Ultimate HP Transformation

[SpecialistJon]

Hey guys, I've custom modded a HP "computer" because I was getting irritated at how atrocious the cables were inside the case and how inefficient the case was at delivering air to the vital components. With my friend helping me, this mod took approximately 4 takedown/reassemblies to complete because we kept wanting to mod it more each time we finished. Hope you guys like it!

 

HP Pavilion Elite e9262f

i5-750 @ 3.2 Ghz

MSI Motherboard

Radeon HD 4650 -> MSI GTX 650Ti PE/OC @ 1203Mhz

Generic 6Gb Samsung ram --> Corsair Vengeance 2x4Gb 9-9-9-24

Generic 350W PSU --> Thermaltake TR2 500W PSU

Noctua 140mm & 120mm Fans

Enermax T.B. Vegas 80mm Fan

Stock cooler --> Zalman CNPS5x CPU Cooler

Antec Accent Lighting - Blue

 

Big Thanks to Epikas for helping me out with this mod and giving me some fresh/radical ideas

 

HP stock configuration, looks pretty dismal and hopeless. HD 4650 would overheat to 100+ degrees under load and could barely run BF3 on low settings at the lowest resolution. So, I replaced the GPU with a more capable MSI GTX 650Ti and replaced the power supply with a 500w. BF3 became a piece of cake to run haha. 

Intake doesn't exist in this case, except for some tiny holes on the side panel, if those count. I decided that the HP media drive cage was absolutely useless and was only taking up valuable airflow space. I promptly destroyed it. HP had an option to mount the HDD directly under the 5&1/4in bay but for some apparent reason they used a metal box to put the hard drive in, directly beside the useless HP media drive slot. Again, that metal box thing was taking up so much unnecessary space that I had to get rid of it. Luckily it came out without much persuasion.

I wanted to add at least 2 more fans to the case. A 140mm would fit the front of the case and intake air through the external slot of the HP media drive slot on the front panel. A large hole would have to be cut out, which would mean significant weakening of the structure, but it was all worth it. I wanted to add another exhaust as well, so my only choice was at the top of the case. A 120mm would fit there, exhausting air out of slits in the top cover. 

 

Excuse me for the atrocious cuts Don't worry, the're covered by the top panel.

 

 

Cable management is better, but still needs improvement.

 

 

Bare metal just didn't cut it, the insides were just begging to be painted black. This was the 2nd time that it was taken apart and put back together.

 

 

Of course, with the internals looking better and better, a side window was needed. The 800D is my dream case so I decided to make the side window very similar  This took a while to cut with a jigsaw because I was being as precise as possible, but the results prove that all the effort was worth it. 

 

 

Blue Antec accent lighting added to the bottom corner of the case. Not very bright though, because it was never meant to be put inside a case, but stuck on back of monitors etc.. There was a problem with the LED's on the bottom though. the top half was pitch black because the GPU was blocking all the light. The issue would later be solved using an Enermax fan.

 

 

I have achieved brilliance: the LED strip was taken off the bottom and moved to the top, and the stock CPU fan was replaced with a stunning Enermax TB Vegas fan. The led pattern on the fan is very unique and extremely bright, so it was an excellent choice to light up the bottom of the computer. I've also made the cables tidier at this stage.

 

 

I became unsatisfied with the cooling power of the stock heatsink, and replaced it with a Zalman CNPS5x. It looked pretty good, and was on sale for 15 bucks, so it was a steal. At first, I was hesitant on changing out the cooler, because the it meant that the Enermax would have to be ditched. However, the rear exhaust fan could be taken out, and the Enermax put in its place. This is where I ran into another problem. For some reason, the 3pin header on the mobo that originally supplied power to the rear black fan could barely make the LED's on the enermax shine. Due to HP limitations, there was no way to increase the voltage, so the enermax would have to run off the PSU for maximum brightness. Unfortunately, with an empty header, the HP would not start, because the program assumes that a system fan is malfunctioning and the computer would crash and burn if the average PC user does not replace it promptly. I am not the average PC user (at least, not anymore ).

To overcome this, I came up with a radical idea: keep the working black fan in the case and fill up the header, but use it as an intake drawing air from the bottom. I would only need a 3pin extension cable to move the fan to the front of the case. A braided one was used to give it that stealth look. Amazingly, it was also the perfect length.

 

 

The finished product with side panel off, can hardly tell it used to be an old HP . I hope this post gives other HP owners out there some inspiration to mod their own cases, and thanks for taking the time to read this. Cheers!

 

[WoodenMarker]

WHAT. 

That looks pretty cool... @.@

[ANUPLUCIFERGAMER]

that was some nice modding! like you know,it was like a cat,then it became a lion!

[DeViLzzz]

Very nice job !  **** HP !

[Epikas]

Never knew it was possible with an HP computer.

[legopc]

very nice job on the window 

[Epikas]

I feel this should be featured on the next WAN show

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[slasher0161]

I feel this should be featured on the next WAN show

 

 

 

Seconding this.

 

@OP seriously that is some nice work. Now go find more things to play with and bring us results

[George8D]

Fantastic effort with the mods! might do similiar to the computers lying around me to practice for my first build!

[Shrubpig]

wow. looks really good for an old HP

[SpecialistJon]

very nice job on the window 

haha thanks! I was going for a 800D look

[JAKEBAB]

not bad at all.

[megadarkwood]

Hax, put up some better pictures though.

[gylmir]

nice work you did looks way better and perform prob better to

good job

[Epikas]

You didn't post the magnet strips C:

[mineblaster]

you should do an engineering drawing and send it to HP and tell them this is how its done

 

[Epikas]

you should do an engineering drawing and send it to HP and tell them this is how its done

That is a good idea. I sent my idea into bitfenix for the prodigy m, but they simple dis regarded it. So I modded my case. Not the best but fixed the airflow problem

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