WIP Project: Black Oasus

[Amarthfea]

So for the longest time I've been very content doing some cheep mods to my cheap case (ogre II) that I got with my first crossfire x1600pro setup almost 6 years ago. I've already worked with water cooling and have had the rig going for about 3/4 a year. Eventually I want to run a dual loop setup for a crossfire 4870x2 system, so a bigger case was necessary.

The project?
Use an old air conditioner as my new chassis of course!

reasons?
This case is huge at 22.75" long, 14.375" wide, and 20.375" tall. So I can definitely keep a large dual loop self contained in it, as well as some extra stuff I have in mind no problem. OH and the price was right.. Free!

My friend was in the process of moving, I was helping and she had one of those big dumpsters you fill they remove; anyways I asked if she minded if I took a look. (It wasn't like bagged garbage but like old electronics, broken chairs, old kid’s toys, oh and another parts computer hehe.) So I unbolted the broken ac components (ac rad had chunks missing somehow lol) and the journey began.

Right now I'm starting with structural integrity; I want it strong so I can bring it to lan’s easier than my last pc (which had lots of water cooling parts mounted outside of the case).


Objectives;

~ Twin 4*120 rads at the top for water cooling

~ 2 separate loops; 1 loop for graphics, 1 loop for cpu, mobo, and ram.

~ Edit - This will no longer be powder coated as there are to many surface imperfections (bumps, lumps, ect.) this being said a thin layer of body filler will be used to even everything out before priming, painting then clear coating.

~Relocate both louver sets to back

~Still have plenty of case ventilation with large case fans

~Keep case enclosed, yet allow the top to be removed with only a few screws (thumb or socket head -cap screws)

~Keep center of gravity at the bottom, so the reservoirs will need to be at the bottom as well as psu.

[Amarthfea]

Besides the actual physical work, right now I am also a bit stuck on the concept of mother board placement. On almost every computer the motherboard is placed in a vertical manner.


For this build the motherboard will either be placed at a 45 degree angle or will be placed horizontal.


I have acquired 2 pieces of acrylic from my local surplus store just by luck. They are about 26” x 20” and 1/8” thick, so I have enough for an acrylic front see through panel as well as a see through motherboard tray (also removable, and with a hole to remove the darn bracket at the back without having to remove the whole board )


Anyways, so I have some concept pictures I designed in my spare time of my ideas just kind of getting things together while I am waiting for some warmer days to work in the shop.

[Amarthfea]

So like i said I'm still debating on which would be best, I can see both having ups and downs.

anyways here are some pics of the build progress, this is what I'll keep updating. since I'm currently unemployed i have the time, but not all days are mild and all my tools are out in the shed and super cold so mild days I do a lot of progress.

[matsta31]

I would go horizontal, à la Mountain mods

[enerGy,]

it looks like a toaster

[Amarthfea]

So I've been busy looking for work and whatnot.

~ So the 3D model is almost finished, or may be finished enough for me, I'm not sure if I'm going to bother sketching the tube layout and draw in video cards, depends on how bored I get to be honest. Maybe I'll draw in some 6990's next week when they are released lol.

~ I did get some work done, the new bottom pan is in and not warped, so the chassis is now square.. at last!

~Also I got the 2 covering panels flattened out, rough cut, and folded, next week they should be precision cut and riveted in place. Because I am using salvaged AC ducting metal as my sheet metal, it all needs to be flattened out, then rough cut, formed the final cuts. A bit of extra work but worth it for the price I paid, which was nothing.

next post will have some new pics, thanks for the mountain mods idea, I was looking for that company but didn't know their name

[Amarthfea]

3D Models;

[Amarthfea]

The metal when I get it;


Metal flattened out;


New bottom plate;


Side covers;


Thats it for now, got ideas, comments or questions let me know. Others ideas and input are invaluable at these early stages.

[tragd]

do not forget pci slots :)

[Amarthfea]

Originally Posted by tragd

do not forget pci slots :)

haha of course! I'm also missing hard drives, and a hard drive rack as the moment as well..
so list for this week on solidworks,
a) PCI slots
b) Hard drive mounting / hard drives

for the pci slots, I'll likely be molding in a set from an old computer case I'll be gutting for the 5.25" drive bays, hard drive bays, and I guess PCI slotting/ maybe the whole back plate too lol