New case, mod advice requested

[stncttr908]

Alright, this is my .new beauty.

They're everywhere, so I'm sure a good deal of you folks have experience with one. First thing to go will be those godawful lavender fan mounts. What would be the best type of paint to use on them? I know krylon has a new plastics spray paint, that sounds good to me.

Next, I want to replace the rear two 80mm fans with LED fans. Now, given that I'll have an orange-red board (Abit NF7-S) and red video card (9800 Pro) would you folks recommend red LED's or blue?

I'm also interested in a cold cathode to sit either under the window or in front of it, casting light backwards through the case. What would be the best brand?

Thank you very much

 

[nick1985]

one of each of red and blue. i did it for a friends comp, it looks really nice

 

[bootoo]

You could also go to svc.com and get their city lights uv-sensitive red quad fans. I have 2 in the front of my case (same as yours) and they cast a red light but also a blue-purple glow. They're nice fans, too, not junky.

SVC also has nice cold cathode kits. Their small 6 inch kit fits nicely in top or bottom - I've got the dual, a bulb fits nicely along that upper support bracket - but the best thing is they're RED, not pink like a lot of red cathodes I've seen. Much more red than the 12 inch cold cathodes svc sells btw.

I originally had a different setup - a red and yellow combo on the cold cathodes - and my daughter asked why I wanted a pink and green computer!

 

[stncttr908]

Alright, so here's what I've been directed towards.

http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/svc6ccfl-red.html

I'll be getting one of those and another bulb.

I've also been told about these fans. The picture looks red, but I'm sure that's misleading.

http://www.pcmods.com/details.asp?prodID=662

 

[bootoo]

Don't know those fans, the color is nice though. Did you find any reviews on how loud they are etc?

 

[stncttr908]

They're a little expensive. Now that I've just purchased my new stuff, I can't really justify $50 (I'm sure shipping is at least $9) for 3 of those fans. However, these Coolermaster fans are a lot cheaper, and appear to actually be red.

http://www.rbmods.com/rbmods/Articles/Coolermaster/Ledfans/1.php

Newegg has them for $5 each if you by three or more.

Also, I've been told by some other folks that those 6" cathodes from svc are pink, contrary to what you say. One guy said he wrapped it in some brakelight tape and it's a nice deep red now. If push comes to shove I'm sure I could just do the same.

 

[elbirth]

I've got a Chieftec case (in my sig)... I have 5 blue LED fans in it that I got from SVC. It's 5 of those citylights fans, but normal fans, not UV reactive. I got them on a sell they had a while back for $1.99 each. They run great (though somewhat noisy) and have a nice deep blue color (not a weak light blue like some). I would imagine the red ones might be similar.

I've also got 2 12" blue cold cathodes in there (1 up top, 1 on the bottom). Just one doesn't seem to effectively light up the case the way I'd like.

As for other mods, I'd suggest the rounded cables (I've got some silver ones that go nicely with the black case).
Also a window applique is a nice touch... I've got the "eyes" applique from www.frozencpu.com. They're $10, but I got one free after having made a purchase from them before. The eyes fit nicely in the bottom right corner of the window just under the harddrive cage.

I haven't gotten into any "hardcore" modding yet b/c I don't currently own a Dremel, and thus no experience in cutting things up.

 

[bootoo]

Directron and voyeurmods have some amazing selections of case "etching" appliques, by the way.

 

[elbirth]

Yeah, I've seen some of those, they're great. The one I got from frozencpu is the "etched" kind as well, and I got that one cause I liked the eyes (plus alot of people comment on my stare, so I felt it fits), and it was free.

I've got my new digicam on its way to me, if anyone wants to see it, I can put up a pic later this week when it arrives.

 

[GooGooCluster]

Originally posted by: stncttr908
They're a little expensive. Now that I've just purchased my new stuff, I can't really justify $50 (I'm sure shipping is at least $9) for 3 of those fans. However, these Coolermaster fans are a lot cheaper, and appear to actually be red.

http://www.rbmods.com/rbmods/Articles/Coolermaster/Ledfans/1.php

Newegg has them for $5 each if you by three or more.

Also, I've been told by some other folks that those 6" cathodes from svc are pink, contrary to what you say. One guy said he wrapped it in some brakelight tape and it's a nice deep red now. If push comes to shove I'm sure I could just do the same.

I have 3 of the white LED fans cooler masters. I think they are very good fans. and they look better then the SVC fans. The plastice and the fan looks clear and not foggy. also SVC fans have tape that holds the LED in place cooler masterthe are just built in. If you buy them from new egg. I would buy 3. only becuase they are pricey might as well buy 3 and save a little. They are much britgher then the SVC fans too. They light up my whole case.

 

[Blain]

Get a jig saw or dremel and cut out those restrictive factory punched "fan grills".
Just like a small block Chevy... The more FLOW the more GO.

 

[elbirth]

Originally posted by: GooGooCluster

Originally posted by: stncttr908
They're a little expensive. Now that I've just purchased my new stuff, I can't really justify $50 (I'm sure shipping is at least $9) for 3 of those fans. However, these Coolermaster fans are a lot cheaper, and appear to actually be red.

http://www.rbmods.com/rbmods/Articles/Coolermaster/Ledfans/1.php

Newegg has them for $5 each if you by three or more.

Also, I've been told by some other folks that those 6" cathodes from svc are pink, contrary to what you say. One guy said he wrapped it in some brakelight tape and it's a nice deep red now. If push comes to shove I'm sure I could just do the same.

I have 3 of the white LED fans cooler masters. I think they are very good fans. and they look better then the SVC fans. The plastice and the fan looks clear and not foggy. also SVC fans have tape that holds the LED in place cooler masterthe are just built in. If you buy them from new egg. I would buy 3. only becuase they are pricey might as well buy 3 and save a little. They are much britgher then the SVC fans too. They light up my whole case.

I'm not sure what kind of SVC fans you got, but the ones I have in my case (with blue LEDs) have the LEDs built into the fan casing. I have some tri-LED fans that came with my case that has the little "tape" ring around fan, which I really dislike. Also, the LEDs I have from SVC are nice and bright.

 

[bootoo]

I read somewhere (probably here or dslreports) that svc sells 2 classes of colored fans, and the "city lights" or svc exclusive fans are much better looking and better fans. Of course I read it after I had ordered mine but luckily ordered the rights ones. My leds are imbedded in the plastic also, no tape, and I like their looks and flows. I think they're on sale now. (sound like an add, huh?) My case etching looks just like my dog (so does my avatar) and got it from voyeurmods but directron's are cheaper.

 

[0roo0roo]

plain leds? iew, get UV LED fans at svc, not expensive, and are much nicer! i got a chieftec too! btw the lavender color doesn't matter, it gets overwhelmed by the lights from everything else.

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: bootoo
I read somewhere (probably here or dslreports) that svc sells 2 classes of colored fans, and the "city lights" or svc exclusive fans are much better looking and better fans. Of course I read it after I had ordered mine but luckily ordered the rights ones. My leds are imbedded in the plastic also, no tape, and I like their looks and flows. I think they're on sale now. (sound like an add, huh?) My case etching looks just like my dog (so does my avatar) and got it from voyeurmods but directron's are cheaper.

I got SVC's cheap blue led fans, and it is very noisy because it runs around 3400 RPM i had to lower it to 7volts on my fan controller to make it nice and quiet, but that made the leds flicker so I had to rewire those to get power from another source. I'd recommend lookin into getting a Antec led fan.