ZEUS (Fractal R4 | Blue/Black | Internal UT60 Rad) - by alpenwasser [COMPLETE]

[alpenwasser]

Table of Contents

01. 2013-APR-30: Why Dremel When You Can Drill?

02. 2013-MAY-01: Progress On Back Panel - First Fitting

03. 2013-MAY-06: The PSU Mount

04. 2013-MAY-20: Modding/Sleeving the PSU & The HDD Tower

05. 2013-MAY-21: PSU Sleeving - Continued

06. 2013-MAY-22: Making a Custom Fan Controller

07. 2013-MAY-29: Fan Controller & PSU Finished

08. 2013-MAY-29: Back Panel Progress

09. 2013-MAY-30: Reservoir Modding

10. 2013-JUN-23: Complete! (For Now)

PDF Version of this Build Log

http://alpenwasser.net/repository/files/zeus.pdf

Prologue

For those few who have actually read the entire introductory novella for HELIOS, don't worry,

this won't be nearly as long ;).

The purpose of this rig will be to serve as our new server/HTPC and possibly do some BOINC

computing. It will be placed in our living room in a sideboard, which is why it's not in a bigger

case.

The Name

Zwieback Exceeding Useful Specifications.

Because: Why not? Zwieback is a hilarious word, and in English doubly so :lol:

(I don't know why I think that, I just do.)

Main PC Guts

• M/B: MSI Z77A-GD65
• CPU: Intel i7 2600k
• RAM: TBD
• GPU: Onboard
• SSD: Intel 335 60 GB
• HDD's: 4 x WD RE4 2 TB
• HDD's: 3 x WD Red 3 TB
• PSU: BeQuiet 550 W
• Case: Fractal Design R4 w/ window side panel

One thing missing here is a dedicated audio card. I will be running the optical SPDIF from the

M/B to a Denon AVR-4308. The rig will mainly be used for watching movies, so it does not require

the best of the best with regards to audio. If sound quality does indeed prove to be lacking (my

dad is quite the audiophile, so he will surely inform me of that), I can always add it later,

using a flexible PCI-E riser card (see below for why that would be necessary).

W/C Parts

• CPU Block: EK Supreme HF Acetal/Copper
• Pump: Aquacomputer Aquastream Standard
• Res: Aquacomputer Aquainlet blue anodized
• Rad Fans: 3 x SP120 quiet
• Radiator: Alphacool NexXxos UT60 360 mm

Modding

The R4 is quite a roomy case and would have ample room for an internal 360 radiator in 60 mm

thickness with some minor modifications to the front. However, since seven HDD's take up quite

a bit of room, that's not an option.

Therefore, I will be replacing the entire back side of the case with a custom panel modded to

fit the radiator (next to the back I/O panel). Since I won't need any add-on cards, besides

possibly an audio card (see above), this should work nicely.

Pictures

As with HELIOS, I will be hosting the pics on my server, hyperlinking each picture in my posts

to its full resolution version.

To get a custom resolution, for whichever reason, use:

http://www.alpenwasser.net/images/w000/h000/imagename.extension

Where w000 and h000 are the desired width and height in pixels (you do need the preceeding "h"

and/or "w" though). It's sufficient to use one of the two. If you use both, the image will be

resized proportionally and the pixel values given will be treated as maxima.

Edited December 28, 2014 by alpenwasser

[alpenwasser]

Starting the New Back Panel

The Case

I'm sure all of you have seen an R4 before, so I won't be posting pics of it in its stock form.

Here it is after removal of the back panel.

The Back Panel

The old back panel out of its natural habitat.

Rivets

A few rivets had to be sacrificed for the greater good :)

Paint Jobs

Ah yes, the happy coincidence of this build :)

The new back panel will be made from the Caselabs SMH10's bottom plate. I have replaced

the stock bottom plate in my SMH10 for HELIOS with a meshed version, so this one is no

longer needed. It has the perfect width for this and is high enough (the unneeded height will

be cut off, naturally).

Besides the good dimensional fit, the Caselabs bottom panel also has a very nice powdercoat

job that matches the R4's very nicely. Not that this will ever be seen (placed in a sideboard),

but it's still nice to have this matching.

Dimensions

As mentioned above, perfect width.

Tape

Low adhesion tape. Sadly it is not available here in a wider version, but this will do nicely.

Edges

Starting the tape job at the edges.

Corners

And the corners.

First Tape Layer

The first tape layer completed. Over this will come a second layer since this one alone does

not provide very good protection against mechanical damage during drilling work.

Second Tape Layer

The second layer serves as the main protection from mechanical damage.

Radiator - Corner Bolts

First I drilled the corner holes for bolting the radiator to the panel.

Mesh Pattern

Here it is: The masochist inside me has spoken :lol:

Instead of going the usual route of just dremelling (or jig-sawing) out the opening for the radiator,

I've decided to go a different path and "simply" make the relevant part of the new panel into

mesh by drilling lots and lots and lots and lots of wholes. :crazy:

I made a pattern which I printed onto sheets of paper and then taped onto the panel. This

served as a reference for drilling the wholes.

For those interested: Pattern Link (pdf)

For different spacings you can easily scale the pdf up or down.

Anyway, on to the work:

Overlay

Since the radiator is longer than a sheet of A4, I needed to compose the pattern from several

sheets of paper (well, two).

Red Zone

The red zone denotes where I should not drill :lol:

Drilling - Start

I soon realized that I would have to overlay the entire paper with a protective sheet of adhesive

tape. It just tore up too easily. Should have used adhesive paper.

Nooo! :cussing:

Right before the finishing line of phase 1, the drill bit broke! Aaargh!

Phase 1 Complete

After about four hours of drilling (ouch, my wrist :( ):

Phase 1 Complete - Naked

And without the tape. Clearly I have made some mistakes, but it's not screwed up too badly.

Since nobody will ever get to see this anyway once the rig is in service, it doesn't matter

that much if it's not perfect (although my pride would certainly have liked that :lol: ).

I have not yet counted the wholes. The bigger and smaller wholes are from where I had to

improvise due to the best suited drill bit breaking.

What's Next

• Making the entire mesh to the correct hole size and fixing mistakes where possible.
• Deburring those holes.
• Painting them black.
• Making the mounting rails for fixing the new panel to the actual case structure.

That's it for today, I have to go hold my wrist into some warm chamomile solution :lol:

[Nicktrance]

This should be good xD. Looking forward for more pictures :).

[MzCatieB]

wont it be easier to remove the entire area then place a mesh over it that matches what you want...

also looking good from what i can see

[alpenwasser]

This should be good xD. Looking forward for more pictures :).

Thanks :)

 

wont it be easier to remove the entire area then place a mesh over it that matches what you want...

also looking good from what i can see

Oh indeed it would be much easier. :D

Two reasons I chose to go the way I did: Firstly, this variant provides better structural

integrity of the remaining back panel. Cutting out a huge hole for the 360 and covering it

with mesh would weaken the panel quite significantly. Secondly, I was curious if it was

feasible. I can always cut around it with a jig saw if it turns out to be unsatisfactory ;).

[MzCatieB]

Oh indeed it would be much easier. :D

Two reasons I chose to go the way I did: Firstly, this variant provides better structural

integrity of the remaining back panel. Cutting out a huge hole for the 360 and covering it

with mesh would weaken the panel quite significantly. Secondly, I was curious if it was

feasible. I can always cut around it with a jig saw if it turns out to be unsatisfactory ;).

true, but installing a rad on to it will just reinforce it anyway the only points that will have to be strong are the point which the rad is connected to (the screw points) as long as you have about 8mm around them you should be safe

[alpenwasser]

true, but installing a rad on to it will just reinforce it anyway the only points that will have to be strong are the point which the rad is connected to (the screw points) as long as you have about 8mm around them you should be safe

True. I never meant to say I needed the additional structural integrity, I just

like to have it (you know, sort of like a fetish).

But yes, making a large cutout would have been a much saner decision. But I never claimed

to make sane decisions :D.

[alpenwasser]

New Back Panel - Progress

Yesterday I cut the back panel to size (mostly) and made the cutout for the I/O shield. The fan

grill holes are drilled and deburred, but not yet painted.

Overview

It fits almost perfectly into the R4. I do need to make a few minor adjustments (taking a mm

off here or there), but overall the fit is damn near perfect.

Perfect Width

Not much to say here. Width of the SMH10's bottom panel is perfect.

Overview

To give you an impression of the concept behind all these shenanigans ;)

Radiator

A closer look at how the radiator fits in.

Space Left

The space left between the M/B and the rad.

That's it for now, thanks for visiting :)

[JBruzelius]

Intresting never seen a rad on the back of the case... Should be good can't wait for more :D

[TicTac]

Awesome can not wait to see how it turns out man :P

[Bioquack]

i wana see how he puts in the gpu's

[Theonlymitch]

nice

[91wow]

i wana see how he puts in the gpu's

I want to see this also.... lol

[Jokrik]

Very interesting mod :) will keep an eye for it

 

and yes... gpu would be a problem , or even any card for pcie slot lol

 

unless you are also planning to make a new motherboard panel, which will be more interesting !

 

edit: I see that you does not require one, my bad 

[Gtfokenny]

He said he was going to be using the Onboard GPU

[Demos]

Well that radiator placement is..... interesting.

Looks like a fun-packed build! Can't wait to see more.

[alpenwasser]

Intresting never seen a rad on the back of the case... Should be good can't wait for more :D

Yeah it's not something you can usually do if you have PCI-E cards. Took me a while to

get to that idea :)

 

Awesome can not wait to see how it turns out man :P

Thank you!

 

i wana see how he puts in the gpu's

 

I won't ;)

nice

Thanks! 

 

I want to see this also.... lol

See above ;)

 

Very interesting mod :) will keep an eye for it

 

and yes... gpu would be a problem , or even any card for pcie slot lol

 

unless you are also planning to make a new motherboard panel, which will be more interesting !

 

If the case were just a little bit wider you could actually do a dual slot height GPU

with a flexible riser card (so, angle the card 90 degrees to the M/B). But as things are

now, there's not enough room for that. A single slot height card would be possible with

some modifications to the back panel (so, for example, a sound card).

He said he was going to be using the Onboard GPU

Yup :)

Well that radiator placement is..... interesting.

Looks like a fun-packed build! Can't wait to see more.

Hehe, that's the plan, thanks for visiting :)

[FailedMathTest]

So i take it that you aren't going to run a graphics card?

[alpenwasser]

So i take it that you aren't going to run a graphics card?

Correct, just the onboard GPU on the i7. No need for a separate graphics

card for watching movies and serving up data.

[Nicktrance]

Correct, just the onboard GPU on the i7. No need for a separate graphics

card for watching movies and serving up data.

 

Aren't the specs overkill for watching movies and serving up data :lol:. Why not go with a mini ITX build?

[alpenwasser]

Aren't the specs overkill for watching movies and serving up data :lol:. Why not go with a mini ITX build?

A valid point, and yes they are. I chose to go with a full ATX board to get 8 SATA plugs

without having to use an additional SATA controller card.

Also, the CPU power in this rig will go to BOINC, so this machine will actually serve

three purposes. That is also the reason for the CPU water cooling (aside from the fact

that I just like to tinker with w/c stuff ;) ). It allows for running the machine at

full tilt while still keeping noise levels rather low.

[Winther]

with a PCI extender cable, or whatever their name is, this could get even more interresting, hang den from the roff or something.. :P

 

Very unusual build though, I like it..! ;)

[alpenwasser]

with a PCI extender cable, or whatever their name is, this could get even more interresting, hang den from the roff or something.. :P

 

Very unusual build though, I like it..! ;)

PCI-Express riser cards is the term I think. I haven't yet seen one that would be

long enough to get to the roof, but you could angle the card by 90 degrees and

mount it between the radiator and the M/B (but as mentioned, only a single slot

height card in this case).

Thanks :)

[Tim3Shift3r]

looks like a lot of work, but can't wait to see the end result

[alpenwasser]

looks like a lot of work

Hehe, yes, that it is indeed. :lol:

Thanks for stopping by :)