Project: Dopefish Lives

[Dopefish]

::The Return::

I started a worklog for this mod quite some time ago but due to work, car projects and a relationship it fell to the wayside. I however have had my Lian-Li dancing in my mind for awhile and have changed my plan from the original posted many months ago.

::Introduction::

The case inspiration comes from Dopefish, this stupdi lil' fish from one of my favorite childhood PC games, Commander Keen. The Dopefish is said to be the stupidest creature in the universe, second ONLY to the horrible Bugblatter Beat of Traal. The Dopefish since its appearance has cameo'd in MANY games as well as a couple TV shows. I have carried 'Dopefish' as a screen name off and on for a couple years and decided I needed a case to match.

The idea behind the case is to have key features that relate to the Dopefish, its various cameos and other related things from Commander Keen and such while maintaining a stylish and contemorary design. Quality and function are priority -- I wish to keep my standards high with my work on this case considering the efford Lian-Li put into its basis. I intend to have a stable and cool running but quite computer within that will most likely see some overclocking.

::Hardware::

Lian-Li PC60-series
Antec TruPower 430w
Abit IS7-e mainboard
Intel P4 2.8c HT @ 3.2GHz
2 x 512mb Geil 'Golden Dragon' PC3200 DDR
ATI 9600xt 128mb AGP
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
WD 120GB / WD 160GB
CD-RW/DVD
DVD-RW DL

::Cooling::

Danger Den Maze4
Ehein 1048 Pump
BIX 120mm Radiator
Custom Reservoir

::Planning::

I have made a few quick sketches of what I have so far, excuse the poor quality, hopefully it gets the point across.



Here is an overview of my ideas thus far. I drew out a few differant ideas for the sides as far as the windows and how I'd execute them. I'm thinking a combination of many smaller windows (as opposed to a single large one) and some creative etching should allow for a clean and stylish finish.




Here is the left panel, the idea of a bunch of clustered bubbles hit me when I was playing Keen and saw the bubbles floating around.. there isnt too much to work off of unfortunately so I have to expand a fair bit on what little I have. I figured instead of single seperate 'bubbles' cut out of the case side I could draw several and cut a general outline of the cluster out of the side. Then add definition to the plexi I mount behind that will make it look like several bubbles grouping together.




This is the right side, I didnt want it to be left un-modded when the rest of the case was receiving changes. So I decided to have bubbles on this side but much fewer given the lower area to work with (mainboar tray is pretty boring so why show it off. I also considered etching some bubbles identical to those from the game (very simple string of bubbles) and etching 'DOPEFISH LIVES' across the bottom section.




Here is the top, an area I already kinda knew what I wanted from the beginning. I cut a large area out to allow a CD-rom window to be added later as well as offer me additonal airflow opportunities with my PSU. I flipped the PSU so that I could have two exhausting fans from it. (more airflow in general out of the case + negative pressure in the PSU to *suck* air in) What evolved from this came from a flaw in my original watercooling by both not having a reservoir AND not having a highpoint service area for bleeding and cleaning. To resolve this I'm going to build a plexiglass reservoir that will sit in the small area above the CD-ROM, this will act as a high point for bleeding as well as giving a cool effect of looking through and seeing the CD-ROM spinning.

What I originally was going to do was to have hex mesh across the top hole for airflow but now I am not sure what I will do as it may look far too 'busy' having a visable cd player, resevoir AND hex mesh all up top... although I can just use plexi as I need a point of escape for the PSU fan.




Here is the point of my greatest confusion, the front bezel of the Lian-Li. Initially it started with 2x80mm fans, I gutted the front of the case and made a special bracket to mount my 120mm fan and reservoir. This presents a issue with the bezel as it has holes for two 80mm fans and is hardly suitable for my 120mm... besides, who mods a case and leaves the front alone? I was originally (when considering mesh for the top) going to mesh the front and cut a LOT of material away but I dont think it'd look very refined or for that matter fitting to the new design ideas noted above.

Something I've been thinking about was drilling more holes on the front, matching those already existing but then drilling another set staggered off so that the end result is similar to the G5 or Lian-Li PC-777. Problems I see with this are accurately matching the existing holes placement and not falling out of alignment in the 100+ holes I'd have to drill. Also the burrs may be hard to clean without comprimising the OE anodized finish on the bezel.

Below I will post some of my older images that are off the work I've done and the cases current state. I'm hoping shortly after I complete the case I can move some new hardware into it as I'm feeling homesick after going so long without an AMD processor.

~Kris

[Dopefish]

Post cutting of the top section.


New bracket and watercooling equipement, I'm rearranging the fan and res as well as working on a new shroud setup.


Watercooling equipement test fit and fill.

Here was my original design for the brunt of the watercooling bits... I still want to have the res mounted with the pump as it serves a great place for my floating dopefish I plan to make to cram inside. I would also etch this res with the good ole' Quake font to say 'Well of Wishes'.


I would still have the upper res for the sake of functionality. I have a plastic enclosure suitable as this portion of the project but have yet to modify it or worked on a good way to mount it *with* the pump.

~Kris

[Dopefish]

My waterblock is in sad shape due to corrosion... I was testing the system initially but testing turned into three months of usage so proper fluids were never used.


Thankfully Tarn-X and a toothbrush came to my aid.


Here is the potential 'Well of Wishes', I'm concerned it may be too thin but we shall see...


More detail on the radiator bracket (someone in another thread requested a pic of this)


~Kris