[Official] Cooler Master HAF-XB Club!

[1ceTr0n]

Well i've been busy with ideas flowing through my so far this weekend on what else to do to "Dark Wind" to make it stand out more and bit more "trick" Then I had a great idea which would gonna involve some careful work and modding but if I did it right, it would really make my HAF XB look special. A few runs to store across time for a few things I needed and I set to work!



First step to to dissasemble the hot bay trays which proved to be a study in patience to prevent breaking something with all the little parts

Almost had one of these go flying off into the room, that woulda sucked!

Then the real pain was removing these pins to get the front covers off the tray's. It involved using the hammer with a small screwdriver to bang them carefully out and then prying another section of without breaking the plastic which I still manged to do on one. A little glue should fix it by the time i'm done

After all is said and done, the bays are now completely apart and ready for what I have in store for them next which I won't show until the project is done :thumb:

Well ok, here's a little hint lol!

 

[1ceTr0n]

I had this idea kinda out the blue but I was still thinking of "Anything else cheap and cool I could do to the case...?" The later today I was like "Eureka!" And back to the work desk I went!


I had the thought of "Well, i've changed out the HDD LED to balance the case out but that DVD drive still has that ugly green LED and that won't look good with the cases color scheme.... But wait, i've got a spare white LED in case I screwed up on the HDD activity LED. Bingo, its solder time again!"

Well being now over 4 years old, I doubt there was a warranty left anyway from Asus, so voiding it be damned!

A bit of hot soldering gun and that yucky green LED is no more. Time to put something sexier in!

Woo hoo, now THAT's awesome looking! Nice and bright too! Who says DVD drives need to be boring and useless?

 

[t77snapshot]

I had this idea kinda out the blue but I was still thinking of "Anything else cheap and cool I could do to the case...?" The later today I was like "Eureka!" And back to the work desk I went!


I had the thought of "Well, i've changed out the HDD LED to balance the case out but that DVD drive still has that ugly green LED and that won't look good with the cases color scheme.... But wait, i've got a spare white LED in case I screwed up on the HDD activity LED. Bingo, its solder time again!"

Woo hoo, now THAT's awesome looking! Nice and bright too! Who says DVD drives need to be boring and useless?
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/coldhoth/Computer/dvd4.jpg

Wow this is the first time I have seen any one mod the leds of an optical drive. Very nice work 1ceTr0n, looks relatively simple. I dig it!

 

[1ceTr0n]

Some more updates, its getting close to completion, im excited to show it off but I keep coming up with more ideas and I have a really cool and simple one i'm trying to determine how to go about doing but heres some more visual goodies


Doing these was a laborious process and I wish I had a bit more patience with painting but they still turned out pretty well though I might do one more change to them. I just have to be sure if they will still function if I do my idea but either way, the painted hotswap drive bay covers really make the front of the case stand out!

I gave up on Corsair releasing the generation 2 of the cabling kits for the new AX power supplies, so I went with Bit Fenix extensions to add some more color to the interior of the case. Seeings how everyone and their grandmother seems to use white sleeved cables, I decided to go with the shiny silver and its part of the ROG color scheme anyway, they look great and easy to work with but snag easily and can get damaged if not careful so I wont' be moving them around too much.

This was by far the best idea i've had for the case yet. A bit pricier then I wanted to spend but man, the effect and look is freaking awesome!

 

[Darksword]

New member!

Hi all, long time reader, first time member of the fourms.

I've been thinking of getting this case but have a few questions.

1.) I like the window top, but does it hurt cooling since you aren't exhausting as much air that you're taking in? Without a top fan won't warm air just accumulate?

2.) Where can you buy the glass top that the green case was using? I don't care for Coolermaster's Glass top.

3.) If 280mm radiators fit without modification, what's the best one to use? Is push/pull necessary?

4.) Are bottom 80mm fans necessary?

Thanks.

 

[1ceTr0n]

1.) I like the window top, but does it hurt cooling since you aren't exhausting as much air that you're taking in? Without a top fan won't warm air just accumulate?

This has been tested on other forums with different setups and the temperature differences have been negigable, so use what looks best to you

2.) Where can you buy the glass top that the green case was using? I don't care for Coolermaster's Glass top.

That was custom made by the case modder, you can't buy it and they are both lexan not glass

3.) If 280mm radiators fit without modification, what's the best one to use? Is push/pull necessary?

Best left for another person, I don't water cool

4.) Are bottom 80mm fans necessary?

Not particularly unless your running alot of standard warm running hdd's in the lower compartment or just anal about airflow

 

[1ceTr0n]

Phew..... at long last, the final phase, last minute idea and paint job is being wrapped up tonight and man, it looks so freaking good! Full revealing of "Dark Wind" the HAF XB project tomorrow with lots of pics, stay tuned!

 

[craigo]

AMIDOINITRIGHT?
seriously though, nice work going on in this thread.
I have been contemplating the XB as a case for my mediacentre so keep convincing me.

 

[1ceTr0n]

Project: "Dark Wind"

Is now complete! Enjoy the pics!!​

 

[kayan]

Wow! That looks REALLY nice! Thanks for the photos.

 

[1ceTr0n]

With daylight back, I wanted to take a few more exposure shots for better results

 

[tastegw]

Looks great man! Nice work.

 

[Darksword]

IT'S HERE!!!!!

BTW... does anyone know if the Kraken 280mm radiators fit in this case?

 

[Athlon2K15]

Who knows what these holes are for?

 

[Darksword]

Hm, not sure, Athlon. Isn't that where the motherboard tray sits?


Also, how does one screw in a radiator to the inside if the holes are already being used to screw in the fans on the outside? I want to use two 140mm fans as intake, but that will prevent me from screwing in a 280mm radiator, no?

 

[1ceTr0n]

They look like mounting holes for holding cages but only ones used are for 2.5'' bay so it musta been a design thing and they decided not to bother removing them even though they wern't gonna be used.

 

[pathfindercod]

Man cable management in this thing is tough. :/ I have it all together. The bottom is a huge mess but the top is clean. I will have to work on that some I guess. I will be changeing out my Phanteks HSF for h20 once Corsair fixes the h100i. I might just got with the new cooler master h2o kit or the thermal take. Not sure yet. Part of me wants to stay with the Phanteks, my 3770k is idling at 25-27 degrees.

 

[Athlon2K15]

Hm, not sure, Athlon. Isn't that where the motherboard tray sits?


Also, how does one screw in a radiator to the inside if the holes are already being used to screw in the fans on the outside? I want to use two 140mm fans as intake, but that will prevent me from screwing in a 280mm radiator, no?

No you just go to the hardware and get longer screws that can go through the fans at the front all the way to the radiator.

 

[EarthDog]

I had an H100 and have a Tt Water Extreme 2.0 in the front. I just mounted it 'internally' so I didnt need screws as there didnt appear to be enough room to mount a fan or the rad in front of the bezel.

EDIT: Oops, I did do fans on the front and rad inside with longer screws... sorry.

 

[1ceTr0n]

Man cable management in this thing is tough. :/ I have it all together. The bottom is a huge mess but the top is clean. I will have to work on that some I guess. I will be changeing out my Phanteks HSF for h20 once Corsair fixes the h100i. I might just got with the new cooler master h2o kit or the thermal take. Not sure yet. Part of me wants to stay with the Phanteks, my 3770k is idling at 25-27 degrees.

Tough? This by far the easiest and best case I've ever had to do clean cabling. You just gotta think ahead with the dual layer zones of the case which involves trial and error, I had to do it that way also many zip ties later....

 

[pathfindercod]

Its just a little tight in the bottom area. I have 4 ssd' drives, two optical and two HD's in the hot swap bays. its mostly tied down i intentionally left the sata cables all un tied but tucked under the other so i can remove them easily without having to cut everything loose. It is not as neat as i want it still. I am going to tackle it more tonight. System is running very very good though and temps are great.

I was going to go with a h100i for CPU but there are to many issues Corsair has to fix with it still (the whining and grinding sounds etc). My Phanteks HSF is cooling very well. My 3770k is idleing at 25-27. What little ive been able to game my 680 classified cards are not breaking a sweat. I will start monitoring temps after i finish cleaning it all up and buttoning it down. I will try to post pics for the club when im done.

Has anyone considered using these fans for the two intake fans in the front?
SILVERSTONE FHP-141 140mm

At 171 cfm those would move a lot of air through the case.

 

[asdasd]

First, apologize for my English,

You can install a 280 mm radiator in the front of the case HAF??
Please only serious answers.

 

[1ceTr0n]

First, apologize for my English,

You can install a 280 mm radiator in the front of the case HAF??
Please only serious answers.

Yes. I iz serious catz, dis iz seriouz businezz.

 

[asdasd]

Ok but i dont understant last phrase, my inglis is bad !

 

[1ceTr0n]

FYI, Newegg is now offering free shipping on the HAF XB, so if you were holding on from shipping costs, now's your chance!

COOLER MASTER HAF XB RC-902XB-KKN1 Black Steel bod...