So, I have started a couple of new projects here at the Hive.
You might wonder why, when the PowerMac kits are doing well, I would be embarking on both a Cube project at the same time as working on my G5.
Well, there are a few reasons.
By getting out the Dremel and getting stuck in to some serious case modding I get to experience first hand the thrill – and the peril – of cutting things apart to give new life to an idea. Everytime you do this it brings home the hurdles and pitfalls that can ruin a project oh so easily.
I LOVE the jeopardy as my lack of sleep each night gives me ample opportunity to work through new solutions. And, often those breakthroughs can then be used by others. Sometimes my laser cutter gets involved and then I get the opportunity to develop custom parts that I know will be useful to someone.
Most of the modding so far on my new Cube has been using good old manual tools. The Dremel is king for this stuff. And I think it is important to develop mod.s that can be done by anyone and does not require much beyond the basics. Where the laser comes into its’ own is in making the ragged edges of a build less visible and providing custom new parts to fill a gap where there are no existing parts available but anyone can look at what I make with the machine and, given time, can produce the same parts or effect manually.
Another driver for me to take on a project is to do something that I feel has never been done before or has not been done the way I visualise it.
The common thing between my two current projects is the theme of water cooling.
Both kits use “all in one” coolers.
The G5 kit uses the Kraken x60 which is a 280mm cooling solution which I decided to put in the roof space of the G5. Roof mounted radiators have been done before but not by me – so I wanted to see the problems of fitting a large radiator in the G5.
The Cube kit uses a Corsair H80. This one is exciting me as I have decided to try and keep as much of the Cube original features as I can while fitting a ridiculously large cooling solution!
The new Cube is primarily there to push the cooling limits and performance of the format as much as I can. The i7 3770k is going to pose some challenges. I am aiming to explore the limits of what can be done when running this processor from a PicoPSU, hopefully running a mild overclock, and exhausting all the heat out of the back of the Cube. For me I am not looking at something that can reach a peak benchmark and then needs to be shut down before the case explodes with heat! Instead the aim is sustainable high performance that can be coped with all day long.
Keep an eye on my progress with all my projects. It will be posted on threads in all the usual places, given time, but the initial postings will be on here and will also be appearing over at the new forums on Macmodders.com where I will be a contributor.
MacModders looks like being an interesting new site and at The Laser Hive we will be very happy to support all new interesting ventures in spreading the word about re-using the classic Mac cases to inject some retro Mac style into PCs!
