Specifications

65
maximumpc.com JUL 2011
MAXIMUMPC
IT SURE LOOKS EASY on paper,
doesn’t it? In practice, the physical
construction of the see-through
PC was a multiday build involving
several trips to the hardware store
to de al w ith a va rie t y of is sue s. T he
biggest hurdle in working with a
case that you build yourself is
that not everything always goes
according to plan. Some screw
lengths don’t fit the predrilled
holes in the chassis; some unex-
pe c ted t w ist s h ave to be na vig ate d
(the first UV-reactive coolant I
use d lo oke d le ss than imp re s si ve);
some dents, dings, and cracks
find their way onto the chassis
no matter how careful you are.
If I could offer one piece of
advice to instill courage in folks
looking to follow in my transpar-
ent footsteps, it would be this:
over plan. Take your time. Don’t
order a mess of components at
once with some grand vision in
you r h ead of h ow th ey’r e all g oi ng
to come together, because you’ll
be amazed at some of the new
ide as y ou’ ll c ome up w i th o nce you
actually have a huge acr ylic case
sitting on your coffee table. You
ca n ju st w ing it w ith a co nvent i onal
build, but acr ylic cases require a
lot more TLC.
Had I the time, opportunity, or
work setup, I would have loved to
cr af t s ome acr ylic f ra m es for b o th
the power supply and the optical
drive. That’s not the kind of deal
that one jus t budgets an hour for,
and it does pose some risk that a
new bie with a Dremel could send
his or her expensive components
off to the scrap heap. Still, see-
thr ou gh is s ee-t h rou gh , a nd se e-
through devices, where possible,
would have been a nice touch.
One final word to the wise:
EL wire is both a blessing and
a curse. Get the longest single
strand you can purchase. Here’s
wh y: Th e m ore s tr ands of EL w ire
you connect to a converter, the
dimmer the strands become in
total. Depending on the brand of
inverter and wire you’ve chosen,
the inverter itself can also emit
a loud, high-pitched whine. It’s a
ro okie mi sta ke, b ut o ne that co ul d
eas il y s cut tle th e dr eam s of th ose
looking to turn their mid-tower
desktops into a device out of Tron:
Legacy.
Building a see-through PC is
like the s wo r d in t he s to ne o f c om -
puter construction: Once you’ve
mastered the sleeving, electrical,
and liquid-cooling challenges of a
transparent build, you can accom-
pl i sh g reat t hi ng s. Ma y y ou r l ight s
shine bright, aspiring builder.
1 THE BRAIN
This build would not be
possible without this rig’s
six-channel fan controller.
Every light and fan in the
case (save for the PSU’s) is
adjustable (and powered)
using this simple series of
switches.
2 COOL IT
In addition to providing
better cooling than air, a
liquid-cooling setup pro-
vides visual flare, especially
with UV-reactive coolant.
3 SIMPLICITY, SIMPLICITY
I didn’t just pick Koolance’s
CPU-370 for its prowess.
The water block is also a
snap to install, requiring
very few parts, headaches,
or wizard swears in order to
firmly attach the block over
one’s CPU.
4 ARTIFICIAL WALLS
Use eleme nt s like y our l ight-
ing inverter or your water-
cooling pump to wall off
cabling where possible. It’s
a lot easier to keep a cable
in place with a rigid device
blocking its path than with a
ton of Velcro and twist ties.
LOOKING THROUGH THE RESULTS
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