Post Your RocketFish pics/mods

[malicious]

anyone know how to remove the 2 crossbrace in the 5.25 drive bays? i don't have many tools except the basics found in a dollar store and i'm wary to use a drill.

I got mine out during disassembly. They are tricky, i can't remember exactly how I did it. sorry for non-help lol.

 

[skyline889]

You either have to cut it out or pull it out after you drill out the rivets. I drilled the rivets off the top panel, and pulled it right out. Reassemble it with screws.

 

[sound12]

You either have to cut it out or pull it out after you drill out the rivets. I drilled the rivets off the top panel, and pulled it right out. Reassemble it with screws.

What kind of tools do you need and what size were the drill bit and screws? I have no experience in drills...

thanks

 

[NJHC]

What kind of tools do you need and what size were the drill bit and screws? I have no experience in drills...

thanks

Get a bit that is a little smaller than the center of the rivet. Drill into the center slowly and work the rivet out. After you can use pop rivets to reassemble.

 

[skyline889]

What kind of tools do you need and what size were the drill bit and screws? I have no experience in drills...

thanks

It's pretty simple, just get a drill and a bit and drill through the center of the rivet. I think I used an 1/8th metal bit. Standard case screws to reassemble. It's hard to reattach the top of the 5.25" cage from what I remember though. It's been a while since I did the mod though. When I re-open it, I'll report back.

 

[sound12]

I only worry about ruining the case somehow, like creating a bigger hole or something, so I try to avoid using drills. The size of the screws so I can avoid this whole rivet business, I assume they're the same size as the 4, located on the sides of the front door, or am I wrong?

 

[skyline889]

...doesn't work that way. The chip stays cooler, but the amount of heat in to the case increases.

Running the Accelero with a 120mm fan strapped to it. I actually took out an exhaust fan to fit the new cooler in. CPU Temps dropped 4-5C for each core to 36-37C at idle. HD temps dropped 5-6C on average (Between the 6 various HDs I'm running) to 37-39C. NB temps dropped 7C to 43C. 9600GT dropped 22C to 38C idle.

I only worry about ruining the case somehow, like creating a bigger hole or something, so I try to avoid using drills. The size of the screws so I can avoid this whole rivet business, I assume they're the same size as the 4, located on the sides of the front door, or am I wrong?

I believe the thumbscrews use a larger thread size, I just used the standard hex head screws used for psu attachment. I looked at the case today and what I remembered was kind of right. I never reattached the top rivets however the 5.25" cage is still attached via screw to the front frames using the original rivet holes.

The reason I did this is that I couldn't re-do the attachment up top without replacing the rivets. The heads of any screw I tried didn't sit flush so the top wouldn't align. The cage is still secure but the very top lips of the cage are a little wobbly. I'd imagine that if you screw in an optical drive into the top of the cage it'd make it much sturdier, mine is on the bottom however.

 

[DirtyDells]

My Rocketfish is nearing completion. Redid the hard drive cages to reduce temps. Wiring was a bitch...you have no clue...especially since I had to use 3 36" SATA cables.

I have a two new GPU coolers on the way so either a T-Rad2 or an Accelero S1 will be going on the 9600GT. Temp was around 60c and was raising the ambient in the case so something had to be done. Other than that, new soundcard, top exhaust, or front intake are coming next.

Dude that is super clean with the big fan for the Hdds

 

[skyline889]

Updated.

 

[Ocellaris]

Updated.

wow nice work! just looking at those pics makes me ashamed of the 'good' wiring job I did in my case I have to add two more hdds to the case soon, I might tear down the whole thing and set my case up like yours.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device

 

[hazexban]

Removed

 

[lkiller1231]

Can you just make another thread to ask this question?

Why do you have to bump this, and not posting a rocketfish?

 

[delvryboy]

Updated.

oooo. I like the stacked hdd bays. Nice.

 

[aznofazns]

Skyline, that is the cleanest Fish I've ever seen!

Here's mine:

Modded the side window, but the u-channel doesn't look very professional IMO. Maybe I should have gone with screws. Cable management still needs serious work. One day I'll get off my lazy butt and cut some holes in the mobo tray to hide the cables... I also plan on spray painting the interior black.

I also need a better camera... my Lumix FZ20 has terrible high ISO performance.

 

[ZygoatD]

CLEAN! looks great.

 

[Tunnel Vision]

Hey guys, I just built this pc a few days ago...It's the first time I've even modded a case or really tried to do some cable management so it might not be the best but I think it looks great.

Specs are:

Core i7 920 w/ Megahalems and Gentle Typhoon
Asus P6T Deluxe V2
XFX 5870
6GB Corsair 1600
Corsair HX850
Auzentech X-Fi Forte
2x WD 1TB in a lian li drive bay cage
Case feet (can't see in those pics) and matte black film from MNPC tech
Also, just bought a Dell 2209wa which looks incredible.

 

[Tahoe916]

That's a great start! Everyone else's RF looks so big and roomy, I have too much shit in mine haha.

 

[SirKronan]

Wow this sure brings back some great memories! It was the first full tower case I ever made my own rig out of. Loved it. Lian Li really makes nice cases, and with some easy mods I got some seriously good airflow.

The good news is, I used this case to build a monster i7 rig for my brother-in-law. Still running quiet and cool for him. He loves it, and it's always nice to keep such a fantastic piece of hardware in the family. It takes a quality case, in my opinion, to survive more than one or two primary builds. Even though it's not my primary build anymore, it's someone else's "baby" now. I'm hoping I can get that kind of mileage out of my 800D, too!

Keep up the good builds, friends!

 

[maxinflixion]

My Rocketfish tower still sounds like a small aircraft. I've gotten my $50 out of it now for sure. I think it's time for it to meet the Dremel.

 

[delvryboy]

Cleaned up a little. 3rd build in this tower, I'll probably keep it forever.

 

[JMccovery]

*sniff* I miss my RocketFish... Such a nice case.

 

[aznofazns]

I don't anticipate ever replacing my Rocketfish, honestly. At least not for another 5 years. Even then, I'll likely hold on to it for a secondary rig.

BY THE WAY: do any of you know where I can get those two little black pins that hold the front door in place. The "hinges" basically. I seem to have misplaced mine and my emails to Lian Li just result in a bounce-back email stating that their email servers are full.

 

[jaffy]

My Rocketfish got delegated to the secondary rig..

 

[Omegas]

Nice to see this thread pop back up. My rocketfish just did it's most recent swap yesterday. A 780g/1055t combo to p45/q9550. Still lovesses mine

 

[SirKronan]

Nice to see this thread pop back up. My rocketfish just did it's most recent swap yesterday. A 780g/1055t combo to p45/q9550. Still lovesses mine

I wish you could still get store branded Lian Li stuff at Best Buy. It must not have taken off because they mostly sell Antec and Thermaltake now. Still good stuff, of course, but it's not Lian Li.

 

[GigantoR]

I still have one of these bouncing around. I may take a look at it again tomorrow if we have crappy weather.

 

[depraved]

I also have one of these, I got it from a friend who tried to mod it and did a terrible job, i've just been too lazy to try and do anything with it, probably never will. On a side note, does anyone remember which Lian Li top would work for this. It was one that had three fans and you could just replace the rocketfish one out with this. Also the side panels were the same way. I figure if I could get different side panels and a different top panel that already had places for fans, I may ressurect the case.

 

[2wiced]

Man I miss this case. My buddy has my old one. I could switch him my thermaltake V3 from my second rig for this. then Maybe! modify it.

 

[Rogue_Apprentice]

I use this case as well. Found it on a garage sale NIB. I had an Antec 900 at the time. It was like moving out of a one bedroom apartment to a 5 bedroom house. My wife thought it was a bit much as I was trying to cram it into the back of the van but I wasn't leaving without it.

 

[SirKronan]

I also have one of these, I got it from a friend who tried to mod it and did a terrible job, i've just been too lazy to try and do anything with it, probably never will. On a side note, does anyone remember which Lian Li top would work for this. It was one that had three fans and you could just replace the rocketfish one out with this. Also the side panels were the same way. I figure if I could get different side panels and a different top panel that already had places for fans, I may ressurect the case.

NONE. There is NO direct factory replacement model for this case. There are replacement side panels that fit though. Lian Li's comparable is just wider enough that there's no easy way to get the replacement top panel to fit. It would be almost as easy to get grilles and cut your own fan holes on the stock top as to order the factory replacement and try to cut and bend it to fit right. In fact, just cutting your own would honestly be easier. With some forgiving grills (with a bit of overlap) you can hide any uneven edges of metal on the outside and really make it look nice.

 

[JMccovery]

NONE. There is NO direct factory replacement model for this case. There are replacement side panels that fit though. Lian Li's comparable is just wider enough that there's no easy way to get the replacement top panel to fit. It would be almost as easy to get grilles and cut your own fan holes on the stock top as to order the factory replacement and try to cut and bend it to fit right. In fact, just cutting your own would honestly be easier. With some forgiving grills (with a bit of overlap) you can hide any uneven edges of metal on the outside and really make it look nice.

There was a case that Lian Li sold that was the 'forebearer' of the RocketFish, and that was the G70/71, Lian Li was ending the tooling for that line, and sold the remaining shells and complete cases to BestBuy and I think ABS/Tagan. So, if one could find parts from a G70/71, that would work.

 

[Omegas]

A quick refresh of this thread with an update of my Rocket-Li water cooling work in progress.

 

[SirKronan]

Lookin' good so far!!

 

[2wiced]

yea I like it as well! very nice! I wonder how hard it would be to paint the inside? not hard at all? To just spray paint it?

 

[aznofazns]

A quick refresh of this thread with an update of my Rocket-Li water cooling work in progress.

Looks good. What are the specs?

 

[SirKronan]

yea I like it as well! very nice! I wonder how hard it would be to paint the inside? not hard at all? To just spray paint it?

It certainly can be done. I've spray painted them before. A few tips:

1. Clean, clean, clean - make sure all surfaces you're going to paint are clean, even from finger oils.
2. Tape - Tape anything you don't want to paint carefully. This step takes some extra time, but it is so worth it, whether it's a wall in your house, your computer case, or a car. Painters tape is wonderful stuff, and not too pricey.
3. Multiple coats - if you want it to be smooth and look sharp, do more light coats rather than fewer heavier coats. This also leaves less chance for dripping, or forming droplets, which can require additional work to get rid of, or won't look as nice.
4. Clearcoat - finish it with a nice clearcoat, and choose carefully whether you want matte or gloss finish. I don't usually recommend gloss as it makes it more reflective than you initially intended. They make a clearcoat in both, however, and it's worth it to clearcoat to add strength to your paint job and prevent chipping and peeling.

Of course this depends on how much time you have, and others might be even more experienced than me, but hopefully that is helpful information, anyhow!

 

[maxinflixion]

Dug this thread up for some inspiration. I have my Linux machine in my Rocketfish and that damn thing is so big I constantly bump it with my chair.

Thought about selling it, but it's so tough. This thing is a reminder of one of my favorite "deals" of all time.

 

[delvryboy]

Another iteration. I still have to clean up the wiring. I had everything hidden but I installed a new PSU... then I got tired.

 

[SirKronan]

Dug this thread up for some inspiration. I have my Linux machine in my Rocketfish and that damn thing is so big I constantly bump it with my chair.

Thought about selling it, but it's so tough. This thing is a reminder of one of my favorite "deals" of all time.

It really was. My brother in law is still rocking his i7 920 system I built for him in it. It's still a beautiful case, and I love it when people post here so I have an excuse to come back and look, and reminisce.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I'm cleaning my basement and found this tower... untouched, never used or installed anything in it, still has hardware box inside. I completely forgot I owned it... Now looking at it, it's just too large for me to do anything with it. I have a NAS device so there is no need for me to load this thing up with hard drives.

Anyone local in VA that might want this or have a need for it?

Crazy thread bump!..lol

-Nigel