Project Index

01)  Project Into & Build Components
02)  My Workspace, Case Cutting, Illuminated Vandal Switches
03)  Illuminated Mid-Panel Construction
04)  Sleeving Materials have Arrived
05)  My "Helper"
06)  Sleeving Tools
07)  Component P0rn
08)  Component P0rn Continued...
09)  Illuminated Mid-Panel "Cut Away" View
10)  Illuminated Mid-Panel "Exploded" 3D View
11)  PSU Cable Sleeving
12)  SATA Cable Sleeving
13)  SATA Cable Sleeving Continued...
14)  New Components Have Arrived
15)  Corsair Sleeved Cables Mini-Review, and More Sleeving…
16)  Sleeving... COMPLETED!
17)  AquaComputer PowerAdjust 2
18)  Homeade Oak Longbow (reason for project delays)
19)  New Corsiar "Air Series" Fans
20)  New Fans are INSTALLED!
21)  Corsair Fans Performance Data
22)  Switch to Mayhem Pastel liquid and Blue Berry dye 
23)  New Durelene Tubing
24)  New Tubing & Liquid
25)  PowerAdjust 2 / Pump Setup
26)  Fan Extensions & Leaking Res
27)  Fan Controller Review / Walkthrough - Corsair Link
28)  Fan Controller Review / Walkthrough - AqauComputer Aquaero 5 LT
29)  New Res, FINISHED the Build
30)  Final Build Pics
 
I am starting a new bulid log, because my old one would have been way to difficult to modify / edit with all the new changes and case mods I am working on.
 
Component wise, not much will change, but I am adding some cool upgrades like enhanced case lighting via an illuminated mid-panel, and an AquaComputer monitoring / control system, custom sleeving, etc.  Here is an early design of what I am shooting for, built in Google SketchUp.
 


It will be a liquid cooled PC with one giant loop, using 2 pumps in series. I am using the Corsair Obsidian 800D, and this case is a monster.  I love the all black look, inside and out. I had to make a few minor modifications for the two loop system to work, but the mod went great, and I am pleased with the results.
 
Here is the Parts List:
Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D Full ATX 
Power Supply:  Silverstone ST1000-P
Motherbord: EVGA X58 Classified 3
CPU: Intel i7 Core 970
RAM: 12GB Corsair Dominator @ 1600MHz
GPU: 1 EVGA GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2
GPU: 2 EVGA GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2
GPU: 3 EVGA 9800GT (Dedicated PhysX, and to power side LCD monitors when SLI in enabled)
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Edition
Hard Drive 1: Intel X-25m 160GB SSD (Operating System & Programs)
Hard Drive 2: WD Black 1TB (Game/Steam Installs)
Hard Drive 3: Seagate 500GB (User Files)
Hard Drive 4: Seagate 2TB (Storage)
Optical Drive: Asus Blu-Ray / DVD+R
Fan Pump Controller: AquaComputer Aquaero5
Pump Controller: AquaComputer Power Adjust Ultimate x2
 
Section 01
Tubing: PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing -3/8in. ID X 5/8in. OD (10ft)
Coolant: Distilled Water w/ Kill Coil & PT Nuke
Reservoir: XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir 
Pump: Swiftech MCP350 12 VDC Pump
Radiator: HardWare Labs X-Flow Extreme III
CPU Block: Swiftech APOGEE HD
MoBo Block: EK-EVGA X58 Classified Full Board Waterblock
Fittings: Bitspower Matte Black... and lots of them
Fans: Cooler Master R4 120mm Blue LED Fan R4-L2R-20AC-GP (x3) 
 
Section 02
Tubing: PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing -3/8in. ID X 5/8in. OD (10ft)
Coolant: Distilled Water w/ Kill Coil & PT Nuke
Reservoir: XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir
Pump: Swiftech MCP350 12 VDC Pump
Radiator: HardWare Labs GTX240
GPU Block: The EVGA GTX 580 Hydro Coppers come with a custom Swiftech WB pre-installed
Fittings: Bitspower Matte Black... and lots of them
Fans: Cooler Master R4 120mm Blue LED Fan R4-L2R-20AC-GP (x4 - Push/Pull) 
 
***Note Regarding EVGA Warranty****
I have been wanting to re-do my build for a while now, and a faulty USB controller on my EVGA X58 finally pushed me to get it done.  EVGA's customer support and Warranty programs are amazing!  They cross-shipped me the motherboard, and actually upgraded me to the newest version (of the X58 platform).  I try to buy all my GPUs and Motherboards from them, and after that experience, I will continue to do so.
I have a bunch more pictures from the work I have started on this week, so stay tuned :D

My Workspace
Got the workspace all set up and ready to go.  Our storage room was a mess, so we spent the weekend cleaning and organizing everything.  Added a pegboard wall for my tools.  All my larger "Power Tools" stay out in the garage.  I wanted this stuff in the storage room so I could work on my electronics (and clean my guns ) in a semi dust free environment.
 

*The purple tools on the right are my wife's.  That side of the workbench is her sewing area. ;)
 
Case Cuts / Holes
I decided to remove all of the rubber grommets from the case, and enlarge a few of the cable management holes.  Also drilled a few additional holes for cable management clamps.  Here is everything before I took the Dremel Tool to it.  I also modified the bottom of the case to accept a 2x120 Radiator.  I had previously made some cuts down there, but wasn't too happy with the end result, so started over.
 

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With this big hole on the bottom of the case now, I decided I needed a good solution for dust management.  I made using acrylic and Silverston fan filters a custom dust filter to go on the bottom of the case.  It secures to the case with magnets, and works great.  It only shows 1 filter, but there are now 2 installed.Also showing a diagram here outlining what types of fasteners I used to secure the fans to the radiators, and radiators to the case.  I found it strange that my top 120.3 Radiator uses SAE (6-32), but the bottom 120.2 Radiator uses Metric (M4-.7).
 

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Here is a shot of my radiators with the fans installed.  I did some minor sleeving, but didn't want to go through the hassle of actually disassembling  the fans.  The parts that are not black are hidden from view, so I am OK with how it turned out.
 

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Here we have the opening on the bottom of the case for the 120.2 rad.  I used a fan grill to help secure everything to the case, since some of the fastening holes were on the honeycomb grid of the case, and didn't tighten down as much as I would have liked.  Picture to the left shows the magnetic fan filter installed over the opening.  It is really easy to take off and put back on, and hopefully keeps my case dust bunny free.
 

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Illuminated Vandal Switches
I decided to use some Illuminated Vandal Switches (Latching, 16mm), to toggle on/off both the LED Strip on the interior of the case, and the illuminated mid-panel.  Here is a pic during the soldering process.  Vandal switch in the death grip of my Octo Helping Hands setup.  To the right is the completed switch, along with the resistor so I don't burn out the LED (470 Ohm, .3w, 5% tolerance), and my custom "Quick Disconnect" power connectors.  I did end up sleeving it, but forgot to take a picture before I installed them.
 

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And here they are installed on the top of the case.  The one to the left (Blue Ring), is the switch for the LED Strip along the outer edges of the case.  The one to the right (Blue Dot), is the switch for the illuminated mid-panel.  They turned out really well and work great.  Only downside is my 2yr old is a button freak, and now tries to toggle them on/off every chance he gets.
 


Next set of pics... Illuminated Mid-Panel construction.

Coming along very nicely. What is the diode for on the vandal switch wire? Are you stepping down the voltage/brightness? Looks very well thought out. I like  your organized work area as well. Can't wait to see the panel mod.

Awesome! Can't wait to see the full build log.

can't wait to see the rest of your build!

This is going to be amazing!
Keeping my eye on this thread.

notfordman


Coming along very nicely. What is the diode for on the vandal switch wire? Are you stepping down the voltage/brightness? Looks very well thought out. I like  your organized work area as well. Can't wait to see the panel mod.

 
I fried the LED in the last illuminated switch I had, so after reading up on it, I found that a resister was required.  Doesn't dim the LED on the switch at all, but will hopefully extend its life.

Looks like your on the right path...you also have great planning skills. This is going to be a great build and I can't wait to see more.
 

This is looking absolutely sick! I can not wait to see the finished product! GLWMod

Illuminated Mid-Panel

I have always been envious of the lighting methods used on the MurderMods and Million Dollar PC.  Most of the guides explaining how to build one used Electroluminescent panels, which I could not find in the right size (or for a reasonable price) here in the US.  So I set out to build my own using acrylic panels and a white LED light strip.  Just like my initial case layout, I built my "mock-up" in SketchUp.

Here we have my 3 panels I will be using.  I used 1x Mirrored Acrylic, 1x Clear Acrylic, and 1x White Acrylic.  They will be constructed in that order, with an LED strip on the sides "shooting" light inwards.  The housing will be a box made of Black Acrylic.  The hole will be where some of my tubing will pass through. Once the whole was drilled, I polished the sides to allow for better light transmission on the clear and white panels.
 

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On the left is a pic of the completed box, with the bottom mirrored layer installed.  To the right is the light strip I used for my build.  Purchased it off of Amazon for a really good price.  It is very bright, and easy to work with.
 

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Just an idea of how the light strip will adhere to the box, on top of the mirrored acrylic.  Also shown is the end of the light strip, where I cut it, and soldered on the contact points.  It can be powered by any 12v source, and requires only 25w to light the entire strip.  So I am able to power both the internal case strip and my mid panel with just one 4-pin molex connection.
 

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Here is the completed mid panel box.  The clear layer sits between the mirrored and white acrylic panels.  I did a bunch of tests and found that this "sandwich" combo provided the best light transmission.  I first tried laing the white layer directly on top of the mirrored, but the light transmission was too weak.  By using the clear in the middle, the light passes farther through the top panel, giving a brighter look.On the right is a circuit I am using that allows me to alter the brightness levels of both the LED Strip around the case perimeter, and the mid panel.  It has 3 settings (High, Mid, Low), and works very well.  Only downside is that in order to adjust it, I have to remove my case panel, but once I find my preferred brightness level, I probably won't touch it again.  I installed it on the back of the CPU plate for easy access to the wiring for the Vandal switches.
 

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Here we have the lighting install and running, with a comparison of brightness with the different parts turned on.  I used my phone camera for these pics, so it looks much brigher and washed out than it does in person.  Time to bust out the DSLR for some better quality pics, but I may wait until the final gallery pics once everything else is installed.
 

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And here we have the room lights turned off.  One pic shows illumination with just the mid panel, the other combines the light from the LED strip that lines the interior of the case.
 

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Next up... sleeving and component porn :D

Wow, nice LED lighting idea, looks like it turned out perfect. If I wasn't so scared to cut my case up i'd build me one of those :P

O.o Nice
 

Chrome-M-Dragon


Wow, nice LED lighting idea, looks like it turned out perfect. If I wasn't so scared to cut my case up i'd build me one of those :P

 
I did make some cuts on my case for the lower radiator, and in a few places for cable management, but there is no cutting required for the illuminated panel.  It just sits atop the existing mid plate.

Mr_Armageddon

Chrome-M-Dragon


Wow, nice LED lighting idea, looks like it turned out perfect. If I wasn't so scared to cut my case up i'd build me one of those :P

I did make some cuts on my case for the lower radiator, and in a few places for cable management, but there is no cutting required for the illuminated panel.  It just sits atop the existing mid plate.

Would you possibly be willing to make on to sell? If so I'd be interested. That would look pretty awesome in the bottom of my SR-2 800D build.

zophar


 Would you possibly be willing to make on to sell? If so I'd be interested. That would look pretty awesome in the bottom of my SR-2 800D build.

 
I wouldn't be interested in building and selling the panels.  But I am more than willing to post my Google SketchUp design for it, so others with the 800D can at least see the measurements I used for the acrylic cuts and make their own.  If interested, shoot me a PM.

that looks like it's going to be a sweet set up... that lighting panel is pretty cool, i like it's stealthy-ness... can not wait to see this one finished...

Very intuitive, looking forward to seeing the rest of this build!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and compliments everyone.  The panel really did turn out well.  Just need to start throwing in some components and tubing to see how it will make things look.  I have high hopes 
 
All my sleeving materials finally arrived from Nils over at MDPC-X.  It arrived in 3 different packages, and it looks like very good quality stuff!


 
I am going with primarily Black sleeve with a few Royal Blue highlights.  Also making all custom power cables so the lengths with be perfect, and allow for better cable management.  Sleeving is going to take a while, so I will post some other pics of components and such during the process.

Wow this buildlog is amazing!.. 

I really like that mirror idea!..  

Nice

killerjas

Nice

Thank you.

IstBarP

Wow this buildlog is amazing!.. 
I really like that mirror idea!..  

Thanks.  I experimented with a few different acrylic panels, and having that mirrored surface on the bottom really helped with a brighter glow.

My "Helper"
I mentioned earlier that my 2yr old is a button freak.  Well I caught him red handed turning my mid panel on and off over, and over again.  Those illuminated vandal switches are just too much temptation for him.  I'm glad his older sister doesn't share his love of button pressing.


 
Looks like I need to put the case up high until this build is done, at which time I can move it into the office (which has a locked door ).

Spent a bit of time last night getting my fittings and sleeving materials organized for easier access.  I am waiting on one more component to arrive, then I will hammer down on sleeving some custom sized PSU cables.
 

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Also set up all the tools I will need to complete my cables.  I was a bit hesitant on buying the crimping tool from MDPC since it was more expensive than what I can find locally. But after actually crimping a few terminals, it runs circles around my old crimping tool.  Very glad I went with this one, as it will probably help the sleeving process go faster.


 
I plan on mounting the Motherboad tonight so that I can get exact measurements on cable length, allowing me to finally start the sleeving process. I have never attempted to sleeve anything with the quality of materials provided from MDPC-X, so I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.

Looking great man! I see you have a lot of work ahead of you for this project. Again I can not wait to see the finished project. And hey, maybe a good idea, get your little helper more into the action with ya! =P Maybe not actually doing any of the real work but you can have him hang around and learn. To learn a great trade like this at his age would be awesome for him in the future! =D

esCob4r

Looking great man! I see you have a lot of work ahead of you for this project. Again I can not wait to see the finished project. And hey, maybe a good idea, get your little helper more into the action with ya! =P Maybe not actually doing any of the real work but you can have him hang around and learn. To learn a great trade like this at his age would be awesome for him in the future! =D

Thanks.  And yes I try to give him as much time as possible sitting on my lap while working on stuff like this.  But sometimes he gets too grabby, and I have to dismiss him  ... aka call his Mom to come take him outside.

Component P0rn

Still waiting on a few fittings to arrive, and have just started making my custom length PSU cables.  Cables and sleeving will take a while, so in the mean time, here are some nice shots of most of the components going into this build.

EVGA GTX580 HydroCopper 2 - 2X for SLI

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Some of the Bitspower Black fittings I will be using, and the Primoflex Blue tubing.

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Here are the AquaComputer USB PowerAdjust 2 Ultras that I will be using to control pump speed.  The Ultra version can control speed based off of liquid temps, so it should be a nice addition, and keep pump noise to a minimum until faster speeds are needed.

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Here we have the AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT.  Pretty powerful monitoring and fan control too.  I may end up using something different to control all of the fans in my system, but as of right now, this guy is it.  The USB PowerAdjusts operate independently from the Aquaero, so you can kind of mix and match to fit your exact needs.

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Component P0rn Continued...

More Hardware Shots :)Here is my Primary OS SSD, and Intel X-25m 160GB.  Not the fastest on the block anymore, but still a really good and reliable SSD.  I have 3 other HDDs in this build, but didn't deem it necessary to take pics of them.  Also have my Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Edition.  I use the Optical Output to power my Logitech Z-5500 speaker setup.  Sounds great.

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Here are some EK Waterblocks that I will be using.  One of the left is for my X58 motherboard Chipset and VREGs.  The other is a RAM block for my Corsair Dominator sets.

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Before and After shots of the RAM block.  Noting too special, but I like Before / After shots :D

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And here is my motherboard with blocks installed, along with the Swiftech Apogee HD that I will be using.  Really nice looking block, and I am glad it comes all black.  Saves me from having to paint it like I have done previous blocks.

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Mr_Armageddon

Chrome-M-Dragon


Wow, nice LED lighting idea, looks like it turned out perfect. If I wasn't so scared to cut my case up i'd build me one of those :P

I did make some cuts on my case for the lower radiator, and in a few places for cable management, but there is no cutting required for the illuminated panel.  It just sits atop the existing mid plate.

Really? I mean i'm with zophar here, you build it i'll buy it lol. My case is different though, I have the Cosmos II. Also there are some things i'd like to cut, and i'd not really have to worry too much about voiding a warranty since I won this case. No warranties for free stuffs lol. Still, i'm not mechanical, or i'm just not that confident in my abilities lol

very Beautiful project

Awesome... can't wait to see final.