S A N D W A S P [ HEDT | Soft Tube | PC-O11D XL ]

[HM-2]

S A N D W A S P

 

This my first time documenting a system build in this sort of format. I've been building my own systems for years but never really evolved much beyond the "buy a load of components and throw them in a system" until 3-4 years ago when I built what I suppose was the first incarnation of Sandwasp- A Corsair C70 Vengeance with some small custom tweaks (smoked side panel, PSU shroud), a 5820K and GTX1080 and lots of black/grey/yellow detailing which looked something like this 

 

I've kept with the colour theme over the years, most recently rebuilding it into a Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL along with some custom cables from Shakmods and SP120 fan rings I've sprayed to match the colour scheme.

 

 

 

 

Spec

Intel Core i7 6900K (4.2GHz/1.265v)

MSI X99A MPOWER

EVGA Geforce RTX2080 XC

32GB Corsair Dominator DDR4-3000

 

 

I'd planned on doing my first custom loop, initially in the C70 then subsequently in the O11 and had started sourcing components for it, but other things got in the way and I always ended up selling off bits and never making the jump, but the combination of plenty of working-from-home time following the birth of our daughter and a rediscovered interest in DIY and tinkering has pushed me to actually have a proper crack at it. There's going to be a lot of first for me in this build- first time having proper custom components made up, first time loop planning.

 

Like just about everyone else with an O11 XL I'm going to be using a distro plate; the twist is that I'm hoping to use a custom plate modelled after the EKWB G1 but modified to allow the use of a D5 pump.

Some enterprising fellow on GrabCAD by the name of Pedro Azevedo (shout out if you're a member on here) already produced a model for a modified version of the EKWB G1 configured for a D5 (https://grabcad.com/library/lian-li-pc-o-11-d5-pump-distro-1), which with some minor tweaks (such as addition of a rear fill port and countersinking) and a few cosmetic alterations is looking pretty ace.

 

 

Currently getting quotes for production of the acrylic front/rear. The pump mount I'll probably have 3D printed in POM. The aluminium side cover will be laser cut, unlike the G1 it doesn't have a cutout for an RGB strip as I'm not intending on having any RGB in the system but I felt it looked a bit bare without it. The case will need minor modifications to fit- just two support brackets in the side being dremelled back. 

 

I've also started piecing together an I/O cover for the motherboard, initially using Cardboard Aided Design (excuse the dust, it's very fine bentonite clay from the cat's litter tray and gets everywhere...so much for "no-dust"):

 

And a quick and dirty WIP in Fusion360 with a bit of detailing

 

 

Not totally happy, so will probably redo it.

CPU block arrived from Germany. 

 

 

The planned spec looks something like this:

 

CPU: Watercool Heatkiller IV Pro Acryl/Nickel

GPU: Watercool Heatkiller IV Acryl/Nickel/Black

Pump: XSPC D5 PWM Sata

Distribution Plate: Custom version of EKWB G1 designed to fit a D5 instead of DDC pump

Radiators: Assuming current supply issues sort themselves out, Hardware Labs nemesis GTX360 bottom and either GTX or GTS360 top (depending on clearance). If not, Corsair XR7/XR5.

Fans: Undecided. Currently leaning towards Be Quiet Silent Wings 3, but if the promised Noctua Chromax A12x25 come out before then probably those.

Tubing: EK-Tube ZMT 12x16 Matte Black

Fittings: TBD, probably EKWB

Coolant: Mayhem's Pastel Yellow

 

 

 

Other ideas that I'm still deciding on:

> Motherboard armour

> Etching the glass panels

> A second RTX2080

> Moving to X299/i9-10920X

[Belac F]

honestly... I never thought I could look at yellow on PC with a straight face and then I saw this, looks amazing!  Cant wait to see the finished product! What inspired you to start this?

 

[HM-2]

14 hours ago, Belac F said:

Cant wait to see the finished product! 

Me neither, though I'm not expecting to finish up until probably mid June to July. Though "finish" is a relative term, I'm hoping to have the loop built by then.

 

14 hours ago, Belac F said:

What inspired you to start this?

I've been idly perusing build logs on LTT for a while, plus a few other forums, and recent became hooked on some of the Bit-Tech modding videos featuring Alex and his enormous moustache. It's the latter that have really spurred me on to having a crack at custom components.

 

Spent 20 minutes this morning redoing the I/O cover.

 

The aim is to paint it satin black/yellow to match the existing heat sinks:

 

...aand colourised/profiled to match

 

 

I've got some 2mm acrylic sheet and styrene rods and will have a go at hand modelling it first, with the intent of probably getting it 3D printed in POM when I've finalised clearance over those rather poorly placed caps between the RAM sockets and I/O. Suspect I'll have to cut a larger notch out of the front looking at the photos. Do wish there were some properly dimensioned drawings of the board available!

[Belac F]

7 hours ago, HM-2 said:

I've got some 2mm acrylic sheet and styrene rods and will have a go at hand modelling it first, with the intent of probably getting it 3D printed in POM when I've finalised clearance over those rather poorly placed caps between the RAM sockets and I/O. Suspect I'll have to cut a larger notch out of the front looking at the photos. Do wish there were some properly dimensioned drawings of the board available!

If your trying to get the measurements of different parts of the board, this may not be the best way, but you can measure how far apart each piece is and sketch it out, then use the extrude feature. I did this for the I/O shield of my Xbox build (used fusion 360 for that part as well)

 

i really like the idea of getting 3d printed parts to cover up parts of the MOBO PCB and I/O. I know my strix MOBO had some official asus ones available to print on the driver page. I would take a look at any ones directly from your MOBO manufacturer (MSI might have some, not sure) because you can take the measurements for mounting etc. and apply them to your own.

 

Good luck, looking forward to see it finished!

 

 

EDIT: perhaps if you emailed MSI they could give you some measurements?

[HM-2]

3 hours ago, Belac F said:

If your trying to get the measurements of different parts of the board, this may not be the best way, but you can measure how far apart each piece is and sketch it out, then use the extrude feature.

I might just end up terminating the I/O shield on the longer notched side about 10mm above the board- quite a few of the real OEM ones I've seen do this to, likely for the purpose of dodging caps and ICs. You can see on stuff like the X299 Gaming 7 that the I/O cover doesn't extend all the way down to the board; looks like they just use a slight overhang to make it less noticeable from side on

 

4 hours ago, Belac F said:

I would take a look at any ones directly from your MOBO manufacturer (MSI might have some, not sure) because you can take the measurements for mounting etc.

I'll drop MSI an email, but failing that I notice that a Spanish eBay seller has been relisting a broken X99A MPOWER for the last ~6 months seemingly without actually selling it. I might reach out to them and see if they can do me a deal and use that as a base. For motherboard armour I can overlay some of the 2mm acrylic to make a rough map of the heat sinks, PCIE slots and buttons, then do some cuts and trial fits with a dremel until I'm happy.

 

Once that's done I can scan it, sketch it up, then get it laser cut from 2mm alu and back with plastidip, or get 3D printed.

[HM-2]

Custom distribution plate ordered today with a local CNC provider who is keen to get some experience of working with acrylic.

He's offered to do for a very fair price (around half the cost of the EKWB G1 distro plate) and no costs if it doesn't work out; I've insisted I would at least pay for materials.

 

Also made some tweaks to the I/O cover in order to make it 3D printable (IE split into two components for later gluing) and ordered via SGD, at ~£20 even if it doesn't work it's no great loss. Should have it next week.

[kkpatel87]

What is your plan for the GPU bracket?

[HM-2]

3 minutes ago, kkpatel87 said:

What is your plan for the GPU bracket?

I'm likely to be getting a second RTX2080 within the next 6 months so I'll continue using the horizontal placement and existing Lian Li support bracket most probably.

Whilst I like the aesthetic of vertical mount, it limits you in multiple GPU options and also potentially in lower radiator clearance given my bottom rad is likely to be 55-60mm.

[kkpatel87]

2 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

I'm likely to be getting a second RTX2080 within the next 6 months so I'll continue using the horizontal placement and existing Lian Li support bracket most probably.

Whilst I like the aesthetic of vertical mount, it limits you in multiple GPU options and also potentially in lower radiator clearance given my bottom rad is likely to be 55-60mm.

My two cents on this is to use a cantilever mount that holds/attaches at the rear edge of the graphics cards and attach to the mobo attachment points. That way you get no sag and no PCIE slot block. Let me know if you want some more info on that.

[HM-2]

1 minute ago, kkpatel87 said:

My two cents on this is to use a cantilever mount that holds/attaches at the rear edge of the graphics cards and attach to the mobo attachment points. That way you get no sag and no PCIE slot block. Let me know if you want some more info on that.

I think that's what I've got already in place, visible here: 

 

It came with the case, threads into the centre/centre and centre/lower motherboard mounts and has a support padded bracket/triangualtion point that sits between the GPU fans.

There's another padded bracket/triangulation point in the box upstais  

[kkpatel87]

1 minute ago, HM-2 said:

I think that's what I've got already in place, visible here: 

 

It came with the case, threads into the centre/centre and centre/lower motherboard mounts and has a support padded bracket/triangualtion point that sits between the GPU fans.

There's another padded bracket/triangulation point in the box upstais  

Derp, so stealthy i missed that. That should work for air cooled cards if you stick to that route. Might get a bit dicey with water cooled cards, if you plan to go in that direction.

[HM-2]

Just now, kkpatel87 said:

Derp, so stealthy i missed that. That should work for air cooled cards if you stick to that route. Might get a bit dicey with water cooled cards, if you plan to go in that direction.

I will be water cooling GPUs, so anything you might be able to advise that might have a bit more...heft would be appreciated.

[kkpatel87]

2 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

I will be water cooling GPUs, so anything you might be able to advise that might have a bit more...heft would be appreciated.

What slot do you plan on putting the 2nd graphics card?

[HM-2]

Slot 2 (so 3-slot total spacing). I've already resigned myself to replacing the rear bracket and possibly desoldering the extraneous DisplayPort output so I can get it down to single slot profile and retain my Wi-Fi card without dropping my M.2 down to 2x

[kkpatel87]

10 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

Slot 2 (so 3-slot total spacing). I've already resigned myself to replacing the rear bracket and possibly desoldering the extraneous DisplayPort output so I can get it down to single slot profile and retain my Wi-Fi card without dropping my M.2 down to 2x

I looked at your mobo manual, you mean slot 1 and 3 correct? That gives you one slot spacing between the two cards.

 

[HM-2]

Yes, E3- I always forget that the 1x slots count

[kkpatel87]

2 hours ago, HM-2 said:

Yes, E3- I always forget that the 1x slots count

Gotcha, no worries!

 

So according to your photos, you are using the Lian Li GB-001

 

That brace connects to the mobo via the ATX Specification holes H and S:

 

From what i see you have a couple options:

1. You can use the GB-001 plate and change the brace from little L brackets to taller triangular supports
2. You can leave the standoffs, change the plate to a camera cheese plate or "NATO" rail and adapt a camera support system to hold up the cards. This one is a bit more convoluted but has quite a bit of adjustability.

For Option 1, i would machine triangular supports to capture two fasteners and make it 3/4 of the height of the graphics card.

[HM-2]

I like the idea of the larger triangular supports modelled above. That's something I can probably CAD up super quickly and get printed cheap that should fit the bill. Unless you're happy to share the file for those?

[kkpatel87]

14 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

I like the idea of the larger triangular supports modelled above. That's something I can probably CAD up super quickly and get printed cheap that should fit the bill. Unless you're happy to share the file for those?

I would be happy to. See PM.

 

Keep in mind the hole to hole dimension is made up and needs to be validated against the actual hole to hole distance on the GB-001.

[HM-2]

3D printed I/O cover arrived.

 

 

Really very impressed with it, photo makes the print lines much more pronounced than they actually are.

 

Hoping to get chance over the long weekend to sand it back, paint, and fit the edging so I can get it mounted in the system.

[kkpatel87]

3 hours ago, HM-2 said:

3D printed I/O cover arrived.

 

 

Really very impressed with it, photo makes the print lines much more pronounced than they actually are.

 

Hoping to get chance over the long weekend to sand it back, paint, and fit the edging so I can get it mounted in the system.

Cool!

 

Are you planning on using filler or just sanding to smooth as is?

[HM-2]

1 hour ago, kkpatel87 said:

Cool!

 

Are you planning on using filler or just sanding to smooth as is?

I've already sanded back the raised areas, but the recesses are a bit more challenging. I'm probably going to have to fill those to get a properly smooth finish (I'd foreseen this and left about 1mm more gap between the recesses and top in case I had to do this).

 

I've got some milliput kicking around that will probably fit the bill unless you have any better suggestions?

[kkpatel87]

39 minutes ago, HM-2 said:

I've already sanded back the raised areas, but the recesses are a bit more challenging. I'm probably going to have to fill those to get a properly smooth finish (I'd foreseen this and left about 1mm more gap between the recesses and top in case I had to do this).

 

I've got some milliput kicking around that will probably fit the bill unless you have any better suggestions?

I have never heard of milliput but i usually use JBweld since most of my prints are functional rather than aesthetic. I think what you have should be fine.

[W-L]

1 hour ago, HM-2 said:

I've already sanded back the raised areas, but the recesses are a bit more challenging. I'm probably going to have to fill those to get a properly smooth finish (I'd foreseen this and left about 1mm more gap between the recesses and top in case I had to do this).

 

I've got some milliput kicking around that will probably fit the bill unless you have any better suggestions?

Millput should work fine given that it is able to adhere well to the printed material. If you have sandable/filler primer that would be a good option if you are just trying to smooth out the remaining steps

[HM-2]

Awesome, cheers

 

Hit a small snag today which may delay things a little. Powered my existing X99 board off at the PSU so I could pull the 8-pin cable and redo the sleeving (I had it done at the same time as the others but the PSU side connector was wrong).  On returning to power up I'm stuck in what look a like a memory failure boot loop (POST codes 55, 60 then 19 in loop).

 

Normally this seems to be a memory issue but it's one I've run into before on this board. Last time I fixed it with a CMOS clear but that doesn't look like its working this time. I'll have a play with RAM but I firmly believe that given this and some other odd issues I've experienced over the last 6 or so months are the gradual failure of my motherboard. This puts me in a bit of a quandary; I don't really want to chase persistent issues and nor do I really want to be buying another X99 board only to upgrade in the near future.

 

So depending on whether or not I can coax the thing back to life, I might well have to push the loop back a couple of months whilst I move onto Cascade Lake X.

 

 

-EDIT

 

So it's booting on single RAM sticks so that's something...maybe it is a memory related issue? Memory controller could be another option too, or even bent pins I suppose. Some of the RAM in the system is pretty old.