(build log) Killer Panda PC - Z370 X Code

[Rosinbole]

Feels so good to see a fellow dane modding ?

[AT0MAC]

LOADING.......

 

Just kidding, but bare with me - im post processing the pics I just took, just a few more minutes and you will see

 

[AT0MAC]

ALSO POSTED IN 1st POST

 

 

24/5-18 13:19 (sorry for the delay) FINISHED PICTURES, LETS REVEL THIS PANDA!

 

 

A big thanks for everyone showing an interest in this build, it's been a long journey and it does not stop here, I'm still not done with the closet to put it in or the new desk setup, so will do some little updates as that comes along to.

 

But the main attraction is done:

 

It's a really really tight fit to make everything I wanted possible in this case, but I did it!

 

 

Bonus beauty shot:

 

 

My re-made GPU cooler and active m.2 cooler is both working like a dream

 

 

That slim 15mm fan was a really good idea, on top of a AquaComputer Kryo M2

 

 

Everything from my extended PSU mount, to my external EPS cables and my tons of fans are blending in pretty neatly IMO.

 

 

If I had not made a long build log about it, then you would probably not have a clue about all the work I have gone trough, I have exchanged every screw and pop rivet in the

case, painted, put vinyl, drilled and more on all surfaces.

 

 

It was already a very rare and unique case to begin with, now even more so.

 

 

And now, the killer panda!

 

 

The really strong sunlight played monkey tricks on me, it is red and black, not orange, will try and get better pictures indoors another day.

 

 

Will finish up with the closet and desk setup in the coming days, stay tuned if interested in that

[TekRed]

That looks awesome, love the tubing

[AT0MAC]

26 minutes ago, Tekred said:

That looks awesome, love the tubing

Yea me too, that chrome looks stunning!

Originally wanted black tubes, until I found these and the looks blew me away.

[TekRed]

Didn't you mention is an earlier post that you had some side windows cut? The way the case opens is it even possible to install side windows? 

[AT0MAC]

6 hours ago, Tekred said:

Didn't you mention is an earlier post that you had some side windows cut? The way the case opens is it even possible to install side windows? 

The side panels have some kind of mesh windows, but they have rather large edges around the cutout, and that's the problem because it goes partly in front of the m2 fan I added, so it makes the left panel rattle. Also, the other side the light don't shines trough the mesh so much, because it's mainly only white light on the side of RAM/CPU.

So to make it symmetrical I made some plastic "skirts" I wrapped in vinyl and bamboo to cover the cable mess in the "basement" and can now just leave it open without disturbing the look too much.

 

Not sure if I have said anything about windows, maybe, the thread is too long by now for me to even handle

[TekRed]

Lol maybe it was another build log about windows I can't remember I looked at so many trying to get ideas for my next build. Either way killer panda looks awesome without side panels lol

[Crunchy Dragon]

That watercooling piping is amazing.

[AT0MAC]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

That watercooling piping is amazing.

Thanks a lot!!

 

It's come a long way the past 6 months since it was a drawing and some pipe cleaners

 

 

 

But it turned out just the way I intended it

[TekRed]

How hard was it to bend? My next build I'm thinking about a thermaltake P3 case and really considering using this style tubing

[AT0MAC]

1 minute ago, Tekred said:

How hard was it to bend? My next build I'm thinking about a thermaltake P3 case and really considering using this style tubing

 

For me it was not hard, it was just difficult to cut to the right size because my case is super compact and could not get my caliper into the right position, so had to cut again and again and adjust the length until it fit. Brass pipes are way harder to cut and deburr than PETG or acrylic is. So if you go for brass then do like me and invest in the best quality tools you can get, it will really be worth it

[TekRed]

26 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

 

For me it was not hard, it was just difficult to cut to the right size because my case is super compact and could not get my caliper into the right position, so had to cut again and again and adjust the length until it fit. Brass pipes are way harder to cut and deburr than PETG or acrylic is. So if you go for brass then do like me and invest in the best quality tools you can get, it will really be worth it

Yeah the results speak for itself. I have good cutting and deburring tools thanks to my job. It's just the money for a new build lol I'm a father of two and currently in college for my computer science degree

[AT0MAC]

1 minute ago, Tekred said:

Yeah the results speak for itself. I have good cutting and deburring tools thanks to my job. It's just the money for a new build lol I'm a father of two and currently in college for my computer science degree

yea tell me about it, I work like a donkey, have two little kids, a wife and a huge house to deal with, so thats part of why it took me 6 months to build this... but hang in there, it will all be worth it.

[TekRed]

5 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

yea tell me about it, I work like a donkey, have two little kids, a wife and a huge house to deal with, so thats part of why it took me 6 months to build this... but hang in there, it will all be worth it.

Thanks man, little by little 

[AT0MAC]

Have put it up on PCPartsPicker, when you calculate it there it ended up costing quite a bit...

Despite that, the prices there are US prices, and I am in Denmark where hardware is even more expensive

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/JN29TW

 

I was actually getting ready for some real world loads to use when OC the graphics card, but as I was downloading games it just took forever and I could not really see why - until I realized my hard drive was above 35% fragmented!

 

So in16 hours will OO Defrag be done with that task and I can get on with the plans  :cheers:

[TekRed]

1 hour ago, AT0MAC said:

Have put it up on PCPartsPicker, when you calculate it there it ended up costing quite a bit...

Despite that, the prices there are US prices, and I am in Denmark where hardware is even more expensive

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/JN29TW

 

I was actually getting ready for some real world loads to use when OC the graphics card, but as I was downloading games it just took forever and I could not really see why - until I realized my hard drive was above 35% fragmented!

 

So in16 hours will OO Defrag be done with that task and I can get on with the plans  :cheers:

Yeah the build I want will be around $3500 USD but I'm located in Japan so that's not including shipping. Until then I will just update my current build with a 2700x and a x470 board and of course some ddr4 probably g.skill. I do a lot of photo editing as well so I need the extra cores. My fx8320 is about dead but I've had it OC'D around 4.2 for about 6 years so I say it held up well. That should only cost me around $750 USD 

[AT0MAC]

11 hours ago, Tekred said:

Yeah the build I want will be around $3500 USD but I'm located in Japan so that's not including shipping. Until then I will just update my current build with a 2700x and a x470 board and of course some ddr4 probably g.skill. I do a lot of photo editing as well so I need the extra cores. My fx8320 is about dead but I've had it OC'D around 4.2 for about 6 years so I say it held up well. That should only cost me around $750 USD 

I would imagine tech in Japan is more accessible than here, at least you are way closer to Taiwan and China, where more of it is made, than me sitting here up north.

The total cost for my system is somewhere around 4.400 USD, so I could have saved quite a lot if I was in the US according to PCP......

[TekRed]

1 hour ago, AT0MAC said:

I would imagine tech in Japan is more accessible than here, at least you are way closer to Taiwan and China, where more of it is made, than me sitting here up north.

The total cost for my system is somewhere around 4.400 USD, so I could have saved quite a lot if I was in the US according to PCP......

Oh yeah its very accessible here and there's even a store locally that sells and and everything I need however the prices are way more than US prices. 

[AT0MAC]

Delays, delays, delays....

 

 

I have been working all day to finish up the room setup and finally sat down to use it, was just about to take pictures until I discovered that my displayport cable refuses to display anything else but 1024x768@60 Hz for my new fancy monitor....

 

It's really odd, as the same cable without hiccups can display 1920x1080@144Hz on my old monitor placed right next to this newer one.

 

Well I dont see any way around it but have ordered the best 8K capable DisplayPort 1.4 cable I could easily find, plus a high end shielded power cable as I suspect that's maybe the problem (they run right next to each other).

Remember, the PC is placed in the other end of the room, so the DP cable is actually 10 meters long, this new one will be routed a different route and only have to be 5 meter then, all those changes can only mean it's going to work this time around. Else I will have to re-think everything... hope not....

 

 

But I tell you, the idea about mirrors in the closet works like a charm, it's really easy plugging this in or out from behind the system and it looks really nice too, will show you when everything is up and running.

 

 

By the way, a question - should I make a new thread of the whole finished result or keep it all in this thread?

It's getting a little cluttered in here

 

[AT0MAC]

Let me give you a small update, i'm almost completely done now!

 

 

I now have the right cable for full resolution @165hz, 10 meter very expensive DP cable.

 

Also upgraded my power cable to one as thick as a watering hose, silver plated cobber wires and many layers of shielding, so it should not get affected by the many other wires in the closet plus not affect the rest of the wiring, as power cables usually make the most dirty signal interference with other types of cables.

 

Fresh air tunnels for the closet is done and doing a really nice job of pushing the warm air the machine generates out and into the atmosphere outside.
I don't want it to suck air in, as that might pose problems when the weather gets colder, but this way around I think i'm safe.

 

I have tweaked my Windows 10 Pro for maximum performance, and defragmented the games drives (which took forever for a 1TB drive and a 500GB drive), so as of now I am overclocking the GPU.

 

About the GPU, the cooling does a really really good job with those 2x ML120 fans I put on it, even with the door closed on the closet.
But the OC itself on the GPU, oh boy what a pain, I have really not been lucky with that GPU and it keeps crashing on me.

I have now dialed it completely back and taking baby steps. Just takes forever....

Next update will come when everything is completed and I can actually start using it.

[AT0MAC]

Re-post from 1. post, so I'm sure everyone have seen the desk pictures

 

 

 

Desktop update!

 

This is the front logo seen from indoor light, more like how it looks in real life.

The black aluminum and black vinyl is almost the same tone, so it's only in very specific angles and light conditions that the panda is visible, it's a shy animal.

 

 

The closet setup at the spot it was intended to be right from the start.

You can also kind of see the 3x ML140 Pro white light fans there suck air up to the upper compartment, where the other 2x ML140 fans are placed on the inside of the air ducts - with the help of the 2x ML120 inside the ducts to draw the hot air out.

Works better than I could have hoped for actually, at idle the CPU is staying around 40C with a very warm room temp of 27C because of summer.

 

 

Tried to take pictures so you can see the helping mirrors, they are mostly for a purpose other than *bling*, but actually they are more useful when the system it not finally installed and the system can be pushed around a little, as I can way better look behind it and inside it, to see if everything is installed the way I intended it.

Remember, it is a closet after all, there is really limited space and I have to stand on something to reach there, so to get all the help I can i.e. to plug in a cable behind, that is a huge bonus.

 

 

Speaking of mirrors, I did the same behind my big a$$ monitor.

 

 

Here it's slightly easier to show you what the purpose is.

I can see the inputs!

 

 

Looks like this from the front, the "bubble" at the end of the table is my brand new Hue Go lamp that I just picked up, am charging it now to play around with tomorrow.

 

 

Same setup looks something like this at brighter light.

Sorry for the colors, my camera and indoor light is not the best combo so tried to compensate in post process and ended up at this.

 

 

From another angle

 

 

 

If you wonder why I have 2 keyboards, then the wireless Logitech one is connected to 2 machines below the table, where I'm also hiding my music DAC I use for well yea, music, and right now my surround headset is plugged into one of the machines, my "Mini3" i3 based tiny magnetized PC that can carry it's own weight under one of the desk shelves.

The other one is an even lower powered Linux machine only used to browse the web on, if I don't need any power for anything extra, build both of them out of scrap parts I had laying around from other builds that are worth too little to sell but are too good to throw away.

 

 

I'm trying to keep it pretty clean with no visible cables under the desk, mainly because my son loves to stay under there when I play games, so he can watch a movie or sleep.

 

 

Stay tuned if interested in a last update about the numbers of this PC, all the specs and benchmarks. Cheers m8

 

 

[Professor Dingledore]

2 hours ago, AT0MAC said:

Been enjoying this build for a while but please tell me I'm not the only one that did an LOL spit take. 

 

 

 

 

[AT0MAC]

13 minutes ago, Professor Dingledore said:

 

 

Sorry, can you explain? I don't follow, but hey English is not my 1st language so maybe something is lost because of that

[TekRed]

I think he means when he saw that photo he laughed because it looks like a smiley face lol the fans being the eyes and the black panda decal being the mouth