[Scratch case] Project Duplex

[Ace_finland]

Hi,

So this is my new Project for the Cooler Master mod competiton. I still have a bit to design but will start fabricating soon.

It's called Project Duplex and will be a two faced case.
-On one side the motherboard, on the otherside a GPU and ssd's.
-Two seperate loops with a 240radiator each.
- WIll be made out of aluminum and acrylic
- Most of the watercooling will be hidden

Fabricating will start soon!

Ace

 

[Ace_finland]

looking forward to this mate, that is a nice design

Thx buddy!

Great looking design. I must be being a bit thick, but how is the GPU going to connect to the PCI-E on the mobo?

With a pci-e "extension" cable There are cheap ones everywhere and then there are good ones which are quite overpriced, I'm hoping the cheap one will work, otherwise i will just have to fork out over a 100€ for the shielded one :s

At a guess - the same way the ssd's do - a cable

You are correct sir!

Looks like a cross between your CM Test Bench build & a Parvum! Very excited to see this finished.

Yes, There are things i don't like bout the test bench, so this is in one way a second chance Have seen the Pavrum a few times but never thought about it. (just checked their hompege) They do have a similar feeling and style

Sounds amazing, if I am valued to attach and input my personal opinion.

I love personal opinions As i said its not a 100% ready so i can always make changes if i get good ideas

 

[Ace_finland]

My 1st thought aswell, I like it

Thx!

Ooooo.. You're going to hide the cooling in between the ssd/gpu side and the mobo sides. This looks really interesting, I look forward to seeing how you do this.
This looks like a smart build with a nice twist on the cooling.

Thx! Yes, the radiators will be mounted between the sides in the front panel, The reservoirs is at the top corners of the case, can be seen in the pic

Looks very smart, my only comment would be to ask if you are planning on housing anything in the top section? As I would say it makes an otherwise very sleek design look a little bulky. Love the idea of splitting the components in half though very original!

Thx man! The only thing that is there right now is a bay reservoir on each side. I do agree it looks a tad bulky but its symmetric now, i have tried so many shapes and sizes and in the end it looks best when its symmetric, at least i think so Maybe i can add more stuff to it?

Liking the look of this very original. looking forward to seeing the finished article and everything inbetween.

Thx buddy!

 

[Ace_finland]

Furyus: Thx buddy!

Mole: I did tryr something similar but with a flat top instead of the pointy one. The acrylic cover looked weird but it may be better with a point instead. i would really like the reservoir in the top, makes it so easier with the loop if it is in the highest point

Uncle Petey: Thx man! Hopefully it will work great, otherwise it will be a 2 sided case with all parts on one side

d_brennen: Thx man! I was thinking i could solder a port on the back side but i do not have the skills for it and i def can't afford to buy more parts if i mess these up Also the mod needs to be done in the end of January so i don't have much time

Deus Ex: Cheers man!

systemerror: Thx buddy!

BuZ:

GreasyDiablo88: Thx buddy!

 

[Ace_finland]

Finally an update! Was a lot harder to get the profile than i thought. Living in the country side has its drawbacks

First i would like to say a big Thanks to OCZ and Mr J. for believing in me and sponsoring me with a 256GB Vector drive. Will take some nice pictures of it as soon as i get it back. Took it to a place to make it fit the build a bit better. More on that in another update

The profile, Ordered 2mm thick profile but when i got it it was only 1,5mm. Oh well, would have been nice with 2mm for threading but 1,5mm will be enough.... i hope.

after cutting all the profiles with a hand saw and I milled them to the right angle and size.

De burring all the edges

All profiles except one

Welding it all together. Was too optimistic with the welding. I did not think it would warp as much as it did. All in all it was only a mm or 2 off but due to so many angles and lengths it looked so crooked I did not wanna use it.

Plan B: Cut off all the legs, straighten out one leg that was a bit warped. The rest were fine. Then mill all of the legs at once to make sure they are all the same length and straight

Decided instead of welding i would make inserts to bolt into the profile and into the base and top. This way it's easier to keep straight and also a lot easier when its time to paint. Should have thought about this before

Tapping the inserts

All done. Still need to clean up to get it looking really nice but will leave that until its time to paint

The base

Made a 2mm sheet and pressed it inside the profile, welded it and after milled it straight. If i can get another profile i might make a 45 degree cut instead. Would look a lot nicer.

Time for some sheet metal work. Sticking with 2mm aluminum. Don't know what this is called but it is very useful.

The panel is divided into 3 pieces for now while i work with the pieces. I might weld them together at a later stage. Still need to drill a lot of holes and cut some openings in them.

Drilled and getting ready to tap

Had to try a mobo on it. Case looks huge and it is a bit big but u think it will shrink a bit once i start adding things to it

Sponsored by

 

[Ace_finland]

Looks good, Will be following this. Love the design.

Thx buddy!

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx for all the comments guys! I aprreciate it a lot! I've been very busy the last few days so haven't gotten anything done but the week has just started

 

[Ace_finland]

I agree with the other guys here, this looks a very interesting build, good luck.

Thx buddy! Hopefully i will have another update very soon

 

[Ace_finland]

So a very small update. Have been busy helping mum and dad move house, so have not had any time for modding but picked something up on Friday that i thought i would share with you.

My first part for the build, a 256GB Vector drive.

Content: SSD, a mounting plate, screws, a sticker, a manual and a key for acronis true image

The drive, looks great but didn't really fit the black and red build i'm doing. so decided to make some minor changes.

Didn't wanna go too crazy with these as i want it to look enough original but still fit the design
A solid black one, this was very hard to photograph, probably took 50 photos and didn't get a single good one. Need to read up on how to take proper photos

A black metallic one

Made enough stickers so i have a few to mess up, or if i wanna make a small raid

Sponsored by

 

[Ace_finland]

So clean looking, can't wait to see some more

Thx!

Great looking build so far, the size took me by surprise from the initial image I assumed with was smaller.

Out of interest how did you go about creating the stickers? Doesn't look like a simple inkjet/laser printer job.

I might have stretched it a bit since the design I took it to a guy where i live that makes stickers for a living, better quality and fairly cheap i hope (have not gotten an invoice yet But i took the harddrive to him and told him to make the blue black

I love seeing these types of build, theres just something about a case being built from scratch that appeals to me. The design is excellent looking forward to seeing it when it is complete

Thx buddy!

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx Guys!!!

Hey guys,

Finally an update!
Recently bought a house and have been moving things (mostly to the garage) so now i can start modding more and close to home so updates should be more frequent now

After thinking a while about the front and the back panel i decided the best way would be to have them water cut, i have countless times milled thin aluminum sheet and it usually ends with the flute snapping. Still need to cut a lot of holes in the back panel for all the connectors but i will do that at a later stage

One step forward two steps back, or however the saying goes. I wasn't very happy about the shape of the frame and the quality of the work i had put in it so i sat down and re-drew the frame and decided it was time for plan C. This time it is made from a 10mm aluminum sheet, it's 15mm wide. I changed the angles a bit and shortened it a bit length and depth wise, the width it still the same

Time to drill some holes

One drilled, one to go, hopefully it fits!

Time for some threading, i always use the cordless drill to tap with, so far i have never snapped a bit with it and its so much faster.

Had to change the "shape" of the mill so i could drill and tap the support bars

The support bars

Done

Seems like it fits!

So much better than the other frame, a lot of work but now i like it and it won't bug me anymore.

Bottom plate for the frame, drilled and counter sunk

Perfect fit except one hole which i need to file a bit.

Old vs new, i don't know what you guys think but i like the new one a lot more

New part arrived!

Another box in the box

Everything is very well packed

Lots of cables with it, needs some sleeving though

Love the brushed steel look on the top of it

Scale photo

More updates coming soon!

Very sad news about OCZ, the only SSD's i've owned are OCZ and i have been very happy with them.

Sponsored by

 

[Ace_finland]

Hey guys!

Finally all moved in to the new house and got internet up and running again.

Just a short update but another one hopefully this weekend.
Milling the motherboard plate and the Gpu plate. Only milling the shape for now and doing all the holes and cutout later.

More milling and drilling, these are for the other panels on the side.

All slots cut out

As i haven't had any access to the press break for a while I started looking for an "affordable" sheet bender, but the quality on them are horrible. So i decided to take a different approach to bending the sheets.

60 degree V-flute, 1mm in the bottom

Milled a 1mm deep slot in both panels

Clamped it to the desk with the slot facing upwards

Put a small flat bar across the sheet so i would bend it equally everywhere

Worked a lot better than i thought it would.

Test fit of the panels. Had to try the grommet too to see if i made the hole the right size

More panels.

Also made a cut out for the motherboard in HDF, It's a lot faster and easier to redo if i have some measurements wrong

That is all for now, hopefully another update over the weekend!

Sponsored by

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx a lot guys!

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx AuXDubz!

Back with an update, was supposed to be a bit earlier but have been sick so haven't had much time. Anyways...
Did the motherboard and GPU side in aluminum

Test fit of components

Made some covers for SSD's so the cables will be hidden. No pictures of the installed yet but there will be soon enough

Same for the Pci-e extension cable

Made a sheet for holding the rads and fans. Decided to make it in two separate pieces, one for each rad.

A bit of bending

Test fit

Time for some acrylic. This is for the front panel. Was a bit tricky before i figured out how to make it in two runs. Milled some holes and put some centering axles in it. worked out pretty well.

Installed. Made it slightly bigger so i can sand it to the right size. Still need to do the rear and top and bottom. Still not sure if it will be painted or led lit. But i will need to decide very soon.

That's it for this time

As you can see i have some new parts Will do some unboxing as soon as i can get it set up
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[Ace_finland]

Ver' cool

Thx!

 

[Ace_finland]

So been crazy busy trying to get as much done as possible. The Cooler Master mod contest ends on the 31st so i am freaking out a bit right now

have had a lot of parts lying around for a while now but thought it was time to upload some photos.

Ever since i saw the Maximus Vi Formula i knew this was the board for my next computer. I generally don't like "naked" pcb's so this is perfect for me!

A lot of accessories.

Just sexy, great color scheme and as a bonus its ready to be water cooled!

Even has a backplate, this just keeps getting better and better!

Next up GPU, decided on a GTX 780 since i seem to have no time for gaming anymore. Still there is nice to have some power when i need it.

Even the inner box looks great

Awesome, almost a shame to water cool this.

Great looking backplate, won't be seen though due to the way it will be mounted

Have always wanted an I7 since i do use Solidworks quite a lot. Never could justify to buy one. This time i just bought it and didn't think about the cost

I had 16Gb of platinum ram from before. Bought another pack just for the looks. Won't really need 32gb but it does make the case look better. And some light bars.

For some reason the old ones does not look like the new ones. The old ones still have milling marks and are slightly shiny. The new ones looks like they have been blasted with some media. Lucky i bought the light bars.

So on to the case

Made some fixtures to hold the reservoirs in place. Took a while before i figured out how to do it.

The circle pattern didn't really fit the shape of the case so i decided to make my own front. Not sure if i will sand it down to make it a bit more matte. Still need to countersink all the holes.

Lowered the led strips into the acrylic. Since the sheet aluminum is lowered 2mm from the other side and the leds need about 2.4mm depth there is only 1,6 mm left of material in the middle. Was a bit worried that the light wouldn't spread out to the edges but seems to be working just fine. Won't show you that just yet.

Made some adapters for the lamptron controllers so it will attach to the sheet metal.

This is how its now, still a lot to do and not much time left but all the acrylic and sheet metal is sanded down now and fits great.

And a bit of bonus content,

obviously it won't fit in the computer but i do have a different plan once the case is done.

Great looking piece!

Will add more photos of it once i get it up and running, will be a bit later as i need to focus on the computer right now

Next update before the competition ends !

Sponsored by:

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx guys!

Quick update before the competition ends!

Got all bit painted so started assembling pieces

Frame

Pumps and psu support

Lamptron controllers, had these from the old rig so was easy to make new mounts for it.

GTX 780

Test fit

Sponsored by:

Final photos in a few min!

 

[Ace_finland]

Some better photos!

Fisheye

 

[Ace_finland]

Thx for all the comments guys! Makes me want to keep modding

@detheridge02: I made my own cnc mill last year.Which has been a great help. The other tools are files, sandpaper, hammer, pliers and a cordless drill I had access to a press brake earlier but found it faster not to have to drive to get a key every time i needed to bend something.

@sw1ft: I will. One thing i wanted to do before the deadline was make red light bars as they don't sell them. I ran out of time and they were left out of the build. That's why the system is off I didn't like the mix of white and red lights .

Confused: Yeah, ran out of time as usual and the dvi female adapter is still somewhere in postage.

I will keep modding this but with a slower pace, so keep your eyes open

Thx Again for all the comments guys!

 

[Ace_finland]

I knew you wouldn't fail us

I bow to you, Sir.

Thx Petey! It will keep getting better and better the case