CURV3D by C4B12

[C4B12]

Hello!

This build started as a side project while I was working on my other scratch build, Cold Winter. But somewhere on the way I stopped, but now Im going to finish it.

This is a HTPC/NAS build. The hardware in this has been upgraded along the way but I started with this:

Asus AT3IonT-I Deluxe
Intel X-25-V G2 40gb
4gb Corsair DDR3
Western Digital Green 2TB & 3TB

And ended up with switching motherboard to this:

Asus E45M1-I Deluxe

I got the idea for this build when I was looking at some of the acrylic I had left from Cold Winter. Saw some nice shape coming. So I started cutting, and got these two acrylic pieces:







The next thing I did was to put some feet on it, havent decided yet if I should get some smaller ones. Then I put the two pieces together with two small hinges.





Glued the motherboard stand off screws into the acrylic.



And sleeve the power cables for the drives.



Some overview pictures.





Next up is the front and backplate:



Should I go for a powerswitch on the frontplate or hide it in the back? The cross is where Im thinking of putting it.





Put some paint on those! (Sorry for Instagram picture)





So this is how far Ive come. Dont have that much left to do.

• Install some small fans for the HDD's
• Sleeve everything possible to sleeve
• Drill holes and install a power and reset switch
• Grind down all the edges so everything fits
• Clean everything up and polish the acrylic
  

With kind regards
Johan Nyman
Minimalistic PC's

[C4B12]

Here are the LCD from LCDModkit.com I will be using in this mod, really nice little thing!







What Ive done today is to change the feets to some smaller ones, installed the LCD, power/reset switches, some small fans for the harddrives and sleeved everything. Ive cleaned everything and put it all together.

So Ill start with some pictures then. This is how the new feet looks like. Looks a little bit cleaner than the other big ones.





I also got a nice powerswitch with a white LED ring.



So I installed the LCD and the powerswitch on the frontpanel and soldered the cables and sleeved everything white.





So this is how the front and backpanel looks like.






 

[C4B12]

Here is some pictures of how I managed all the cables.











I took some small Fractal Design fans and soldered together and put on the side of the harddrives to cool them down a little.



Thats about it. After this I cleaned everything and took some final pictures of the build. Im soon gonna buy a better camera so I can take some better pictures and I will post them here later. But here is the final pictures Ive got right now.















So thats about it. I know many might wonder why I dont have any intake for air. But Ive tried the computer for a while like this and the temps doesnt get to high, they are higher than an normal computer but not to far. Its a HTPC and doesnt get that much stressed anyways. And air always get in there in some kind of way.

[C4B12]

I sanded down the edges and polished it. Looks a little bit better. Also made a 100mm hole under the motherboard, will put a slim 100mm fan there on low rpm too. With a little dustfilter.

The edges







100mm hole





I also did a little "mediabenchtest". Put on 10x 1080p movies in a playlist and the CPU and GPU never got over 65c. So Im satisfied. Now with a intake it will get even better.

Heres the 100mm fan, a slim version from Scythe. I wasnt going to make an air intake even though everyone wanted me too, I just want to clarify, I didnt really needed it and I had no idea how to install a fan without hiding it. But then I found this fan, its 12mm thick, and the acrylic is 8mm thick, so I made a 100mm hole and installed the fan with help of some glue. So it extends 4mm over the acrylic. Just waiting for a dustfilter to go over the fan.

[C4B12]

Hello!

I bought a Canon 400D from a friend a couple of weeks ago so now I got some better pictures, the final pictures. The last thing I did was to install a fan filter over the 100mm fan under the motherboard.

I have been using this build as my main computer for a while because Im working on another project. The temps are pretty good, uses it for movies, music and internet. No problemo!

Enought with that, here are the final pictures. Hope you enjoy them!

Left side





Right side





Backpanel





Frontpanel







Thank you and Ill see you soon again!

[C4B12]

I sold the harddrives I was using in this build, got a 1TB 2.5" instead and a Corsair Force SSD. Also a Asus E45M1-I Deluxe is coming. So some hardware upgrades is going on here.

When changing to only 2.5" disks I wanted to make a harddrive bay. Here it is!



I drew up some different designs but I went with this one, measured out and cut with a jigsaw. What about some white paint on these?





And this is how it looks in the case:



What do you think?

Johan Nyman

[C4B12]

Its starting to be a habit of mine to create harddrive-bays every night. Anyways...



Made new cutouts of the second design, this time for three harddrives. Sanded down the edges and ofcourse painted it white. I think Ill go with this design actually, I asked around what people thinks and its 50/50. But when the case has this round, smooth design it feels better with a similar harddrive bay instead of something with raw edges.

Second design rev 2:





In the case





It kinda looks like a smaller version of the case. Ill go with this one!


Hope you like it!
Johan Nyman

[C4B12]

Hiya there!

My new motherboard is here! Finally, without the i/o shield though so I had to get a new one from ebay. However, I installed the new mobo and this time I need to use a picopsu so some sleeving was done. Now you can see my harddrivebay in action!

Whats in here???





Open it up and tada!





Goodlooking cooler!



Im pretty satisfied with this harddrivebay.



I cant decide if Im going to go like this, with sleeved cables, or hide them all under the harddrivebay and motherboard so only the sata cables is showing. What do you think?

Cheers!
Johan Nyman

[C4B12]

Hello!

Its time for a update, probably one of the last. This all started out as a sideproject but turned out to be my priority. So I have been putting time into every small detail and now its 100% finished. Last thing to do is to take some time to get some really nice final pictures (again).

Anyway, I read on another forum that a fabric called "Sarita" from Ikea works perfect as dustfilter. So I bought 1sqm = 5$. I havent found any fanfilter for 100mm fans so had to make my own. Made a frame in acrylic, painted it white and glued the fabric on it. The installed it over the fan under the case.







Another little detail I wanted to do was a little shroud for the back of the LCD. Just made it simple with acrylic again.









Took out everything, cleaned everything and assembled everything again. I think Ill go with the sleeved look. Gives it a little extra.










So thats it. Been a fun project and Ive got really good feedback on it. If I have time tomorrow Ill get the final pictures up. Going out in the sun/snow to take some pictures tomorrow.

Thanks
Johan Nyman

[C4B12]

Here you have the final pictures. Hope you liked this log as much as I did. Dont have so much to say. Now I can go on with my other build Cold Winter and finish that.

Thanks to LCDModkit and Aquatuning for helping me with some parts.











Some nightshots





Comparison with a Coke



On top of my receiver, hifi-style



Thank you for all the nice comments and feedback. Ill be back with another project for sure!

With kind regards
Johan Nyman