Ok, with the recent threads about watercooling and people buying nice corsair cases It encouraged me to start upgrading my watercooling. I have a grant coming to me at around september for me to do what ever i want with it, its meant for "fun" and for me its building computers etc . £400 is set aside for upgrading gpu/cpu so the rest ~£200 is going on a new WC loop and PC case, now onto the main post:
Right, Currently have my own modded Chieftec case, its a solid case but as you can it only just fits a 240mm rad in there which im planning on replacing or adding a 360mm rad later.
As I have no more spare computer cases to mod or use I thought of using a different approach, this would be to make a case from scratch. Question is, where and how do I get the materials? Im thinking basics here just 4 panels and another for cutting to use as HDD bays etc, anyone know an approx costs for steel?.
I have a lot of tools available to me as my dad has been doing DIY for his whole life (welding too!), however I dont know if he has a dremel anymore so what would the suggestions be for this? I seem to recall a black and decker dremel was highly regarded by I havent found anything on B&D website.
Basically heres what i want the case to be like/do:
- Look nice and sleek
- Good cooling performance
- Easy to work on
- Cable management
- House 360mm rad comfortably
- Room for a max of 4 HDD- Probably 2
- House 1 DVD drive and dual bay res
I believe thats it, basically i think for the look nice would be keeping it basic and me just brushing or sanding down the case so it has the nice effect and then spray painting it black or white, however last time I spray painting my case i have found its already scratching easily and using the extra protection coating(cant remember the name ha) it made it look worse tbh. Is there a better way to paint? Im thinking maybe powder coating, however I think you need tools for that which i doubt i have in which case... where would I go for this service and how much does it cost ~?
Easy to work on would be just having the overall size big and not cluttered, this ideally should be easy to work for. Cable management, again should be easy... just cut appropriate holes in the motherboard side panel and cover them with rubber gromets like in the corsair case. House rad, again that would be sorted by an approiate sized sheet of metal. Room for HDD and dvd drives and res, sorted by making sure the height is enough really.
So guys whats the overall advice for me? If someone can give me a rough list of what tools I need and what materials I would need then that would be great, also recommended retailers for these items .