The Black Pearl

[3.5SE]

I did this PC a while back it's no longer together but I still have the case. It's now a mish mosh of older PC parts running linux on it. Basically I never turn it on anymore but it's still here. I wanted to share some pics with you guys of The Black Pearl's glory days. Let me know what you all think. Some of the pics are a little blurry, my camera doesn't like the CC and LED lights too much.
This started out as a charcoal gray Antec SX1030B, wasn't really black till I painted it.

Anyway here it is:

Removed front fan grills

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Rear fan grills removed:

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Pair of Dragon rear grills to cover the holes:

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Newly black exterior with skull case badge. I cut the top blowhole, and also did a large side window which is not in the pictures.

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What's a pirate ship without a skull and cross bones. Here you'll see a little of the mirror finish. My next paint job will be better. I learned a lot with this one. The Giants helmet is not part of the case.

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Emerging from the mist. The twin 12" CCFL are not on. When on they drown out the red lights but you can see the side of the case showing lots of light from the large side window.

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Flying the pirate colors.

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Pair of dragons lit up.

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Opening fire, don't look directly at the LED's they'll blind you.

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A bit blurry but she's a mighty ship. Thanks for looking.

[Pack Rat 24]

Nice Job on it man!

[Bigfat]

Very nice work indeed!

[pvr02]

Nice job. What kind of paint did you use to paint it?

[3.5SE]

Thanks all.
I used regular canned spray primer and paint from the auto parts store. For the drive bezels I used vynil dye. I did a lot of wet sanding in between coats. What I didn't do was clear coat it. I did two primer coats and at least three coats of color. I did a few more mods after I painted which was a mistake. For my current project I know a little more especially from trial and error. I'll be doing all the metal cutting and mounting before I paint. I'm also going to clear coat my next case. I'm actually thinking of having a local paint shop do the paint work but I kind of like saying I did it myself. You'd be suprised what good results you can get with spray paint.
Here are two shots of my current project. These are very early and not even close to the ideas I have for the final product. Even the hardware has changed since these pics. The AIW 9700 Pro has been replaced by a 9800 Pro, and I've got a 74GB raptor as my OS drive. The raid array above the power supply is now gone and so is the hard drive cage up there. Gotta see how the water cooling kit is going to fit. Also sleeved my antec true blue 480 watt PSU, and moved the one in the pics to my HTPC.

[3.5SE]

Second pic

[WVJammer]

Good job 3.5SE.

[dworld]

awesome

[zeLupin]

the first few case shots looked like a Chenming 602 if im not mistaken...

[dworld]

well he said it was and i quote


This started out as a charcoal gray Antec SX1030B, wasn't really black till I painted it.

[3.5SE]

The case was an Antec SX1030B. There are tons of cases that all look the same, just with different front bezels. When I bought the Antec SX1030B, B was for black it arrived a dark charcoal gray, not really black so I wound up painting it.

The new case is an A-Open H700A. I wanted something larger with more drive bays. Hopefully my watercooling system will arrive soon so I can get moving on the rest of this project and have some more stuff for you guys to look at.

Thanks all for the nice comments.

[dworld]

what water cooling system did you order and from where

[3.5SE]

For ease of use and setup I went with the Asetek Waterchill KT12A-L30 CPU/VGA/Chipset cooling kit. From the reviews I read and the 3dgameman video review it looks pretty simple to set up. The documentation is good too. I ordered the single radiator version to make sure it fits in my case ok. I ordered from www.misrcorps.com, they are a listed reseller on vapochills website. The price delivered was about $285. It's my first time setting up a water cooling system. I don't need anything crazy just something to keep my temps consistant during the hot summer months. The AC unit in my apartment doesn't really get to my computer room too well so water cooling seemed like a good option.

Edit: That's WWW.MISRCORPS.COM

[dworld]

wow that same kit is only 220 at frozen cpu

[3.5SE]

It's not the same kit. The one you see at frozencpu.com for $220 only has the CPU block. The kit I got is listed at $279 on their site and it doesn't have the L30 pump. Both Asetek kits at Frozencpu have the L20 pumps, it costs another $19 to upgrade your kit to the L30 pump. So I'd say my $285 shipped for a complete CPU/VGA/Chipset block kit with L30 pump was a good deal compared to the same kit at Frozencpu for $298 plus a good $11.95 for shipping. It might be cheaper somewhere else but I think I did the best out of the resellers listed on the Asetek website. I avoided the ones in NY like Frozencpu due to both price and the fact that I'd have to pay sales tax on top of the higher price. I've found that Frozencpu's prices are sometimes higher than other mod shops but they have a good selection.
Here is a pic of the kit, it comes with tubing too.

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I received my Asetek water cooling kit today funny thing is I ordered it from www.misrcorps.com but when it arrived today it came from Frozencpu. It was shipped from NY. Real strange but I'm really happy with the kit so far. Just placed the major parts into my case, looks like they'll fit nicely. It's a quality kit, the stuff looks great and the blocks are really nice. I'm impressed. There may be better products out there but for a complete kit and the money I don't think you can beat Asetek's kits.

[dworld]

well isnt that funny maybe the same company runs them

[Wesker Reborn]

More than likely

[3.5SE]

Good for me since I live in NY and it shipped from NY. I had it in like 2-3 days and didn't get hit with tax. Shipping was steep but the item was heavy and the price at www.misrcorps.com was about $10 cheaper than frozencpu's site. Shipping difference was about $4 more from www.misrcorps.com so I saved about $6. Pretty good when there isn't much in the way of deals on this particular item. I test fitted some of the parts last night like the pump, reservoir, radiator, and the huge sunon fan. The fan is 120x120x38. It's big and it 's really quiet at half power but a little noisy full on (this is sitting right next to the fan so at a distance it might not be to bad. It does move a lot of air thought.

[Metae]

Nice Job, Plus you got a NICE iPod!

[3.5SE]

I had a 20GB IPOD, sold it and bought a 74GB Raptor hard drive. I'd do it again in a second. I'm not a big fan of the IPOD. I think they are way over rated. My friend that bought it is very happy but I found it very clumsy to use especially in the car while I'm supposed to be driving not fiddling with an IPOD to try and get it to play through my car stereo. I know tons of people love them and everything on TV makes you think you can't live without one but I think it's a lot of good marketing hype. I'm much happier with a Raptor in my rig than an IPOD on my desk.

[Bigfat]

I agree with you on the car part, I sort of cringe when a playlist ends and I know I have to find another one now. Especially when you have around 500 playlists. =\ Oh well, I love my 40GB iPod. :D

[3.5SE]

hahah, I found myself looking for songs instead of driving. Luckily no accidents but I figured I'd better get rid of it before I had one. I'm much happier with the Raptor in my rig anyway.
I may have a new worklog coming soon - Project Whatnot (doesn't really have a title or one I'd like to share right now, don't want to give away anything). I did some work on it this weekend. Took the pics now just need to post it. Actually I'm working on about 3 projects of my own, plus repairing a family friends PC (waiting for a part), working on building a new PC for my dad, updating a co-workers PC this Thursday, and on top of all this I'm about to buy a 56" Samsung DLP HDTV to mate up to my HTPC. It's a crazy time but I'm loving it.

[RedXray]

Originally posted by 3.5SE@Jul 11 2004, 09:41 PM
I'm about to buy a 56" Samsung DLP HDTV to mate up to my HTPC. It's a crazy time but I'm loving it.
You are busy!

Superbowl Party @ your house... Man 56" that is so awesome!

[3.5SE]

Add to that working a full time job, and hooking up a router at my brother in laws (on the list too).
Yeah can't wait for the TV. I hope to find out this week if I can get it at a good price locally or if I have to go though the net. I have a contact through a friend that has quoted me a great price on a 50" but now I want the 56" (wife said the 50" was too small). As for the superbowl party, I have a pair of nephews that don't understand the words don't touch and when it comes to a TV costing $3,000+ I might have to lay the smack down. An electric fence might be in my future. :D

[JeyNyce]

wife said the 50" was too small

She's a keeper! :D

[3.5SE]

Yeah she is a keeper. My friend came through today and got me pricing on the TV. Basically I'm saving about $1,200 off retail and about $150 off of my best online deal (there is a power buy going on but I was able to beat the price). Basically I'm saving $150 across the TV, stand, and extended warranty. I guess you have to figure in that I'm also getting an extra full year of warranty coverage (5 years total vs 4 years total) plus the $150 savings. The average Joe walking into a circuit city or best buy will be paying $1,000 to $1,200 more. I would save the tax buying over the net but my savings number include tax. I'm psyched. Just need to iron out some details with the contact and then go to the store and do the transaction. Not sure it's in stock yet but I can wait a little while. If I order online it would be about a 4-8 week wait. Football season is coming and the Giants got a new QB wooo hooooo. HD is going to be nice, not to mention my HTPC hooked up to this set is going to be cool.

[3.5SE]

TV's on order now, should have it second or third week in August. Got the 56" for a great price $2,899.99 plus tax so about $3,208, retail is about $4,000. Now I'm looking for a stand. That's the good news, bad news is I somehow messed up my server case and it's going in the garbage. NEXT.... Bring in the Lian Li PC-V2000B. Placed an order today for the Lian Li. I already have my asetek water cooling system running, now it all needs a home and the Lian Li was perfect. Now I'm just afraid to mod the Lian Li because it's so damn expensive. Here is a pic.

[Pack Rat 24]

crud, I wish I had that kind of money, lol

[3.5SE]

Well no TV yet and the mod over here moved my new Lian Li case thread over to member reviews cases section so no one will see the darn thing. Does water cooling count as a mod? How about sleeving a power supply and fans? I'd cut a window but the Lian Li costs too damn much to mess up right now.