[Build Log] Word Bearer's Cogitator.

[Drachos]

So, I have decided to do a Build Log for my 3^rd PC build, given how this one is exceptionally different from my previous attempts and actually possibly interesting. I will also be sharing a version of this on Facebook, so if I say anything in an overly simplistic manner, that’s my excuse.

 

Although feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
 

Second, let’s get some thanks out of the way. I am finally beginning to reach the point where I can say, “I know stuff about building Computers,” And not be entirely a joke. However such claims only come through much research and following those who actually do know stuff. Also they help me understand stuff that I still comfortably conclude I know nothing about. So, to the following people and Websites, and the people behind them, thank you....I would be completely lost without you.

Tom’s Hardware
Anandtech
Guru3d
Ssdreview
DisplayNinja
Overclock.net
Overclockers.com
r/WatercoolingEnthusiusts
r/AMD
Linustechtips
Gamersnexus
 

And in particularly, Buildzoid (Whose explanations made picking my Motherboard actually possible, and prevented me from making poor purchases with my Graphics card...oh and informed me about RAM Die which helped decide my RAM) and JayTwoCents (Whose Videos about Water cooling have been essential for my build and my confidence).

I am sure I could do this without them all....but it would be a much, MUCH worse build.

I would also like to thank the various people who helped me pick my theme before I actually started the Build. I am less experienced in art and when I chose this plan there were moments of doubt and moments where I had no idea where to go. They helped me get through this till I got my final theme.
 

Third, let’s walk down memory Lane. (I promise it will be brief)

7 Years ago I built my first PC. I did some research, and drove all over Melbourne to get the parts. I was on unemployment and had saved for multiple years for this PC. When I got the parts, I planned to sleep that night and begin building the next day.

Instead I got out of bed, and stayed up all night to build the machine. It successfully completed POST on its second attempt, just as the sun rose. (It failed the first attempt because I didn’t push the Ram in properly, due to fearing damaging the board. I thank god I spent a little more to make sure I had a Motherboard with a Postcode)

I also will confess I went to EXTREME lengths to avoid static. As I did not have access to an anti-static wristband, I made sure at least one part of my body was in contact with my PC case at any time....while building on the Bathroom floor...with a Tiny amount of boiling hot water in the Bath to raise the Humidity of the room, wearing only my underwear

In retrospect, I may have reduced the risk of static to the very minimum, but I increased the risk of so SO many other problems.

The PC was easily the most powerful thing I owned regardless and I fell in love with building. The issue is you need money to build a PC.

Fast Forward 4 years, my Mom is sick of her Laptops and PCs being bad, and gives me $2000(I think, it could have been less) to build her a PC. Mostly for Genealogy, a bit of Facebooking and stuff like that. I go over budget, but until now she never knew that. The end result is a PC that is better than mine in almost every way, due to a decrease in part costs in general over the years, lessons learned from my own build (250gb SSD isn’t enough no matter what ANYONE says) and because my GTX 670 was new at the time, and her GTX 770 was a 3 year old card.

Three Years later, and it’s time to retire the 7 year old machine. It seriously is showing its age. Europa Universlis 4 has always pushed the CPU to the max, I have needed more RAM forever, and recently, my PC crashed while playing Doom.

 

Its time for something new

 

Parts

 

Case: AI CRYSTAL CUBE MAR 3

 This was easy. I quickly decided I wanted 4 front fans because I find it aesthetically pleasing. This meant I would have either one of the various Anidees, AI Crystal Cubes, or an Azza Cube 802. The 802 smaller, lacks front USB or Audio ports, while being more expensive, as it’s an art piece first and a practical case second, which isn’t what I want.

The Mar 3 variety was chosen as that’s the case with the mesh front, which is the better choice for cooling in general. However my pet peeves about this case will come later when we actually start to Build and Mod.

The case is still a little small, and in fact that’s my biggest criticism of the case, but we will get to that when we are building.

 

CPU: Ryzen 3950x or Intel i9 9900KF

So, I started this research around Computex, and as such went from, “Okay this almost certainly must be an i9-9900KF but let’s be safe” to “Okay, AMD, where did that come from.” Currently I am waiting for the Ryzen 9 3950x to come out before deciding whether I want a 9900KF or 3950x. Ideally performance will be the only factor here...but as Australia doesn’t know how much the 3950x will be on here, price maybe a factor.

So let’s come back to that.

 

Motherboard: MEG-X570-ACE or Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master

 If I go with the I9-9900KF I will get the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master. My previous two computers were built with Gigabyte, it meets all my requirements (Good Bluetooth, lots of fan headers and two aRBG headers should I need them, and good VRM) and has the most expansion slots for M.2 SSDs should I desire to expand.

If I go with the 3950X, I will get the MEG-X570-ACE unless prices change. The Crosshair VIII Hero (WI-FI) and Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master would also work just as well (and arguably the X570 Aorus Master would be better for similar reasons to why it was the best z390 board), HOWEVER they suffer the Australia Tax to a far more significant degree.

I would rather the Gigabyte again, but it’s just hard to justify paying $200 dollars more for essentially the same board.

 

RAM: 4 x 8 GB Ballistix Sport AT (3200 MHz CL16)

So in many ways this is my compromise kit and its justification is somewhat questionable.

A good Ram Kit for an AMD CPU should hit 3800 MHz so you can overclock the Infinity Fabric to 1900 MHz, with as low a CL as possible. (For those unfamiliar with this, a super oversimplification is that AMD CPUs are like multiple CPUs linked together by the Infinity Fabric. The Infinity Fabric speed is linked to the Ram Speed, so the better your ram, the quicker the CPUs can talk to each other) However such kits are really expensive AND high ram speed isn’t all that useful for Intel (As they don’t have an Infinity Fabric linking their CPU Cores), so I would end up paying extra for no reason if in the end I went with Intel

However a kit that Overclocks well means you can (depending on the Silicon Lottery, which is exactly what it sounds like. Two parts that look identical can Overclock very differently) spend less and get the same result. The above kit uses Micron E-die chips, which can overclock really well.

As for why I didn’t search out Samsung B-Die (whose Overclock characteristics are better understood), basically I didn’t want to buy an End of Life Product.

 

Power Supply: Corsair HX850i

 To be honest, I worked out what parts would be in my PC, put them into a Power Supply Calculator and then looked at a few reviews to find the best one with Gold/Plat certification.

I don’t know enough about Power Supplies to do more than that, ALTHOUGH I do know this is likely a little overkill.

 

Graphics card: EVGA RTX 2080 Ti XC XC Hybrid 

Honestly after days of researching and comparing Motherboards, that the Graphics card was so simple was a relief tbh. It was a simple list of requirements.

Find an A Card (As As opposed to Non-A, which are locked), that uses the standard PCB (As that gives me the most options for Waterblocks) that was by EVGA (As they don’t try to pull that ‘Removing this sticker voids warranty” stuff.)

After that it was mostly a matter of price, as overclockability is purely a matter of Silicon Lottery UNLESS you want to pay an extra $1,000 AUD for the very best cards. And I can’t justify that.

 

SSD: HP EX950 M.2 1Tb

Almost as fast as the top end, and in certain situations even faster, while being significantly cheaper, this isn’t a hard choice. HP really is pushing into the SSD market.

ADATA SX8200 Pro would have been a SLIGHTLY better choice, but it’s much harder to get in Australia, and the difference is miniscule.

 

Pump: EK-XTOP Revo Dual D5 PWM Serial

So I wanted a D5 pump as it meant I wouldn’t need to air cool my pump. And I figured that two pumps would mean I had a quieter system, as I could run both at a lower speed. I also liked the look of the round tube design of the Revo Dual.

(Me from the Future: Yeah, I can say already that this decision has come to bite me in the arse already a bit)"
 

Radiators: XSPC 240 Rads (White).

So the thickness of the rads isn’t mentioned here, as its one of the first things I needed to work out...and still do to a degree.

But what I had hoped was 4x EX240s would work, although I really doubted it would. It was more likely 2x EX240s and 2x TX240 would be the final choice

The White was chosen at the suggestion of my theme helpers, as both due to the fact it can be painted better then Black, and the fact that it will change colour more under LED lights.

 

 

Everything below I don’t think really needs explanation; however I will answer any questions for the curious.

Fans: NF-P12 Redux 1700RPM

HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 4 GB

Monitor: LG 27GL850

Monitor2: Samsung S23B300B (Reused from current system)

Keyboard: Wooting one

Headset: ARCTIS PRO WIRELESS

Speakers: Altec Lansing VS2621 (Reused from current system)

Mouse: Razer Naga MMO 2011 (Reused from current system)

Fancover: Silverstone SST-FG122 (Maybe)

GPU Block: HEATKILLER IV for RTX 2080 Ti - ACRYL Ni RGB

Reservoir: Not yet chosen

CPU Block: Not yet chosen

Fittings: Not yet chosen

Tubing: Hard Line Metal Tubing

No, actually the last one does require some explanation. A lot of people suggest Soft Line Tubing for someone’s first Water Cool Loop, because it’s both cheaper AND easier to work with. If you DO insist on going Hardline first time, PETG is usually recommended. So why am I going Metal?

My Uncle runs a Bending business (Name not specified at his request) and he has a lot of experience bending metal Pipes, both small and large, and quite a bit of fancy equipment for such things. As such, I am in the fairly unique position where Bending Metal Pipes is actually easier for me then PETG AND I can possibly get unique Bends most Loops normally couldn’t do because of this.

[Drachos]

Design/Theme

So from the very beginning I was going with a 40k theme. The 40k Universe is one of the few Sci-Fi settings where advanced Human Technology doesn’t lead to sleek and smooth construction. A PC Case is none of those things.
 

However originally it was going to be Adeptus Mechanicus, themed, specifically Graia, for the Crimson, Silver and Copper design. However as planning went on, it became clear that there would always be too much Copper if it was included.

After consulting with a few people who know either art or 40k, the case design slowly drifted towards the Word Bearers. Crimson and silver is only two colours making it easy to balance; and more importantly, due to the nature of the Chapter I can be subtle and still stick to theme.

My old Computer case is in no way subtle, and it’s one of my regrets. A well designed case should be somewhat timeless, not covered in spikes. Talking to you, past self who chose a Thermaltake Overseer case). Had we gone with the other major 2 colour faction that’s majority Crimson and is Human, which would be the World Eaters which are the very definition of not Subtle.
 

So let’s talk design and mods.

So as you can see, the 4 120s actually attach to the front of the case via a bracket. This will reduce airflow through the rads, so everything inside the red box will be removed. If possible the front bracket will remain removable, however if it becomes clear that structural integrity will be a problem, it can be soldered/welded to the case.

The Blue area is empty space at this point, and as such I can probably fill it with something artistic. Perhaps the Legion’s logo?
 

So this window shows the two other major issues with the case. The Motherboard tray goes right up to the front of the case, so installing a 240 mm rad in the smaller side requires cutting out the red area.

If reinforcement of the Motherboard tray is required after this, a bracket can be installed at both sides just before the cable management holes. In addition, on the Power Supply side, two support rods can be installed, connecting to the back of the case. (Seen in Yellow)

Likewise since there cable management holes at the bottom of the case (See the Blue area), a Horizontal Reservoir is to be used to hide any cables.

The Pump should be able to fit into the purple area.

Through this I should be able to fit 4x240 Rads in the case. It maybe a tight squeeze at the top, thus requiring a thinner rad, but otherwise it should all work out. Hypothetical (And super rough) piping line in orange.

(Me from the future: Do you know what a great idea is, doing some simple maths instead of guessing based off looking at some numbers and pictures. Spoilers, this isn’t going to work.)

 

As for the simple outside looks, the internal and external panels will be Powder Coated Crimson, and if I am really lucky the fans I have will take to the Dye and change colour. If not, my hope is that they will be largely unnoticeable. I hope to avoid painting the Rads, and use the lighting to make them match, but we will see what happens.

The Corners of the Tempered Glass Panel will have a symbol of each of the Chaos gods Etched in the Corners (Pink), with Greek Characters linking them (Red).  If the case allows for it, I want to raise the top of the case about 1 Inch, as that gives me more room to work with....although I have a feeling I will be disappointed in that regard.

Should it work, I shall have to find something to fill the gap between the new top of the case and the top of the dust cover (blue box) I have a few ideas here, (Square Galvanized Steel tube, cut into shape) but we will have to see how it goes.

The opposite Panel (Not shown) shall simply have the Star of Chaos etched into it. Given it’s not going to be visible most of the time, anything more detailed is a waste.

Finally should my budget allow for it, the Case with be edged with strips of a silvery metal, likely Aluminium, with fake rivets, to give the semi-industrial look of the 40k Universe.

There are more little ideas to come, but I want to save some surprises....and I have talked enough in this post.

[Drachos]

Fitting parts and issues.

So um, yeah....

Aussie Dollars for Scale...The smaller one is slightly smaller then a Nickel, and the bigger one is slightly bigger then a Quarter.

The D5 is a bigger Pump then I thought.

And the EK-XTOP Revo Dual D5 PWM Serial is thus bigger than I thought too.

So, it looks like the Pump does fit where I planned it to, and it does....TECHNICALLY. However it would be pressed right up against the lower right hand corner of the Motherboard...

So in the gigabyte board, it would mean I can’t plug in the front panel (power, reset, and the like) and on the MSI board...actually it might be fine...if the stupid “melt your CPU” dial wasn’t there.

(It would also possibly block the Chipset fan, which would be bad, obviously.)

However we also have a second problem. This one I half predicted but annoying none the less.

Front of the case is to the right

 

Again, to the right, where you can see the buttons

Its next to impossible to tell from these photos, but it turns out between the top of the case and the Motherboard tray is almost EXACTLY 65.5mm (The width of the Fan/Res combo). Their maybe half a mm to a full mm difference, but it doesn’t appear like it. It fits with no room for vertical movement.

Now, IN THEORY this would be fine, as it does still fit. However fans produce some Vibration and with that next to zero gap, I suspect that would lead to the rad and motherboard tray repeatedly hitting each other.

That’s assuming I can line EVERYTHING up with the zero room to move stuff around, and don’t make a mistake that leads to the fins being damaged while screwing it together. All in all, not a good idea.

But there is also a problem I didn’t predict, and it’s so close to unnoticeable that I literally can’t show it in the Photos.

The same orientation as above.

See it looks fine...but if you play REALLY careful attention to the previous picture, you may see the problem.

The end tank on the inlet side is literally 1-2mm to long so the case can’t close.

BUT...while this second fact was unpredicted, I have a way to compensate for this. And in fact the outcome actually gives me a little more cooling power than expected.

 

Now the Front of the case is to the top, the rad has rotated 90 degrees

Mounting it this way means I have only 1 rad that crosses the Motherboard tray, which means only the one has to be a 25mm rad.

Assuming I can’t raise the top of the case any. That also would solve the rad thickness problem.

If you hadn’t noticed, this is something of a theme with this build. If the case was a little taller, there could be cable management holes below the Motherboard. Or it could handle thicker Rads.

If the Case was a little longer, the fans wouldn’t be squashed so close to the front so the Tempered Glass version would actually be functional.

If the Case was just an inch wider, I could likely mount the Pump how I originally planned.

This case is a solid inch too small in every direction.

However let’s see if we can fix at least one of these issues.

 

 

 

This seems perfect. The top of the case is in fact the outermost layer of the case, and as such can totally be extended up without most major structural change.

In addition, as you can see on the bottom picture, the power switch is easily movable (the white thing in the top right hand corner). So overall this is a large win. The Dust cover dose get SLIGHTLY narrower as between the end that connects to the case, and the dust cover end, but overall that should be easy to compensate for.

So 1 problem solved, and 1 new problem. So question time.

Where do I put the Pump and Reservoir?

Because the two are intrinsically linked. The Reservoir MUST connect directly to the pump, otherwise their is no point. Likewise I can put the double Pump on most angles but not all of them.

The Twin pumps are water lubricated and water cooled. As such, if you face it in the disallowed position, one of the pumps is upside down, and won't be lubricated or cooled by the water. This will kill the pump.

So this does lead to a followup question. Do you even need a Reservoir/Can the Pump be above the Reservoir? And the Answer is Yes...but I don’t want to deal with the trouble.

So lets say Hypothetically, I put the Pump here, where I originally meant to put the Reservoir, and don’t have a Res at all. Given the Pump is Water cooled and Lubricated, I need to make sure their is no bubbles in my loop. With a Reservoir, bleeding the loop like that is easy, as the bubble naturally move to the Res, so I keep topping it up.

Without a reservoir, this is an INSANELY slow process, and I can’t run the PC while bleeding the loop. With a Res, once the initial Bleed is done and its just filling the air pockets, its easy to monitor. The difference in time to play is in a simple loop, HOURS. In a more complex one it can be days of slowly bleeding and topping up, then running a little more, then topping up.

A loop with a Res below the Pump is a bit easier, but still not ideal.

Lets say, Hypothetically, I put the Pump on top of the Power supply, removing the Hard Drive cage in the process, and kept the Reservoir on the other side of the Motherboard tray as depicted in the blue area of this photo.

Now their is a HUGE amount of problems with this config (How are you going to connect the two for example, having water get so close to the biggest box of electricity in your PC being the second) but it also requires you to be fairly confident with your initial Bleed. If your pipes connecting your Res to your Pump loose treasure, every time you turn the PC on, you are going to suck air, and damage the pumps a bit more. ALSO given the Res to Pump Pipes are higher then your Res, its POSSIBLE you won’t even be aware this is happening, as when the Pump turns off, the coolant flows back into the res and make the loop appear full.

If I had transparent tubing I may risk it. Given I am going for metal tubing, I really don’t want to risk it.

So with the bad ideas out of the way...

Idea 1

 

So the Blue line represents the Bottom of my Graphics card, and while it doesn’t TECHNICALLY go all the way across the case, it goes far enough that between the Pump, the Rad, and the piping, their isn’t much room left. (Specifically its 45mm.)

However the rear compartment is 90mm wide, and even taking into account the the 30mm Rad, their is still plenty of room for 90mm Res in the back. (The tap measure is 80mm). This would easily allow a 300x90 Res, which is over a lt of fluid once you take everything else into account (Fittings, stability struts and the like)

Down side...Given the cutout I am doing is only 60mm, and 30 of that will be for the Rad, the Res would be all but invisible.

Idea 2

This is included simply for the sake of completeness. A very small Res could fit in top of the Pump if I put it on top of the Power supply.

However downsides include removing the hard-drive tray (which means no HDD and so relying only on the far more expensive SSD M.2 drives), neither the Pump nor the Res on the main said of the Case, nothing covering the cables at the bottom of the main side of the case oh and just a little thing of WATER ABOVE THE ONE THING IN THE PC THAT CAN LITERALLY COOK EVERY PART OF MY PC. The risks are insignificant, but if their are better solutions I would be a fool not to take them.

Moving on.

Idea 3

Attaching the Reservoir to the Rad is typically one of the two Water cooling Short cuts, and for good reason. (The other being attacking your Reservoir to your Pump directly) I makes one line super simple, the Rad already has screw holes to attach things too, and it tends to save Space.

The downside to this option is that depending on the size of my Res it will cover my Ram and CPU, and make the top of the case a little busier then I would like, but its one of the better two options I have considered.

(I am going to be honest, this idea didn’t occur to me till I was typing this post)

Idea 4

So, the fact remains this is two Pumps connected together, and while I did this originally to keep the Pumps as quiet as possible, a singe D5 can handle loops FAR more complex then mine. It will be a little louder, but not to a significant degree. The piping of the case is evenly spread throughout and given it goes from end to end, the wires are completely covered.

The Downside is I wasted SOME money (although it gives me a backup pump should my current one die, so not entirely a waste), its slightly louder (although should still be quieter then the Heater) and if I do one of my interesting ideas, I can’t engrave the Reservoir as much.

It also restricts the side of my Res SLIGHTLY.

So 80mm Outer Diameter once you take into account the slight curve. This makes sense given the D5 is 83mm.

 

So, thoughts?

[Drachos]

Murphy’s Law

So not the best intro, but I felt I need to address a comment a friend of mine has made, as if someone said it, others are thinking it.

So let’s get this out of the way. I knew there would be problems. I could have measured, and planned and researched till the end of time, but I would have run into an issue eventually. So instead of trying to remove every possible error and then buy everything...

I tried to work out what errors could occur and then plan around them. So, below are the predicted errors and what I planned to do to deal with them.

 

Issue Risk 1

Problem: The case measures its extreme outermost points. So the bolts, the dust cover and the like. I could have emailed the company that makes it and asked for their internal measurements, but the fact was I was going to buy this case REGARDLESS. Thus the important factor wasn’t finding these numbers, but finding a way to work around these numbers.

Solution: Watch several reviews and only buy the parts I knew would fit to measure the rest of the parts. In this case, it was 1 Radiator, the fans, and Pump, and the GPU.

I also brought a Radiator that specifically had a smaller thickness then the one I was using to measure, so that if it turned out that the review was wrong about how high the gap between the Motherboard tray and roof of the case was, I could still shift down a size.

Effectiveness: The Pump didn’t fit, however the single Rad allowed me to measure out and determine exactly how to make the other Radiators fit. Likewise I know how much space I have for Reservoir and Pump now, and its allowed me to buy all my other parts. 7/10.

 

Issue Risk 2:

Problem: Painting Fans isn’t a good idea. If you are REALLY careful about it, it will only compromise performance a bit, but it’s still not ideal.

Solution: Buy Redux edition Noctura fans. These fans are still some of the best fans you can buy, BUT are discounted as Noctura is trying to get the last bit of money from old RnD while beginning the sale of new, superior products.  Cheap fans mean if something goes wrong it costs me far less.

Noctura fans also can accept Vinyl dye...sometimes... so there is a chance I don’t need to paint them at all.

Finally, should all other options fail, Redux fans are a dull Grey. This means they should be far less visible then even black should be, let alone the Light Brown of normal Noctura fans. So its very likely they may be mostly unnoticeable regardless.

Effectiveness: We will see when we get to Dyeing/Painting them.

 

Issue Risk 3:

Problem: Cutting any part of the case can affect its structural integrity. As can expanding the case.

Solution: Plan the cuts, but don’t make any of them till consulting someone more experienced than me. (Which should happen Wednesday). Also prepare ways to reinforce the structure to suggest, as that will speed up the process.

Effectiveness: We will find out on Wednesday.

 

Issue Risk 4:

Problem: My idea with the Reservoir may not work. (As it includes Bending)

Solution: Don’t buy the Reservoir until confirmation that its actually possible to Bend that way.

Effectiveness: 10/10. Either I buy one thing and the bending thing happens, or I buy something else.

 

Issue Risk 5:

Problem: Parts don’t work. This wasn’t going to be an issue until this weekend. I could test the parts and then RNA them if they don’t work. However with the 3950x delayed till November, I would have a fight on my hands to argue that they didn’t work the first time I plugged them in if I wait till then.

Solution: Two options.

1)      I could make my choice of AMD or Intel without waiting for the 3950x, and then (should I choose AMD) either buy a 3900x or a cheap CPU to till a 3950x arrives.

2)      I could test the new parts on my old PC.

Option 2 isn’t really an option as the old PC still uses DDR3 ram. Thus I need to choose either Intel or AMD ASAP.

Effectiveness: Not ideal. I will have an answer by the end of the Week most likely.

 

Issue Risk 6:

Problem: Water cooling parts could leak. (Its not really a risk, but I feel if I don’t mention it, someone is going to comment)

Solution: The actual way to deal with this has been worked out by all those who have Water Cooled before me.

First you do an Air Test, by pressurizing the system to 0.8 Bar. If it remains at that pressure for an hour, it’s almost certainly leak free.

Second, just in case, you cover everything in paper, fill the loop, and then run the loop ALONE with the PC off, for about 24 hours. If not a single drop appears on any paper, its definitely leak free.

Effectiveness: Well, hundreds if not thousands of people have been doing it for years.

Issue Risk 7:

Problem: Budget. If I am not paying attention it can accelerate out of control.

Solution: Not only am I paying attention, I am dividing the build process into steps. Firstly the case is being powder coated, then the parts (which are mostly brought anyway) and then the water-cooling (which if it does end up being too expensive I can do in stages) and then finally case external decoration.

Effectiveness: This SHOULDN’T be an issue, but its being monitored regardless.

Next time, the Tear down.

[Drachos]

Tear down and modification.

So I have delayed my posts somewhat as I didn’t think anyone would be really interested in a post that is essentially me drilling rivets. However I am now happy with my progress and am ready to share more.

However before we do that, let me get something out of the way.

Case manufactures... please don’t do this. The Hot glue is cheap, but is going to be a pain in the arse to remove for my case mods. And the little sticker thing to hide a few rivets...no, come on, you can do better than that. You have dozens of visible rivets and yes the case bends there, but you can find a way to make that look good without covering it up. Some tape is just cheap.

Fortunately I have plans.

Finally, my case in pieces (this photo is excluding the Expansion slot protectors)

So moving on, time to do some mods.

So I missed a lot of the start of this, mostly due to my own desire to get things done quickly, and the fact I needed practice with a Dremel. However two important things came out of this...

1) Don’t use a Dremel in a wooden bungalow. It throws sparks, and powder everywhere. And you need some form of clamp while Dremeling....or this

Don’t copy me, please. Clearly this is one of those dumb things everyone must do at some point, but man looking back at this is dumb.

Also I found out, Crayon is terrible as a tool for marking a Dremel cutting line. The sparks just cause it to melt.

2) And two...

That will be invisible when we are finished...but god damn it that’s annoying. I won’t be able to see it, but I’ll know its there.

Regardless, after that night I actually put in some effort to create a better place to do this. Better...not necessarily good, but better.

I had this idea I would bend the metal around the Motherboard tray to make it more stable...yeah turns out bending steel with pliers is hard. Fortunately it seems like the Motherboard tray is the most solid part of the case so that won’t be an issue.

 

I am also kinda happy about how much better I got with a Dremel by the end of this. Its not a straight or masterful cut by any means. But its fairly good I think. Much better than the results of my initial cuts.

The left picture is full of non-straight lines most noticeable at the bottom and on the right. The right picture, even far closer, is a better cut.

I do have some slightly more annoying news.

 

This should come as no surprise, but again, my test rad doesn’t fit here either. Its 1mm to wide. (Thus when there is 2, it will be 2mm) FORTUNATELY this gives me my final measurements, and going back to the drawing board, I know exactly which Rad I need to use.

Corsair Hydro X Series XR5 240mm. This rad will still be to long for my original plans, but it will allow the 4 Radiator case design I have planned. So thats now locked in.

Finally, with this out of the way I have sent the case to the Powder coaters. So we should be getting it back by Friday.

[Drachos]

This will be a quick update, as I felt I needed to say SOMETHING after a Month of Silence. So...while I have yet to finish my painting or the engraving designs quite yet (the second will come before the first at this rate) I figured I would at least share my case.


 

So that came back from the Powder coaters looking real good at least. It was a little frustrating to assemble (and still isn’t entirely done yet) but the holes were MOSTLY wide enough still I didn’t need to drill.

 

As for delays...the painting has been largely delayed by the weather. Vinyl Dye can only be used when its above 16C and below 60% Humidity. It also takes 30 minutes between coats. Even with this, I think I have finished 4 of my 8 fans at this point.

 

Painting the plastics is going even slower, amazingly enough. I now appreciate why the suggestion is to buy Spray can paint instead of using brushers and rollers. It takes 2 hours between coats on that...and the primer takes 30 minutes between coats (And preferably a week between priming and painting) But I am making some small progress in that as well.

 

As for the etching design...I will reveal more in my next post.