Project: It "USED" to be a bit tight :O

[cerbrus2]

Project [s]Tight[/s] "used to be" Tight

Index

The Hardware arrives

Etching the Window

Water Cooling install

System Benchmarks

The Raven has landed

Adding the red stripes

Ok so after asking around alot, watching some vids, searching google like mad. I have come to the conclusion that YES! the MB will fit in my scout case BUT! their are a few issues.

So whats the project then? well basiucaly it was time to stop being lazy and keep telling my self that the system will be fine for anougher year or two. And go and spank down some cash on a new system.

now when I built my current system a few years back. it was done cheaply.

The specs:

Gigabyte M52 boared

Novatech none branded Nvidia 9800gt

AMD Athlon X2 7750 black edition

2 gig of OCZ 800mhz ddr2

80gig IDE hdd

250gig Sata hdd

now the reason it has taken me so long to upgrade is because the damn system refuses to NOT play something. even crysis and metro 2033 on full settings it still puts out 30-45fps.

But its time i gave this system to my 6 year old and got a big boy computer for my self.

So the specs of the new machine.

Asus Maximus IV extream

intel i7 2600k ( first intel chip I have ever owned EVER! )

8-16 gig of corsair vengance 1600mhz ram

ASUS 6950 (with 6970 bios flash) OR 2X XFX 6870's in cross fire, still undisided here.

Novatech 1000watt powerstation PSU. (this has had great reviews and at £100 its on the bargain side)

2X 40gig OCZ SSD in raid 0

2X 500gig WD 500gig HDD in raid 0

Im hoping this should give me a nice boost in performance for my gaming and all round use.

The problem

My case. I love it and dont want to part with it. It is a CM storm scout case.

Problem I have is that the maximus is an oversize boared, however it will just fit. And the case needs a few mods in order to route cables ETC.

So first job. strip the case down to nothing and then start the dremmel up.

this is the scout when it is totaly naked.





As you can see from this next picture I have cut a hole in the drive may storage. this is for the MB powersupply to come through.



And also cut a hole at the top of the drive bay to allow the front panel connections to drop down through.



Now i just need to wait for my edings to arrive and clean it up a bit. and hopefully that should be it for cable management.

Anougher problem that has presented itself is if I dont cut away some of hdd enclosure, I will actualy block off 2 of the 8 sata ports. not realy a problem, but these 2 happen to be 2 of the 6gps connections. but without the boared here this will have to wait, till i can do a mockup of the boared in place.

Next issue, well its more of an annoyance realy. the large hole on the motherboared tray, is slightly off to the where the new intel 1155 cpu socket is. so the access to the back of the boared will be restricted, and means having to remove the MB in order to change a cooler. Not realy a problem but like i said an annoyance.

so any ideas and help is greatly appreciated along the way with the build. ie the spec i have chosen etc.

[Grizzly]

If you're taking a dremmel to the case anyway you could always make that opening a little bit bigger.

Anyways nice work so far, bonus is the cables will be hidden by the drive cages when you plug everything in.

[stevebarnes15]

Also might be an idea to get some of this edging to protect your cables from getting cut open on sharp edges.

Edging bead

With regards to the sata ports,as grizzly said the bonus is that they'll be hidden,but if you do find things a little to tight you can try some of the L shaped sata connectors,which might give you a little more play.

But from looking it should be fine.

[cerbrus2]

Yeah I have just placed an order for a tone of shrink wrap, braiding and some edging.

I just cut down some 2mm carbon fibre sheet to slip into the HDD cadge, this will hide the HDD's and more importantly the birdsnest of wires that will undoubtably nest their.

[stevebarnes15]

lol,didn't get it from specialtech did ya?,wondered why they had no heatshrink earlier

[cerbrus2]

Originally Posted by Steve Barnes

lol,didn't get it from specialtech did ya?,wondered why they had no heatshrink earlier

lol no maplins of all places.

[NoKz]

Eagerly awaiting more.

[S_I_N]

that was the only drawback I saw in both the Sniper and Scout cases is that the cpu hole was off and small. But hell I love removing my mobo to change coolers lol NOT as I have the Noctua NH D-14 I dont need to change it hehhehe.

But good job so far post more when ya get it there.

[cerbrus2]

well not done anything to the case so far today as ive been at work. But needing to get my bum in gear, and go and get my compenents So i can get everything to fit in properly.

also i am a complete noob with this watercooling lark. I only want to coole the cpu with water. and their are lots of kits available to do it. But I need a 140mm radiator and all the kits come with doubles and triples. I already have a double sat in the cupboared and their is no way of fitting it, without cutting a huge hole in the top of the case. So deffinatly needing a kit with a 140mm rad.

[stevebarnes15]

140 kit

there you go fella