Completed Rig: Spoiler HI again! So that time has come where me and the better half have come to realise that living with a Thermaltake X9 is fantastic if you live in a mansion!. However, living in a normal home it really is annoying. As much as I love the build, the case, the looks and the time I put into it, I just get annoyed at the fact I can't sit against my desk properly, can't get my knees beneath it either. It also restricts what desk we buy so to that end its gonna be getting stripped out and one of the loops is going into my new build! Step aside Thermaltake X9: and into the ring the INWIN 303! I've been thinking of doing this for a while now and I was going to use the Thermaltake View 21, but they aren't planning a white edition and I really don't want to spray another PC case in November/December (in the house, white speckles everywhere!). The case is obviously much much smaller than the X9 so I will be dropping down to one loop for the GPU, CPU and Mobo VRMS. The basic stuff in the PC is getting transferred over, however I can only fit one of the Mayhems Havocs in the case, which will be in the bottom (very snug!). So my new shopping list (all ordered tonight) is: INWIN 303 White Edition - https://www.scan.co.uk/products/in-...pered-glass-window-mitx-matx-atx-usb-30-white Crucial MX300 525GB - https://www.scan.co.uk/products/525...ead-530mb-s-write-510mb-s-92k-83k-iops-retail Alphacool XT45 360mm Crossflow (cosmetic reasons) - https://www.scan.co.uk/products/alp...copper-chambers-brass-threads-m3-thread-black Braided Sata Cable - https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cablemod-sata-3-cable-30cm-red EKWB 204mm Res tube - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-tube-250-204mm-wc-9am-ek.html EKWB White res cap - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-top-white-wc-835-ek.html So that lot will be added to the current: Intel i7 4790k 32gb Kingston Hyper Fury X Asus RoG Z97 Ranger Samsung 256GB XP941 m.2 SSD Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD Palit 1080 Gamerock Premium with EK Block and Backplate Fractal Design Newton R3 1000w (overkill, but it was white for the X9 build and I had SLI) EK Supremecy 1x Mayhems 360mm Havoc (the other + the Alphacool UT 60 240mm will remain in the X9) 1x EK DDC 140 X-res/pump combo - will spray the bottom housing white First I got to work on stripping the old PC out, I wasn't very happy doing it, but it was required, and since I work nights I figured I may as well get it done now, leaving tomorrow evening to flush the old radiator. First Rad out: GPU and second rad out: Rad back in and not much else: Everything "safely" stored Well I'm glad I did this today, I figure It was a matter of hours before my PC died. I raised an issue on the forums, with the retailer I purchased it from and EK themselves about the fact my water block for my 1080 was leaking internally. All 3 answer were it will be fine and won't affect performance only cosmetics. EK did recommend splitting the block and cleaning it and try re-seating which I did around 5 days ago. Well today its started spreading: its slowly worked it's way passed the main seal, so hopefully I will be getting this exchanged as it aint even 5 weeks old yet. Anyway the block was accepted for RMA yesterday, thanks overclockers. Last night I got to grips with the pump res. I don't know yet if I want to spray the inside of the case, however on Iced Blood I always felt I could of done more with the pump/res's to make them fit the theme a little better. So I got to work spraying the pump housing and after a couple of nights I have it somewhere I would like: At this point I felt a little "meh", but once I assembled the reservoir (may not fit with my current plan, could end up being a 240mm + the res or 360mm + the old 105mm res) and new res cap with the fittings I felt a lot happier! Case, SSD and radiator arrived first so I got a little work done inside the case, will spray the radiator tonight. Didn't bother with unboxing photos cause lets be honest, unless it's a titan no one cares Little bit of early hours spraying to get the flow radiator to correct colour and the finished product just doing a little work on the cable management now, still got to fit the PSU so there is plenty left! I have no idea why those blocks are showing up brown in the pictures! they aren't by the eye haha
Got to work this evening on some tubing, fitted the PSU and fans and also the top radiator: Now waiting on my EK block to return from RMA before I can fit the 1080
Temporarily fitted a tube between the 240 and the CPU block. Changed the top fans to a trio of Thermaltake Riing 12's in red and fitted a Phobya High Density RGB LED strip and controller. Also currently spraying the backplate for the 1080 white as the nickel finish would reflect the LED's onto the tempered glass of the case
Looking great fella I'm currently torn between the InWin 303 and the Phanteks Pro M Midi I can accomplish a clean build with both no problems, both will easily facilitate a WC loop (at a later date) however the 303 has the GPU support bracket I crave (GPU droop is an eye sore and the weight of a 1070 on a PCI slot is never a good thing) and the Pro M has the single drive bay I require for a Bitfenix Recon... I shall keep an eye on yours as Black Friday approaches rapidly and hopefully make my mind up in the interim
I was toying with a view 21, really glad I got this now, the tempered glass panel is great and the photos really don't do it justice, I aint done yet though and I will figure out how to photo this with the window on!
23/11/16 - MORE PAINTING!!! SoundBlaster Z painted to match the scheme and the PCI bracket straightened ready for vertical mounting against the back of the case The 1080 I/O plate (was silver would looked bad amongst the black 303 pci blanks) and the EK Backplate: Got something arriving to customise the backplate a little
m.2 plate arrived and it was defo worth the wait! Available here if anyone is wanting one, they appear quite rare at the moment: http://www.coldzero.eu/364-m2-covers
Ok got some good news today, my water block is being replaced and has already shipped! Also my LCD display has arrived! First thing, get the fans started, so I got to work with the primer, the black was making the theme darker than I wanted: and I tested the LCD on my MacBook, showing the reason why I need an LCD in the first place! Got the fans finished and tidied up the PCI brackets around the rear of the lower radiator and got the LCD mounted in the surround.
water block arrived (thanks Overclockers.co.uk amazing customer service) and backplate finished up, now installing the GPU and adding the final tubing!
ok so I got everything sorted today, the block arrived yesterday, but I had serious Man Flu and slept only 40 mins before my night shift! So today I could finish it up, especially as the back plate was finalised! Good Load temps, this was with GTA 5 benchmark running Fans turned out good Only eye sore left is the keyboard, hopefully be moving onto an Asus Claymore (the whole reason for the 5 inch LCD)
Surprise MOTM Nomination for November, Thanks! http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/mod-of-the-month/2016/12/06/mod-of-the-month-novemeber-2016/1
