Another Insane Case Mod by Mnpctech.com



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Super strength adhesion. Used for mounting windows in computer cases.

http://www.mnpctech.com/scotch_4010_tap ... _gods.html



Mnpctech.com is manufacturing aluminum computer feet used on Project Phenom.

To purchase, follow store link
Machined aluminum computer case feet







List of system specs here

Phenom 2.6 9900
2x 3870 X2
CoolerMaster Copper Sphere CPU cooler
WD 400GB HDD
2GB OCZ PC2-8000 memory
GB 790FX board
750W PCPC power supply

Iz3D 22" widescreen monitor
Thermaltake 7" 5.25 Bay LCD
Razer Lachesis Mouse
Razer Lycosa Keyboard
4 Black SATA II cables (right angled/straight)
Pioneer BD Reader + DVD +/-R/RW SATA
MS Windows Vista Ultimate

Brainstorming session for Mnpctech's project for AMD's launch


Project Phenom: Part 2 video segment, Mill-O-Matic!


Pre-Assembly before Plating


Final Video Installment



PROJECT: AMD PHENOM FX
S P O N S E R S

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The case we're modifying is a pre-production sample of the new SwordM direct from Thermaltake's factory in Taiwan.















Fan Grill Designs by PCDesignlab.com (laser cut from 1/8" thick aluminum, then chrome plated)

AMD Phenom 9900, 2.6 GHz
2x 3870 HD Radeons

















Photos by Tom Hawkinson
http://www.thomhawk.com

Some pics of the Thermaltake SwordM case. This case isn't avail in US yet... the word in the shop was "Fugly"











Anyone hear of an SS Motherboard option?! Theres MB mounting holes labeled "SS"

Heres the color sketch for what I had in mind for the theme.



I really like that first fan grill design, but Daves pulled out a grill design would fit our theme better. It will accent the straight line edges on the side panels. In particular the new top panel design we're working on, that will accomondates 3x 120mm exhaust fans.


PlanetAMD64


PCDesignLab


AMD


The waterjet cut 120mm fan grills. First up, PlanetAMD64 120mm fan grills waterjet cut from 1/8" thick 6061 aircraft aluminum. TASTY!!!









Heres the side panels after the first cnc milling session, note these are 1/4" thick aluminum! I don't mess around with flimsy stuff..heh. if you look at the circular carved designs in both panels, we're playing with the idea of opening those, then beveling the edge and mounting honeycomb modders mesh for better ventilation. Then mounting a 6.5" w x .850" tall aluminum badge on the right side mesh window with "PHENOM FX" like concept drawing







Heres the progress on the top panel. I've posted drawing I did in photoshop from the 2nd AMD video update nearly finished. The 3 holes are recessed for the AMD logo 120mm grills. I will probally mount the round hole vesion modders mesh beneath the grills. I'm using PCDesignLab grill as an example.





The recessed portion (right) is for the swordm's wacky duck bill whactchamacallit thing


I can honestly say this is the "Mother of All Case Badges!" This is the AMD logo body for the rotary latch, for the left access door. It's miled from 3/4" thick aircraft aluminum and measures 4.5" diameter by 2.5" tall!!





The top surface will be milled with recessed grooves for you fingers. This will also serve as the rotary latch, with a tumble inside, similar to a safe







AMD Phenom FX Rotary Latch





I debated for the longest time about what to do with the factory milled aluminum "duck bill" thingy on the rear of the top cover.. "Man, what was Thermaltake thinking?!" It struck me as fugly when I opened the box back in November. I debated for a long time whether to leave it or trash it. The funny thing is, it's so weird and unique looking that it would be a shame to trash it..lol! We came up with the idea of milling a heat spreader piece in the top panel to break up the curvy shape of the rear "duck bill"

fyi: the flat head screws you see in the photos were used for pre-fitting only. I plan to utilize socket head screws to fit the overall industrial theme







Remember the conceptual drawing? Looking back at it, I thought it made sense to drop a 120mm exhaust fan in this corner of our blank metal canvas. Craig did all of the manual programing of my designs, so it was only proper to give his shop, "CNC Metalcraft" a nice tag on the milled shell

I like seeing the fan controller. Most of my mods have always had fan controllers in either 3.5 or 5.25 bays. I love things that look mechanical and invite you to touch it. I was a teen in the 80s when modular stereo components were the rage. Zalman copied that era with the MFC1 plus. Out of the box your eyes are immediately drawn to the 3/16" thick aluminum bezel and extruded heatsinks. The plastic knobs actually look good, but I'd like to see something else done. Larger, more industrial with AMD's arrow logo milled deep into the cap.

I've done a lot of aluminum polishing with an electric buffer and by hand. Until you've done your own polishing, I can only describe it as extremely tedious work. It numbs your brain, but not in a good way. Theres only a few Modders like myself that have been crazy enough to polish their own aluminum parts, sethnmalice and Paul from coolercases.co.uk. It takes a lot of patience! Last year I polished the 26" tall machined 6061 aircraft aluminum side panels and motherboard tray on this tower by hand. It took me 2.5 weeks of work, on/off otherwise the task drove me out of my mind. If you don't have the proper buffing equip, you can wetsand out any imperfections first before buffing out the finish. I don't have all the pro equip, so the problem with 6061 alum, is it can scratch real easy. Any speck of dirt caught under a sanding block will create havoc in the finish, just like wetsanding a paint finish. Of course, this did happen a few times and you started over. I vowed I'd never do this again and seek a professsional next time I wanted this type of finish. "Project Phenom" presented this challenge again so I made some phone calls and found AAA Metal Finishing.

Yesterday I picked up the first pieces from AAA. On a saturday no less! Since Mnpctech manufacturers their own line of machined aluminum parts, I've always wanted to learn about chrome, copper, and bronze platting. AAA's owner, Raul gave my son and I a tour of the facility. The building is city block long! He showed us the steps involved in plating metal parts. I noticed one of Raul's clients was BigDog Motorcycles I recognized their logo on handlebars and frame brackets in different stages throughout the building. Before any part can be plated, it must first be Bead blasted and then polished, otherwise you will see any surface imperfections in the final chrome coating. Raul was kind enough to allow me to record some of the steps with my camera. I plan share this footage in the next video update for this project

The first parts to return are the new top panel and factory front bezel trim from the Thermaltake SwordM Case. The factory finish on the bezel was originally anodized silver.













This is the mock airfoil/heatsink piece for the top panel.









House of Kolor's "Kosmic Krome" Paint.. It's freakin cool paint dudes, but not something a paint newbie should start out using. It's very fickle in how it's applied. No worries here tho, Brads behind the spray gun 8)









The theme behind the Project Phenom's rear door design is futuristic.. Perhaps some strange type of space exploration equipment. Not neccessarily from Earth.











The duckbill thingy gets makeover.














I'll be mounting Round Modders Mesh on the back side of the openings in the milled side panel doors.

The small steel plates were spot welded onto the mesh, these will serve as AMD badges.



These triangular pieces were spot welded together. They mount inside the large side vents

I wayyy underestimated the time that would be involved in the assembly of the case. I forgot that all of thread holes in the chrome plated parts had to be re-taped. That along with missing odd-ball screws (4/40 x 1/2") among others, were misplaced or lost. Spent an hour at the local hardware store searching for fasteners.. In any case, heres some of the Bling that awaits assembly

What you're looking at in these pics, flawless chrome plating on the corner of AGP Vent, The left side access panel pieced together temporarily... Note, like the top panel in my last update, the recessed portions of the panel will offset with matte black vinyl. We didn't have time to paint, so the next best solution was matte black vinyl..The mesh will be painted Matte Black, to help offset the chrome, add depth to the reinforced features. Even with all of the Black bakground, this will be the most "Blinged-Out" computer evar.

Below, you're looking at the assembly of the left AGP vent, 120mm Aerocool fan sandwiched inside, but this fan will ultimately be replaced with Zalman w/ green leds I'm still waiting to arrive..






























I spent most of my time sleeving cables/wires with Black sleeving. Tedious work, but I hate messy cabling. I hope whatever PSU arrives is pre-sleeved from the factory. I can't afford the time to perform more sleeving. I also had to make fan wire extensions for 2, exhaust fans in the rear door and
side air intakes. I re-installed the SwordM's pwr/reset which are electroplated chrome plastic and the chrome plated Zalman ZM-MFC1 fan controller beneath the case front I/O panel. Perfect match of switchs. It's gorgeous. I'll take a photo today and post it soon.

The top panel is finished, but will be white led fans, not green







[url="http://www.mnpctech.com/moddersmesh.html"]Round Modders Mesh[/url] Ready for Matte Black Paint


Mounting one of the panel


Machined and Chrome plated "AMD logo" Side Rotary access panel handle


As I mentioned earlier, I wanted you to see the chrome plated bezel I/O port and zalman aluminum face plate up close.


AMD is shipping a 30" panel (crossfire ready) to meet up with the system at CeBIT. We can still use iz3D's in 2D mode for the system install that we're recording tonight. btw: I can't stress enuf how nice iz3D has been throughout this exchange. Awesome company!

Goodies arrive! compliments of AMD yesterday.

Phenom 2.6


2GB PC2-8000 memory


2x 3870 HD X2 ATI Radeon




1x 3870 weighs in at 2-1/4pds!


Gigabyte MA790FX


Gigabyte MA790FX









My favorite angle.. subtle biomechanical cues in the rear door





AMD Phenom 9900, 2.6 GHz
2x 3870 HD Radeons


We would like to try Crysis in this thing before AMD gets it!













I'd be willing to bet most of you would kick my ass in Crysis once it's installed. Gaming went by the wayside after I had kids. I'm still psyched to see all of this horsepower in action tho!

You can read the uncut submission here









Project Phenom on August 2008 cover issue of CPU.

This is quite possibly my favourite of all of your mods Bill alongside the simsons project

Josh

This mod rocks, plain and simple, no two ways about it.

seeing it first hand i can tell you it look way more cool in real life compared to in the photos.