TJ07 - Fermi Gulftown remix

[rjkoneill]

my last TJ07 thread here, needed a revamp

props to Gigabyte, Corsair and Intel for the assistance

Component List

Case
Silverstone TJ07B-W
6X Xigmatek Blueline 120mm Fans


System
Intel Core I7 970 Gulftown Processor
Gigabyte X58A UD7 Motherboard
Corsair Dominator GT 2000MHz CAS 7 Memory
Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 480
2X Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB Solid State Hard Drive
Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card
Corsair HX 850W Power Supply

Watercooling
EK Supreme HF Full Nickel CPU Block
EK Gigabyte X58 UD7 Full Cover Nickel Plexi Waterblock Kit
EK FC-480 Nickel Plexi Waterblock
EK FC-480 Nickel Backplate
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump
Bitspower D5 Matt Black Mod Kit
Bitspower D5 V2 Pump Top
EK Multioption Reservoir 250 rev.2
ThermoChill PA120.4 Quad - 480 (15mm)
Thermochill PA120.2 Dual - 240 (15mm)
4X Meters Tygon 7/16" ID - 5/8" OD Clear Tubing
2x Litre FluidXP EcoEarth Blue

Bitspower
20X Bitspower Black Sparkle G1/4" High Flow 7/16" ID 5/8" OD Compression Fittings
4X Bitspower Black Sparkle 45 degree Rotary G 1/4 adapter
1X Bitspower Black Sparkle G1/4 - 90 Degree Rotary Adapter
2X Bitspower Black Sparkle G 1/4 - 90 Degree Dual Rotary Adapter
6X Bitspower Black Sparkle G1/4" Stop Fitting


Mods
480mm Quad Radiator Stand
30X Meter 4mm Black Cable Braid
15X Meter 4mm Blue Cable Braid
2.5X Meter Black 2:1 Heatshrink
Tinted Side panel Window
Tinted Roof panel Window
Chilled PC Blank TJ07 Rear Panel, fanless Powdercoated Satin Black
Chilled PC Blank TJ07 Mid Plate Panel Powdercoated Satin Black

after some very saddening news from Murdermod that i wont be getting my light panel any time soon, I have decided to go ahead with my rebuild.
the panel can go in when it arrives. if it arrives

I would like to thank my sponsor...

Peroni, without which this build would not be possible

out to my shed, where dust reigns supreme!

taking the system apart.

mess

480 epicness

rock solid, and indeed, heart touching

picture does not do this justice.

more mess

refreshments - Peroni #2

my fantastic new D5 [pump of champions]

my tinted top panel that didnt fit. the supplier of this item is very much in my bad books. I had to sand it down to fit.

Meg was not impressed

first ubing route, wasnt too happy with this layout

the big white tube going up to the top looks poor and i need to sort it

"Goodbye EK Multioption Res 250 Version 1"

"Oh Hello EK Multioption Res 250 Version 2"

Pump in its place

coming together after lots of swearing

made a couple of minor changes this week

sold my 480 blocks off to someone and got the nickel plexi version so the blocks match my new motherboard

got NathWraith to order me one of these beauties too

looking at a few performance upgrades too but i need to do some more testing and research.

the front of the case is going to soon change a bit too
i am putting the doube thermochill in the front of the case to aid airflow and add some extra cooling to the loop [fermi on a single loop is a very very silly idea]

the front of the case will soon be filled with these lian li bezels

they should allow for a bit of airflow over the rad.

 

[rjkoneill]

reviewing my work i must admit my photography is rather fail.
i am a computer tech and not a photographer. i wouldnt know how to work a good camera if my life depended on it.

my current shots are taken with a Sony DSC-W110 which is a very basic point and shoot but serves me well.

i have been reading a few beginners photography forums recently and gained the following knowledge:

1. my camera sucks
2. i need a tripod
3. still images should be taken using a timer

so accounting for all of these three facts i have done my best to make the photography in this update at least half decent.

i took on board the advice in points 2 and 3 and got a tripod and sorted the timer out. the results are much better. my camera still sucks.

onwards with the updates.

some more in depth shots of the fantastic Gigabyte UD7 with EK Nickel Plexi full cover blocks.

then the front of my case will be filled with these vented bezels from Lian Li, they have dust filters in them but i may remove them.

behind the vented bezels will be my dual radiator. I wanted more active cooling in the loop and this will be ran in series after the Quad thermochill to keep that fermi under control. the rad will be mounted in the front using the lian li mounting kit that i had from an old build and a white P clip to keep things nice and tidy

then there is this beautiful piece of work. which will be stealth mounted to the board using the coolit backplate and m3 hex screws from earlier on in the build.

i am going to be upgrading my memory to a higher performance part and did want to run a Mips memory cooler. i emailled them directly asking for their dominator cooler with a nickel backplate and a plexi top. but they said that they weren't willing to work with plexi, so that idea has to be scrapped. i may go for some nickel plated extended dominator fins to match all the shiny blocks.

at the moment i am stuck between blue coolant and clear coolant. give your opinions on this if you feel you can input

my partner in crime NathWraith has been fantastic in ordering me my parts.[thats why OcUK stock that cpu block unsurprisingly] we have some clear tygon tubing on its way to us too which i will be modding by removing the tygon logos. this will provide superior flexability as well as preventing bacterial growth. should be here next week meaning i will be able to get started on what will be the final rebuild of this system.

 

[rjkoneill]

hi guys, small update here

been doing a bit of preperation for the switcharound on my case.
I'm beginning to accept that the murdermod panel is never goign to materialise.
their website hasnt changed for ages so im just going to leave it off the build.

this rebuild will be the last change to the TJ07 before I start looking at another project.

first of all, I have spent the last week braiding stuff up again to match the new board/colour schemes.

I'm still considering rebraiding everything as the heatshrinks from the last effort look a little poor.

the fans i will be using throughout the case have been braided too.
Xigmatek XLF Blueline 120mm.

there will be a total of six fans in the case plus the psu fan which is quiet anyway. still considering which fan controller to go for.

my custom pieces arrived within the week, very impressed with the quality, hope they fit better than the custom top window.

fanless rear panel, powdercoated satin black

plain midplate pwdercoated satin black

I also managed to get my hands on some 7/16 Tygon for the build.

just need to find some free time to put it all together!

 

[brandonwh64]

Sweet setup there!

 

[CDdude55]

Looks awesome!!

 

[xrealm20]

looking awesome!

 

[blu3flannel]

B-E-A utiful job!

 

[HammerON]

Holy shit - love this!!!
Subscribed

 

[grunt_408]

Very nice. Looks like art.

 

[afw]

Great work ... ... sub'd

 

[rjkoneill]

thanks for the kind comments guys, will keep you all updated

just waiting for a few fittings and then the system will be ready to build.

unfortunatly, buying components is easier than finding time to actually rebuild my system

 

[rjkoneill]

The past few weeks I have spent hours trawling the internet to find a fan controller.

whilst the prospect of spending £100+ on a smart controller such as the fantastic Aquaero or Tbalancer was quite appealing, the fact that neither of them look particularly great or match anything in my current build is a bit offputting.

whilst the lure of a usb interface and smart cooling options would suit my new '6 fans only' setup, it is not ideal from an aesthetics point of view.

i went back to the idea of an analoge fan controller as it was the simplest idea.

i used to have the old plain ZALMAN ZM MFC1 Plus controller and it worked well but i noticed Ace Modder managed to get some of the Lamptron models in at work
Lamptron Fan Controllers
these are regarded as a great brand specific to fan controllers so i thought i would try one.

everyone who knows me or has read one of my build logs knows that i hate flash lights and that subtle is the key.

i went for the Lamptron FC2 - this is the cheapest in our range but only by a few pounds. the reason it is close to the next model up [the FC5] is because the FC2 sacrifices led screens and all that rubbish for raw power

the FC2 is a rheobus controller that is capable of 45w per channel
this means you can run Delta fans on it. not that i will, but the capability is there. the controller is well made and whilst it is supposed to cause some fans to hum when they are at really low speeds [from what i have read in reviews], i have only used decent fans with it so far and had no issues whatsoever.

the cool addition to this controller is that every channel can be switched off which my previous controller [ZALMAN ZM MFC1 Plus] was incapable of.
this means that i can switch off my 240 radiators fans and run my system off a 480 radiator on low speed if i want. the flexability is there which is what i wanted.


however. whilst the controller itself is a very well made piece of kit, the reason i went for this controller was for its features. i wanted to make the controller fit into my build and heres how i did it...

first i took the controller apart, this was fairly easy as i had to remove 4 screws and pull the knobs off the controller.

after removing the face plate from the controller, i prepared the bezel that i would be using for the mod. in this case, a vented bezel from lian li. the entire front of my TJ07 will soon be filled with these bezels so it will make the controller blend in really well.

i used the dremel to cut off the tabs on the side to be left with a front plate that resembled the stock one that lamptron fitted. i used the lamptron plate to create small drill holes in the bezel for each knob on the controller. i then used a larger drill bit to widen the holes. i wanted to keep the original face plate in good condition as this mod is totally reversable which means you can customise the controller then put it back to stock if you ever sell the controller on.

the lamptron controller has a row of LEDs that light up the area around each knob on the controller. LEDs are not required for me as subtle is the key, if you do this with a blank face plate then they will be covered anyway.
i found some foam that comes in the bezels of the antec 902 at work which i thought would do the trick. but i guess you could cut your own. the foam helped to bulk out the bezel to the same depth as the solid stock face plate on the controller so it is fairly required. [i can get these foam strips easily so message my trust if you need one] i poked holed through with scissors to match the bezel.

the bezels i am using have a mesh dust filter behind them so i put this inbetween the foam so that you couldnt see it through the little holes. it makes it look a little more stealth and it blends in with the other bezels that way.

after putting all three layers together then it is ready to go straight on to the controller and have the dials replaced. the pressure of the controller dials keeps the new face plate in shape.

I think it is a case of 'Mission Accomplished'

this mod took me 15 minutes, cost £25 and is fully reversable. give it a go, if you are looking for a new fan controller but are looking for something to match your case, this may be it.

"before you mention that i scratched the top left corner of the bezel, i know i did, i dropped it because i am clumsy. a new bezel has been made and it has been replaced already ]

 

[Reventon]

Wow! Looks awesome. I love the white and balck and the cleanliness. That thing must be an ice box.

 

[rjkoneill]

finally, after months of planning and setbacks I have finally manged to get the new hardware and parts fitted to my system.

10am this morning and I finished at 7pm.

really pleased with the outcome this time and I think that I will be drawing the line under this project now.

I will let the pics do most of the talking but will cherp in with explinations if need be.
also please check the video at the end, its not great quality as it was a last minute idea and was shot with an iPhone. but it should give you all an understanding of just how quiet the system is now.
Seriously, I cant even tell its on!

Ripped everything apart and started again...

Riveted the custom rear panel in place

looking sleek

hello old friend...

midplate cut, filed, de-burred and bulkhead in place

straight down into the D5

and into the Quad, Tygon Goodness

the tubing route i had planned in my head for months worked brilliantly

facepalm

PA 240 mounted in the drive bays

things are going to be tight. i moved it back so that it had a bit of space to suck air and wasnt right next to the mesh

had to get creative with fittings to make this work

Gigabyte with their 'not so' stealth backplate

ssds on velcro

very tight squeeze

Xigmatek blueline XLF fans looking pretty sweet

starting work on the board...
The Dominator GT will have new heatsinks soon, i plan on getting some of the extended fins but more of that later

got some matching screws for my CPU Block
wanted this to be the primary focus of the build

Start of the tubing routes

tubing finished

really pleased with how this turned out. really neat.

fitted the last fan and ran out of black screws . will pick some up at work on Monday. also had to use three of the fan extention cables from the fan controller. of course they werent braided so an emergency braiding job was required and completed on all three cables in 20 minutes.
speed braiding is my new speciality

the coolant I used is very good. Mayhem Pre-Mix X1 UV Blue, supplied by the brilliant Mayhems Dye. it looks incredible in the system, the pictures really dont do it any justice at all.

Hello Pretty

fitting the front bezels

totally transforms the look of the case, i prefer this to the stock bezels.

shoddy SSD mounting at the moment. i plan on sorting this out soon

then i installed the final component.
after all the faffing with MurderMod I gave up any hope of ever seeing a luminous panel.
instead i chose a lian li LED strip. took 5 seconds to fit. good times.

Lights off...

makes the tinted windows look incredible

thats it for now.

thanks for checking it out

rjk

 

[[Ion]]

This looks incredible!

Do you think you could get some higher-res (ie 2000+x2000+) shots?

 

[Bo$$]

very nice man, i really liked the white theme a lil more, but none the less awesome!

 

[Loosenut]

... Wow
Fantastic work you've done there rjk

Thanks for providing me with some good ideas for my next build

 

[rjkoneill]

heres the system at half fan speed folding away happily at 100% load on the cpu and gpu

my youtube vid

 

[Lionheart]

I think I just jizzed by looking at these epic pics

Great Job man

 

[Reventon]

Sweet! Fucking love this project. I must say though I really like the black/white more than the black/blue. Still awesome though

 

[SystemViper]

sweet, love the ud7 and all that horsepower watercooled,

top notch

 

[nessu]

It is perfect ..if you dont count red fins on memory and that green sticker :shadedshu

 

[godofdeath]

does the lian li fit in there easily?

 

[Shou Miko]

Meg was not impressed
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i303/rjkoneill/MY TJ07/DSC01925.jpg

maybe Meg was thinking, why don't you walk or play with me instead

but nice project ^^