PC Modding

Thought I’d breathe some life back into this thread...
I recently stumbled upon one of the more interesting PC cases I've seen in a while...
It's pretty unique—take a look:
IMAGE!!

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By the way, why is (image)

Man, this is easily the most hyped case on the market right now...
🙂

I think... or maybe I'm just seeing things... correct me if I'm wrong, but those red and black wires at the top of the case look a little tangled up... 😛 ha-ha

We seriously need to revive this thread... I'm planning on doing some more PC Modding on a new case this weekend, and if I don't, I should at least check in here so this whole thing doesn't just fade into nothingness... 😛

I honestly can't believe nobody on this forum has anything interesting to contribute to this topic... Come on, you electronics geeks, throw out some cool circuit diagrams... maybe some tutorials on how to build them or something similar... it doesn't all have to be about "CASES"... give us some inspiration so people actually start modding their rigs... I know I will... haha 👍

Hey there!

I've been thinking about picking up a new case to give my build a complete overhaul, but I'm honestly stuck on which one to choose.
I was leaning toward something with more rounded edges or perhaps a unique, stylized silhouette.

On my current setup, I was planning to mount a single 120mm colored fan at the top, positioned right between the PSU and the optical drives, and then finish it off by adding a metallic gray mesh grille on the upper panel.

It would be awesome if you looped that section between the RAM and the power supply, maybe run some plex along the bottom and mount a fan right on top of it. I actually thought about doing the exact same thing, but my case has this rounded "roof" design that makes it impossible... so there goes that idea. Anyway, your NFS build isn't bad at all 😁

(Man, I just walked in the door and my feet are already killing me... 😛 , hey everyone!! )

I cut it out, and man, it looks killer. I sliced it into two equal sections so it opens up like double doors; I set it up halfway open, tucked a wire mesh screen underneath, and used an 80mm blue vent. I might post a photo later.

Mike De, snap a few photos of that rig of yours so I can actually see what we're dealing with here.

Which one?
Mine?
And what exactly would I be looking at? I don't get into PC Modding—honestly, I just don't spend my time on it because I have zero talent for that kind of stuff...😁

User88: nice job...
You're basically the only one even trying to keep this thread alive.👍

Bryan Wood49 said:Which one?
Mine?
And what would I even look at? I don't mess around with PC Modding! Honestly, I just don't waste my time on it because I have absolutely zero talent for that kind of stuff...😁

Come on, just snap a photo of that case so I can see what we're dealing with. I am incredibly curious—you’ve seen ours, now let us get a look at yours. I mean, you've definitely got an 8800 in there, right?

Just do it already!😁 🙏

northerncrane33 said:User88: Respect...
You're pretty much the only one actually trying to keep this thread alive.👍

It’s a shame to see something like this fall apart,
especially since I don't see anything even remotely similar
on Reddit.

I'm thinking about building a custom wooden case. I've already got the blueprints ready, but I'm holding off on actually starting until I've picked up all the hardware—motherboard, GPU, and everything else.

And what kind of components are you planning to pack inside?

Mike, seriously, is this case of yours actually going to make an appearance on a US tech forum? (And if possible, maybe skip the side panel?)

Greetings,
I have been tinkering with my jigsaw again, and I decided to upgrade the cooling setup. I ditched the old 80mm fan sitting above the RAM and PSU; I picked up a much beefier 12cm Thermaltake unit that pushes 78 CFM. It looks aggressive, and the performance is even better—internal case temps rarely climb above 38°C (you can practically feel the breeze everywhere), and my CPU temperature is rock solid. My overclocked AMD Athlon XP 2400 at 2.4 GHz (😈 😲 )) stays under 45°C even under full load with the CPU cooler cranked to 2500 rpm. When I drop the CPU fan down to 1200 rpm at idle, the temp sits at ==> 35°C (😲 ), which is fantastic.
That top-mounted fan also helps cool the memory modules, where I've set the latencies to 2.5 2 3 5. Since the BIOS doesn't allow for incremental voltage adjustments—it only offers AUTO, HIGH, and NORMAL—I opted for HIGH.

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My next move is swapping out the blue 90mm fan for a red 80mm one, purely for the aesthetic.

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Does anyone here know how to construct custom potentiometers for case fans? Specifically, I am looking for variable resistors so I can manually control these fans. If you could provide some rough pricing, that would be helpful, though I suspect DIYing them won't cost much compared to retail options. I want to build two: one for a 4.56W fan drawing 0.38 A, and another for a 2.88W fan drawing 0.24 A (both running on 12V). I am determined to make them myself because the pre-made potentiometers on the market are a bit overpriced. For the record, these fans have a single yellow wire intended for potentiometer connection to control the speed.

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Here are the photos.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...8/DSC00165.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...8/DSC00166.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...8/DSC00176.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...8/DSC00173.jpg
And the best shot is http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...8/DSC00177.jpg

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FEEDBACK WANTED!👍 👍 👍

Nice job. I think the case needs a little work, though. I’m planning to add an 80mm fan where the optical drive goes and a 120mm in the back since I already have the mounts. One fan will blow over the hard drive. I still need to clean up the cables, but man, that's going to be the hardest part.

I think I’ve finally cracked the code on how to build a potentiometer for a 120mm fan. Since the power draw is 4.56W and the operating voltage ranges from 6V up to 12V, the max current sits at 0.38A. Assuming the fan pulls its 12V directly from the power supply, we can calculate the fan's resistance to be 32 Ohms. All I need now is a potentiometer with a maximum resistance of 30 Ohms; if we dial it down, the minimum voltage hitting the fan would be 6.193V (which works since the box says the absolute floor is 6V), and at full blast, it hits the full 12V. This way, we stay perfectly within the fan's specified operating range.

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I mapped out the circuit in Electronic Workbench (assuming you all actually know what that's for), and I've attached a screenshot so you can see the min/max voltage and current levels for yourselves.

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My only slight concern is that 30 Ohm resistor—it's going to pull nearly as much current as the fan itself. Also, will the LED maintain the same brightness at 6V versus 12V? (I assume it will, but I'd love to hear from someone who actually knows their stuff.)
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Schematic: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...a_88/shema.jpg
Do you guys think this is actually doable? And where would I even find a potentiometer with those specs?

PLEASE SPARE ME THE STUPID COMMENTS —if you don't get it, don't bother typing.

I'm not entirely sure what you're aiming for here, but try this:

Grab a potentiometer rated for 5W.
Alternatively, just use PWM fan control. You won't have any overheating issues, plus you can dial it from 0% all the way to 100%, rather than being stuck between 50% and 100%.

If you want the fan to actually spin at lower voltages using a variable potentiometer, you'll need a larger electrolytic capacitor to help bypass the resistor during startup.

As for those LEDs... where's your schematic or the specs? Different colored LEDs require different forward voltages to even turn on.
Look, if you calculated a resistor for 12V to get an LED glowing, then drop that voltage down to 6V while keeping the same resistance, the LED will still light up, but it’ll be much dimmer. It really depends on the color.
Blue and white LEDs usually need about 4V to kick in, whereas red and yellow ones sit closer to 2 - 2.5V.

Do you have the max current and voltage ratings for these LEDs?

Whatever you do, DO NOT wire those LEDs in parallel.

The LEDs are mounted right on the fan itself.

I don't see any reason to drop the operating voltage below 6V.

HERE IS THE SCHEMATIC: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...a_88/shema.jpg

So, all I really need is a 5W potentiometer. My concern is whether the fan will actually spin if I dial the voltage down to roughly 3V—will that damage it? The fan box specifically lists a "Started Voltage" of 6V, which is why I was originally thinking about regulating the range from 6V to 12V. What would I need for that setup? (Mike, walk me through this a bit—does it actually matter which brand of potentiometer I pick up? I've never bought one before, and I have no clue what they cost.)

Intel D975XBX motherboard, Intel Core 2 duo E6700, dual ATI Radeon X1950 XTX CrossFire setup, 4GB of RAM, 3 hard drives, plus power supply, sound card, and a fan—still figuring that part out. Based on my math, things might get cramped because of the gap between the GPUs and the memory. Think this will actually work? (I don't know much about these combos)

Should I just pack in more fans, go for a bigger case, or maybe both?