PROJECT LOG Project R Unit

[TheQuadFather]

OMG that card looks amazing, why doesn't ATI switch to yellow...

+1, that would match gigabytes bloack and yellow colour scheme on their boards now and everything

 

[LookN4Me707]

I just joined the forum and must say after searching around just browsing, this is one amazing looking case build. I was so intrigued that I looked into your other builds and am quite impressed. I don't think I have ever been aroused by anything other than women and cars but your case just gave me a chubby. I can't wait to see the end result with this case and your other future projects, keep up the amazing work.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Nice work on the vid card, that sort of attention to detail is navig standard.

 

[Navig]

Thanks!

Almost there....


I took the parts back out of the case and put them on my benching station for tweaking, installing windows, etc:




















Shell was essentially complete, but empty:

 

[Navig]

While I was dialing in the hardware on my benching station, I went ahead and started dialing in my photos on the empty case:










































































Have I mentioned the shiny paint job?

 

[Dooms101]

It came out flawless Navig

Really top notch quality on everything and the look of the lighting and color scheme looks amazing. Now put your hardware in there and snap some final pics xD

Btw how much time and money was invested in this?

 

[Rockinanimz]

Hmm... What type of plastic did you use, and where can I get some of that for myself?

 

[Dooms101]

Hmm... What type of plastic did you use, and where can I get some of that for myself?

It's smoked acrylic, you can buy them at some computer shops or online. Peformance-PCs has a few types of acrylic panels, including smoked.

 

[ssjwizard]

mcmaster carr has lots of different plastics also. I think on page 3 though he says exactly where he got that particular sheet.

 

[Navig]

Thanks folks!

This project took about 1,000,000 hours to complete. I don't know forever, just look at the date of the first post.


Cost, just roughly looking, and probably conservative:

MDF $20
Raw metal components $20
Paint $40
Fasteners, hinges, gas spring $40
PCI prefabbed bracket $20
PSU bracket $10
Switches, wiring, LEDs $40
Plastic paneling $50
Front USB/firewire cable $10
Fans 5x$4 = $20
Lighting bars $25


I'm probably forgetting a few things.
Total: $295




I'm using the darker gray plastic 1/8" thickness (Dark Gray#2074) from Delvie's plastics.







Here are some videos.

 

[manu2b]

BEAUTIFUL!

 

[Navig]

Once I got everything squared away performance-wise, I reinstalled the components to the case:

















Around the back, I installed my 2 hard drives in both back hangers. For the power supply, nothing fancy, just grouped the cables together:

















I started taking some general quality photos:










But I felt like the internal lights were not being effective in lighting up the internal components. After looking at it a while I felt like the large Thermalright tower heatsink was blocking my light bars, like so:














I realized I needed a flatter down-blowing heatsink, so I ordered up a Thermalright AXP-140. Fortunately, it uses the same basic mounting hardware as the Venemous X, so I was able to swap out the heatsink without un-installing the motherboard and screwing up all the nice cable arranging I had already done:



AXP-140 installed:












And now you can even read the "Sabertooth" branding and other details of the components:












And that's about it!

I'll be working on a new thread titled "Completed!"



I've finally decided on a name for this project--it will be Project Resilience. "R" for the basic shape profile and "resilience" because this project just fought me in so many ways and took so damn long.



Thanks for all the supporters, especially all folks who have posted above to keep me motivated on this project, and also to my ever supportive (ie tolerant) wife!

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Great work man, thanks for continuing to share your work here for us!

 

[Janus67]

I just read through all 6 pages this morning, it looks absolutely phenomenal. Excellent work as always!

 

[Dooms101]

The final build is immaculate and very original. I love the futuristic theme, it's very scifi. I know you sold units of your exoframe, would you sell these maybe (just wondering)?

 

[Navig]

Thanks!

I know I set out to try and make this reproducible, but I don't think currently its feasible for several reasons.

1) I'm not 100% satisfied with plastic bending process

2) Paint was ridiculously painful

3) Too many parts are just too custom one-off (like all the brackets for the 5.25 bay devices)

4) The materials aren't that expensive, but the man-hours are just way too many that it would push the price into the stratosphere. I wouldn't do it again for anything south of 4 figures. Maybe less if the buyer wanted to do all his own paint.

5) Any specifics would have to be discussed via PM





However, I do plan on taking all the knowledge I've gained from this project and heading towards a similar but simplified product that would be easier reproduce. That'll probably be my next-next project.

 

[Navig]

.












Alright, my "Completed" thread is done and posted:





--> Link Here <--




It does contain a not-so-quick summary of my build log!


Thanks again.

 

[mgsickler]

Another incredible build on this forum. Awesome job! The airflow looks like it would keep it super cool in there.

Great job.

 

[alexdt256]

Wow crazy build ! It really does look amazing ! Good job

 

[gammerx]

wow, that is so amazing!