Corsair 900D Unforgiven - The Metallica Build

onevoicewild · July 4, 2013

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Unforgiven - The Metallica Build

Sponsored By :

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Hi all you Corsair fans! I'm Michael Kaiser ( onevoicewild ) in the USA I'm the sledge hammer on this build.

My good friend Sam ( Do Until Loopy ) Is doing all the rendering and the case design based on my original Ideas.

We started refining the design and working on some of the key elements 2 months before the 900D release.

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This was my original inspiration for this tribute build.

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This is what we call the Standard Version

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I think that the Corsair 900D looks good no mater how you build it! Time will show that the 900D is going to be a historic case.

Rock Bands are known for their excess and the standard version would never do for Metallica. They roll at 200 miles per hour with their hair on fire.

Let me Introduce you to the Heavy Metal Version

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Modding a case that's not available yet is only advisable if you have a mad Brit with incredible rendering skills.

Fortunately for me I know just such a man. Sam was instrumental in getting this build rolling before we had a case to work with.

I needed to start getting something going on my end. I'm not going to let Sam have all the fun.

I started working on the first piece Sam named the spiky thing. I do most all of my pieces by hand with basic tools.

This would be part of the center piece emblem for the front bezel of the 900D.

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I used rusting and paint splotching techniques to get the colors I was looking for.

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I was very happy with how this came out. this was the most complex piece I had made by hand up to this point.

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You will notice that we don't have a big long parts list on this build log. At this point there are a lot of new products just over the horizon

and we don't want to get locked in to any parts platform that we would regret.

The only thing you can be sure of is there will be lots of incredible Corsair parts in this build.

We will show various renderings of parts through out this log that may or may not be used. Hows that for commitment. Ha ha ha

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Wait for it! wait for it! I assure you there are some real parts in here some where.

If you had one of Corsairs new gaming mouse's you could just fast scroll to the end! http://www.corsair.com/us/gaming-peripherals/gaming-mice.html

But after all a build log is a story of what happened and how we got their.

So look at the pictures or take in the whole thing, I hope you will like it either way.

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One of the key elements of the look we were trying to achieve we some very special MnpcTech OverKill grills.

Bill Owen agreed to make me some grills in sizes that they had never done before. Two 200MM Nautilus grills and a quad 120mm ring OverKill grill.

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The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray!

I had been getting pressure to use a 360 Nautilus on the front instead of the two 200mm grills.

After you see what happened here I think you will agree that was the write choice.

I just happened to have the grill we needed on my 800D, so

I thought I would give it a try to see what kind of custom finish I could get on it.

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Meet the Red Headed step child - My 800D

Bill Owen ask me if I needed another 360 grill to replace the one I was robbing.

Oh no Bill I won't need one! My 800D says WHAT! Parts cost $0 Dollars, Shipping cost $ 0 Dollars,

Robbing parts off the Rig your currently using Priceless!

This is one of my prize possessions! the first time I saw one of these I knew I had to have one.

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So I have to ask my self the question, Why do I have a sanding block in my hand? As modders we

want something unique. These grills are incredible, there is nothing that you can buy that even compares.

A company can only make so many different models or they just end up sitting on the shelf because not enough people are buying them,

So they have to stay with the products that sell. But still we strive for something different. I'm just foolish enough to think maybe

I can make it special, make it custom to fit this build. So I'm about to take the risk of messing up something that is already beautiful just as it is.

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Now there is a reason that people Anodize things. Anodizing is really durable and Also it doesn't sand off all that easy.

Now I could have used a power sander and some course sandpaper, But as it turns out it's lucky that I didn't.

Working by hand gives you more control and a pain in the neck but I have been on a lucky streak lately and that is what's about to happen here.

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My original plan was to flat sand and polish this grill like I did to the 200 mm Grills. As it happens I was fortunate that all the sand paper I had was very fine 400,600,1000 grit.

This took a lot of work but because of that it slowly revealed an unexpected pattern. Now I almost wish I had stopped at the point where I was at the picture above,

but that wasn't the plan and I really didn't appreciate how Interesting the pattern was becoming yet and I blew right past the point where I could have went with this look.

After much more sanding I really started to like what was happening and decided to see what I could do with that look.

I had to fight off a few sticky spots and went back to my new favorite Aluminum polish and I love the way It turned out

or maybe I'm just hyperventilated from all the sanding, I'll let you be the judge.

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The great thing about this is that there are endless possibilities with this technique. This was not technically hard to do.

You just have to be bold enough to risk your pretty grill and be gentile. The next time I do this ( and I will )

I will go very slowly knowing that something awesome will be revealed when I'm done.

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onevoicewild · July 4, 2013

Sam get's bored waiting for me to actually get something done. He wanted to display the case in an office setting.

Hey Metallica has to have an office somewhere?

I didn't imagine it being this clean, but maybe the groupies needed something to do in between shows?

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This is a night shot to test the lighting effects.

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What's 25" by 27" and weights 25 pounds? This dang sheet of Copper that I have been sanding and polishing and sanding and sanding ouch!

trying to get 30 years of scratches out of it. It's close enough now, until I cut out the needed pieces.

I will make a one piece frame around the window, also the Metallica emblems will be made from this.

I was lucky to have this because the current prices of copper is $$$$

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The next thing I needed to do was make the Metallica emblem for the front emblem.

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It's amazing just what can be done with some needle files and some time, a lot of time! This took me 1 week of 2 to 3 hours a night to complete but the final results were very gratifying.

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I love how moody these shiny objects are, depending on how the light hits them.

They can take on an entirely different tone.

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It's funny I have 29 files and still think I would like some more.

Really can a man ever have enough tools?

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I would really love to have one of these! when I was a kid, the first time I ever played pinball,

I started winning all these free games and I was hooked for life after that!

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This is a 900D that Bill Owen of MnpcTech disassembled for paint. I hope he remembers where everything goes?

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This is an extremely complex case. It really takes a while working with this case to realize just how well thought out it is!

I still keep finding things that they incorporated in to it and you think Wow

why didn't companies do that before. I wouldn't even try to describe all the little things that

are built into this case, you just have to experience it yourself.

This case is built for enthusiasts and is a complete pleasure to work on.

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onevoicewild · July 5, 2013

I've been on a good luck streak with this build that I still can't believe. I notice that the views on our build log had jumped 4000 views in 2 hours!

Computer glitch I guess? It turned out that an extremely big face book page in Brazil called Corsair Brasil https://www.facebook.com/CorsairBrasil

had posted some pictures of our build and it just went crazy.

The Channel manager for that site is Ronaldo Buassali. He is a competition over clocker and just an incredible man.

He ask If we would do a full layout on several sites they oversee. Aaa Aaa did I say please yet! ha ha

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This site is where you go in South America for Computer Tech news and products and they have a fan base that is off the charts.

When they ran the full layout It just went berserk!! Bill Owen with MnpcTech had previously shown our pictures to Corsair

and when Ronaldo contacted home base with the response we were getting It closed the loop and we were suddenly sponsored by Corsair!

Oh Man we got sponsored by Corsair! I can't tell you what a big deal This is for me!

I'm a normal working guy and to pick up sponsorship from my favorite computer company is beyond belief.

I intend to do everything in my power to honor the great privilege they have given to us through their support.

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After the Corsair sponsorship we were also able to pick up EKWB as a sponsor! That was an incredible break,

Because we wanted to use their top quality products anyway and had already been showing their parts in our renderings

even before they agreed to sponsor us.

I felt that it wouldn't be long until the 900D case would be available so I wanted to craft

a case emblem of the EK logo out of the thick Copper.

I must have the dullest hole hog bit in the world, because this little 3" washer

I drilled out was way more work than it should have been!

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onevoicewild · July 5, 2013

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I created a lot more work for myself on this than I thought it would be.

The pilot bit just nicked the edges of my cut lines and the caused me to

expand everything a bit to correct it. In the end it came out really good.

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I placed a polished Aluminum disk on the back of it for some contrast.

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This thing is so shiny that I was trying to find a place in my house

where I didn't pick up other reflections, good luck on that!

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onevoicewild · July 5, 2013

Look what just showed up at my office! I had been sick for a couple of days and It had been there the whole time!

If I had known that, I might have had a sudden recovery. DX

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It was like Christmas at my house because the long awaited quad ring grill and the

special slotted mesh all showed up at the same time as the Corsair 900D case.

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iswas in a big hurry to get the quad grill mounted to the case so I could see what it looked like.

Maybe a little to big of a hurry! I put the fans on the wrong side of the radiator bracket.

I'm sloooow but I catch on eventually. By the time I'm done I'll have this apart

at least a dozen times.

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The next thing I want to take on is getting the 360 OverKill grill cut into the front bezel.

onevoicewild · July 5, 2013

I had never measured so carefully in my life! Because the 900D is so new, Corsair hasn't had time to stock replacement parts yet!

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I really love the way that Corsair made this front fan cover! It will make it possible to do some of the mod's I'm going to do to the front of the case.

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I miss my drill press! I lost it in the divorce. I got the girl back, but not the drill press. Ripped off again!

Hand drills are not meant to turn 4 1/2" drill bits. I actually had smoke come out of my drill twice. Don't fail me now!

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I was really happy to get that done, because the look of the case is starting to show it's individuality.

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Corsair build a very good dust control system into the 900D and I just undid all their good work!

I'm not happy unless I have enough fans to suck small animals off the floor!

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onevoicewild · July 6, 2013

I needed to work out the copper window frame. My obsession with thick materials Is coming back to bite me again.

Cutting out what will be the window frame was slow, I had to run a vacuum constantly to keep the chips from hiding my lines.

No room for error here, but it looks like there is still lots of copper left for other fun.

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Because the window frame is front and center, any defects will stick out like a sore thumb. I learned a great trick from

Cheapskate for squaring up long straight sections of material. You take a belt sander belt and glue it to a straight board,

I put different grits on each side. Then I just screwed it to my work bench and ran the Copper back and forth until it was perfect!

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I kid you not! This works so well I have found endless uses for it. The inside of the frame was a different matter.

I placed a second board next to it with just enough gap to sandwich the frame in place so I could use a sanding block.

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I think I said I'd have the window frame done Last Saturday! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha 1 week later It was actually done.

I had to learn a few lessons, The first lesson I already knew is that Bill Owen Is much smarter than I am!

While I am trying to polish every last scratch out of my project, Bill Is putting scratches in his. Ha ha What a fool I've been!

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The second lesson I learned, is when you don't have the right tools to do a job, your in for a lot of pain and frustration!

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Getting the frame cut was a pretty straight forward deal. I did take my time to get perfect cuts because this was a one time shot on this thick copper.

I wouldn't want to pay for another sheet, if I messed up. To get this kind of finish on this copper was a lot more work than it should have been.

I had some deep scratches in the sheet and I would use a coarser sand cloth and think I had it. But after graduating to finer finishes

it became apparent there were still some fine scratches that were unacceptable to me. I finally was happy with it

after multiple cycles of over sanding and under sanding. Learning lessons and paying dues !

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onevoicewild · July 6, 2013

Some of the people on the forums had been asking Corsair if they were going to offer a clear window for the 900D

because the factory window has a lot of reflection to It. You just can't win can you?

Corsair maked clear windows on previous cases and people cried for colored windows.

So the 900D has a beautiful Smoked Black window and people want clear windows?

Since I like to tinker I thought I would make my own clear window to see just what it looked like.

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Corsair came up with an ingenious system to secure the window to the frame. They have 12 male studs that stick up from the window frame

and the window glass has matching standups that lay down on the studs. This makes it easy for any one to install a new factory window.

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Unfortunately for me I'm not installing a factory window. You will notice

that the top studs in the picture are extremely close to the edge of the

Acrylic. When you drill this close to the edge on Acrylic it is prone to cracking.

I drilled very carefully, graduating thru 3 drill bit sizes and was rewarded with

a new clear window. Delvie's Cuts 3/16" to size in the clear glass so that saved time.

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So guess what? the clear window has just as much reflection as the factory window!

What people weren't realizing was they were looking at the case with no components in the case.

With the inside painted black all you will see is the reflections.

I really like the factory window, but I will wait until I finish the build to see which window I want to use.

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onevoicewild · July 6, 2013

Hey everyone, I'm finally getting to break my Dremel out again.

Nothing quite as fun as cutting holes in a $ 350.00 dollar case, No pressure!

I need to trim in around the Quad grill to make it look right.

Most of the time in build logs we show you what it looks like after we have won the victory.

I'm going to put my tail on the line mid Hack ! I'm not 100% sure this Is going to work.

My problem with the factory setup on the Corsair 900D lower side panels is the fans

are not centered in the grill. This isn't a problem until you mount a Quad OverKill Grill on it.

The upper part where the latch is, has an angle to it and overlaps the top of the fan's.

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In this picture you can see how big the overlap is and the problem angle at the top.

My possible solution to this is, flipping the grill upside down, of course it's not quite that easy! There are hinges in the way,

Metal that is to wide and small parts of the case that are keeping me from getting the grill down flush.

There are a lot of ways I can clean this area up, but I like the angles on the side of the grill and if I can make this work?

It should trim this area out nicely.

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Cut off the hinges and 1/4" Along what will become the top of the side grill.

I wasn't worried about a perfect line, because this will be concealed once it's in place.

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Kind of committed now! used tin snips to cut away most of the unneeded grill area.

you can see at the bottom The OverKill will still get into the angle which is now at the bottom,

but It is far less than when it was in it's original position.

This angle is going to be the make it or break it deal on if this will work or not.

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You might say I'm Crazy, you might say I'm stupid? But never say I'm not committed to risk what ever it takes

to do this build right. Flirting with disaster on a one of a kind grill that I had to wait well over a month to

get made. But it turned out to be the perfect solution to my problem.

I had to sand a matching angle on the bottom of the OverKill and it matched up perfectly.

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I made a form of jig to set the angle.

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I was sure glad this plan worked out! Sometimes you just have to commit to a plan

and have faith that you can work it out. I hate plan B and avoid it at all cost.

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onevoicewild · July 6, 2013

I think I might have to many things going at the same time. Well you have to do something while the paint dries.

In my usual form I am learning how to paint by learning what not to do first. Gotta laugh at myself.

I was painting 4 fans with primer, so you set them next to each other to save paint?

No don't do that! I was growing fur from the overspray. Lesson learned. Put on the Copper color and it was a little ruff.

Sanded a little and put on one more heavy coat and finally got it like I wanted it.

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Welcome to my wind farm.

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Spraying primer in between rain storms with the cotton wood flying? I have brain damage, but I'm not spraying SEM primer in the house.

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I'm going to use slotted mesh in various places inside the case. My Idea was to put it in two layers,

slightly offset with a black back ground, gold first layer and I still need to polish the front layer bright chrome looking.

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I had to trim one side of the grommets to fit back in the holes. The Radiator will cover the upper holes.

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And yes I will be shorting out the Mother Board, but it's a small price to pay to get the look I want. He He

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Hopefully the Radiators will come in from EK by the time I get the Quad OverKill grill ready to put back in.

I really want to see this with the gold fans and finished grill. Thanks again to everyone for following our build.

Finally figuring out how to get the old paint off these blades faster.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/13/9mkt.jpg

I was hoping the paint on the back side of the blades was good from the factory.

Well maybe not! I got some precut Diamond plate delivered.

I'll have to work it a little bit because their tolerance

is plus or minus 1/8" so I had to order it a little larger than needed.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/41/nr7u.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img5/2025/xi7r.jpg

onevoicewild · July 7, 2013

Did you ever feel like it was the best day of your life? When the big brown truck pulled up and dropped off three boxes,

there was no way I was going to wait to get home to see just what was inside? I really didn't know for sure.

I can't remember being this excited in a long, long time!

http://imageshack.us/a/img515/6673/niy4.jpg

Corsair - Thank you !

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http://www.corsair.com/us/

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When Corsair offered to sponsor The Metallic Build they ask what other parts we might need to assist with the build?

I was overwhelmed at even getting sponsored and didn't want to be greedy, so I asked for the basics that we needed.

I offered some possible options of parts we could use and without exception they supplied us with the best possible Hardware from the list.

I'm blown away at how much they stepped up for us! Great companies like Corsair that support our community deserve our support!

You know what to do!

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/10/rqec.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/22/nc6i.jpg

It takes a lot of fans for a big water cooled build like this but I think it's covered! I'll be painting the fan blades and rings

Gold to match the theme colors. The SP and AF fans are made for enthusiasts! They are built solidly and are easy to

disassemble if you want to paint them a different color, But with three different color rings most people

are happy with them just the way they are.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/163/i9s6.jpg

http://www.corsair.com/us/cpu-cooling-kits/air-series-fans.html

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/835/kto8.jpg

http://www.corsair.com/us/memory-by-product-family/dominator-platinum-ddr3-memory.html

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http://www.corsair.com/us/ssd/neutron-series-gtx-ssd.html

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/811/o71w.jpg

http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/ax-series-power-supply-units.html

This is really a dream come true for me. I was already a Corsair fan before I ever thought about building this computer.

Come on ! Corsair has always made the best Ram that you can buy and when they expanded their product line

into other areas they maintained the same high level of quality and innovation.

Sound like a commercial? Dang right ! The thing is, that's exactly how I feel!

I've lusted after every single Item they provided with the exception of the fans.

I'll have to get deeper into water cooling before I start lusting over fans! Ha ha

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/153/rtb9.jpg

They even threw in a full set of single braided cables and the power supply

already comes with a full set. I think I'm set for life.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/59/spp5.jpg

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onevoicewild · July 7, 2013

Hello to everyone at Corsair Product Forums. The signature Metallica emblem needed to be mounted on the upper bezel of the case.

I wasn't sure just how I was going to deal with the external drive bays. As always I committed to this plan and hoped

I could find a solution or in the worst case, I just wouldn't be able to use the external bays.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/90/mxrw.jpg

What I decided to try was attaching the diamond plate and the 360 Nautilus OverKill grill to the removable factory fan cover.

This lines up the whole diamond plate in front of the factory fascia and covers the drive bays.

Now I will be able to use the drive bays when needed by temporarily removing the front panel. Which is very easy.

This factory fan cover is such a great design and allows so many modding options.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/15/vgc0.jpg

This Diamond plate was fairly thin anodized aluminum so I just cut it out with a Dremel. I had a very hard time finding any acceptable

diamond plate. Most of the ones you see online are only renderings and don't exist in the real world.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/401/q8fe.jpg

Because I had to settle for a pattern that was different than we would have liked, I would have to come up with a special finish

to keep it from being just another Diamond plate case.

What I planned to do was flat sand the peeks on the plate and then polish them. I was sanding away and the aluminum

underneath was starting to come through. Then a voice came into my ear from the master ! ( Cheapskate ) STOP NOW !

I had wished I hadn't gone quite so far on the 360 grill, even though it came out great,

I thought I would listen this time. YES MASTER Ha ha I really like how it came out! something unique and it fits the build look nicely.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/818/sn1d.jpg

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If I don't get to many distractions I should get the rest of the plate finished by the weekend.

I have to do some magic on the front fans, because they sit to far back for what I'm doing.

The Mother Board and processor should be in my hands tomorrow!! Great more parts that I can only look at. DX

onevoicewild · July 7, 2013

Thanks guys! good luck has followed me hand in hand throughout this build and I couldn't duplicate it with a crystal ball.

Still got quite a ways to go, But the ride is 3/4 of the fun.

I got a Mother board and a processor today! No matter what you pick someone will tell you that you should have got this one or that one.

When Me and Sam originally started planning this, I had picked a gigabyte ud7 EX ATX board with the Z77 chip set and a 3770K processor.

I chose this because I thought it was the best bang for the buck.

At the time I was really Hot for the 2011 but it would be hard to stay away from the six core if you went that far.

It was fortunate that we never really set much of the hardware in stone and Sam helped pick some parts like water blocks that didn't leave us trapped.

What I'm trying to says is.

We Got a Haswell !! Oh and that 4770K thingamajiggy

Fortunately the pricing on the new stuff is comparable to the Z77 and 3770K so it's awesome to be using the new stuff. When I say using,

I mean looking at it sitting on a shelf. Ha ha ha I haven't had much urgency to finish up to this point,

but damn all those great Corsair parts and a new Board are calling me like a sirens song. Still this is a luxury,

when I did my last build I was using the computer at the same time and had to get it working again before I quit for the night.

That was 4 AM one night, but it was worth it.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/259/oct5.jpg

Ya I know this new color scheme for Asus isn't real popular but it belongs in this build !

The main features of this Board - It's Freakin Gold !!

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/832/r8cu.jpg

Actually This board is heavy on connectivity options. PWM on all fan headers, Thunder bolt,

some Wi Fi thing that connects to smart phones. Bla, Bla, Bla

Did I mention It's Freakin Gold ha ha ha

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This has been quite the deal. First we had a build log without a case.

Then we had a case without any parts, but piece by piece this thing is

coming together and we thank you for sticking with us all this time.

The parts just keep coming this week. Little stuff here.

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The Hue RGB light controller is actually a pretty good deal for around $34.00

I was looking at some LED strings and they cost as much or more with out the controller.

Now you people that buy 500' rolls are getting a much better deal,

but I like to be lazy every now and then. I have a special use for these but I'll keep that a secret until it's done.

It easy to pull out the mesh and paint it what ever shade of Gold that you like. Dx

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/547/7qgt.jpg

And the cute little dress up kit for the D5 pump. Just a cheap excuse for me to use more Gold in the build.

They have a sparkle black that it actually very cool looking, but with the whole inside of the case being black it would just disappear.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/571/49em.jpg

onevoicewild · July 7, 2013

I made some great progress over the weekend, getting finished up with about 90% of the case exterior Mods.

http://imageshack.us/a/img10/5517/eevc.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/841/73u1.jpg

I'm very pleased that I was able to come very close to our original renderings.

This Isn't easy, Sam made some incredible renderings and It is much easier

for him to make changes in the render. Not so easy in the real world.

His designs and perfectionist attitude helped me to do the best work I was capable of.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/33/9mt4.jpg

I need to remind myself not to mod early in the morning! I had a couple of mental lapses. I was epoxying the diamond plate

and I forgot to do the weathering on it before I permanently attached it to the case. Grrrr - Not that big of a deal, but I had to

mask up and protect the case from dust and debris before I fixed it. Why did they make mornings anyway?

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/706/3kno.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/829/9n6e.jpg

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The other thing that happened. I was using thin lines of epoxy so I wasn't having any trouble with it oozing out.

I got a little to much on a top piece and it bridged over to the factory top grill. I went in panic mode trying to get it off

to clean it up, before it started setting up. Well lets just say that this grill is extremely hard to get off,

even if you have done it before. While I was fighting to get it off, a joke came into my head that Bill Owen made about

Lauren from Tasty Pc taking the grill off herself - not!

Oh God I'm weaker than Lauren! I finally got it off and cleaned up my mess before It caused any damage.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/401/5hip.jpg

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We want to thank everyone here at Corsair Tech Zone for your enthusiasm for our project.

And thanks again to our sponsors Corsair, EKWB, MNPCTECH and Mayhems.

And I need to give special thanks to Sam ( Do Until Loopy ) Bill Owen, Ronaldo Buassali and Corsair George.

onevoicewild · July 9, 2013

Some people had been asking about my wall monitor? It is actually not hanging on the wall, but mounted in the wall.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/42/bkll.jpg

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The hangers make this easy to mount the monitor and the picture frame.

There is a reverse hanger bar that just slides in behind the ones you see on the wall.

I used some thick twine to make a slight height adjustment on the upper bar.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/809/nyld.jpg

I had a custom picture frame made for it for around $ 200.00

My computer room is in the room behind the monitor so an extended monitor cable

was all that was necessary to hook it up.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/9/9w2a.jpg

I wore out the original 22" flat screen Monitor after 4 years.

Hopefully this LED will last longer,

because the old flat screen did put of some heat and didn't have much area to dissipate it.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/507/oagp.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/198/ilh.JPG

I normally play slide shows on it. It becomes an ever changing painting.

I love this thing! electronic Art

onevoicewild · July 21, 2013

I ran myself around in circles trying to find something to cover the side of the drive bays.

I made a light box with polished mesh in the back and covered by a lite Bronze acrylic.

I needed it to be removable and there just wasn't a great way to mount the lighting and still be

able to remove it. I didn't really like how it looked with the lights off. So on to plan B

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/580/rjji.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/189/ohvd.jpg

Ok this is what happened to get there.

I Wanted a partial mid plate to give me something to mount stuff on Including the Bay cover.

Naturally they put stuff in the way of where I want to put stuff. At least that's the excuse I use just before I grab my Dremel.

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I put in U channel tracks on the mid plate and all the way across the top of the case so I could slide things in and out.

Used pretty black MnpcTech rivets for the top. I knew I'd use those somewhere!

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Acrylic cement has no actual adhesive properties! Then why is my piece stuck to my wooden work bench?

Apparently melted plastic does have adhesive properties. If a little bit is good then more should be better Right ? Ha ha

Modding Is not about careful contemplation of your plan, It's about laughing your head off over the last stupid thing you did!

Ya I think I got a good bond on it! were is my Chisel ?

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/580/yt5r.jpg

The failed light box, Ya I know there is no lights in it. I put a few strings in it and didn't like it.

It seemed so much better in my mind. Did I mention I have dementia?

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/600/2loo.jpg

Plan B

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/703/m244.jpg

I decided to make this in two pieces instead of just use the piece that I had bent. Damn if I remember why?

But I assure you there was a good reason?

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This does not photograph well! it's hard to tell the reflections from the cutouts.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to dull this down a bit.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/507/2l6v.jpg

Some where during all this I decided I needed a Bending break. Ya right! that's the story we tell our wives.

Ok I wanted one. I haven't bent much yet, but damn it some stuffs gonna get bent around here.

This Is ZoPHaR's fault! he showed us a nice little 18" bender for $35.00 and I was just about to buy it and then

I remembered I was working on Godzilla. I needed to bend 18 3/4" min $65.00 By, By money. I needed it Babe! ha ha ha

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/689/j5f4.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/713/uqk5.jpg

I needed to make an Acrylic plate for the mother board tray so the mesh doesn't short out the board. That would be BAD!

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I was getting into actually putting some parts in the case. I put In a Corsair 1200AXi and filled the 4 Ram slots with Dominator Platinum.

Man these Parts are so nice! I've looked at this stuff for ever in pictures and wished. When you have Awesome parts in your hand

your living your dream. YA don't go there!

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/822/xnxu.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/12/tbt3.jpg

There you go little mother board, we made a nice home for you.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/33/b5jc.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/13/u5rr.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/839/liwd.jpg

There will be some other stuff added above the EK emblem, but I need to get

the Metallica emblem for the window done first so I can see where everything lines up.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/692/wdon.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/607/5wfh.jpg

Here is a new wall paper from MnpcTech at - http://pinkfox.me/files/images/MNPCTechCubeWallpaper.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/541/15yn.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/199/mr65.jpg

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onevoicewild · July 21, 2013

I needed to move the front fans up to the grill so they looked right. I wanted to attach them to the case,

But I wouldn't have been able to get them tight up to the grill and it would have been a convoluted affair

so I just attached them directly to the grill. Easy after I got the right bolts and tapped the fans to fit them.

The down side is more weight on the grill. I've added a lot of weight to the front fan shield but it still feels solid.

I really love how Corsair made the front fan cover! I could never have done the front Bezel mods they way I did,

if not for this excellent design! If I get nervous I can put in a couple of bolts from the back for security.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/690/xzow.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/5/bl0w.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/607/ncbp.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/13/goln.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/59/pmxv.jpg

Proudly sponsored by:

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/441/corsairlogolong.gif

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/59/logoekzps2029d46f.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/706/olr.png

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/856/casemodstore.jpg

Mnpctech.com · July 21, 2013

This project IS Epic :cool:

onevoicewild · July 22, 2013

I wanted to finish off the Back section of the mid plate. Originally I was going to use the Black Acrylic I have.

Turns out that Acrylic is just to reflective. Considering the excessive amount of shiny stuff in this case already,

I'll have to shy away from that. I have a lot of diamond plate left, but I was afraid I Might be overdosing on one material.

I decided to just try the plate and if it didn't look good, I would try something else.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/829/kwxt.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/818/f2aq.jpg

If I can't sand it, polish it or file it I have no Interest in doing it! No really on this build I just seemed to gravitate

to these finishes and have been blessed with good outcomes, A lot of them unexpected.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/832/zmpd.jpg

The window side of the case has a nice little edge to hold the plate on, but on the mother board side it actually overhangs.

I was able to extend the plate under the overhang and attach it from the backside.

I drilled and tapped the holes so I can remove it.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/16/llq0.jpg

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I was glad I went ahead and tried the Diamond plate. It blends into the look without being overdone.

The big plus was that I didn't have to buy anything new.

onevoicewild · July 25, 2013

I made a cover for the off side panel. I still hope to have the Skully Air Brushed on that side,

But I have bigger fish to fry right now and I had the material.

Not a lot of contrast, but it looks better than nothing on that side.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/4/g10q.jpg

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Most people are trying to get scratches out of their Acrylic, I'm trying to put them in.

The Black Acrylic I uses to cover the back of the drive bays was just to reflective.

With all the other shiny stuff inside the case it just didn't look right.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/832/5dyl.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/690/8c3g.jpg

onevoicewild · July 29, 2013

This is pretty Rich. Corsair sent me a perfect 900D case and I don't have a place to Install a 3 1/2" HDD. What?

Ohh that's my fault, I whole sale removed all the drive bays except the 5.25" bays on the front.

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to use them, with what I had planned for the front of the case.

I guess I'll need an adapter. I had to paint it, because my buzz was wearing off.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/203/bzyq.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/823/v7x6.jpg

I have been meaning to do this for a while now. I wiped out all the Corsair Logos when I put the Overkill Grill in the front bezel,

So It's time to make a Copper Emblem for the side of the drive bays. Oh I don't have drive bays - He he he

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/823/yqar.jpg

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I had an extra saw blade from when I was working the front of the case.

It was just a little to small for the Metallica emblem, but it works well for this.

I hate to waste money so it is good to find a home for it.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/medium/197/wgve.JPG

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I was able to dull out the black Acrylic better, by using a courser grit of wet sanding.

I didn't get any real pictures to show it off, but It looks good now and it killed the excess reflections.

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People ask me if I like the Corsair 900D? I'm sponsored by Corsair so I'm a little prejudice,

But If you like Large cases the 900D really is all that!

Bill Owen with MnpcTech has one he is working on that is on this forum.

E.E.L Ambiense one of the top modders is working on three of them!

This case is so nice to work on that you would love it, just like I do.

This case is a historic case, just like the 800D is! Get one and enjoy!

http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/obsidian-series-pc-case/obsidian-series-900d-super-tower-case.html

peanutz94 · July 30, 2013

Not only is the build awesome, but it's great to see such craftsmanship. Thats something that is truly few and far between!

Beautiful work! :)

BTW...Congrats on your first sponsorship! It's well deserved!

onevoicewild · July 30, 2013

Thanks Peanutz - I could never have gotten this far if not for Corsair stepping up for me on this build! We have been getting great response for someone that is not a big name modder. It really helps that this is such an Awesome case, you can do some much with the possible options! Thanks again.