Hi… this is all about a new project, and this time it is a scratch build.
The basic idea was to plan and design a cabinet that would hold the motherboard and all other accessories like GPU, cooling system, HDDs, PSU etc. in a most convenient way. Oh yeah, and it had to look awesome as well!
First I thought about the places to put the components—especially the motherboard, the cooling system, Hard Disc bay and the PSU.
Hard Discs and PSU are by far the least heat generating components and hence placed at the bottom of the case.
What I concentrated most is the placement of the motherboard. After using quite a few different cabinets and the placement of the mobo in 2 different ways, I always felt that if the mobo is placed at right angles to the traditional setup then it would be optimal for the cooling setup. In a usual system hot air from the GPU usually makes the inside of the cabinet hotter. It also goes up heating up the CPU VRMs and then the hot air actually goes through the radiator if it’s placed on the top. But in case of a horizontal tilt the hot air moving up ventilates through the top and very less goes to the CPU area. This has one caveat though: the usual top mounting radiator position becomes unavailable.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/622/22935590086_3cf21d329a_o.jpg
So I thought of putting the radiator on the right side of the mobo, i.e. on the front of the cabinet. The reservoir with the pump in front of it.
I started working on this and made a few designs in 3D to see how it was going to look. Then chose a favorable design, worked on the placements and took proper measurements.
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5635/22569447169_48a8e32c77_o.jpg
Here I got a massive help from the Asus India. After showing a brief presentation on the concept they extended their hand to provide me with a motherboard, processor, graphics card and memory modules. With the new hardware on board, I started thinking about evolving the design a bit.
A lightbulb flashed all of a sudden inside my head – why not make this a test bench?
There are multiple plus points of making a case a test bench type. First and foremost easy removability of hardware, which was a priority in my case. I always tinkered with multiple stuff, and it made perfect sense. But changing the case to a testbed required minor changes. Most importantly, the cooling system would have to fitted and planned in a way that the hardware could be swapped or changed effortlessly.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/749/22543297118_368eec6bfb_o.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/737/22543250097_f5a768e88f_o.jpg
Now its time to choose the name for the build. While looking at the design the first thing came in my mind is the word Hero, and as am going to make a test bench and metal work is going to be there so why not Metal Hero.
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5682/22948413352_aa0fba6e9f_o.png
Now to start the work, need the structure design.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/778/22948368572_4a87645ab9_o.jpg
I chose Aluminum L channels to make the basic structure and started working on it.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/760/22543253387_b769280c3a_o.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/624/22936123876_6847ed6e78_k.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/612/22339274224_de4e68a7af_o.jpg
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As the work progressed I found out that I was unable to keep the right measurements all the time and hence the structure wasn’t going to be precise enough and hold everything in their right places.
So as I was looking for some other alternatives, the first thing that came in my mind was to use wood. I got some 1” x 1” 6ft long wooden bits to start with, and then bought some tools and found out its easier to work with, so slowly moved forward and completed the basic structure.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/618/22957126356_45693db2ed_k.jpg
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5719/22362023543_58262f1787_k.jpg
Wheels and base added to the structure:
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5687/22957154866_7c3203e917_k.jpg
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Time for some Stress Test....
*farm1.staticflickr.com/608/22980365946_37b233601e_k.jpg
After successful testing time to check the positions of the psu and radiator.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/735/22385254663_465d6e21e7_k.jpg
Thanks a lot ASUS India for giving me the Maximus Hero, gtx 980 matrix and 6600k.... along with DDR4 ram....
*farm1.staticflickr.com/766/22588051857_3dd7493b42_k.jpg
The basic idea was to plan and design a cabinet that would hold the motherboard and all other accessories like GPU, cooling system, HDDs, PSU etc. in a most convenient way. Oh yeah, and it had to look awesome as well!
First I thought about the places to put the components—especially the motherboard, the cooling system, Hard Disc bay and the PSU.
Hard Discs and PSU are by far the least heat generating components and hence placed at the bottom of the case.
What I concentrated most is the placement of the motherboard. After using quite a few different cabinets and the placement of the mobo in 2 different ways, I always felt that if the mobo is placed at right angles to the traditional setup then it would be optimal for the cooling setup. In a usual system hot air from the GPU usually makes the inside of the cabinet hotter. It also goes up heating up the CPU VRMs and then the hot air actually goes through the radiator if it’s placed on the top. But in case of a horizontal tilt the hot air moving up ventilates through the top and very less goes to the CPU area. This has one caveat though: the usual top mounting radiator position becomes unavailable.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/622/22935590086_3cf21d329a_o.jpg
So I thought of putting the radiator on the right side of the mobo, i.e. on the front of the cabinet. The reservoir with the pump in front of it.
I started working on this and made a few designs in 3D to see how it was going to look. Then chose a favorable design, worked on the placements and took proper measurements.
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5635/22569447169_48a8e32c77_o.jpg
Here I got a massive help from the Asus India. After showing a brief presentation on the concept they extended their hand to provide me with a motherboard, processor, graphics card and memory modules. With the new hardware on board, I started thinking about evolving the design a bit.
A lightbulb flashed all of a sudden inside my head – why not make this a test bench?
There are multiple plus points of making a case a test bench type. First and foremost easy removability of hardware, which was a priority in my case. I always tinkered with multiple stuff, and it made perfect sense. But changing the case to a testbed required minor changes. Most importantly, the cooling system would have to fitted and planned in a way that the hardware could be swapped or changed effortlessly.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/749/22543297118_368eec6bfb_o.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/737/22543250097_f5a768e88f_o.jpg
Now its time to choose the name for the build. While looking at the design the first thing came in my mind is the word Hero, and as am going to make a test bench and metal work is going to be there so why not Metal Hero.
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5682/22948413352_aa0fba6e9f_o.png
Now to start the work, need the structure design.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/778/22948368572_4a87645ab9_o.jpg
I chose Aluminum L channels to make the basic structure and started working on it.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/760/22543253387_b769280c3a_o.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/624/22936123876_6847ed6e78_k.jpg
*farm1.staticflickr.com/612/22339274224_de4e68a7af_o.jpg
- - - Updated - - -
As the work progressed I found out that I was unable to keep the right measurements all the time and hence the structure wasn’t going to be precise enough and hold everything in their right places.
So as I was looking for some other alternatives, the first thing that came in my mind was to use wood. I got some 1” x 1” 6ft long wooden bits to start with, and then bought some tools and found out its easier to work with, so slowly moved forward and completed the basic structure.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/618/22957126356_45693db2ed_k.jpg
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5719/22362023543_58262f1787_k.jpg
Wheels and base added to the structure:
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5687/22957154866_7c3203e917_k.jpg
- - - Updated - - -
Time for some Stress Test....
*farm1.staticflickr.com/608/22980365946_37b233601e_k.jpg
After successful testing time to check the positions of the psu and radiator.
*farm1.staticflickr.com/735/22385254663_465d6e21e7_k.jpg
Thanks a lot ASUS India for giving me the Maximus Hero, gtx 980 matrix and 6600k.... along with DDR4 ram....
*farm1.staticflickr.com/766/22588051857_3dd7493b42_k.jpg
