Antec900 Rig Cable Modded

[The Computer Council]

Hi guys,

Well, thought I may as well share my rig with you. I know this case has love/hate looks, I just happen to be one of the people who love them.



These cases are great for cooling but offer poor cable management so I decided to do a fairly simple cable mod to route the cables behind the motherboard plate, which made a massive improvement:



And the hidden bit that you no longer have to see:



Have the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro on there and a cooler on the graphics card, since the stock coolers on the earlier 8800GTs were a bit rubbish.

Hope you like.

 

[Havok]

Good job, nice and tidy (the complete opposite of mine )

 

[The Computer Council]

Just got the Extreme Edition Cooler installed on my rig this evening - makes it look a whole lot yummier. :worship:

 

[Rastalovich]

Bah, I can`t belieeeeve I miss this thread. Just love gratuitious rig pics

Some nice covert cabling going on there.

Can`t say it any other way - but get some pics of the Extreme Edition Cooler installation up !!!

hehe

(consider using the forum upload thingy m8)

 

[The Computer Council]

Ok,

Here's a few updated photos of the current rig, just a shame it isn't the Extreme chip in there too I guess.







Much prefer the looks of this cooler over the Arctic Freezer. It's just as effective too on low fan speed. Far too noisey on high mind!

edit: apologies for the grainy photos - camera phone.

 

[Bungral]

Nicely done mate.. Looking clean.

Please use the OC3D upload facility... Imageshack hurts my feelings..

Allows downloading / viewing the photo much quicker..

http://upload.overclock3d.net/

 

[The Computer Council]

Ahh I just use image shack as it automatically resizes things, rather than me having to scale photos down to 250kb each.

Will make the extra effort from now on.

 

[PV5150]

Nice, neat job mate and the 900 will breathe even better now. Grats on such an excellent result as it's one of the better ones I've seen

 

[inonefly]

nice job,form the look of it, the S1 is the same width as the graphiccard?

 

[The Computer Council]

nice job,form the look of it, the S1 is the same width as the graphiccard?

No, the S1 is actually quite a bit wider than the GT. It was necessary to mod the side panel to make it fit - the 120mm fan bracket on the case got in the way, meaning the side panel wouldn't go on.. It doesn't do that with all motherboards mind - it depends where the PCI-e slot is on your particular board.

It was a simple matter of taking the side grill off, and the fan mount, then glue-gunning the mesh back on with the black studs too, to make a flawless finish. From the outside, you'd never know it had been modded to fit.

 

[inonefly]

thank you, now i have to do some measures see if I can fit one into my SFF

 

[Rik-Sik]

When ive got some time free i think im going to attempt this !! just hope i dont mash my case up though :yumyum:

 

[Kerotan]

Can I ask did you just use a hollow drill-bit to drill the holes? I need to attempt something like this sometime, think I'd have to get an extension for the motherboard 24-pin though, and that means losing the sleeving Corsair did for me I've never done anything like this myself and I'd be pretty worried about screwing it up, don't fancy buying a new case atm. Having said that I could route a lot around the back, just need a tonne of extenders + sleeving.

 

[Rik-Sik]

i think ive got quite a long 24 pin on my psu its tied up like a nutta atm lol.

 

[The Computer Council]

Can I ask did you just use a hollow drill-bit to drill the holes? I need to attempt something like this sometime, think I'd have to get an extension for the motherboard 24-pin though, and that means losing the sleeving Corsair did for me I've never done anything like this myself and I'd be pretty worried about screwing it up, don't fancy buying a new case atm. Having said that I could route a lot around the back, just need a tonne of extenders + sleeving.

Admitadly, there's something that doesnt quite feel right about taking a big drill to your new £70 case. lol

We used a plumbers holesaw kit to do this. The important thing is to not rush - allocate a day to do it and take your time.

Plan where you need the holes cutting, then apply masking tape over the area you're going to drill and draw around the dril bit to make a circle. Applying masking tape stops the bit from slipping on the metal as it gets started, and makes for a neater cut.

If you can, choose a diamond bit set (about £30) or if you're budget limited, or like us - didn't want to spend alot on a set that will only be used once, buy a cheap set from Ebay - cost us under a fiver!

When it comes to actually drilling, use a slow steady speed. If you have a cheap steel set like we did, you're looking at 20-25 minutes per hole to cut for the larger holes, so - make sure you have a spare battery if you're using a cordless.

Don't be tempted to push down hard as you drill - be patient, if you push, you'll only bend your lovely new case and it will look pants. After you've cut through - file down the metal burs and line the hole with the rubber capping like we did - you don't want the holes slicing your cables, because they are sharp!