To Window, or not to Window? *Updated w/pictures*

[blackknight]

Hey guys, I'm considering putting a window in the side panel of my Mac Pro case. Basically, I'm going to use the frame on the back of the panel as a guide to cut out the panel, and then use the lip from the guide to mount the plexi. I'll probably have the plexi cut on a laser cutter, so it should be pretty clean and it will also probably have a lip on it so that it sits flush with the front of the panel.

Anybody think this is a bad idea? Let me know what you guys think.

Paul

***UPDATE***

I cut the window and I'm quite happy how it came out. It is by no means perfect, but from a slight distance, you can't see the imperfections. It was a pain in the ass to make, but worth it in my opinion.

[aquamac]

I was always thinking of doing this on one of my hacks but have not had much chance recently. I am not to keen personally on major bling and flashing lights, but lets face it, the inside of a mac pro is one of the nicest looking "insides" around and I think your mod idea could look great. I say go for it, I think the secret is a really neat job so it looks like Apple made it that way.

[B B]

I am busy with the idea. Check my mod in my sign.
Here are some pix of the cutting process :

After four days of sweating and pain , I got the hole done. I thing I will araldite the apple cut onto the side panel to have a convex logo , painted in black or shinny alu grey.

Door cut with cut parts in position:




Only the cut parts :


Door without cut parts :




Cut door in position on the case :


Next step, transparant acrylic cut panel to cover the opening. I thing I will paint in black the bottom part of the mobo tray to make the inside of the case darker compared to the acry panel outside.

[blackknight]

bb, that looks amazing. It really looks like you spent some work on making that window and it paid off well. I personally want to do a standard window, but I was thinking of just etching the apple logo into the acrylic rather than reusing the original one. I don't really have much bling in my case, except for the UV reactive parts on the DFI motherboard, the UV reactive fluid and tubing, and the waterblocks on my CPU and GPU. I just want to show that stuff off.

On another note, I'd like to say that my new DFI DK LP 790FXB-M2RSH was the worst motherboard for a Mac Pro case. I finally got it to work, but not without many cuts on my hand, lots of rearranging of things and lots of swearing. The third PCIe x16 slot is at the bottom of the board (top in a Mac Pro) and is behind two of the HDDs so it's basically unusable. It also included no eSata ports so I needed to buy an eSata card that unfortunately has to use the 2nd PCIe x16 slot due to the lack of PCIe x1 slots. This of course led to more problems as I can't boot windows from the on board SATA when there is a drive attached to the eSata port. Also, the RAM slots are separated further apart than the Gigabyte's and required more cutting on the RAM cage to fit. Also, the 1st x16 slot is the top (bottom) most slot which made it very hard for the ram sinks on the back of my graphics card to fit without pressing down on the ram cage. With all that said though, this board has let me overclock my Phenom 9950 BE to 3.2GHz without more than .1V and no stability problems due to the SB750. Plus it looks way better than the Gigabyte board which is why I want to show it off.

[blackknight]

BTW, what tool did you use to cut the aluminum and how well did it cut?

[aquamac]

Blackknight,

Is this the mod you were referring to:



I loved your Triple rad mod, it must really run cool! Also, the watercooling was really nice and well executed!

bb,

You made a great job of cutting out that "APPLE" logo. I would also like to know what tools you used.

[blackknight]

Yeah Aqua, that's the one. My CPU when overclocked to 3.2 GHz (2.6 stock) with a .1V increase in Vcore is 28*C CPU and 34*C on all four cores. If I set it to Cool'n'Quiet which lowers the frequency to 1.3 GHz @ 1.05V, the CPU temp drops to 21*C and Cores drop to 23-25*C all idle temps. This is also with the 3870X2 in the loop as well. Who knows what they'd be if I took that out. The 3870X2 runs at 33*C on GPU1 and GPU2 while the VRMs runt at about 34*C.

Also, I'm starting to become very annoyed with the stock Apple fans. I've been running them at 1000RPM for quite a while now and they still seem to be pretty loud. One at least has a kind of clicking sound that is pretty loud, but overall, they are just not impressing me. I'm purchasing some Arctic Cooling PWM fans that are very highly recommended and should be much quieter while moving similar if not slightly lower amounts of air. I just took some more pics of hwo I routed the tubing and of the new motherboard. Check it out in my conversion thread aquamac.proboards106.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=hack1&thread=707&page=1#5358

PS, how do you guys like that Macally external HDD? Looks just like the Mac Pro case, huh? I love it. I think I even saw online where a guy stuffed the guts from his macbook into one and made a Mac Pro Mini.

[B B]

blackknight, indeed it is taking me a lot of time , I am busy for several months now, on dec 15 (reply nr 80 from my thread) I posted that I will start to execute the window idea. Have you checked the other pictures like those :







blackknight and aqua, I used first a copy of the dremel label but as you know you always get for your money and too cheap is not too good. I bought after the real drumel on ebay for a good price, the same that aqua pictured some times ago and that was pro job, it was cutting like butter. But what takes time is to get the edges smooth I use some tools to work on metal objects. I will take and post some pix later. I modify a lot the shape of the cutting to make look the apple openig more homogeneous (homogène in French).

Very nice mod, blackknight, and neat job with the cutting work for the liquid tubes.

[blackknight]

Thanks bb. I will probably be going with something a little straighter and will probably only need a jigsaw and then finish it with the dremel in the corners.

[B B]

Feb 20, 2009 20:24:23 GMT blackknight said:

Thanks bb. I will probably be going with something a little straighter and will probably only need a jigsaw and then finish it with the dremel in the corners.

I used often the jigsaw before discovering the dremel. The problem is the metal plate you're cutting is bending too much sometime and it is difficult to get it straight after.

[B B]

Here are the tools I used to cut the apple logo into the door :

1) copy of the dremel label :


2) the real drumel was cutting like butter :




3) to get the edges smooth I used this :

[B B]

Feb 20, 2009 7:06:15 GMT blackknight said:

PS, how do you guys like that Macally external HDD? Looks just like the Mac Pro case, huh? I love it. I think I even saw online where a guy stuffed the guts from his macbook into one and made a Mac Pro Mini.

Are you talking about this ?

The DIY Mac Pro Mini: Turn that Broken MacBook into a Teeny Desktop







Amazing job. The kind of I would like to do or have done. But must be realistic cannot do everything, still have to work in the meantime to give a reason to the boss to sign the paycheck. ;D

[blackknight]

That is the Mac Pro mini I was talking about. I thought it was quite creative, but I think I'll just use mine for its intended purpose as an external HDD enclosure.

BTW, I did finally cut the window and it came out pretty good. I'm not quite done with it which is why I haven't posted pics yet. I cut the plexi (1/4" thick) with the jigsaw and it came out pretty good. Then I cut the aluminum also with the jigsaw, though I left some extra metal so that I could use the file and/or dremel to clean it up. I will definitely post pics when I feel that it looks good enough. Currently, the plexi is mounted behind the aluminum, leaving a 1/8" thick aluminum border that I honestly am not happy with, so I will be cutting a channel around the plexi so that it will fit flush with the aluminum. I think I'm going to use a router for that.The cool thing is that if I actually buy a Mac Pro someday, I can eventually use this side panel with it and show off the inner workings of a real Mac Pro.

Also, I know that I mentioned earlier that I was getting annoyed with the stock apple fans, but last night I made a fan speed controller of my own which has tamed them. I had bought three Arctic Cooling PWM fans to replace all three apple fans and was hugely disappointed with them. Basically, up to 750 RPM, they are pretty silent, but move almost no air and beyond 750 up to 1500, they are very loud. So loud that I couldn't stand them. So, I reinstalled the Apple fans, but this time, instead of running 3.3V to the logic pin of the fans, I decided to build a voltage regulator/divider circuit that cuts 5V in half and runs 2.5 Volts to the control pin of the fan. This runs them at about 750 RPM instead of 1500 RPM (at 5V) and they are pretty much completely silent, but move almost twice as much air as the Arctic Cooling fans. Now, the only sound I hear from my computer is the sound of 4 hard drives running.

[B B]

Mar 1, 2009 4:35:40 GMT blackknight said:

I will be cutting a channel around the plexi so that it will fit flush with the aluminum. I think I'm going to use a router for that.

I am busy to cut a channel around the plexi too. I am using the tool next the dremel. What is a router ?

I decided to build a voltage regulator/divider circuit that cuts 5V in half and runs 2.5 Volts to the control pin of the fan. This runs them at about 750 RPM instead of 1500 RPM (at 5V) and they are pretty much completely silent.

It would be interesting to publish that for the others and me.

[HackJoe]

bb, great work! is the Apple logo in the center from the side panel?

Blacknight.. I'd love to see more of your water cooling loop in the MacPro, I'd thought you used a dual Rad in the front fan bracket?

J.