Pakhet Build - Summer/Fall 2020

Building Pak'het - Summer/Fall 2020

OK - before you get started and wonder why I'm rambling on without showing any pictures - they're at the bottom.

This project came about as an upgrade to Anubis, to support the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack that demanded Windows 10, DirectX12, and better hardware. She wanted me to just stuff the new gear into the old mATX Anubis, but I told her that it wouldn't fit and even if I could make it fit, it would burn up because of poor air circulation. I told her I would build her a whole new machine and give the case a custom look. She reluctantly agreed, thinking I was just going to throw Anubis away (ummm... No - I worked too hard on it just to toss it out). So, I got onto Newegg and started dumping things into the cart, and before I knew it, I'd pretty much spent her 2020 economic stimulus check... but hey, I shouldn't need to upgrade this sucker for a few years. Winning!

The system specs:

Fractal Design 'Focus-G' mid-tower case
ASUS TUF Gaming B-450-Plus AM4
AMD Ryzen 7 2700 8-core CPU
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GBx2 (32GB)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050Ti
Lite-On Super AllWrite 24x SATA DVD-RW+/-
Crucial MX500 1TB SATA III SSD
52-in-1 multi-media card reader
Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 500 watt PSU
Rosewill clear chassis fans w/Red LEDs (4)
Rosewill RCDR-11004 Front Panel Data Hub
Custom Window
Custom Paint w/graphics

How it happened:

I got the parts a few days later and started brainstorming on how I was going to put this whole thing together. Initially, I was just going to etch the World of Warcraft logo into the window, paint a map mural on the backside panel, and put a Horde logo on the front to be backlit by the red fans. After I got the machine built and running with Win10, I drug my feet on painting the case because it was so hot and my shop/shed was like an oven, so it sat for a few months which gave me more time to come up with some more cool ideas. I saw some case mods where the builders had made them look like hammered & distressed metal, so I decided to go that route.

Meanwhile, I etched the WoW logo onto the window and painted the Anderhal map mural on the backside panel, but soon discovered I'd gotten the orientation 90 degrees off. Crap! Not wanting to sand it all down and start over, I contacted Fractal Design and ordered a new back panel so I could do it again, correctly this time. By the time I received the new panel (which they sent me without charging for it - they're awesome, BTW), the temps had come down (mid-October) so I got busy.

I decided to embellish the WoW logo on the window, and also decided to try out the hammered & distressed metal finish. I learned how to make faux rust as well, and went nuts with it after I painted and scuffed up the case (the whole shop still smells like cinnamon as a result). I also enlisted the help of my pal Rob Mroweic and his 3D printers to crank out the Horde emblem, along with a Horde shield I was planning on giving a distressed stone & metal treatment, bit once I hit the front face of both pieces with some 400-grit, it looked absolutely awesome... so I left them both there. The emblem was glued to the front panel, back lit by the red fans, and the shield was glued to the mural on the back panel, finishing that off nicely. I love how it came out.

Well, that's pretty much it. Nothing major, nothing spectacular beyond the red-lit fans, window etching, and paint. So far, my wife seems to be happy with it, both how it performs and how it looks.

Build pics:

Click on any of the thumbnails for larger pictures.

Here's the Fractal Design Focus-G case pic from Newegg. It's an awesome case to work with having lots of features, and is super-cheap at around $55.

I shut off the camera flash for this pic so we can see how much red light will be in there. This is gonna be cool!

Finally got the machine fired up and running Win10 on my desk. The camera flash really washed out the lighting..

I used a cone-cutter bit on the Dremel to etch this design. I printed it in negative, taped it to the front side, and cut the design into the backside (inside) of the window. Turned out pretty cool, but it looks a little lonely all by itself.

Here's the backside panel mural I screwed up - it's ninety degrees off, as map 'North' should be 'up' on the panel... notice the panel screws on the bottom - those fasten this panel to the rear panel of the case. Whoops! At least I had fun painting it?!

Got a new backside panel, and have it all taped up and ready for another shot at a map mural..

I wasn't liking how the backside panel mural was going, so I decided to go another direction and make the whole thing look like hammered and distressed metal.

I started with Krylon Hammered Metal Pewter for the base coat. She said, "Well, it's gray." Yeah, well... we got a long way to go.

OK - so a few weekends later, I finally got a chance to redo the map mural on the backside panel (correctly aligned, and everything). Gotta have the case done by the end of the weekend though, since Blizzard's been so flaky with their new expansion pack release date. It gets crazy from here.

I still like it better with the shield.

Top down with the blow hole fans. A little too much rust, but she likes with all the extra 'red.' Meh, whatever - I don't see red, I see lots of rust. Hazards of being color-blind, I guess.

Turned off the lights and hid the camera flash with my thumb. Looks like I need a new camera.

Here we are all lit up - kinda hard to get the full effect with the shop lights being so bright.

The red fans aren't doing exactly what I wanted them to, but it looks a lot cooler than this pic - it's hella-bright in there thanks to some Harbor Freight LED shop lights.

Here's the front with the Horde emblem Rob made - I just sanded the surface with some 400-grit and thought it looked awesome just like this.

I went a little nuts with the Dremel and added some more to the window - much better!

Here it is with the Horde shield my buddy Rob made with his 3D printer. I just sanded the top surfaces and liked it like this. At first, she didn't want me to cover up the mural, but I think she likes it now.

Here's the backside of the case, after the faux rust and distressing. I might've gone a little overboard on the rust effect, but it turned out pretty cool..

	Here's the Fractal Design Focus-G case pic from Newegg. It's an awesome case to work with having lots of features, and is super-cheap at around $55.
	I shut off the camera flash for this pic so we can see how much red light will be in there. This is gonna be cool!
	Finally got the machine fired up and running Win10 on my desk. The camera flash really washed out the lighting..
	I used a cone-cutter bit on the Dremel to etch this design. I printed it in negative, taped it to the front side, and cut the design into the backside (inside) of the window. Turned out pretty cool, but it looks a little lonely all by itself.
	Here's the backside panel mural I screwed up - it's ninety degrees off, as map 'North' should be 'up' on the panel... notice the panel screws on the bottom - those fasten this panel to the rear panel of the case. Whoops! At least I had fun painting it?!
	Got a new backside panel, and have it all taped up and ready for another shot at a map mural..
	I wasn't liking how the backside panel mural was going, so I decided to go another direction and make the whole thing look like hammered and distressed metal.
	I started with Krylon Hammered Metal Pewter for the base coat. She said, "Well, it's gray." Yeah, well... we got a long way to go.
	OK - so a few weekends later, I finally got a chance to redo the map mural on the backside panel (correctly aligned, and everything). Gotta have the case done by the end of the weekend though, since Blizzard's been so flaky with their new expansion pack release date. It gets crazy from here.
	I still like it better with the shield.
	Top down with the blow hole fans. A little too much rust, but she likes with all the extra 'red.' Meh, whatever - I don't see red, I see lots of rust. Hazards of being color-blind, I guess.
	Turned off the lights and hid the camera flash with my thumb. Looks like I need a new camera.
	Here we are all lit up - kinda hard to get the full effect with the shop lights being so bright.
	The red fans aren't doing exactly what I wanted them to, but it looks a lot cooler than this pic - it's hella-bright in there thanks to some Harbor Freight LED shop lights.
	Here's the front with the Horde emblem Rob made - I just sanded the surface with some 400-grit and thought it looked awesome just like this.
	I went a little nuts with the Dremel and added some more to the window - much better!
	Here it is with the Horde shield my buddy Rob made with his 3D printer. I just sanded the top surfaces and liked it like this. At first, she didn't want me to cover up the mural, but I think she likes it now.
	Here's the backside of the case, after the faux rust and distressing. I might've gone a little overboard on the rust effect, but it turned out pretty cool..