Project Metaversa: LCD goodness (small update 17/07/05)

Use some fancy IBM stuff, search their site for "grid computing" which is pretty much parallel with networks. This would be tough to accomplish but would blow the crap out of everything.

Find a way to make a dual processor motherboard that has hardware parallel computing and you'll look at a picture of yourself - on Fortune magazine

 

Come to think of it I just did a huge assignment in IPT on the subject of multi and parele procesing, Got an A for it to!

Oh and Keep up the good work this case does look relay realy nice. And you must have alot of money!

 

tra la la la la... I'm not listening...!

And I don't have a lot of money, honest. It's just lots of saving up, creative solutions, elbow grease and nagging companies for freebies. The flow switches cost me, but I'm selling the surplus so in the end I made back the money for the ones I did not need myself. The trick is to make it look expensive.

 

OK, 'nother update. Not much spectacular; I'm still waiting for some bits to come in. But here's what's arrived in the meantime...

This is the anti-reflective 2mm acrylic screen which will protect (hopefully) the delicate 5" LCD screen:



It's anti-reflective properties do not show up well on a digital camera (), as it picks up light way further into UV than we do... you'll have to take my word for it that everything that reflects blue in the pic, is actually a faint deep dark purple in real life. The effect is like one of those anti-reflective screens they put over office monitors. It works well, it looks pimp. What more can you ask? Unfortunately this stuff, although tough, cannot be cut with your garden variety home dremal without it shattering like glass. So I had to have Slater Plastics (UK) make me one to spec. The material was incredibly cheap, the labour wasn't (don't ask...) but that LCD screen is going to be safe. Below the preliminary test fit. The screen will be underneath, of course.



Below is a flexible hose cutter. Costs a tenner at Machine Mart, but will cut those tough Tygon hoses with accuracy and a straight clean edge. Worth the investment.



And below is a combined 240Gb of HD storage goodness: two WD1200JBs (8Mb cache)... Courtesy of a special offer at Overclockers.co.uk



With these I got some vibration dampeners from Noiseblocker. These can be bought in the UK from ultim8pc.co.uk (they're not on listed on their site yet, but e-mail them). Below a product shot --uncannily featuring the same drive!



So what did I actually do? Well, I lapped the blocks:



I finished the res. Teflon tape and Plumbers Goop are your friend... The black bit, for those who haven't followed the whole thread, is the flow switch.



Another pimp shot:



I countersunk the holes in the res mounting plate...



The mounted result here:





OK, here comes the science bit (sort of): the res connects to the pump inlet by a Tygon tube, 3/4" in diameter. The inlet tubing is wider than the outlet, because there will be relative underpressure at the inlet and you want unconstricted flow to prevent cavitation (is shake, rattle and foam )...





Next, cut up a grille... (as you do)





Superglued it to the PSU mounting plate --with aTenderfoot hub, to match the two rear fan grilles.



The result:



I'm not entirely happy with it yet. It needs finishing off neater...

More stuff to follow soon. Watch this space. Intently.

 

Good stuff as usual Nexxo. I love those grills you've made. Looks great with one on the PSU too rockage

 

All looks good. Nice lapping on them blocks. And the rear of your case looks pure mean with them grills all matching now, greta work.



-cLoWn

 

-> Nexxo, excellent mods dude
-> keep it up !

 

you know those pointed things you put onto the back of the fans really makes the fans look like jet engines lol...

 

I think Nexxo isn't telling us something... IT'S A HOVERCRAFT!

 

Luvly jubly!

overclockers.co.uk

I just hope you don't get any problems with those HDDs...

 

nice plexi

I thought of that...[plexi over my lcd] but never of glare-resistant stuff, didnt know it could be had !!!

 

Sorry to hear about the Labor being expensive, But with custom parts It sometimes means custom work by the professional types. None the less You have a Worldwide audience.

 

Any injuries while cutting that grill? Hehe... after cutting my two grills so they would line up properly, I unclamped it, put the dremel down, and picked up the grill by the edges with my thumb and forefinger. Oh my god, it burnt. Long blister right across my thumb...

 

ouija I think Oven Mitts or Hot Pads would have been called for. Hope You were not burned too much. Me I've never used a dremel, Most of the work on My case has been done by hand with a Nibbler, Sold locally by Radio Shack. Even adding water cooling will require use of the nibbler (1mm*5mm cuts at a time), About the only power tool I have is an old 110vac double-insulated 3/8" (8-9mm aprox.) variable speed w/reverse Black & Decker drill. I just have to watch out as the nibblers hand grips will bite the hand that holds It, If one isn't careful. later.

 

Ouija: funny you should mention that... I did anticipate some heat but nonetheless burned my fingers also (the smoking newspaper, which I used as a underlay, should have tipped me off, really ).

The HDDs better be OK otherwise I will send my mate Bubba around to them. He is 8ft., weighs 24 stone and has anger management issues... But seriously, WD offers three years warranty, so I should be OK either way.

Phire, you can find anything, and I mean ANYTHING on the net. You think of it, it's out there somewhere. By the way Slater Plastics helpfully included another piece of plexi as a freebie. This has a matt anti-reflective finish, but is the same dimensions and also has M3 countersunk mounting holes in the corners. I don't think I'll need it. Are you Interested?

 

I think ouija might have been referring to the noise levels of the WD1200s. Compared to your watercooled system, they are gonna be load, especially in a RAID 0 setup. I just replaced the ones in my HTPC with two Seagate Barracuda V's...HUGE difference. I put the WD's in my desktop pc which, like yours, is geared for performance. After following your thread here, I don't think you're going for a silent pc, but you might take it into consideration.

 

I was going for a compromise between silence and performance, but I may be naive on that point... the 80mm fans are thermostat-regulated so shouldn't run at top speed most of the time. Same with the PSU. The alu panaflo is the quieter "L" version. That should help.

The WD1200's were chosen for performance and temps, reasoning that it is less noisy to insulate a cool, loud drive than to cool a silent but hot drive... There will be some insulation in the top bays. The newer WD1200s also have fluid bearings and should be slightly quieter. Also, no RAID array, I'm afraid --again compromises (performance vs reliability); I want to use the first HD for OS and programs, the second for swap file and data. That ought to speed things up slightly.

The whole thing is basically one compromise. Watercooling but in a manageably small case, so it is not the most powerful cooling setup; quieter medium fans rather than powerful screamers (no "I like my fans like my women: cool, high performing, and noisy" jokes here ), functionality over outrageous looks, multi-tasking SMP over out-and-out speed, etc. It's all about practicality and all-round usefulness. Still, I did not want to compromise too much on the detail. Oh, look. More cool stuff in today. Watch this space...

 

lol yea but what is Matte finish? Is it actually non-glossy? frosted or something?

 

You know nexxo your pc keeps getting worse and worse...




















j/k bro! Great work, keep going!

 

Thanks guys!

The matte finish is like a very light frost, making the surface non-mirroring. As long as the LCD screen is in contact with the rear of this matte acrylic pane, its picture will be sharp and clear, though. No worries about the quality --this acrylic is designed to cover LCD screens like this (Slater Plastics makes, amongs others, CRT and LCD screen protectors).