- Sep 5, 2008
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Over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking of ways to extend the usefulness of my old Antec Sonata II case. This used to be my backup case until I sold my last computer to pay off some debts some nine months ago. Since then I married my high school sweetheart and money has been comically tight. Luckily, I have been able to piece-meal another game worthy build (mostly for BC2 and Fallout3) since then and I have the upgrade itch without a dime to spend on personal wants. Though, I still feel we are blessed because we have enough cash coming in to make ends meet and we are debt free now(F*** yeah!).
Enough about my life... I bring you mods! :awe:
Yesterday I decided to put into action some of the mods I had been pondering about with the tools I have on hand. I had already added a couple of 120mm fans to the side of the case for extra airflow and rigged at 120mm intake to sit in the optical drive cage's extra space. My intention is not only to improve airflow with my modding but to improve the overall usability and hopefully improve aesthetics in the process, too.
Firstly, I used a wire cup brush attached to my drill to sand off the paint leaving a brushed pattern in the steel that I think is kinda sexy...
I will probably leave it this way mostly, but this is my 'rough draft' version of many of these mods as I hope to get some good feedback from you guys and suggestions about what I will do after all this.
Next I went to town with the dremel and took out the bottom half of the hard drive cage to free up some build space...
This made wiring the drives a lot easier. It doesn't look pretty by any means, but it is much more usable.
I may eventually flip the case on its head, causing the entire orientation of the goods inside to be upside down. To aid this, I want to flip the power supply upside down from how it is now and cut a hole with a 4" hole saw for the fan to vent cool air from the outside straight in, just like most newer cases have been doing for quite some time. In order to make it happen, I needed to add some holes for the PSU to be able to screw in backwards.
In the not too distant future when I have some money for computer parts, I may get a H100 and put it in what would be the top(now the bottom), but who knows. I also cut out the rear fan grille to reduce airflow resistance and noise signature...
Soon I may be able to afford a good 140mm fan and install it in place of the 120mm TT fan here. I plan on cutting out one of these sections to move it there: probably the red one because it will require the least amount of cutting and be easiest to fit the fan...
...because, as you can see, the placement of the current fan cramps the area at the top right of the motherboard.
I also want to put a window here to show off ally my 1337 gaming hardwares :biggrin:
I have seen other people add a 120mm fan to the front bottom of the plastic bezel with the Sonata cases. I will probably add that to my laundry list of mods to do once I can get a 140mm fan to put in the 5.25'' bay area. Painting the case is not out of the question, either, but I have not painted a computer case before with any positive result. (Painted my very first case... it looked crummy and turned it into a dust magnet :|)
Well guys, that is all I have for now. I will definitely be doing some more work on this minibeast of mine here in the near future. Any suggestions, comments and laughs will be appreciated!
Enough about my life... I bring you mods! :awe:
Yesterday I decided to put into action some of the mods I had been pondering about with the tools I have on hand. I had already added a couple of 120mm fans to the side of the case for extra airflow and rigged at 120mm intake to sit in the optical drive cage's extra space. My intention is not only to improve airflow with my modding but to improve the overall usability and hopefully improve aesthetics in the process, too.
Firstly, I used a wire cup brush attached to my drill to sand off the paint leaving a brushed pattern in the steel that I think is kinda sexy...
I will probably leave it this way mostly, but this is my 'rough draft' version of many of these mods as I hope to get some good feedback from you guys and suggestions about what I will do after all this.
Next I went to town with the dremel and took out the bottom half of the hard drive cage to free up some build space...
This made wiring the drives a lot easier. It doesn't look pretty by any means, but it is much more usable.
I may eventually flip the case on its head, causing the entire orientation of the goods inside to be upside down. To aid this, I want to flip the power supply upside down from how it is now and cut a hole with a 4" hole saw for the fan to vent cool air from the outside straight in, just like most newer cases have been doing for quite some time. In order to make it happen, I needed to add some holes for the PSU to be able to screw in backwards.
In the not too distant future when I have some money for computer parts, I may get a H100 and put it in what would be the top(now the bottom), but who knows. I also cut out the rear fan grille to reduce airflow resistance and noise signature...
Soon I may be able to afford a good 140mm fan and install it in place of the 120mm TT fan here. I plan on cutting out one of these sections to move it there: probably the red one because it will require the least amount of cutting and be easiest to fit the fan...
...because, as you can see, the placement of the current fan cramps the area at the top right of the motherboard.
I also want to put a window here to show off ally my 1337 gaming hardwares :biggrin:
I have seen other people add a 120mm fan to the front bottom of the plastic bezel with the Sonata cases. I will probably add that to my laundry list of mods to do once I can get a 140mm fan to put in the 5.25'' bay area. Painting the case is not out of the question, either, but I have not painted a computer case before with any positive result. (Painted my very first case... it looked crummy and turned it into a dust magnet :|)
Well guys, that is all I have for now. I will definitely be doing some more work on this minibeast of mine here in the near future. Any suggestions, comments and laughs will be appreciated!
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