 

 

 

I finally got the power button out from the panel, though I had to break something to get it out. (It's not supposed to be opened )

It turned out just getting this thing out wasn't enough to get the LEDs out, and I had to also open up a plate, and generally just had a hard time getting the LEDs out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally got the LEDs out

 

 

 

 

Soldered the white LEDs off, and resoldered in some blue ones the same way. (electrics checked to require same voltage/amps)

Then when it was all put back together, I added some hot glue just to insure the wires don't touch. Didn't have any heatshrink this small, so it was the best option.

 

 

 

 

It worked!

 

 

I connected the Power LED to the motherboard of my currently running computer to test it, and had no problems doing so.

 

 

Now, off to the sleeving.. That was a slight bit more time consuming..

 

 

 

 

First cable is sleeved. Not perfect, but it'll do.

 

 

 

 

Had to remove the pins from some of the ends to fit the sleeving and heatshrink over it. 

 

 

 

 

All is now sleeved

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I'll leave you with a picture of the I/O panel back in its place

 

[900d]

looks good.

[MrRavens]

Looking good so far. It's great to see how much you're enjoying yourself haha. I wish I could mod in at least the slightest best. Ghetto modding is all I can really do.

[Almercenary]

Very nice, going to be a cool project! 

[glup]

Looking good so far. It's great to see how much you're enjoying yourself haha. I wish I could mod in at least the slightest best. Ghetto modding is all I can really do.

This is actually my first mod thats non-ghetto. And to be honest.. Ghetto modding is more difficult, this is just a bit more time consuming, and you have to find the items you need instead of going for what you have immediately available. 

aaaaand there's the fact that nothing lasts forever, and selling something made properly, or selling parts of it is much easier when handled properly and not ghetto'd.

[glup]

Another old update, and by the time this came out, my old computer was turned off for good. 

Enjoy!

So, managed to borrow my girlfriend's computer to get images from camera, and she even edited them a bit for me

 

So, I started with the electronics system that goes into the LED lighting, and made a schematic.

 

 

If anyone can find any mayor faults with the schematic, please tell me, I still haven't wired everything. (I've noticed the lack of connections between the resistors already, so any other mistakes)

 

 

Next up, I soldered together the fuse holder and the switch as drawn on the schematic, and placed these in the case, and topped it off with some hot glue.

 

 

 

And for a big milestone, I switched off my old computer for good. 

 

 

 

And here are a few components layed out on my couch. 

 

 

And a good amount of mess on my desk.

 

 

 

Next up is my soundcard, where I planned to just replace the LED as I did with the I/O panel:

 

 

 

 

Yeeaaahh.... that's not gonna happen.....:

 

 

 

So I did the next best thing, and hope it works.

The way it originally worked was that the LEDs shine upon the piece of transparent plastic below, which had a white part (the one now blue), which would again reflect outwards, shining a very bright white color. I'm hoping that changing the color it reflects upon, I can change the color of the reflected light. If it doesn't, I might take the soundcard out when finished only to exterminate the LEDs completely. 

 

 

 

And here's a picture of the opened up soundcard layed out on paper.

 

 

 

And to finish up the part with the soundcard, I'll leave you with two Macro's

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaaaaand, lets continue, shall we?

 

 

 

Opened up my GPU.. and just.. wow.

 

 

That was a LOT of dust.. 

 

What you see there is what was packed outside the metal parts.. Most of the dust was inside.

 

 

 

Cleaned out the dust and started to paint the red parts of the GPU.

 

 

 

 

And I wanted to take out the fan to paint it manually, but when I opened the whole thing up (forgot pictures, sorry), I had to take out 3 tiny screws to access the fan itself. Well.. They were screwed in HARD. I was using the correct screwdriver (see awesome trusted screwdriver above), and got out 2 of the three screws without problem.. The last one however, was stuck so hard that I actually ripped out the metal shaping the screwdriver insert hole, and left a complete circle.  So I pretty much had to screw everything else back in, and had to apply new thermal paste to the GPU as I needed to take off the cooler to access the fan. 

 

 

So, instead of my main plan, I had to do the second best option, and spray-painted the fan like so:

 

 

After scraping off mispaints, and repainting where I scraped too much a few times, I was pleased with the result:

 

 

 

And here's the GPU put back together after the recoloring:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, as a break before we continue, I got my Motherboard put into the case, and connected the I/O panel!

 

 

 

Okay, break over.. 

 

 

Lets continue with the Power Supply

 

 

 

Opened up this thing as well, and daaamn, it was dusty.. (Hardly any of the dust is visible on the image though)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started sleeving the PSU cables, and here's the first 4-pin sleeved:

 

 

 

 

 

Continued with the sleeving for a bit, and heatshrinked the insides as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

The roll of sleeve (80 meters I think) started to annoy me greatly, and rolled about 1/3 of it on a tube as shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick picture of my PSU sleeving workstation. Yup, I use a candle as a heatsource. This because it keeps lit for long, and they're cheap. I also have both hands to my disposal while working.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished sleeving the insides.

 

 

 

 

 

And here's the outside result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I figured there was no way to close this back up, so I'm gonna have to cut it and apply some U-channel to prevent damage to wires, and I've so far added some protective tape around the area I'll be cutting, and marked out the lines where i'll do the cutting. I didn't have time to take pictures of this before I had to leave for christmas, but I'll post them in the next update.

 

 

 

I'll leave you with a picture of my case with Motherboard, after I put in the soundcard and GPU.  B)

 

 

[MrTomnus]

This is looking really awesome, I love the muted colour scheme! It's nice to see a build that doesn't look like it's screaming for attention for once Can't wait to see it all finished!

[MPX309]

followed

[glup]

Old update still, but we're getting somewhere now

Finally, I'm back, and with pictures.

 

So, lets get right to it, shall we 

 

So, as I promised, I have a picture of the taped up PSU. 

 

 

 

I basically just took it outside, and sat in the block's outside hallway with my Dremel, and used my Airsoft Headwear to protect my eyes.

 

 

 

 

So, after the tape (most of it) was gone, I split a cable, and cut it in specific places to have it bend and make a U-Channel for the cut metal.

 

I also managed to fit all the sleeved wires inside the hole this time! 

 

 

 

And here's another close-up.

 

 

 

And here's pictures of the PSU put into the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a random piece of paper that has to do with my plans for this build..

 

 

 

 

Next up was the mod I've been wanting to do since I first laid my eyes on a 900D with an optical drive... uuuuglyy

 

So, I started by popping out the 5.25" bay cover, and found my knife. I started by cutting off the extra plastic I didn't need. 

 

 

 

I then figured out that to find out where to place the tape and things like that, I needed to measure things a bit. Not awfully precise, but still needed to be done. 

 

 

 

And justs picture of the drive with tape on it. I Really like this photo for some godforsaken reason.  :unsure:

 

 

 

 

 

And here's my pattern for taping up to the button. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after this I put everything into the case, and did a bunch more sleeving.

 

 

 

 

I even made a test rig for making sure I didn't ruin any components while working with them.

 

 

 

 

Remember how I repainted parts of the Sound Card, hoping it would reflect a different color? Well.. it didn't.  <_<

 

 

 

Also remember the macro shot of those LEDs? Yeah, they were slimmer than the needle I used to try and get them out.. They just snapped, and I took out the pieces. The card still works, but now there are no lights. (better than white, worse than blue)

 

 

 

Next off was my Wifi Card. My Motherboard didn't support Wifi, so I had to get one on the side.. 

 

 

 

And well.. Not much about this that bothered me, except this: 

 

 

Those green LEDs there keep blinking like crazy and would shine brightly inside the case as well.

 

 

Easy fix

 

 

Takes away about 95% of the light, and I can do a second layer on the bottom there to make that 100%.

 

 

Next up was the H80 which also has a tendency of shining brightly in the color of white, which I didn't want..

 

I also don't want to exterminate the LEDs here, because they are actually useful. 

 

 

 

 

So this consists of a rubber/silicon/not sure thing and the cover held down by tape. 

I decided to try and paint the bendable thingy.. 

 

.... Spray Paint.. didn't work..

 

.... Acrylic Paint.. didn't work..

 

.... Oil Paint.. didn't dry.. (Picture) 

 

 

Actually, it would've dried eventually, but I checked after 14 hours, and it was still wet, and the cover slid on top of it by accident, and I washed it all off properly.

 

So, for now, its again... White.. But I shall not stop here. Once I have time, I will try to paint the inside of the cover instead :thumbsup: No Idea why I didn't think of that in the first place. Hopefully that works. (Though they're supposed to stick together kind of, to allow the light through, which I hope the paint doesn't ruin)

 

 

 

 

Okay, Put the panels back on, and took of most of the protective plastics in came in..

 

Only parts left were the plastic protective pieces on the 5.25" bay covers and I/O panel.

 

 

 

 

And of course, it left a LOT of glue from the plastics.. which could only be removed by the help of my Finnish buddy here. 

 

 

 

 

And by the help of my lovely Girlfriend again, and a piece of cloth.

 

 

 

 

 

And as I usually do, I'll leave you with a picture  B)

 

This time, of my Girlfriend with the tiny hat from a Tequila bottle

 

[glup]

Here's another old one, where I got some community help. Even though these are old ones, I really appreciate all comments a whole ton. Even the simplest of comments tend to make my day nowadays.
 

There is also sheet protectors, available at our local office supply store.

 

Yes! Why didn't I think of that I even have one right here in the same room as my computer!

 

Torstein :wave:

the cable laying looks very   nice   

 

interesting cleaning method with the vodka ..... and the photo of your girlfriend  ...  with the little tequila hat  :lol:

 

Thanks for the kind words :3

 

This particular Vodka is a 60% one, which makes it an effective way of cleaning away grease or other things that dissolve in alcohol. I'd prefer a 96% bottle of alcohol, but don't have access to one, so I went with the best option. Also Vodka doesn't leave a smell, which is why I wouldn't use any other strong alcohols you're supposed to drink.

 

 

 

So, not all is documented unfortunately, so I'll do some explaining by text, and some photos. 

 

 

First up, there's a photo of my setup the way it now is

 

 

 

So, yes, I have the 900D, the giant beast, standing ontop my desk. 

 

 

 

Aaaaand, continue! I actually tried the thing with office supplies to change LED color for the H80, and it worked splendidly.

 

 

 

 

And for what I did today... I've received a new package! What could it be?

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, got myself 4 of these beauties, and tried taking a fancy photo. I do believe I failed quite a bit though..

 

 

 

The fans are still beauties though.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's three of the four installed:

 

 

Middle two for the side closest to us, and one on the opposite side of the case.

 

 

 

And the last one is installed up here:

 

 

There wasn't enough space to install it with the Radiator the way it was facing previously, so I unscrewed it, rotated it 90º, and screwed it back in. Hopefully this is safe.

 

 

So, for more text updates, my MotherBoard had a very bright green LED.. I used my multitool pliers and just kinda.. crushed it to death.

 

Other than this, I rerouted some wires, but nothing of that is really visible, so can't say it counts.

 

 

However!

I have one mayor update! I'll provide you with pictures next update I do, and it is fantastic! 

 

I won't spoil what it is, but it has to do with having much less noise from the GPU, which has become very noisy.

 

 

And I'll leave you with two pictures of the computer the way it looks now!

 

Thanks for all replies! :blush:

 

 

 

[Trail Mixorz]

posting for later lokiong

[glup]

Still old update, and this time, we're filling the case a bit more!

So, I have another update for you guys! It's been a while since the last update, an that's not because I've been lazy.  B)

So, lets start right off, shall we?

 

I started off with picking up some LEDs, some resistors. I then proceeded to use sandpaper on the LEDs to make them much less directional. After doing that I soldered the resistors to the LEDs, and made a small nifty component ready to connect to a 12V source. 

 

So, to the pictures.

 

 

So, I also got myself some new soldering tools. The Helping hand and a proper Soldering iron holder. Macros incoming. 

 

 

I then proceeded to use these new things, and the helping hand was really helpful..

 

 

After soldering was done, I went over it with hot glue to prevent wires from touching, even if I have to twist it weirdly for positioning. 

 

 

I then went on to connect it to what is directly translated from Norwegian a "Sugarcube".

 

 

 

 

Turned on everything just to test, and YES! it works!

 

 

I connected a total of two LEDs that day, though I have the rest of the LED+resistor components made. Still haven't connected them unfortunately, but its coming.

 

 

At this moment here, I was spontaniously invited to a LAN party, and I brought my awesome new case!

 

And It also turned out that my case has a feature I have never seen before.

I could fit EVERYTHING I needed (except the monitors) inside the case for transport. This included Headset, Keyboard, Mouse, Mousepad, Webcam, and all cables needed. (even a 10m internet cable)

 

 

When I got back, I was trying to fix an isuue I've had for as long as I can remember, which is a driver problem on the GPU that shows when playing games.

This didn't really work and resulted in this:

 

 

 

At this time I'd also been waiting for my new GPU's to arrive in stock at any store in the country.

And the best thing I could get was "Will be back in stock [insert Today's Date]" which was there for over three weeks.

This caused me to just get pissed, And I got a different card, though a very similar card.

 

 

And me, being me, I did one thing before anything else.. I modded the card a bit.

 

 

 

And I ran into a slight problem..I forgot the fact that GPU's dont come with their own power cables.. which was a damn shame seeing as I had lost my old ones, this didn't use 2x 6-pins like my old card, but instead 1 6-pin and 1 8-pin, meaning I had to find new cables. 

Luckily I had a single 8-pin cable, though very short, so I managed to stretch it from the PSU to the GPU, but this is only a temporary thing.

 

 

 

 

 

And to end things off, I know I had told you I had an unboxing video for you guys. I have the footage, I just need to edit and upload the video, which I expect to get done today or tomorrow

 

So, untill then. Have fun with this massive update!

[glup]

Next old update coming along.
I got myself a triple monitor setup now :3

So, sincle last time, I ordered a package from Cooler Master, seeing as the cables I got from a friend of mine actually didn't fit. I never would've guessed that 6-pin wires from one company is different from another, I thought they all followed a standard, but apparently they don't, and I had to order from Cooler Master themselves. 

Somehow I forgot to take pictures of this whole thing.. so that's a shame. Sorry :-/

 

 

So, I finally got around to cleaning my desktop. It's been pretty messy for quite some time

 

 

Aaaand, I finally got my cables that I bought from Cooler Master themselves, so that I could actually connect both GPU's and SLI them.

 

 

I really don't have time to do the sleeving until after tomorrow because I have an exam I need to study for, so I'll give you a new update once that happens. The cables in there now are there for the sake of testing if it works properly.

 

 

 

And, yesterday, something REALLY intensely awesome happened, caused by a series of coincidences and a good bit of luck. 

I'm part of a few facebook groups that deal with private sales and stuff like that in the local area, and some guy was giving away a monitor.

This monitor just happily happened to be the exact model I own already, and it also happened that I was first to see/comment on this post, hence me "winning" that race, and all I had to do was take the tram for 15 minutes to meet the guy.

 

So I welcome to the family my new monitor. 

 

 

 

 

So, yeah.. me studying didn't really happen when all this happened at once, and I somehow ended up connecting this new screen because I happened to have the needed cables.

 

 

So, that's really all I have for you!

 

Thanks for reading  

And I'll get back to studying

[glup]

I have actually caught up to the present now, so I won't have a proper update today.

I have, however done quite a lot since the previous update, but have been too busy with school and such to process the photos and make an update. 

Any and all feedback is still much appreciated.

[Karumu]

OMG THAT LUCK! that is incredible luck dude, wish i got that lucky ¬.¬