GregEl

The system is complete. Everything is up to date, did some overclocking and some stress testing. It is now delivered to the owner, who has started nostalgia playing diablo 2 and all the games in the Far cry series. I am waiting to hear his responce on graphics and performance when he plays Far Cry 5. Temperature wise with prime95 and furmark the loop after 30 minutes was stable around 55-58C degrees on the CPU and 48-52C on the GPU. Very good temps considering that the room temperature was 28C, the blocks and radiators are the budget aluminium ones from EK and XMP was enabled making the 8700k run all cores at 4.3GHz. The only minor issue with the system is that the GPU has coil whine, but enabling vsync significally reduces it. Speaking of vsync, the owner told me that the next purchase for the system around Christmas time will be a 27 inch 1440p IPS gsync monitor. But let's not delay things more. Here are the final photos and a slideshow video. Enjoy!

And the second timelapse video is ready Because it will be a few days until I upload the photos and video of the finished build, I put a small teaser in the thumbnail.

Τhere has been a lot of progress on the build, so it's time for an update! I 3d printed the final cable cover for the cables on the right of the motherboard. It covers the 24pin cable, front usb 3+ front usb c cables, blu ray drive cables and the single 8pin for the GPU The water cooling parts also arrived. Wierd fact: The EK fluid gaming eshop is different from the classic ekwb eshop and the parts ship from different warehouses as EK have themselves told me in a support ticket. So if I were to order RGB vardar fans I would have to pay double shipping because only plain vardar fans and not RGB are available in the fluid gaming eshop. GPU waterblock, Cooler Master fans and radiators mounted Started doing the tubing. The only issue I had with this case is that for the front radiator the fan screws are not long enough to mount the fans from the front and I had to mount the Vardar fans behind the radiator in pull config. For some reason that I don't understand the metal sheet on the front is punched in and that adds thickness making the screws too short to use for mounting the fans from the front. Other than that though this case has been a joy to work with! No moddification was needed to mount the 3d printed parts. The cable cover is mounted using M4 screws and the holes are already there on the bar for the HDD cages and accessories. Also there are M3 holes on the bottom, which I used to mount the 3d printed base for the pump and plexi cover support. I assembled the loop outside the case to flush it with distilled water. It was a good idea since I saw quite a few particles after draining the loop. The good thing about soft tubing is that you can transfer the loop inside the case without the need to disassemble it. And the removable top radiator bracket of the case made it very easy to mount the fans at the very end of the mounting process of the loop. I have left the pump running with power from an external PSU to bleed the bubbles and make sure the loop has no leaks. I am making another video timelapse and I will take photos with good lighting of the final result. So the next update should have enough eye candy.

Quick and short update. I made a simple timelapse video working on the system. I will make one more at least with the new hardware and then a final one to showcase the build. Speaking of new hardware, everything except the watercooling parts has arrived. I build the system with air cooling to install windows and make sure that all hardware is working fine. Everything is good, I have 3d printed more parts and I am waiting for the watercooling parts in a couple of days. Stay tuned and Valar Makeris!

Greetings from Greece. After a long break of about 3 years I return to modding and I am starting with project "Necromancer". It is a system with a theme inspired by the necromancer class from diablo 3 with custom watercooling and 3d printed accesories. I would like to thank Cooler Master that has agreed to support the project from the very start with a partial sponsorship! Parts list: Case: Cooler Master MC500M Motherboard: Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming WiFi CPU: Intel i7 8700k RAM: G.Skill Trident Z 32GB DDR4-3200MHz GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Aero 8G OC Storage: Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 500GB + Sandisk Ultra II 240 Sata 3 SSD + 2TB WD Black PSU: Corsair RM 750i Water cooling: EK Fluid Gaming A240G + EK-FG 240 expansion pack Optical drive: Pioneer Blu-Ray 3D Recorder Dual Layer Accessories: Cooler Master vertical GPU holder with riser cable, 3x CoolerMaster MasterFan MF120R RGB 120mm Some parts were delivered at the workshop, so let's start assembly and testing. First test mount of the motherboard in the case First small mod was to remove the orange colored stripe at the back io cover. I think I will give it a second try to remove the color completely. Black motherboard, RGB lights and an orange stripe on a cover? Dear Gigabyte, why? You are forgiven though, because it is a great motherboard in general. Ready to start sleeving the cables and I am greeted with the following "delightful" sight. It is a known issue "caps on cables are ugly no matter what you do" and of course the capacitors are there for the voltage ripple. It is not a major issue if you remove the caps, but the less fiddling I do with the cables, the better for everyone. There is a workaround I decided to do. (more info later on) I started with the 8-pin for the motherboard, with the classic trick of using tape on fingers to be able to pinch-press hot-molten paracord without getting burned. I left the cap visible, because I will 3d print a cable cover that will mount with screws on the top radiator fans and also act as a cable and water cooling tubing guide. Although as long as I don't have the water cooling parts, I can't get measurements and dimensions to start designing the cover. So I started designing a cover for the front USB cables and 24-pin making a few test prints to test the fit on each design step. RAM sticks arrived and I got a mat black vinyl sticker. I cut some white acrylic-plexiglass, that I sanded with 800 grit sandpaper to make it have a mat finish. Also I 3d printed a fan grill I designed for the fan at the back. Right now the build is at the following state. Next small steps while I wait for the rest of the hardware to be delivered: -Short video timelapse of the build log so far. (recording is done, I just need to edit the footage) -Continue the design of the front cable cover to also hide the blu-ray drive sata cables. -Make the GPU cable have a single 6+2pin connector at the end and not dual daisy chained connectors like the stock configuration is. I expect to get the GPU in about 3 days, the NVMe SSD in 2 and the water cooling parts next week. That is all for now. Valar makeris!

Greetings fellow forum members. I am opening this thread to collect-sum up my past projects in one place and fix photo links that no longer work on the older build log threads. Project Hades Chillin This was my first modding project. For the first time I made a custom watercooled system and I made my own case (scratch build-desk pc) The original system before the project started was in a Corsair 600T as seen bellow Τhe motherboard tray from plexiglass The basic desk without hardware made out of simple IKEA surfaces. Simple transfer of the hardware from the 600T to the new position. Radiators, waterblocks and the loop ready to be filled and check for leaks. 24 hour later without leaks I began to connect the cables. Paracord sleeves without heatshrink and my first attempt at sleeving Placed some covers and at this stage I started making some air filters for the fans DIY dust filter from window mesh (two layers) UV led strip and final photos of the project. I also did some cable lacing with fishing line following the guide from Alpenwaser. There are some imperfections, but a successful first build. Let's go to the next one. Project Slim Hades Change to dual GPU, rigid tubing and a slimline acrylic case again a scratch build. Also with significant support-sponsorship from EK waterblocks. Bellow is the concept sketch Parts for the new loop Temp testing because the airflow for the motherboard heatsinks will be limited. The base acrylic plate of the case with the radiator Change of plans due to the crossfire bridge length Design and measurements with foam core cardboard and testing fitting, before the actual acrylic panels are cut. Some of the acrylic panels Cutting and bending of the hardline tubing. All 3 waterblocks are connected in parallel. Starting to assemble the system Ready to fill and leak test. Vertical position to help bleed the air bubbles and test the possibility for wall mounting. In the end I decided to lay it flat on the desk. Final photos of the build. I had some stability issues with the unshielded riser cables and the crossfire setup was not as originally planned, but as a build with hardline tubing and performance I was satisfied. Moving on to the next one. Project ITX Architecture This is the first project that I used my 3d printer. An ΙΤΧ scratch build with watercooling distribution plate. This time I had support from Bitspower, Cooler Master Hellas και ASRock Hellas. 240 Monsta radiator with 3d printed fan grills plus slots for front OI ports and power button. Test prints and fitting of hardware to confirm dimentions and fit. The internal sceleton of the case 3 sata SSDs between the reservoir and radiator 3d printed motherboard base and back IO shield (single piece) Sleeved paracord cables with 3d printed combs The system set up with aircooling 3D printing the final motherboard cover The printed cover and the first stage of the watercooling distribution plate. 10mm thick acrylic cnc milled channels + 5mm thick lid Testing the channels for leaks. I used a white soft silicone rubber cord 2mm in diameter with its own channel on the perimeters of the channels Final assembly and photos of the build Once again some imperfections, but the system and distribution plate worked flawlessly. For years (2015-2018) there was no issue or need for maintainance and I was satisfied that a build with a unique configuration/positioning worked this well. Let's go to the next. Project Cosmos BW [Colab] The following project is not a personal one, but a colaboration. I designed and 3d printed some panels and covers with my 3d printer and the rest of the assebly and mods were done by the system owner. The system before the changes First color mods Some of the items I 3d printed (PSU cover, 3.5 HDD slot, motherboard back IO cover) GPU Titan upgrade Final assembly with a custom loop That is all so far. At some point I will remake some of these past projects with some changes and better tools. Something like "ITX Architecture revisited", but there are other priorities now. I have another colaboration project, but that I will do all the assembly and modding. As a teaser the name is "The Necromancer" project. I am also making progress on an big open project for the modding community in general, that has to do with 3d printing, laser cutters and cnc. Valar Makeris! (All must make)

Looks good and compact. It will be very useful for my makerspace for the common workspace area and it can be easily transported and set up for events outside the makerspace. I am thinking of buying it for the makerspace.

Well if you wanted the silver-nickel look for something else than black and blue, then it is perfect. Everything matches.

I really like the blue! Very nice build. The lighting is also excellent and it does not alter the other colors. I would like it more if there were less fittings and they were matt white or matt black fittings. I like simple tubing runs and at some spots in your build it looks like there are just too many fittings for a single tubing run imo. Could you also make a cover for the motherboard back IO? Like the Z97X one in the photo below but instead of white with a blue design? The one in the picture is 3D printed, but you could make it from the black and blue acrylic used for your case.

Nope, unfortunately Parvum stopped responding after a few e-mails, although they were positive at first. I got my plate made at a local (Athens) cnc shop called "Plexiglass Masters". They were very helpful there. I remember your plate. p0Pe originally designed that for his build Nr. 5, if I am not mistaken. I hope to see your build completed soon as well.

Thanks! As I said before I agree that the routing plate could be better. Other parts of the case could have been better thought out and designed too. Modular design, customizability etc. I had many ideas for the build. Vinyl designed like a circuit board traces with hexagon nodes (honeycomb theme) blue on the white panels and/or white on clear panels and the blue 3D printed parts. I also thought of doing more 3D printing to cover the GPU and cover other hardware too like the top of the radiator or the back IO for cable management. Internal LED strips designed to appear like light bars with modding cubes at the ends for subtle lighting. In the end I thought of this build as something to try new and different things for me (custom cnc work and 3D printing) and so I decided to make the ideas I considered necessary. For me it was important to have a functional plate and hide any imperfections. The build would have been a lot different if I had more time (Cooler Master contest deadline is the 30th of April), more money, more tools and more experience.

Thanks! If the plate looked like it was factory made, did not have imperfections and did not have ugly silver screws I wouldn't have covered it. This was my first attempt doing something like this. I drilled and made the threads by hand without proper tools. I even had leaks and changed the o-ring cord for the plate. The ideal plate for this build in my opinion would have been clear acrylic (maybe one sandblast vinyl or none if the waterblocks where clear), blue screws, fully cnc made (or at least with better/more tools) positioned extra 5cm away.

Thanks! The 3D printer is the Felix 3.0 dual head. An amazing printer and amazing value if you get the DIY kit like I did.

Well it's done! There are some things I would do differently, if I were to make this again, but I will mention them later. Final pics! The new motherboard lid. It does not look like a TUF armor but as an idea I like it better. I am satisfied with the result. The watercooling routing plate is ready! No leaks with a white silicone o-ring I got. I would like to thank Pixel Brothers (.gr) for the excellent work on the stickers. They prepared them quickly and they were applied carefully. Very good professionals! And the result from a lot of different angles At the desk and ready. I took the side lid off to change the pump speed so that I can bleed the air bubbles easier. I wanted to make a video (I had chosen a soundtrack for it) while filling the loop (like p0Pe's Project NV), but I don't have the right setup regarding lights, space and support yet. Sorry... Regarding the temperatures I am very pleased. First tests went very well. 15 minutes furmark gave a GPU max of 40 C. I am getting CPU max 60C και GPU max 42C. Regarding noise it's ok. Maybe the grills I printed increase the noise a bit. I will try the fans at pull and with a filter to test. I have the pump at sysfan and the fans with a y-splitter at the CPU fan slot. What would I do differently now that I have the experience. First I would do as much as possible with cnc and more(proper) tools. The jigsaw is an excellent tool, but with only a line as a guide you can't have a detailed assembly. It would increase the cost of course, but having a cnc and a proper workshop is a goal of mine since I started modding 2 builds ago. Second changes to the design. I would place the water cooling routing plate further and maybe use only a white sticker with a better design. The sandblast served its purpose in this build and it at least matches the water blocks. Something I will do at future builds is to design the case as a puzzle from compartments and not as a single piece assembly. In this build the SSDs are nicely hidden, but removing them is anything but easy. That is because they are mounted on the same panel the radiotor is and from the inside. Third different watercooling parts! The fittings are very nice, but if the routing plate was further I could have used larger fittings with double o-rings for the tubing or compressed o-rings. And regarding blocks 100% I am not considering EK again for now. Only Bitspower now for me! Sure EK blocks are beautiful. But Supremacy cracked with just hand tightening (last time I checked I am not Superman, I think that actually my fingers are not strong to be honest) The 280x CSQ got dirty from my last build but I can't get it cleaned and the dirt is at places were the liquid does not reach for some reason. Off course with a different design with idividual compartments that fit together, some connections would have been different. That is all for the conclusion. I hope you liked the build. I am sure I forgot to mention something, so I am waiting for comments.

Teaser time! I printed something else It is the final(probably) cover for the motherboard. And I got the routing plate from Plexiglass Masters, a local cnc acrylic shop. I would like to thank Mr. Diamantis from plexiglass masters for the excellent cnc work. Unfortunately Parvum Systems have not responded for a while now, although they responded positively at first. I will get bored of taps in the next few days. First attempts were successful I hope to have the routing plate ready by the weekend to start setting up the water cooling parts. Stay tuned!