The Official Budget-Conscious Dream Machine!

A reasonable amount, but shouldn't be too bad. The number one PC modding tool though is a Dremel - infinitesimally useful, and dirt cheap if you get a B&Q's own brand 'performance' one or something like that.

 

ok will that do both hole cutting and big windows?

what about plexiglass for the window?

 

You can get cutting discs of different types and materials for different jobs, I've not used one myself, but I know they can definitely cut plastic well enough.

 

The parts are finally here. The Smilodon is a bad-ass case. The quality is way above what one might expect from a budget brand like Raidmax. Loads of little features. Very solidly built. Looks MUCH better in real life than in photos. Like a stealth fighter

I'm going to be working on the customer build tomorrow, and I'll be doing my own in a few days. Not in a big rush or anything. I'll report back with a quick review on the new stuff when I get a chance.

Installed the 8800GTS right away though. HUGE improvement in 1920 res. Crysis is playable in 1650 res again too Looks beautiful... Also, 600W StealthXstream boots up normally and voltage checks out fine in all software sensors. Speedfan seems to be generally accurate. Eh, I'm not too worried. Handles the build without a hiccup. As quiet as my Corsair.

Well, like sammorris says, a dremel is your best friend. A fairly high quality one can be picked up for cheap. Different cutting heads for different materials.

Plexiglass isn't too hard to find either. A local hardware store might have some.

Have fun. Be creative. Easy mods include cutting out fan grills for better airflow, and maybe some cold cathodes if you're so inclined.

 

Really, isn't that case great? They really did pay attention to details.

I just wish the fan's position on the VGA bar was adjustable. That way you can intake cold air right over the GPU fan. On the most recent build I did the fan was useless because the 9800GTX blows air out of the case so the fan can't exhaust or anything like that.

I'm sure you could cut out a new position though...

 

The VGA bar works great for the 8800GT I put in. I can feel warm air coming out when running 3Dmark 06. I don't know what I'll do with the dual slot cooler on my 8800GTS. I probably need to break out my own dremel and make some mods. Not sure how that would work. But I'll figure something out. I might just remove the bar altogether.

 

I had a BIG ASS cooler so I had the remove the green CPU fan(that things moves a LOT of air) and put it in the VGA slot and took the VGA fan and put it behind the HDD.

Well some airflow is better than none. I'm sure there will will be SOME heat that it can remove from the 8800GTS.

I thought you were going to get a 8800GTS G92? Did you get the Palit 8800GT instead?

 

From most of the information I've gathered, the OCZ is not as quiet as Corsair units - it probably just isn't audible above the rest of your components...

Is this VGA bar a side exhaust fan? Because if it is, it's something I've found to be tremendously effective in my PC - once I made my X1900 fanless a while back (it also helps with my current 3870 since it exhausts into the case) I swapped my 120mm side fan to exhaust and took the dust filter off, and it lowered my GPU temps by nearly 10 degrees - you can feel warm air coming out when gaming, and cool air when not...

 

You can turn it and make it exhaust or intake.

 

I'm not saying you couldn't - but what are you guys using it as?

 

I used to use it as exhaust in the first build because it was a 9600GT and it spit the hot air back out into the case. In the second build I used it as intake because it was a 9800GTX with a dual slot solution.

 

Yep, that's what I'd do in those relevant situations, or at least would if I wasn't a silence nut. I don't know about the Raidmax case but for the NZXT Lexa, the side fan is mounted directly to the plexiglass side panel, consequently if you mount a fan as intake (without the dust filter - that abates this issue) you get horrible 4b vibrations (4*blade frequency).

 

Great minds think alike...

Here I will show you what it looks like.



AND... Here is a review!

http://www.3dgameman.com/content/view/4286/103/

I just noticed something. The Extreme version(the ones I bought) have 120mm exhaust, while the Blue version has 80MM exhaust!

 

Is that an 80mm rear fan? What is this, 2003? lol

 

Check my Edit.

 

I was going to say, a solo 80mm rear fan today is very poor - it's not as if there isn't room for it...

 

Yeah and the Extreme version is only like 55 after rebates.

Also,I finally used that Xigamatek cooler, and I have to say, installation is a BITCH. I cut myself numerous times, and in the end I had to take the motherboard out. It cooled very well, but I don't think it was fully touching the CPU as the pins kept on popping out. If I had a bolt through kit for it I believe it would have performed better.

The temps were around 60C LOAD for an hour or so at 3.6Ghz and 1.517v.

 

Hmm - that's disappointing. To be fair though, find me a tower cooler that's a breeze to install and I'll be all over it. The Ultra-120 is relatively easy to install as a cooler, but getting the fan on with those clips is disappointingly fiddly, and as I've found, losing the fan clips is easily done - no spares are provided. Consequently my CPu fan is now tied on...



The cable that's used as string is in fact the cable that connects the PWM potentiometer to a Silverstone FM121...

 

No. The fan is not 80mm. That is the older version of the case. The one in the newegg pictures and the one I received both have 120mm exhaust. And this is the blue one. Take a look:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156063

I did get the 8800GTS, but I got the Evga 8800GT for my friend. Remember, I was buying parts for 2 different systems.

EDIT: Gonna be a while before I feel up to assembling my own rig. A bad case of poison ivy has dashed my spirits

 

Poison ivy? I don't quite follow.