|
|
Mod of the Month - July 2007
Author: Brett ThomasPublished: 30th July 2007
Impossible Modding
by rigormortemWorklog
Have you ever had an idea for a great mod, or a great inclusion to a current mod, and thought "Nah, that can't work"? Most of us have seen that particularly nice case, or that perfectly designed watercooling loop and thought "I wish..."
Well, sometimes you just find a way to make it work. At least, that's what happened to rigormortem when he received a challenge from a friend. See, he really liked this particular Cabe case - so much that he didn't want the outside of it altered. However, the case couldn't support watercooling, supposedly.
Rigormortem thought differently - and with a few ground rules clear (absolutely NO alterations to the external case), he went to work. The result is a functional modding spree that's required tight tolerance and infinite patience, but it's looking pretty cool!
The original Cabe case is an unusually attractive, small case. It gets its size partially from pitching the mobo at a 45 degree angle, allowing a much smaller form-factor than is normally required with ATX setups.
One of the (many) complications to the mod would be fitting radiators inside the case. The fans currently are suspended from U-brackets at a 45 degree angle, but the radiators would only fit at proper angles. Fortunately, rigormortem found himself a pattern for cutting a fan mounting bracket....
...that allowed him to mount his fans at the 45 degree angle needed while keeping the rads at their normal angles.
The mod features a rather robust watercooling loop that is largely designed from copper connections. Even the block retention mechanism is custom-made to help keep the space down where necessary.
Just because a mod is mostly functional doesn't mean it can't have some design elements thrown in. Impossible Modding sports a USB bracket shroud made of black plexi, and the current project is an aluminium shroud for the DVD drives.
The project still has a long way to go, but it looks like rigormortem is doing the right things to turn what once seemed impossible into merely a minor setback. It would definitely be worth keeping an eye on his worklog to see how he finishes it!
If you think this mod should win this month's competition, don't forget to vote for it in this thread! Voting closes on 9th August 2007.
Shopping
Stats: 0.022 seconds