Phanteks P400 TG - Lighting and vertical GPU

[Prysin]

Ive alreaady done the vertical mount, was easy, but now, i am working on the light diffuser for the LEDs, to get a "glowplate" in my P400

 

For the vertical mount, i used a Cooler Master vertical mount (made for the Masterbox and Mastercase), some adaptation to the P400, aka cutting into the PCIe brackets on the back, solved that issue.

 

However, the lights in the case was still quite a challenge. I wanted illumination from both top and bottom. The bottom mostly for effect, whilst the top was meant more for practical illumination. 

I have chosen to use NZXT Hue+, as my ASUS board (Z97 ROG Hero) doesnt have LED headers.

 

The case has a "grill" above the PSU, so naturally, you'd just put the LEDs ontop of the PSU and let them shine, thus getting the "underglow".... yeah, no.

 

 

As you can see, the bottom LEDs (and top) is quite harsh, so i decided to take the case apart, again, and do something to diffuse the light.

 

BUT YOU SEE, THAT WOULDNT BE SO EASY, CUZ FUCK YOU PHANTEKS.

The P400, is mostly riveted together... not screwed.... so lots of rivets to drill and then re-pop... I cannot use screws as there isnt enough material for screws to get any reasonable grip. Luckily, i got the tools i need (and more so)

 

 

So here goes, how to diffuse the bottom light?

Get a opaque piece of plexiglass.... 

but, that wasnt enough, it worked great if it had some more space away from the LEDs, but it will be stuck really really close to the LEDs, so how we gonna fix this? get some privacy film used for bathroom windows and shower glass walls.... excellent, we are now ready

 

NOT SO FAST

 

I got a AXI 1500i.... its too large to just easily take in and out of the case, and once you put the LED strips ontop, its actually FAR too big... it wont be able to fit without tearing the case totally apart...

 

SO TEARDOWN TIME

 

Yes, its just a LITTLE BIT big

 

now for the plexi plate.... 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the next little hurdle... Looking at the first pic, you see i got a connector wire between two of the LED strips ontop of the PSU... well, those cables are "too thick"... so i had to take my dremel and grind down the plexi piece enough to fit the connectors. Took quite a while, and my kitchen/livingroom is now sprinkled with plastic  

 

So... time to put the cover back ontop of the PSU 

 

Yeah, such great clearance....

 

 

......many hours later:

 

And done!! camera doesnt do it justice. It didnt end up QUITE like i wanted, but it got way better. So that is all that matters  

 

@Morgan MLGman @i_build_nanosuits

 

 

Next project; Custom vinylwrapping and custom cables. Going to go with gunmetal, brushed copper and black chrome wrapping.

 

 

[Evolution.]

that 295x2 tho beast

[Shiv78]

I put the included strip on the top-front of the case, just behind the TG panel, and it looks fabulous.

 

[Prysin]

Just now, VenomZ_ said:

that 295x2 tho beast

Running a nice 7% OC... get around 1080 perf

 

gonna tear it apart next month (need to wait on next salary until i move onto next phase), then wrap the "metal" frame in brushed copper, and the interior black section in brushed gunmetal steel wrap.... might change the fan LEDs to orange LEDs, OR, potentially, ill get a second HUE+ and put a HUE+ strip in there

[Prysin]

Just now, Shiv78 said:

I put the included strip on the top-front of the case, just behind the TG panel, and it looks fabulous.

 

 

i used to have it like that, but Phanteks strips doesnt work with the Hue+, and also has different color characteristics, so the orange on Phanteks LED strips doesnt match the orange you get on NZXT strips

[i_build_nanosuits]

love the PSU cover led mod...looks awesome...will consider making it for my own P400...like it a lot, good job mate!

[wildgg]

very nice!

 

the psu cover led''s turned out nice

[Shiv78]

7 hours ago, Prysin said:

i used to have it like that, but Phanteks strips doesnt work with the Hue+, and also has different color characteristics, so the orange on Phanteks LED strips doesnt match the orange you get on NZXT strips

rip

why not place a hue strip where I put the Pteks one?

[Prysin]

21 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

rip

why not place a hue strip where I put the Pteks one?

i have. except at the top cover

[Prysin]

16 hours ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

love the PSU cover led mod...looks awesome...will consider making it for my own P400...like it a lot, good job mate!

i think the best solution for that would be to use two 1mm opaque plates glued together with doublesided adhesive tape. My plate is 3mm thick, and still it didnt spread the light that well. I had to put two layers of frosted privacy filters ontop of the 3mm plexi to get somewhat decent diffusion.

 

I couldnt get 1mm plexi at any decent price where i live, as i had to buy 3ft x 3ft panels... instead of a 1ft x 1ft for like 4$, which isnt bad considering taxes and shit....

 

But 2x 1mm sandwiched by a clear doublesided tape should scatter the light better given how the adhesive and edges of the panels interact... sadly i couldn't try it out, so its not 100% sure.