GREEN MOLECULE (modded Fractal Design ARC Mini R2, custom paint, hardline watercooling)

[ciobanulx]

Banner: Rumikarimu

 

 

 

 

FINAL PICS

 

SPECS:

Case - Modded Fractal Design ARC Mini R2
Motherboard - ASUS ROG Maximus V Gene
CPU - Intel i7 3770K (delidded, 4.7GHz @ 1.29v)
GPUs - 2 x EVGA GTX 970 with Nvidia GeForce SLI Bridge
Memory - 4 x 4GB Corsair Dominator GTs 2133Mhz
SSDs - Crucial MX100 256GB and 512GB
PSU - Corsair AX860 80Plus Platinum

Cables - Icemodz custom sleeved white and green cables

Radiators - Alphacool NexXxoS Full Copper Monsta 240mm, Alphacool NexXxoS Full Copper ST30 360mm
Fans - 7 x 120mm Gelid Wing UV Green
Fan Controller - Aquaero 5LT USB fan controller
Pump - Swiftech MCP35X with Koolance heatsink and Bitspower Pump Top
Reservoirs - Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 150 Full Acrylic, Clockwerk Case Mods custom made reservoir
Fittings - Primochill Rigid Ghost Green fittings, various Bitspower matte black extension and angle fittings
Tubing - Primochill Rigid Clear Acrylic
CPU Block - EK-Supremacy EVO CSQ Polished Nickel Plexi
GPU Block - 2 x EK-FC670 CSQ Nickel Acetal
RAM Block - EK-RAM Monarch X4 CSQ Polished Nickel Plexi
Motherboard Block - EK-MOSFET ASUS M5G Acetal
SLI Bridge - EK-FC Bridge CSQ Polished Dual Parallel
Coolant - Mayhems UV Emerald Green

Lighting - DarkSide UV LED strips

 

SPONSOR

 

 

Hello guys and welcome to my new build log and what will be my second mod project.

Some of you may know me from my previous build the Vault Boy which had the honor of being featured on the WAN show just this month, December 2014

This build is more of an upgrade of my other system in a Fractal Design ARC Mini R2 in which I will be keeping most of the components as well as adding new ones and a lot of modding work to the case and other bits

Here is the build in it's current state or how it was a few days ago before a pretty major event happened and I had to take it apart sooner than I thought ...







This will be another colourful build in the same style as Vault Boy however no game theme this time. The colours will be white, green and bits of black as well as going with a molecule design in some places, hence the name Green Molecule

I still have a small update for Vault Boy in mind which would have nonetheless taken my a couple of days to do as it involved draining the loop and taking a few things out. The plan was to tackle it this past weekend though I did not expect something to happen to this system in the meantime ...

Saturday morning while I was still enjoying my sleep my partner wakes me up telling me there is a burning smell coming from the system, me thinking she's just making fun of me as she sometimes does, I choose to ignore her  :lol:. However as she kept insisting and telling me that it's no joke I got up and went to the other room where the system was just to be greeted by this awful smell of burnt plastic and a couple of seconds later realising that the DDC pump had burned out.

The CPU was rocking 105C according to Real Temp but was still running fine. Not sure how long it's been like that, it was running the whole night as we stream movies to our bedroom from it and before I went to sleep it was fine. I immediately turned it off by just a normal shut down and there went my day as I decided to just dismantle the thing there and then.

The aftermath is shown in the following pics as I went ahead and took everything apart, cleaned it and installed the system on my desk to test everything. Fortunately everything was fine minus a burned out DDC pump . The little guy has been pumping my liquid pretty much 24 hours straight for the past two years and a bit and it decided it's had enough of the Queensland heat. Just when I was about to mount a heat sink on it along with the upgrade of the system

And let's start straight with the dirty stuff







As you can see the little guys burned out pretty good, I doubt I can salvage it with a new PCB from that DIYINHK site that still sell them







If I'm guessing right the fluid must have been boiling around the CPU area that caused the tube to fog up as well as deform a little bit to the touch. My partner may have woken me up just in time to save it. Not sure if the system would have shut itself off after a while or if the acrylic tube would of just melted but I think I'm lucky nothing further happened.







Here's the empty case and by the looks of things something funny happened to the label on that Corsair Force GT SSD.









And everything out on the table to be cleaned and inspected

You may also spot the new side panel that I have been working on the few days prior, finished it the night before.

Here's a better look at the side panel



The plan was to have more molecules but I managed to mess up the left side of it so decided to just make the window bigger. Still think it came out pretty good in the end, minus a few painting mess ups due to an unexpected storm that occurred as the paint was drying.



These are the molecule shapes I used as I am not good at drawing things 







A better look at the finished side panel as well as the very last pic of the system running 

The side panel was fully crafted by me using a Dremel rotary tool, a jig saw and lots of filing

I was also playing around with this new Aquaero 5LT controller the night before. Installed the optional heatsink but didn't get to test it out.









Today I managed to get some work done on the planned case mods as well as painting

First I cut a small hole in the floor which I will use as a drain from the bottom outlet of the Alphacool Monsta 240mm rad that will be going in the front of the case.



Did a cut on the MB tray as well. I will be making a shroud for the bottom so I cut the bottom right corner of the MB tray as to better help with cable management at the back.





I made a small mistake here and started cutting higher that I wanted to. However it doesn't make a difference as I will be putting some white acrylic around the MB that will cover everything.









I then got the case ready for painting

































In this last pic you can see how the brushed aluminum aspect of the front panel looks after painting.

Some parts will be going green tomorrow while other will stay white.

The plan is to have the inside of the case white and the outside shell green like the side panel. Hopefully it will look good like I'm imagining it.

That's it for now guys. Let me know what you think so far. Feedback will be much appreciated


 

[NUFCThomas]

Very nice, i like it. However i think those GPU wires should go behind the tubing.

[Pugs501]

[GhostWindGamer]

Beast

[CtW]

Noice

[Flatoutnos]

I love the green. Much classier than the over abundance of green on my build.

[Warthoger89]

Love your builds man, best I've ever seen. Keep building buddy.

[alby800]

AWESOME

Also can't wait to see the nvidia claw sli bridge

[OhhTee]

Ohhhhhhhh interestingggggg. Followed.

[Guest]

I just came.

[ciobanulx]

Very nice, i like it. However i think those GPU wires should go behind the tubing.

 

Thanks . I think you are referring to how the build was prior to the rebuild . I haven't yet considered cables. So far focus is on getting the case ready

 

 

 

 

Beast

 

 

Noice

 

 

I love the green. Much classier than the over abundance of green on my build.

 

 

Love your builds man, best I've ever seen. Keep building buddy.

 

Thanks a lot buddy. Really appreciate it, feels good to hear something like that

 

now this is a build that i like!

 

 

AWESOME

Also can't wait to see the nvidia claw sli bridge

 

Thanks man. Yea me too, hopefully I won't have trouble finding one

 

Ohhhhhhhh interestingggggg. Followed.

 

 

I just came.

 

 

Thanks a lot for the support guys . The case is just about ready for reassembly after painting. Though there is still a lot of painting to be done for other bits   

 

 

Cheers, Alex

[Guest]

Thanks . I think you are referring to how the build was prior to the rebuild . I haven't yet considered cables. So far focus is on getting the case ready

Thanks a lot buddy. Really appreciate it, feels good to hear something like that

Thanks man. Yea me too, hopefully I won't have trouble finding one

Thanks a lot for the support guys . The case is just about ready for reassembly after painting. Though there is still a lot of painting to be done for other bits   

Cheers, Alex

Can't wait to see it!

[ciobanulx]

Now with a shiny new banner

 

Thanks to @Rumikarimu

 

 

[ciobanulx]

Hey guys! Hope you've all had a great Christmas, I've been quite busy with the fam over these past few days though I did manage to put the frame of the case back together and I gotta say it came out quite nicely. The outer bits I'm gonna leave them to dry for a few more days just to make sure and I'm also still waiting on some materials, the post hasn't come in days now hopefully I receive something before the new year.

Oh and check out that update banner

Here's the case so far:













I'll take some better shots when I get a chance

Enjoy the rest of the holidays

Cheers,

Alex

[ciobanulx]

Hey guys. I've been taking it easy over the holidays but it's time to get back to work. Here's a small update of what I've been working on for the front and top panel grills of the case

I previously painted them white, I then cut some molecule shapes out of white vinyl, though any colour could have worked. I then painted green over them and after drying I took off the vinyl stickers. Very simple do to and I'm very happy with the result.





















Cheers,

Alex



 

[d33g33]

I like it!

[123h54ah56Sfdg54wh]

That turned out great! Looks amazing!

[Simons]

That looks very very nice, I really like the green & white filter you painted last.

[CtW]

Noice!

[ciobanulx]

I like it!

 

 

That turned out great! Looks amazing!

 

 

That looks very very nice, I really like the green & white filter you painted last.

 

 

Noice!

 

 

Thanks a lot guys

[Owen]

Hooolyyy I'm so jealous man it's looking great! Keep up the good work

[d33g33]

If you can and are confident doing so, I think a ruler and a black sharpie to border the painted shapes would make them really stand out.

Also painting PCI bracket (including GPU or other PCI devices) can really make a project come together. its the little things.

[ciobanulx]

Hooolyyy I'm so jealous man it's looking great! Keep up the good work

 

Thanks

 

If you can and are confident doing so, I think a ruler and a black sharpie to border the painted shapes would make them really stand out.

Also painting PCI bracket (including GPU or other PCI devices) can really make a project come together. its the little things.

 

Hmm that's not a bad idea though once I do it, if I don't like it, then there won't really be a way to remove it. I'll have to think on that one

 

As for painting PCI brackets I will definitely be doing that once I get the GPUs and I have other small bits that will be painted too

[Buildmeasystem]

I really like what you did with the mesh. Looks fantastic! 

 

keep up the good work. 

 

 

 

Also, that pump.... holy crap! 

I've had my d5 vario running 24/7 for 7 years now. Just dismantled the system a week ago for a rebuild. 

Aside from needing a good scrub, she's still 100%.

 

2 years doesn't seem like nearly enough time, but i guess those DDC pumps aren't as robust. 

[ciobanulx]

I really like what you did with the mesh. Looks fantastic! 

 

keep up the good work. 

 

 

 

Also, that pump.... holy crap! 

I've had my d5 vario running 24/7 for 7 years now. Just dismantled the system a week ago for a rebuild. 

Aside from needing a good scrub, she's still 100%.

 

2 years doesn't seem like nearly enough time, but i guess those DDC pumps aren't as robust. 

 

Thanks mate . Yup I think D5s are more resistant that DDC pump. Though I think what killed mine was my room ambient temps, like I said 37C and above sometimes