easynator

I'm back I'm now ready to work on this project after a series of twists and turns. I still have a lot of things to do on that build but I'm getting there. One thing I learned over the week-end is that I'm terrible with hard-tube bending. My previous build was using fittings and straight lines which is definitely much easier but more expensive... As for bending, I can do the easy ones, but it's a a complete disaster as soon as I need to do two 90° in row. What's next? My objectives for this week is to: Finish all bending (6 routes to do); Order custom PSU cables; Install lighting on the pump and GPU; Current situation of the build Here is what the build look like as of today. What do you think?

The render I finally have something to show! It's been a while since my last update but we are getting there... The people at Parvum Systems are helping me (especially Justin/imersa) with the design and we are almost there for the first-try cut. We believe it will take at least 2 cuts to have everything aligned perfectly. Precision is the key here otherwise all my the tube-routing will look like, well, not-aligned Anyway, I've requested many modifications to the Parvum ITX "The Veer" case to fit what I had in mind. The bottom panel As you might remember, the main feature will be the bottom panel. This panel will be transparent and 30mm thick with eight G1/4" thread holes. These holes will be used for inlets and outlets for the different components of the build (front radiator, memory block, motherboard block and video card block). The custom reservoir We also created a custom reservoir that will be, I guess, be the second main feature of this build. It will be pretty big, in fact, it will be as large as the case. It will have two inlets and one outlet. The panels impacted by the reservoir This custom reservoir impacts a few panels of the case. It will be viewable from almost any angle of the case The mid-wall panel has been modified since I wanted to see the reservoir when I look at the motherboard The top panel, for another view of the reservoir and the fill-port is also customized The PSU chamber panel to see the other side of the reservoir is the final touch The back panelI'm also going to have a custom back panel in order to connect the loop to the reservoir. The back panel will therefore be 40mm thick structured with three layers (30mm for the lid, 5mm for the purple layer and another 5mm for the white panel). Summary So far, out of all panels shipped with this case (2 in the front, 2 in the back, the mid-wall, the top panel, the bottom panel, the right panel (the one with the full window) and the left panel (PSU chamber)), only the front-white panel will remain stock. Should I also modify that one? What do you think of the overall design? The photos These are the render we have so far.

The tubing... I have been quiet in the last few weeks since I was working on the tubing routing. My original idea didn't work as planned so I had to go back and forth to find out a solution. After several tries, I finally found what I was looking for. I contacted Parvum Systems to see if we could do and it looks like it's going to work. Here is the exact quote from imersa@ParvumSystems. Precision will be the key here since 1mm or 2mm off and the whole hard-tubing design will fail. Overall, we will mod this case from top to bottom. The new game plan is: First, I will need a new front panel without the power and USB holes; Second, I'll need a new back panel with 2 pass through; Third, we need to modify the mid wall. From the of the top motherboard to the top panel, we fold that part to the PSU chamber.‏ Thus, it will make a lot of room for the new custom reservoir and will "protect" the PSU against a leak; Fourth, we create some kind of big reservoir that will sit on this new folded mid wall with at least 6 g1/4 holes‏. It will be as large as the inner case is and as tall as possible; Fifth, we still do the custom bottom/floor panel; Sixth, now we need to relocate the SSD and the power button. I don't think we will reinstall the USB to minimize the number of cable; and Seventh, for the PSU panel, it will be cut the top part so we can see the new reservoir. The good news is that I think it will look pretty good and will be different from the other builds. The bad news is that most of the fittings I ordered will not fit in this design (30+) so I need to re-order many of them (we are talking about 40+). The other bad news is that it's going to take a while to complete this build... So, what do you think? The photos Layout E [spoiler spoiler=Warning: Spoiler!] The bottom/floor panel will be similar to First draft (not at the scale and a few mm off)

Sorry, what I wanted to say is I'm using LEDs on the graphic card waterblock as well as on the pump mod kit. The difference between the two pictures was that one was taken with my ambient light on (window open) while the other was taken in the dark so you can see the difference between the two.

Yes I'll paint the radiator (either purple or white). I'll paint it once I've completed the loop. In my last build, I scratched the paint on one of the radiator when I was planning the loop and I don't want to make this mistake again. BTW, for the previous pictures, one was taken with my room-light on, the other one with the lights off

Not really an update, but here is a sneak peak of the current status of the build... With ambient light Without ambient light

Thank you guys!

The memory waterblock - Part 2 Finally, the memory waterblock is now installed. It took me a while to complete the assembly because I made a small mistake since the Corsair Vengeance only has chips on one side. Fortunately, Dazmode published a video a few months ago about this "issue" and explained how to fix it. I've posted the tutorial below this section. To be honest, removing the thermal pad from the heat spreader was really long. The best tool I found to remove that was my old collar stays. It's small, rigid and in plastic so it was, I think, the perfect tool to unstick the black thing from the heat spreader. I was hesitating about the color of the memory waterblock in the [The memory waterblock - Part 1] post. I decided to go with the white vinyl with the purple stripes. The purple vinyl is a little bit too dark and I'm worried that the light will not reflect properly. It will look a little bit more common than if I went with the full purple vinyl but I think the result is pretty good. What do you think? The tutorial The components The memory waterblock: Bitspower Universal RAM Module Water Cooling Set For 2 Banks 2-DIMMs (BP-RAMS22-CLBK) LINK The memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 (CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9) LINK The White 3D Carbon Fiber wrap (VViViD7-WCF-3) LINK The Purple 3D Carbon Fiber wrap (VViViD7-PCF-3) LINK The photos

Tubing - Part 2 A small update today since I'm still working with the tubing routing. I initially wanted to go with 60° and 30° fittings but it doesn't seem to work. I tried 60° with 60°, 30° with 30° and 60° with 30° but no luck. I think the case is a little bit too small to have them aligned properly so I'm thinking that I might go with 90° and straight fittings. I'm still not sure where I'll put the pump/reservoir yet. It fits perfectly in that space, but I fear that the heat generated by the front radiator will have an impact on the pump so I'll probably move it. The bottom panel will be 30mm thick with G 1/4 threading so I can fix my fittings straight on that panel. I'm pretty sure it will look pretty awesome. The photos

The video card As for tonight, I installed the GPU water block. As you know, It's a pretty straight forward operation but I still consider it as a long process when you take photos between each step! Step 1 - Remove the air cooler by unscrewing all screws in the back of the video card and by unplugging the little connector attached from the air cooling case to the GPU board; Step 2 - Download the latest installation guide from Bitspower (to be sure they haven't released a new version); Step 3 - Remove the thermal paste; Step 4 - Install the thermal pads; Step 5 - Install the waterblock; Step 6 - Install the backplate; and Step 7 - Screw everything together I decided to go with the 970 since the Project Orange Horizon will remain my gaming system. As for the Project Purple Horizon, it will only be used for everything else so most likely web-browsing and some casual games. In addition, the 970 was more affordable. I would like to thank you again Bitspower and Darkside for sponsoring parts of this build. Thank's Roger, Thank's Daz! Components The video card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-2974-KR) LINK The GPU waterblock: Bitspower VG-NGTX970ESACX Acrylic Top With Stainless Panel (Clear) (BP-WBVGNGTX970ESACXNPAC) LINK The LEDs: Darkside DUAL Set 5mm DarkSide Connect Modular LED - WHITE: (DS-0354) LINK Photos

Tubing - Part 1 In my last post, I had an unusual piece that I'll be using for this build. This piece will be really important because the bottom panel will be 100% custom. If everything goes as expected, the fluid will run through the bottom panel. Now that I have the case, I can start planing the tubing routing. I had an idea at the beginning of the project, but after a few tries it didn't work out too well. I'll keep working on that and show you more in a few days. A few other things from the photos below: I'm going to use some fan filters; The radiator will be painted probably purple-ish with maybe some silver or purple flakes (still not sure about this); I'm going to use a fan gasket between the fan and the radiator; and All fittings will have the purple o-rings. The photos

The case has arrived Just to let you know that I received the case today. I had some issues with UPS but everything has been sorted out. For now, just a sneakpeak of what it looks like... The photos

The memory waterblock - Part 1 I worked on the memory waterblock in the last few days. I was planning to work on the PSU first but I was too excited with this waterblock so, well, I changed my priorities As you're going to see, I haven't made my mind up yet about the color scheme. In fact, I haven't received my case so I'm not really sure if the purples will match (trust me, I'm crossing my fingers). Personally, I really like the purple with the two white stripes but I'm not really sure if it will be too dark once in the case. Which one do you prefer between the stock one, the full-white one, the white with the purple stripes, the full-purple and the purple with the two white stripes? The components The memory waterblock: Bitspower Universal RAM Module Water Cooling Set For 2 Banks 2-DIMMs (BP-RAMS22-CLBK) [LINK]The photos

Yeah of course, here is a sneak preview of what I have I'm still not sure which way I'll go so I bought both!

The motherboard There is not a lot of good mITX motherboard on the market. In my opinion, the best options for a i5-4690k is between the EVGA Stinger and the Asus Maximum VII Impact. I decided to go with the Asus since I really liked the Bitspower full motherboar block even if I knew it has harder to find in Canada... Installing the block was quite simple. I looked at this and followed each steps... I haven't put the wifi and sound card cards yet but I will. I will also put a purple or white vinyl on top of the "START" button. I really like how this block looks like. What do you think? The components The motherboard: Asus Maximum VII Impact [LINK] The full motherboard waterblock: Bitspower AIZ97M7IITX Nickel Plated (Clear) (BP-WBAIZ97M7IITXNPAC-CL) [LINK] The photos