Just so awesome!
Man I hate my life! Things like this make me wish I was never born!

Man now you're making me feel bad lol!

So I tried the criss cross option however it looks busy once you add in tube for the cpu only loop:

http://i.imgur.com/2Dfoal.jpg

What do you think?

I think it is beautiful! I just wished my life wasn't such shit is all man. But yeah nice setup!

I agree that it looks busy.

I agree. I wasn't thinking the CPU lines were going through there like that.

Thanks I agree - I hope you'll like the results of this update then:



Got some more parts today:

http://i.imgur.com/8V4MWl.jpg

3 ssds and a bunch of fittings:

http://i.imgur.com/SvwuDl.jpg

This meant I could do some leak testing with the gpu/motherboard/ram loop. Still missing the other gpu for now though, but the important thing was to see if the ram block connections were good:

http://i.imgur.com/svbBll.jpg

You can see water on the bottom right of the board. The GPU didnt' have it's spare ports sealed tightened down properly. Didnt' see that leak for a few minutes as it was dripping down the back of the block and was mainly hidden by the card and the block. You can see it coming out and filling up the pci-e socket:

http://i.imgur.com/Kb7qrl.jpg

The bitspower crystal linke sli fittings were part of the order too. The closest one in this photo leaked initially as it had fallen out of the o-ring. They're not that sturdy so it's a bit concerning that they might fall out. We'll have to see how it goes.

http://i.imgur.com/RWC9ql.jpg

The top view is much nicer now though:

http://i.imgur.com/bg9xYl.jpg

With red dye the crystal links won't look so out of place.

That's all for now. Case should be back from powder coating with another 14 gentle typhoons on tuesday, so expect a big update then :) Until then the board can dry out a bit ;) I need more time for working on the backplates and the reservoirs.

Yup, that looks much cleaner. Nicely done.

Agree. Looks cleaner and will look pretty cool with the red dye:)

Those Crystal links look really nice on there. Even if you don't have red fluid in there I wouldn't think it would take away from the look very much.

Where did you find that Liquid Tape? I have never heard of that before. I could use that in a build I'm doing now.

Lookin' good :toast:

Agreed :toast:

Thanks :)

Yeah I hope so - I wonder if I should remove the snake and use two of the crystal links with a 90 degree adapter

Home depot in the electrical section, amazon has it too. It comes in different colors too.

thanks :)

:)

I'd also like to welcome my newest sponsor - DT Waterblocks. I'll be using and reviewing their new cpu waterblock the "5Noz".

http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...hbackplate.jpg

This is the lowest restriction block out there - from Martin's Preview:

http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...suredrop2b.png

It'll be interesting to see how it does vs the raystorm which is one of the top blocks out there.

You might want to try that. I think it might look a bit better.

I will be looking forward to your results using the DT5Noz...

Thanks yeah I agree on this, we'll see what Monsoon come up with - I'm hoping it will look better than this still :)


Meanwhile the frame came back from powder coating - unboxing pics:

http://i.imgur.com/CHJ1Ul.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QwjBAl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yb3R8l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/77R1Rl.jpg

2 motherboard trays are better than one:

http://i.imgur.com/HwSRPl.jpg

Some accessories:

http://i.imgur.com/yidLSl.jpg

These are only the frame parts - the exterior skin is still at smasher's place:

http://i.imgur.com/P7Yj4l.jpg

"Super Mounts" - From top: 120x4, 140x4, 180x3 and 5 way hard drive flex bay mount (120x5)

http://i.imgur.com/P1Prjl.jpg

Pedestal front and back:

http://i.imgur.com/l1dg3l.jpg

Frame top and bottoms for case and pedestal:

http://i.imgur.com/beMbRl.jpg

man you guys are quiet!

I have a video that I'm trying to put together of building the case. Here's a shot of assembling the pedestal pieces:

http://i.imgur.com/Bx8mBl.jpg

- Unfortunately no more photos of the pedestal, but essentially there's a front and back and a top and bottom, each of the four joins look like the pic above.
- They get screwed together with 7 screws along the top and one on each corner (side).
- Screw the top and bottom to the front, and then add the back on.
- Then start work on the main case. Start with the center and work outward. Here's the motherboard compartment - the two inner vertical sheets and the top and bottom sheets.

http://i.imgur.com/RIB0Ml.jpg

- Assemble the two vertical sheets to the top sheet (8 screws):

http://i.imgur.com/gg8qEl.jpg

- Then add the other bottom sheet (8 screws):

http://i.imgur.com/imVTHl.jpg

- Then put the case down on it's front and add the back (34 screws)

http://i.imgur.com/dNm7nl.jpg

- Then put the case back on it's side so you're ready to easily add the front panel:

http://i.imgur.com/R8lx2l.jpg

- Screw in the front panel to all the other pieces (36 screws) and put the case on top of the pedestal.
- Screw in any flex bay mounts and accessories
- Screw the case to the pedestal (4 screws) and it should look like this pic below

http://i.imgur.com/fxgWsl.jpg

- Add the motherboard trays to the motherboard back plates and attach the handles (6 screws total)
- Add the hinges for the doors
- Rearrange any back panels
- test your super mounts fit
- Clip on the exterior frame panels
- start building or clip on the frame

Here's mine without the exterior panels, don't worry the black plate covers will dissapear by the end of the build (18 bay waterfall reservoir to come)

http://i.imgur.com/B8xadl.jpg

Wow!!! That is an amazing case (and very huge):toast:

Haha yeah it's massive - can't wait to get it done


So I got the opportunity to tour this new workshop close to downtown that just opened. It has all the workshop tools you could never afford to buy yourself, and you can buy day passes or month passes depending on how long you need. So this resolves all my issues with manufacturing the waterfall reservoirs myself, as well as opening up possibilities like custom waterblocks...

It was the launch weekend so there was a free bbq (there were plenty more people later on)

http://i.imgur.com/0vK2gl.jpg

Wood shop room, saw stop tablesaw, planer, chop saw etc. bunch of other stuff that isn't shown:

http://i.imgur.com/jZdqrl.jpg

Large CNC Mill for wood:

http://i.imgur.com/fpxZml.jpg

Sand Blaster:

http://i.imgur.com/uXT7gl.jpg

Vinyl cutter so you can print your own stickers:

http://i.imgur.com/uXSe8l.jpg

Forgot to take a photo of the 3D printer, but here's an 150W laser that cut through some hefty steel plate:

http://i.imgur.com/uJLy7l.jpg

There's two other lasers good enough for acrylic/wood, and a third one is apparently on the way:

http://i.imgur.com/tOMlel.jpg

Spray paint booth, they have an oven for powder coating, but not all the rest of the powder coating tools yet:

http://i.imgur.com/XDPB8l.jpg

Metal press and folding machines:

http://i.imgur.com/ly2Eol.jpg

Other metal machines, bandsaw, grinders and a lathe:

http://i.imgur.com/QPmjEl.jpg

Metal lathe:

http://i.imgur.com/zVTf0l.jpg

Old school mills:

http://i.imgur.com/GHpdVl.jpg

CNC mill - can you say custom waterblocks!

http://i.imgur.com/5zIgDl.jpg

Electronics room - not much here, bunch of soldering irons, power supplies and scopes:

http://i.imgur.com/WMYtgl.jpg

So what do you all think I should do with this opportunity?

I definitely want to:
- make the custom metal backplates for GPUs
- make the waterfall reservoir
- make some custom waterblocks for parts that aren't ultra high performance e.g. raid card, memory blocks etc.

Wow, that's fantastic. I wish we had something like that here in Maryland. I would have to get a monthly pass.

Just found this thread, and I'm loving the build for sure, very nice. Thanks for all the great pictures that you've been adding, too; keep on sharing.

Along the lines of what trickson said earlier, it makes me jealous.

Too cool. :rockout: :respect:

I wish I had time to make use of a monthly pass :(

Glad you're enjoying it :)

Thanks :)

Hopefully they'll be a few more awesome updates this week :)

As I do not currently have room for a workshop, this would be awesome:toast: I have been wanting for a while to build my own case, just do not have the tools to do it.

Yeah likewise, I have a bunch of wood tools, but not much more than that, so this really opens the doors of possibilities wide!


Alright here's an update. Can you say gentle typhoooooooooooooooooooons?

http://i.imgur.com/mqct6h.jpg

Don't worry they're not all for me. I only have 14 of those plus the 10 I already own.

My waterblocks also came in, thanks again to DT Waterblocks, here they are next to my spare rasa (both my raystorms are still in systems)

http://i.imgur.com/gZNWGh.jpg

You can see there's plenty of room for fittings. On the back you can see the copper base plate is pretty chunky - this should mean it should distribute heat better laterally through the plate but worse directly through it. Not sure the right trade off, but this copper block is the largest I've seen both in terms of area and thickness.

http://i.imgur.com/vOiR2h.jpg

Here's some results from Martin's testing:

Temps in comparison to the raystorm:

http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...dt5noz-th4.png

Restriction:

http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...ng?w=578&h=724

It should be noted that the mounting mechanism now has thumb screws. Next update I'll show you a pic of it mounted.

Anyway the other big news on this update is the exterior panels. Here's some close up shots of the color, it's a dark metallic grey flake with a smooth finish to the touch:

http://i.imgur.com/XdYP3h.jpg

Even closer:

http://i.imgur.com/mN0cuh.jpg

And as much as I can loosely hang on the case without it being clipped on. You can see one motherboard has also been mounted. The TX10 makes EATX look like a MITX lol.

http://i.imgur.com/BrRpsh.jpg

Working with Smasher and Jim on this has been a delight and I highly recommend them :)

Very cool. I'm really digging the chassis more than anything else. The thing honestly looks like a server rack on crack. Very nice, job so far. I've been loving my SB-E, I'm sure you'll enjoy yours.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to more pictures and its completion. Cheers! :toast:

Yeah it's a new type of case, almost a hybrid between a server rack and a high end gaming/workstation case with all the water cooling possibilities you can dream of. CaseLabs have done an awesome job with it.

So while I was waiting for the screws, I decided to mount a reservoir to the motherboard tray. As the motherboard tray is HPTX there is a lot of spare space. Initially I wanted to also fit an RX360 on there, so that the motherboard/gpu/ram loop was self contained on the tray so that I could just pull it out and swap CPUs without disturbing that loop. Now I have another plan for the radiator instead. Here I am drilling the tray:

http://i.imgur.com/WWq62h.jpg

With the res mounted (it's a 250 EK multires if anyone cares and there's just enough room for a D5 underneath):

http://i.imgur.com/X8Jaxh.jpg

From the back with the reservoir mounted. You can see the two nuts holding it on:

http://i.imgur.com/YNepph.jpg

Now with the motherboard tray back stiffening and tiding plate added:

http://i.imgur.com/C0X12h.jpg

Here's another shot of the front also showing the new cpu block. BTW any barbs are just place holders.

http://i.imgur.com/vPwZkh.jpg

A quick test inside the case:

http://i.imgur.com/K8LhMh.jpg

I also did a test run with the gtx560 radiator and the fan adapters with my new shiny 2150 rpm gentle typhoons!

http://i.imgur.com/rMksih.jpg

That was it for the night, then the next morning I found an extra fitting and connected the res to the ram block. Almost a straight line lol.

http://i.imgur.com/DqGSKh.jpg

No one had photographed the new thumbscrews on the cpu block - so I took a couple of that also:

http://i.imgur.com/mlrQEh.jpg

Again ignore the barbs, I haven't quite decided how to route the tube out of there yet.

http://i.imgur.com/VnCeWh.jpg

I must admit, the liquid tape on the backside of the GPU looks much nicer in those pics than the originals, and looks really sharp.

Thanks I agree - maybe it needed some time to age lol. I'll still be making a custom backplate for it though, plus I found a place that does cheaper nickel plating so that copper will match finally lol.

Is the CPU going to be on a different loop than the rest of that system keeping the CPU segregated from memory, motherboard, and GPU? If not, I would route it from the MCH to the CPU, then to the GPU. Looks great so far!

Sick. looks awesome.

Yeah - the cpu is on a separate loop with two D5 strongs and a mora 140x9. The pumps will be in the basement and the radiator is in the roof.

:cool: :)

Here's a pic of the iwaki next to a D5

http://i.imgur.com/jQQyth.jpg

Then I put the dvd drives in. These will eventually be hidden :)

http://i.imgur.com/Lh3AWh.jpg

Then I starting putting in the new ssds into the hdd side mount:

http://i.imgur.com/ej11Lh.jpg

I have another 3 ssds and 5 hard drives to put in later on, when I really transplant everything over:

http://i.imgur.com/3NfmOh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/57NxOh.jpg

And now a tease of the case with the panels:

http://i.imgur.com/heGD5h.jpg

More to come soon :)

So the only thing I got done this week was changing the switch plate to one that matched the exterior color. Here's the original:

http://i.imgur.com/PhZt6h.jpg

The cover is held on with two nuts:

http://i.imgur.com/XGjMfh.jpg

Put the new one on:

http://i.imgur.com/B9cAmh.jpg

Reattach the switches:

http://i.imgur.com/Rt1bOh.jpg

Install it:

http://i.imgur.com/IBuaAh.jpg

And put the panels back one:

http://i.imgur.com/B91tEh.jpg

That's probably it for the next week at which point a large order of parts should be coming in :thumb:

nice ....

one thing ive wanted to see someone try with these 2011s is an "sandwich" vrm water setup,,, since rooms no issue you ought to try putting another vrm wb on instead of the backplate???

I don't think cooling the backplate would help, a PCB isn't exactly known for heat conduction.

I think he means that there are VRMs on the back of the motherboard, and that the backplate for the vrm waterblock cools those poorly.

Alrighty the fedex guy came, so here's some unboxing action:

http://i.imgur.com/TS5anh.jpg

Woooh packing

http://i.imgur.com/hNe1uh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZScUbh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AjqNeh.jpg

Opened some boxes - the front rad is an ex560 - not quite sure why this was the first 560 rad that XSPC made.

http://i.imgur.com/jUyech.jpg

Mora 140.9 revealed - way thicker than the EX of course

http://i.imgur.com/ZdMi3h.jpg

Can you say quick disconnects?

http://i.imgur.com/NrNiHh.jpg

Wow wow wow, sooo much awesome.....!

I'm digging the 3x3 120mm radiator. Will that be shared between the two rigs?

3x3 140mm ;) - that rad is purely for the 3930K to hit maximum clocks lol

Man you'll have some work with the watercooling loop :D
Friggin' awesome build, can't wait to see your progress :toast:
You'll love that MO-RA3, I recently purchased a couple and couldn't be more happy with the results, mine are for 120mm fans though.

exactly...

2nd update of the day:-

So I played around with my own version of the big slappy mod for the Iwaki - the idea is you tap the cylinder res for a much larger feed for the pump. The pump can't be on it's back so you need a nice slow 90 degree bend. The tough part is then getting down to the 5/8 OD pipe that is the inlet to the Iwaki. Here I used 1" pipe going to a 1/2" female converter fitted with a 5/8" brass barb. I butted the barb up right against the inlet and stretched some 0.5" tube over it:

http://i.imgur.com/XwlvOh.jpg

The feed may not be quite as good as the original big slappy as that only had a bout 3/4" of 5/8 inlet tube, vs this 2.5" on this version. However the downpipe is 1" instead of the 3/4" that was used. So hopefully the extra width balances it out a bit. Here's a photo of the original big slappy:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/...d8bcfac4_o.jpg

and amuseme's version:

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...G_1608copy.jpg

We'll see I might change to what they did, I feel like it might have better performance.

Also started spray painting test colors on a dead GT. I made a quick spray booth:

http://i.imgur.com/P4B7Zh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SKTlWh.jpg

Done - there's some metallic flake in the paint, the color isn't quite as orange as the tube though:

http://i.imgur.com/punuJh.jpg

Reassembled (kinda)

http://i.imgur.com/goRMmh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ms7H2h.jpg

Then a final comparison with it mounted on the 120 rad (this rad is just for the motherboard block loop). The rad will be painted silver to match:

http://i.imgur.com/0y5Fnh.jpg

So what do you think? Are the colors close enough? Both are slightly off. I wonder if I can get a color match from the powder coat supplier. I think I'll look for a different red at the least tomorrow. The match does depend on the lighting though.

Got some more today seeing as I got done with my deadline yesterday. I wanted to get the 120 rad painted to match the fan to see how it looks and what fittings to go with. So I started sanding down the brand new gt stealth:

http://i.imgur.com/ec0teh.jpg

Masked it off and applied primer:

http://i.imgur.com/aIDLlh.jpg

Then painted a matching cover to dress up the fan a little:

http://i.imgur.com/bRMFyh.jpg

While I was waiting for paint to dry, I put together the quick disconnect pairs, some will mount to panels with a g1/4 fitting on the other side, while some screw directly into radiators:

http://i.imgur.com/KU2A5h.jpg

Then I realized I need two more pairs...

I also did some work on the pump mounting. I added a drain port to the inlet tube and mapped out the cuts I wanted to make to the base panel. Air has to flow through the base panel, so there has to be some cut outs. Because the pump will vibrate, I'm worried about making the noise worse with a floppy piece of metal, so I was thinking to stiffen it with two 1" by 1/4" steel bars screwed underneath the base plate (these are the two dark shaded strips. I'll have to add some rubber strips to try and isolate the baseplate from the frame also.

http://i.imgur.com/a6y3Xh.jpg

Here's a quick look at the painted rad from earlier with the fan on top:

http://i.imgur.com/1Lcwyh.jpg

And here's a piece of acrylic that was laser cut and then painted to match. The dimensions aren't quite right though:

http://i.imgur.com/yE8Uth.jpg

Not sure whether to do something like this or not. I don't think I should use the zerg symbol anyway as it doesn't match the theme, but it's fun to play around.

Originally I had wanted to paint all the fans, then I got lazy and thought, well I'm more likely to screw them up by painting them (imbalanced rotors and all), plus they won't be seen so who cares. So I took a look to see if I could justify lazy or not - here are the stock typhoons showing:

http://i.imgur.com/R5T0jh.jpg

Here's one painted typhoon just rested up in there. Obviously the space around the fan (fan adapter) would be painted silver too so it would blend better. The red can't be seen too well though:

http://i.imgur.com/4ZOFzh.jpg

So I figure I have four options:

A) leave the GTs stock (lazy and quieter but looks ugly)
B) paint the GTs housing only and leave the rotor grey (quiet but stands out less
C) paint the GT fully (risks noise from a now unbalanced rotor and doesn't look much better than option b)
D) paint the GT fully and add some white LEDs to actually show the metallic red rotor off a little bit

What do you all think?

I vote for option B. I don't think the grey will look too out of place with the silver. I don't mind the stock black housing, either, it's the sticker that is the ugly part. Nice work so far:toast:

I like option B as well.

nice work

Holy crap Stren!! I've seen some of your other stuff on other forums but I vanished for a while and had no idea about this project.......It's friggin' sweet!! Hope to finally get busy on my TH10 sometime this summer and have it ready to play with this fall. My TH10 is huge.....but that case of yours makes it look like a match box! Good job on the build so far man.....looking great!

Thanks dude - I remember your TH10 :) Yeah the TX10 is a best, sometimes I think it'll eat me for breakfast.

The results are in:
A - 2
B - 7
C - 0
D - 6
Other suggesions:
- not paint and add leds - 2
- paint the housing and add leds -1
- paint hubs only and add leds -1

I liked some of the suggestions - I think what I'll do is actually not paint, and use red LED's to light the blades. I'm going to do a test run in the next couple of days. I'll also create a plate to attach the fans too that will cover some of the ugliness so only the blades will be seen. I can then create some back lit patterns. I need to check how much room is left in between the fans and the metal panel though.

Meanwhile I mounted the 140x9 radiator (without fans as I'm waiting on delivery), and checked the QDC's:

http://i.imgur.com/o5X61h.jpg

Unfortunately there is not enough room - only about 3/4" to make the 90 degree turn:

http://i.imgur.com/dDI6Jh.jpg

Luckily I had a non rotary 90 spare that could help out:

http://i.imgur.com/LquyLh.jpg

A rotary there would inevitably leak due to the weight of the QDC. I don't like the restriction of that tight 90 though so I may end up taking the QDC off of the radiator and putting it in line instead. I decided to leave it for a bit though and work on tapping the reservoir. The parts I need came in, so now it's time to build a makeshift tap handle lol.

http://i.imgur.com/W8AsLh.jpg