Reality Bytes

[BigJunit]

Welcome To My Project Log
-------------------------------

I am currently working on a new custom case to house my gaming PC. The main feature of the case will be the watercooling system. In the following log I hope to show the progress of the build from beginning to end and hopefully get a little help and advice along the way.

I will begin with the specification I am using:

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (overclocked to 3.0Ghz)
Motherboard - Asus Croshair nForce 590 SLi
Memory - 2Gb (2x1Gb) OCZ Platinum DDR2
GPU - Nvidia BFG Geforce 8800 GTS OC2 320Mb
PSU - 700watt Jeantech Modular
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 160Gb SataII & Freecom 400Gb External
Optical - Liteon Lightscribe DVDR/RW
Monitor - 22' HP Widescreen 1650x1050
Mouse - Razor Deathadder

The system as it is performs very well. The CPU is watercooled but the GPU has standard Air cooling so I am quite limited when it comes to overclocking it. However I have still been able to reach a 3DMark06 score of 10190.

But with the new system I am going to be watercooling the GPU as well as the CPU so hopefully will be able to push that score a little higher still.

Project Aims
--------------

(1) To watercool at least both CPU & GPU.
(2) To see an improvement to my current best 3dMark06 score solely buy increased overclocking as a result of better cooling.
(3) To hide all wires from view when looking into the case.
(4) To keep to a Green/Black/Silver colour scheme.

The Case
----------

I have chosen to use a smaller case than I currently use to add abit more of a challenge to the build. It is also a very plain 'standard looking' case, which cost under £20. I have opted for a plain case so that I can modify it from the ground up the way I want it to look.

Here are a couple of pictures of the case as brought, the Antec NSK4000

The Cooling
-------------

I will be using a 1/2' loop to cool the CPU / GPU / HDD. The loop will include a BlackIce II GT Stealth 240 with 2x A.C Ryan 120mm Blackfire fans, a 250ml EK Multioption reservoir and an XSPC X20 HDD waterblock. However I haven't yet decided on which pump and waterblocks to use, there are so many new products about at the moment I am having a hard time choosing which ones will work best in my setup.

I have been working on a sketchup version of roughly what I hope the finished case will look like. Its the first time I have used the program so its not perfect but you get the general idea.

So thats the plan. First on the todo list is to get the case inner frame cut where needed and then to get it sprayed matt black. I hope to get this done in the next week so will be posting an update as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading, please feel free to make comments good or bad along the way, Cheers.

 

[BigJunit]

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the parts I have brought so far:

Black Ice Radiator with AC Ryan 120mm Fans

Reservoir

Radiator grill, AC Ryan

Memory Cooler, Before

After, Branding removed

 

[BigJunit]

Made some progress today with the cutting of the case. Need to get all the holes, cutouts done as soon as possible really so I can begin the painting.

So first todo was to removed the mesh from the rear 120mm fan bracket. You can see in the pictures of the original case that the mesh grill just looks cheap and nasty.

To help keep the wires from the motherboard out of view I have cut several holes to feed the wires (Sata, Mobo power etc) behind the motherboard tray.

Good old dremel:

I also cut the hole for the radiator in the bottom of the case.
Some pictures below of it temporarily mounted with the AC Ryan fans on Vantec anti-vibration surrounds and also the AC Ryan Rad Grill underneath. I will also have one of these grills on the inside onto of the fans but will be doing this at a later date.

My PSU came standard with a white 120mm fan on the underside (not quite in keeping with the green theme. So I removed this and replaced it with a matching AC Ryan UV green one. I think it looks alot better now and should help light up the UV Dye in the watercooling loop aswel.

Before

After

Lastly for today here is the memory cooler in place above my 2gb OCZ Platinum, how much of a difference to the temperature it will make, I am not sure but it does look quite nice.

 

[cdawall]

very nice wich i had your budget

keep up the clean look

 

[ChaoticBlankness]

U seem well prepared... *blink*

 

[KennyT772]

That should be tiiight dude. I see you have the res mounted externally right? Seeing how the Case panels slide down from the top you are going to have a very interesting time getting this to work. I would shift the res all the way to the bottom of that corner instead of the top. that way you can just cut a notch out of the side and make it line up with the res bracket. You could use either the cut peice of side or plexi for the res (plexi would allow a nice lighting effect) and mount that permanantly with holes drilled for tubing.

You may also want to cut and remove the bottom of the hdd cage, to allow greater flexability in routing the tubing for the res and rad.

A plexi window of basically the motherboard would look very nice. You could possibly use the same color sceme as in your drawings, and use a green tinted plexi.

Black and Flouresent Green fan grills are also a must.

 

[BigJunit]

@ KennyT772

Thanks for the reply. Its hard to tell from the angle on the picture but the res will be mounted half in and half out the case. It will be the same distance from the top as from the bottom.

I have done a few trial runs with a cardboard side panel, giving about 30-40mm to the cutout above and below the res makes it quite easy to get the side on and off. Hopefully the real thing will be as simple. But hay a bit of drama makes it all that more interesting lol.

I plan to cut a couple of holes in the HDD cage to allow tubes to be ran through it, just waiting for the pump to arrive so I can make sure the tube layout I am planning will fit without kinking them.

Lastly with regards to the window, thats exactly what I am planning. I do have it finished on sketchup but now my 8800 system is in bits I cant run it due to the limitations of my laptop.

 

[sip1990]

Keep up the good work. Waiting for the next post and pictures
Nice dude. When i get my budget a bit higher i'll mod my case too but now i have a low budget so i only build the pc but wont case mod ;P

Good Luck!

 

[KennyT772]

@ KennyT772

Thanks for the reply. Its hard to tell from the angle on the picture but the res will be mounted half in and half out the case. It will be the same distance from the top as from the bottom.

I have done a few trial runs with a cardboard side panel, giving about 30-40mm to the cutout above and below the res makes it quite easy to get the side on and off. Hopefully the real thing will be as simple. But hay a bit of drama makes it all that more interesting lol.

I plan to cut a couple of holes in the HDD cage to allow tubes to be ran through it, just waiting for the pump to arrive so I can make sure the tube layout I am planning will fit without kinking them.

Lastly with regards to the window, thats exactly what I am planning. I do have it finished on sketchup but now my 8800 system is in bits I cant run it due to the limitations of my laptop.

Will you be using the current mounts for the side panel (sliding down from the top)? If so make sure you can still get the cut panel on and off around the rad. Just a heads up I can't wait to see this mod come to completion. Oh and another thing, will you be using a dark grey as in your sketch for the exterior?

 

[BigJunit]

You have no idea how close I was to mounting the rad right up against the side of the case. Just before I drilled the first hole I though "ooppss the side panel aint going to go on"

So redid the sketchup and re-marked for the cutout. Mounted the radiator today and the side panel slots in no problem.

I put the first coat of paint on today. Just the inner frame of the case atm. Its a very matt black (doing the sketchup black made it very difficult to viewand work with)

 

[KennyT772]

Ahh, I was starting to like a gunmetal grey color against the green though...oh well your comp not mine

What order are you going to run your WC loop?

 

[BigJunit]

Agree that would have been nice, and alittle different. Trouble is the front panel of the case is plastic and parts of it are black.

W/C Loop will be:

Res->Pump->CPU->GPU->HDD->Rad->Res

 

[aximbigfan]

NICE!

can you post it in the case gallery so i can give it a 10?
nice cad too


chris

 

[Chewy]

Very nice man... rads on the bottom.. looks nice

 

[kwchang007]

DANGGGGG that's nice. Nice schematics to. Can't wait till see when this is done.

 

[pt]

very nice setup
i need to post my project on tpu too

 

[BigJunit]

@ Aximbigfan

Cheers, I will post it in the gallery once its completed. But feel free to take a look at, and rate, my last case shown in my sig.

 

[BigJunit]

Small Update:

Have sprayed the innards of the case now (matt black) just waiting for the laquer to dry then will get some pictures.

2 LCD temperature displays I ordered arrived today, below. Not sure where I am going to mount them yet so am open to suggestions ....

Here is the XSPC HDD waterblock fitted to the HDD. Have got some UV leds to go in the front of it, should create a nice effect with the UV Dye which turned up today.

Case should be dry by the weekend and ready to get some parts installed, hopefully the mobo, radiator, fans etc.

In the meantime I need to find something to go in the 2 x 3.5' bays on the front of the case. I did want to get an LCD display like the matrix orbital but am having trouble finding 3.5' versions that are USB. Anyone know where I can get one??

 

[cdawall]

http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php?cName=lcd-gx-typhoon

these?

 

[BigJunit]

I was looking for that type of display but to fit either one or two 3.5' (floppy disk) bays.

 

[BigJunit]

About time for an update i think:

Have made alot of progress on the build over the past few days. Its nice to see it all coming together now.

So first off my CPU Waterblock arrived. Its the D-Tec Fusion, from what I have read the performance is very good and IMO it is one of the best looking blocks around at the moment.
Here are some pictures of it fitted to the mobo:

The case is now painted matt black on the inside. Took quite alot of time to get a smooth finish but well worth it.

The GPU waterblock is now fitted aswel, its the EK full cover block. Possibly the most annoying component I have ever fitted but should be well worth it for the extra cooling. Here are a couple of pictures:

Have also fitted most of the main components into the case to check spacing and to make sure there will be room to run the tubing.
Pictures below show pretty much everything thats done so far.

2 x Fan controllers, one for the fans and one for the lighting

Underside Rad grill

Rear

Pump

Inside

Lastly a quick picture of a stand I am working on to raise the bottom of the case off the ground to allow the air into the rad.

So thats where I am at, look forward to hearing what you guys think .....

Cheers

 

[kwchang007]

Niceee

 

[ChaoticBlankness]

Why..? Why am I so poor....?

But seriously, very slick man.. me likes.

 

[ex_reven]

I like it, extremely clean ad the colour theme is just sexy.
One thing, the rear 120mm looks a bit boxy if you get my meaning, where it has been cut.
Not sure if its just the photo or not, but nevertheless, very nice

 

[BigJunit]

@ ex reven - Yeah I know what you mean, am trying to find the right fan grill to soften it up abit. Was also going to try making a surround for the inside of the fan to hide everything except the blades. My metalwork isnt so hot though but will give it a try.

Cheers for the replies