TJ07 Build with a differance - True triple chamber inverted ATX

Typhoon · 4 Sep 2009 at 00:11

Project: TJ07 Build with a differance - True triple chamber inverted ATX

[EDIT Final Pics added towards the bottom of Page 1]

Well there are TJ07 mods aplenty but this one is going to be little different. It is coming up to about time for an upgrade and I am holding out to see how far the 1156 i7 overclock before deciding which platform I’m going with. I have second GTX280 so this will be an SLi set up (current X38 MB only does Crossfire). Also I will upgrading my W/C gear.

This PC will be on the floor to my left, so I really wanted a case with a window to the right hand side of the case - this means a BTX MB or an inverted ATX. Hence the decision to convert my 3 yrs old TJ07 to inverted ATX. I will be W/Cing the CPU (and may be the chipset – the P55 are supposed to run cooler than the X58). GPUS will be aircooled as I change these often and it gets expensive with different multiple waterblocks and is a hassel to change over.

Those of you familiar with the TJ07 will know that its a brilliant case for water cooling, but rather poor at air if running mutilple GPUs, hence I needed to beef up the airflow. I came up with the idea to create 3 discrete compartments (1) Rad/ pump and PSU- (2) Optical,HDD,SSD- and (3) main MB area, with minimal openings between them and directed, ducted airflow using a high static pressure 120mm fan up close to the GPU’s and a slower fan to cool the chipset/VRM’s. This compartmentalised design is also great for hiding cabling and such with only the MB in view no mater where you look through the window.
There are 2x 120mm fans at the top of the case - with the invert the GPUs will be right up next to these fan. If I set them to expel air, they will starve the GTX's of cold air, and if I set them as intakes they will only cool the top most GTX. Hence to finish off, these fans will be removed & there will be a window at the top to view the printed side of the GTX280- which will be at the top of the case following the invert. I have a couple of 38mm thick Scythe Ultra Kaze's which will provide the GTX's with plenty of directed air.

Finally the internals will be sparyed black prior to new hardware being fitted.(hopefully a MB with a black PCB)

[EDIT] I decided on the internals so I may just complete this tread with the final build pics when done. So Specs will be
-Intel i7 920
-EVGA X58 SLi
-6 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 1866 MHz
-XSPC RX360 Rad & DDC5 Vario pump
-2x BFG GTX 280 OC2 SLi
-Corsair 850 TX PSU
-Triple Dell 2407
-Will get a SSD when Win 7 is released, just XP and a 500GB HD till then

Ok here my PC at the moment...

I will be transferring everything bar the W/C gear into a CM Centurion. I got the exact same case as I got in 2007 to house the last incumbent in my TJ07 (an E6600 on a Asus Commando 965 MB)

First step is to cut out a new window on the right hand panel. I cut it a little smaller than the original to hide the HDD cage. I will use a 3mm clear acrylic sheet on the inside. The orignial left hand side panel will lose its clear window and replace with dark black tinted acrylic or a mesh screen for airflow.

Jargy · 4 Sep 2009 at 08:00

Great to see someone doing something different with this case. Looking forward to this log.
Subscribed.

Phunky Phish · 4 Sep 2009 at 08:48

I am confused...
Are you doing a TJ07 build or a Centurion?

Which ever this looks interesting!

Typhoon · 4 Sep 2009 at 09:17

Phunky Phish said:
I am confused...
Are you doing a TJ07 build or a Centurion?

Which ever this looks interesting!

I am doing a TJ07, I just couldn't resist posting the picture of the 2 Centurions -they now both hold the old internals of my TJ07, thats the last pic you'll see of them

Phunky Phish · 4 Sep 2009 at 10:21

lol
Cool
Looking forward to seeing this as a fellow TJ07 builder!

Typhoon · 4 Sep 2009 at 22:19

This case is pretty easy to disassemble, a few screws and you are done. The lower MB tray slide support is riveted in and need to be drilled out. It would appear the designers of the case had plans for an inverted layout as all the screw holes on one side of the case are replicated on the redundant other side. The top support need to be swapped over with the bottom but that’s about it to invert.

Here you can see I have made some additional cut-outs where I think the tubing will go through (Dont have MB yet so unsure of final positions) and also a cut out for the 24pin ATX cable and GPU cables (all will be hidden by the lower MB tray support & go behind the MB tray and not be visible)

Finally for today I fitted the 2mm alu sheet that will go to divide the case into 3 chambers. This should give an idea of what I am trying to achieve. The gap between the alu sheet and case side panel will be filled once the 3mm acrylic window and rubber edging strip is fitted. The sheet that goes on the floor above the PSU/Rad compartment is riveted down, whislt the other vertical sheet is bolted at the base for ease of removal.

Tomorrow I will make the fan cut outs on that vertical sheet for the GPU cooling

Tolmekian · 5 Sep 2009 at 11:37

Coming along nicely, will be interesting to see this take shape

/Subscribed

Typhoon · 5 Sep 2009 at 19:04

Here the main part of the mod laid out. Fan cut outs are done and grills fitted. These are 120mm rad grills. On the bottom tray you can see the cut out for the MB cabling (will be hidden by the tray).
All the cabling for the drices and fans will pass up from underneath into the drive compartment. The only holes that are left to be cut out are 2 for the water cooling in/out tubes. This should give the hole interior of the case a clean minimalistic look.

Here a dummy layout that I think I’ll be doing. The lower fan will cool the drive cage and the larger top fan just for the graphics card. I haven’t decided if it worth using two of those 38mm thick fan as shown or just one (will have a fan controller so noise is not an issue) and If I should use some sort of ducting from the front of the case.

Phunky Phish · 5 Sep 2009 at 21:30

I Inverted my mobo tray as well mate, but had to revert back to the std layout.
Problems encountered was the lower bracket to to tall when fitted at the top so the tray will not line up with standard holes.
Top braket mounted on bottom is slightly to low, about 3mm mate.
Finally, and this was my killer, the usb port, firewire etc on the bottom of my card touched the bottom of the fan mounts at the top. This was not to bad until the CD audio plug that was located further down and stopped it sliding in!

You may need to jug the top fan mesh so the fans are closer to the top to give more clearance, or mod the tray so it will fit lower mate.
Just a heads up.

Phunky Phish · 5 Sep 2009 at 21:32

PS, you need to trim the top (or what will be the top) bracket on the mobo tray as this will also foul the fans.

Typhoon · 6 Sep 2009 at 00:37

All good points Phunky, I came across them during the inital planning stage and came up with work arounds before proceeding with the build. Its interesting you too noted that the was a 3mm differance on inverting the MB tray (mine was 2mm). I had thought that was due to case to case variations. I read that the reason that Silverstone dont offer replacement panel for this case is that they cant gaurantee it will fit, as side panels are normally hand matched and checked for fit for each individual case due to the way the curved aluminium unibody settles.
I used 2mm aluminum sheet for the mod so that automatically raised the MB tray support by the 2mm I needed. The top MB tray support now does not fit. Its main purpose is to support the tray when installing the MB and expansion/graphic cards rather than a guide rail for inserting and removing the tray (which is served by the lower tray support. I used a 10mm sq aluminuim section from the scarp box that fit perfectly (just held with double sided) tape between the tray and the side of the case at the top - its now more solid that the original.
As for the top fans and grill, I am doing away with them and fitting a window in that location, looking down at the graphic cards, so there is now plenty of clearence. As I will be using high static pressure intake fans, I dont need the extra exhaust fans to remove air as there plenty of holes around the back for air to escape (also replacing the original side window with mesh). I'll post some pics later.

Typhoon · 7 Sep 2009 at 11:33

Gave everything a dry fit - all fits pretty well. Next step is to drill out the holes of the tubing and get down to some painting.

I also cut out a hole in MB tray to fascilitate fitting CPU coolers.

Phunky Phish · 7 Sep 2009 at 16:02

Typhoon I think I hate you!
AC Ryan meshx has been discountinued.
Scythe Kama Bay coolers are discoutinued!
I think you managed to buy the last 2 in the country my man... grrrr!
Think I might use chicken wire to do the front fans now!!!!

Typhoon · 10 Sep 2009 at 20:28

Ouch didn't realise the Mesh was being discontinued as well. I have found a source that claims more stock due on the 18th so I'll keep an I on that to see if it materialises. My back plan is to use perforated aluminium sheet. the holes are larger than the ones on the case though.

Typhoon · 10 Sep 2009 at 20:31

I have been doing some painting over the last few days and it turned out better than I dared hope.

Ducky Spud · 10 Sep 2009 at 21:31

Looking good!

I just painted the internals for my case too and was pleasantly suprised how well they turned out. After hearing people say how much better powder coating is I was expecting awful results lol. Just gotta see how it holds up to the occasional knock and scratch now

Typhoon · 11 Sep 2009 at 21:17

Just about finished with the case mod, just need to find some mesh panel for the the original windowed panel on the other side.

I used black tinted acrylic for the roof window. I plant to use a white cold cathode just under the roof, with an external on/off switch.

I decided on the internals so I may just complete this tread with the final build pics when done. So Specs will be
-Intel i7 920
-EVGA X58 SLi
-6 GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 1866 MHz
-XSPC RX360 Rad & DDC5 Vario pump
-2x GTX 280 SLi
-Corsair 850 TX PSU
-Triple Dell 2407
-Will get a SSD when Win 7 is released, just XP and a 500GB HD till then

VARDY · 12 Sep 2009 at 01:22

wow. looks awesome man. will deffo subscribe to this masterpiece

Typhoon · 13 Sep 2009 at 20:42

I managed to track down what must surely be the last sheet of AC Ryan Black MeshX panel in the th UK at the moment

so the original windowed panel shouls match the existing grils pretty well now.

Hotwired · 13 Sep 2009 at 21:01

Looks like it's coming along nicely.

I'm thinking of modding a little CoolerMaster Elite 341 personally and totally oblivious to any premade mesh, I'd been looking up sources of it to cover the front with...

What size holes are they on the meshx?

2mm? 3mm?

I've been looking at a suppliers list of 0.8mm perforated galvanised steel and I'm not sure what size I'm after. It's not painted ofc but hell I can do that. Bit of mesh bending round the edges never killed anyone either.