Cutting up my Corsair Graphite 780T Black, to invert the motherboard/side window?

[Budget DIY]

I inverted my current computer case in the past. Was decently straight forward. I've got it on the left side of my desk. And I have also got all the wires on the left side of my desk, coming out of a wall. So with any new case, I'm kinda forced to place my pc there.

 

I bought a used Corsair Graphite 780T Black computer case for just 30 euros. Sadly, like 99.9% of all computer cases, it has it's window on the left side. For me, that would be pointless. It would be sitting against a concrete wall. Big sad. So I need to invert this case.

 

I was initially thinking: just drill out all the rivets holding the motherboard tray and back panel, and flip it 180 degrees around. Drill new holes, add some rivets, and be done with it! However... Then I'd be blocking part of the top exhaust fans. I would be limited to using "only" a 240 mm radiator, while I kinda really want to have a 360 rad up there.

 

Bellow are some pictures I took of the case, without any of the plastic panels on it.

 

Next up are the cut lines I'm considering, and the rivets I'd need to drill out:

 

After flipping the partial back and motherboard tray around, I'd need to weld it all back together and add other supports, to prevent the motherboard tray from flopping around. Blue lines here are pieces of support metal which I can safely weld to the thin sheet metal of the case. I'd have a 1 mm gap with the cut lines. I could probably partially stitch those together, and use fiberglass filler to fill it up. The "center" strip of metal should prevent the motherboard tray from flopping around.

 

Does this seem reasonable? Am I forgetting something? Are there any improvements you all have?

[Dedayog]

Cool project.  I do wish companies would sell left hand cases as well, I'd love to put mine on the left side of my desk.

 

Keep posting as you go, very curious how it turns out.

[TVwazhere]

Following, I want to see how this turns out!

[Budget DIY]

32 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Keep posting as you go, very curious how it turns out.

 

16 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Following, I want to see how this turns out!

No suggestions for improvements? Something with only wanting to cut once and such.

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, Jahee said:

No suggestions for improvements? Something with only wanting to cut once and such.

Not yet; The only thing I can think of is extra reinforcing areas such as the motherboard re-attaching to the ODD bays at the top, but you're already planning for that. 

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, Jahee said:

 

No suggestions for improvements? Something with only wanting to cut once and such.

Lol, any job is measure twice, cut once, you know that already   Since it's metal you're cutting, use tape and cut thru that as well, as usual.

 

I have no suggestions how to make the I/O look good when turned around, you're going with just a large empty hole?  

[Budget DIY]

6 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

I have no suggestions how to make the I/O look good when turned around, you're going with just a large empty hole?  

What do you mean? What large empty hole?

[DigitalGoat]

Since case has same top and bottom profile, at least in images, couldn't it just be flipped, unless there are i/o ports on the front top.

[Budget DIY]

3 minutes ago, DigitalGoat said:

Since case has same top and bottom profile, at least in images, couldn't it just be flipped, unless there are i/o ports on the front top.

There are indeed I/O ports on top, including the power button. And with flipping the entire tray and backplate around: I'd have the PSU on top, which would block one of the top 120mm fans. And I want to put a 360 radiator in top of this case somewhere in the future. This is the reason why I kinda need to cut this case up. Otherwise I could do with just drilling out the rivets, and flip the back + tray around with some new rivets.

[Thomas4]

A radical idea, build it as is and put in on the floor, this accomplishes 3 things, frees up valuable desk space, saves money by not spending it on eyecandy, and saves you the time by not drilling out the rivets holding the case together, and replacing the front end of the case with the back end as from what I can see they're fully interchangeable.

[Budget DIY]

2 hours ago, Thomas4 said:

A radical idea, build it as is and put in on the floor, this accomplishes 3 things, frees up valuable desk space, saves money by not spending it on eyecandy, and saves you the time by not drilling out the rivets holding the case together, and replacing the front end of the case with the back end as from what I can see they're fully interchangeable.

First off: Cables are neatly put inside my wall. MAX 15 cm needs to poke out the wall. So the PC has to be on my desk. I've got the deskspace for it. No reason not to. And I've got no room on my floor, to put the case.

 

Secondly, my pictures show the metal frame. Not the plastic panels. You can change left and right panels. But not top/bottom or back/front panels.

 

The only thing that made sense, was "it saves money". But I'm willing to spend it on my pc.

[Found my old account]

Not sure what happened to my other account. Can't seem to login with it/trying the "forgot password option" got me this new account. :S Aaaanyways: really late update. (procrastinating big time)

 

 

 

Not that horrible, considering my meh welding skills, LOW-budget flux-core welder, and the very thin crappy metal.

 

Also: I do NOT recommend buying this case, like at all. And the reason might surprise you.

I bought this case used. Previous owner was a light smoker. So the dust inside this case, was slightly orange and kinda sticky. I removed all electronics, and went under the shower with this case. All good, right? NO!

 

These Corsair newbs painted the case AFTER putting it together! This means there is NO paint between the layers of riveted metal. This can clearly be seen at the second picture. After taking a shower with this case, I did dry it off, and put it next to my heating system of my home. But because there was water between these riveted panels, but no paint: it started to rust. Do not buy flagship cases from corsair! (not sure if they paint the parts before riveting them these days, but I doubt it)

[Found my old account]

Oh, forgot to mention: I did order an Kingston 500 gig M.2 disk, and a Seagate 8 tb HDD. Also ordered an Deepcool Gammaxx 360 aRGB AiO. Hoping I complete these case mods, before I get the parts, so I can move on.

[TVwazhere]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:15 PM, Jahee2 said:

These Corsair newbs painted the case AFTER putting it together! This means there is NO paint between the layers of riveted metal. This can clearly be seen at the second picture. After taking a shower with this case, I did dry it off, and put it next to my heating system of my home. But because there was water between these riveted panels, but no paint: it started to rust. Do not buy flagship cases from corsair! (not sure if they paint the parts before riveting them these days, but I doubt it)

I believe this is fairly common, because it's a lot easier (and safer for the finish) to paint after frame assembly, rather than paint the parts, then assemble where there's chance of scratching the paint. Most people are not disassembling their cases so the situations where chassis are rusting because of unpainted surfaces are very low. 

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

I believe this is fairly common, because it's a lot easier (and safer for the finish) to paint after frame assembly, rather than paint the parts, then assemble where there's chance of scratching the paint. Most people are not disassembling their cases so the situations where chassis are rusting because of unpainted surfaces are very low. 

This is normal across all industries.  You paint after welding, but before physical assembly (like with nuts and bolts).  You cannot weld painted surfaces well enough to make them last or safe (if doing something like a road test machine or something that carries weight).

 

I did factory work as a college student and my father's factory making these...  Note painted welds but unpainted bolts.

 

[TVwazhere]

8 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

You cannot weld painted surfaces well enough to make them last or safe

This is true, but I doubt many, if any parts on a case frame are welded; it's usually just stamped, pressed or bent steel that's later assembled with rivets. Can't think of too many mass produced cases off the top of my head that are welded, but just because I cant think of them doesn't mean they don't exist. Just haven't done enough research on it yet  

[Found my old account]

@TVwazhere@DedayogBut why then are/were older zinc coated cases zinc coated before assembly. Just because of the maybe-scratches, that no-one sees, and accept rust issues which some people might notice? That's just bad IMO.

 

Also, there is some "weldable paint" out there. Seen it often being used be people who restore and weld cars. So paint-before-welding (not to mention riveting) does happen.

[Dedayog]

Just now, Jahee2 said:

@TVwazhere@DedayogBut why then are/were older zinc coated cases zinc coated before assembly. Just because of the maybe-scratches, that no-one sees, and accept rust issues which some people might notice? That's just bad IMO.

 

Also, there is some "weldable paint" out there. Seen it often being used be people who restore and weld cars. So paint-before-welding (not to mention riveting) does happen.

Good to know.  As for rust, I doubt case manufacturers think about it much unfortunately.

[TVwazhere]

2 minutes ago, Jahee2 said:

@TVwazhere@DedayogBut why then are/were older zinc coated cases zinc coated before assembly. Just because of the maybe-scratches, that no-one sees, and accept rust issues which some people might notice? That's just bad IMO.

Firstly, the trend now is painted case rather than any sort of bare steel of post-processing additive like galvanizing or zinc to protect from certain corrosions. Second, how many cases are actually seeing significant amounts of water, more so than a leak from a water cooled build? I dont know anyone personally, or seen anyone else online, who's washed their pc case because it was that bad. Again, my single viewpoint is not an end all be all, but the stance of "don't buy from X manufacturer because the case rusts when I disassemble it and shower it" is a hot take for sure.

[Budget DIY]

It's been a while since I've done an update. Something with procrastinating and a hint of depression. Aaaanyways...

 

-The stock lights for this case, are all red. I don't like that. So I replaced all front-panel LED's, with white LED's. Tested them, and they all seem to work just fine.

-I've added that shrink tube stuffs around some of the front I/O wires, to make them look more fancy and durable. Seems I was being smart, see next point.

-Front panel wires are supposed to go to the right side, and be hidden behind the mobo tray. There is a big cut-out, to get the wires trough and give them a bit of space. However, I want the wires going to the left, which causes some pinching. They all still seem to work. But this heat shrink stuffs, seems to be really helpful to protect the wires.

-Had to modify the bottom (plastic) mount, for the 3.5" drive trays. Hard to get in it's correct place, but it will end up working. With the 3rd drive tray, it gets really stuck in there.

-Turns out I need to remove all 3.5" drive trays again, so I can mount the front fans. Front fans are currently still in use in my PC, so the hardware swap will take longer then expected. (I consider this a big negative for this case, would be mandatory to do even if I would have kept this case stock)

-Having a 360 AiO mounted in the top part of the case: you can't have the hoses be in the front area AND have a DVD player. There isn't enough room there, and you would NEED the tubes being against the back.*

-If you plan on having a DVD player installed, you can't add the 360mm AiO fans placed as "push" fans: there isn't enough clearance for it.

-At least with the tubes being towards the back of the case, the CPU block RGB logo is upright. (if you're doing a normal build, it would be upside down!)

[Budget DIY]

Oh, forgot to mention: the case came with only 1 (out of 2) 5.25" drive bay covers. I got an almost identical cover for free from a local-to-me PC store. However, front texture is off. I could try to sand both and then paint them. But I'm not that big of a fan of sanding plastics... So I've gotten my old computer out of storage, and removed the DVD drive. However, it has boring ugly grey metal as it's housing. Removed all of that, and now I need to paint it. It's raining today, so I can't paint it right now.