Project Micro Goliath

[4ndromeda]

The aim for this build is very simple; mATX form factor with as much power as I can afford whilst doing everything I can to keep it as cool & quiet as possible. As silence is one of the main focus points of the build, I will only be using Sata and M.2 SSD's both for OS storage and mass storage. I will also be cooling as much as possible with water and because of the compact size of the build all tubing will be hardline.

 

Current System Specs:

Case: Xigmatek Aquila

Motherboard - Asus Maximus VIII Gene Z170

CPU: Intel i5 6600k @ 3.5ghz

RAM: HyperX Fury 16GB @ 2666mhz

Radiator: XSPC EX280 (White)

Fittings: Monsoon Free Center 13mm (Green)

 

Enough talk for now, on with some pictures.

 

This is the case I will be using, the Xigmatek Aquila

 

I couldn't resist installing the motherboard, ram & cpu before taking pictures. As I won't be using HDD's I'll be removing those ugly cages to make more room for the res & pump.

 

Currently running with 16GB of DDR4 HyperX Fury at 2666mhz

 

This case comes with an ugly orange (I'm assuming led?) 200mm fan pre-installed & straight away that had to come out! I intend on installing a better looking 200mm fan in its place. Recommendations welcome!

 

 

The colour theme for this build will be black, white & green...

 

Because the front end of the case is so cluttered with cables & nowhere to hide them, I plan to make a custom metal plate which will act as a cover to hide the cable mess and also a mounting bracket for the res. As the res is cylindrical, airflow from the front fan won't be effected enough to worry about it so that's fine.

 

 

Please note: Progress may be slow, due to high costs & low funding, so please be patient

[Aytex]

Oh this case will look sick for the graphics card the way the coolers are shown outside

[Hackentosher]

You best be using an acrylic gpu block to show through that window. This will be sick! What colors will you be using? I think I saw a green fitting? Also hard or soft tube?

[4ndromeda]

8 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

You best be using an acrylic gpu block to show through that window. This will be sick! What colors will you be using? I think I saw a green fitting? Also hard or soft tube?

I don't mean to sound rude, but if you read the log properly you'll see the colours I'll be using & if it'll be hard or soft tubing...

[GeekJump]

1 hour ago, 4ndromeda said:

I don't mean to sound rude, but if you read the log properly you'll see the colours I'll be using & if it'll be hard or soft tubing...

no one comes to build logs to read! It's all pics man :3 (even tho I did read yours since it was only a paragraph)

 

I like what I see so far....you didn't mention the total budget though, how much are you spending?

[kirashi]

14 minutes ago, GeekJump said:

no one comes to build logs to read! It's all pics man :3 (even tho I did read yours since it was only a paragraph)

 

I like what I see so far....you didn't mention the total budget though, how much are you spending?

Can confirm. Learned that with the build log in my signature. More pics = more comments = more people visiting.

 

I do like the case you're using @4ndromeda. Was tempted to use it myself for my build, but I needed more hard drive space.

[GeekJump]

6 minutes ago, kirashi said:

Can confirm. Learned that with the build log in my signature. More pics = more comments = more people visiting.

I ain't falling for that click bait! nope, nah, never, not happening....

 

*slowly checks signature*

 

o00o0o0o that opening picture  

[amvoith]

Are you gonna use the EK monoblock for the mobo?

[4ndromeda]

4 hours ago, GeekJump said:

no one comes to build logs to read! It's all pics man :3 (even tho I did read yours since it was only a paragraph)

 

I like what I see so far....you didn't mention the total budget though, how much are you spending?

I don't really have a budget as I'll be buying new parts as & when I can afford them. I estimate the final cost will be around £2k if not more, all depends how far I take the mods & how much detail I go into (I plan on doing a lot of detail work such as extreme cable management, custom paint work & custom panels)

 

4 hours ago, kirashi said:

Can confirm. Learned that with the build log in my signature. More pics = more comments = more people visiting.

 

I do like the case you're using @4ndromeda. Was tempted to use it myself for my build, but I needed more hard drive space.

I will add more pictures when progress gets made. As this is all that's been done to the build so far, I have nothing else to take pictures of. Also to me, quality > quantity when it comes to pictures. I love this case too, it's so small & light. The size of it and the motherboard orientation are two key features that really sold it to me! Storage space isn't an issue for me as I have plans for clever mounting solutions for the SSD's to take full advantage of any free space  

27 minutes ago, amvoith said:

Are you gonna use the EK monoblock for the mobo?

I'm not entirely sure tbh. I love the look of the board how it is, so it depends how it'd look with the block installed. I'm not counting it out though, you'll have to wait & see how this build develops over time  

[4ndromeda]

Quick question regarding the next step of this build, guys! As my income is very slow at the moment (hours getting cut at work a lot!) I can only afford to one of two things until I get a few more paychecks.

 

Those two things are

1. Create custom cables, sleeved and custom length. This means buying the tools & parts such as sleeve, connectors, wire etc (basically EVERYTHING to make a cable from scratch).
2. Start bending the hard line tubing. This means buying a new cpu block, res, pump, pump top & 2 more fiitings.

Vote here http://strawpoll.me/7349015 & whichever has the most votes by Monday 18th April 2016 I will go for!

[Homicidium]

Well, considering that you can get BitFenix Sleeved Cable Extensions for the time being, I'd say for for the hard line tubing, which'll be more expensive though

[4ndromeda]

6 hours ago, Homicidium said:

Well, considering that you can get BitFenix Sleeved Cable Extensions for the time being, I'd say for for the hard line tubing, which'll be more expensive though

I won't be using this system until it's completed, so to me it doesn't matter which order I do it in. I'm just interested in seeing what the people would like to see first  I already have the acrylic tubing & the monsoon bending kit, so what I listed in my previous post is all I need to get started with the tubing. Both options are brand new to me so both offer a huge learning curve but I'll document my experiences either way   Thanks for your input! Keep voting, guys & girls!

[4ndromeda]

Keep voting guys & girls! Voting ends midnight on Monday! http://strawpoll.me/7349015

[enRodjavel]

Looks like this will be a nice small build when it's finished. And that Xigmatek Aquila is a really fun case to use (built two systems in it to friends)

 

I think it's a breath of fresh air that you are not going with "a black & red themed build in a fractal design something"

 

Looking forward to more of your progress pics cause they do look the part.

[4ndromeda]

So, an interesting 3am purchase has just been made! Delivery expected to be on Tuesday, so expect pictures later in the week

[4ndromeda]

Log Update

 

So, hard line tube bending got the majority vote so I ordered the res, fittings & cpu block, along with a new front fan.

 

After using the Cuplex Kryos Pro on my current system, I decided to go with Aqua Computer again and get the Cuplex Kryos Delrin this time because the black would match the motherboard colours nicely.

 

For the res, I decided to go for the EK RES X3 150 along with the White Top and Bottom to match the case better.

 

Personally I love how the green Monsoon fittings go with the white of the res!

 

The block isn't officially down yet, TIM still needs to be applied but I couldn't wait to get it installed because I wanna get on with tube bending asap! I'm just so damn happy with the fact that the fittings fit next to each other as they are! On the Cuplex Kryos Pro, I needed a 45 degree rotary for them to fit!

 

Also I will need to trim those bolts, they stick up far too high!

 

As you can see, I've removed the front IO entirely because the cables were causing so much unnecessary mess as I'll never use the front IO, so in the future I hope to get the front panel replicated in metal without the IO holes.

 

I also removed the HDD cage as I'll only be using Sata and M.2 SSD's. This also makes space for the pump & res and also increases air flow!

 

Ugly front fan that came with the case has been replaced with the BitFenix Spectre Pro (White). Looks fantastic (sorry, I had to aha) and moves a good deal of air at low speeds! Only gripe I have is it doesn't feel nearly as tough as it looks! Fan blades feel flimsy with a good amount of flex to them, so be careful when handling the fan!

 

Had to lay the case on its side outside to get this photo due to the lack of light inside & because the res brackets aren't screwed in yet. But this is the placement I have in mind for the res, with the pump below it sitting on a 'Shogg Sandwich v2' to dampen the vibrations going into the case. Hopefully, there is enough clearance to get a hard line tube going into the top of the res to allow me to mod a custom fill port!

 

This was my first attempt at cutting acrylic with the monsoon kit. At first, it was tricky & the cuts were very messy, I was struggling to keep a good rhythm going, until something told me to look at the blade for some reason. Turns out I'd put the blade in back to front ahahaha! So a quick flip around & cutting was made MUCH smoother and easier. If i'd have done that in the first place, it wouldn't look nearly this bad...

 

 

So yeah, that was today's progress. More to come soon, will be trying the bending tomorrow! 236cm should be more than enough for this little system, even if I make some mistakes!

[4ndromeda]

Minor Update

 

Acrylic tube bending is a pain in the arse. The monsoon bending kit I'm using, well the actual 45, 90, 180 & 360 guide thingies are great & helpful, the ruler thingies are fiddly as hell but effective, but the heat gun is naff. Only managed to make a couple bends before it decided the low setting what it was born to do & automatically went into the high setting (all while the switch said it was still on low). A couple bends later and with a sudden pop, the heat gun shut itself down. Now it won't turn on at all on the low setting, only working on high. Although it's probably still safe to use, I don't feel safe using it so until I get a new heat gun, all tube bending is called off. Also, that little hack saw in the kit is naff too. Can't get a consistent rhythm going & even when using the little metal guide, EVERY SINGLE CUT wasn't straight. If there isn't a better option for cutting acrylic neatly, I will be switching over to PETG then using a copper pipe cutter to cut the tube.

 

Aside from the heat gun dying on me so quickly, measuring exactly where to bend is not easy & after both attempts at the same tubing run failing (would've had more attempts if I still had a safe to use heat gun...) I just called it quits. I thought I'd marked the tubing in the correct spot this time, but after making the bend I noticed I'd ended up with a tube the EXACT same shape as the 1st attempt. Any guides on how to mark the tubing ready for bending would be hugely appreciated.

 

Frustrating day to say the least.

[Hackentosher]

I never liked those fittings, but they look good in this build.

[4ndromeda]

Minor Update!

 

So, whether this is a mistake or not, I bought the new GTX 1080 half an hour after it went on sale on Friday 2pm. Mistake or not, this card works fantastically for me & have had no issues at all for what I use it for. No heat issues like people have been speaking of & the frame rates I'm getting are miles better than what I've been used to with my GTX 770! I plan on watercooling the card once I'm not broke anymore, but for now this is how the rig looks with the card installed. I was a bloody tight fit!! Also, only requiring a single 8pin cable to power the thing means 6 less cables to tidy, which in a case this small is great news!

 

[TheRandomness]

That looks ballin.

[Kithkannin]

2 hours ago, 4ndromeda said:

Minor Update!

 

So, whether this is a mistake or not, I bought the new GTX 1080 half an hour after it went on sale on Friday 2pm. Mistake or not, this card works fantastically for me & have had no issues at all for what I use it for. No heat issues like people have been speaking of & the frame rates I'm getting are miles better than what I've been used to with my GTX 770! I plan on watercooling the card once I'm not broke anymore, but for now this is how the rig looks with the card installed. I was a bloody tight fit!! Also, only requiring a single 8pin cable to power the thing means 6 less cables to tidy, which in a case this small is great news!

 

My god that card is just beautiful. Also with the shroud and all it somehow just feels like it belongs in that case. I love this build and am now subbed.