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Case Mod - In Progress Parvum Systems ITX - "White Gold"

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Mrhunter, 6 Apr 2014.

  1. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Hey all! Wanted to share my first ever ITX build with Bit Tech.

    Thanks to:

    [​IMG]

    Sponsored by:
    (In the typical Georgestorm style thread) My wallet :) But would like to mention David Keys over @ Rigmods who will be doing some painting for me, and Montymole's modding emporium for hooking me up with some goodies / painting.

    I've been working on it for a while now, it's still about .. 1 month away from being completed due to funds and my wild imagination. The aim of the project was to create something cheap yet powerful to use as a Development Computer / for taking to LANS. So I wanted something that would drive multiple monitors and then be easy to put in a suitcase to hop on the train (I go to quite a few LANS / year).

    The title comes simply from the fact, it's a water cooled build and the case is gold. My general thought as to what I wanted was to create something that wasn't "Like every other gold build" out there, so I wanted to mix in more colors. Like Black, Red, Gold, White, etc.

    As pointed out by a fellow Forum member Bnegative - it has no relevance to the Room odorisers called Liquid Gold... xD Which can be used for other things..
    [​IMG]
    But I've changed the name to White Gold for the now.. (Thanks for pointing it out).


    The specs are somewhat acceptable, I had a few of the parts already laying around and thought that they suited my needs. I also wanted to see what the limitations of the case where, e.g. How much I could fit in.

    Specifcation:
    Intel I5 3570k
    Evga SC 660ti 2GB
    Corsair Vengance 16GB (Gold Dimms)
    Silverstone SFX 450w PSU
    B75m-ITX
    1TB Caviar Black HDD
    3 x Assorted SSD (Got a few laying around).
    Parvum ITX Case (A given)
    3 x Asus 27" 1080P Monitors
    Razer Black Widow ultimate
    Razer Taipan
    Steelseries V2

    Watercooling parts:
    (This is still open to change, and I am on a sort of budget)
    EK 660 Block
    EK Supremacy ITX CPU block
    EK Compression fittings 3/8 - 5/8
    80mm alphacool rad
    120mm alphacool rad
    Black tubing..
    EK Red coolant (or some form of red coolant).
    EK DCC + Pump combo
    2 x F12 fans
    2 x 80mm F8 fans
    (Wanted to mod a few fans, although might change over to some Enermax fans).
    Also plan on building a res.. which seems like good fun.

    I chose these parts for a pretty good reason, I had all of them laying around for the most part. A few things I have bought / own already. So it kept the build cheap for the beginning, for the justification as to why I'd want three 27" 1080p monitors :) They are cheap and I have bad eyes. I also play Leauge / Counter strike so only really need a low / mid range GPU to drive the displays for development purposes. I've tried to keep all of my watercooling prices as low as possible as I don't plan on Overclocking and I only have 2 rads to play around with. I am jumping down from a high end ATX board though ;(

    Todo / Planned:
    Keyboard (Painted / Change LEDS and braiding)
    Mouse (Painted / Change LEDS and braiding)
    Monitors (Screen stand + painted)
    PSU (Braid)
    Case (Work out where everything is going to go!)
    Watercooling (Build custom res and fit all the large parts into case)
    Put it all together and win at life.

    Now as I've already been making this. Heres a couple of shots as to where the case is at the moment, but will upload all the "Step by steps" when I find the cable for my DSLR.
    [​IMG]
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    The case itself is Frosted Acrylic with Gold accents, I said to Parvum. Can they make me a surprise :) And I'll make something out of it. And they sent me this! Which is one of the newer (Retail) versions of their case. In the case you can already see how nice the red / black stands out. And whilst not to everyones taste, I think black and red are a nice contrast to the gold and frosted acrylic. I've just used extenders for the now whilst I work out final colours. But red cables / red coolant with the "features" in gold (Pump etc) and all the fixtures in black / gold. The tubing will actually be black so you can't see the fluid til it hits the blocks!

    The case itself is great, my only niggle with it is that I've not used acrylic before, and I would recommend using gloves when handling (it's really easy to dirty the acrylic if it's gloss and not a matt colour). Other than that it's easy to build in once you get to grips with it, for an ITX case it's small. Really small (30cm length, 20cm height, 20cm width - Need to double check that) but this is still plenty of room to install quite a few things into.. Including full length GPU's.

    Anway,

    What do you all think? Might upload a few images soon, oh! THANKS AGAIN PARVUM :) I LOVE THE CASE!! For the moment she's on air, whilst I work on other things. More pics coming of the other planned things however.
     
    Last edited: 8 Apr 2014
  2. MODZERO

    MODZERO Minimodder

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    Very cool, never been to keen on gold builds but this seems to work really well. Great to see more Parvum builds! How did you manage to get one?? Look forward to watching this progress. Subbed.

    J.
     
  3. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    First of all thanks :) I didn't want it to be another gold build (although I do like some of them). (Black / gold) and I really love red. So thought it might work.

    Getting all my stuff painted to match with white / gold and accents of red and black.

    As far as how I got it.. I know parvum IRL so pestered them to make me one and paid them for it. Sure if you drop them an email they'll make one for you :) no idea what the actual rrp is though.
     
  4. montymole

    montymole Rigid Tubist

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    I will provide you with some Enermax Cluster Advance in white and Gold painting them tonight i love this build already
     
  5. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks, probably better than the ghetto f12's! But I can't wait to see this DCC.... It's going to bring this build to the next level! But shhhhhhhh we can't reveal that just yet. :)
     
  6. montymole

    montymole Rigid Tubist

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    I will paint the fans and get them ready with the DDC and get it all down to your for Tuesday tubing thrown in with the 10 fittings :)
     
  7. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Well as Monty's already namedropped what he's made for me (I was planning on keeping it a bit of a secret :D). But hey ho, he has generously sorted me out with a few bit's and pieces for my new build, and lended me his painting skills. Checkout some of his builds / some of his work (much like the retro future build he's doing) ANYWAY Thanks again Monty!

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    So these are a few of the things that are going into the build, all painted by Monty!

    I would have love to have attempted to paint them, but I'm way to impatient for that.

    So we can start to see some of the colour scheme come into play..
     
  8. MODZERO

    MODZERO Minimodder

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    Haha, awesome! Can't wait to see it come together.

    J.
     
  9. B NEGATIVE

    B NEGATIVE All Hail Kim Jong Magoo!

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    I was expecting some Village people thing going on...

    [​IMG]

    Just sayin'
     
  10. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Hahahahahaha, didn't even know that. Well this is awkward! Project name change?

    Or shall I just rock it now you've discovered the secret meaning to this awesome project.

    It's nothing to do with PC's.... ^.^

    Wait wait.... how did you know about these xD

    Edit: Updated original thread. :D
     
  11. AlienwareAndy

    AlienwareAndy What's a Dremel?

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    Just don't call it Rush Reds....
     
  12. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Oh gawd what have I unleashed, oh well ;) Do you like the rig aside from that? XD
     
  13. B NEGATIVE

    B NEGATIVE All Hail Kim Jong Magoo!

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    I'm old and I have been about....dip a smoke into it and pass it to a gurning fool,watch their head go up in flames or explode.

    You know,I like the way you responded to that,I'm subbed purely on this basis,the build is an added extra.
     
  14. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Crazy stuff. Thanks :) If there is no humour in the world it would be a very very boring place to live..! Anyway - hopefully an update soon!
     
    B NEGATIVE likes this.
  15. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Update: Thought I'd show a few pictures of the case when it arrived. It's a really easy case to construct - would note remember to put PCI bracket / fans in before you fully assemble. Because the acrylic overlaps the screw mounts at the front.

    As you can see.. it's really transparent, so I need to think of something interesting to make it look tidy (as you can see all the inside workings). My thinking is on the left side of the case (PSU compartment) I'm going to place a resovoir across the top section so you can see the water through the case. As there is quite a bit of space, whilst in the bottom of the PSU compartment I'll have all my hardrives and maybe some sort of secondary acrylic to hide the cables (as you can see each and everyone).
    [​IMG]
    All of the pieces with a motherboard not sitting on it's anti static bag, I do love how simplistic it all is to put together. And the CNC quality is amazing.
    [​IMG]
    The mobo tray / some of the bits and pieces,
    [​IMG]
    From the back (she so sexy), I need to think of a way to really light up the Parvum logo on the right. And also thinking I might spray the PSU to match the case (as I planned on having a red backplate / PCI bracket)
    [​IMG]
    From the front (she so amazing), I love how shiney the glossy acrylic is.. I don't think I'd like mat after seeing how shiney this stuff is.
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    One thing I love about this case, notice how well the board lines up with the edge of the motherboard tray.
    [​IMG]
    And another image from the side
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    Image from the top with window on, such shiny acrylic. I felt almost like I needed gloves to work with it!
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    A shot from the top down, hopefully this shows off how frosty the acrylic is. Tempted to also paint the screws to match the case - we will see.
    [​IMG]

    Just a few taster photos really, in the box you get quite a few things (but you only really need 6mm / 10mm alan bolts that are supplied in the case). It took me about 5-10 minutes to put it all together and get a general feel for the case before I started to dump my hardware in.

    Would also say that the power switch that comes with it is really well made (definitely not a cheap plastic power switch). Also there is quite a bit of space to work with in the back of the case, I went for an unmodular PSU because I planned on using every cable anyway. And it sits in there with plenty of space.. Also want to wait for the bigger SFX to be released and will probably upgrade :)

    Now the thing I love about this case.. it's a really quick system to make and I really like working with something that isn't metal for once, would say this Acrylic is super sharp so be careful! But yea, I'm using on air at the moment and it's been perfect for my day to day needs. It's not a case that's hard to build in, although it can be fiddly at times. It's definitely easier than some of the cases I've built in, and this is simply down to how the IO plate is designed. You can route cables (24 pin / 8pin / sata / power connectors) all around the back of the board keeping the front tidy..

    Suprised with how much space there actually is in the case and can't wait to see these in production...! A good move for Parvum, as I've always loved there ITX cases but they where slightly impractical for the "Normal" user. Mind you I think they've all lead up to the birth of this amazing case.. It's also incredibly light without any water cooling gear in.

    Should have an update with some of my WC gear soon, but need to get her tidy for the weekend for a LAN in Southampton :) So will be interesting to see how well acrylic likes a train journey...

    If anyone has any requests for pictures / measurements of the case let me know!
     
  16. B NEGATIVE

    B NEGATIVE All Hail Kim Jong Magoo!

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    Dat sig.......



    You can always get a flightcase made for it if you move it regularly.
     
  17. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    :D

    Edit: Go to about 20+ LANS a year, so think I might. Used to have a gaming laptop :( but sold her and my old desktop to fund this project.
     
  18. Shurika

    Shurika Minimodder

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    very-very nice! Don't you think about painting Alu cubes same gold colour as some details of the case? I think it could be quite good!
     
  19. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Hmmm it's an idea I did have. Might sneak them in when I get my airbrushing done. Hehe but yea I'll upload a picture later on my idea for bringing some life to the metal parts (backplate, PCI bracket etc)
     
  20. Mrhunter

    Mrhunter What's a Dremel?

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    Little update - Gave the backplate etc a quick paint to see if I liked the colour. I think it's a nice contrast to the gold, it's not a final coat just "What it could look like". Probably going to sand it down and do it properly (it's like .. 2-3 coats of paint without gloss).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I think I like it, so will probably be spraying the PSU backplate in the same colour.

    Going to sand them down and do it properly, as this was just a cheeky test. But I'm thinking I might do the cubes in a similar colour? And all of the bolts / anything visible on the outside of the case.

    Also need to think of a nice way to hide these cables, so I'm thinking of having a reservoir in the top section? And then hiding the bottom section with another piece of frosted acrylic with some backlighting. Any thoughts from seasoned builders :)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    That is all for the now.
     

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