Orac³ Part 5

Orac³

Previous instalments:
Orac³ Part 1
Orac³ Part 2
Orac³ Part 3
Orac³ Part 4


Part 5 - From Motherboard Covers to Completion

Welcome to the final article in the series covering the Orac³ project. The project was hatched over a year ago, inspired by vintage British sci-fi, with the goal to create a clear-cased computer where everything on the inside looked as good as the outside, and from all angles; Where cabling was a feature, not something to hide away - G-gnome's 'big electronic brain' if you will. I wanted to take the concept of a clear case a step further. It meant modding pretty much every nut, bolt, screw, cover, cable and component in the entire system, 'attention to detail' becoming my mantra. Along the way a use was found for unusual items such as shower-hose and aquarium tubing, and the whole project had to follow a theme: Chrome, neon green perspex, polished stainless steel and clear acrylic. I have faithfully stuck to my original sketches and concepts, modified things along the way and tossed a few ideas out as well. What has resulted? Read on...

I'll start with several pages of photographs of the finished case, and then subsequent pages will cover the remaining mods in detail, right up to the final, finished case. For a few people, this will probably be their first look at the project, so I beg forgiveness from others if I briefly re-cap on some areas that have been covered previously - if only for the sake of continuity and completeness as to where various parts now fit in the overall look of the case.

I was unable to work on the project for several months, and so much time ended up passing I was forced to re-read a lot of my plans and notes to refresh my memory. I was certainly glad I'd written it all down and made so many sketches! In this article I 'stealth' my motherboard and PCI cards, carve up my side-panel and get funky with the rear fan. I re-mod my HDD rack, re-wire my Graphics card and Pump, tackle IDE cables and water cooling, plus mod a few more things, and throw other ideas by the wayside.

On the whole, this was the most challenging part of the project. A lot of nervous tension permeated the air in the Gnome household over the last few weeks, as I was trying out some fairly ambitious ideas that I believed would work in theory, but never quite knowing for sure until I actually did them. It was painstaking work fitting it all together in a project where, just as I thought I had things sorted, there always seemed to be another part that required modding! A seemingly endless process, with only the support of my Mrs Gnome and the bit-tech team keeping me sane (and motivated) during this time. So, to all those who have encouraged me along the way in emails, forum posts, IMs, PMs, phone calls and voice-chats, to those who have waited patiently and 'kept the faith' that I'd actually finish the project, I offer you all a heart-felt thank you - this is for you...

All done...


Read on...