Project Bring It Back

[bms97]

This is something I've been working on for a long time but never got the chance to finish with Covid, Job changes, Moving to a new town, Kids and family getting in the way. No better time than now to try and get this project done. It got quite scratched and banged up during the move so going to try and get this done in the next 4 days. I have the case torn down, mostly painted and everything has been dry fit. Now to finish the mods I want to do, touch up the paint, assemble and test before the deadline. It's been almost 2 years since I've done any real modding so really looking forward to getting back into things.

Back story on this case, I found it in the garbage pile at work and had to have it. It's an old Antec NSK1300, from the 2004 era. It has that classic PC look, which is about to undergo a serious transformation and modernization.

PC Specs:
Case: Antec NSK1300
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard: Asus TUF B450M-Pro Gaming
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) GSkill DDR4 F4-3200C16
GPU: MSI RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X 8GB
2x Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD (1 for C drive 1 for Games drive)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken M22
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower SFX Gold Modular Power Supply, 450W

[Grinder]

The proportions on this case remind me of my ink jet printer/scanner. It is a limited space, will you be adding RV slides? 

I'm digging the recycling aspect, giving the case a new and transformed life! Hope you have better luck with finishing before the deadline than I did 

[bms97]

The proportions on this case remind me of my ink jet printer/scanner. It is a limited space, will you be adding RV slides? 

I'm digging the recycling aspect, giving the case a new and transformed life! Hope you have better luck with finishing before the deadline than I did 

Thanks man, wish I would  have thought about the RV slides earlier!

Going to be a scramble today but will at least get something submitted, finished or not

[bms97]

Couple of progress shots. Unfortunately the new paint job got pretty scratched up so it's not perfect, hoping to touch up before completing.

[bms97]

This case was not meant for modern hardware, so the cooling options were limited. I tested out a few attempts on adding a 2nd fan, and decided to cut a whole in the lid to add a 2nd 120mm fan. This proved harder than I thought as I couldn't find my dremel bits so ended up having to free hand the circle with a jigsaw. Not perfect but fairly happy with the result. I wanted to find some trim to cover the imperfections but was unable to on short time.

[bms97]

Didn't have the original front panel which had the front IO on it, so had to take one from another old case and found a way to mount it.

[bms97]

The start of fitting everything together for the final build. Lots of cable management to figure out.

[bms97]

Didn't want the case sitting on the flat surface so I used 2 black handles for kitchen cabinets, they fit perfectly upside down and act as sleek looking feet for the case, bringing it up off the ground/desk.

[bms97]

Well there it is, the final product. Disappointed in some aspects of the build, but on short notice and limited resources I'm fairly happy with this build. I have a few things I need to touch up/finish one resources become available, but for now it sits no my desk and it looks pretty decent. What used to be an old ratty case set for the trash bin, ended up being a modern looking small form factor case.

I ended up facing a few problems, mainly the M22 AIO not fitting properly, so I decided to move to stock CPU cooler, which ended up looking pretty good as it takes up less space in a small area, also allowing better air flow.

Next year I will be more prepared, and have proper space for painting and hopefully get a litle workshop setup in the garage or basement to allow better modding.

Thanks to all the sponsors/judges/Daz and last but not least the participants. You guys keep me wanting to be a part of this community and improving on my skills.

[Grinder]

Sounds like you had fun with it! I like the recycling aspect, but love the drawer pulls as feet

I once used acrylic knobs

[bms97]

Sounds like you had fun with it! I like the recycling aspect, but love the drawer pulls as feet

I once used acrylic knobs

I actually was planning on using knobs but look at these and it clicked that it would work