Shinobi Build(?) Log

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Hi guys, and welcome to this thread, my build log (and this time, I took pictures!). I'll apologise in advance, I'm using my phone's camera. It's not the best, but when scaled down to appropriate sizes, the pictures aren't too bad. Any camera does injustice to the new case I got today, so without further ado...

The first part of my evil plan was executed today, when the Bitfenix Shinobi Window turned up:

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Upgrading from the OcUK Galaxy III, which, let's be honest, was a cheap and cheerful case that did it's job, but was nothing to brag about, this was a very new feeling. It was larger, heavier, the textures were nice, smooth plastic and hardened aluminium, really nice feel to it.

Insides of the case were already painted black, which was one of the reasons I bought it over, say, an Antec, because it looked nicer inside.

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Then, of course, the box o' bits (Tasty post-build tangfastics not included by Bitfenix):

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Well, enough of admiring that case. I have work to do! First, a shot of the old case, how I was using it (I was looking at modding the side panel, so that's why that's not there.

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Then, extracting most of it onto my bed:

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The old case, looking very bare, and the DVD drive I forgot to take out:

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And now to begin putting stuff in the new case. First off, I installed the motherboard standoffs (They don't come pre-installed, but there is a very handy system of letting you know which holes to use, which I helpfully figured out AFTER I'd worked it out manually.), and then the I/O shield (I swear, I didn't have to take the motherboard out again, or anything!). The CPU, cooler and RAM were already installed from the previous build, no need to take them out.

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Installed the PSU, graphics card, and tried to work out how to get the adaptor (Top 5.25" bay) out.

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Finally figured out I needed to take off the front and top bezels, and screwed the M4 into the adaptor. It's a pretty nifty device, I like the idea of it.

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And then...well. Some technical issues. Basically, after I'd "finished", I realised that my cable management was awful. The CX600's 8-pin CPU power fell short of tidy cable management by about 2cm (you can see it on the left hand side of the bottom-most pic) so I'm just thinking of picking up a couple pieces of the Alchemy extensions, or possibly trying to do some sleeving on my own. I guess we'll see.

If anyone can link me to where I can get one of those tweezer-like tools that are suited for the job, could you reply and let me know where I can pick one up?

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So, on the list is:
- Pick up some Alchemy extensions/figure out sleeving
- White LEDs
- Figure out why I didn't have the forethought to go for the all-black Gigabyte ATX motherboard
- Take more pictures of stuff
- Proper CPU + Cooler. This is a big one, but I want to try and get an h50/70 in there. I don't think I'm ready for a custom loop yet. Scares me.

Thanks for reading guys, I'll update as much as there is to update!
 
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Oh, hell yes. I was just thinking "Why doesn't this do this?" when building it, will be picking that up for sure. Nice catch.

As far as where it's going, some LEDs, or possibly LED fans, are going to happen. Can't see anything inside the case at the moment. Also need to pick up some sleeving and shrink wrap - can anyone recommend any? And is it possible to just do with a lighter, or do I need a heat gun?
 
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Cheers guys. In terms of its positioning, it's staying on my desk for the foreseeable. When I move it to my new flat in the autumn, I'll see what's up.

The Shinobi was a pleasure to build in, very good quality, very nice, well-fitting parts. Tool-less bays were pretty cool, and this stealth bay is something to look at.

Only place I'd go from the Shinobi is to the XL, or the 650D, but I can definitely recommend this to anyone - and for £50, how can you say no?!

Not sure whether to go for some LEDs or just get some LED fans, any recommendations? I'd be going for a black/white look in this case, so white LED fans?

A little update; this is on the way for me currently:

w7LS


When I can get my hands on some MDPC sleeving and some tools, I'm going to have a go at sleeving an old power supply, and then try to sleeve the cx600. Not sure how that'll go.
 
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Been attempting some cable management. That fugly 8 pin on the left will be going behind the case hopefully tomorrow, when the Alchemy extension arrives. I'm looking into sleeving parts (if possible) of the PCI cables, and I'm trying to find a way to manage the (at the moment) ugly as hell SATA cables. Might have to get some quite long ones of those to hide 'em away, unless anyone knows a way?

This is my first attempt at actual cable management, I'm quite proud so far. Glad I managed to hide all the front panel connectors. Sadly I don't have a USB3 header on this motherboard, I thought I did. Ah well. Gives me an excuse to upgrade to one of those black Gigabyte ones in the future.

Thoughts please guys? Going to be sleeving some things soon. Got that stealth bay on the way, and other things I've ordered are purely cosmetic, like a headset and a Boogie bug XL :D

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The Boogie Bug XL arrived today, nothing to do with the build, but it looks and feels amazing. Best mouse mat I've ever used by far. This is an upgrade from the Roccat Taito, which cost far more. For £8, what can I say, this is a steal. Now I need to stop myself from buying the XXL :(

Sadly, no stealth bay cover today.

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Update: Scratch that. A wild second post appears!

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But, what could be inside?

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Will be installing these both later on today.
 
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@kmetek: I ordered mine straight from OcUK, so I don't know. If you get free shipping (which you should, from the amount of posts you have), then I assume you will be able to get this. It cost me about £4 (€6 maybe?)
 
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Still waiting for my stuff from MDPC (Are they a competitor, given OCUK doesn't stock sleeving things?), so nothing yet. Will update asap though! :D
 
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Yep, same case, just different colours. White and oragne will look pretty good. Make sure you get one of the £2 emblems as well, it looks very weird without it.

Still nothing from Nils, so I'm just stalling at the moment.
 
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Updates! The package from Deutschland finally got here, with some interesting stuff in it.

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Love the personalised packaging, it makes it a lot more heartfelt. Needs more haribo, though.

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Inside, was a lovely (again, personalised) ATX pin remover. Cost a fair chunk, but it should last for as long as I need it.

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And finally, the sleeving. 10m of black, dense sleeving, 1m of heatshrink, and I think, a bonus 0.5m ish of red sleeving, which does look very slick. Sadly, if I ever have the choice over colour, black and white will be the way.

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I've also ordered the following:

xtQ5


Didn't fancy spending 30 quid on the really top-end ones, so I'm just going to see how these look. Also ordered some mains-powered ones from a competitor to light up my desk, and am also planning some mods to my own room to rearrange my tech. Should be a good couple days :p
 
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I'm sure you could get it cheaper someplace, but I wanted something that'd last. While you're there, get the 4 pin remover as well..having some issues with that at the moment.

Had a bit of a bash with the spare red sleeve that Nils sent me:

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...I'm gonna need some more heatshrink I think. I'm gonna start with the PSU tomorrow.
 
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