nVidia_Freaks's PC-K7B Plus II Mod (WIP)

[nVidia_Freak]

The Lian-Li PC-K7B Plus II is a good case: there's room for a 38mm fans in front with all hard drive bays in use, there's room for 38mm fans in back, two external 3.5" bays, and four external 5.25" bays. It's a cozy case and it's just overall plain sexy.

 

 

Having said that, there are a few problems with it, which I will illustrate with pictures. All photos are/will be in thumbnail form and may be clicked to view in full-size.

 

1.

Any card longer than a standard 4870 will not fit in this case when all hard drive bays are in use. As you can see, even with a 4870, it's a very snug fit. It's more snug than it looks, you MUST bend the end of the card upward to attach both PCIe power cables when all bays are in use.

 

2.

When using 38mm fans, there is minimal room between the fan and hard drives. It is good that the fan doesn't touch the drives, however, the lack of room in front makes cable management problematic, as all hard drive cables must then be routed through the main open area of the case. A possible solution would be to move the drives back some, however, as seen above, a particular component is in the way.

 

3.

No holes! There are NO holes on the motherboard tray on the K7B Plus II. Again, this makes cable management a nightmare, as NOTHING can be routed and hidden under the motherboard. Again, everything must then go toward the front or the main area of the case. As you can see, I chose to shove things toward the front, however, it can get messy, things get tangled and it just doesn't look pretty.

 

4.

What the hell is this? The K7B Plus II already has a grille on the front panel. Why is this here? If it is a grille what good is it? I can stick my damn hand in there!

 

My plans are to:

1) Remove the useless metal crap covering the front fan.

2) Relocate the hard drive bays to the 5.25" bay area.

3) Make some holes in the motherboard tray.

4) Coat the inside of the K7B with a nice coating of black gloss.

 

These things had been circling round my mind for quite some time and yesterday the inkling was much too strong. I went out and got myself a dremel, some reinforced discs, safety goggles and spray paint.

 

This morning my journey began.

 

1.

Everything is out of the case and the basic frame is ready to be worked on.

 

2.

This is the front fan hole after a rough cut of the 'guard' that used to be there.

 

3.

The same area after a little more cutting, a little grinding and a little sanding.

 

Now off to relocate that hard drive caddy!

Edited August 25, 2009 by nVidia_Freak

[PingoPongo]

Another worklog, damn i love these things. Keep it up

Btw what heatsink is that on the cpu?

[nVidia_Freak]

@PingoPongo: That is a Scythe Mugen II.

 

4.

The drilled holes, two on top and two on the bottom.

 

5.

The holes drilled in the caddy so that I can mount it in the 5.25" bay area.

 

6.

What the caddy looks like when it is mounted. It's slightly off centre to the left but it'll work.

 

Now, this isn't a part of the log, but I'd like to know where I can find some more of this edge guard type stuff. It doesn't need to be the same type or color, but I would like to put this around the holes I cut. Thanks for any help.

 

Off to prep for painting..

Edited August 25, 2009 by nVidia_Freak

[Crazy_Nate]

Now, this isn't a part of the log, but I'd like to know where I can find some more of this edge guard type stuff. It doesn't need to be the same type or color, but I would like to put this around the holes I cut. Thanks for any help.

 

Here you go. Performance-pcs is F-A-S-T.

[nVidia_Freak]

Thanks Nate!

 

I started painting with black gloss yesterday and got a little hasty and screwed up rather bad. But no worries, I have a can of flat black as well!

 

7.

What the case looks like overall. I like the flat black a little more than the gloss because it's not so shiny and it's MUCH easier to get an even coat.

 

8.

I thought doing the expansion slot/back plat area would be a nice touch to the case.

 

9.

A view from the top showing the area where the hard drive caddy will go.

 

10.

A view through the front. I won't be painting the front as that will be covered up by the face plate.

 

Two more objective:

4) Dremel a hole in the side panel

5) Attach window to side panel

 

Should I place my order today I may be able to finish this weekend. If not, sometime early next week.

[Crazy_Nate]

If you're still thinking about a glossy finish, you can still salvage it. Bill (mnpctech) has a pretty sweet guide here, on how to get a high gloss / mirror finish. It's mainly a lot of wet sanding...and some waxing

[hardnrg]

I really like the drive cage relocation idea... my Tt Tsunami has the same issue, so I can only populate 3 out of the 5 HDD spaces... I might do this too

 

But, I'm cringing at the idea of using a dremel to cut a hole in the panel... are you going for some sort of irregular shaped hole/design?

[SMeeD]

Ive got a PC-7B which by the looks of it is extremely similar. What I did was mount my HDDs backwards in the floppy caddy and cut a whole in the side to route my wires through. It works great cable management wise but if you've got more than a couple drives you are SOL.

[nVidia_Freak]

I got a little impatient and decided to wait so long that the paint wouldn't scratch as easily as a fresh coat.

 

11.

Dried enough so that I can start working on it. I realise there's a discoloured spot on the top left portion of the case, however, it doesn't look so bad in person and it won't be shown when the window is in place, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

 

12.

Caddy in place and bolted down.

 

13.

 

14.

After a little while this is what I came up with. Sorry it's dim, I'm dealing with indirect lighting and the photo function of a camcorder.

 

It's a decent start. There are some things I'd like to move around to better places, but, it's good for now. I'll definitely spend a little more time on waiting for the paint to dry next time since I did make a couple nicks that bother me. I'm going to pay a little more mind to routing as well, but that won't be until these come in..

Edited August 27, 2009 by nVidia_Freak

[nVidia_Freak]

Well now, who's that at the front door?

 

15.

HOLY . A BOX.

 

16.

 

Time to get back to work..

Edited August 31, 2009 by nVidia_Freak

[nVidia_Freak]

17.

 

18.

Panel and window are measured and ready to be shaped.

 

19.

Initial cut and trim of side panel. Done with only a Dremel and reinforced cutting disc.

[nVidia_Freak]

20.

Initial cut and trim of side window. Done the same as the panel. Next update should be the window in the panel.