This is MODell XPS take 2. Two and a half years ago, I intended to do a build in a circa 2007 Dell XPS 720. But life became complicated due to several health crises in the family, and I didn't have the time or inclination to develop a solid theme or get any further than disassembling the case. Rather than necro the old thread I am starting completely over, this time staying the hell away from photobucket! This case is BTX, so will have to be converted to ATX. I always loved the look of it, it reminded me of twin fighter jet engines, with the aggressive forward lean of the case, the aircraft aluminum look, and the wasp waist separating the top and bottom. So this time around I will be building a MODell jet engine!
Typical of my builds, I don't have an unlimited budget, or access to CNC plasma cutters, a machine shop, powder coating, sponsors, et cetera. I will make the most of what I have, working by hand with scrap materials and tools that I have around the house. To facilitate the BTX to ATX conversion, I have a donor case - a beat up Antec Nine Hundred that I got for free by posting an ad on kijiji. It will be the source of the mobo tray and back plate.
To help achieve a jet engine look, I will use two huge Antec Big Boy 200mm fans centered in the top and bottom front respectively, with the naked blades giving the appearance of turbines. Between the ATX conversion, achieving the turbine look, and rearranging the interior to have room for water cooling, there will be a lot of cutting, drilling, and dare I say it, GRINDING!
The parts (so far) are from kijiji, HWC BST, and Daz BST (thanks 10e!). I am planning on soft tubing, since I have some here as well as fittings, and can't afford not to use them!
Components:
i7-5930k
Asus X99-A II
4x4GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666
Corsair RM1000i Gold certified PSU
2X R9 390X 8GB
Samsung 250GB 850 EVO
4TB Hitachi 7200RPM HDD
Cooling:
2x Antec Big Boy 200mm
5x XSPC Xinruilian 120mm
Phobya G.Changer V2 480
EK XTX120 Coolstream
EK Supremacy EVO full nickel
EK D5 X-RES Top 100 CSQ
2X Swiftech MCW82 universal GPU blocks
D5 PWM
BP 1/2 ID fittings
Primochill Advanced LRT tubing (red)
Typical of my builds, I don't have an unlimited budget, or access to CNC plasma cutters, a machine shop, powder coating, sponsors, et cetera. I will make the most of what I have, working by hand with scrap materials and tools that I have around the house. To facilitate the BTX to ATX conversion, I have a donor case - a beat up Antec Nine Hundred that I got for free by posting an ad on kijiji. It will be the source of the mobo tray and back plate.
To help achieve a jet engine look, I will use two huge Antec Big Boy 200mm fans centered in the top and bottom front respectively, with the naked blades giving the appearance of turbines. Between the ATX conversion, achieving the turbine look, and rearranging the interior to have room for water cooling, there will be a lot of cutting, drilling, and dare I say it, GRINDING!
The parts (so far) are from kijiji, HWC BST, and Daz BST (thanks 10e!). I am planning on soft tubing, since I have some here as well as fittings, and can't afford not to use them!
Components:
i7-5930k
Asus X99-A II
4x4GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666
Corsair RM1000i Gold certified PSU
2X R9 390X 8GB
Samsung 250GB 850 EVO
4TB Hitachi 7200RPM HDD
Cooling:
2x Antec Big Boy 200mm
5x XSPC Xinruilian 120mm
Phobya G.Changer V2 480
EK XTX120 Coolstream
EK Supremacy EVO full nickel
EK D5 X-RES Top 100 CSQ
2X Swiftech MCW82 universal GPU blocks
D5 PWM
BP 1/2 ID fittings
Primochill Advanced LRT tubing (red)
Comment