Art Nouveaux Case Mod Completed

Lighting Effects and Wrap Up

Special Lighting:
When I used the bench light to illuminate the glass window from the inside of the case, I realized that just illuminated fans and other LED lighting were not going to show off the case to the best effect. To give a uniform white-light illumination on the system board side, a dual-lamp Cold Cathode Fluorescent kit was installed with one tube at the top and the second along the bottom edge. The CPU block and pump have blue LEDs and the two 120mm fans I have installed on the radiator and in the bottom of the case are lit with green LEDs.

[caption id="attachment_497" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Two white CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) light up the interior system board, cables and tubing."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_498" align="aligncenter" width="293" caption="The white tube illumination lets the subtle blues and greens add interest behind the textured clear glass side window. "][/caption]

The second side panel and the glass panel in the front bezel get a custom LED treatment. The gap between the side panel and the sheet metal behind the motherboard is not wide enough for a fluorescent tube to fit (at least not while still in its protective plastic tube.) I saw a lighting kit called "The Chameleon" that consists of three potentiometers (variable resistors) that connect to four small multicolor LEDs. The red, green and blue LED in the package each have a single connecting pin, with a common ground. By adjusting the red, green or blue knobs, you can achieve any color illumination you want. To this end, I assembled four LED light bars, each with three red, three green, three blue, and three white LEDs. (I added the white LEDs so I can dial up pure white illumination instead of the rainbow-tint white, and to get washed-out colors like pink, lavender or sky blue.) This many LEDs are going to draw much more current then the four in the Chameleon kit, and rather than build four adjustable voltage circuits, I used a Sunbeam Tech Rheobus fan controller. Each of the LED color clusters on a single bar is connected in series with a 240 ohm resistor to limit the current, and I alternated the colors across the bar to diffuse the light more (red, green, blue, white, red...). Wires from each color group are connected together and then attached to a single output of the fan controller. (I replaced the dual-color LEDs in the fan controller with a single-color red, green, blue, or white LED to indicate the color you are adjusting.) Three of the light bars are placed around the edge of the case behind the second side window and the fourth light bar is behind the front bezel.

There is no lighting in or behind the Thermaltake water reservoir. This makes it difficult to view the fluid level, so I created one more LED bar that connects directly to a 12v Molex disk drive connection. This bar has 12 ultraviolet LEDs that are directed at the rear of the plastic fluid reservoir and create a bright green glow.

[caption id="attachment_501" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Three LEDs connected in series for connection to a 12v DC source (or in this case, a 0-12v adjustable fan controller.)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_502" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Multicolor LED light bars attach to the fan controller outputs."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Three of the light bars are installed behind the second glass window on the left, right and bottom edge."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_504" align="aligncenter" width="265" caption="The color tint of the side panel and front bezel are controlled with the Rheobus in the upper drive bay."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_506" align="aligncenter" width="182" caption="Front view with door closed"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_508" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Two views of the right panel illuminated by the color-selectable LED bars."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_509" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Top panel with white glass insert."][/caption]

Project summary for Nouveaux Mod:  TIME: 119+ hours Time carving and constructing shell: about 103 hours Time assembling light bars (4 multi-colors LED, 1 ultraviolet LED bar to illuminate reservoir): about 6 hours Time installing, removing, and rearranging components, including air-cool solution, water-cool solution, and final installation of lights and wiring: about 10 hours MATERIALS: Cost of craft materials (wood, glass, etc.): $500 Cost of (final) computer components: Motherboard - Gigabyte GA965P-DS3 $125 CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 $180 RAM - OCZ DDR2 Gold 6400 2GB kit $229 Video - EVGA NVIDIA 8800 GTX $630 PSU - Antec TruePower Trio 650 $119 HDD - WD 500 GB SATA $160 DVD - Samsung PATA LightScribe DVD-RW $35 CDR - Sony PATA CD-RW $25 FDD - I/O Magic bulk floppy drive $15 Atech Flash Card Reader $35 Thermaltake BigWater Kit $140 Sunbeam Tech Rheobus Fan Controller - (LED Light Bars) $22 12" White Cold Cathode Light Kit $10 Green LED Fans (2 pc) $36 FoxConn Diabolic Case [salvage] "Free" Current computer parts value (as of July 2007): $1761

Art Nouveaux Case Mod, Part 5

The wood shell is just about complete except for some final details. Feet were finished out and glued onto the bottom plate. Once the wood glue had set, the bottom panel and feet were lightly sanded and sealed.

Air, Water, or a bit of both?
A second fan hole is made in the bottom of the case and positioned to direct air across the hard drive cage. Using a photocopy fan template, holes for mounting screws are drilled at the corners, and a 4.5" circular opening cut using a hole-saw. Unlike the top fan hole that is positioned under the decorative carving, the bottom fan cuts through both metal and wood. A wire grill is mounted over the opening to keep fingers out of the spinning blades.

After cleaning the case again, the power supply and drives are installed in the bays. Some shuffling may occur before I am done, but this is necessary to figure out cable runs and get the system ready for the first POST. I installed the motherboard in the tray after changing out the North Bridge heat sinks and attaching the frame for a Zalman CPU cooler.

If I was using the factory heat sinks, and Intel CPU solution, everything could be attached with the motherboard installed in the tray or case. Keep in mind that you put a fair amount of pressure on the stock Intel heat sink when you are snapping the retaining clips through the motherboard. I prefer to install the CPU and heatsink into the board before mounting it in the case to avoid stressing or damaging the motherboard later.

Air cooling considerations
The Zalman CPU cooler requires the installation of a two-part mounting bracket with one piece behind the motherboard, and the mounting bracket screwed through the board from the front. Some case designs have an opening in the approximate location of the CPU, allowing you to access the bottom of the board without first removing it from the case. If you don't have this feature (like this Foxconn case), then you will have to pull the system board to attach the bracket assembly.

The Gigabyte motherboard uses passive (no fan) cooling for the North Bridge, South Bridge, and voltage regulators. Some after market coolers are available for common chipsets, but how your manufacturer mounted their stock cooler will determine if you can easily replace this.

The power supply wires are not sleeved except for the motherboard connector, so I used some blue split-loom tubing to cover the multicolored wires running around the case. To add a bit of blue color on the motherboard itself, I replaced the yellow North Bridge heatsink with one of the larger Zalman North Bridge passive heatsinks (just visible below the copper-colored CPU heat sink.)

[caption id="attachment_478" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="POST (Power On Self Test) is done with a Zalman CPU cooler. Exposed wires from the power supply are concealed with blue split-loom tubing."][/caption]

Water cooling considerations:
Water cooling usually requires some sort of CPU bracket or nut-and-bolt configuration mounted through the motherboard first. To install a water cool kit, most everything has to come out of the case again.

Other considerations include where to mount the pump, radiator, and reservoir, and any other custom liquid cool components such as hard drive cooling blocks, flow indicators, thermal sensors, etc. You may need to consider where water hoses must be able to run, especially if you choose to mount the radiator or other component outside of the case.

Mounting everything internally to the case is probably one of the more difficult projects, only because most computer cases are not designed with enough clearance around the fan opening to mount the radiator. You might be able to make room to mount it on the top or front if you are willing to give up drive bay expansion or are ready to rearrange their placement.

Water cooling in the "Demonic" FoxConn case would be difficult without totally removing the plastic hard drive assembly or mounting the radiator on the outside of the case.

Challenges you would encounter installing your first water cool system would probably have hose connections are at the top of the list. Related concerns will include how much hose will you need, getting all of the necessary parts, getting the correct fittings, and also what order should you make those connections.

[caption id="attachment_480" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Reduce the anxiety during a first-time water cool build by using a kit."][/caption]

One way to minimize these issues and reduce or eliminate your anxiety might be to start with a water cooling kit for your first project. This is probably the easiest way to make sure that you are not leaving anything out and that you have a series of step-by-step instructions to work from. Don't get me wrong, even with a kit, you still have to make some choices, like where to mount the radiator and pump, and you will still have several opportunities to cut the hoses too short or too long.

[caption id="attachment_482" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="What's in the Bigwater kit? Clockwise from the bottom left: Instructions, top and bottom brackets, drive bay reservoir, bottle of UV reactive coolant, radiator, CPU cooling block, pump, and UV reactive green tubing."][/caption]

To give you a better idea of what this means, I chose to use a Thermaltake Bigwater kit in the Nouveaux Mod case. This worked out for internal mounting, only because of the severe modifications I made to the side panel and latch. The latch mechanism would have been visible through the glass side panel, so I removed it. To make the radiator fit, I had to take out the small hinge and lock tabs as well. Finally, the only reason the Thermaltake radiator can fit inside is that the clearance around the edge of their radiator is much smaller than those found in the Swiftech, Danger Den, or similar radiators.

One disadvantage of this kit is the small hose size and reduced water flow from the pump as a result. It would be easy enough to add additional components like a flow meter or other cooling blocks, but for this project, I chose to keep it simple by only using the parts included in the kit for cooling just the CPU.

The instructions that come in the kit are tiny, but are illustrated and contain the detailed step-by-step process for installing the components. They start with mounting the CPU cooling block using a metal back-plate, insulated with foam and Mylar pads, and held in place to the system board with a series of bolts with insulating washers and nuts.



Step 1. The CPU is installed, thermal compound spread over the surface, and then the copper water block placed in position. Another bracket holds the block centered and is held in place with four more nuts.

Step 2. The manual shows you how the radiator can be mounted, either inside the case or outside. In either configuration, the cooling fan is attached to move air from inside the case across the radiator's cooling fins. I installed the radiator in the rear, with a green LED illuminated fan attached to the radiator.

Step 3. The reservoir included in the kit is installed an open 5.25" drive bay, keep in mind, you need to be able to slide this out of the bay to fill with fluid. (That turns out to be a real pain with the Nouveaux Case Mod; the front panel must be removed to pull this out far enough to fill.)

Step 4. The pump can be installed most anywhere, so I positioned it in the relatively clear space above the expansion card slots.

Step 5. Cut and connect the hoses. (Shown here in four steps)

Step 5a. Attach a length of hose between the CPU block and the radiator.
I chose to connect the hose to the outside connection to minimize the curve
with the hose. If bent too sharply, it will eventually kink unless you have
something like an internal spring or external spiral wrap to keep the bend
supported.



 

Step 5b. Attach a length of hose between the reservoir intake and
your second connector of the radiator. The reservoir has two connections;
the intake is located higher on the tank, about even, or slightly above the
recommended "full" water line. The output of the reservoir is lower,
and well below the recommended fill level.



 

Step 5c. Connect the reservoir output to the pump's intake. This connection order means that the reservoir supplies a constant source of liquid to the pump, and water returning to the reservoir can release any trapped air bubbles before returning to circulation.



 

Step 5d. Connect the pump's output to the remaining CPU block connector.

 

[caption id="attachment_490" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Add coolant and run the pump until all of the air is out of the lines. Then you are ready to turn on the computer. If you don't clear the air and get the fluid flowing, the CPU can overheat and shut down to protect itself."][/caption]

Step 6. Fill the reservoir, watching for any leaks at the connections. Connect the pump to a power supply and briefly start it to begin moving fluid through the lines and radiator. Add more fluid and repeat. Use a stand-alone power supply to run the pump until you clear all of the air from the line.

BYO Testing Tip: How to turn on a stand-alone power supply  On a computer power supply that has the ATX-20 or 24 pin connector with color-coded wires, you should see a single green wire You can use a paper clip or piece of wire to short this pin to one of the black wires. When the supply is plugged in and turned on, it should power on full without being attached to a system board. Alternative to shorting pins: Use a Power Supply test module. These connect to the 20/24 pin connector and perform the same operation, and also show you with LED lights or meter that the supply is working.

The actual order of flow through your cooling blocks and radiator is not too critical, but there are some common sense rules, such as passing the hottest water (from a block) into a radiator before going through another block, or at least cooling the hottest parts first.

If you were to add graphic card, chipset, memory or hard drive cooling, you might want to use more than one radiator to have the coolest possible fluid passing through the blocks. Using larger tubing and a more powerful pump will also improve the overall efficiency of a water-cool solution.

I would also arrange the flow through the most critical, then the greatest heat sources first. A reasonable sequence would be CPU, then graphics card, then chipset, memory, and last, the hard drives. Hard drives may generate more heat than chipset or memory, but since they usually are air-cooled without any fins, and should be less critical of the need.

Next time: Nouveaux Case Mod wrap up with lighting and effects.

The Quetzalcoatl CaseMod, Part 5

Part 5: Electrical - Front panel switches and lights

The time to think about any lighting effects, switches, or other connectors you want to make available through the modified shell is during its rough construction. If you wait to run wires after you start finishing the surface, you may have problems getting the wires concealed or run where you want them to come out. The best solution is to plan wire runs while you are still gluing the foam or add tubing or channels to run wires.

For a power switch or reset switch, remember that you do not need to limit yourself to the momentary contact switch buttons that came with the case. As long as your switch is "off" in its normal position, you can use it as a replacement for the typical front panel computer buttons.

[caption id="attachment_251" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Any n/o (normally open) momentary contact switch will work as a power or reset button."][/caption]

Some of the switches I had to choose from include an LED-lighted pushbutton, the original front panel buttons from the RaidMax case, a keyboard style switch, and a doorbell switch. Any of these could be used to power-on or reset the computer. I selected the keyboard style switch for its square design.

[caption id="attachment_252" align="alignnone" width="269" caption="Two of the switches are hot glued to the back of the front panel. The key caps are just flush with the front surface."][/caption]

Playing around with some different styles of buttons, I decided on using a set of generic square-keyboard button style switches, and then hot-glued some additional key caps to the front panel to repeat the pattern. To make the switch caps all the same color, and to fit in with the new case style, the caps have been blacked-over with a little acrylic paint.

[caption id="attachment_253" align="alignnone" width="276" caption="Additional key caps are glued to the front to repeat the pattern."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_254" align="alignnone" width="264" caption="Cardboard is glued over the Styrofoam to prepare it for the paper mâché coating."][/caption]

 

Two large red LEDs are installed in the eyes to signal hard drive activity. Inside the mouth, I installed a single red LED Meteor Light kit that had been removed from its plastic tube and reconfigured into three side-by-side segments.

[caption id="attachment_255" align="alignnone" width="171" caption="The control buttons for the Meteor lights can be seen on the back of the head and in one of the expansion slots. The controller for the bottom LED strips is the small blue box stuck to the back of the case."][/caption]

The control circuit for the mouth light and the wiring for the eye lights are embedded in the back side of the head, with a removable cable running into the case for power and the HDD pin connection. Inside the bottom of the side panels, I mounted two of the red LED Meteor Lights with their connections extending out the rear of the panels to connect to a second control circuit.

[caption id="attachment_256" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="A view of the case showing the red LED Meteor Lights in the mouth and with the red LEDs (HDD activity) in the eyes."][/caption]

Mutant Mods Red Meteor Light Kits are case lighting kits that use low-voltage LED lights (12 in a tube) with a electronic controller that can generate multiple lighting effects such as sequential fading or blinking.

Next time: Skin of the beast -- paper mâché surface texture and coloring

The Quetzalcoatl CaseMod, Part 3

Part 3: Hinged side panels
For the Quetzalcoatl mod, I wanted sloped panels to create a pyramid shape under the head of the feathered serpent cap. To keep the weight down, I used sheets of PVC plastic for the extended side panels, but had to come up with a way to angle the sides uniformly, and to have enough strength to hold up to handling. If I made them stationary, it might make it difficult to access the inside for wiring, lighting, or other purposes. I came up with the idea to hinge the panels, using a strip of continuous piano hinge along the bottom.



A section of piano hinge is cut to the length of the panel, centering the holes as best possible. Angle brackets are riveted to the hinge first. This sets the spacing of the brackets along the panel. Next, mark the holes of where the brackets line up on the panel, and drill holes for rivets. Anchor to the bracket and hinge assembly to the panel with more rivets. (I used pop rivets, and then flattened them with a hammer and anvil to make them extra tight and a lower profile.)

With the hinges anchored to the sides and front, panels of PVC plastic were then riveted to the sections of piano hinge. The hinge creates an adjustable angle between the base and the sides of the case and allows a way to gain access into the cavity as needed. Two sheet metal screws anchor the top of the plastic sheet to the side panels of the case.



To allow air flow into the front and sides of the case, I used some pierced sheet metal and pop-riveted it to the brackets and any unused hinge holes along the bottom edges. The pierced sheet is attached in sections so either of the case side panels can be removed for interior access; only the front section is riveted to the case itself.



Where the angled PVC side panels are attached to the case's panels and can be removed, screws hold the PVC securely to the metal side panel. The front panel is also hinged, but is not removable. Two magnets are hot-glued to the inside of the PVC to keep this panel in place when closed.



The top of the case has a new radiator fan hole that will need to be able to exhaust the heat somehow. This means an open chamber must be made underneath the head of the feathered serpent. I used pop-rivets to anchor a thin PVC plastic sheet in a curved shell, leaving the back open to vent hot air from the top fan. Over this, I formed a piece of steel hardware cloth, folding the edges under.

Two pieces of adhesive-backed hook-and-loop Velcro hold the hardware cloth to the plastic shell. The self-stick Velcro can be held temporarily in place against the screen, but will pull off the first time the screen is removed. To secure the Velcro more permanently, I added a layer of hot glue right through the mesh onto to the sticky side of the tape.

Water cooling



With the basic foundation complete, all of the components are installed in the case, including the CPU and hard drive cooling blocks, and the two radiators and pump are attached to the case.



Hoses were cut to move water from the radiator to the CPU block, from the block to the pump, to the hard drive cooler, and then into the radiators again. While almost any order could have been used, this flow should move the cooled water from the radiator across the CPU first, before being pushed on to the hard drives and back into the radiators. A fill-port reservoir was attached outside on the rear of the case, and the hose connected with a "Y" splitter just before the pump's intake.

I connected a drain hose to the lower radiator hose using another "Y" adapter and an aquarium hose valve to easily drain the system if needed. After adding some water and coolant to the reservoir, I used an external power supply to run the pump to check for leaks and to remove as much air from the system as possible.

Next time: Packing foam

The Quetzalcoatl CaseMod

During my first case mod project of the Borg Cube, I took time to explore and compare several different case mod techniques, including window cutting, light kits and water cooling. These procedures are fairly basic in terms of modifying or altering a plain vanilla computer case. But, if you ignore the glued-on pieces of toys and printer parts, no significant changes were made to the double wide Borg system chassis or to its overall construction.

[caption id="attachment_175" align="alignnone" width="218" caption="The Quetzalcoatl case mod - really an experiment with arts & crafts?"][/caption]

Taking a "craft" approach:
After my Borg project, I started compiling a list of other case modification designs that might be fun to do. I think that some of the more interesting computer "mods" are ones that result in a shell that no longer looks like a traditional computer case. This does not mean that you have to build a case from scratch, or that you need extensive experience in sheet metal forming, fiberglass, wood or plastic work (although it never hurts if you do have such hobby experience).

Instead, consider how you could stylize a case using some simple craft techniques such as with foam, hot glue, and paper-mache. The idea for this project is one of an "arts and crafts" approach to computer case modding, and to point out that you do not need to go all "high-tech" or have extensive experience building computers to do your own case mod. The reasons for modifying a computer case only need to be your own.

Keep in mind that any project you come up with needs to work within the environmental requirements of the computer system. You will need to keep air vents unblocked to maintain a cool environment for the system. And I strongly suggest that you need to plan ways to make your design modular, or at least to give you a way to access the inside of the case, not just for maintenance, but to be able to install components.

One thing I really liked about water cooling the Borg case was that the resulting system is very quiet, even if you aren't trying to overclock or improve cooling of the CPU, video, motherboard chipset or hard drives. For this case mod project, I could probably get away with standard air-cooling, and it probably would be slightly quieter because I will be building a secondary shell around the existing case. But I really like the dramatic noise reduction I found from the water cooling setup, so I will be installing a water system; this time it will be based on Danger Den components.

The blank canvas:
For this project, I chose the Raidmax "Virgo" ATX case, which has both front and rear 120mm fans. My first step is to remove parts that will not be used, including the plastic front bezel and to cover up the side window.

Why choose the Raidmax case for this project when I have stripped off or covered up most of the features? The main reason was because of my component selections and my choice to water-cool the case. I could not fit the two Danger Den radiators inside of several other cases I checked out before starting the project. To mount the radiators inside the case, it had to be at least a certain width; several of the cases I examined did not have the extra clearance.

I also wanted to have a minimum number of 5.25" drive bays to mount dual SATA drives in the Danger Den HDD water cooling kit, and still be able to have the top drive bay available for the DVD drive. None of the cases I examined could handle a radiator mounted to the rear 120mm fan either inside, where it was blocked by card slots or system board components, or outside, where it overlapped the rear I/O connections or video slot.

And last, for the top-mount radiator, there has to be a minimum clearance between the power supply and the front drive bay where the DVD drive is mounted.

System Configuration:

• Case: Raidmax VIRGO ATX Case with 420W Power Supply


• Danger Den cooling components:
  
  
  
  • Black Ice Xflow Xtreme Radiator
  
  
  • Copper TDX Socket 775 Water Block
  
  
  • Aqua Drive-2 Hard Drive Cooler
  
  
  • D5 12V Water Pump
  
  
  • 10-Foot PrimoFlex Red UV Tubing
  
  
  • Adjustable Hose Clamp
  
  
  • Red Cooling System Fillport
  
  
  • Fillport Reservoir
  
  
  
  

Next time: Tear it down to build it up. Removing parts not needed to make space for the ones that are...

The Borg Cube Case Mod, Part 6

This is the continuing saga of Borg Assimilation. Our cube appears to be seeking out advanced technology feature and programming support. Unfortunately, we find that the newer hardware is not always supported by the operating system (and our core systems are not the most advanced, either!) Here are the log files showing the analysis of the assimilated system code.



BORG Assimilated technology (AKA system specs):

• ABIT AA8 DuraMAX system board (Intel 925 chipset, Socket 775, integrated Realtek sound and Ethernet)


• Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz HT CPU


• 1GB DDR2 dual-channel RAM


• NVIDIA 6200 PCI Express video


• One Parallel ATA (IDE) channel with Samsung CD-RW, DVD±RW


• Four SATA channels with 160GB and 120GB hard drives

Assimilate MS-DOS
This takes no effort since there is no special hardware support at all. DOS uses whatever hardware devices are provided by the system BIOS. With a generic CD-ROM driver, MSCDEX and the other "real mode" support, DOS sees the hard drives, provides generic VGA support and that's about it. This configuration has no clue what USB devices are and if you hunt hard enough, it might support networking and sound on some systems, but don't hold your breath...

Assimilation complete: limited access to BORG-assimilated technology.


Assimilate Windows 98SE
Windows 98 detects the IDE controller and provides access to optical drives for driver installation. Installation of the Intel INF drivers for the 925 chipset allow Windows 98 to detect USB devices, but does not appear to provide support for PCI Express (PCIe) slots, so it does not support NVIDIA display drivers; and there is no audio support. It does detect USB and the flash card reader once the Intel Chipset drivers have been installed.

Two devices are still displayed as "unknown" in device manager. (Similar problems were found with ME, but at least one work-around for video was discovered; see below.)

Assimilation complete: limited access to BORG-assimilated technology.

Assimilate Windows ME
Windows ME detects the IDE controller, but not the DVD and CD-ROM drives attached to it. ME does have basic support for USB and detects memory card reader fine. Use of a USB CD-ROM drive allows install of Chipset drivers. After Intel Chipset drivers installed, Windows ME displays both Optical Drives in My Computer.

Device Manager still shows two "unknown" devices: PCI Card and PCI Universal Serial Bus. The Realtek audio setup reports that there is no support for Win9x, and will not run. Installation of the NVIDIA video drivers for Windows 95/98/ME proceeds, but does not detect the video adapter when complete (apparently no PCIe support either.) The system board documentation only lists support for Windows XP and 2000.

By deleting the PCI VGA adapter and restarting, I forced Windows ME to use the NVIDIA 6200 driver for the video adapter. After restarting, the splash screen appeared with a weird mix of 16 colors for the shaded startup bar and normal shading for most of the rest of the screen. The Windows ME desktop was almost unreadable - like looking through muddy water. Switching from normal analog VGA to the DVI connector with an adapter, the display appears to work fine in true color and high-resolution modes.

Assimilation complete: limited access to BORG-assimilated technology.



Assimilate Windows 2000
Installation to a small partition would not proceed, so I pulled the primary SATA drive and left a second drive to install to. I had the setup create a small 20GB partition for the new OS. Once at the desktop, I checked device manager and found a number of unknown devices (this is normal until chipset and other drivers have been applied.) After installing the Intel chipset drivers, all but the Ethernet controller, a PCI Device, and the Video controller were detected.

Installation of the Realtek Network driver cleared that device from the list of unknowns. The sound driver would not install until I applied Service Pack 4. Service Pack 4 also added USB support, at which point Windows 2000 detected the Flash card reader at the next startup, although there is still an issue with the USB controller being flagged in the USB device list (but it works, so ignore it for now...)

Sound, video, networking, optical dives, and USB are all functioning, although the USB controller still shows the drivers are not loaded in device manager.

Assimilation complete: full access to BORG-assimilated technology established.

Assimilate Windows XP
This was the cleanest install so far. Install Windows XP normally; cancel any new hardware detection that asks for driver media. At the Windows desktop, install the Intel Chipset drivers first. Install Network, Audio and Video drivers. The final step was to run Windows updates and install any new driver versions detected by the update process. All devices were detected, no "unknown" or "other" devices showing in Device Manager.

Assimilation complete: full access to BORG-assimilated technology established.



Assimilate Linspire 4.5
Linspire 4.5 (also known as Lindows 4.5) installs without issue to the SATA drive after booting from the CD. Support for the detected hardware is very basic, but does include high resolution VESA video modes, DVD and CD operation; sound and network are not operational

Assimilation complete: limited access to BORG-assimilated technology.

Assimilate Linspire 5.0
The Linspire install CD starts fine, but has problems when trying to load the Linspire Live! (a demo that runs Linspire from CD), running the diagnostics, or starting the Install process. I have seen a similar situation when the default drive is in a "non-standard" configuration, such as with RAID striped drives. The problem usually comes down to not being able to install the OS until the hardware or chipset driver is installed and you can't install the driver until the OS is installed. The simple solution is to install the OS to a standard IDE drive, install the necessary drivers, and then use a program like Symantec Ghost to copy the image to the RAID media.

To test this theory, I replaced one of the optical drives with a standard IDE hard drive to do the install. The first time I tried this, I disconnected the CD-RW drive, while leaving the DVD drive attached as Master (and configuring the IDE hard drive as slave.) Linspire still locked up, but with different messages. I eventually got around to configuring a hard drive as master and connecting the CD-RW as slave, at which point the Linspire install performed flawlessly.

One thing I noted was that the Linspire setup takes only a fraction of the time to get to the desktop as any of the other OS installs. Linspire 5.0 supports high resolution VESA video modes, the onboard sound and network adapter, and can access the CD-RW and DVD+-RW drives and USB Flash card readers.

So far, all of my attempts to install or transfer a working system image to a SATA drive in this system failed to produce a bootable image. One very interesting feature I found while trying to get this working was the ability of Linux to mount and access CD-ROM .ISO file images as media and the ability to mount and access FAT drive partitions.

Assimilation complete: limited access to BORG-assimilated technology.

The Borg Cube Case Mod, Part 5

Finishing Touches and Special Effects
I discovered that the Thermaltake water-cooling kit for the CPU has a neat little installation trick. The pump and the small shampoo-bottle style reservoir already had flat steel brackets mounted to them. The water cooling kit includes a number of small, extremely strong magnets that are to be placed between the bracket and the case, holding the pump and reservoir to a steel case without mounting screws. (If you don't have a steel case, there are several thin steel plates and some mounting dots to hold them to aluminum or plastic.)

I liked the concept so much, I took the idea and applied it to holding other things in place. Do you have problems with the little foam mounting-tape pads failing and your lights falling off? Grind a shallow hole in the end block, and epoxy glue small magnets in place. Snap -- and the lights are in place; but they can still easily be removed or adjusted anytime you want.

For the plastic panels and assorted parts inside the case, I just hot glued a number of small magnetic "feet" to the back, and then dropped the whole thing into the chassis. I repeated the process with some plastic drive bay panels by grinding the tabs off and then using hot glue to attach magnets to the back. On the inside of the side panel, an ultraviolet LED was hot glued to a small magnet then positioned to shine on the water flow indicator.

Thermaltake includes some water additive to prevent mold and algae from growing in the tubing and pump; they also recommend adding regular automotive antifreeze 1:10 to the water. This gives it a nice fluorescent yellow-green glow under black light CCFT and UV LEDs.

[caption id="attachment_137" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The green glow of the pump and hoses is from antifreeze mixed to a 1:10 ratio with distilled water."][/caption]

I started with a Thermaltake Aquarius II water cooling kit and replaced the CPU block with a newer model that works with the Socket 775 processors and mounting holes. I added a flow indicator and the top-mounted drive bay reservoir — which required hose barb adapters to feed from the large reservoir hoses into the smaller tube size used in the kit.

[caption id="attachment_138" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The Borg logo cover conceals the floppy drive and card reader, top-to-bottom drive bays are behind the cover on the right."][/caption]

The front of the case is a hinged plastic cover, with a small door over the floppy bays, and a large door over the row of 5 1/4" bays. Using a spiral cutting bit in a Dremel tool, I cut the front louvers off of the large drive bay door and glued a rounded vent panel down into the opening. I glued some "chrome" pieces from a toy gun over the ends of a Spiral Liquid Cold Cathode Light and recessed the entire thing down one side of the large door.

For the floppy drive door, I created a Borg "logo" from 1/4" Plexiglas and mounted a piece of red electroluminescent film behind it. This is held to the panel with double-stick carpet tape, and the inverter mounted on the inside of the cover. Both the CCFT tube and the EL panel use 12volts with a common cable running inside to the power supply.

[caption id="attachment_139" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Front of case after painting - doors open."][/caption]

More panels cover the inside of the door to conceal the chewed-up plastic edges. Toy parts, some wire and an old Cyrix 686 CPU with the pins ground off and the core exposed add some interest to the fan side of the case front vents. I mounted a double-plug USB connector in the plastic block, with the cable threading back through the case front to the system board.

For the green cold cathode tube under the chassis (between the wheels), I attached the inverter to the rear of the case with Velcro, and ran the power plug to a Mutant Mods' 3 Port External LP4 Modding Backplate; the tube is held to the bottom with magnets.

CAUTION: don't use magnets to hold the inverters to the case. A strong magnetic field can interfere with the tiny transformer used in these, and could cause it to overheat or do strange things. (Take my word for it - I'm telling you that you will burn-out the CCFT inverter, and could risk a fire if it overheats in the process. Mine didn't burst into flame, but it did get very hot, and it did fail.)

All of the front drive bays are full: The two 3 1/2" bays hold a floppy drive and flash media card adapter. The 5 1/4" bays hold a DVD±RW drive, a CD-RW drive, two SATA hard drives (in mounting brackets), an Internal 5.25" Bay PC Stereo Speaker, and controllers for the fans and lights: Aerocool Gatewatch 4-fan controller and a SunbeamTech Lightbus controller.

Both controllers were already a silver finish, so - a little silver model paint, and so are the rest of the front panels including the speaker, optical drives and bay covers. Once all of the plastic parts have been attached, some flat black enamel paint helps to assimilate them into a uniform whole. Some gold and silver model paint on select panels and box covers completes the case mod appearance.

Next: The Borg Cube assimilates multiple OS versions

Choosing a Case

Computer cases come in many shapes, sizes, colors and levels of functionality. Before purchasing a case you'll want to consider several things.

Functionality vs. Aesthetics
End users tend to choose a case based on outside appearance and price. Computer experts tend to choose based on functionality and brands. The quality of most cases that would be considered aesthetically pleasing tends to vary, since much of the styling is done by plastic shells over a simple metal box. Check the display models whenever possible to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Power supply
The power supply is one of a few PC components that has moving parts (a cooling fan or fans), and is a possible point of future failures. Therefore, choosing a case with a reliable power supply is very important. The wattage of a power supply is likely less important than its reliability. 450W-500W is more than enough for the majority of systems running today.

500-750W may be necessary when multiple hard drives and optical drives are used in conjunction with high end video or other components. Industry standards for measuring the reliability of a power supply (or most other PC components) do not exist. When in doubt, we recommend staying with major brands such as Antec.

High end gaming systems or system running two or three video cards and water cooling may need power supplies up in the 800-1000W range! One work-around you may see is systems using dual power supplies to distribute the load between components, and providing better stability for overclocking.

Cooling
A case fan (or fans) is highly recommended! With the modern processors used today it is important to deliver cool air to hot components such as processors, video cards, and hard drives. Failure to do so can result in decreased stability and longevity of a system, especially since the failure of a power supply fan can go unnoticed for weeks in a system until the power supply fails or shuts down from overheating.

High temperature is one of the worst enemies of all computer components! A front case fan should pull ambient air into the case, while the power supply fan and rear case fans will move hot air from inside the case out. This creates a flow of air across the CPU and helps maintain the temperature inside the case at a relatively low and constant level. Top or rear case fans should push hot air out of the case.

Side panel fans (usually positioned near the CPU assembly) should be mounted to pull cool air into the case where it is needed most. A dual fan power supply is recommended when using modern AMD Athlon/XP/64 processors or Intel Pentium 4 processors. The second fan on the power supply helps quickly move hot air away from the processor's heat sink fan combination.

Ease of Use
A roomy case that is easy to access and does not have sharp edges should be on your list. To be fair, the manufacturers are doing much better in removing sharp edges and making strong, attractive cases. But, keep in mind that manufacturing a case out of thinner sheet metal, having straight, unrolled edges, no reinforced folds or framing. Using standard screws (or pop-rivets) are some simple ways manufacturers use to keep their cost down.

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Snap-on drive rails make installation quick and easy."][/caption]

If you are the type of person that is always changing something in your system, then investing in a case that uses time-saving features such as thumb screws, spring-locked covers, removable motherboard tray and snap-in drive rails will be a big plus!

[caption id="attachment_81" align="alignnone" width="186" caption="Thumb screws"][/caption]

Thumbscrews make accessing the inside of the case quick and easy. Cases may also have spring-lock catches, or other quick-release handles or tabs. These case styles still may use thumbscrews to secure the panels from vibration or torque during transport.

Form Factor and Compatibility
Matching the motherboard size specification to the case means that the mounting posts either line up or can be placed to match the holes in the motherboard, and that there is adequate room to install it in the case.

• ATX
  Almost all motherboards today are ATX or some variant thereof. ATX motherboards are typically 12" x 9.6" or slightly smaller. The most common size of case used to house an ATX motherboard is a Mid-Tower case. If a case supports ATX, it should also work with MicroATX and FlexATX motherboards.


• E-ATX and Full ATX
  Typically found in server cases such as full towers, cubes, and rack mounts, the size of these boards range from 12" x 11" to 12" x 13". If a case supports this size, it should also support ATX, MicroATX, and FlexATX. 
  
  [caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Interior of ATX case"][/caption]

Most cases have holes to set the standoffs where they match the holes in your motherboard. Removable trays make installation easier, but add weight and cost. Watch out for cases that have fixed mounting posts, if they do not match your motherboard form factor, you will not be able to use the two together.

[caption id="attachment_82" align="alignnone" width="98" caption="Metal standoffs"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_84" align="alignnone" width="182" caption="Nylon standoffs"][/caption]

Case standoffs should be installed to exactly match the holes in the motherboard. Standoffs support the motherboard, and position it to line up with the rear slots and case openings. Nylon standoffs can be used if there is a possibility of shorting out the circuit board; they also make for fast snap-in installation, although removing the board later can be a challenge.

Design
Some people like a case that has a slide out side panel, while others like a connected top and cover. Some people like having a slide out motherboard tray, while others prefer a very roomy case to install the motherboard to. We feel that each of these design elements has their pros and cons and that it's largely a matter of personal preference.

Case Material
Steel cases are inexpensive, but heavy. Aluminum cases are much lighter than steel cases, but tend to be much more expensive. The light weight makes it a popular choice among people who move their PCs around very often, such as LAN party fans. Some people believe that aluminum cases have slightly better cooling than the steel ones. While aluminum cases may have a more modern and exotic look than steel cases, they have a drawback of being structurally weaker than steel and more prone to surface scratching and damage.

Noise
Computers have very few moving parts except for fans and drives. The optical drives typically only run at full speed when accessing data, installing, or sometimes burning media. The same is true of floppy disks, in that you only access them to load or save data. The hard drive generally rotates whenever the computer is on, although power management may turn it off during periods of inactivity. Fans on the other hand, run all the time. Fans on the CPU, fans on the case, fans in the power supply. How the fan is mounted, the size and speed of the fan, and where the fan is located all contribute to system noise levels. Fan speed control kits, thermal sensors and pc-health monitored fan control can reduce the overall system noise during normal operation. Reinforced or sound-dampening construction can make the difference between quite operation and a noisy system.

Vibration Transfer Control
In thin steel cases, aluminum cases, and some of the ultra low-cost models, vibration can become a problem. Vibration Transfer can happen if a piece with moving parts (such as a fan, hard drive, power supply or optical drive) is screwed directly into the case. In severe cases this vibration can be transmitted into the side panels which case then act as noise amplifiers (think steel drums).

As a rule of thumb, the thicker the case is, the less likely this is to be a problem. Thicker materials tend to absorb vibration rather than transmit it. High quality cases will usually have a thick drive mounting frame. This increases stability and reduces the possibility of transfer. Another approach to this is to use plastic or another substance as an intermediary between the two mounting surfaces. To that end, a large number of cases now use plastic fan mounts instead of traditional fan mounting screws. Fans tend to be a bigger source of vibration then drives.

Drive Bays
The number, position and size of the drive bays may be an important factor when selecting a case. How many optical drives do you want? Do you need a floppy drive or bay-mounted memory card reader? (Many cases only have a single 3 1/2" drive bay opening.) Another factor that you may run into when starting assembly is positioning your drives so that the data cables can reach, or getting power-splitter cables to connect the drives to the power supply or reach other additions like lighting kits.

DIY Mods (Do It Yourself Modifications)
Some cases are more modification friendly then others. If you are thinking about purchasing a case and "modding" it then we recommend that you look for a case that has solid metal panels (either metal or aluminum) instead of plastic or a plastic/steel mix. Solid metal panels are much easier to alter. Also, it is better to have separated sides and top instead of joined sides and top. For top window or "blow-hole" mods, it is best to find a case that uses screws instead of rivets to hold the top of the case on, and use a case that has a flat metal top vs. a curved plastic top.

Special Features
Once you go beyond basics, the case manufacturers are trying to get your attention with a diverse set of enhancements, many of which sever no real purpose other than to look cool. Some of the case enhancements include thermometer display panels with sensors that you can place under the CPU or next to a hard drive. There are LED illuminated case fans, ultraviolet reactive case fittings, and light-up doors or front panel light shows. There are concealing drive bay doors that hide the ugly beige or black.

The Penguin Palace Mod, Part 4: Lighting FX and System Specs

Ripple Effect Lighting Disk
The appearance of rippling water was created by carving grooves into the top of a ¼ inch plastic disk, then heat polishing the surface. The disk rotates on a tiny gear motor, distorting the light from blue and cyan LEDs mounted under the disk. A scrap molex connector is used to provide 12v DC for the LEDs and 5v DC for the gear motor. LEDs are arranged in series of three, with a current-limiting resistor for each group.

 

[caption id="attachment_51" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Step 1: Grooves are carved into a 4" disk of clear acrylic."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_52" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Step 2: Polish the surface of the disk with a heat gun."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_53" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Step 3: Mount the motor and LEDs to the circuit board."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Step 4: Create a frosty block to hold the wheel and hide the circuit board, and mount it in the case."][/caption]

 

Additional Lighting
The waterfall and coolant hoses were illuminated by attaching two 15" ultraviolet tubes attached behind the front of the case and a third 12" tube at the rear. I found three cyan LEDs with a distinctive green tint, which I mounted behind the power button at the front of the case. I created an oversized power button with a couple of layers of clear plastic that I carved to look like multiple thin layers in a dome-shaped cover that snaps onto the switch shaft.

[caption id="attachment_55" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cool Lighting: LEDs in the feet, power supply, and the front power button; Ultraviolet CCFT tubes in front and rear of the case."][/caption]

 

Cool Lighting: LEDs in the feet, power supply, and the front power button; Ultraviolet CCFT tubes in front and rear of the case.

System Specs
The penguin mod wasn’t intended to be my day-to-day system; however I still wanted it to be fully functional for whatever use I chose for it. I kept the required components to a minimum and didn’t install a floppy drive, modem or other expansion devices. If I need a floppy, I can always connect a USB floppy drive.

I did install a DVD-RW drive, a single 250GB SATA hard drive, and a USB card reader. The video card is an EVGA nVidia 8500 and the system board has the usual 10/100 LAN, serial and parallel ports, USB and sound support. The Intel Core 2 6300 CPU is water cooled as is the hard drive.

[caption id="attachment_56" align="alignnone" width="237" caption="Penguin Mod: "Case Closed""][/caption]

 

The DVD and card readers were originally black, so I popped the bezels and tray cover off to paint them a metallic flake silver. Initial comments on the case "picked" at the drive appearance, stating that they were too plain, and did not fit the overall character very well. I listened, and went back to update these with some more ice...

[caption id="attachment_57" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The drives are further concealed by adding some frosted acrylic to the front. "][/caption]

 

The Thermaltake hard drive cooler is brushed aluminum, so it did not need anything special to fit my designated color scheme. Instead of the typical black radiator, I used a blue one, and installed white Silverstone 120 mm fans on the radiator and in the front of the case.

• System Board: ECS 570 SLIT-A


• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 6300


• RAM: 1 GB Patriot 3200


• Video: EVGA nVidia 8500 GT 256MB


• HDD: 250GB SATA


• Optical: Samsung DVD-RW (painted metallic-flake silver)


• Card Reader: USB 7-in-1 Digital Media Drive (painted metallic-flake silver)


• Hard Drive Cooler: Thermaltake (brushed aluminum)


• CPU cooler: Danger Den Socket 775 Water Block


• Radiator: Swiftech Blue


• Fans: Silverstone white 12cm


• Speakers: Computer Expressions Penguin Speakers (modified)


• Cooling Pump: Danger Den DDPDDC


• Waterfall Pump: unknown (salvage)


• Case: Unknown make (salvage)