Modding: An Atomican-built, decidedly wet mod.
Modding has always been one of the most hardcore endeavours to aim for in the Atomic world, requiring a touch of finesse and the patience of a brain surgeon (and sometimes even the bank account of one!).
When we caught wind that of our community members, Cheozuka, was doing his very own mod based around the very popular CoolerMaster Stacker 830 case we had to have a look.
He's running a lot of tech inside a custom-designed and built false bottom, but we'll let Cheo explain the reasoning behind it:
There comes a time in every Atomican's Life, when he gets ambitious and is not content with the current rig. Be it noise/ performance ratio, aesthetics, functionality or just plain workability. This was the founding reason for this mod. In the beginning I had a p4 DDR 400 system with a 6600GT 128MB gfx in a Antec super lanboy case. I then purchase a Dell 24" monitor not really comprehending the fact that i would have to have a more powerful pc and indeed gfx card to really drive it. This started a spiral of upgrades which involved me getting a 7600GT 256MB only to be disappointed in the fact that it was only slightly faster than my 6600GT. After installing a Zalman 9700NT and various other fans, I was happy... Happy with the fact that the pc was not on the brink of meltdown, but becoming increasingly more frustrated with the fact that the Super Lanboy, a case that I really liked with its nice large side window from in which I could admire my gear, was near impossible to work with. Far too small for my needs and no more room for the needs of the modding/expansion gaming and hardware monster that was growing within me... Enter the Coolermaster stacker 830. Ever since I had seen this case I just loved the shape and style as well as the seemingly massive internal area and abundance of expansion slots. This was indeed the case for me! As I added more fans, a fan controller with temp sensors and wattage display, SLI and more HDDs to keep the upgrade monster inside happy, the mass of cables made my case increasingly untidy also impeding airflow. I decided enough was enough. I started surfing for a case that could accommodate my needs, but nothing really grabbed me like the stacker had.The cases that possessed the right build and layouts for my needs seemed to lack the character that i had really grown fond of in the stacker case. So I started thinking of ways of how to remove some of the space issues and flaws in my current case. Reluctant as I was I was going to have to get hardcore and hit the case with the dremel and drill for one, but after all we are Atomic! improving on good tech is what we do right? The other idea that I had was provided by mods I had seen and often thought about from my friend and fellow atomican m4rx, with his original silverstone tj07 he could mount the radiator and all the water cooling gear in the bottom, and have just the pipes coming up into the case. Why can't I do that, I thought, but go one better and make a sealed false bottom?
There comes a time in every Atomican's Life, when he gets ambitious and is not content with the current rig. Be it noise/ performance ratio, aesthetics, functionality or just plain workability. This was the founding reason for this mod. In the beginning I had a p4 DDR 400 system with a 6600GT 128MB gfx in a Antec super lanboy case. I then purchase a Dell 24" monitor not really comprehending the fact that i would have to have a more powerful pc and indeed gfx card to really drive it.
This started a spiral of upgrades which involved me getting a 7600GT 256MB only to be disappointed in the fact that it was only slightly faster than my 6600GT. After installing a Zalman 9700NT and various other fans, I was happy...
Happy with the fact that the pc was not on the brink of meltdown, but becoming increasingly more frustrated with the fact that the Super Lanboy, a case that I really liked with its nice large side window from in which I could admire my gear, was near impossible to work with. Far too small for my needs and no more room for the needs of the modding/expansion gaming and hardware monster that was growing within me...
Enter the Coolermaster stacker 830.
Ever since I had seen this case I just loved the shape and style as well as the seemingly massive internal area and abundance of expansion slots. This was indeed the case for me! As I added more fans, a fan controller with temp sensors and wattage display, SLI and more HDDs to keep the upgrade monster inside happy, the mass of cables made my case increasingly untidy also impeding airflow. I decided enough was enough.
I started surfing for a case that could accommodate my needs, but nothing really grabbed me like the stacker had.The cases that possessed the right build and layouts for my needs seemed to lack the character that i had really grown fond of in the stacker case. So I started thinking of ways of how to remove some of the space issues and flaws in my current case.
Reluctant as I was I was going to have to get hardcore and hit the case with the dremel and drill for one, but after all we are Atomic! improving on good tech is what we do right? The other idea that I had was provided by mods I had seen and often thought about from my friend and fellow atomican m4rx, with his original silverstone tj07 he could mount the radiator and all the water cooling gear in the bottom, and have just the pipes coming up into the case. Why can't I do that, I thought, but go one better and make a sealed false bottom?
Packed with beefy hardware, the false bottom contains an enclosed watercooling loop complete with sound-dampening foam and a visual style that fits in with the original case.
Not only that but it manages to look stunning in the dark, so head into our forums to read Cheo's very detailed worklog and ogle his many pictures.
Issue: 111 | April, 2010