So, before we begin this little makeover project, lets start with the case itself.
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Mw==The antec Mini P-180 startead to make its debut around mid 08 and was pretty popular amongst people who wanted a flexible case, but still wanted something that was quiet and noise reducing as well, even with fairly powerful equipment.
After building my "Black Ice" project back nearly 3 years ago this month using a Silverstone SUGO 4 case, my first mATX build after years of the large and mostly unused expansion of ATX sized builds. I went through couple of mATX cases, including the short lived SUGO 5 series case, when I decided to go back to my favorite case maker and go with the Antec mini-p180 which I have used ever since, including my most recent Sandy Bridge upgrade build
Now that my hardware is up to snuff by todays standards for some decent PC gaming, I felt it was time to get my case up to standards as well. Considering I simply couldn't find a new mATX that melt all my high standards that I wanted in a case, I decided to modify my exisiting mini p-180 because, well....thats what case modders do!
The case itself has worked very well the last 3 years with my Core 2 Duo build but has largely remain unchanged except fan removals and swapping with Gentle Typhoons 120mms
For MANY years, i've stuck with the typical and honestly, VERY overused lighting them of blue and white LED"s and such, and this build was no different other then I didn't really exemplify either the colors or lighing in the mini p-180
With my new Sandy Bridge build including my first Asus ROG mobo, the Maximum IV Gene-Z, the color theme of the mobo orginally had me grossed out with the red/black/silver. However, the more I looked at it, the more I was getting used to the idea of maybe taking it to the next time, and just for a change from the years of Blue and white i've been doing in the last several of my case mods
Yes, I think its very overdue time for not only a new case mod but also, a new color theme that i've never had or attempted before. My aging mini p-180 case is just the right blank slate to start off with
I've got a few ideas to make the front stand out a bit more
Yes, the large blowhole need some "contrast" me thinks and I have a simple yet effective idea in me brain....
These very thick and heavy Antec triple layer sound dampening panels do work very well, but after 3 years, they are boring as hell to look it and don't promote any enjoyment of seeing expesnive electronic goodies inside the case, so were gonna fix that...
G.Skills generous donation of goodies after getting my memory with no case sticker help further my idea of what to go with...And of course the downright sexy and beastly looking combo of the Dark Knight HSF and the new Asus ROG Maximum IV Gene-Z mobo is the main reason and example of what my plans are for the case makeover will consist off.
Even the mobo box and innards themselves are really sexy looking! I justhad to sit and stare at all the goodies I got with this ROG mobo, when I first opened i! Freaking awesome, thanks Asus! It just further inspired me to do something different and unique with this build, within my budget guideline