NoName, CM storm trooper

[benito]

hey guys so i started to mod my case to fit a XSPC RX360 in the roof. so in order to do this i need about a total clearance of close to 90mm (64+25)

i am also going to paint the bare chassis green, and leave the panels untouched.

for the water loop, i am going to start off with the XSPC Raystorm RX360 kit with the dual drive bay Res/w D5 pump. i think this is a really good kit. it comes with everything needed, and all parts are of good quality. i don't think i could go wrong with this. i will be choosing better hosing. and i want to run mayhems green pastel!

to start off my water cooling journey i am only going to start off with my CPU, for now the RX360 is overkill however in the future when i upgrade my GPU i will add it to the loop as well, i will add in a RX240, or similar when the new GPU goes in.

as for fans: i want to use the Corsair SP120 quiet editions, only one set in push for the Rad. and i will also paint the white ring that comes with'em green.

this system is my current system, but in case you all cannot get to my build

AsRock Z77 eXtreme 9
Core i7 3770k @ 4.5GHz - 1.224v
EVGA GTX 480 with Zalman VF3000f cooler
2 x 4Gb G.Skill sniper 1866
OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD
WD Black 1TB
Noctua NH-D14
CoolerMaster Storm Trooper with windowed side-panel


here are some pictures of what i have done so far. i have temporarily moved my system into my old Apevia case , it looks so silly in there.

so this is what i have done so far.

i know that there are tutorials for adding a 360 rad in the roof of the trooper however since i want to have a push config on the rad and i want to push air out of the case i am going to make custom mounting brackets that will rest in the big cutout... i will add some sketches of what i am going to do and why.

i will gladly accept any constructive criticism

 

[Josh Weston]

The images that you've tried to use are not working. This is because you can only using tags around URLs which are direct links to the photo, i.e. [url]http://www.example.com/examplephoto.jpg[/url] etc.
Please edit your post with the correct photos :)

 

[dugdiamond]

thankyou for fixing the images

 

[benito]

here is a sketch of what the brackets holding the rad and fans will look like, the fans will be inside the case pushing air out

400mm long
46mm20mm wide (forgot to subtract the fans
one lip is 15mm wide
and the other is 20mm wide

i will place the 15mm wide lip between the fans and the rad, and the 20mm wide lip will be screwed onto the roof

small update.

i didn't like the way the top had the dips from the old screw holes ....

so i marked new lines....

and then cut them out...

they do look better and are straighter.

here are some sketches of the rad placed inside the case.

so its been a while since i last did anything however here is a what is did over the holidays

some paint!!

i also cut out some material from the drive bay, as you can see in the picture

with the panels

i did the cut out and the paint on 12/29/12

But then today (1/2/13) i was looking at the way the i going to put the bay res. i was going to place it in the middle drive bay cage in the storm trooper

here

facing the side panel, so that the front would be clean, with just the drive bay covers. But i didn't like the way it looked, so i started looking at tube res' and i like that look more. this also means that i will not be using the XSPC kit. so the new set up will be

in the order of the loop-
1. Res-Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250
2. Pump-Swiftech MCP655, with the built in G1/4 threads
3. Rad1- XSPC RX360
4. CPU- XSPC Raystorm basic

i have also decided to add in the GPU now as well!!!

5. GPU- as i have a GTX 480 with a Zalman aftermarket heat sink it came with a pretty beefy heat sink for the VRM's and RAM and all that good stuff so i will be using Watercool HEATKILLER® GPU-X³ Core LC
6.XSPC EX240 Multiport Series

so i did some more modding. going to have to repaint but that is no big deal

I un-riveted the pieces that compose the front face of the chassis. I forgot to take pictures of what i pulled out.

this is the chassis without the front face

this is what was left of the pieces. left piece attatches to MoBo tray, right piec hold windowed side panel in place.
i am also goig to add a solid peice of sheet metal on the left piece.

starting to rivet everything back together

rivets and rivet tool

rotate (1/2)*pi

big open area now

i also sanded the paint on those pieces because i scratched them all up cutting and sanding down the sharp edges.

don't be afraid to ask any questions guys

 

[CPMFW]

nice work so far mate
at the moment i'm doing a stryker build so
i'm looking forward to more updates...

 

[PingPangBV]

Great job man! By going for the untraditional green colour-sceme I can see this build's really going to stand out. Looking forward to more updates =)

 

[| raVen |]

Nice work dude Really like green interior.

 

[benito]

nice work so far mate
at the moment i'm doing a stryker build so
i'm looking forward to more updates...

I had seen your build log when you first started it. The last time u saw it you had just posted the handle mod. What gauge steel did you use for the mounts?

Great job man! By going for the untraditional green colour-sceme I can see this build's really going to stand out. Looking forward to more updates =)

Nice work dude Really like green interior.

When I first got into building systems (2007) I really liked the Nvidia edition cases that manufacturers were making. I think ther was a Nvidia HAF edition and some other ones, green Is my favorite color. So when I did this build back in August I wanted the trooper and I had originally planned to paint the chassis green but then I got all caught up in school, so I'm doing it now.

 

[benito]

I think i am going to stick with a thick rad in push config. thanks for the input guys.

Time for another update!

rivets coming out again.

+1 rep for whoever can guess what is going where and what is going on the little shelf!!!
obviously a 360 rad in top, and i will place the 240 in the bottom laying down as well

i also think i am getting what i am calling 'mod fever', to morrow i will be working on some brackets for front intake fans!

sorry for the low quality pictures, i didn't want to take the DSLR outside in the snow where i was working, so i used my phone

 

[CPMFW]

I had seen your build log when you first started it. The last time u saw it you had just posted the handle mod. What gauge steel did you use for the mounts?

about 2mm thick
gauge 14

 

[benito]

+1 rep for whoever can guess what is going where and what is going on the little shelf!!!

i just saw there is no rep in this forum. but the shelf is where i am going to put the pump.

 

[benito]

Just did the mount for the front intake fans. these fans are just holding place for my SP120's, they have just about the same CFM as the AF's

 

[benito]

i think i am going mad.

PSU cover going all the way across covering bottom 240 rad? i think yes.
i will also extend the solid panel to cover the cable management holes on the side of the motherboard all the way up to the motherboard connectors.
good thing my dad has a lot of left over materials from old jobs that i can use, and all this modding is only costing me time and rivets!!

(Sweet MS Paint Skillz!!)

i just got it sand blasted back to the original powder coat, had to say bye bye to the green till i am all done with modding, which will probably be never.
i was thinking of putting in a removable motherboard tray, but i scratched that idea.

school is starting up again real soon i hope to have all modding done by then.

i really should have just bought the storm trooper panels/top/front and just fabricated a chassis my self, but there is no fun in that

 

[benito]

UPDATE!

PSU cover

 

[The Orange One]

Looks Good!

 

[CPMFW]

really nice work mate... the psu cover will look ace!
it's coming together nicely

 

[benito]

Looks Good!

thanks

really nice work mate... the psu cover will look ace!
it's coming together nicely

thanks, i surprise myself when these mods come out as i planned!


i have a pretty neat update next. i think it is something case manufacturers should include with their products!

 

[benito]

UPDATE!!!

i call it a Cable Shield, i think it is pretty dang cool and cleans everything up real nice.
i realize this limits my mother board size but i don't plan on changing anytime soon.
manufacturers should make accessories like this for their cases, with different motherboard form factors in mind

all i got to do now is sand it down and fill.

i think this is it for the modding. if anyone has anymore ideas i would like to hear them

 

[TAWN]

Gonna be epic. Nice one!!

 

[CPMFW]

i like the 'cable shield'