Half retro, half modern activity today!
Been planning my next PIII build with the new parts I've recently bought, but I'm doing something a bit different. I'm going to attempt to do pure high end year 2000 retro hardware and performance, with modern PC design. It is going to be the computer I start taking to local LANs since I always find myself playing UT99/Q3A anyway, and those that attend know that half of it is about the spectacle 😉
So far I'm looking to use the following hardware:
Motherboard: ASUS CUSL2 (will replace with CUSL2-C Black Pearl if I get one)
CPU: PIII 1GHz
CPU Cooler: Possibly a Spire WhisperRock IV (SPA04B4) if I go aircooling. Otherwise Swiftech MCW372 for a waterblock.
RAM: 512MB Micron 133MHz SDRAM (2 x 256MB). Likely will get some of the Bitspower UV LED tops if I go aircooling, otherwise waterblocks.
GPU: Canopus Spectra 8800 (GeForce2 Ultra). Will stay stock.
GPU 2: 3dfx Voodoo5 5500 PCI (for that glide support). May stay stock, may watercool. I think the EK-VGA Supremacy blocks will fit.
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live Platinum 5.1
HDD: 2 or 4 Maxtor 40-80GB HDDs (depends on what case I end up picking).
PSU: Either my Zalman ZM1000-HP Plus or Corsair CX850M. I'd prefer to use the Corsair if I can get away with it, but I haven't put two high end GPUs together yet, so unsure if the 25/25A 3.3/5V @ 130W combined on the Corsair will suffice. It has the advantage of being a single rail design, but the Zalman has the advantage of being 40A/40A with 250W load on 3.3/5V, but I'd have to load up the 12V rails enough too.
In terms of case and overall design, I want it to be a mix of oldschool and modern. The first real challenge I have to overcome is deciding on a case. I'd love to use a new case, likely black with acrylic window, that has the PSU and HDDs in a separate compartment. That narrows it down to a couple of Corsair cases, some Lian Li cases or the CaseLabs Bullet BH7. There were some Cooler Master ones, but they were too over-designed for me. I think the CaseLabs Bullet case would be perfect for its intended use - compact, handles, shows off hardware very nicely, but it probably cost as much as all the hardware going into it.
Even though it's going to be in a modern case, I am placing a strong emphasis on maintaining the colours that I remember so fondly in the case modding scene from the late 90s and early 00s. I'll be using UV CCFLs or LEDs with black and UV green cable sleeving, and either blue or green fans. Acrylic cut fan grills too, of course.
I've started custom sleeving ATX and Molex cables using Darkside HD sleeving. I will also be sleeving IDE cables, which I am not sure has been done before outside of rounding the cables. I will seperate the ribbon into groups of two cables and bundle them together into groups of 4 or 8, sleeve those and attach a new IDC connector at the end. Some early experimentation worked nicely with cheap sleeving from the local electronics store, though it was slightly too large in diameter.
At the end of the day, I just want a marriage of pure late 90s/early 00s hardware and modding aesthetics, with modern design and looks... if that makes sense. Should be a fun challenge 😀