[Build Log] Project Bulldozer

[saab_gobbler]

 

Hi everyone! Let me just say that I'm new to the forums here, but this is by far one of the best online communities I've ever seen and I'm definitely here to stay =]

 

I've been a computer technician for a while now, but this will be my first build log as well as first foray into custom watercooling! I used to mod consoles though, so this is not my first time around a dremel ;]

 

Now, before I begin, I must get some things out of the way. This point of this build is primarily fun. I know the parts I have don't match and are not the best, but it's what I have to work with.

 

Why watercooling?

I recently moved to a very hot state (from one of the coldest no less) & I'm not happy with the temps my rig has been running at. I will only be attempting very mild overclocks and the loop is mainly for looks. I also really need a hobby right now, and I've become sort of obsessed with watercooling as of late. And also, why the hell not? =]

 

OMG your case is terrible!!

I'm completely aware, but it has served me well through the years and I love it. Yes, it is poorly laid out, there is hardly any space to work with, it is outdated and cheap, but it is mine. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it's gotten nothing but compliments IRL and I personally love the looks of it. This is sort of a 'last hurrah' for it, my next system will be built ground up with next-gen parts.

 

External Rad & Res?? LAME!

This was the only option I had with what I had to work with! The current space I have to work with dictates that I couldn't get a bigger (or wider) case. I have also done my best to ensure that everything fits the overall aesthetic of the build & doesn't look ghetto in the end. I looked at the limited space as a challenge. This case was never designed for watercooling, but IMA MAKE IT FIT & have fun doing it =]

 

So now that that's out of the way, on to specs & such:

 

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition

MB: Asus M5A97 R2.0

Ram: 8gb DDR3 (4x2gb, don't remember the two brands)

GPU: Sapphire R9 290 reference

PSU: EVGA NEX650G

HDD: 1TB Seagate & 1TB WD Blue in raid 1

SSD: 120gb Samsung evo & 120gb Sansung pro

Case: GMC R4 Bulldozer

 

Re: Storage: I run Win7 from one ssd & ubuntu from the other; both have all of their user directories (and the program directories of win7) linked to the same location on the raided hdds. I refuse to run with non-redundant storage, hence raid 1.

 

Fun Fact: The largest graphics card my case can fit is 10.5 inches. The PCB of the r9 290 is exactly 10.5 inches. It will not fit with the stock cooler by about 2mm. It DOES fit with the waterblock with less than 1mm clearance lol. It took a lot of research to find a radeon card in my budget that would fit and had waterblocks available. Since a 290 with a little overclocking performs essentially like a 290x, I went with that (on sale no less) =]

 

Watercooling parts:

 

Rads: Black Ice Nemesis 280 GTX & 120 GTS

Res/pump: XSPC Photon 170 w/D5 pump

Fans: 2x Noctua NF-P14s-1500 140mm & 1x Noctua NF-P12-1300

Tubing: Primoflex Advanced LRT (waiting on part)

Fittings: Mostly Phobya w/black nickel finish, misc to suit needs (waiting on parts)

GPU block: Alphacool Nexxos GPX M01

CPU block: Watercool Heatkiller IV Acryl (waiting on part)

Coolant: Mayhems Pastel Red (waiting on part)

 

Re: GPU Block: I know it's not technically a true full coverage block, but I've read that it matches or outperforms full-cover blocks when coupled with a fan, and there is one already in the perfect position in this case for it. I also liked the aesthetics of it, which not everyone does.

 

And with that, welcome to my build log =] I'll try to remember to take as many pictures as I can, but they'll probably all be potato quality because motorola =]

 

First up I'll post some run-down pictures as well as pictures of test-fitting the card w/block & mounting the res!

 

Cheers!

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Like nice build but why a 8350? Like I guess the name Bulldozer is cooler, but the processor is hot and doesn't perform nearly as well as an i5-4690k.

[comicsansms]

Calls it bulldozer, uses a piledriver CPU!

[saab_gobbler]

Like nice build but why a 8350? Like I guess the name Bulldozer is cooler, but the processor is hot and doesn't perform nearly as well as an i5-4690k.

Cuz I had it & I don't plan on upping it or swtching to intel until after Zen is released ;]

 

Calls it bulldozer, uses a piledriver CPU!

hahaha! There actually was a bulldozer in it at one point! It's the name of the case tho ;]

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Cuz I had it & I don't plan on upping it or swtching to intel until after Zen is released ;]

Makes sense.

[saab_gobbler]

OK, So first up here are some stock photos of the case:

 

These are not powered on, but the front fan is a red LED fan, and the two little displays there are attached to temp probes. One I will leave displaying the ambient temp, the other I will have display the loop temp with a temp sensor fitting.

 

Here it is with what I've done to it pre-upgrade: There was a palm magnetic wireless charging dock installed on the front (which I actually used a ton when Palm was a thing), and on that is a palm pre3, which I had setup displaying a matrix text effect in red. I also permanently mounted a webcam to the top (the astute of you will recognize it for what it is lol):

[saab_gobbler]

Next up: the GPU block & test fitting it!

 

Block installed on the fresh 290:

 

Test fitting: less than 1mm clearance!!

 

There was also only about 2mm clearance between the block and one of the motherboard heatsinks!

Next up: Mounting the res!

[saab_gobbler]

Here is the Res mounted to the front part of the case. This part is easily removable, it is a shroud that covers the vertical ODD:

 

Teaser silhouette =P:

 

And some crappy potato-cam pix of it mounted up:

 

I removed the mounting plate on the photon 170 & just used the brackets. Drilled 4 holes & mounted it up! It's very secure.

 

There's also one of the 90 degree fittings I'll be using attached to the front of it. You'll never guess where the tubing will go from there =]

[saab_gobbler]

So I've hit a bit of a snag already; I didn't realize how far the 120mm rad would stick out when attached to the 120mm fan mounting shroud in the back of the case. It doesn't clear the side-panel by about 3mm.

 

 

Thankfully there is a shroud on the side panel:

 

I had this issue once before with my 212, so there are already cutouts. I was already planning on cutting out the side-panel so you could see into the vents more, but now it's a necessity. Already have the cuts marked (I'll also be shortening and sleeving the messy cables that go to the temp display):

 

My concern is that even with the cutout it may not clear the shroud because of the layout. I'm hoping that the high-point of the rad will slot into the red area in the picture:

 

I had to change the intended fan orientation from push to pull to get it to line up there:

 

This also means I have to double-check the fittings I intended to order to make sure they all still line up.

 

I'm thinking a 45 degree from the rad to the input on the block there should work.

 

Next up is cutting out that side panel!

[jszym]

That is one monster case!!

[saab_gobbler]

That is one monster case!!

Thanks! I agree! It's definitely a love or hate affair, but I'm the former =]

 

Be sure to subscribe to the thread because things are about to get beastly >=] (there are 3 or 4 big surprises in store that I can't wait to show off)

 

I should also have access to a better camera soon, so hopefully there will be fewer potato-pix!!

 

Until then, thanks for all the encouragement & happy modding everyone!

Cheers!

[Nena Trinity]

Like nice build but why a 8350? Like I guess the name Bulldozer is cooler, but the processor is hot and doesn't perform nearly as well as an i5-4690k.

In Fallout 4 and some other "new" games its almost as good or better but it depends on the game and we all know how FX does in 2012 and 2013 games lol

[saab_gobbler]

Ok, got the side panel cut out. I started with my dremel, but then I was like "What am I doing?" and bought some tin snips lol. It still needs cleaning up, but I'm not too worried about that because of the next step ;]

 

 

And I installed one of the two darkside LED strips going on the side panel:

 

The big question!! Does it clear that pesky rad??

 

YES! Just barely, but it looks like it lined up right where I thought it would =D

 

Here's the side view after the cutout:

 

Without the mesh for the fans in the way there's a good view of the cpu & gpu areas. Can't wait to be looking at the loop through there!

 

That's all for now, I'll be ordering the rest of the parts & materials I need soon, but it's finals week so it might be a minute before the next update.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Necrodead]

Very unique! Very awesome! I think that counts for more than throwing a lot of money into a caselabs, even if the bulldozer case isn't really my style.

[saab_gobbler]

I needed a break from studying, so I decided to work on the build a little bit ;D

 

First, I mounted the rear bulkhead:

 

Then I made a trip to the hardware store & bought some long m4 screws & nuts. I was going to order the phobya ones with the screw covers, but I was worried they wouldn't be long enough for the compression fittings to clear the case where they need to be. Besides, I have something planned so they won't be visible anyway ;] Here's the 280 mounted on top of the bare case:

 

Threw on the two front pieces & webcam for shits:

 

And then the side panel & fans, just to give a sense of the overall height & how it will shape up:

 

So! It's coming along, still have to do my second big order of parts & fittings, but in the meantime I have some stuff on the way to make the case look a lot nicer & to make the rad mount look a lot less janky =] This should give a better idea of where it's heading, but there's much more in store =D

 

Next I'll be cutting the grommet hole in the case opposite the side panel for the fan & pump wires to feed through, then it'll be time to make the case look nice ;]

[saab_gobbler]

A large wild box appears! Wonder what's inside...

 

a 3'X3' sheet of perforated aluminum and...

 

A big roll of 3m di-noc carbon fiber wrap... I think I'll have to take a short break from studying >=]

 

This is why I wasn't too worried about how clean the tin-snip job on the side-panel was. The wrap covers it up nicely.

 

With the side shroud on:

 

Then I went a little crazy & started wrapping some other things. Webcam, wifi card, hid the sticker on the pump bottom:

 

Then I started on the aluminum. The tin-snips cut through it like buttah:

 

And this is what it's destined for:

 

Making a shroud around the rad, which I will fill with a thin layer of filtering foam. Filters the air, hides the mounts & will make the whole thing more coherent.

 

Just got the one piece done on the shroud tonight & the side panel wrapped, but I'll be wrapping 3 other sides of the case & a couple more components.

 

I'm really happy with how the wrap turned out, It's subtle until the light catches it the right way, and it already makes the case look a lot less cheap:

 

That's all for now!

[saab_gobbler]

Time for another update! I did all this about a week ago, but I haven't really had the time to do an update (finals, passing in the family, holiday & travel plans, busy times!). I'd also hoped to have had the rest of the parts for the project ordered by now but that has been pushed back a bit as well (oh well, next week hopefully). On to the progress!

 

First I got the hole for the side grommet cut:

 

This is needed to run the fan & pump wires as well as a pass-through for one of the tubes (a bulkhead would have worked, but would have added another $20 in fittings unnecessarily & I still would have needed the grommet for the wires regardless):

 

As you can also see in the above pictures, the rad shroud is basically done (just need to make the rear plate, but I need the fittings for the rad first to make sure they clear):

 

Then I did some more wrapping! First the dvd drive (even though only the sides peek through I did the whole thing):

 

Then I disassembled everything & did the remainder of the case (with one big sheet!):

 

The wrap came out super nice, I'm really happy with the results, I highly recommend the 3m di-noc. Even though it's pricier than the generic stuff it's really easy to work with & the results are excellent.

 

Here's a couple bonus pictures with the fans on top of the rad (they will have grilles, and the shroud will have filter foam), just to give an idea of how everything will look:

 

That's all for now! I've done pretty much everything I can do with the parts I have for the time being. The next update will come when I get the rest of the parts for the build & should be a sizable one! Until then, let me know what you think!

 

Cheers & Happy Holidays everyone!