| LUMO |

B N3GATIVE · 1 Oct 2014 at 19:25

Todays question.......

.....do I paint the block hold down?

tbyeah · 2 Oct 2014 at 00:32

Nooooooooo

You mustn't paint the block hold down, the silver is too good

russell664 · 2 Oct 2014 at 10:55

^ The silver is pretty nice. I think it should be kept too.

P4Clock · 2 Oct 2014 at 19:08

yep don't go over the top and cool becomes cheap and tacky.

B N3GATIVE · 2 Oct 2014 at 19:40

Dont panic,its not being painted,I was just tossing the idea out there.

I cant bring myself to do that to a classic.

B N3GATIVE · 3 Oct 2014 at 22:23

Sponsored by:

[REDACTED]

So today was my birthday and what better way to celebrate than to finish up the motherboard and spray the matching Keyboard,in this instance the Corsair K65 tenkeyless (Pics will be forthcoming)

I also need to look at replacements for the MIPS hold down bolts as the stock ones are not pretty....

Seeing as no one will see the back,I had a little fun....

To tidy up the edge of the card PCB I used 1.5mm Vinyl,easily removed it the card requires RMA!

And finally,I welcome E22 to this build! Nate has supplied me with my usual Ultraclear again,It is my usual for a very good reason...

haxxbaxx · 4 Oct 2014 at 23:35

nice paint job on the mobo

Baron C · 5 Oct 2014 at 16:10

Needs more Magoo.

Looks lush as usual.

B N3GATIVE · 6 Oct 2014 at 20:06

haxxbaxx said:
nice paint job on the mobo

Baron C said:
Needs more Magoo.

Looks lush as usual.

Everything is better with more Magoo....

But in the meantime...

I got the RAM today,a total bargain of Amazon!
4x4Gb of Crucial Ballistix 1600 (Remember this is a gaming PC),I know these sticks can hit [email protected] with some tweaking so I think I had a result!

Obviously,the stickers are staying till I test them,I am normally lucky with hardware but RAM....well.....you know....

If only both sides were like this......

Now,because the branding is discreet,im in a quandary...Do i marble DIMMS or just leave them vanilla?

My head says yes..and some stripes in the recesses to boot but the black chunky HS look is hard to ignore....

Sin_Chase · 6 Oct 2014 at 22:07

I think the ram looks great as is. Would be interesting to see both versions side by side though!

Cracking looking build so far, nice to see something a bit different.

B N3GATIVE · 7 Oct 2014 at 20:06

Sin_Chase said:
I think the ram looks great as is. Would be interesting to see both versions side by side though!

Cracking looking build so far, nice to see something a bit different.

Exactly,this is a breath of fresh air!

The tray has arrived from E22,this is a sacrificial tray mainly for checking the clearances and the hole positions are correct. thankfully they are but I realized I can move the mobo 5mm forward and 10mm up,making more space for the rads/fans.

The mobo is hard up against the PSU bay,only 4mm clearance.

The GPU's are just resting in there until the 11m standoffs arrive and I can use the pillars that Kier thoughtfully sent me from his banchetto.

My camera definitely doesnt like the fluro paint at all!

B N3GATIVE · 9 Oct 2014 at 21:47

Sponsored by:

[REDACTED]

And its my pleasure to thank the great folks @ Be Quiet for providing the fans and PSU for this rig!

After using their Powerzone range of PSU's,I decided I would like to use them again for this rig,this time I selected the Dark Power PSU of the 850w variety.
Now,I can see many folks asking why did I go with a semi modular unit,This unit only has the 24pin hardwired and,seeing as im stripping it for paint,its no hardship for me to sleeve.

Anyway,to the pics.

Fans,normally I would have gone straight to Alpenfohn but this time,because the PSU fan will be visible,I went with Be Quiet Silent Wings PWM so they all match up.

Nice rubberized corner mounts...or there are single side flush mounts.

A very solid feeling fan,I am impressed,much more solid feeling than my usual choices with a nice weight,rubberized rings around the intake/output for noise dampening when up hard against the case,a very nice touch!

And the PSU!

This was exciting for me,I have seen this PSU before but not in the flesh,I was very pleasantly surprised with the build quality of this unit,from the paint to the packaging,all very clean and fuss free.

A little gadget for switching from multi to single rail.

Its almost a sorry thing to strip it for paint,I originally thought the side panels were stickered up but they are not,the logo plates are a knurled finish on black and look great so im masking them off and keeping them.

The fans.....are a secret for now,I am puzzled on how to get the fan hubs off,I may have to mask the gaps and spray the whole fan.

Chime in if you know how to get the hub off without a hammer!

lovelyhead · 10 Oct 2014 at 12:03

This is looking great! Keep up the good work!

B N3GATIVE · 11 Oct 2014 at 11:48

lovelyhead said:
This is looking great! Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

Sponsored by!

[REDACTED]

Another update...they seem to be coming thick and fast!

The fans...well,I had a change of plan,I ditched the idea of painting the blades and hubs as I had a better,more discreet idea instead.

I followed this thru on to the PSU.

Initially, the PSU was going to be painted but...the top cover has the fan guard welded in so I cant separate them to paint. The rest of the chassis cant really be seen so,I compromised a little and went for a desticker and a fan ring to tie it all together.

Looking at it,im glad I went this way.

The largest thumb screws ever packed with a PSU!

I also got to work on the peripherals,im still planning the graphics for these and the KB needs some low profile key caps but....its YELLOW!!

Thankfully,that recessed Corsair logo is easily removable for paint! Masking recessed stuff is a pain!

fireman999 · 11 Oct 2014 at 13:02

One day you will look at it and say I hate yellow.
What about a tartan colour scheme.

Amazing build by the way.

B N3GATIVE · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:03

fireman999 said:
One day you will look at it and say I hate yellow.
What about a tartan colour scheme.
Amazing build by the way.

Very likely...but not yet!

The tray is at a stage where im ready to send the parts off to the machinists,E22 for the Steel and PARVUM for the Acrylic.

Only a few little thing to do,mainly marking out cable guide screw holes etc.

First renders of tray with inbuilt res.....

B N3GATIVE · 12 Oct 2014 at 21:07

All the fans gets the striped treatment and I had a go with a new white rather than black background,I also moved all my photo kit into the loft and added another light.

Much clearer and the yellow looks yellow!

B N3GATIVE · 13 Oct 2014 at 18:14

ASUS posted on their FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/ASUSROG/photos/a.425394407387.214760.405774002387/10153194139887388/?type=1

kaku · 13 Oct 2014 at 21:35

The PSU looks great! Definitely better than painting it IMO.

Sin_Chase · 14 Oct 2014 at 00:16

The mobo tray/res combo looks awesome. Cannot wait to see that machined out!