Zombie mods The Dark Carnival.. Roll up, roll up !.

[ALXAndy]

What do you think of the Arctic F12's? Thinking about buying some...

 

Sorry for the belated reply. Hopefully it will notify you.. They're OK, but just OK. Few reasons. They're utterly useless for SP as the motors are small and quite weak. I have to say they're not that bad for plain airflow, but as I said don't go using them on rads. They're pretty quiet too.. Now for the worst part. The wire on them? I had thicker hair before I went bald. So they need braiding really.

 

They're good for the price but don't go expecting top quality

[DJ46]

Sorry for the belated reply. Hopefully it will notify you.. They're OK, but just OK. Few reasons. They're utterly useless for SP as the motors are small and quite weak. I have to say they're not that bad for plain airflow, but as I said don't go using them on rads. They're pretty quiet too.. Now for the worst part. The wire on them? I had thicker hair before I went bald. So they need braiding really.

 

They're good for the price but don't go expecting top quality

Thanks, you helped me out quite a lot. I will stick to the plan to get Noisblocker XL2's then.

[ALXAndy]

Time to sort out the audio. I hate computer speakers. Years ago I had a very expensive audio set up in my car. My rear stage was Fujitsu Ten (Eclipse to you Americans) 6x9 components. At the time they were over $300 and it shows.. So I decided to unpack them after a six year hiatus and put them to use.

 

 

Small Chinese amplifier.

 

 

Quick mod.

 

 

Some wiring.

 

 

And done.

 

[Kyaku]

Time for another update

 

I ordered some more Alchemy cables. Two 8 pin all red and a molex to SATA braided extension so I could finally wire up my DVDRW.

 

 

Unpacked them.

 

 

And set to work...

 

 

The back. It grows every time I get the rig down to work on it

 

 

 

All good

 

I decided to order myself the window kit for the Colossus.

 

 

You can't really mod the stock panel and I want to keep the dust out..

 

Things I have planned are -

 

Hard drive bay cooler/cover.

PSU cover (all covers in red acrylic)

Lighting mods.

 

And so on. Be good guys !

Have you ordered this? my local computer store sells this on clearance for $4.00 ...... if you cover the shipping costs i can send this over, im sure itll still save you quite a bit... let me know. i pmed you the link to the item.

[ALXAndy]

Yes I've got one thanks ! appreciate that !

[ALXAndy]

Update time ! The LEDs I ordered from Hong Kong came today, much earlier than I anticipated.

 

 

I got out my test PSU and checked them one by one before fitting.

 

 

Then braided them and fitted them. I found some small channels on the case that surrounded the motherboard, perfect for where I wanted them to go.

 

 

Quick test....

 

 

And done.

 

 

 

 

Not bad at all for £2 all in delivered. Just goes to show what a rip off modding stuff really is.

[ALXAndy]

OK so as you guys will know by now, I like my audio. The only thing I am missing is a high end sound card.

 

A little while back I bought (from Ebay) one of these.

 

 

Then my PC went pop and since then I've not been able to fit it because my ROG board has no PCI. I thought about buying a new sound card but I want one as good as the Fatal1ty FPS and they're ball breakingly expensive. Like £250. Time for drastic action....

 

First I spent hours doing my research and came up with this thing.

 

 

And then started planning out how to use it. After jigging around my hardware I've managed to free up the bottom PCIE slot, and my case extends with expansion slots below the motherboard. So I'm going to mod the case so the PCI socket is bolted below the motherboard. Then I'm going to wrap the ribbon connector in this.

 

 

And for the floppy power connector I have ordered this.

 

 

The only peeve I have with the sound card is that it uses a horrible DMA 33 style IDE ribbon to connect the card to the IO box. So I had one of these in my loft / attic.

 

 

So I've got a mild to moderate modding project on my hands, expect a work log

[ALXAndy]

OK so the parts are on order, slowly I can begin the work. The sound card and IO box are going to need no fewer than three floppy connectors. I don't really fancy a rat nest in my PC, so I started making extensions you won't see, as well as the connectors you will.

 

Nothing terribly exciting then, but hey, it's progress.

 

 

As I said nothing terribly exciting.

 

 

I did manage to sort this out.

 

 

Much better.

 

 

OK, so let's do something a bit more fun eh? seeing that it's Christmas..

 

How to make your own decals, cheaply and without a plotter.

 

Step 1. Make your logo. I used Photoshop.

 

 

Step 2. Stroke your logo, flip it so there are two and remove the inside to save on ink.

 

 

(edit - transform - flip horizontally) Then print.

 

 

Cut out the flipped logo leaving the normal one intact.

 

 

Grab some vinyl and a glue stick.

 

 

Apply glue to the back side.

 

 

And stick it to the back of the vinyl.

 

 

Cut it off. and separate any pieces you can.

 

 

Cut the pieces.

 

 

OK now remember the correctly flipped print out? lay the pieces on it

 

 

Get them perfectly placed, take your time ! The out with the masking tape.

 

 

And apply over the decal. Use your fingernail to push the masking tape onto the decal NOT THE PAPER ! it won't come off otherwise.

 

 

It should now look like that ^^ then gently remove the decal.

 

 

And put it on some backing.

 

 

You can now store it like this for use when you wish. To apply? take it off the backing, remove all of the backing from the decal and then place it where you like, rub it, then remove the masking. One decal in place.

 

 

Til next time, when fingers crossed I'll have my PCI - PCIE adapter socket.

[ALXAndy]

Sound card is in

 

The adapter I ordered came. I could have gone with something cheap from the far east, but when you're talking about plugging it into a Crosshair V FZ I didn't want to take the risk. As such I ordered this one from a reputable server dealer in the UK. Other adapters are self contained and all go in the socket, meaning the card sticks up. I was not in the mood to cut about my case so this one was perfect all round.

 

 

It also arrived next day, not a month plus. Got it out for a look.

 

 

Some cables I made.

 

 

5v line in.

 

 

The sound card.

 

 

Time to start planning..

 

 

OK so the ribbon needed to back over the back of the card which could cause a short. Easily sorted.

 

 

Cover the ribbon

 

 

And she's all ready to fit.

 

 

And in.

 

 

It works ! no smoke, explosions or fires.

 

 

Interlude. And this is where the crap started. I'm not sure how many of you guys out there have tried running an XFI recently but it's not for the faint hearted. It basically requires running hacked drivers and then hours and hours of setting it up so that the sound doesn't clip (which is what causes the pops, crackles and distortion). It is fixable easily enough if you know what you're doing but it does take time. So before connecting up the front box I figured I would get the software on and get it all set up.This is a very long job as it requires tuning the card using pretty much any sort and style of music you have (rap, rock, reggae, classical). Just as you think you've got it sorted a heavy rock track will prove otherwise. So after a four hour interlude trying all sorts of drivers and tuning (PAX, Daniel K, official) etc I decided on PAX drivers running my own set of tuning for the front end. I was finally happy with what was coming out of the speakers, then I got his awful humming. After lots of head scratching I realised my Y cable wasn't up to the Soundblasters heavy output. Cable replaced, had to run all over again FFS. Finally at around 10pm last night I got to fitting the front IO box.

 

However, imagine my horror when the mint IO panel refused to work. After another two hours of head scratching I realised that even though the Creative connector cable is a 40 pin ribbon and thus an 80 pin one should work (as the extra 40 wires are just grounds) it actually fucking doesn't. So the cable I had spent two hours on 

 

 

Didn't actually work. It couldn't really get much worse. Well actually no, I could have painted the ends black like I'd planned. By now I was tired (I've got a horrific cold) so I just grabbed the 40 pin one and painted the fucker.

 

 

Before letting it dry and fitting it. I then had to call it a night, but it's not quite as terrible as I thought it was going to look tbh.

 

 

To most certainly be continued..... I'm not done yet

[itslegendddd]

AMD rig I like it!

[ALXAndy]

Yup she's all red

[Purple]

 

 

 

To most certainly be continued..... I'm not done yet

You really should paint/put a red sticker on the psu. Change that yellow to red

[ALXAndy]

You really should paint/put a red sticker on the psu. Change that yellow to red

 

I've got some red cf vinyl but I had a bit of an accident and spilled a pint of water over it. I had the PC on my desk and was turning it around to tidy some cables and an entire glass of water went over the CF certainly wasn't a day without hiccup. Any way yeah I plan to put some red CF on there to hide the yellow.

 

I also plan to make a custom back plate for the sound card which will be black CF with the red Fatal1ty logo (the decals I made above).

 

So as I said man, not done yet, not by a long shot I'm also waiting to make a back plate for the E2100 but I'm too sick to be using power tools.

[ALXAndy]

Still waiting on materials. Christmas really messes up the postal service

 

Any way I decided to take care of something that's really been bothering me. Basically when you look at the sound card you see this Fatal1ty LED on the end, but you also get to see all of the ugly components on the card (about 30 capacitors for a start) so I found a thin piece of acrylic (orange) leftover and decided to do something about it. First I had to spend ages making the edge true as it was all skewy. Once done I sanded it.

 

 

Painted it black and glued it in place.

 

 

Dinoc.

 

 

And that looks so much better.

 

[enRodjavel]

well this is geeting along quite awsomelly =D

[ALXAndy]

well this is geeting along quite awsomelly =D

 

Thank you. It's been a real PITA tonight. It seems removing the sound card and then putting it back got rid of all of the settings I had spent hours and hours sorting out to stop it crackling. Then the front IO stopped working... 

 

I can't wait to get the back plate on the sound card now. Naked PCB rear ends are ugly as hell.

[ALXAndy]

At 2am last night I was listening to my headphones via the front IO when all of a sudden they fell silent. Two hours of fiddling could not revive it. So it's RIP Soundblaster. Honestly? I'm absolutely devastated. I can't tell you the man hours I've wasted getting it in and planning all of the mods and so on. However I won't miss continually peeing around with the software to prevent clipping.

 

Gutted about the £24 for the PCIE to PCI adapter tbh. Any way, forgive and forget and all that. Time to move on..

 

 

And I did have one piece of luck. In the interim between buying the PCI adapter these have dropped in price from £25 to £13. I wanted to get one before but decided the Soundblaster would work out better and was the same price.

 

 

I get - USB. I lose - volume control knob. I'm sure with the acrylic I've got on order and the dinoc I can make it unique

[ALXAndy]

Some pretty ropey pics I'm afraid. The weather in Blighty is crap, rain storms and hale.

 

Any way, the front IO came

 

 

What always annoys me about these things is that if you don't have the means to, or don't want to connect up all of the headers you have things on the front that you can't use. Firewire is an example to this, but also the second set of USBs I don't have a spare header for. Never mind, take the bugger apart..

 

 

Bit of scrap Dinoc and a scalpel.

 

 

And then a couple more layers of scrap before using black. This makes sure the covered holes won't sink.

 

 

Infinitely better in it goes, with the wires routed as best I could.

 

 

And done.

 

 

And then after that,with the rig finished at last I can concentrate on other things, such as fitting my accessory screen

 

 

 

Boshty !

 

[ALXAndy]

Time for some modding fun. A few weeks back I found my old sysinfo LCD screen. I had forgotten all about it. I decided I wanted it in the rig this time, instead of sitting outside it. Any way I decided on a bay mod, so to save loads of pics here is the rough cut face plate I made, pre filing.

 

 

And a £1.60 plastic bay converter I bought for the mod. This is after I've cut it and sanded it (so the glue will hold properly.)

 

 

Apply the glue and into the bay.

 

 

Then very carefully put the face plate in place (note I've sanded the back with very coarse sandpaper to make sure I get a good bond).

 

 

With flash.

 

 

After two hours it was time to remove it now that it had set. I also got out the screen and removed it from the stand. Hilariously it was held in with Blu Tak :rolleyes:

 

 

And checked it still worked. It was still displaying Alienware images

 

 

I then rooted through my parts drawer and found an external - internal USB converter, which thank heavens was there when I needed it.

 

 

I then wrapped the panel in Dinoc, turned it over and glued the screen in place.

 

 

And left it to set for two hours. Then I hit a snag. I didn't have any USB headers left empty on the motherboard, there are only two :duh: Poor show for such a premium board !! Any way, I decided to remove one of the front USBs (the ones in the top of the case) as they were useless any way.

 

 

And then basically removed the pins out of the external to internal and fitted them to the header. Then I shrunk it to make sure it didn't short anything, and got out the cable ties...

 

 

And finally the glue was set

 

 

Pretty bloody boshty. And in it went, before I loaded in the new idle images.

 

 

 

 

All that's left now is to set AIDA up, load in some icons and get it monitoring temps and core usage etc

[droidxd00d]

Awesome rig! Love the color scheme!

Its very similar to my rig which is an 8150 in a red haf 932. Red and black all the way!

[ALXAndy]

Awesome rig! Love the color scheme!

Its very similar to my rig which is an 8150 in a red haf 932. Red and black all the way!

 

Thanks !. 

 

The mods continue, even with a seriously cut finger that still bleeds. Here is where I'm at on the front.

 

 

And inside. I made a plate for the block and covered it in red Dinoc. I'll be adding a logo of sorts to it soon.

 

 

And what's to come. I'm utterly sick of standing up to access the start and reset buttons. This becomes even more annoying when I'm overclocking to the rig limits, because I constantly need them. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make myself a nice button panel that I can reach easily.

 

 

And that was where I cut myself. Not on a knife or blade, but a sharp edge of the carrier. Still, mods go on. I made the fascia plate about thirty minutes back and ordered three of these.

 

 

Sadly in the finish I want (red anodized) you can only get them from Hong Kong so there's going to be a week or so wait. I am set on red though...

 

There are three because my board has a function called Directkey. If I have a bad OC I just press it and the board goes straight into bios. The other two are for start and reset

[megadarkwood]

Very nice!

Can you link me to that amp?

[ALXAndy]

Very nice!

Can you link me to that amp?

 

I don't think it would be worth it, given I bought mine from the UK from a UK seller.

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/MUSE-M20-EX2-TA2020-T-Amp-Stereo-Amplifier-20WX2-With-Power-Adaptor-/281244433552?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item417b797c90&_uhb=1

 

Would be a comparative equivalent as they're pretty much all the same on the inside.

[Father Fuzzy]

Some sweet modding going on here

 

nice work!

[ALXAndy]

Some sweet modding going on here

 

nice work!

 

Cheers ! it's the small ones that all add up. IE - if you look closer you'll see a lump of acrylic on the PSU just sitting there. That's going to be the back plate for the Killer, then I'm going to make plates for the Revodrive and GPU.