MODell XPS: Xperimental Propulsion System

[Grinder]

Mobo power extensions, plus 8 and 6 pin PCIe for two GPUs.

[Grinder]

I'm planning to leave much of the exterior of the case intact, since that is what inspired me to go with the jet engine theme in the first place. On the interior I am running with the silver with black and red accents that are visible on the exterior. I am still in awe of the job that Alain S did, I hope I can do the case justice. At the very least, I saved it from the dumpster! It cost me a whole $10. Ummm, not counting all of the hours I am putting into it!

My free donor case, the source of the backplate and mobo tray, only came with one expansion slot cover. I want something slotted to let air escape, since it will be positive pressure with more intake than exhaust, but couldn't find anything online that I liked that I could get for a reasonable price/time frame. I toyed with the idea of ordering a cheap set and swapping them with the covers from a Rosewill Blackhawk that I have, but then I realized that if I scavenged around I might have enough Fractal Design covers here. I'm a big fan and have had maybe 4 of these cases over the years, and when I did my Blood and Guts build I painted some that didn't wear well (didn't prime them). I ended up scraping the paint off a few of them when I did another build in that case, but have some leftover, and also have a couple of spares from Archon. Five covers should be plenty as while there are 7 slots, I will always have at least one GPU in this (two in the planned configuration).



I think that since I am already using red for the tubing and power cables, going with red for these would be overkill. White doesn't really fit, so it's down to silver or black. Here we have a silver cover that came with the case, along side a black from the Blackhawk. I think I am leaning black. I will be swapping out the mobo in the pic for the X99- A II, but it has some black with silver accents (and a smidge of white) so I think it will fit in just fine.

[Grinder]

Sorry I haven't had time lately for modding. This little monster is primarily responsible. Luckily she has only eaten minor things like furniture so far, and not any hardware! She's a lot bigger now than than photo, so starting to be a little less demanding. I have started returning to the build, but am now trying to decide whether to enter it in the modding contest.

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That's it for the previous build log content.

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Here is a better look at the little monster. Growing like a bad weed!

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I scraped all the flaking red paint off of the expansion slot covers, then sanded and painted them satin black plus clear coat. Also managed to scrounge up enough thumbscrews for all the expansion slots. I think these came from an ancient Thermaltake Armor!

[Tpbmods]

Waking up to this build log was an exceptional treat. It was like looking into your life over a span of time.
The build is exceptional, an insane amount of quality modding has been done! I look forward to the end results

[Grinder]

A hacksaw was used to cut away material from a Rosewill Blackhawk top, until just the control panel was left. I sanded it down a bit, I think it will just fit the opening of the Dell case trim.

Before:



After:

[Grinder]

Waking up to this build log was an exceptional treat. It was like looking into your life over a span of time.
The build is exceptional, an insane amount of quality modding has been done! I look forward to the end results

Thanks for the kind words PB. You do pretty insane work yourself!

[Hooded]

Looking Good Grinder.
Love the build and the puppy.

[Grinder]

Thanks Hooded! Puppy is a handful, in other words a normal puppy lol. They need a lot of work at this age (16 weeks now). We lost our last Golden over two years ago, and it took me that long to get the wife on board again We made arrangements to get one from a breeder in PEI, but the pregnancy failed and she referred us to a breeder here in NS. Turned out to be the place where we got our first dog 20 years ago, that we thought was no longer in business. So our new puppy's great great great grandfather was the father of our first dog. Full circle.

Feels like cheating to post puppy pictures But it WILL be a challenge to keep the dog hair out of the rig!

[Grinder]

I was flushing part of the loop (rad and pump mostly) to get rid of the damn red dye I used in Blood and Guts, and after pulling that huge rad several times I had had enough. I added a drain port in the base, using a step drill bit. Yes, I know the drain is slightly crooked. It is due to a small dent in the bottom of the rad (that way when I bought it used) and I didn't want to risk trying to straighten it as you don't see it anyway.



Similarly, you don't see the bottom of the case so I probably won't polish the cut plastic...

[Grinder]

I used a piece of cardboard to create a template for the upper front fan mount.



I'll definitely have to bring those thin strips out to the edge of the plastic trim to add strength. The first attempt is so slim simply because I traced the fan opening initially.





Here you see the result I am going for.



And finally, the control panel set loosely in place. It is going to be really tight once I attach the remaining cables due to some obstructions on the case itself, but I believe it will fit if I attach the screws/washers for the usb 2.0 connectors last. Will get another pic once the front is more complete and the control panel is in place and assembled.

[Kaidis86]

Yowza! I really like that stock case! Theres a lot that can be done with it! You've got an awesome theme too. I saw the side panel and it made me think of a power node from the Riddick movie. Might have just given me an idea for my next mod :p

awesome work man! Keep it up! Cute doggo too! I've got a pug and a rotti mix at home with me here doggos are awesome!