MSI NIGHTBLADE project

Hukkel · 5 Nov 2015 at 20:50

Hey everyone, I wanted to create a log about this project.
MSI Europe asked me to modify one of their Nightblade systems for them. For show purposes. Not for a specific event perse, but just to take it with them when they felt like it

Of course I said yes. I was very afraid that the severe lack of space in the case would make it very hard to modify. But along the proces of creating the mod I kept getting more ideas and it became quite a "mod" in the end.

The mod is not about the kick-ass hardware in this specific Nightblade system. This is the previous gen B85 version with a gtx750ti in it. The project is really about the case itself and the complete system breathing the MSI Gaming theme, but then with a twist.

One warning beforehand; the first few photos will show the Nightblade system in untouched form. Not because I am not modding it. But I personally like to show the difference between the "stock" Nightblade and the end result of the project.

I want to thank MSI Europe for the opportunity. Thank you very much for the vote of confidence :clap:

Hukkel · 5 Nov 2015 at 20:50

I first took on the inside of the system and after this worked on the outside of the case.

Like in many other mods I am first taking it apart. The main reason is I want to make it able to show off the inside of the system with a window. You can't see it in the photos but the original system has quite a large CPU cooler that blocks the entire motherboard. I wanted to clean this up by putting in a AIO watercooler. But then I needed room for the radiator. So I took out the top HDD/SSD mount/rack and the HDD/DVD rack as well with the DVD player and the 3,5 inch HDD. I needed space so everything not needed has to go! :dremel:

This way I could see what room I had then and what this meant for my plans.

I also took out the PSU mount as I needed to sleeve the cables later on and also paint the inside from grey to black.

ALXAndy · 5 Nov 2015 at 20:55

Nice to see a project log from you dude !

Luggs · 5 Nov 2015 at 21:34

this is gonna be fun!

SamyBoy13 · 6 Nov 2015 at 21:20

Looks good

TechMinerUK · 6 Nov 2015 at 22:02

It's nice to see a project in the Nightblade case as it is quite compact and different to the usual "everything ready" cases. I'm looking forward to seeing how this project turns out as I'm wondering if you will be painting the case to get rid of the grey colouring or if you're just focussing on the performance aspects?

Either way I'm sure the project will be excellent

Luggs · 7 Nov 2015 at 09:44

TechMinerUK said:
I'm wondering if you will be painting the case to get rid of the grey colouring or if you're just focussing on the performance aspects?

Hukkel said:
I also took out the PSU mount as I needed to sleeve the cables later on and also paint the inside from grey to black.

faheemrazzaq · 7 Nov 2015 at 10:09

Tim that's a nice little mod. you make it look easy. looking forward to more updates.

TechMinerUK · 7 Nov 2015 at 19:59

Okay, I'm blind :rolleyes:

But still I was more thinking on the lines of other case mods as I knew he was going to add a window into the side panel so I was wondering what else he might be doing to the system e.g. colour changes etc or new stands for the case

NoobCannon · 7 Nov 2015 at 21:31

first time ive ever seen one of those, its damn tiny!

acake · 7 Nov 2015 at 21:38

looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Hukkel · 8 Nov 2015 at 08:57

Luggs said:
this is gonna be fun!

I hope so

SamyBoy13 said:
Looks good

Thanks

TechMinerUK said:
It's nice to see a project in the Nightblade case as it is quite compact and different to the usual "everything ready" cases. I'm looking forward to seeing how this project turns out as I'm wondering if you will be painting the case to get rid of the grey colouring or if you're just focussing on the performance aspects?

Either way I'm sure the project will be excellent

Please stick around to see what I do with it

Like Luggs pointed out I am going to paint the entire case black on the inside to keep the red and black contrast going on.

faheemrazzaq said:
Tim that's a nice little mod. you make it look easy. looking forward to more updates.

ha it was far from easy. But it was fun to do nonetheless

NoobCannon said:
first time ive ever seen one of those, its damn tiny!

It is a true builders case. Everything just fits and gives you a tad more room for adding extra HDDs.
And to think they now have a 10 litre MI version of this which is even more small :/

acake said:
looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Thank you

Hope you stick around to see.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To open up the view into the case and it's hardware I asked Cooler Master their smallest AIO watercooler. The Seidon 120V Version 2. I was very happy to hear from them they would send it. Thank you very much Cooler Master for this and especially Jasper P. :thumb:

Always great to see a brand helping another brand out to make something cool happen :rock:

Here are some unpacking photos.

Here is the comparison between the stock CPU cooler and the AIO. On the motherboard will (of course) only be the waterblock and pump. So much more room around it.

I took the PSU out of the PSU bracket and drilled 4 holes into it.

The thumbscrew long screws actually have 6/32 threads into the thumbscrew part. Which is super easy in this case! I can just screw together the fan and the radiator. Then screw the PSU bracket against the thumbscrews. Not only is this easier installation, it instantly give the fan room to push the air out of. win + win

Testfitting the cpu cooler. Had to give the block a few tries to see where the tubing would go best without blocking the view too much whist not bending the tubing too hard.

Plenty of room for air to pass through me thinks.

colinmcr · 8 Nov 2015 at 09:32

As always, nice to follow your builds mate

TechMinerUK · 8 Nov 2015 at 17:42

It's looking excellent, that looks like the perfect placement for the radiator as (like you say) it will not obstruct the view of the components.

Looking forward to the next update

Luggs · 8 Nov 2015 at 22:13

You really have to get creative with these little cases! Looking good mate

Hukkel · 10 Nov 2015 at 09:12

colinmcr said:
As always, nice to follow your builds mate

Thank you Colin, always nice to see you

TechMinerUK said:
It's looking excellent, that looks like the perfect placement for the radiator as (like you say) it will not obstruct the view of the components.

Looking forward to the next update

Thank you very much.

Luggs said:
You really have to get creative with these little cases! Looking good mate

I hope you will find I am creative in the end

Hukkel · 10 Nov 2015 at 09:19

Of course I needed to paint the interior completely black. To maximize contrast between black and red. So much grey will just distract and look messy.
It is not a high end paintjob. It just needs to make the panels blend in.

I also painted the bracked for the CPU block black to make it blend more in.

Luggs · 10 Nov 2015 at 09:43

It's funny case manufacturers don't do this as standard nowadays, the difference it makes is amazing!

Hukkel · 10 Nov 2015 at 10:21

Luggs said:
It's funny case manufacturers don't do this as standard nowadays, the difference it makes is amazing!

It has to do with certain regulations. Casemanufacturers do not have this because they sell a stand alone case (unless it is a workstation case). But if you sell a working system there are extra regulations towards conductivity and such. This is the reason a lot of full working systems are silver on the inside.

For workstations the regulations are even more strict. No black inside, and also only holes to fit fans and not the wide lines like Phanteks and Thermaltake cases have nowadays.

Bone9 · 10 Nov 2015 at 10:28

Looking good so far