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Building your own case?


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one good thing about building it yourself- you can sometimes simplify things to fit your taste, and also make it any shape you like. i'm not sure you can build your dream case for a hundred bucks- even with a crapload of labor intensive polishing, but, if you use a few materials you already have, i.e. mobo mount, cd/hd cages, etc. you should be able to make something work. those scavenged parts would look just fine with a bit of paint(inside color scheme) and polish the outside parts to fit the bill.

 

i've seen many an ambitious project go smoothly, and a few gone south. most of the failures were unfinished due to lack of funds or lack of interest. so as others have stated- plan for this, and if you plan on spending $100- expect that price to double or triple before it's just right.

 

but, you can't put a price on personal taste, or personal satisfaction. i hope you take on this project head on- and i wish you the best of luck!

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I have just gotten the case, thanks to my tech teacher.

 

its a full tower case, with no side pannels, and filled with old equitment. but it is sturdy and has good ventilation.

 

Thanks to my friend David I now have the dremmil also with more bits than I would ever use.

 

pictures tonight :D

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OK so heres what I have to start with:

DSCN0094.jpg

DSCN0093.jpg

DSCN0092.jpg

DSCN0091.jpg

DSCN0090.jpg

 

I will start cutting away what is not needed/wanted and putting in fan holes in the rear of the chasis. Hopefully I can make it out to homedepot this week and pickup what I need.

 

 

 

Total project cost so far= $0

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I plan on having the psu on top, unless I see amazing results in performance. I am going to mod the space above it to accept two 80mm fans side by side. This can blow directly onto the HD cage right next to it, but I dont plan on needing both cages. The front will have one (or two) 120mm fans blowing inward. the base will (if I have enough monies) have a tripple 120mm rad with fans and I will raise it up enough so it will get good ventilation. I am also planing on putting a side 120mm fan next to the pci slots and maybe one on top too.

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JB Weld FTW. If it can hold my race bike engine it will be good for a computer Case. One vital thing though get the area clean first.

Getting a clean cut for the case shell will be the hardest part unless you plan on covering the edges. Are you still planning on polishing the case? If so you might want to have someone tig weld the outside for you because you can plish the weld too. Good welders are often dirt cheap for small difficult projects they love to show off :) It will only take them a min or to to do it :) but you will need a very good one to do that well on Ai.

 

If you cant get the aluminum flat and free from buckels dont bother the polishing part is super quick with even crude tools but polishing out scratches and such on an imperfect surface can take forever.

 

Dont forget to take pics with the progress!

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That's a Gateway case if I'm not mistaken........ I've got one of those lying around too- ya I'm a packrat lol.

 

Not a bad start- good drive racks etc- you'll probably be doing alot of cutting tho- I think PSU won't match up so you'll have to cut and drill for that to line up.

 

keep posting pics of your progress and don't be afraid to ask for ideas here. I'd make everything fit before you work on asthetics-

 

good luck!

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That's a Gateway case if I'm not mistaken........ I've got one of those lying around too- ya I'm a packrat lol.

 

yukon you eagle eyes! that is definately the old gateway atx 2000, seen my fair share of those and they deserve to be hacked and slashed

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Does anyone know of an easy way to shape aluminum? I want to do smooth bends for the front pannel but I dont know how to do so.

 

Also, If I have very good ventalation on the case would it still be worth it to liquid cool? I am still trying to cut back on costs any where I can. I even dropped the LCD idea for now.

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what setup are you gonna go with, is it your sig rig? and what level of oc?

 

on the aly side of things I am no expert on these things but if its a front panel (the whole front?) might be an idea to get and metal worker to do it

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