Project: Dark Prince [Unfinished]

[Hikaru12]

 

Well it's finally time to post my build log. I've been holding off on this for a while because I wanted to save up for all the parts first but since I love to add new projects in with my current project I decided what the heck? 

 

I will be replacing the pictures in this log with higher quality DSLR pictures along the line. I am very new to photography and only got my DSLR about a few weeks ago. Will need to take some time to adjust. Will also be updating banners, etc. on this as needed. As always, thanks for looking!

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($317.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Thermal Compound: Gelid Solutions GC-Supreme 7g Thermal Paste  ($9.87 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97M OC Formula Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V2 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($94.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($199.89 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($104.99 @ Best Buy) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($677.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($677.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($142.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.98 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Phanteks PH-F140SP_BK_OLED 82.1 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 

Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 

Mouse: ROCCAT Kone XTD Wired Laser Mouse  ($67.49 @ Newegg) 

Total: $2751.12

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-30 13:30 EDT-0400

 

Watercooling Components:

CPU Waterblock: EK Supremacy MX Plexi MSI Dragon (w/ amber LEDs)

GPU Waterblock: EK Titan-X Full Cover Waterblock Nickel + Plexi

Pump/Rez: EK X-Rez 100mm with DDC 3.2 PWM Pump

Tubing: 1/2" Primochill Clear (Decided against hard line since it's a small case with tight bends and it's my first time WCing)

Fittings: Bitspower Compression Black/Gold

Radiators: EK JetStream 280mm(55mm thick) and 240mm (slim)

 

All the pretty parts (video cards currently not bought, low quality image from Note 3)

 

 

 

That gold doe.

 

I chose this motherboard specifically for the color which is probably a bad modding choice on my decision but AsRock has seriously stepped on their game this year. Will look forward to seeing what my chip can do. 

 

 

Will definitely need to upgrade this. Wasn't expecting to SLI but you know how these things go

 

Current placeholder setup. Asus monitor is the PB278Q, 60hz, IPS 1440P. Will be replacing it with the Acer X34 as soon as that comes out. The speakers are modded Pioneer Andrew Jones BS22. The tweeter was replaced and the crossover was modded to allow for better clarity in the upper midrange. Will be pairing with a sub soon!

 

Camera I bought (Canon Rebel T2i):

 

 

 

 

Will be building a lightbox and getting a tripod this week. 

 

I do plan on doing a full watercooling loop but will need to measure things when I get the new power supply as it's 190mm and my case is rather small.  Do not intend on modding the case so if it doesn't fit I'll stick with the AIO.

[Hikaru12]

Got me a nice beautiful solar gold paint job from the talented @Hanoverfist

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sleeved the PSU Cable with Mylar

 

 

 

 

 

Got some vinyl and got a little crazy on the motherboard. It was a pain because the board has caps right near the connectors and a big fat DVI port. Originally I wanted to put a shroud over it or 3D print one and hot glue it on but there wasn't enough clearance so I wrapped the whole thing in vinyl.

 

 

 

Painted the IO Shield.

 

 

 

That's all for now!

[Hikaru12]

Well since the last update I ordered some sleeve from Icemodz. I didn't like that most of the sleeve out there just look either too yellow or too vanilla/sand looking. I decided to go with some thicker, harder to work with sleeve from DIYMods.

 

 

 

 

Will need to make some measurements with the new 1000W PSU to see if I can do a custom loop. Stay tuned! In the meantime, I've been coming up with some backstory for my "Dark Prince" themed build. I plan on developing a comic strip style manga/comic book look to the thing. Will be adding that to the front page when done.

 

In the meantime, I've been busy 3D printing things for the project. I didn't like the original case badge because it contained bits of silver so I designed a new badge and had it 3D printed and gold plated by Shapeways. Will definetly need some epoxy and a prayer so that it stays on! It's heavy at almost 1lb. Here's the final result:

 

 

 

I then 3D modeled my idea of the 3D prince. Unfortunately, because his cape is so massive (almost 12" when it's printed) I have to print the guy in pieces. Originally, I was planning on painting him myself (because ABS prints in gray or white mostly) but I instead opted to use a multicolored clay material for the 3D print. It should be shipped out by my guy this Saturday. His spear has turned to be another hard point since it's so fragile when it's first removed from the tray.

 

 

 

This is what he will end up looking like without the cape. I will try making one out of a handkerchief and dipping it in some lacquer to give it hardness and shape. Hopefully I can capture the epicness that I originally modeled.

 

 

I also bought some metal zinc keys which I hope to paint gold and clear coat. I've heard horror stories from people on Reddit that the zinc eventually comes off with the oils in your hands so I also decided to pick up some PBT Ducky keycaps. These were so hard to find but the search paid off because I found on guy on Reddit willing to part with them!

 

 

 

 

Probably will pick up a different escape keys. This guy named Feng on eBay has some really nice metal ones as well. That's all for now.

[viliuks]

hehe, first

 

 OT: Looks great, waiting for finished project

[Hikaru12]

hehe, first

 

 OT: Looks great, waiting for finished project

 

Thanks good sir.

[Necrodead]

lookin good in gold. Were you able to wrap the i/o with the vinyl? Curious about that myself.

[Hikaru12]

lookin good in gold. Were you able to wrap the i/o with the vinyl? Curious about that myself.

Yeah, but it still looks a bit bubbly for my tastes. Ideally I'd like to build a shroud like the new Skylake Asrock boards have but this board didn't offer enough clearance.

Should be easy to do if you're handy with a knife though, man.

[Maverick5500]

WOWOWOWOW them key caps!!

[Hikaru12]

Got my "photo booth/lightbox" and tripod on Thursday and received my keycaps and cables today. Which cables do you guys think looks best? I think I'm going to go with the brighter yellow ones as they seem to fit my case paint job better. It is "solar gold" after all!

 

After measuring these later I'll let you guys know if a full loop is on!

 

EDIT: So, measuring with the 850W it seems like the first set of cables will not work. It's a bummer but I'll probably reuse them for another build or just for learning. With the second set of cables (originally for a Mini ITX build) everything seems to fit pretty well. I'm about 60% sure if I get the 1000W PSU I should be able to fit a pump if I put it towards the front.

 

 

Just bought this gold keycap off of eBay. I'm hoping the gold plating isn't so bad that it detracts from the detail of the embossed dragon. Otherwise, I'll probably order another dragon escape key in zinc and paint it myself with the othey keycaps. 

 

[Pizzatime6]

Black and gold/orange...The Linus company themed pc.

[AyBuild]

I might have to look into this case for my build (when it happens lmao) looking good man!

[Hikaru12]

I might have to look into this case for my build (when it happens lmao) looking good man!

 

Yeah man you can't go wrong for $60. It's spacious and the build quality ain't too bad. Thanks for the reply!

[Robdiecus]

Interesting color choice, I definitely like it though

[19mk5ant]

Where do you get them iec leads from?

[Hikaru12]

Where do you get them iec leads from?

 

Not sure what you mean?

[19mk5ant]

Not sure what you mean?

The psu mains lead?

[Hikaru12]

The psu mains lead?

Oh, eBay has a bunch of them. That one was anodized aluminum and gold plated.

[19mk5ant]

Oh, eBay has a bunch of them. That one was anodized aluminum and gold plated.

 

Can you link me please ive been looking for 3 weeks not found one yet?

[Hikaru12]

Can you link me please ive been looking for 3 weeks not found one yet?

 

Well I can't find the exact one (aluminum) but I found plenty of colored/transparent ones: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R8.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xiec+.TRS0&_nkw=iec+connector&_sacat=0

[19mk5ant]

Well I can't find the exact one (aluminum) but I found plenty of colored/transparent ones: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R8.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xiec+.TRS0&_nkw=iec+connector&_sacat=0

Ah spot on thank you the standard must be different for the U.S, when I search iec connector on UK eBay I just get crappy cheap ones! Thanks again

[Hikaru12]

 

Ah spot on thank you the standard must be different for the U.S, when I search iec connector on UK eBay I just get crappy cheap ones! Thanks again

 

Not a problem!

 

While I'm waiting on the cards I guess I'll show you guys what I've been up to.

 

Bought my sub - the HSU Research STF-2. The only sub (excuse the pun) $500 sub worth having IMHO.  This thing is huge! Even the box it comes in is huge And the sound is so powerful. It shakes the whole house and floor but it's never sloppy. I can definitely feel the work put in by the artists when putting together their music. Will probably get some hard foam to lessen the vibrations to the floor. 

 

 

Excuse the bluriness. I didn't bother to use the tripod because I was lazy, lol.

 

Also, ordered my pump from performance PCs. The Rez is only 100mm so I can hopefully be able to fit it in the cable cutout area as I decided to keep my 850W PSU for the time being (unless I run into issues).

 

 

 

Next week I should be ordering the cards and then finally deciding on the rest of the WC loop (not sure if I'm going clear acrylic or Acetal).

 

Will be adding some sound dampening material for the sub to reduce vibrations to the floor as I did with the bookshelves and will be sleeving the pumps cables.

[Hikaru12]

So I got the pump in on Saturday and got it sleeved in Mylar. I'll keep all the non-PC gear saved towards the end of the this log so it's easier to keep track of stuff (except stuff directly relating to it ). Also, got my keycap in. Looks a lot smaller than eBays pictures.

 

 

After measuring I noticed I have a bit of space to play with height wise so I may decide to build a acrylic platform to pump on so the rez is visible otherwise it will be sitting at the bottom where it quickly grow forgotten. Sad pump makes me sad

 

[Pics coming]

 

Will be buying the radiators this week. Thinking about buying a plating kit and plating the outside (not the grill) of the radiators if I can get enough thickness that it doesn't scratch easily. Otherwise, I'll probably have those painted and clear coated too. I'm also thinking acrylic on those waterblocks if I can find a nice dye combination.  

 

Changing gears, I decided to make another case badge. I'm trying to do it in multicolored ABS but seeing as it's so new I might just go with sandstone if it doesn't look like ass. Here's the model for it. Using TT's eSports Dragon:

 

[EvilWiffles]

Looks real interesting, following .

[Hikaru12]

Looks real interesting, following .

 

Thanks man

[Hikaru12]

So trying to stick my original plan of keeping it hardware related until the end I got some WCing stuff today. Will be getting my 240 rad in tomorrow. I'm avoiding filling the entire case with rads as I want to gauge the temps with a thick 280 and 240 (45 and 60mm respectively). BTW, decided to forego pics of the Titan X waterblock. It's just the Nickel Plated one that everyone has seen time and time again. No need for redudancy (especially when I'm shooting pics in my hot basement haha)

 

 

Plan on spraying these up with some HOK solar gold to match the case. Will avoid the innards though since it contains metallic flakes which might contaminate the loop.

 

 

I got a different water block from the rest of the ones I see LTT members with. I was going to do the gold plated but even that kind of seems boring. Since my theme revolves around dragons I said, why not? Got the MSI acrylic dragon which will be lit up inside by some amber LEDs.

 

 

Is it a snake? Nah I'm too scared for that! Instead I got me some anti kink PVC coils which is just as deadly They should match nicely with my Namrom yellow Mayhems dye (pictures coming)

 

I mixed some Mayhems Aurora Namrom Yellow with some Mayhems Oil black. The first pictures are deceiving as the flash caused the yellow to really appear but under some daylight lamps you can see the real color of the yellow...it turned green with the black. I'm hoping if I get a dense concentrate of the yellow followed by one or two drops of the black it should be enough for the look I'm going for. Why not Aurora gold? Simply put, it's not the right color gold I'm going for and it doesn't really look that good IMO.