Hardline VR Machine

[miljaker]

Final build:

Spoiler

Around 2 weeks left untill I get the last few parts, so its about time to start a thread.

I'm lazy so I'll mostly let the (shitty) pictures do the talking. Any questions? Feel free to ask them.

 

 

Part list:

Intel Core i7 7700K

ASUS ROG STRIX Z270F GAMING

ASUS ROG STRIX-GTX1080-8G-GAMING

32GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB

Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series 650W

Samsung 960 EVO M.2 250GB

2x Samsung 850 EVO Series 250GB

NZXT H440 New Edition Black

 

Cool parts:

6x Corsair SP120 Quiet edition

EK-Supremacy EVO - Acetal+Nickel
EK-FC1080 GTX Strix - Acetal+Nickel
-More parts to be added when they arrive

 

Other stuff:

Cablemod cables (Can't be asked to make my own, lazy I know...)
90° internal usb 3.0 header

3x 30cm PMW fan cable extensions

Custom modelled and 3D printed cable hider thingy

 

 

The Build

Post test build in progress. Success.

 

 

I made the terrible mistake of swapping the case colors in two orders. So the red case (which I plan on using for a build for my brother) came with my parts. The black one which I'm going to use is coming with the parts for my brothers PC. And that order is delayed for a week...

 

At least I can try out some cablerouting and measure some stuff inside the red case. I also set up a RAID 0 on my SSDs.

 

The horror...

 

 

Using some paper to measure the dimensions for my cable hider thingy.

 

 

And the 3D model

 

 

Next up is getting the waterblocks on the CPU and GPU.

I was kinda hoping the holes would line up so I could do a straight line. Too bad, but now I have a way cooler idea.

 

For the GPU I really wanted to use the original STRIX backplate. Obviously because of the cool LED ROG logo. Unfortunatly EK uses M2.5 screws instead of the M2.0 screws which fit on the original backplate.

Thankfully its pretty easy to drill out the holes on the original backplate. The color of the entire pc will be black+silver with a vivid coolant, so I decided to use simple metalic screws. I think they fit the build.

 

You guys have no idea what a pain in the ass it was to bolt this screw in... I still have nightmares.

 

Tada

 

 

[miljaker]

So my case just came in and if there is one thing I would want to change about the H440. It would be removing the metal thingy which has no use...

 

Drilling out some rivets.

 

Without metal thingy and with metal thingy...

 

Fans FAAAANSSS

 

 

Half of the cable hider thingy installed. Only half to check measurements. Couple of mm off. Making corrections and printing again.

You can also clearly see why I need that 90 degree angled usb 3 adapter.

And sorry about the dust. It's very dusty here.

 

I was a little to "safe" with my measurements for cablelength. The motherboard and gpu cables are too long. I will need to 3D print something to cover the side of the PSU cover.

 

Also did another post test after doing all the touchy touchy with my components. All went fine.

 

I should get some more watercooling parts this week. Stay tuned.

[miljaker]

Watercooling parts order 2/4 arrived. Only need radiators, tubing and fittings. Radiators should be here tommorow. I'll place my order for tubing and fittings after I check how I'm going to loop it.

 

 

Fits perfectly

 

So radiators arrived. And issues issues issues, I really should have measured if they would fit in my case. The top radiator doesn't fit in any way. I made it work by only using 4 screws to mount the top radiator. Seems sturdy enough so I'll leave it like that.

 

I'm also missing 5mm of space for the reservoir to fit (I forgot to add the reservoir mount height into consideration. I'm a fucking moron). Ended up moving the reservoir mount "half" a fan up. Don't really like this solution (way too wiggley and way too high) so I'm going to order some singularity ethereal mounts (even if they are way overpriced). They are in stock, so should be here before my fittings.

 

 

At least I was able to measure everything. The fittings and adapters will have to be mm accurate or I will have to cut some metal out of my case. I did plan everything out so I only have to bend each tube only once. Fingers crossed.

 

I'm also wearing blue underwear today so I went with blue cooling liquid.

 

Complete 3D printed cable hide thingy. Lookin' goooood.

 

Reservoir mounts arrived. €45 a piece and I still have to drill into it because it is way to thick. 30mm screws sligtly too short and 35mm way too long.

 

And only after installing everything I notice I have the front intake fans in the wrong direction. FML.

[miljaker]

Ok timejump to a week later. Fittings here, bending pipes, dealing with leaks, rebending and cutting pipes. Rerouting pipes etc, etc. Feast your eyes...

 

First fixing the mistake and flipping the fans. Gotta get rid of that ugly sticker tho. Thankfully Asus provides some stickers with their motherboard which I can use to cut out some black parts.

 

Next up adding the first few fittings to see if I measured everything mm accurate. Looks like I did.

 

Wel skipping ahead a bit. Turns out i didn't turn my reservoir enough. Yup it leaked because I didn't tighten it enough. After tightening it the top got rotated 180 degrees and the tube couldn't connect anymore. Fixed it but I ended up one 90 degree angled fitting adapter too short. So I used the T-splitter of my valve instead. Meaning I couldn't fit in my valve until that arrived. So jump forward till it arrived.

 

And here is the "end" result. Only thing left to do is cut out my sidepanel to fit a bigger and clearer window, and cut a hole in the bottom of my case for my drain port.

 

 

Didn't reserve enough pages so continuation a couple of posts below.

[TVwazhere]

The strix back plate is a very nice touch, I wasnt sure if that was possible or not, I've seen most you tubers just use the provided EK back plate which looks fine but the RGB back plate is just icing on the cake. Glad you got it to work!

[miljaker]

Ordered some different size tubing to see what I like more. Going with the 12mm. Looks a lot better imo. Also tried bending petg for the first time.

 

First bend didn't go so well. Too fast and not hot enough.

 

Second bend. Perfect.

 

I'm just wondering how the f you are supposed to get hard-line inside your case... Flex the components?!? Guess I'll figure that one out when I have to do it.

[miljaker]

My amazing fittings calculation. 5 cents to the person who can decipher what I ended up needing.

[Grace_]

What websites would you recommend buying parts from (processor and gpu specifically)? 

Looks really good, by the way, can't wait to see the finished product!

[miljaker]

The complete 3D printed thingy was a bit off in total length. Had to cut some away.

[miljaker]

 

[miljaker]

Some videos of draining and filling the loop:

 

Draining should be aloooot easier now with the valve installed and especially after I cut a hole in the bottom of my case.

 

 

 

I'll update all the parts in the OP when I have some more time.