Project: Deep Freeze

[MIXFUSED]

I can't wait till the end...

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guys! BIG NEWS UPDATE!!!

I am very happy to announce that @CableMod has agreed to support Project Deep Freeze with a sponsorship!! 

If you guys haven't checked out their products yet, go give CableMod some love!! They make awesome products and have a great Configurator in their online store so that you can see exactly what your cables will look like before you order. You can get individual cables and extensions, or a complete kit and they have the ability to make cables for all the major brands PSUs. I can't wait to show you guys the cables for Deep Freeze!

 

P.S. - (I should be able to update the picture when I get home from work tonight, but my main rig with PhotoShop had the motherboard die this last weekend, so it might have to wait until the new one gets here). 

[v-raze]

On 6/1/2016 at 11:55 AM, DevilishBooster said:

-snip-

Don't mean to be rude, but has anything new happened in the last week? I don't want to sound needy, I'm just really excited about the project! Can't wait to see it being built.

[DevilishBooster]

8 hours ago, v-raze said:

Don't mean to be rude, but has anything new happened in the last week? I don't want to sound needy, I'm just really excited about the project! Can't wait to see it being built.

Nothing much has really happened in the way of progress because a couple days after the last update my motherboard died, so I had to wait for the new one to arrive and then I have spent almost all my free time this week getting it rebuilt, reinstalling Win10, and getting all my software installed and configured. I should hopefully be getting an update posted this weekend.

[v-raze]

4 minutes ago, DevilishBooster said:

Nothing much has really happened in the way of progress because a couple days after the last update my motherboard died, so I had to wait for the new one to arrive and then I have spent almost all my free time this week getting it rebuilt, reinstalling Win10, and getting all my software installed and configured. I should hopefully be getting an update posted this weekend.

Sorry to hear that, it's always a pain when critical components fail on you. Looking forward to new updates!

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guys, thought I'd give you a quick update.

Not much has happened in the last couple weeks because the motherboard in my main PC died on the 29th (I think the BIOS got corrupted somehow). I ordered a new one right away, and I've spent the last week getting Win10 and all my software reinstalled and configured, but unfortunately that means I had to spend a chunk of the money that I had saved up for the build on a new motherboard. I'm also having to spend a lot of time figuring out an issue with my graphics cards. Supposedly they are both working but the performance levels seem to have dropped quite a bit from what I remember and Crossfire seems to be very picky on when it wants to work. 

 

My goals for this week are to measure for and order the custom cables and the LEDs from CableMod, film the first video for this project, and I have to re-film an unboxing video for my other project because my camera was apparently not recording audio the first time. The other thing I'm going to have to take a look at is figuring out how far behind I fell on finances with having to buy a new motherboard, so the progress might be slow for the next month. Sorry. 

[TheCamba]

18 hours ago, DevilishBooster said:

-Snip-

No worries man.  It happens.  Got to make the most of it.

 

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guys, small update!

Just because the money isn't flowing doesn't mean my brain stopped working! 

I just had an idea for the side panel. I initially was tossing around several ideas for the side panel window and what I settled on was to cut out the slotted vent area above the motherboard tray and replace it with a small window, but I just kept thinking that it wasn't good enough, it needed to be more, especially if I am going to call this a "case mod". So what I just thought of is replacing as much of the side panel as I can with an entire sheet of clear cast acrylic to create a large window. I'll still have the Fractal Snowflake fan grill in bottom right so that will hold to the theme, but I realized I would need to "spice" it up a little to match the Deep Freeze theme. (See a few posts down for my update on this.) 

 

So what I've come up with now is that the areas I want "hidden" will have a frosted look, which will help them grab and "pop" the LED lighting inside the case, and then going around the perimeter of the window I will use my Dremel to hand etch in a pattern of frost "fingers" like what you sometimes see on your house windows in the winter (if you live somewhere that gets cold enough for snow and frost). To go with this, I may also replace the slotted venting along the "top" of the case (when it's standing up) with another window so that you can better see the RAM, but I'll have to take a closer look at that once I get home from work. To be accurate I'll have to use a combination of tracings of the patterns and Photoshop to create a backing pattern to follow with the Dremel. I'm super excited for this addition and I think it could really work and will add a whole new level to the build! Here is a picture that my friend and I decided on just a few minutes ago that I'm going to use to create the pattern.

[v-raze]

2 hours ago, DevilishBooster said:

-snip-

Wow, that's a really cool idea! Good to see you didn't freeze up at the first sign of trouble. This build has been really fun to follow, water you going to think up next? I'd keep going, but that wouldn't be very ice.

[DevilishBooster]

14 minutes ago, v-raze said:

Wow, that's a really cool idea! Good to see you didn't freeze up at the first sign of trouble. This build has been really fun to follow, water you going to think up next? I'd keep going, but that wouldn't be very ice.

That was super punny.... But I laughed. 

[DevilishBooster]

Alright guys!

I'm pretty excited about this new direction, and I had another thought that could take it up yet another notch, but it's going to take a lot of work. With the bracket that holds the graphics card being removable, I going to see if I can model up a replacement that flips the card over so that the water block is facing up through the window, so if I can manage that and finding a place to cut and bend/weld it, then I'll be ordering one of those Li-Heat PCI-e riser cables. I just have to make sure I don't get too crazy because I am working with limited cash flow and a deadline. Although if it really came down to it I could just take the system to PDXLAN air cooled and then finish the project after, but since the whole point of this was to take the finished product to PDXLAN I kind of have a strict deadline.

 

Also, here is an edit for the post above with a modification to the plan.

After much deliberation, and a lot of staring at the case, I think that mounting the Fractal Snowflake fan grill to the window (and cutting the associated hole in it) would start to distract from the beauty of the frost pattern and the watercooling goodies on the inside, so here's what I'm thinking.....

I'm going to leave the window as a solid piece, and not create the extra window on the top vents like I was debating. Instead, I am going to see about getting a second Snowflake grill and modding the fan intake area at the bottom of the "back" to hold those, and then it will act as the exhaust instead of the filtered intake. To this end, I'm going to order some plastic or aluminium mesh filters, cut them to size, and glue them inside all the slotted vents running around the narrow sides of the case (to include the slotted PCIe bracket plate).  This will still filter the air being pulling in due to the negative case pressure, and it give the bonus that the radiator fans won't be blowing hot air into the case, which I think would help lower the overall temps. Let me know if you guys have any thoughts on this.

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guy, just a quick update for tonight.

I just ordered the CableMod cables and LED kit, so I'm super excited for them to get here asap!! To go with those, I picked up a couple things I need for modding the case, so I'm hoping to get started on the actual cutting this week. One of the things I picked up is a sheet of 22ga steel to make some support strips across the top and bottom of the case. I'll post some pictures when I get working on the window and figuring out attaching the Fractal Snowflake fan grills to the back for the radiator exhaust. I'm working on regaining the project fund deficit I got set back when my motherboard died, so I'm going to be losing some time to extra work hours. Gotta do what ya gotta do, know what I mean? 

[DevilishBooster]

Alright folks, this update has been waaaaaaay overdue, but life kinda got the better of me for a while. I had a IT certification exam right at the beginning of the July and starting in late June I had family events every single weekend all through to the end of July (I have another in a couple weeks), I had a couple soccer tournaments that I reffed at, and I have been working on finishing the shed I started building in the backyard last fall (I'll post of mini build log of that in Off-Topic once I'm done this weekend). So anyway, everything got piled up, but now I'm getting back at it. I have set a weekly schedule that should take effect this next week, and that means at least two evenings each week will be dedicated to working on this project.

 

So! On to the news!

 

The first update is that I have received the CableMod order! Needless to say, these cables are absolutely amazeballz!! I can't wait to get the motherboard and see how these really match up. :-)

 

The mono-block, PSU, and RAM also arrived a while ago. I'm guessing you might be wondering why I ordered the mono-block when I haven't even ordered the motherboard. Well, I was informed that they are only made when ordered, and there was talk that they might not be making them anymore starting this fall, so it was important that I order it ASAP so I would be sure to get it, and I have to say that it was very worth the money.

As mentioned previously, the full mono-block won't fit inside the case, so I'll only be using the CPU and VRM blocks individually.

 

The first things on my list with the new weekly schedule is to try designing a new GPU bracket in SketchUp so that I can have the GPU flipped with the fluid showing through the side panel window

... and also design the frost pattern for the window I talked about earlier. I'm also going to start trying to find a shop that can laser cut and bend the metal if I'm able to work out a design that will allow the GPU to fit inverted. I'll work on having regular updates from now on but, as always, I have to remain flexible since I am working full time and studying IT.

[DevilishBooster]

Hey guys, this update has been long overdue, I apologize for the delay, and I want to fill you in on the situation.

 

So, what has been happening?

Well, in short, life kicked me in the balls and money is tight. I had a secondary source of income that I was using to fund this project, and I wound up having to place that on hold. I have been trying to move my career to the IT field, and I was all but promised on a silver platter an IT position earlier this year. Because there was the strong possibility of having to move, I couldn't in good conscience make commitments to my secondary employment if I might have to back out later. Unfortunately that career opportunity vanished in a mirage, so I am now at a crossroads of entering the job market again, without any of the money that I could have been making all fall. To compound the financial issue further, I have had several components from my current system die on me in the last few months, so that sucked up a chunk of what little spending money I had. 

 

What does this mean for the project?

Unfortunately it means it is delayed for a little while. Delayed, but definitely not cancelled. I have every intention of seeing this project through if it is at all possible. I have all the system parts now, and I just need to continue working on acquiring the rest of the water cooling parts. I am hoping that I can find a better paying job and pick it up again after the new year. I have spent a good chunk of time the last few months working on developing my CAD skills (with some help from some friends). I have been working on finishing the design for the custom GPU bracket in the Node 202 so that I can invert the GPU, and I have been working on fine tuning the frost design for the window. 

 

I want to send a special "Thank You" out to @CableMod once again for the sponsorship of the LED kit and custom cables, and I want to thank you all for your support so far. I can't wait to share the finished project with you all!