Modding a Coolermaster ATCS 200

pieman109 · 12 Apr 2015 at 14:56

Andreas.96 said:
I really like the grey colour scheme, nice to see a change from the common black interiors.

As for watercooling I have a feeling that I have even less knowledge than you

I've just started a new thread over on the watercooling forum asking for some advice.

pieman109 · 16 Apr 2015 at 15:47

Right, got the psu a Corsair HX620w jobbie installed. Its a bit old now, must be knocking on about 6-7 years old but the voltage rails are still good. I'm going to replace it for a more up to date item just to be on the safe side.
I had a few problems getting the cables sorted out and routed due the number needed and the available space, of which there isn't much. I had to remove the rear panel and take an inch off the width as it fouled the gpu when installed and access to the mobo side connex was severely limited. Funnily enough, theres hardly any "bulge" on the rear side panel when its fitted due to the cables behind it, but they do fit snugly and theres no cable strain anywhere. I've installed the R9 290X 8gb for the time being but as soon as it turns up, I'll fit a GTX 780ti with a backplate.

Once I've got the various drive bay covers fitted and the radiator moved I'll post up another coupla pics.

pieman109 · 17 Apr 2015 at 11:54

Ok, got a few more pics here of the internals. I'm in the process of testing the system with an overclock of 4.2ghz on a 2500k which won't overclock to 4.5ghz without Bsod which I think is due to the psu so I've got a newer CM V700w jobbie coming from the MM. The original Corsair is well over 7-8 years old and is probably finding it a bit of a strain so I'm going to retire that one to a smaller rig. I'm still waiting for the 780ti to turn up and thats going to be fitted with an acrylic back plate just to tidy up the appearance. Also the two 5.25" drive bay covers need cleaning and polishing as they've got a bit tarnished.

rare · 19 Apr 2015 at 13:18

Great job man!! Looks awesome. Love it!!

pieman109 · 19 Apr 2015 at 17:55

rare said:
Great job man!! Looks awesome. Love it!!

Thanks for the comment mate, its appreciated. Anyways, I thought I try a bit of experimentation and with the rear fan, so I removed the noise blocker 120mm and I hung an old 92mm jobbie in the open and taped up the gap and started running prime 95 again in identical conditions as before and I found that theres no real difference from before!, the temps are nearly identical. I've run it for about 30 mins to confirm this and will continue to do so for about an hour to see if any change occurs.

Edit: Yep, no difference after an hour. In fact there may be ever so slightly better cooling with the 92mm fan than with the 120mm as two of the core on the cpu are running about 1-2 degrees cooler than before. I'm tending to think meself that theres no appreciable difference, so any mod I do again I'll be using a 92mm fan as an exhaust item at the very least which will make my job a lot easier. I'll also be looking at using an adapter to enable the use of H55 AIO cooler or something similar

Maverick2332 · 20 Apr 2015 at 11:27

"Looks a bit Heath Robinson" may be my new favourite phrase ever.

This is looking amazing.

pieman109 · 20 Apr 2015 at 11:59

Maverick2332 said:
"Looks a bit Heath Robinson" may be my new favourite phrase ever.

This is looking amazing.

Oh its Heath Robinson in certain areas, your right there!

Structurally its very rigid and theres no movement, flexing in the case whatsoever, but a lot of the work I did could have been done differently/ better but I'm limited in the tools I had available, a jigsaw, files and a drill basically.
I personally think it looks a little "bitty" with some parts (the floor mounted fan 'frinstance) looking like they've just been stuck in position and don't look "right" although they do work as intended.
Am I happy with it? With the internals, aesthetically no! but from a performance angle, yes, it does what I wanted it do from the outset, give great cooling and enough space to fit up to date components, I just think it looks a bit, dare I say it, Meh!
So, the above is the reason I've just my hands on a "pair" of black atcs 201 SXT cases which have suffered a bit over the years but hopefully nothing major that can't be corrected. My intention is to do another case mod, but with a few differences to allow for greater flexibility. Things like mounting the psu at the bottom, use a 92mm fan exhausting instead of a 120mm (as said in my earlier post, it makes no difference to temps) and keep the 5.25" bays clear for a double bay mounted water cooling pump/res assembly.
Also, get tooled up a bit more to improve build quality.

pieman109 · 21 Apr 2015 at 23:18

Finally the two parts turned up today that I need to finish the build, the Cooler master V700 psu and the GTX 780ti. The psu really is a nice looking bit of kit, well made, heavy looks the part as it were and comes with a very good reputation. The 780ti, well so well known about theres not much to say about it really just that it looks better in the case than the 290x did and it should lower the temps due to being reference and exhausting out of the back of the case. Just in the process of giving the 789ti a run up to get an idea of what to expect, its only on a very old monitor atm so max res is 1280 x 1024 but it should give a comparison to the 290x that its replacing.

I'll post up some more pics when the V700 is installed.

zealot · 22 Apr 2015 at 08:35

Good job like it.

pieman109 · 22 Apr 2015 at 16:26

Ok, I'm calling this done. No real difference in the pics but they do show the new CM V700 psu fitted (for a 700w jobbie its a real beast, oozes quality and is quite heavy and basically a Seasonic in different clothes). The whole system is dead quiet and cool too but due to the temps of the 780ti when running at full chat with a max temp of 82c, I'm gonna get hold of another H55 and bung that under water as well as the cpu. I still to remove the black front bezel and spray it to match the black of the usb front bay panel and top panel grill, but I can do that without disturbing the case itself.
would I do another one.....well I've got my hands of a pair of black atcs 201 cases so , yep, I reckon I will BUT I won't be doing to that what I did to this case and I'll concentrate more on asthetics and build quality than functionality. Hers a few pics of the finished item.

Any questions, comments, critique (good and bad) feel free to ask.

Incidentally I have touched up the chipped paint on the framework and drive bay screws.

Sircles · 23 Apr 2015 at 09:00

That looks awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

pieman109 · 23 Apr 2015 at 11:24

Thanks for the comment mate, its appreciated. It took a fair amount of work but got there in the end. Gonna have another go with a black 201 when I get 'em, must be a a glutton for punishment

haxxbaxx · 23 Apr 2015 at 11:45

good work

Behemoth · 25 Oct 2015 at 14:58

Looking good mate

I've picked up something similar today - debating if I should put my own gaming PC in it or not as my original plan was to put my retro P3 System in it.

Bossman · 27 Oct 2015 at 21:40

Love this. Especially since I've got a CM 201. Did you get a black 201?

Behemoth · 29 Oct 2015 at 12:07

I wish mine was a black 201, I'd have aid more for it it was - just a silver one which I still think looks pretty decent.

gr1mey · 5 Nov 2015 at 17:48

nice job on that one love it!!

I have a couple of old atcs cases upstairs been toying with the idea of building a rig, so might just get modding and use one of them now - instead of buying new...!

~>Dg<~ · 6 Nov 2015 at 10:37

they are great cases have one myself