Modding: A modded HAF that's strong as a truck!
Continuing our recent modding-lust, we put our feelers out into the community and got a response already - and found something that's both beasty and cool.
Painstakingly put together by Michael Lovett (aka RogueGamingPC on OCAU), each part of the build is themes in one way or another and not only does it all look good - but it's overclocked to boot!
It's not as subdued as last week's TJ07 mod, but this one has a flair all of its own.
We gave him some space to write out his experiences, and this is what he had to say:
My quest was to be able to build a gaming machine that utilised a popular case which was easily modified, well appointed and had a unique appeal and originality. The allure of building customised machines for the public was more a love of building, tweaking and modding rather than financial gain. To be able to satisfy my addiction through a clientele base would only seem mutually beneficial. My original theme was based around two 3870X2 ATI cards I had on my original X38 Gigabyte motherboard, hence the red, which would soon be upgraded to two 4870X2 (the pinnacle at the time). The potential of the HAF was attractive in many ways - size, cooling and raw allure was just aching for some modding. My first point of call was to brighten the somewhat bland interior with a splash of colour, a quick strip down and off to the powder coaters. Originally based in the signage industry, my contacts for specialised lighting, laser cutting, painting and industrial design make for an endless array of options. Choosing neon lighting, acrylic and mirror acrylic highlights and features needed a lot of foresight to cater for these changes. During the cultivation of components, I purchased the Coolermaster Aquagate Max for its compact size, a quick laser cut face and addition of red LEDs tied it all in. The original plan was to keep as many of the shelf components as possible to aid in keeping of stock, as I working full time. My original system was then transplanted into the case for some testing along with cable management, debugging and lighting adjustments. The Q6600 at 3.8ghz along with the overclocked 3870X2 pulled some nice figures and kept my appetite at bay - for only little while. A heart transplant of an E8500 in the search for higher clocks only resulted in small increase in 3Dmarks, back to the drawing board. It seemed forever before I first laid my hands on the I7; now I will never look back. With no luck on the 1366 kit for the Aquagate, I jumped at the opportunity to be one of the few to own a copper True, (jeez this thing is heavy!). Equipped with a brand new 4870X2 my benching began. This returning a 06 score of 19K I was a little disillusioned so I threw the 2 old cards in, again nothing to write home about, 23K. Overclocking the 4870X2 only saw it matching the old cards in crossfire, so I purchased a cheap 4870 to confirm the crossfire potential before another huge outlay. This again was not a vast increase and led to my first ever Nvidia purchase. With my old system and new connected to a KVM switch to my 24 inch monitor, I watched in horror as the GTX295 tore shreds of my old love. Frame rates, benchmarks and a crystal clear picture only confirmed my next move - sell everything else for a quad SLI beast. The build now had grown momentum, a 4 gig overclock and quad SLI saw a 3d mark vantage score of 37K with physics, need more. Still not satisfied the True was replaced with a Koolance triple and single (pre) radiator and a 350 block for some great cooling. In Koolance I also found the perfect match for the Quad SLI and quick mod with some red LEDs the system was finally complete, so I thought. During a particularly hot day while trying to push over the 40K mark, the poor old Coolermaster pump gave in. Trying to keep the look I had to find a pump to suit the reservoir, Danger Den to the rescue, the CPX-Pro fitted with some small modifications. With everything running smoothly, all the cable management complete and logo attached along with the huge dent in the credit card one would think the thirst would be quenched, not likely. With the never ending bombardment of new graphics cards and potentially a dual I7 mobo, it has only just begun.
My quest was to be able to build a gaming machine that utilised a popular case which was easily modified, well appointed and had a unique appeal and originality. The allure of building customised machines for the public was more a love of building, tweaking and modding rather than financial gain. To be able to satisfy my addiction through a clientele base would only seem mutually beneficial.
My original theme was based around two 3870X2 ATI cards I had on my original X38 Gigabyte motherboard, hence the red, which would soon be upgraded to two 4870X2 (the pinnacle at the time). The potential of the HAF was attractive in many ways - size, cooling and raw allure was just aching for some modding. My first point of call was to brighten the somewhat bland interior with a splash of colour, a quick strip down and off to the powder coaters. Originally based in the signage industry, my contacts for specialised lighting, laser cutting, painting and industrial design make for an endless array of options. Choosing neon lighting, acrylic and mirror acrylic highlights and features needed a lot of foresight to cater for these changes.
During the cultivation of components, I purchased the Coolermaster Aquagate Max for its compact size, a quick laser cut face and addition of red LEDs tied it all in. The original plan was to keep as many of the shelf components as possible to aid in keeping of stock, as I working full time. My original system was then transplanted into the case for some testing along with cable management, debugging and lighting adjustments. The Q6600 at 3.8ghz along with the overclocked 3870X2 pulled some nice figures and kept my appetite at bay - for only little while. A heart transplant of an E8500 in the search for higher clocks only resulted in small increase in 3Dmarks, back to the drawing board.
It seemed forever before I first laid my hands on the I7; now I will never look back. With no luck on the 1366 kit for the Aquagate, I jumped at the opportunity to be one of the few to own a copper True, (jeez this thing is heavy!). Equipped with a brand new 4870X2 my benching began. This returning a 06 score of 19K I was a little disillusioned so I threw the 2 old cards in, again nothing to write home about, 23K. Overclocking the 4870X2 only saw it matching the old cards in crossfire, so I purchased a cheap 4870 to confirm the crossfire potential before another huge outlay. This again was not a vast increase and led to my first ever Nvidia purchase.
With my old system and new connected to a KVM switch to my 24 inch monitor, I watched in horror as the GTX295 tore shreds of my old love. Frame rates, benchmarks and a crystal clear picture only confirmed my next move - sell everything else for a quad SLI beast. The build now had grown momentum, a 4 gig overclock and quad SLI saw a 3d mark vantage score of 37K with physics, need more. Still not satisfied the True was replaced with a Koolance triple and single (pre) radiator and a 350 block for some great cooling. In Koolance I also found the perfect match for the Quad SLI and quick mod with some red LEDs the system was finally complete, so I thought.
During a particularly hot day while trying to push over the 40K mark, the poor old Coolermaster pump gave in. Trying to keep the look I had to find a pump to suit the reservoir, Danger Den to the rescue, the CPX-Pro fitted with some small modifications. With everything running smoothly, all the cable management complete and logo attached along with the huge dent in the credit card one would think the thirst would be quenched, not likely. With the never ending bombardment of new graphics cards and potentially a dual I7 mobo, it has only just begun.
Red lighting, slick paint job, watercooled QuadSLI and some of the best damn components you can buy makes this one bloody special rig, so we asked Michael what he's going to be up to next:
"I still have the website to build, featuring the build log along with my HTPC and various other projects, all for which will have to wait now for the pending birth of my daughter."
Check out his post for some pics of the build and benchmark results, his (currently in-progress) site and make sure you keep an eye out for his work in the future - feel free to email me with any mods you've done too. If they're good enough you might even get your own article!
Specs are as follows:
Issue: 107 | December, 2009