Posted April 8, 2015 Welcome to Blood in the Snow, my umpteenth PC build, and 5th log here on LTT. More stuff can always be found on: www.metamorphosis-computers.com If you've seen any of my other builds, (Vulpes, Frankenstein) you'll know I have fascination for PCs in smaller form factors, predominantly m-ITX and this build will be no different. As the banner above says, this will be a build inside the BEAUTIFUL BitFenix Phenom. A case that takes all the great things about the Prodigy, and packages them in a sleeker, more elegant enclosure. To support this case will be a custom water loop with a white, red and metallic theme built around a GeForce GTX 980 Strix and an intel 4690k CPU. Will add a full component list down below as everything arrives. Chapters Chapter 1 - The Graphics Card Chapter 2 - The Case and Fittings Chapter 3 - Motherboard and RAM Chapter 4 - Painted Case Chapter 5 - Motherboard and CPU Block Chapter 6 - Acrylic Addition Chapter 7 - Rads Installed Chapter 8 - Finale Components Case - BitFenix Phenom (mITX) Motherboard - EVGA Z97 Stinger Graphics Card - ASUS GTX980 Strix RAM - Kingston HyperX Fury (16GB @1833MHz) CPU - Intel Core-i5 4690 SSD - Samsung EVO 850 250gb Fittings - Bitspower Black Sparkle So, without further ado, to the build! Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 Author And the final build: Click here for more Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 well there is a little but if further ado apparently lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 Enticing. Subbed and followed Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 Author Chapter 1 - The Graphics Card The choice here wasn't too tricky. I knew I wanted a high-end build, but with the limitations of m-itx all graphics processing power had to take place on a single card. The three options were 1) R9 290x 2) GTX 980 or 3) GTX Titan X With the Titan being too pricey for this particular build, and the 290x falling behind the 980 in performance I was left with a clear winner. But how about water cooling? My go-to for all water cooling blocks is usualy EKWB. They deliver fantastic quality and aesthetics; there really is no downside. However, for this build I intended to maximise the white palette to make the red parts (you'll see them soon) really pop, much like blood does in snow. Because of this requirement, I had to get a little bit artistic and whip out the paint and get to work. The result was this, which I'm happy with! And in the end: Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 Author well there is a little but if further ado apparently lol Too damn fast with your posting haha Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 Too damn fast with your posting haha yeah like i havent heard THAT before! aha aha ahaha-*sobs* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 8, 2015 I am intrigued. Considering a similar project myself, so will look forward to seeing how this turns out. i5 4690K | Asus Ranger VII | 8GB HyperX Fury | Asus GTX 780 | NZXT H440 | Samsung 850 Evo | Seagate Barracuda | Corsair RM 750W | Corsair H105 E3-1246 v3 | Asus Gryphon Z97 | 8GB HyperX Fury | MSI GTX 970 | Enthoo Evolv mATX | Samsung 840 Evo | WD Red | EVGA SuperNova GS 650W | NZXT Kracken x41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 9, 2015 Author Chapter 2 - The Case and Fittings Back with another quick update. This time I have taken some quick pics of the fittings I'll be using : Bitspower Black Sparkle. THEY. ARE. BEAUTIFUL Always been a huge fan of Bitspower, but their black sparkle fittings are really something to behold. I'm currently in two-minds with regards to how much of tubing will be done with fittings, and how much will be done with hand-bent angles. Any input would be welcomed! My current thought is that I want to maximise the amount of coolant visible, so I'll stick to using the 90-degree fittings for the tight spaces where bending the acrylic isn't really feasible. Also took a quick shot of the case, just lying on the floor. I'm sure you've seen the Phenom before so I'm only posting one here, though you'll see plenty of it as the build progresses. I'll be removing all drive cages from the inside as this will not be a media or storage build; it's a high-end gaming build. The Phenom has plenty of SSD mounting options, so expect to see them utilised! Id also like some input on the case badge. Do you like black or should I change it to red? Perhaps will be hard to tell before the rest of the build comes together. Enough from me, a few more pics: Fittings and fittings and fittings. These cost a small fortune, but worth every penny. Black Sparkle Enhance multi-link (OD 12mm) Black Sparkle enhance 90-degree dual multi-link adapter Black Sparkle enhance rotary 90-degree multi-link adapter And the case: Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 9, 2015 Yayyyyyy more mITX builds https://pcpartpicker.com/b/HtgLrH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 9, 2015 Author Yayyyyyy more mITX builds MOAR. Can't get enough of mITX Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 9, 2015 MOAR. Can't get enough of mITX mITX AND hardpipe watercooling. The dream (or at least one of them)! i5 4690K | Asus Ranger VII | 8GB HyperX Fury | Asus GTX 780 | NZXT H440 | Samsung 850 Evo | Seagate Barracuda | Corsair RM 750W | Corsair H105 E3-1246 v3 | Asus Gryphon Z97 | 8GB HyperX Fury | MSI GTX 970 | Enthoo Evolv mATX | Samsung 840 Evo | WD Red | EVGA SuperNova GS 650W | NZXT Kracken x41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 10, 2015 subbed. looks promising Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 10, 2015 Author subbed. looks promising Thanks. Confident it'll all come together swimmingly Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 3, 2015 Author Chapter 3 - Motherboard and RAM Apologies for the infrequency of these updates. I've actually done a fair amount of work but just been too lazy to upload (what few) pics I've taken. This update will just be a small showcase of the MoBo and RAM I opted for. The motherboard is the EVGA Z97 Stinger. There are a few reason I went with this particular board: The rear IO cover is great to maximise the amount of white in the build. The shield, and some heatsinks, will be painted white. The 24-pin is towards the rear of the board, which means the cable won't be too intrusive. I'll be sleeving the cable, but I don't want it getting in the way of the tubing route I have planned. I trust EVGA. All the features I want are there, and it should be capable of some reasonable overclocks. For the RAM I went with Kingston HyperX Fury in white. Pretty easy choice. The white is exactly what I'm looking for, and the chrome writing matches well with the Bitspower fittings. It looks great when paired up. As I mentioned, I've actually done a hell of a lot more and am behind with my updates, so I'll post again tomorrow. The next post will cover some of the case painting I've done. Nothing crazy, but let's just say the white and black of the Phenom wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2015 Author Chapter 4 - Painted Case As promised, another update. I should be able to squeeze out one more tomorrow, but then there'll be a delay as I wait for a few more fittings and get some acrylic cut. All should (hopefully) be complete by the end of the month! The next part of the build I completed was a bit of painting to the case itself. The default white Phenom is gorgeous, but is white with black accents. As my theme is white with red, I wanted to change that. Fortunately, it's relatively simple to dismantle the metal and plastic parts that line the case on the side and top. Also, you can pop out the plastic front badge without too much issue - so I did so and went to town with some paint. I really like the final result and feel it brings the whole thing together. I'm actually surprised that BitFenix doesn't offer something similar by default as they are usually all over things like that. I was looking for a darker, more crimson colour as the coolant I'll be adding won't be a light pastel. All should match really well. In the next post I'll go over some of the additional painting I've done inside and later, the fans. Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2015 That case looks fantastic in white and red, just like anything with that color scheme https://pcpartpicker.com/b/HtgLrH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2015 Author That case looks fantastic in white and red, just like anything with that color scheme White + red is a pretty safe bet Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2015 sooooooooooooooo clean! Spoiler CPU intel potato2 | Motherboard xpotato69 | RAM DDRPotato | GPU potato 6969 Ti | Case potato curbiide | Storage WD potato GB grey | PSU lakesonic 69 potato Watts | Display(s)69" 0.5K potato 69*69 | Cooling 4 heatpipe fried potato | Keyboard 69 key potato switches | Mouse yukon gold potato | Sound 6.9 surround potato | Operating System OS69 potato CPU I7 5700HQ | RAM 8gb DDR3 | GPU GTX 960M | Storage 1 TB HGST HDD | Display 15.6" 1080p IPS panel | Keyboard Steelseries RGB | Operating System Windows 10 CPU R7 3800x | RAM 32 GB 3200MHZ DDR4| GPU RX 5700XT Ref. | Storage 1TB m.2 NVME, 2x 500GB SSD, 4TB and 750gb hdd | Display LG 32GK850F-B | Keyboard Aorus K7 with reds | PSU Corsair RM750X | Case Corsair 275R | Operating System Windows 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 4, 2015 Author sooooooooooooooo clean! Thanks Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted May 5, 2015 Author Chapter 5 - Motherboard and CPU Block Painting Here's a short one showing the results of painting the CPU block and the motherboard heatsinks and rear IO cover. Pretty straight forward, but makes a huge difference when working towards my goal of minimising the black in the build.There are some great MoBos that can easily be painted in the entirety, such as the ASUS Gryphon but this an mATX board and, as far as I'm aware, no such board exists in the mITX form factor. I feel the Stinger does this job admirably, though. It'll be even more covered when cables are attached Next update will be to cover the fans, and the choices I've made as there could be some questions about what I've gone for. Til' next time! Custom Watercooled Parvum Systems S2.0: Vulpes Combining spare parts into something worthy: Frankenstein BitFenix Phenom gaming powerhouse: Blood in the Snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
