Heavily modified Fractal Define R4 with dual 180mm and 360 radiators

[d33g33]

So... it never ends :D

 

I'll try not to give too much away with this but here's the starting point.

 

I originally tried (though i'll admit not very hard) to sleeve with ModSmart/ModKobra and I wasn't very successful. Here is a teaser delivery from Nils at MDPC-X!

 

All the goodies!

 

MDPC sleeve compared to the ModKobra stuff I have is awesome. It feels much better in my hands already, cant wait to make a start. I also got coloured wire incase there is any see through on the sleeve of the ATX cables, also so I can go custom length cables.

 

Pins and MDPC Crimper

 

Customized D33G33 pin remover, I seriously don't know how he has time to do the custom naming and sketches on all his orders... amazing

 

PINS!

 

Crimper and automatic wire stripper

 

This sleeve is awesome!

 

Now... here's another little spoiler...

 

This is just a proof of concept to see if it can work by the look of this I think it will...

 

Mmmm shapes...

 

Hex pattern and hex holes for the fan mount... seems about right

 

Sketchy... sketchy...

 

Rough template... I think I might actually be able to pull this off!

 

That's all for now... :D

 

Maybe I have new tubing, video card change, custom paint, radiator swaps and acrylic work to go but i'm not telling anyone yet...

[PBaines]

Good man, top respect for someone who chooses to use premium MDPC-X over Paracord

[d33g33]

Had a go at making up some custom cables today. So far no problems, just I was stripping a bit more wire than I should but I got the hang of that quickly.

 

Was a bit worried crimping 2 wires into one connector so I ran some solder into the crimps to make sure its all sweet. Might look a bit funky but should be well strong enough

 

I coloured then black, grey and white so if the sleeve has any show through it wont be noticable

 

Also ordered some MOAR RADs and acrylic tubing

[Focux]

Good man, top respect for someone who chooses to use premium MDPC-X over Paracord

Is paracord inferior..?

[enRodjavel]

Nice build looks sort of clean, its just that it looks kinda tilted like some things are hanging

[JordanMac]

That. Is. Sweet. is your gtx 670 slightly bent in the corner? i have the same card, backplate and block and mine does it.

[Jimstah87]

Brilliant job mate! I am thinking of deliding my 3570K now after this lol

[d33g33]

That. Is. Sweet. is your gtx 670 slightly bent in the corner? i have the same card, backplate and block and mine does it.

 

Yea it twists a lot!

 

I think I can correct it mostly if I drive a bolt all the way through the plexi, through the card and the back plate in the front left corner if that makes sense 

 

Brilliant job mate! I am thinking of deliding my 3570K now after this lol

 

If you're having temp issues its definitely worth considering, there is a risk but whats a 3570k worth now days, $250? Risk is worth the payoff my eyes.

[Wesley]

Man thats an amazing build i love Fractal cases and you made it look perfect

[d33g33]

So, I had a go at sleeving tonight. While what i finished with was A LOT better than when I started I still have a long way to go before I would consider myself pro.

 

Here's some pics, R4 is about to get a refresh with swapping out both the rads for a 360 and a 280 and rigid acrylic tubing. Some acrylic cover panels as well.

 

Here's some pics of the sleeving;

 

 

 

 

 

[d33g33]

A lot better the 2nd time round

 

[Jozi]

Awesome build! Keep it up

[alpenwasser]

Ah, sleeving pr0n, excellent! :wub:

Is paracord inferior..?

It has its advantages and drawbacks. See these threads for more info:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/51079-paracord-or-lc-teleios-sleeving/#entry681911

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/51602-is-mdpc-sleeving-worth-it-to-you/#entry689555

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/28029-sleeving-with-paracord-or-mdpc/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/23978-mdpc-or-paracord/

But I think @PBaines was refering to his opinion that MDPC-X looks more premium and

exclusive than paracord (I think I recall him saying that in a thread once, correct

me if my memory is being unreliable ).

If you know how to work well with your sleeving of choice you can get excellent results

with MDPC-X, Lutro0's Teleios or paracord and it becomes mostly a matter of taste and

personal preference IMHO.

[d33g33]

I guess one thing I have to think a bout now is how do I make the lengths right so it all stays together, slight variances makes for real spaghetti! While what ive done above certainly makes it look a lot better it's certainly a long way from tightly bundled for that super clean, all held together look. I haven't seen anyone cover this part of it in tutorials... @alpenwasser if you have any guide for me on this it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

DeeG

[alpenwasser]

You mean how to best get all the wires to the same length (or to have them at

different lengths to make perfect bends)?

In HELIOS I usually made the wires in one bundle the same length, even if it

would have been better to have them at different lengths. Reason being, I can

compensate the different lengths during the cable run to the PSU. For getting

them all to the same length I simply used a primary piece of the correct length

and then used that to measure all the other wires for the same bundle. I'd estimate

you can probably get tolerances to lower than 1 mm, it's pretty easy to work

accurately like that. Make sure you always use the same piece of wire as your

yardstick, otherwise you will have errors creeping into your process. Besides

that, I also use a surface with a grid printed on it, similar to yours, and

have found it to be very useful as well.

Alternatively, especially for making bundles which take into account the different

lengths due to curving of the bundle, I first do one end of the package and make

all wires a bit too long (of course, as little as possible, but enough to be

sure that they're not too short). After that I lay them out in the way in which

they will later be routed and then cut them to their right lengths and finish

the bundle's other end. If you wanted to be really precise about this

(especially if you later lace the cables), you might even go so far as to

sleeve the bundle provisionally before doing the second side, then work your

way towards that end, add the connectors and finish the sleeving. But that would

be quite a tedious process.

It can be very useful to have a part of the wire package which is not visible

and which allows you to compensate for any irregularities in the wire lengths.

As an example, take the 24 pin cable for HELIOS: You can clearly see it is not

laced in the middle section (this is also due to crossing wires and double

crimps, but even without that I would have laced it like this), and that allows

me to compensate for the fact that the inner wires in the curve leading to the

M/B connector would actually need to be shorter than the outer wires (they're

all the same length actually). The bundle is rather chaotic in the middle, but

that will never be visible.

For this to work the package does need to have a certain length of course, I

doubt that this could be done with your 8 pin which you've posted, there's probably

not enough slack in that bundle. Also, wires sleeved with paracord have a bit

more flex to them from my experience, which also makes this a bit easier.

Let me know if you have more questions, but to be honest it's mostly a matter

of experience and not doing things too hastily (at least for me), and less

about knowing some super secret wire measuring method.

Wow, that's a lot of text... :lol:

[d33g33]

Yet exceptionally appreciated! Thanks Alpenwasser

 

What I did last niht with the 8 Pin is the outer ones first then I made the next set of 4 about 8mm shorter and that seemed to be about right.

 

The wire I am using is branded Tycab and it seems to be quite stiff so hopefully training isn't too hard. 

 

Just 24pin and molex/sata and fans left now... Getting there!

[d33g33]

Managed to finished my 2x 6pins, 8-4+4pin EPS and 24pin

[d33g33]

Just a quick and dirty update.

 

I don't think I will go acrylic at the moment just due to funds. I'm looking to see what the R290X comes in at price wise in Aus and what the X-Fire performance is like... Will still be updating the rads.

 

Just threw the mobo in quickly and threw in the sleeved leads. I've done an OK job, not great but gee, i'm really happy with how it looks!

 

[SGuitarist]

Amazing Build! keep up the good work

[Nicktrance]

Congratulations on a well deserved build of the week mate .

[TheRuke]

hothothothothothothothothot

[d33g33]

Congratulations on a well deserved build of the week mate .

 

I got a what now? Was it on the WAN show? I had no idea, i need to watch the archives...

 

EDIT: Wow look at me go. Pity it was featured now as PC is getting a full revamp with new rads, video cards and blanking panels. Maybe I'll create a new thread labelled v2.0.

Thanks for picking me out @Slick

[d33g33]

Bought myself some goodies!

 

A Corsair K95 Keyboard and M65 mouse.

 

Still getting used to them but after getting myself a mechanical keyboard for work I couldn't go on not having one at home

 

Also I started to cut out the side panel. Updates to come.

[Ham1234]

That looks really cool

[d33g33]

That looks really cool

 

Thanks,

 

Lots of filing to do now but its coming along. I've had the bottom compartment cover made up and bent and am getting ready to cut out the front and roof.

 

I've decided on a 200x400 rad in the front and a 360x120 in the roof. Hopefully 2x R9 280's as well. That's a whole lot of Rad to get into the R4