AperumDesign

13 hours ago, godian said:

ill take a look at the vid but which are the right caps for corsair

I randomly just found these while looking around Aliexpress. These are what I was saying you could make yourself, but it seems they already exist. I'd say this is the closest you'll get to what you're after. They're also made specifically for Corsair keyboards.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Front-Side-Printed-Backlit-Keycaps-Black-104-87-Keyset-Cherry-MX-Keycap-For-MX-Switches-87/32789273321.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.2.51da1fb1deY5Wp&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10152_10151_10065_10344_10068_10130_10342_10547_10343_10340_10548_10341_10696_10084_10083_10618_10307_10131_10132_10133_10846_10059_100031_10103_524_447_10624_10623_10622_10621_10620,searchweb201603_43,ppcSwitch_4&algo_expid=8083a87e-87db-4b6a-a0bb-c458b971a48e-0&algo_pvid=8083a87e-87db-4b6a-a0bb-c458b971a48e&transAbTest=ae803_2&priceBeautifyAB=0

Depending on how you've mounted your LED strips, you could either add a modifier to the LED strips (whether that be a product as linked above, or cutting a strip of translucent opal acrylic and mounting it over your led strip somehow) or you could make a sort of light-box (have a look at some of these pictures of my build to get an idea). The former is probably much easier to achieve, but it depends what you're going for. Just keep in mind that adding a diffuser to your LED strips will dim them quite substantially, so just keep that in mind.

I can't seem to find any white translucent top keycaps still with legends, but they could exist. If they didn't, the only way I could think of achieving this would be by purchasing side-printed black keycaps and manually sanding back the coating on the top of the keycap (this video would be useful if you decided to do this). Obviously this would only work if the caps were made from a transparent or translucent plastic in the first place, so you would have to make sure you were purchasing the right caps.

Also, I may be wrong, but I believe Corsairs keyboards use a non-standard bottom row, which would mean not all keycap sets would properly suit your keyboard. Just something to keep in mind while searching.

If you're looking for something well-built and unique, but not overly different, as W-L said, the Heatkiller tube series reservoirs from Watercool are amazing. I've built two systems with DDC 200 ones and they're still my go-to.

But, in addition to the suggestions given above, If you're after something unique, you can look into:

 - Red Harbinger reservoirs (still a tube res)

 - Monsoon reservoirs (still a tube res)

 - A pre-built CNC-milled reservoir from a modder such as Radikult Customs (Eg. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acrylic-Reservoir-Water-Tank-360mm-with-4-G1-4-for-multiple-inlet-outlet-options/222882881088?hash=item33e4dade40:m:msfwZgZht4wBp4t7OPTlzhQ)

 - Get something custom made to your specifications/design from a modder such as Radikult Customs, Killrmodz, Clockwerk Industries, Savant PCs, Praetex design etc.

2 hours ago, tikker said:

Realy? Never heard of that happening. I doubt that'll be a problem though, since my water temperature never gets near the glassing temperature of PETG .

My CPU/GPU were sitting at roughly 75-85 degrees since the fans were only just spinning. When I realised this was happening, I ramped my pump and fans up and the PETG was clearly slightly softened where the compression fittings had literally made the PETG shrink in radii inside the fittings, causing the first 90 degree bend of tubing to come out of the fitting. This does occur with PETG if the water temperature gets too high, although it will only happen if something unusual occurs like in my case. Just a consideration so that if you do use SpeedFan, keep the fans on Automatic in case you forget to turn them back up.

You can set this up very easily using SpeedFan by simply setting up a 'fan-curve' for the pump based on the temperature of your sensor.

ONLY RELEVANT IF YOU'RE USING HARDLINE TUBING: The only consideration I would keep in mind, is if you are using hardline PETG, the hotter the temperature of your liquid, the greater the risk you have of your tubing softening, compressing and popping out of a fitting. It's happened to me before where failing to set my SpeedFan back to automatic from manual (fans were barely spinning under full load) meant that the liquid heated up and one of the tubes popped out. If your coolant for some reason reaches a very high temperature, by having a curve like you're suggesting set up, you are increasing the pump's speed at the most vulnerable time for something like this to occur. The added momentum that the liquid will carry as the pump speeds up will increase the risk of a tube coming out. The pump speeding up also won't decrease temperatures if the liquid isn't being cooled. For this reason I would set up a maximum temperature on the liquid (from your sensor) as well, so that if your radiator fans were to stop spinning for some reason, and the liquid were to heat up, you'd be aware of it and/or your system would shut down.

2 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Try first without those diy cables. If issues persist, we can see if SpeedFan or maybe BIOS is issue. Is BIOS updated to latest? Did you remember to set CPU warning temp in SpeedFan correctly (desired temp setting). SpeedFan might also not be fully supported on your system.

Thanks for your reply. I'll update the BIOS and run some tests using stock cables, although I did check my cables and the pinout is correct. I would assume it must have something to do with the BIOS, because even on first boot the fans and pump were acting very strange. CPU warning temp was all set to 70. I uninstalled SpeedFan. At this stage I'd be happy for the motherboard to do its own thing and ignore SpeedFan entirely. I probably won't be able to get back to you for a few days however, since this is a system I built for someone and I won't be back with it for a few days.

Hi all,

I've recently just finished a new system and I'm having some issues with the fans which I can't seem to solve.

Components in use:

 - Asus STRIX Z370-F Motherboard

 - 5x EK Vardar EVO 120ER 2200RPM PWM fans connected to a ModMyToys 8-way 4-Pin PWM PCB via custom-made 4pin extensions

 - Laing DDC-1T Plus PWM Pump (I know this isn't a watercooling thread, but a pump and fan function in the same way)

Note: I made a custom cable to connect the ModMyToys PCB to a molex connector (to PSU via 12V and Ground) and the PWM in and RPM out to the CPU_FAN header on the motherboard. So basically the cable goes from 4pin fan (PCB) to molex (PSU) and 4pin fan (PWM, RPM).

When I first booted the system and installed windows, without touching any fan controls in the BIOS, the fans and pump would stay at low RPM, then every 15 seconds or so, would ramp up to full, then go back down. I then installed SpeedFan and set it up (correctly, I have done it before). The pump's RPM can be changed easily, however at 50% on SpeedFan it's actually at 100% RPM). In SpeedFan, at 0% the fans would turn off, but at anything above that, they would stay at 300-500RPM, no matter what the setting. Strangely, despite setting the motherboards pwm headers to manual control on SpeedFan, the fans (not pump) would still ramp up occasionally to 2000RPM or so, even though the CPU temperatures were very normal. I then uninstalled SpeedFan as it wasn't doing the trick, and I thought that Q-Fan control in the BIOS would be sufficient in controlling the fans. Now, when I change any settings in the BIOS relating to the fans (changing curves etc), there is absolutely no effect on their RPM. The pump appears to operate at near full, if not full RPM all the time, and the fans never seem to go above 500-700RPM, even if the system heats up to 60-70 degrees. I tried restoring the BIOS settings to default, which didn't seem to change anything. I have no idea what to do, and there aren't really any other fan headers to test with apart from CPU_OPT which isn't much help.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Different companies have varying tolerances on their tubing and fittings, so in some cases 16mm tubing of one company may not be entirely compatible with 16mm fittings of another company or visa versa. I haven't used Bitspower's brass tubing with EK's fittings, so I couldn't say for sure if it will be compatible, but it likely would be. It may be better to do a test first. I'm not sure if @W-L has used this combo together before, but it's not possible to know for sure if the 16mm OD brass tube will work with EK's HDC 16mm fittings unless you've had it in your hands. I've had a situation where the tubing was 0.1-0.5mm or so smaller than the OD of the fittings' manufacturer's tube, and so the tubing wouldn't hold properly in the fittings. That being said, they were push-style fittings, not compression. 

Also in terms of bending, if you're using the chrome-plated tubing, you will not be able to bend the tube properly, even with a mechanical bending tool. The electroplating will crack off when you bend it. It's best to use the straight and 90-degree-angled runs that they sell and buy fittings to suit.

UPDATE 02 (15/01/18) - Laser-cut Acrylic and Watercooling Components

Sorry it's been a long wait for the second update to this build log. The project has been on hold up until roughly a week ago, but today the last of the components (namely the fittings) came in. The build is scheduled to be finished within the next week, so expect the remaining updates much more frequently.

These are all of the acrylic pieces designed to cover up and 'simplify' the case by removing unused holes/grills etc. All dimensions were taken off the CM Mastercase Pro 6. All designing was done in Autodesk Fusion 360 then exported to Inkscape for laser cutting. The sketches from Fusion 360 were then printed onto cardboard for drafting purposes to ensure that everything fit perfectly. Once I was happy with the fit, the pieces were laser cut onto 3mm matte black acrylic. From left to right: midplate cover, motherboard tray cover 1, rear cover, cable management and SSHD cover, motherboard tray cover 2 and cable pass-through. Dimensions are included in case anyone wants to use these pieces for their Mastercase build.

All laser cutting was outsourced to a local architectural model-making company who did a fantastic job. A few extra holes later, this is the final result.

EK PE360 and SE240 with 120mm EK Vardar Evo fans installed onto the Coolermaster radiator mount.

Ended up painting the stock Corsair Dominator Platinum covers matte black instead of purchasing the CableMod inserts, purely based on saving cost. It's a shame that we weren't able to fit the Maximus X Formula into the budget, since it would've worked with the matte black and gold theme much better, but the STRIX Z370-F board still looks great, especially with the HEATKILLER CPU block in Acetal.

HEATKILLER GPU 1080 FTW blocks also in Acetal installed onto the 1080s. 

The only pump-res combo on the market that I can justify buying, the Heatkiller Tube DDC 200 with a Laing DDC-1T Plus PWM pump installed. Absolutely amazing piece of hardware.

All Barrow fittings are in gold and will be used alongside 16mm OD PETG tubing.

That's all for now. Next update will be up within the next few days and will most likely include all of the custom cables and the cable management solutions in place to keep everything neat. Full-build shots coming soon. Thanks again for reading!

On 1/14/2018 at 12:03 AM, Chipicao said:

Does anyone know where I can buy a custom-length reservoir tube that will fit an EK-XRES combo?

I need something close to 150mm. EK only sells X3 tubes of 104 and 204mm.

 

The reason is I that I want to clamp the end of the tube to my case, and I need it to reach the mounting spot.

If I had a lathe I would just cut the 204mm and re-do the thread. But I don't, and I don't know anyone who has one.

If you were dead-set on using the EK res, your only option is really to outsource the job to a local plastics place. Primochill's CTR Phase II range allows you to adjust the length of your res much easier since it works on compression using orings, instead of threading into the end cap. So you can simply buy a tube and cut it to length, then re-insert it into the caps. They also have a pump combo.

4 minutes ago, ksalak said:

I am using their sites, i just need to know if there is a fitting or something that I can use to be able to use the separate brands. There probably is but I need them pointed out to me lmao.

As long as the fittings and blocks use G1/4 thread, which 99% of fittings do and all waterblocks do, you can use whatever fitting and waterblock you want. All primochill fittings will screw into all of EK's blocks. 1/2" tubing is referring to a totally different parameter than the 1/4" threading on EK's blocks.  You need fittings that have G1/4" threading (ie all fittings Primochill sell), and a barb/barb compression/hardline compression fitting (depending on whether you're using soft or hard tubing) that will connect to your 1/2" tubing. Feel free to take a look at my fittings guide in my signature below. I think that answers your question, but I may have misinterpreted it.

37 minutes ago, GamerDude said:

So, you're basically saying that if OP fits into those two criteria, he'd be able to fault those cans? Even so, he may happen to like that (those) sound signature(s), hence, he may not see it (them) as fault(s) at all. I've learned that in the audiophile world, there's simply no one sound signature that suits all, there's no one type of can that suits all, there's an endless myriad of shades of sound signatures that one may like or dislike. I happen to be drawn to sparkly highs and good bass, mids isn't of vital importance to me, though I can appreciate good mids especially when it comes to female vocals. I'd owned more than 2 dozen cans at one time, now reduced to a mere 17, and have auditioned a great number of others, I've yet to find one that'd make me say, "Yep, that's THE ONE, I can now get rid of my other cans".

Perhaps not fault, but yes, he may be able to form conclusions regarding the sound signature that he otherwise wouldn't be able to. I never said that he may not like those characteristics of the HD6XXs, they're just my observations from using the HD650s. I can't however think of many people who prefer their low-end to be rolled off.

It's my assumption that the OP isn't an audiophile and doesn't have the experience with headphones to be able to make such an informed decision about the exact sound signature he is looking for. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask the OP what kind of sound signature he prefers, although I generally assume that most people don't know exactly what they want. I believe that unless you've experienced for instance a pair of headphones which have sparkly highs, you wouldn't really know that's what you really wanted. My opinion is that the only way in which you can come to a true judgement as to what pair of headphones you should buy is if you have plenty of experience with other cans, allowing you to compare one to another, which would typically mean you have a pretty sound understanding of audio products, or if you had a variety of similarly priced cans for comparison before purchasing. Based on my assumption that the OP doesn't fit into that criteria, if I gave a pair of HD6XX's to him, without the luxury of having various alternatives ready for comparison and a plethora of past experience with similarly priced cans, I would say it would be the safest bet. For most people, a minor variance in sound signature is not a deal breaker, especially within the context of the original post which is mostly concerned with practicality. But, perhaps I should've asked such a question before providing such a strong recommendation. 

3 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

So I’m assuming you have $200. The HD6XXs are leagues above the momentums, this isn’t even a close contest. However the 6XXs are going to have fatal flaws for your use case. The 6XXs are open. You can hear everything around you and everyone around you can hear exactly what you are listening to. Also I dislike the 6XXs for gaming because of their super light bass, which make gunshots sound anemic. Also the 6XXs need an Amp for them to reach their full potential. Now I’m not a massive fan of the momentums. You need some closed headphones to keep noise from bothering anyone else. Look at the Audio Technica MSR7s or Beyerdynamics DT770s

The issue of lighter than average bass can be overcome with a simple EQ like Realtek. The headphones I find do have the low end there, it's quiet and tends to be lost out the back of the headphones. I wouldn't call the base "super light" though. It's just lighter relative to the overly bass-heavy headphones that most companies churn out. The HD600s are considered pretty well the best monitoring headphones ever made because of their super flat response curve, and the 6XX's do have a decent bit more in terms of low end.

Agreed on the DT770s and MSR7 alternatives. Also great headphones that may cover more options, although I would still personally go with the 6XXs and some cheaper in-ears.

3 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

Yes I agree with this 100%. The 6XXs are probably the best headphone under $500 in my opinion. To the OP this is what I’d do. Buy the HD6XXs and use them in your dorm. Then buy a pair of Venture Electronics Monk Plus Earbuds for $5. I have both and I will tell you it’s scary how good those earbuds are for $5. They are if say 80% as good as the 6XXs, they can’t be beat.

I have a pair of Phillips She3590 in-ears and for their $8 price tag they're just incredible. The only reason I bought some SE215s was because of the quality and I wanted something more premium for the long-run. But seriously, they're about 90% of the SE215s and in the treble, they're better.

3 hours ago, MaxCraft said:

Thanks for the amazing info!!! I realize I cant have the best of both worlds, but since the 6xx's are on sale rn I might just buy them and keep using my crappy apple ear buds. I know that on open back headphones the lows/bass/mid can sounds mushy, I really like sharp/ clear sound with a natural base. Do the 6xxs match this descripion?

I don't agree with that at all to be honest. The low end on closed-back headphones I find tends to be much worse as bass is able to reflect off the back of the can. They're incredibly clean throughout the whole spectrum in my opinion. You'll notice you hear a lot of detail in music that you hadn't heard before because of this. The HD6XXs aren't designed to have super loud low-end, but it's very good low-end. My HD600's have a very clean low end. They're a little more natural than the 650s (same as 6XXs) which are a bit stronger in the low end and warmer in general I found. You could say at around 30-45Hz the low end drops off a bit, which in my experience tends to be the case with open back headphones. You can however EQ the low end up a little to compensate for this. Put it this way, unless you've heard hundreds of pairs of headphones and you're an extreme audiophile, you will not be able to fault the sound of these cans. 

Unfortunately I couldn't tell you whether the m2's sound any different from their wireless version since I've never heard the wireless ones. Wireless isn't that important to me personally, and unless you're running with them or using a device such as an iPhone without a 3.5mm headphone jack, I don't think they're worth the $150 extra. The hard part of the comparison is that they're very different headphones that cater to two opposite customers. I own a pair of HD600s and have used HD650s extensively in the past. My friend had a pair of the m2's but for some reason had to RMA them and when with different headphones instead.

Put it this way, if my HD600s were to break for some reason (although they're pretty indestructible and all spare parts are available online), I would purchase a pair of the HD6XX headphones within minutes. For their price, it simply doesn't get any better. I paid I believe $550 AUD at the time for my HD600s (moreso references headphones compared to the 650s/6XXs), and I was incredibly happy with my purchase. For $199 USD it's an absolute steal. The sound is unbeatable, especially with the extra bit of warmth in the low end on the HD6XXs, and the bigger soundstage is something you just don't get from closed back headphones. Once you get them, the majority of headphones you put on will sound narrow and bland, trust me. That being said, you absolutely can't use them in a library or any quiet study space, as the music is just about as loud for you as it is for anyone within a 3m radius of you. You also can't use them in say a car or bus because not only will others hear your music, you lose all low end when there's substantial background noise. They're really home-listening only headphones. For that reason I purchased a pair of Shure SE215 in-ears to use while studying around others/on a bus etc. Couldn't be happier. You could always get some cheaper in-ears as well for studying. There's some amazing stuff out there for very cheap.

If you can't afford to have a separate pair besides the HD6XXs, whether that be the m2's, some in-ears or something else, they're probably not your best option because they're simply not versatile, despite being pretty well undoubtedly the best value headphones on the market. 

2 minutes ago, Doomerson said:

Thanks a lot for the information guys! I found all of your replies quite helpful. These are a few of the tools that I've come up with.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Wolverine-PST085-Inner-Outer-Reamer/dp/B0002YVLHA/ref=sr_1_14?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1515296929&sr=1-14&keywords=deburring+tool

 

https://www.amazon.com/URBEST-Heating-Blower-150Pcs-Various/dp/B01H4TZ3ME/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1515296836&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=heat+gun&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cutter-INDUSTRIAL-Adjustable-Tubing-Diameter/dp/B06XC9BZ6M/ref=pd_bxgy_469_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06XC9BZ6M&pd_rd_r=MC611Q264214MP4AB5F3&pd_rd_w=XUHYj&pd_rd_wg=OTLhj&psc=1&refRID=MC611Q264214MP4AB5F3

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

 

Reamer will work just fine. 1500W heat gun is perfect. Got the same tube cutter which works well. Tends to leave a light mark on PETG tubing but that is typically hidden inside the fittings. I use these for quick cutting, but they're not really necessary if you have the adjustable one you linked above, and they can deform the tube slightly. Good to go

I don't even think there's any real need to buy a heat gun with temperature control. The only criteria I see as important is having a flat back. I've always used a cheap one I bought locally. Stick with one temperature and learn what sort of distance you need between the tubing and heat gun to get the tube to a malleable temperature in a time frame that isn't too short or too long (20-30 seconds is ideal).

For bending tools, I use Barrow's mandrel kit. If you wanted you could buy a more expensive variant such as Monsoon's kit (which I believe comes with a heat gun also), however I get perfect bends using Barrow's kit, which is a fraction of the price.

Understanding which fittings need to be purchased when building a loop is often the most difficult part of getting into custom-loop water-cooling, especially since companies such as Bitspower offer such a huge range. I've made a relatively simple flow chart that I believe will make understanding the purpose of fittings available on the market much easier. Feel free to ask any questions or offer any suggestions.

I just wrote up this flow chart which details the use of fittings in general. Hopefully that sheds some light on your question.

1 hour ago, Destro506 said:

These are exactly what you are looking for: https://www.singularitycomputers.com/product-category/watercooling/reservoir-mounts/

Singularity computers is a modding company that produces products specifically for modding and water cooling.

 

These mounts are designed to hold cylindrical reservoirs onto radiators.

 

Linus has mentioned them a few times in his videos. Singularity computers has a wonderful Youtube channel that produces videos with water cooling build logs. A great resource for modding and water cooling

These won't work for his 50mm diameter res since they're designed for 60mm reservoirs only.

Depending on your budget, you could perhaps draw some up (or get someone to draw some up for you) and have them laser cut locally from some 8mm or so acrylic (not metal, but far from brittle). I don't know of any 50mm res mounts unfortunately.

34 minutes ago, Spaceman3600 said:

So I want to get a audio interface for an AT2020 or a similar mic and the Focusrite Scarlett Solo is a good option but I do not like the red as it would not match with the rest of my setup. I would prefer one either in black or grey with similar quality to the Scarlett and for around $100.

 

Interface:

https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Scarlett-Audio-Interface-Tools/dp/B01E6T56CM/ref=pd_sim_267_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01E6T56CM&pd_rd_r=76K09Q051R5EPNGPNDQA&pd_rd_w=SbiL1&pd_rd_wg=exBps&refRID=76K09Q051R5EPNGPNDQA&th=1

 

Mic:

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT2020-Cardioid-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B0006H92QK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1514883299&sr=8-2&keywords=at2020

I use a Presonus Audiobox USB, but that's blue so that probably won't work with your setup either. Focusrite and Presonus are the two most popular brands as far as interfaces go. Only one I can think of that may suit your colour scheme is the Steinberg UR12. You may want to look at some reviews as I can't testify to its quality, but steinberg is a very good company so I would imagine it's perfectly good.

I don't have a 909 currently on hand, but I scaled the image and based on the official dimensions, I calculated that drive cage area to be 399.97mm long. Your reservoir has a installation height of 400mm, so I would say it will fit just. However, I recommend you go on the 909 owners club and ask one of them if they could do a quick measurement for you. I'm almost certain i've seen a build with x3 400 in the top, but there's a chance it may have been a smaller one.

I use the resources on protocase's website for all dimensions. Here's a link. You can download the article as a PDF for later reference and they also provide CAD drawings if they're any use to you.

On 12/25/2017 at 1:11 PM, Jtalk4456 said:

I am looking to build my own pc as many of us are, but I am not just interested in the box running the monitor. I am about the environment, the desk, the cable management, the speakers and everything else and in between and above and below. My ambitions are high, but my experience is less than optimal and my knowledge of certain areas isn't where I know what to buy or use for certain accessories.My project is to build a desk, where one of the drawers (or one side where the drawers would be) acts as the housing for the PC, allowing for easy, accessible customizing and upgrading and centralizing equipment, infrastructure, and accessories into the desk, bringing it all together. I need a team of people willing to email me (I work long hours and cannot easily skype,call, or get on here often and let me bounce ideas off of, gain inspiration from, and/or telling me when i'm being stupid and virtually slap me. I need info on case structure, audio equipment, bias lighting, cable management, power infrastructure, and general design. I need a team of people interested in not just making "a desk pc", but who will relish in making "THE desk pc". I am a perfectionist and want to make this as well designed as I can. Who's with me? 

email if interested: jtalk4456@outlook.com

Feel free to bounce any ideas off me or ask for any design-oriented advice. I have experience in most of the areas you have listed, and spend much of my time designing cases/desks/accessories. More than happy to discuss your ideas. My email address is aperumdesign@gmail.com.