Pandoras Purple Box (ooh, er)

Looking good dude, just keeps getting better. How are you plugging your monitor in? with the card being at that angle and the PCI slots being.... well, off.
 
Coming together very, very nicely :)

Thank you sir! :D

Looking good dude, just keeps getting better. How are you plugging your monitor in? with the card being at that angle and the PCI slots being.... well, off.

Im sure the dremel will be employed again for that little problem :D


So, i took my panels to be powder coated last week, i got them done at a local place and they have really done me proud! they look excellent.

Unfortunately i couldn't get them straight away as i was playing with about 40 processors, 10 GPU's and 4 or 5 Mobos... oh, and 200 liters of LN2.

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LN2 overclocking was fun!

I went straight from that event to work away for 3 days and then picked up the panels and headed to E22.biz and Hex Gear!

Whilst i was there, i of course wanted to see the new hex gear case, so here is a little preview of the CEO and his partners computers! These are not the finalised cases, there are a few new features to be added, but still, they are rather sexy!!

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(theres 3.5cm of cable management space behind the mobo tray!)

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The CEO's

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The CEO of Hex Gear also owns E22.Biz, so it was a few steps into his workshop and we got to this (sorry about the aweful quality of this pic, i just simply forgot to focus haha)

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The idea is to laser off the powder coating, keeping the brushed aluminium of the Pandora intact underneath.

this is the first test image we did on the inside of the back panel

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we could see the white still, so we intensified the laser

FIRE ZE LASER!!!!

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then to test it on the outside panel, somewhere inconspicuous first!

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and what i really wanted to add, my sponsors!!!

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I wanted to do it in a way that stands out, but not too "in your face"

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I dont like stickers too much, so I think this is a really nice way to do it

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It has also given me ideas for another build that i want to do!

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I really like these, and thanks to E22 for making it happen!!

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I have also started to mod the cables again, now i know where the GPU is going, i want to cut all the extensions down, then add the connectors for the BitFenix PSU so that they can go straight into the PSU rather than onto the standard black sleeved PSU cables

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whilst i was doing this, a nice suprise from OcUK turned up! Thanks guys!

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and this is where i am now.

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Jobs to do:


  • drop the GPU down around 10mm, somehow i have lost the position i had it in originally and now the fittings are sticking out of the case again!!
  • re do all the tubing
  • make a back plate to hide the cuts that i will have to make for the GPU wires.
  • paint the PSU
  • fill the loop


Im only at home 3 days of the next week to get this build finished now, so this is why this part of the build log is so scattered! but i will make sure that i add more pics once its done!
 
Those hex gear cases look pretty damn sexy. Love the laser etching as well, it's looking really good.
 
Those hex gear cases look pretty damn sexy. Love the laser etching as well, it's looking really good.

That etching looks great. Glad you didn't do down the sticker route (I absolutely despise them).

Cheers Gents, yeah im not much for stickers, but unfortunately branding has to be done usually haha.


For anyone that is attending i54, say hi to me!!!

this build will hopefully be on the OcUK stand (although not 100% completed) and i am also BYOC with H2Orange in the EON lounge!!
 
I'm with Yass on this, I just don't like stickers that much. The laser etching looks awesome

My god man, that laser etching is awesome. Everything so far has been an absolute pleasure to look at. Good job.

Thanks guys!!

Weeeell, I had best post these last few pics of this build (its not the last update, as i do have the peripherals to do still yet!!!!)

Not much talking in this update, more of just putting all the pictures somewhere, and i will be posting another load of pics in the next few minutes too :P

What i will say though is if you have a Bit-Tech account and you like this build, please do vote for me here:

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=282671

I am currently in the lead, but only by 5 votes!


So, The PSU i sprayed white and shortened the cables to around 10mm so that i didnt have to worry about the cable management so much!

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I also made this little nifty 8pin EPS cable sot hat i didnt have to use the stock cable for the PSU as well as the extension

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I also made a backing plate out of some white acrylic that E22 gave to me, i ended up cutting it in half as i didnt like it after id cut out all the motherboard headers, so i just left it covering the PSU and GPU

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I cut some holes out of the motherboard try, and made a place for my SSDs as well as filled the loop

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Then i gave it all al ittle touch up and took some pics of it <3

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As some of you know, OcUK help me a lot in a multitude of ways, so I offered to put my build on their stand for the weekend at i54 - the UK's biggest gaming festival.

As always it was a pleasure to talk to TTL although there wasnt much drinking to be had!!! He did however bring me chocolate, so thanks Tom!!!

A huge thanks to OcUK for allowing me to be part of your display, it really does mean a lot.

Well, all the staff really liked it, particularly the big boss man (wooooohoooooo!!!) but these are some pics from teh stand.

Before the masses arived.

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It soon started to pull people into the stand.

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Lots of people!

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8-Pack spent a lot of time with me around this build, he really liked what I had done, which hearing so many good things from the biggest UK components retailer and the worlds number 1 overclocker is huge for me.

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CS:GO was being run on my computer the whole weekend with a BenQ freesync monitor which was awesome. I wish i could have taken it home!!

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It was awesome to see the ocuk stand so busy all the time, and to have my build on the "front line" was an honor.

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A huge thanks to my sponsors!

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and the final build :)

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Its been great watching this build progress and the long hours you have put in have really paid off. The finished article looks awesome on the stand and deserves it's front row place on the stand.
 
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