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Decided my STRIX 980 needed a new look. Here's the result!

1ceTr0n
Level 11
Sup all, been busy lately with comic and anime cons in area, a new girlfriend and family issues but I finally had some free time this easter weekend to take on a new modding project I had been thinking about for quite awhile, so check it out!



My 980 is a real nice card but it kinda gets lost in the guts of my build with that black casing.




And i've never been impressed with its design and especially that stupid "owl" STRIX look that Asus is going for nowadays



I LOVE how these new Galax Hall of Fame GPU's look! So sexy but soooo damn expensive and hard to buy. Not worth the price of admission and having to sell my 980 just for the "cool" factor




So I've been pondering this for awhile now, wonder if I can make my Asus 980 look somewhat like this?



Again, its been a good card, but man, i'm sick of looking at those damn owl "eyes" stickers and the black metal fan frame is just so boring



I painted the badges and that helped somewhat but I still wasn't happy



The card is not bad looking, but not great either... and those damn "eyes"



I've been pondering giving the 980 a bit of a makeover to go with the rest of the system, mainly, a white paint job after seeing those white Galax GPU's



Seeings how I already voided the warranty with redoing the GPU thermal paste, I decided to take a chance and try my hands at painting my first GPU this weekend



Asus being awesome in their design of the GPU made this childs play, 4 screws and the entire metal casing came right off. So not only could I paint the casing, I could still use the card to game in the mean time, win!



Most the badges came off but this one was really stuck on and I didnt' wanna damage it further, so some masking was needed



Basic paint prep work to remove fingerprint oils and dust but didn't feel like sanding the metal, that's what the primer is for



An old R/C car building/painting hint. Heating up a spray can with hot water results in a finer paint spray and more even pressure



Allright, no turning back now, its go/paint time!



Wow, it looks better already with just primer!



The first of MANY coats and impatiently waiting, I have terrible patience with painting, I just wanna spray and be instantly dried and done lol!



2 days of painting and drying outside later, it looks real damn good! Nice and smooth too!
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7 REPLIES 7

1ceTr0n
Level 11
But now these damn STRIX "eyes" are still here. Hrmm....



Wow, what a difference!



Man, I love it! But those ****ing eyes.... just ruin it




Removed metal sticker eyes with hobby knife. Much much much better!



Hmm, but now the fans look a little boring...




I didn't have any other stickers that would have work and I didn't feel like buying some, so I improvised.




Ugly owl eyes begone!



Woooot! Now that is damn sexy!!!



Wooo! I'm tickled pink happy at the result!



Oh yeah baby! Its like a whole new GPU!!





Allright, time to put this revamped GPU back in its home!





Hot damn! That looks beyond kick ass!!




Oh yeah!!



Sooooo much better! I love it!



Oh yeah, now thats a kick ass non "owl" looking GTX 980!



Reflects the lights nicely inside as well!



GPU pimping a complete success!

drop4205
Level 12
looks very good. Nice job
Maximus XI Formula, I9-9900k, Phantex Evolove X, Seasonic Titanium 850W, Custom loop PE360+SE360 Rad, G.Skill Trident Z F4-3200C14 32g, Nvidia Reference RTX 2080 TI, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1Tb, Windows 11

Myk_SilentShado
Level 15

naj1991
Level 8
nice nice... *and next the soundcardcover 😉
Greez JT

Good job!
I7-6700k OC'd 4.6 // Asus ROG Maximus Hero 9 // ROG GTX 1080ti OC //Corsair LPX DDR4 32gb 3ghz // Corsair AX 1500i // 1tb Samsung 850 EVO // 256gb Samsung 850 PRO for OS // Windows 10 Home 64

bkral
Level 7
I had that same sound card in my Rampage IV Extreme build, But I had to clip the LED lead on it because that thing is bright as ****. Also, it has an open side, so it doesn't just come out of the acrylic window, it bleeds red light all over the system. Really easy thing to do, if that interests you.

Also, why not plasti-dip the cover, so you can just peel and RMA if needed?

purplehaze031
Level 7
looks beast bro!