Project: Secret of the Ooze

[gvblake22]

My girlfriend has officially dubbed this project as the "Secret of the Ooze Case". I like the name too, so that's what it's gonna be! It's basically referring to the color scheme, you'll see...

Well, spring is nearly here and I'm getting modding fever again! :o
I've been planning this new project since about fall 2005 and although it has undergone many revisions (and probably still many more) I finally just made my first purchase toward the start (and hopefully completion) of the project! So I guess there's no turning back now

Anyway, the basic premise of this project is a completely custom case of the small form factor variety that focuses on silence. Here are some preliminary sketches of the layout:



As you can see, it is kindof split up into two stories. The bottom will house a full sized ATX PSU, two 5.25" drives, and two 3.5" HDD's as well as a single 80mm exhaust fan. The top portion is then left more open for a microATX sized motherboard, two cooling fans (one 120mm intake and one 80mm exhaust) and the other accessories (including temperature monitors, multi-media card reader, fan speed controller, power/reset buttons/LED's, and front USB/Firewire/Audio ports).

Dimensions are approximately 14" deep (front to back), 10" tall, and 10" wide.

The side panels be 3/16" thick Cast Acrylic in a dark gray tinted color. The and the drive cages will also be 1/8" thick flourescent green Acrylic. The motherboard tray will be 1/4" thick made of the same flourescent green Acrylic. The fans, and wires will also be flourescent UV reactive green. It might be hard to visualize right now, but I'm hoping once it starts coming together it will all make more sense and look good.

I also want to make it clear right from the start that this will be a long, constantly evolving project, probably lasting the remainder of 2006. So any subsribers will have to be patient with updates as they come in from time to time. So why the heck did I even bother to start this useless thread? Well, I'm just too damn excited about this project and I had to do something to occupy my mind! :P

So sit back, relax, and give me some ideas/feedback as I begin this project. It is my first time building a case from scratch and it will also be my first experience working extensively with plastic (Cast Acrylic). So it will be a learning experience for all of us! :D

[Tyreal]

Nice. Now get to work.

[gvblake22]

Yeah, Yeah, what do you think I've been doing the past few months?! :P

Anyway, my order for 20 of these little guys just shipped out this evening 8)
http://www.frozencpu.com/cpa-84.html?id=YREMTtPm

...Now on to see about getting the acrylic on order...

[Tyreal]

hhahaha! Nice man... This is gonna be a really good mod, seeing as you go all or nothing.. :D

[killswitch83]

hey Ty, this guy here has been "niccing" for some modding for quite a few months now, and this project has been in the works for at least that long. This is pretty much his own form factor, pretty unique when you look at it. And Blake, I'm glad you finally got the final workings out there for us to see, just how I imagined it!! :D

this should be your trademark, should it turn out well :D

[gvblake22]

HAHA, thanks Paul. I don't know about making my own form factor, but it is a unique layout that I haven't seen before. Hopefully that isn't for a reason!! :o

Should definately be a fun, interesting learning experience.

[gvblake22]

Woo Hoo.... FIRST UPDATE!!!!!
Even if it is a small update, I'm excited :p
I went out on a limb and ordered those corner cubes. I say "out on a limb" because I contacted FrozenCPU's technical support trying to determine the exact dimensions of the cubes as well as what thread size the inserts were. They said they new for a fact that they were 30mm in all directions but they couldn't determine the exact thread size of the threaded inserts. So I did my own detective work and by looking at the screws that they sold with the cubes decided that they were similar to the ones I've seen elsewhere (which I have already determined to be 3mm screws). SO I was just hoping that these were also 3mm threads so I could use the same screws for everything.

Well, I got them in and the threads were infact for a 3mm (M3) screw!!! *Jumps for joy*

But I measured them and they are 20mm cubes, not 30mm... :evil: But that's actually a good thing as I need to save every millimeter of space I can get! :)


I'm off to order the acrylic now. If all goes well, expect more updates again this weekend :mrgreen:

EDIT: Just noticed FrozenCPU just updated their site. The specifications I discovered and e-mailed to them are now listed on the page

[killswitch83]

oh man, for some reason I just felt the mod monster bite me.......now I want to go raid Performance PC's for my Sonata II case and custom make a completely clear side panel for it, lol.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by killswitch83

oh man, for some reason I just felt the mod monster bite me.......now I want to go raid Performance PC's for my Sonata II case and custom make a completely clear side panel for it, lol.

HAHAHA, you have to be careful. That mod monster sneaks up on you without warning and bites hard. Just like a snapping turtle, it does not let go either...

[killswitch83]

yesss, I know this NOW, unfortunately, lol :roll:

all I need is a hole saw, a Sonata II case, a Dremel, and plenty of acrylic, lol. what's bad is the spring bug and the modding bug bit me at the same time, so I don't know what the hell to do with myself, hehe :D