<a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/a/a2/a2132a0c_wheatlybanner.jpeg"><img alt="200" class="bbcode_img" data-id="916825" data-type="61" height="200" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/a/a2/600x200px-LL-a2132a0c_wheatlybanner.jpeg" width="600"></a><br>

I have had my NZXT Phantom for almost a year, as my academic year came to a close I decided I needed to makes some changes that had been sitting in my head for many months.<br><br><b><span style="font-size:16px;">My Phantom As it Was last August shortly after transferring my build from an NZXT Gamma:</span></b><br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/bf/bf036a8c_scaled.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918245" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/bf/600x450px-LL-bf036a8c_scaled.jpeg" width="600"></a><br><br><b><span style="font-size:16px;">Around the end of december</span></b><br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/6/6a/6a43ba88_scaled.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918241" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/6/6a/600x450px-LL-6a43ba88_scaled.jpeg" width="600"></a><br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/22/2227a82a_scaled.jpeg"><img alt="640" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918242" data-type="61" height="640" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/22/480x640px-LL-2227a82a_scaled.jpeg" width="480"></a><br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/47/47b00b98_scaled.jpeg"><img alt="640" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918243" data-type="61" height="640" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/47/480x640px-LL-47b00b98_scaled.jpeg" width="480"></a><br><br><br>

The day I received my Phantom I performed one simple mod, I painted the area under the black mesh covering the two 120MM fans because it my opinion it looked tacky otherwise, this can be seen in the above picture. Over the months I had the case I thought of several mods after some careful thinking and planing they have come down to the following.<br><b><span style="font-size:16px;"><br>

Modifications</span></b><br>

- I always felt the case was a lot like the aesthetics in VALVE's Portal / Portal 2 I wanted this mod to be Portal / Aperture Laboratories themed<br>

- Window mod, large trapezoid mesh cutout for an acrylic window<br>

- maintain a black, blue, white color scheme<br>

- Aperture Labs logo decals placed on the case<br>

- Aperture Labs logos placed inside the case visible from the window<br>

- Aperture Labs fan grills for all fans inside. Made from lasercut acrylic plastic. A grill will also be made for the front 120MM fan.<br>

- 200MM fan housing painted blue for a blue and white combination leaving the blades white<br>

- 120MM fans that are visible to be all black with white Aperture grills<br>

- Revise the cable management significantly, using only blue zipties make use of adaptors in special cases to avoid using modular PSU cables for only one connector.<br>

- Paint the black trim around the the mesh and switches blue with a matte clear finish, this will give my phantom the same look as the Phantom 410 with blue trim<br>

- Convert over to only SATA hard drives, the IDE cable makes cable management difficult and looks tack.<br>

- Convert all blue LEDs to white<br>

- Use white LED ambient lighting instead of colored LEDs to show off the color scheme in the case (thanks mybadomen for giving me the idea in a previous post)<br>

- Ambient Lighting to be made with 12 volt LED strips each controlled by a custom control panel made from a spare bezel and 12 volt automotive rocker switches<br>

with blue LEDs in them indicating on/off<br>

-blue sleeved audio cable extension clean up cable management and make the audio wire look nice<br><br><br><br><b><span style="font-size:16px;">Non Costmetic Upgrades</span></b><br>

- Move over to a SATA III SSD for boot drive<br>

- Upgrade graphics card to something newer than GTX 460, right now going for a Sapphire AMD Radeon 7970<br>

- Arctic Cooling Accelero III for the new GPU<br>

- Change from Cooler Master V8 to a Corsair self contained liquid cooling unit, mainly to relieve strain on the motherboard. The radiator will mount on the back<br>

120MM fan spot so weight of the rad will be on the case frame.<br>

- Use the 2 pin 12 volt power cable from the PSU to power the ambient lighting, this way there will be no stray cables<br>

and cable management will be perfect.<br>

- Custom bracket for an 80MM fan to be placed where the small removable drive caddy once was.<br>

- Front bezel card reader (Aperture M)<br><br><b><span style="font-size:16px;">Things that need to be purchased</span></b><br>

- white and blue sleeving for LED strip wiring<br>

- Two pin male and female connectors for LED Strips<br>

- 12X24 .177" solid white Acrylic pastic for fan grills and brackets<br>

- 18 gauge yellow and black wire for ambient LED strip wiring<br>

- Sapphire AMD Radeon 7970<br>

- Arctic Cooling Accelero III<br>

- Corsair Hxx (not sure which one)<br>

- blue and white heatshrink for cable sleeving<br>

- Blue presleaved audio extension cable<br>

- NZXT Aperture M<br>

- PCIe 1x UBS 3.0 card with internal header (for Aperture M)<br>

- NZXT 200MM Fan<br>

- White vinyl Aperture Labs logo decal for power supply<br><br>

I am hoping to enter this build into Mod of The Month during one of the summer month and I would like to finish it before then so if anyone wants to donate anything on the above list of stuff to get that would be much appreciated!<br><br>

EDIT:<br>

In the pictures you will see the skateboard I made for my Phantom I spoke of in the owners group. Just forgot to mention that earlier <img alt="smile.gif" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.overclock.net/images/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>

Here is what I have done so far there is much more to come.<br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/2c/2cffa86b_veWb5.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918205" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/2c/525x700px-LL-2cffa86b_veWb5.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/3/3f/3fa826a5_7iKad.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918206" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/3/3f/600x450px-LL-3fa826a5_7iKad.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/7/7c/7c6c6b13_MXRxR.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918208" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/7/7c/525x700px-LL-7c6c6b13_MXRxR.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/1/1f/1f24d9f5_mZFCs.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918209" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/1/1f/600x450px-LL-1f24d9f5_mZFCs.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/0/04/0427dbd0_Wf6bP.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918210" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/0/04/600x450px-LL-0427dbd0_Wf6bP.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/c/c3/c3c659ec_Du5Ji.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918211" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/c/c3/525x700px-LL-c3c659ec_Du5Ji.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/8/8e/8e8c0564_ebgSZ.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918212" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/8/8e/600x450px-LL-8e8c0564_ebgSZ.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/b3/b39e7e37_0xbIw.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918214" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/b3/525x700px-LL-b39e7e37_0xbIw.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/6/69/6966d36a_WRgdR.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918215" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/6/69/525x700px-LL-6966d36a_WRgdR.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/e/e6/e616a24b_Tv7mI.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918217" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/e/e6/525x700px-LL-e616a24b_Tv7mI.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/9/9c/9c9b6fb8_VpeIK.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918218" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/9/9c/600x450px-LL-9c9b6fb8_VpeIK.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/49/4988f8cd_sNh9b.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918220" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/49/525x700px-LL-4988f8cd_sNh9b.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/27/27b1cdab_OnnDx.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918221" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/27/525x700px-LL-27b1cdab_OnnDx.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f3/f30a3d01_sz5mM.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918224" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f3/600x450px-LL-f30a3d01_sz5mM.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/9/95/95aec99e_TKdVW.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918226" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/9/95/600x450px-LL-95aec99e_TKdVW.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/bf/bff0f89e_RkytH.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918229" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/b/bf/525x700px-LL-bff0f89e_RkytH.jpeg" width="525"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/8/8a/8ad73c94_Vvpua.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918231" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/8/8a/600x450px-LL-8ad73c94_Vvpua.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/27/27609bbd_7cw2Z.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918232" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/2/27/600x450px-LL-27609bbd_7cw2Z.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/49/4942060a_UoCZg.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918233" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/4/49/600x450px-LL-4942060a_UoCZg.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/1/16/16f92705_mV5lP.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918234" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/1/16/600x450px-LL-16f92705_mV5lP.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/3/31/31e124d7_CTgJT.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918235" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/3/31/600x450px-LL-31e124d7_CTgJT.jpeg" width="600"></a><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f5/f51338dc_IzXrx.jpeg"><img alt="700" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918236" data-type="61" height="700" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f5/525x700px-LL-f51338dc_IzXrx.jpeg" width="525"></a><br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f0/f001d6d4_xxpv2.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918204" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/f/f0/600x450px-LL-f001d6d4_xxpv2.jpeg" width="600"></a><br>

First Mod I did, literally minutes after unboxing.<br><a class="bbcode_url H-lightbox-open" href="http://cdn.overclock.net/d/d0/d01647f4_Ezrr5.jpeg"><img alt="450" class="bbcode_img" data-id="918237" data-type="61" height="450" src="http://cdn.overclock.net/d/d0/600x450px-LL-d01647f4_Ezrr5.jpeg" width="600"></a>