Max Game

Södertälje Specialsnickeri AB Sweden
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hello everyone! I have a nice little watercooling update coming at you!
 
This update involves installing the GPU blocks onto the GPUs, then installing them onto the motherboard - and installing the dual reservoirs onto the angled plate!
 
I have to say, I personally love how this build is shaping up!
 
Firstly, let us take a look at the GPU blocks made by EK Waterblocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
Next up are the reservoirs, also make by EKWB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
So as a short written update, I have started drilling holes through the midplate for the monoblock and GPU bridge, and really got thinking about how I wanted the loop to go. I need to make a bracket for the top of the angled plate as this plate with the reservoirs installed is top heavy, and I wish to give it a little extra support.
 
I hope you all have enjoyed this update
 
Kind regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen
 
P.S It was really awesome meeting you guys at the Intel's Kitchen competition!
 

Södertälje Specialsnickeri AB Sweden
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hello and welcome again to another update!
 
This is another sponsor announcement - And this time Coolerkit.se has stepped up to give us a nice discount on all of the following watercooling items! Thank you Anders for joining this project, and believing in my work.
 

 
This means that I have 99% of what I need to get this project completed. I just need a vibration sponge for the pump, some small fittings and Plastidip to paint the GPU brackets. Those updates are coming soon!
 
Thank you for reading, and see you at the next update!
 
Kind regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen
 

Hello and welcome to the grand finale of this project! The final photo shoot has been completed, and a massive photo-bomb is being dropped right now!! Are you ready??
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
I would personally like to thank all of you guys who have followed this project, and I hope that this project met or exceeded your expectations. I personally can say that I am very happy with the end result, and am extremely pleased with the performance of all combined components! With this said, my attention will turn back to the TJ07 project when I get in the CPU for that project, and I will start planning for my next upcoming project, which will feature a Limited Edition Silverstone Fortress FT02 ^^
 
I will also be doing a video tour my FT03 project, and if time permits do a montage Also, I might need your help with naming this beast. How does "Monolith" sound? What is your suggestion?
 
Please let me know what you think of this project, and what you would like to see in the FT02 project
 
With best regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen
 
 
 

UPDATE

Hello there guys and girls! Here it is, the case has now been reassembled and I reckon the painted rads look pretty good

I managed to fix the uneven edges of the stripes by cutting very thin pieces of the carbon fiber vinyl that I have, was much easier that sanding and repainting and it also looks good


























Also as you may have spotted from the pics, I cut a piece of vinyl in the shape of the Vault Tec logo and stuck the Bitfenix logo in the middle of that. I went around local areas and tried to find someone that can make the Vault Tec logo for me properly out of metal, acrylic or something but they were all charging more than $100 for that and I can't afford to spend that much money just for a logo. I'm also gonna get one of those spiral cutting attachments for my rotary tool and try to cut the shape out of acrylic and see how that looks if I manage to do it . If not then I think the vinyl logo looks pretty good as it is now.
 

Update time!


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Hey hey!
 
A short update for you all I have got the case back from the powder coaters today. I am 90% happy with how it turned out, but there is a spot that looks like fingerprints..
You will see when you scroll through the pictures. I am going to give the shop a call tomorrow morning and see what they have to say about it. So without any further waiting, here come the photos!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Now that I have the case painted, I am pushing to get the CPU here ASAP so I can install the motherboard uniblock, drill the necessary holes and get the tubing routed. 
 
I hope that you have enjoyed this update!
 
Kind regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

 

Hey again guys and girls.
 
I just wanted to report that I now have the milled panels in my hands and will start painting them as soon as the opportunity rears it's beautiful head. Here is some pictures of my adventures yesterday
 

 

 

 

 

 
Short and sweet
 
Kind regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

Bitfenix badge and side panels are done. The case is now officially complete !!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Small update on the project
 
Sorry for not posting anything on this for a while but I have been very busy studying for finals and haven't really made much progress. Just brain storming different ideas in my head haha. However I have acquired more tools, materials and other bits and pieces for the mods and some components. The idea is to have every thing that I need ready for after my finals and then I can just dive into it.
 
Just to let you know a few of my ideas for the mods:
I decided to scrap the whole front panel bit that I worked on as I just don't like how it turned out Make the whole front panel 10mm blue transparent acrylic and mount the 240mm rad and fans straight to that I have also decided to try and make both side panels out of clear acrylic completely Paint the whole case, inside out, including the bottom and top handles/feet with some kind of blue plasti dip, a blue that resembles the colors of the vault boy. I decided on plasti dip because I think it looks good and also easy to apply for my first paint job Paint the 280mm Koolance shroud blue as well Have various bits like screws and grills painted yellow, as well as the fluid will be yellow and yellow/blue sleeving, to balance the blue out I will be using acrylic in the floor of the case and also to cover the PSU sides Reposition the power and reset button to the back of the case (thanks to @Bagmup for the idea) To paint the case I have decided to pop all the rivets out and take it completely apart. I will then probably rivet it back or use 5mm M4 bolts or something. Plasti dip the radiators That's pretty much it for the mods I think, unless I come up with other ideas in the mean time. I have everything I need for all this except the plasti dip and the 10mm acrylic.
 
My Performance PCs order arrived yesterday so I'm gonna show you what goodies came in it:
 
Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 280mm Radiator Alpahcool NexXxoS XT45 240mm Radiator Cougar CFD140 x 2 - Blue LED Fans Cougar CFD120 x 2 - Blue LED Fans Koolance 280mm Shroud Various fan/rad grills EK rigid tubing EK RAM Block X2 Various Bitspower Fittings and other bits Bitspower 3 inlet res cap, I already had a Bitspower 150 res



Love the look of these fans








 
I also bought two Laing DDC Pumps off Gum Tree for $50. Unfortunately Performance PC sold out of the dual DDC pump top that I wanted and I had to buy from a different place but that hasn't arrived yet.
 
These DDC pumps look different than the normal ones so I'm eager to get that pump top and test them out. The seller said he tested them a day before I bought them and they still worked and I think $50 for both was a pretty good deal. Hopefully they work well. They are quite ugly in their stock form but with the dual pump top and I'm also gonna build an acrylic housing for them, should look pretty good.
 


 
As I said before this is mainly a case mod project so I am mainly buying watercooling components at the moment. I have decided on a power supply however that can be sleeved easily, I think lol (having never done sleeving). I will be buying that once all the mods are completed. The PSU is the SilverStone ST75F-GS 750W Strider Gold Power Supply, might go with the 650W but I think it's only $15 to $20 cheaper. I also think I'm gonna go with the MSI Z97I Gaming motherboard given that it will work with Broadwell. Until Broadwell is released the cheap Intel Pentium G3268 looks like a good chip to play around with. As for GPU, the R9 290 is looking pretty cheap on eBay atm and I already have some G Skill ram laying around.
 
So that's it for now, will probably post a short update when I get that pump top. Otherwise I'm gonna continue the mods after my finals. The last one is June 26th, two weeks from today .
 
 
 
 
 

Hi again guys and girls!
 
Today's update is featuring the rad brackets which I have fabricated from 40x40x4mm aluminium U-channel. They will support the radiator whilst it is hanging from the back panel of the FT03 case. The process involved drilling a whole lot of holes, then sawing the holes which are on an angle, and then to bend up the flap like it was a can of goulasch. And a lot of filing of course!
 
My workshop this time was on my shitty little balcony. It is always nice with some fresh air, and to keep our apartment free of aluminium chips. 
 















 
 
 
In the coming pictures, I try to show how the fans+rad+ bracket is held together. I tapped holes into the aluminium profile so that when the screws go through the aluminium, then then continue into the holes of the radiator bracket, holding everything in place.
 










 
 
 
In other news, I am just wrapping up painting the rad brackets, and will have some pictures coming up within a day or so! Thanks for once again reading my project log
 
Best regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen
 
 
 

 

Hey everyone!! Sorry for the delay in updates on the forums! I had an update prepared for last week and ended up moving my workshop from the pool house area to the garage for the summer and I collected some tools and had a huge organization break. So now I am back at it and it is smooth operator! Aluminum cubes are still available at Clockwerk Case Mods, just send me a PM for information! Alright now on with the updates! Lots of goodies came in and I started some of the cool details that will be in this mod!
 
First thing is first, huge thanks to my awesome sponsors! You guys are really making this build extra special to me!
 

 
 
Alright now I want to show you the goodies that came in! First up my power supply from Cooler Master! The newly released semi-modular VSM750w Gold Rated Power supply. I wrote up a little review, check it out >here< Next update I will have it all sleeved up with the Mod/Smart MaxCord I am about to show you!
 

 

 

 

 
 
Alright now on to my Primochill & Mod/Smart parts!
 

 

 
 
Bright white MaxCord paracord!
 

 

 
 
Kobra sleeve for the sata signal cables.
 

 
 
Connectors for making custom cables.
 

 
 
Heatshrink to match.
 

 
 
LED boards for the numerous single wired LEDs I have going into this build.
 

 

 
 
Many bulkheads! Ill be custom painting them copper =D
 

 
 
More revolvers than the wild west!!
 

 
 
All the fittings I will be using.
 

 
 
Can't connect the revolvers without PETG! Originally I was going to use copper tube and I was only using PETG behind the scenes to connect the bulkheads but I have a little surprise for my tubing later on!
 

 
 
Can't forget the awesome selection of Primochill Intesifier Sicle Colors! That's all I can say about them though!
 

 
 
Alright that's all the parts for now! On to the labor =D First is the LED trim, I use 1/4" acrylic stock and painted the face copper and drilled the ends for 3mm LEDs. Last night I ended up masking them off and painting the top for a more fuller look and the light will show out the bottoms.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Once they were drilled and cut, they got hit with paint.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Then I glued them to the side panel with my acrylic cement.
 

 

 

 

 
 
It looked great but you could see some air pocket of glue because the stock wasn't perfectly flat. So I decided to tape off the panel and repaint the face and paint the top side as well, then clear coat them.
 

 

 
 
I am glad I did that it made the copper effect more bold.
 

 

 
 
I also glued my IO panel together. once I have my GPUs I will cut the holes for them.
 

 

 
 
I also made a front bezel, I am going to redo it a little smaller to make it sit flush in the gap between the 2 original bezels but I can show you how I made it. At this point I decided I am going to use the copper paint instead of actual copper panels as I would prefer everything be the same color rather than real copper and not match exactly.
 
Here I started with the acrylic trim.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Then I cut some copper I had and painted it copper...copper on copper lol
 

 

 

 
 
Once that was all set, I dropped it in to make a nice framed copper panel. I am going to try to trim a little off to make it fit, if that doesn't work I will just remake one, it was easy to do.
 

 

 

 
 
The last thing I want to show you really quick is the interior mid plate bulkhead placement, I was going to drill and mount them but I want to wait until I have the corresponding piece of hardware to line up the fittings as close to perfect as possible. I think its going to look pretty amazing, you can get the idea if you use a little imagination =D
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Mini update guys and girls.
 
As I am waiting on parts to come in from Demis (my friend that I am building this PC for) I am going to start up my personal project and run it parallel to this one. My personal project will involve a Silverstone Fortress FT03, a MONSTA 85mm thick 400x200mm radiator and upgraded hardware more suited for designing and rendering. Here is a couple of renders to show what I want to achieve:
 




 
 
Here is a link if you are interested. I hope you will join me on this project too
 
Best regards,
Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

Hey everyone! Got another update for ya! I finished up the brackets I started at the end of last update and made the case sturdier with a gusset and a shroud through the bottom case. I am very pleased with the build so far! I also am stoked to announce that Primochill and Mod/smart are officially going to sponsor the build! I hope to have some of that in the next update! Also Cooler Master is going to sponsor the build with the new VSM750w semi-modular power supply! I plan to sleeve it up with Mod/Smarts new MaxCord paracord, and I will be painting the connectors copper! Thanks to these sponsors for helping make this case mod awesome!
 

 

 

 
Now that I let you in on the great news, lets get into the update!
 
First off Ill show you the brackets I fiber glassed to fill all the holes. They almost look like they came stock this way =D
 

 

 

 

 
I decided to use rivet nuts instead of rivets so I can screw the case back together with bolts now.
 

 

 

 
Now I had a nice neat bottom box ready.
 

 

 
Next I made a gusset for strength using acrylic and aluminum cube standoff/nuts. My machinist is sending me the jig to make these and I should have them available for purchase soon after an overwhelming demand for them! Please visit my Facebook Page and leave a message for details. Ill leave a link at the end of the update!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Just that little gusset alone made the case really rigid! Next up was the shroud which will have a small window to show the side of the power supply, and also will have my solid states that I use mounted on it.
 
First I cut the shroud to size and marked lines to make my bends.
 

 

 

 
After the first bends I sized it up to mark the excess to be cut off with the router.
 

 

 

 
I had to make a notch to clear the lip on the right side. It ended up fitting really nice, then it was time to bolt it down.
 

 

 
I marked off the cube mounts and got them all on.
 

 

 

 

 
Once they were on I got it into place. marked them off on the case and then bolted it in.
 

 

 

 
It fit like a glove and came out cleaner than I expected. =D
 

 

 
While I had it tore down I added some MNPCtech.com U-Channel to the bottom panel on the top case that I cut out. It is without a doubt the best U-channel I have used. I left some slack because I will be coating it in white PlastiDip and the last time I did that it shrunk the U-channel a bit.
 

 

 

 

 
Last I stacked up the case and took some photos of where I am sitting at =D
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Well that is all I have for now! Thanks again so much for checking out the build progress! Remember to check my Facebook modding page Clockwerk Case Mods for daily updates and to inquire about the aluminum cubes I will be offering very soon! Take care guys until next time!
 

Heart Failure, Maxed RAM, and Next Steps...
 
I got the RAM in the mail today, which is odd because I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday. The seller is definitely getting a 5-star rating for delivering working modules. However, I almost had heart failure for this reason:
 

Beautiful, makes me want to sleeve my own cables.
Keep up the great work.

Update time!
         
            Well hello there! I thought I would share a little how to of how I splice my cables together when creating custom cables. I did not think to do the sleeving side of things though as I did not have enough time to take photos... I have just the time when my daughter is napping during the days to get my work done   So here comes a little "How-to" my way   You will need one of these to begin with. You know what they say - "helping hands with a magnifying glass are better than a sandwich!"... No wait   Firstly I lay out my cable. I cut the "parent" cable to size, and recrimp as needed. I then map out the "fetus" cable to length and strip the ends 6mm. I then proceed to remove a 6mm chunk from the "parent" cable where I want the splice to occur.    I then take a knife and split the wires on the parent cable to make a hole. I then split the wire on the fetus cable to make a prong/fork.   I thread one side of the fetus fork through the hole.   I then twist both sides of the fetus fork in the same direction around the parent cable's loop, forming a strong bond.   I then "pre tin" the soldering iron with a little bit of tin so that the tip is wet, as I believe this transfers heat better when the tin is already forming onto the wires. I proceed to hold the soldering iron under the twisted wire, with the tin on top. I hold both onto the wires until the entire connection is hot enough, and the tin starts melting though the wires without being in direct contact with the soldering iron's tip. I find that this is best as there is minimal tin on the outside of the wire's as most of hit has melted THROUGH all of the wires, forming a super awesome bond. NOTE: Make sure that the two cables plastic wrap are not touching when doing this technique are not touching, otherwise they will melt together and have to be cut apart.   And then repeat.   As a small text guide on how I did the sleeving... (Bare with me here ) I sleeved the shortest cable first so that the sleevings length covered the solder. I then proceeded to sleeve the other 2 wires so that the sleeving meets the shorter wire I sleeved previously. I then put on a piece of heatshrink and warmed it enough so that the sleeving underneath melts and forms a bond to each other. IF the heatshrink melts a little, it's no biggie, just use another and warm it slightly to that it shrinks and covers the ugly.   I hope this helps you in your journey to sleeving, or creating custom cables. This is the result that I was able to achieve:      So thank you once again for reading, and hope to see you in the next update! Best regards, Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

Update time!
         
            Why hello there guys and girls.    I have received the first of the water cooling products, so I have taken this opportunity to snap a few photos to show you guys. Beware: This is a massive photodump. This is kind of like an pictorial unboxing of EK's products, so every one of you can have a look at the finish in person and decide if their products are for you. I am not affiliated or endorsed by EKWB.   With this said, onto the pictures!    


 
        After the photoshoot I was then tempted to throw the rads and PSU into the case to see how it will look           The look of the rads are great. I love the rectangular look and the ends where the Torx screws are. The rads have a paint job which cover all the fins without any discolouration unlike any Alphacool or Phobya rad on the market. This is nice if you are aiming to have a fully blacked out PC build like I have planned.    The reservoirs feel solid, and look really nice to boot. They come with 4 silver stop fittings and 2 extension fittings. Keep this in mind when you are planning to buy your fittings for your own custom WC loop, otherwise you will have to replace all of these fittings with your desired colour.    I also have to give a shoutout to Inet.se who had this delivered just after 2 business days after the products were ordered from their website. Other products were ordered the same time from another webshop, and those items have only just left their warehouse.   This is it from me, so until next time, take care! Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

http://youtu.be/hrfkX7J_LVs?t=5m12s

Maybe a "little".
From the start, I was looking after high quality components with good value and found this case and power supply.
And from then I suppose I started to like them a little too much. But I'm not dissapointed with what I've got from them...yet...

How was the mounting of the 212?

Storage Topology & Cabling


Storage Topology


In case you can't read the text, the full res version should
be more easily readable.

(click image for full res)


The   idea  behind   the  storage   topology  is   based  on
@wpirobotbuilder's  post  about  reducing single  points  of
failure. Any one of the three LSI controllers can fail and I
still have all my data available.


You'll  see  below  that  I haven't  yet  gotten  around  to
installing the Velociraptor.

I use coloured zip ties to mark the cables that go to the
different controllers.

BLUE   = controller 0
YELLOW = controller 1
GREEN  = controller 2


Tidiness

There isn't really any space to hide the cables, so this was
rather  tricky  and  required  three attempts  until  I  was
satisfied with the result. In the  end I hid the extra cable
behind the triple  fan unit, good thing they're  38 mm fans,
which makes the space behind them just about large enough to
fit the extra cable bits.

The power cables for the disks are two cables that came with
the PSU  and onto  which I  just put  a lot  more connectors
while  taking off  the stock  connectors because  those were
neither placed  in the correct  locations nor facing  in the
right direction.


Looks harmless, right? Yeah...

(click image for full res)



And the disks:
(click image for full res)



OK then, first try:
(click image for full res)


I soon realized that this  wasn't going to work. The problem
was that  I had the  disks arranged in  the same way  as the
will be  set up  in the  storage pool  layout, so  the disks
which go into the same  storage pool were also mounted below
each  other.  Sounds  nice in  theory,  but if  you want  to
have  disk from  each pool  distributed among  the different
controllers, you'll get quite the cable mess.

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



Second Try

Next try, this time I arranged  the disks to that the cables
to the controllers could be  better laid out. Since I wanted
to set up  all the cables for all the  disk slots, even ones
that will  stay empty for  now, I  had to shuffle  the disks
around when laying out the cables.

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



Better. But I still wasn't quite happy, mainly because...

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



... of this:

(click image for full res)



Third Try


This time  I made sure the  cables stayed tidy on  both ends
while hiding  the mess  (which cannot  be avoided  since all
cables are the same length but lead to different end points,
obviously) behind the triple fan unit.

(click image for full res)



The loop of extra cable length for the top cable loom:

(click image for full res)



And the cable loom for controller 0, from the disk side...

(click image for full res)



and the M/B side. Much better IMHO.

(click image for full res)



The bottom controller had a bit more extra cable length to hide, so
that part is a bit messier.

(click image for full res)


And the middle one:
(click image for full res)



Tada! While not perfect (I'd need  longer cables for that to
make cleaner runs,  but I'm not buying more  cables just for
the sake of that for a  build that has a closed side panel),
with this iteration of my cabling I'm now rather happy:

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



And the other side. Much better than before methinks.

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



The SATA cable for the system SSD:

(click image for full res)



And the controller LEDs when there's some activity:

(click image for full res)



Now  if you'll  excuse me,  there's a  dinner waiting  to be
cooked.


Cheers,
-aw
 

Triple Fan Unit



As hinted at earlier, the airflow in this build will go from
the front compartment  through the middle wall  into the M/B
compartment and out the back.

This  is  pretty much  how  the  stock configuration  works,
except in that the air gets  in through the front panel, not
through the side panel.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of the stock config, but
luckily tweaktown.com did a review on this case and took them
for me.


Source article where I got the image  from can be found here.

In  the stock  config, the  92  mm fans  are mounted  inside
some plastic  fan cages  that allow  quick and  toolless fan
replacement in case of failure.

(click image for full res)



And without the fan cages:

(click image for full res)



Originally  I  just screwed  the  fans  to two  aluminium  L
profile bars.

(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



It was fixed  to the middle wall  with double-sided adhesive
tape. It's very  strong stuff, so  the fan unit  falling off
was not a concern. Additionally, the tape has some thickness
to it, which  should provide some dampening  between the fan
unit and the middle wall.

(click image for full res)



Unfortunately, due to some bumps on the middle wall getting in
the way, the tape on the rear angle didn't make proper contact
with the wall. It held, but not very well.

Additinoally,  I  noticed  that  there  were  rather  strong
vibtrations on the middle wall. It  turned out that the tape
did  indeed  offer some  decoupling,  but  it also  did  not
offer any  additional strength to  the middle wall  (i.e. no
additional  stiffness), which  meant the  wall could  easily
vibrate.

(click image for full res)



So, I took the unit out, and while I was at it, I also cut
out some recesses for the fans which I didn't bother doing
before. I also put some dampening foam between the fans and
the alu angles.

(click image for full res)



Aaand  of   course  I  mounted   the  fans  the   wrong  way
round. Sigh.

(click image for full res)



Disassemble again, reassemble.

(click image for full res)



Also: Foam between the alu angles and the wall itself:
(click image for full res)



This time  I bolted  it to the  wall with  some screws. Much
more solid now, no more vibrations.

(click image for full res)



How it looks from the other side:

(click image for full res)



Cheers,
-aw
 

Update time!
         
            Hello girls and guys of modding! I would like to present to you a major company who has generously given us a vital component to the TJ07 project. Which reminds me, I have to start thinking of a name for this project soon!   The company is no other than Silverstone Technologies! And the PC component which they have provided to us is the Silverstone Strider ST1200G 1200w PSU. So I would like to thank Marie from Silverstone.    I would now like to present an unboxing of this awesome PSU, and maybe write a few words about it as well while I am here.    
 
                  The packaging of this PSU is black and gold, with a high gloss finish. Very fitting colours when you compare it to the project! The sides of the box contain various information about how many cables are in the box, load levels, fan graphs, ripple levels etc. If you wanted to buy a PSU and you had to judge just by looking at the box, this would certainly have all the info you could ever need.               Opening the box gave me all of the cables (and there are ALOT), some screws, cable ties, velcro straps and the instruction manual. The cables are of all various colours, which is a shame since I will be sleeving them, and those colours might shine through. I don't wish to make my own cables, but I might just have to...                     First looks around the PSU. I have to admit, this thing is stunning and feels solid. And that paint work, Oh my!!! This wrinkle coated surface is supposed to make the PSU super durable and scratch resistant. So only time will tell if this is the case.         Those white stickers ruin the aesthetics.. Something must be done about that.         Ahhh, much better                 Some beauty shots of the paint job and logo. This is just a super sexy PSU overall, and it feels solid unlike others that I have used.         Now I just have to say that Silverstone did not ask me to do an unboxing of this PSU, but rather I did it because I enjoy doing so and it is my way of saying thank you.   So, until next update, stay cool! Best regards, Justin "MetallicAcid" Ohlsen

Disk Ventilation


Although disks  have become  quite frugal  when it  comes to
power consumption these days (at least some of them) and HDD
cooling is not really a  huge issue for most people, packing
24 disks  as closely  together as in  this build  will cause
heat issues without ventilation. There is no need for 3k rpm
Delta fans  though, a  whiff of cool  air breezing  over the
disks should do the job nicely.

For  this purpose,  as you  may have  seen in  some previous
pics, I  have chosen 6  120 mm Papst fans,  specifically the
4412 GLL  model, and am running  them at 7 V. The  fans draw
air in through a vent area,  and it then gets passed through
the M/B compartment and out the back.

Each fan is fixed to a rail  riveted to one of the disk rack
panels with two screws.


You've  seen this  before,  but for  completeness' sake  I'm
adding  the pics  of the  bushings used  to prevent  the fan
frames from being crushed to this update as well:

(click image for full res)



I exchanged the  copper screws for some silver  ones, and in
the process  added some  dampening foam between  the mouning
rails and the fan frame.

(click image for full res)



The whole fan panel assembly:

(click image for full res)



While doing  some test runs,  I noticed that a  rather large
amount of  air was being  expelled through the front  of the
case instead of  going into the M/B compartment  and out the
back (I wasn't  really surprised by this seeing  as how open
the front was). Obviously, this was not optimal. So I took a
1.5 mm panel of alu and bolted it to the front.

Because the existing  front has a few folds in  it, I needed
to do some cutting on the case first.


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)


(click image for full res)



After having  done that, I  turned my attention to  the side
panel, making  an opening for the  ventilation. I thought of
several ways of doing this, but  all of them were a bit more
complicated than I'd  have liked them to  be. Cutting such a
big  hole  with  a  dremel  isn't  really  practical,  so  I
considered doing it  with our jigsaw, but after  doing a few
test cuts I didn't really like  the result as I couldn't get
a  straight enough  cut. And  the cut  needed  to be  clean,
because there's no  space to fit a U channel  over the edge,
and I  don't really like the  idea of covering it  up on the
outside.

Anyway, the guy  just used a nice big angle  grinder for the
cut, and since  he's a metal worker by trade,  it turned out
almost perfectly straight  (not 100%, but it's  still cut by
hand, after  all ).  After that, I  painted the  bare edge
with some model paint to not have the blank metal staring at
me.

I thought about painting the mesh, but at the moment I don't
really have the  time, plus I kind of like  the look of this
bare piece of alu, so I've left it as-is.

(click image for full res)



The mesh  doesn't cover the whole  fan area (nor is  it very
open with those  rather narrow slots), but there  is no need
for high-power ventilation here, so this is not a big deal.

(click image for full res)


It's fixed to the inside of the panel with some double-sided
adhesive tape.

(click image for full res)



And in its final config:

(click image for full res)



Drive temperatures  hover between 28 deg  C and 35 deg  C at
the moment, ambient is about 23 deg C.


Until next time,
-aw
 

Chipset Cooling, Adventures in Instability
 
 
I'm trying  something new  with the  formatting  which  requires a
monospace font, let me know if you have issues with it please.

As some may be aware, I  originally had some issues when trying to
get this machine to run  stable. While stress testing with mprime,
it repeatedly and  reproduceably crashed after less  than an hour,
sometimes  even  already  after  a few  minutes. Each  time  after
crashing, it took  me several tries and about 10  to 20 minutes to
get the board to POST again.

After  some  troubleshooting and  running  a  few diagnostics,  it
turned  out that  the 5520  chipset was  running really  hot. It's
temperature threshold  as indicated  by the  system is  95 degrees
Celsius, and when I  was last able to check on  it before a crash,
it had already passed 85 deg C, so I suspected that it was bumping
up against  the threshold, upon  which the board did  an emergency
shutoff and mandated a cooldown period until it would run again.

As an emergency fix,  I took the 80 mm San Ace  fan that came with
the case  and mounted it to  the chipset heatsink with  some waxed
cotton cord, and  voilà somewhere slightly above 70  deg C maximum.


Unfortunately  I forgot  to take  pictures of  that rather  ghetto
setup before dismantling it again  and replacing it with something
more  solid, but  I have  managed to  blow up  some sections  from
another picture  that should at least  give you an idea  of how it
looked.


Some Improvisation

Apologies for the horrid picture quality, as said this is a blowup
from a picture of which this section is only a small part.
(click image for full res)



A More Permanent Solution

The chipset heatsink is just your run of the mill alu heatsink held
on by a spring clamp with some hooks.

(click image for full res)



And the naked chipset after cleaning off the TIM. That stuff was a
bitch to get off, it had dried up rather significantly.

(click image for full res)



Since  the 80  mm  fan is  quite  a bit  larger  than the  chipset
heatsink itself, I needed to either replace the heatsink or modify
it  in  order  to be  able  to  mount  the  fan to  it. I  took  a
rather crude,  but very effective  approach: I took an L  piece of
aluminium,  drilled two  holes across  the heatsink,  cut some  M4
threads on  those two holes  (which worked despite the  holes only
going through the fins and  not being continuous), then bolted the
L piece to the heatsink with two M4 screws. Works like a charm.

Don't mind the  unclean alu bits from the drilling  and cutting on
the  heatsink  between the  fins,  it  wasn't really  possible  to
properly clean that off and make the holes as clean as one usually
does.

(click image for full res)



And from the other side...

(click image for full res)



The fan itself is held down by three screws, two in the L piece...

(click image for full res)



... and  one in the corner  of the heatsink itself. The  bent fins
are  from  drilling  and  cutting  the  thread,  they  got  a  bit
structurally  weak  at their  edges  due  to that. Doesn't  impair
functionality, so  not such a big  deal since it won't  be visible
anyway.

(click image for full res)



And the whole package:

(click image for full res)



The heatsink unit mounted on the M/B. You need to unmount the fan
to do that. You can again see the bent fins here.

(click image for full res)



And mounted, with the fan:

(click image for full res)




That's it for today, thanks for stopping by.


-aw
 

Hello everyone!
 
I'm fairly new to the PC world; I've been using an iMac for the last 6 years or so. Well it was on it's very last leg, and in looking at what computer to get next, I stumbled across the Newegg how-to-build-a-computer videos and I knew right then I wanted to build my next one myself! I've always loved the satisfaction you get using something you've built yourself and this experience has been no different. After doing tons of research and reading/watching lots of builds I dove into one myself. The computer itself will be an all around use computer. I do a little photo editing here and a little gaming there, nothing extreme in either category. 
 
Anyway, the specs are as follows:
 
Case: Bitfenix Shinobi Window (Mid-Tower size)
CPU: Intel i5-3570k
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65
GPU: EVGA GTX660 Superclocked Edition
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850W 80+ Gold
Memory: 16GB (4x4GB) G-Skill Ripjaw X 1600
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i
Boot Drive: Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD
Storage: x2 Seagate Barracuda 2TB
Fans: Bitfenix Spectre Pros (120mm and 140mm)
Fan Controller: Bitfenix Recon
Optical Drive LG Blu-ray reader/writer (Hidden behind the Bitfenix stealth drive cover)
Other: Bitfenix Alchemy Multisleeved Cable Extensions 
OS: Windows 8.1
 
On to the pics!

Getting Started
 

Motherboard in.
 

 

 

Starting the cable management
 

Cable management done. Bottom left was a little cluttered for my liking, but i quickly figured out just how small a midtower case can be and this was about as good as it was gonna get.
 

Up and running! This pic makes it looks very bright, but it's really not that bad.
 

 

 

 

With the side panel on.
 

Front of the case look.
 

With my new Rosewill RK-9100xB Apollo keyboard and Roccat Kova Mouse with Roccat Alumic mousepad.
 
Well I hope you guys like it! I know some of the hardware is last gen; I actually started purchasing parts for this in early 2013, but bills and other money blackholes forced me to put it on the back burner for a while. It will serve my purposes just fine for now. It was a heck of a lot of fun building this and my mind is already scheming on things I'd like to change/ other builds I'd like to do. I do plan to overclock it too, but I'm still a PC novice, and I want to do some more reading and research before I dive into that. 
 
Thanks for taking a look!