Modding the Antec Skeleton

G-Dubs · 5 Jan 2009 at 15:23

Is anyone out there Modding this case? and if so what are you doing / planning to do to it?
Not sure whether what I've done to mine is Modding or just plain tinkering. I've had this case for about 2 months now and have done a fair bit of work on it. So far I've added some UV ccfls and constructed an industrial style switch box to house the switches. I made it from an old CD ROM drive and a drive bay blank from an old tower. I chose retro style chrome toggle switches, but with blue led's in the ends. As there aren't many places to put ccfls, finding little hidey holes to keep them out of sight is a challenge. I have a 10cm UV job secured under the top fan (you'll need nimble fingers and the longer variety of cable ties to hold it in place, (don't trust the double sided tape they come with). The cable is then routed down the left hand strut as you face the unit. A 30cm UV job behind the front panel bar, sitting just on top of the rear of the ports and switches. Then 2 more UVs inside the lower compartment, one in the front gap between the drive bays, and one behind the PSU.
I've also braided all my cables in UV blue and added UV orange anti kink coils to the mobo and PCI cables
I've taken the whole thing apart and put it back together about 5-6 times, and although it is tight in places it's really not that hard to work on. My main gripe though is that it could have been so much better. Currently awaiting a new PSU so will be taking it apart again tomorrow to fit that. I'm also planning to attach the front HDD fan that comes with the case to one of my switches so I can turn it on/off as I choose (it comes hard wired to a Molex so if not altered to route through a switch will just come on when the system is switched on)
Oh and by the way, having had it for a while I can answer the dust question...
Dust does not build up!!! The top fan seems to just blow away anything that gathers over night.
Any way a few pictures, of how it is now and the original build. Love to know what you think and happy to answer questions.

Conan257 · 5 Jan 2009 at 16:23

I just want to see one of these with some extreme water attached to it...

I'd buy one if there was a good way to mount a 120.3

G-Dubs · 5 Jan 2009 at 16:51

Would look good but not sure where everything would go. I think there would be enough "ceiling height" under the top fan for the tubing, but I think the res would need to go on its own out back. The real skill would be putting it togetner in such a way that you didn't have to drain it when you slid out the bottom section to work on it.

speedyj · 5 Jan 2009 at 23:29

Why not just hinge it at 2 of the main legs and put catches on the other 2 legs. Or it may be possible to put some extension pieces in to adjust the clearance height?

Just a thought.

avrc · 6 Jan 2009 at 15:48

I like your custom switch box and love the UV orange.

G-Dubs · 6 Jan 2009 at 21:01

cheers avrc, I went for an orange and blue theme as I have a lot of copper on the mobo, which has a blue pcb, as have my gpu's. Seems there's not a lot of peeps out there tinkering with this, either that or everyones asleep

G-Dubs · 6 Jan 2009 at 21:05

Conan 257

yeah got mine from ryberg, what about you?

Conan257 · 7 Jan 2009 at 11:14

Not bought one... yet...

Not enough potential at the moment for the case, and my cooler of choice is a TRUE... No chance of that fitting.

Blackhawk47 · 7 Jan 2009 at 14:50

Looks great mate, im more interested in your desk/cabinet thing. Is the desk an Ikea Mikael and i already found you said the cabinet was an Ikea Eina.

Keep up us updated with any more mods.

avrc · 7 Jan 2009 at 15:43

G-Dubs said:
cheers avrc, I went for an orange and blue theme as I have a lot of copper on the mobo, which has a blue pcb, as have my gpu's. Seems there's not a lot of peeps out there tinkering with this, either that or everyones asleep

I will tinker at some point but I've got a huge mental to buy list before I get anywhere near that lol

G-Dubs · 7 Jan 2009 at 17:35

Blackhawk47 said:
Looks great mate, im more interested in your desk/cabinet thing. Is the desk an Ikea Mikael and i already found you said the cabinet was an Ikea Eina.

Keep up us updated with any more mods.

yeah its a mikael. i got the drawer unit also. Inexpensive but looks the part.

G-Dubs · 7 Jan 2009 at 17:40

can anyone recommend a good PSU. In the last month Ive had 2!!! Bequiet darkpro 650, kept cutting the power for some reason so back it went, now have antec truepower quatro 1000w. Only just fits in skeleton but since fitting it yesterday it makes a whining sound, really high pitched and annoying. Also the fan runs flat out after about 30 mins of desktop activity, not gaming, so it looks like it's going to have to go back too. I was thinking about a corsair HX model. Whatever it'll need to be modular and pref not too long, also pref end mounted fan. Last question, does it matter which way up you mount a psu?

Conan257 · 7 Jan 2009 at 21:43

Corsair are doing some sweet PSU's... If yours is new i'd get the RMA sorted as it sounds like its borked.

G-Dubs · 7 Jan 2009 at 21:50

Conan257 said:
Corsair are doing some sweet PSU's... If yours is new i'd get the RMA sorted as it sounds like its borked.

Cheers matey. Actually waiting for a refund to come through on a bequiet that I RMA'd after only one month as it kept cutting power for no reason. Any idea re the mounting psu's upside down, I ask cos when you stick the ones with the top120mm fans in this case you have to mount them upside down so that the intake fan is uppermost, i.e. directly under the mobo tray so they don#t get a lot of air flow, but more than they'd get if you put them the other way up.

Blackhawk47 · 10 Jan 2009 at 13:03

Congrats on your "crisp £10 note" Mr Robert Barlow

My PC was in the mag a while back.

Looking good :cool:

G-Dubs · 10 Jan 2009 at 18:39

Blackhawk47 said:
Congrats on your "crisp £10 note" Mr Robert Barlow

My PC was in the mag a while back.

Looking good

not sure what you mean here????

Blackhawk47 · 10 Jan 2009 at 19:16

G-Dubs said:
not sure what you mean here????

Is your name or is it not: Robert Barlow....

:rolleyes:

you sent in pics of your pc into PC Format and they published it, hence you get £10 reward.

EDIT: or tell me that i have gone wrong in the head, but im seeing your set up in the magazine

Crashgate3 · 10 Jan 2009 at 20:51

I think you've uncovered a scam. PCFormat just take photos from tech forums and no £10 notes are ever dispatched!

Blackhawk47 · 10 Jan 2009 at 21:04

Crashgate3 said:
I think you've uncovered a scam. PCFormat just take photos from tech forums and no £10 notes are ever dispatched!

Its a conspiracy, they must be spying on him, they know his name

oh noes they are spying on me

*knock at the door*

Seriously i sent in pics of my system and although it took about 4 months to appear it was quite nice

oh and the £10 cheque in which i sent my address to them so they could post it to me helped

G-Dubs · 11 Jan 2009 at 13:23

Which edition of PC format are we talking about? The last one I got was 222 (which is the Jan 09 issue) I did send in pics of my set up about amonth ago but I haven't seen them in the mag, and my name's not Robert Barlow, but I am willing to change it for £10!!!.
Conspiracy it is then (should have taken the blue pill)
Seriously, I haven't seen any skeletons in PC format apart from the one they reviewed in issue 222 (is issue 223 out yet?)