PCFormat Forum Archive

Endorphin

INDEX

Initial Planning (this page)
Prophecy Sponsor Announced and details on the sponsored items
IceVision announced as a sponsor, First batch of goodies arrives from Prophecy
First batch of stuff arrive from IceVision
Initial designs for external enclosure
Updated designs for external enclosure
Platform change, now on 939/SLI. Shuttle SN26P
Pics of 7800GT SLI in Shuttle
Purchased a 3500+, first 7600GT arrives from IceVision (Second one on it's way)
Colour Scheme decided
ANOTHER sponsor...
Res and Molex connectors arrive from the US, temp sensors from Synapsys
New raddy, red sleeving & heatshrink, more connectors

I'm sorry but i just can't hold it in anymore. I just HAVE to tell you guys because i'm very very excited!

Project Epiphany is almost finished. I'm taking the PSU to be tested by Samaya on saturday (thanks man ) and if it tests out ok, Epiphany will be finished VERY soon, in which case i'll be starting my next mod(s)

The next mod will be called Endorphin and will consist of two mods.

The case will be an AOpen EY65 case:





Here's a few plans that i have already:

• Most of the hardware will be watercooled. The CPU, GPU, and Chipset will all be watercooled.. I have already obtained all the relevant blocks and the pump, i'm just waiting to get a radiator, which i should be getting within the next few days.
• The entire front Fascia will be removed and i'll make a new one. The new one will be about simplicity, somthing like what you'd expect from an ANTEC case, like the front of the SOLO.
• There will be a VFD/LCD display in the front as well
• The case will also obviously be getting a new paint job, colour is still undecided but i think i'm gonna go for a nice black colour, or perhaps a dark grey. I'll see

Now here's the part where this mod will differ slightly from other mods. For a number of reasons, this case will have NO optical drive inside the case. Mainly because this case is TINY and i have to fit a pump in here, but also because i hardly ever use an optical drive. So i have a plan that will allow me to use an optical drive with this machine anyway, and this plan is what the second mod is about:


Second Part of Endorphin

I need an external optical drive, but there's no way in HELL i'm gonna pay over 1K for one, so i'll MAKE one, but one with FAR more functionality than a regular external optical drive. This one will include a few added features.

I'm going to build an external enclosure that will house a DVD writer, two hard disks for extra storage (a 160GB and a 120GB), a memory card reader, a 120mm fan to cool the HDDs, and a USB hub. The Optical drive, card reader, USB hub, and HDDs will all eventually run from the enclosure through a SINGLE USB cable to the PC.

Now i need to explain in more detail how i plan on doing all of this. The optical drive and the two hard disks will be connected to a USB hub inside (lets call this HUB1) the enclosure via IDE to USB adapters. The Card reader and external USB hub (we'll call it HUB 2) will ALSO be connected to this internal USB hub. This internal hub will be what connects to the PC. So if you plug in this USB hub, you'll connect the Optical drive, both HDDs, the card reader, and the external USB hub to the PC.

So, now you're probably wondering how i plan on powering all of this huh? Well, i managed to get my hands on a pretty small 350W PSU. This PSU will probably come out of it's housing and i'll put the bare, to preserve space. This PSU will power everything in the enclosure - the DVD RW, both HDDs, the 120mm fan, and the USB hubs (yes, i'm gonna buy USB hubs that need 5V so that they can power hungry devices like my portable 20GB laptop HDD). This PSU will get power from a regular power cable.

Here's a diagram to help explain:



This enclosure will also have 2 LCD displays in front to display the temps of the two HDDs.

I'm thinking that i might add individual switches to all the devices within the enclosure so that i can power up only the ones i want to use.

Now the case mod and this external enclosure mod will run hand in hand, but the external enclosure wont necessarily always be in use, and i can plug it into another PC if need be.

So that's what i've been planning for about 2 months now. I've been so frikken excited and i just need to share my excitement

I'm gonna contact a few local etailers and see if i can hook up some sponsors for this mod.

Let me know what you guys think

Cool bananas , so part 2 will almost have the look of the main mod, but instead of being an actual pc, it will be like and external storage facility...

would look awesome if part 2 comes out the same size as your main mod and then they can be placed on top of each other...

would look almost like a lian-li with the promeathia phase changing cooling unit...

gonna enjoy looking in on this one just like with Epiphany...

Looks very interesting I'm sure it will turn out to be excellent, so what hardware u planning to fit in this mod gpu, cpu, & ram. Btw good luck with this one

Off-The-Chart wrote:would look awesome if part 2 comes out the same size as your main mod and then they can be placed on top of each other...

I'm not sure i wanna do it like that. The case mod itself is gonna have a reservoir (or two ) on top of the case, so i don't want anything on top of it, and the external enclosure mod should be easily movable, which it wont be if i have the case on top of it. But i'll see how it goes

abs wrote:So what hardware u planning to fit in this mod gpu, cpu, & ram.

Okay, well the hardware is gonna be pretty low end. This is my second PC, and it will basically only be used for minor stuff, so i dont need any insane specs, so i'm gonna use it basically as it is now, which is:

CPU: Pentium 4 2.8Ghz Prescott HT
Mobo: The board that's in this case, designed specifically for this case by AOpen
Video: ATI Radeon X800XT PE
RAM: At the moment i have 2GBs of Mushkin Redlines in this machine, but that's for Epiphany, but i have 512MB DDR400 that i can put in here, and i might throw in another 512MB stick.
HDD: I need to get my hands on a SATA HDD. It doesn't need to be big, 80GB will suffice. I still need to source it though.

As for cooling, so far i have Koolance blocks for the CPU, GPU and Chipset, a Coolwave pump, and the raddy i'm getting is also a Koolance Raddy, a single 120mm raddy. I have yet to decide on Reservoirs, but i haven't really looked around.

abs wrote:Btw good luck with this one

Thanks man, i hope you enjoy it

Genocide... what a lovely name for a mod.
Very African.

lol @ jamin

nah, I didn't mean you have to put the pc on top of it... meant it would be almost like the Promeathia cooling unit which is about the same width (looking from front) as a lian-li chassis and also same length (when looking from the side panel side)...

Don't know if you remember one of Mr Beans mods, but it had that in...

Looks like this:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1195/ ... tml?tl=g41

I'm looking forward to Genocide...it is a wicked concept, you've got going there

Interesting concept, can't wait to see how this one turns out.

Damn! Sounds like it's gonna be an awesome mod dude, especially the external enclosure housing the optical drive and all! Can't wait! Good luck!

jamin_za wrote:Genocide... what a lovely name for a mod.
Very African.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!

Off-The-Chart wrote:nah, I didn't mean you have to put the pc on top of it... meant it would be almost like the Promeathia cooling unit which is about the same width (looking from front) as a lian-li chassis and also same length (when looking from the side panel side)...

Oh, yeah i know exactly what you meant, but what I meant was that the idea wont really work because i'm not keen on placing either of the two mods on top of each other...

Lithe_Joint wrote:I'm looking forward to Genocide...it is a wicked concept, you've got going there

Ron2K wrote:Interesting concept, can't wait to see how this one turns out.

ryanrich wrote:Damn! Sounds like it's gonna be an awesome mod dude, especially the external enclosure housing the optical drive and all! Can't wait! Good luck!

Thanks guys

Looks very interesting. Its great when guys have a real passion about these things.

One question: Now how you gonna give it a ugly name like genocide? dide rape, murder, suicide, execution, etc. all get passed on?

Genocide sounds cool , can't wait to see the mod in action.

This is going to be awesome, I have an idea for the reservoirs for you but I'll tell you on Saturday. I cant wait to see what you are going to do with this mod.

DAE wrote:

• The entire front Fascia will be removed and i'll make a new one. The new one will be about simplicity, somthing like what you'd expect from an ANTEC case, like the front of the SOLO.
• There will be a VFD/LCD display in the front as well

So, What you're saying is that you want to take the facia, which looks quite simple to me and make it look simpler by adding an LCD?

kraven wrote:Looks very interesting. Its great when guys have a real passion about these things.

One question: Now how you gonna give it a ugly name like genocide? dide rape, murder, suicide, execution, etc. all get passed on?

lol, come on man, Genocide sounds cool

qace wrote:Genocide sounds cool , can't wait to see the mod in action.

Thanks man

Samaya wrote:This is going to be awesome, I have an idea for the reservoirs for you but I'll tell you on Saturday. I cant wait to see what you are going to do with this mod.

Cool, can't wait to hear what you've got to suggest (BTW, i'm definitely coming saturday )

Kronos wrote:So, What you're saying is that you want to take the facia, which looks quite simple to me and make it look simpler by adding an LCD?

LOL, just wait and see Kronos

Guys, GREAT news

I have already secured one sponsor so far for this mod.
I'm still waiting for reply emails from other places, we'll se if i get any more sponsors

okay, as a word title it does sound good. good stuff DJV, looking forward to it.

DAE_JA_VOO wrote: Guys, GREAT news

I have already secured one sponsor so far for this mod.
I'm still waiting for reply emails from other places, we'll se if i get any more sponsors

Now that IS a first AFAIK!!! Congrats dude. Hope they sponsor something cool towards your mod

Samaya wrote:

DAE_JA_VOO wrote: Guys, GREAT news

I have already secured one sponsor so far for this mod.
I'm still waiting for reply emails from other places, we'll se if i get any more sponsors

Now that IS a first AFAIK!!! Congrats dude. Hope they sponsor something cool towards your mod

Dude.... omw, you have no idea. I now have two sponsors so far, and between the two, i'll be getting a SATA HDD (160GB-200GB), RAM (either 512MB or 2x 512MB Corsair TwinX), a DVD RW, a 120mm fan, Three Vantec External HDD Enclosures, Two D-Link 7 Port USB hubs, an External USB Card reader.

As soon as my list of sponsors is finalized i'll let you guys know who they are

Thanks to the sponsors! You guys are awesome!

Cant I get sponsors for my mod aswel? Thats awesome dude, well done! Project Genocide is gonna look awesome

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:

Off-The-Chart wrote:nah, I didn't mean you have to put the pc on top of it... meant it would be almost like the Promeathia cooling unit which is about the same width (looking from front) as a lian-li chassis and also same length (when looking from the side panel side)...

Oh, yeah i know exactly what you meant, but what I meant was that the idea wont really work because i'm not keen on placing either of the two mods on top of each other...

Ya that's what my HTPC mod is gonna be for!

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:Dude.... omw, you have no idea. I now have two sponsors so far, and between the two, i'll be getting a SATA HDD (160GB-200GB), RAM (either 512MB or 2x 512MB Corsair TwinX), a DVD RW, a 120mm fan, Three Vantec External HDD Enclosures, Two D-Link 7 Port USB hubs, an External USB Card reader.

As soon as my list of sponsors is finalized i'll let you guys know who they are

YOU ANIMAL!!!! I also want sponsors

congrats on the sponsorships, dude

You have a couple of us with envy, it seems.

Heheheh, thanks guys

Sponsor(s):

Early stages:

Okay, i have secured and confirmed my sponsor. Before i elaborate, let me tell you how this happened. The night i started this thread i sent emails to about 10 local online stores and told them about my upcoming project and asked for sponsorships for components, I expected no replies. Those emails were sent out at about 1am. At about 8:15am i got my first reply. That reply was from an online store called IceVision. Visit them Here.

Mario from IceVision Agreed to hook me up with a 250GB SATA2 Hard disk, an LG DVD-RW, a 120mm fan, and some RAM. He agreed to send me 512MB of Twinmos DDR400, and then a set of Corsair TwinX XMS low latency 512MB sticks of DDR400 at a later stage when he gets stock. That was really great of him, i was ecstatic.

Main Sponsor: Prophecy

Please visit the Prophecy Shop HERE

Please visit the Prophecy Forum HERE

A little while later, i got an email from Henk (Firestar) from Prophecy. From the start, Henk was very amped to be a sponsor for this mod. In his very first email, he agreed to give me everything i asked him for (which was a CRAPLOAD of stuff). At this point i decided to break the sponsor with the guys over at IceVision and let Prophecy be my one and only sponsor.

After a few emails, we agreed on the following goodies:

1: A SATA2 Hard disk. A 160GB Seagate SATA2. See it at the Prophecy shop over HERE

2: Three Vantec Nexstar 3 External Hard Disk Enclosures. See the enclosures at the Prophecy shop over HERE

3: RAM. 2GBs of Team Xtreem Overclocking DDR 500MHz - 2GB (2x1GB Dual Channel). See it at the Prophecy shop over HERE

4: A Liteon DVD-RW (The LITEON® 16X DVD+R, 4X DVD+/-R DL to be specific). See it at the Prophecy shop over HERE

5: Two D-link DUB-H7 7port USB 2.0 hubs. See them at the Prophecy shop over HERE

6: An Antec Tricool 120mm Fan. See it at the Prophecy shop over HERE

As you can see, this is a pretty large amount of goodies, and i can't express how happy i am regarding this sponsor. Henk, Thanks again man!

Okay, so let me explain what i need all of this stuff for:

1: The HDD. This HDD will go into the actual PC case. The HDD i have in there now is an IDE disk which will look HORRIBLE and potentially ruin this mod. I have other hard disks that will go in the external enclosure.

2: The three Vantec Enclosures. The enclosures will be pulled apart for the guts. I need the PCB that's inside them that converts IDE to USB. The three PCBs from the three enclosures will be used for the two HDDs and the Liteon DVD-RW that's going into the enclosure.

3: RAM. Well this will obviously go into the machine. At the moment all i have for this machine is 512MB of DDR400, which is a bit meager, as this machine will end up running Windows Vista.

4: The DVD-RW. The DVD Writer will be going into the external enclosure.

5: Two D-Link hubs. This is a cool part Both hubs will be going into the external enclosure, however, one will be internal, and the other will be external, but not completely external. Let me explain. The one hub will be available from the outside of the enclosure, just 7 ports for any devices or whatever. The second hub will be inside, and the two HDDs, the DVD-RW, the external hub, and the card reader (oh crap i still need to source one of those) will all be connected to it. The internal hub will then have it's cable running out of the enclosure to whichever PC i connect it to.

6: The Antec Tricool fan: Man i love Tricool fans. I have 4 of them in epiphany, great fans these. This one will be in the enclosure to cool the two HDDs.

So that's what all these goodies are for. I really can't wait to get started with this project. All that's holding me back is that i'm waiting for the arrival of the stuff that Prophecy is giving me and i just need to finish Epiphany. Epiphany should be done within the next week or so, at which time i can commence this mod. By the way, Prophecy played a significant role in Epiphany too

Again, let me thank everyone over at Prophecy for this sponsor. You have no idea how much i appreciate it!

Just let me point out that, as far as i know, nobody has ever been sponsored for Case modding in SA. Overseas, guys are getting sponsored left right and center, but not here. It seems that Prophecy has really got an interest in the SA enthusiast PC market and they're really trying to get modding in SA to a better standard. I'm most certainly not saying that they'll sponsor every second Joe, hell, maybe i'm the only person they'll ever sponsor, maybe i'm the first of MANY, but i'm sure that many more companies will follow in Prophecy's tracks and start making an effort to make modding a big thing in this country.

Guys, i'm telling you, one of these days, modding in SA is going to explode and we're gonna see some FANTASTIC stuff coming from the local guys.

Thanks again to Prophecy, you guys are awesome!

Congratulations Dae. I am glad to see we are finally getting companies to sponsor modding in SA. That is awesome. I hope to see many more sponsorships happening but obviously not everyone will be sponsored as you say. I can't wait for you to start on this mod.

edit - I have added Prophecy to my suppliers list (it wasn't there )

Quick question: 3 Vantec Nexstars however are they not SATA to USB? Will you work around that for the DVD drive? Or am I mistaken with the case being SATA to USB...

and ofcourse, awesome stuff on the sponsor... know we are gonna enjoy reading up on this one...

Well done DAE! Im sure this mod is gonna be top notch, as usual! Looking forward to reading your log!