Case Mod - In Progress Feeding Frenzy: November-11-2009 video card fan installed

Yes I am the insane one. Actually I have been thinking of going to work again because I am bored. Well as far as the Aquatubes go it doesn't matter where you put them in relation to the other watercooling components. That is an old wives tale about they always have to be at the highest point. My front mounted Aquatube is actually under the rad and about even with the GPU blocks. The ones in the middle compartment are all at the high point of their respective loops. Remember that there are three Aquastream pumps. One for each reservoir. They are not connected in any way.

 

Three AquaTube's must be the record.. looks good and more H20=better temps..ROCK ON..

 

Yeah I am sure no one else is crazy enough to put three Aquatubes in and there aren't too many cases that would even hold them all. I think it is important to keep in mind that FF has never been about super high performance, but reasonable performance with a lot of style. I think I am achieving what the Germans call styling which makes me a part of the United Stylorz of Aqua.

 

ive got a question for ya, im planning to put that NB heatsink on that exact mobo, and i was just trying to find out if it fits with enough room for 2 video cards? as i cant find info anywhere else thanks, hope u can help

 

Yes and later today or tomorrow I can show you some pics of the board in SLI with a TwinPlex between them and you be the judge.

 

Well as it turns out my A.C. Ryan stuff shows up tomorrow from Performance PCS so I decided it was time to put the Silver Cuplex XT on the board. Tomorrow my black connectors and gold molex stuff goes in. Later tonight I will put it in the case. However, I often hear that people that read English have a hard time deciphering the German AC manuals so this set of pics is for you. As you probably noticed the stock screws on this cooler disappeared in favor of my stainless steel buttonheads.

Here is the XT mounted loosely and shows the proper fastener sequence. If I ever take it off I think I will eliminate the plastic washer under the spring as it seems to hinder proper spring placement, but it also keeps the spring from digging into the mount and binding up so you pays your money and you take your chances.








Here is the nut that goes on top of the spring and the studs that are included with the kit. I wanted to use the studs with my Asus A8N-SLI backing plate but they weren't long enough. So I used the included machine screws. I assumed that the part with the upraised area on the nuts was to go on the spring side.






Artic Silver 5 applied and springs are sitting on ready.






Here is the XT mounted and the nuts carefully tightened up. I used 1/4 turns alternating from side to side.







And last I have a side view for you. The instructions say that the springs should be compressed enough that a single sheet of paper can be slid between them.






That's it for now. Will try and get some more pics up later tonight with the MB permanently installed (I hope).

Added:


All right I promised you guys some pics of the MB installed tonight so here it is. No tubing in yet and the video cards were put in just for show as they are missing the waterblocks.






All right I took pity on R1ckCa1n and decided that I could at least put some tubing in. The water flows from the pump > radiator > Cuplex XT > Twinplex > Aquatube. When my stuff shows up from Performance PCS tomorrow I can put the PSU in and start the wiring job.






Looking from the front of the case. The original plan was to run the return line from the NB right between the memory modules as it seemed like a straight shot and would probably be near invisible. Then I got to be thinking of adding some longer video cards down the line and decided that would be a problem. So I decided to go outside the memory modules. Hopefully it will look okay...






A couple of close ups of the NB and SLI action. If your really observant you might notice I didn't use those ugly looking MB hold down screws. Found another use for my buttonhead stainless screws.









Here we are down near the bottom back of the case for a closeup of the radiator line going to the CPU cooler.







A close up of the NB return line where it goes through the bulkhead fitting. You can see the ATX connector on the left side that I painted a while back. This will be replaced with a black connector I got from A.C. Ryan. Dang those hairs!







And of course a nice view of everything from the front of the case.

 

That is breathtaking... it really is. I cant believe the cleanliness you have achieved with so much gear in there!

Brilliant, subscribed!

 

Thank you for the accolade Got some more pics coming up quick.

 

All right, now that the MB is in it is time to work on the PSU. Just to review a bit I am using a PCP&C Turbo Cool 510 SLI. Kind of noisy for someone who wants a silent PC, but I still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Here is the PSU area devoid of side panels and PSU.






And here is my PSU bolted to the back of my removable plate. You can see a silicon gasket I got from Vantec and dyed black along with the fan gaskets a while back. With the flash it looks kind of a sickly reddish blue, but in natural light it is black.







So the first thing is what some might consider some *bling* which it is, but it does serve a very important function. The PSU gasket isolates the back of the PSU from causing any vibration with the metal back plate and this rubber molding isolates the front of the PSU in the same manner. I got the molding from McMaster-Carr. If you want to know what that white stuff is I have no idea, but a little electronic spray cleaner should make it go bye-bye.







Here is a close up of the molding.







I just knew that I was going to have to take apart something. The radiator had to come out so I could see what I was doing with the 4 pin MB and SLI power looms.







Got my shipment from Performance PCS today. I figure the gold plated pins don't really go with the motif, but who the heck is going to see them. Besides I have to shorten or lengthen most of the PSU looms so adding new connectors was easier than soldering wires to the shortened ones. Minor problem in that they didn't ship me what they said they were so I can't start the ATX loom until they ship me the balance. However, I got plenty of round female molex pins so I can get to work on the HD, optical drives, and Aquaero wiring tomorrow.











Another fly in the ointment is that the PCP&C PSU has some holes in the case for adusting the three different voltage rails. One is located on the side for easy access, but the other two are located on the bottom of the PSU. The blue tape shows the area where these holes are located on the bottom. The problem here is that if I drill hole(s) for the access then it kind of looks like I will be drilling into the back wheel mount. This appears what I have to do as I was thinking about just lifting the PSU up and making adjustments, but when everything is in all the wiring will be secured directly to the case so the PSU would be a big hassle to move. I checked it with my dial calipers and it appears doable, but I won't know how it will work out till after I do it. So as I have said before you pays your money and you takes your chances.

















As I discussed a while back I spoke for about a half hour with a PCP&C engineer about using a fan that was quieter than the stock one. Unfortunately it is not possible to use another fan as it would severely compromise the efficiency and wattage output of the PSU. What they recommended was figuring out a way to deaden or redirect the reflected noise, from the fan, by using sound deadening materials behind my computer. The stuff they recommended to stick on my wall definitely didn't go with my house so that was out. However, when I was ordering from Performance PCS I noticed a really cool product made by Silverstone that looks like it may really fix this noise problem. It is called a Power Supply Acoustic Cover and it deadens noise and redirects the noise away from the wall. And since my PSU is next to the floor I think it will redirect all the sound into my carpet. I will let you know how this works when I get it turned on, but I suspect it will be a lot more quiet.










Well that is it for tonight and tomorrow I start sniping, soldering, and crimping my way to modding heaven.

 

Please resize pics to no larger than 640 wide please, as per the rules. You're breaking page layout for people!

Awesome log otherwise!

Wil Harris.

 

This wasn't intentional as the pics were just ported over from my project log in the archives section. Since then I have been resizing all my pics to 640 x 480 format for all my other logs (Aqua Computer and [H]ardForum) to match the bit-tech rules. If I have to I will resize the pics, but it's going to take a while to do it as I have to find the original pic I used and run it through Photoshop again and reupload to Photobucket.

So can I keep my pic's from my archive log as they are or do I have to change them?

Added: I can easily resize to 675 x 506 utilizing Photobucket. Would that be permissible? And thanks for the nice words about my log.

 

Well spent most of yesterday resizing pics at bit-tech's request. Also will be out of pocket for a few days. Some idiot hit my car while I was stopped and the guy must have been going at least 80 MPH (about 140 KPH) as witnesses said they were doing 50 and he went by them like they were standing still while he was swerving in and out of traffic. He lost control oh his vehicle and went into a four wheel slide and ended up hitting me while I was stopped at a stop sign on a cross street. This a%%hole even had the audacity to try and say it was my fault as I was loaded up into an ambulance.

Well the long and short of it is that it might be a few days before I get feel like doing any modding. However, while I was in the ER yesterday I think I came up with a way to fix my PSU voltage adjustment problem. Time for some more drill and dremel action.

 

Ouch... sorry to hear about your accident there.. hope everything is alright, the other driver gets what he deserves and you can get back to modding that great project of yours.

 

I notice that you are an entry in the Best Project Log contest for September. See? And you were worried about a few stars..

 

Got my vote Ace project!

 

Mine too. Hope you're ok after the accident.

 

It is hard to quit modding for a few days when you are laid up from an auto wreck. So I was feeling better (probably from the pain pills) and decided I could do a little modding. Seeing how as I had to turn the case on it's front to perform some surgery I decided to snap a few pics of the top of the PSU compartment for your modding pleasure.





Those 3mm screws and nuts I used sure look a lot nicer on the Aquatube mounting plate on the bottom as well. Much more cleaner look then the one from the beginning of this log. The one thing I haven't been happy with is the Dykem Mark & Code paint pens as they look nice but the paint comes off easily.










Anyway as you recall I was having some difficulty with trying to figure out how I was going to be able to adjust my PSU voltage rails. So while I was hanging around the ER getting sewed up I decided that the best way to do this was to open up the area under the PSU. This is the plate that the PSU rests on as then I would be able to either buy a right angle screwdriver or make one. I thought about trying a Dremel cutoff saw, but considering I am a bit looped from the pain pills I decided to just drill out the rivets and remove it from the case. So here is the case minus the plate.







Here is the plate removed. The pencil marks are where the material has to be removed. By the way in case you wish to do something similar with your V-2xxx case, a 1/8" drill is just about perfect to drill out the rivet. You do not want to drill all the way through, but just enough that the top of the rivet breaks loose. Then you can easily pop out the remaining part without any difficulty.







Here is a close-up of the plate.







This is the preferred tool for crazy modders looped on pain pills. No way I am going to do any side milling with a 30,000 RPM Dremel.







Well I got a good deal of the material removed with the nibbler, but the finish work will have to wait till I am off the pills as I need power tools to do some more metal removal and finish work.






Well time to go lay down for a while, but more fun stuff awaits you. In a project like this, one operation quite often leads to another unforseen one. Guess what I am going to do next?

 

Thanks for all the well wishes. Seems like everyday I find a new place that hurts on my body. Finally realized why my chest and head hurt so bad. My chest bent the steering wheel to the dashboard and my head cracked the windshield. 10 stitches in my left elbow where it went through the left driver's window. I thought for a while that the airbag didn't work, but in reality that is what probably saved me from ending up in an ICU.

Yes the star thing bothered me for a day or two, but then I realized that I didn't really care because I was doing something I enjoyed and would keep doing it regardless of whatever anyone else thought.

 

'Someone' just gave you 5 stars Whoops!

 

Wow! I just plug along on my project, but some stars always helps me when I am down about how long this case is taking. If I got a new V-2000 case I could probably mod it to the same condition in just a few days knowing what I know now. But that is the key issue of knowing what to do. One of the reason I do this project in such detail is so others can follow my footsteps without having to go through all the mental gyrations I have trying to figure out this gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

When I first signed up with Photobucket there was some kind of reference about exceeding the bandwidth of ten times the normal Premium account. I have been starting to get a wee bit worried as these are the stats in the last 12 days:

Bandwidth: 18.1636 Gb

Hits: 182,300

Album size: 26.46 Mb @ 311 pics

While I was typing this post I got another 525 hits on my pics! Fortunately I got a response from Photobucket that there is NO bandwidth limitations on Premium accounts. I think they may be losing $$ on me.