Case Mod - In Progress Project Rhino - A HEX GEAR R80 prototype build

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Hello guys! Ever since finishing the R40 Engineering Station I have had an itch to start a new project, so I will cut straight to it. The case I will be building in this time is a prototype of the upcoming HEX GEAR R80, a full size ATX case with plenty of space for a LOT of hardware, as I will do my best to prove.

This build proves as a "test build" in the prototype case to make sure that it has the thermal capacity, and space that is needed for an ultra high-end build. And what better way to do this than to cram all sorts of expensive, powerhungry and hot hardware into it!

I will be keeping this build very clean, as it serves as a statement of what you can do with basic tools in this case (so not crazy water distributing plates, sorry!)

I would also like to give a huge thanks to the sponsors that has provided parts for this project, and helped make it one of the most powerfull PC's possible to build. I would also like to thank the team from Official Nordster for the Rhino artwork in the banner.

Lets get some specs on the table:

• Case: HEX GEAR R80
• CPU: Intel i7 5960X
• Graphic cards: 4 x Nvidia Geforce GTX Titan X
• OS drive: Intel 750 ssd 1.2TB PCIe
• Secondary drive: KLEVV Urbane 480 gb ssd
• Motherboard: ASUS X99-E WS
• RAM: 64 GB KLEVV CRASS DDR4 ram
• PSU: Corsair AX1500i
• Fan controller: Aquaero 6
• Watercooling: EK blocks, radiators, reservoir & pumps
• Fans: EK vardar
• Fittings: Bitspower
• Sleeving: E22
• Tubing: E22 solid tubing

Without much more writing, lets get started!



A few renders of the case. The case follows many of the same ideas as the R40, but is just bigger so it can handle a full ATX system.



The case also supports either a 360 + 480 mm radiator, or two 420 mm radiators (if you get some extra radiator mounting plates). For this build I will be using 60 mm thick 120 mm radiators as I believe it will be more than enough to cool the hardware used.



The case is as mentioned a prototype of the upcoming R80 tower. Essentially a R40 but just with more space for stuff! Don't mind the grey paper still on the accent pack, it is as mentioned still a prototype. The case is build to be able to accommodate 8 PCI slots, and as you can see on this picture can easily handle 4 way SLI / crossfire.



Some of the main hardware that will be used for this mod. A pretty hefty combo!



However big the motherboard might be, it still looks small with all the cards put onto it.



These cards are just INSANE! I plan on overclocking everything when it is done, to see how far I can push the system.



This motherboard means business and have the specs to back it up. Really looking forward to getting this booted up!



Lets try not to bend any of these before I get the CPU in place shall we?



One of the first things I did was to drill a few holes in the motherboard mounting plate that comes with the case. This plate is made from 1.5 mm aluminium, so it is pretty easy to drill into and mount whatever you need on it.



Always guide holes when prepping to drill. This way the drill will not run off and make a big fat scratch in your work part.



Laser guided drill!



And done! In this picture you can see the plate compared to a standard R40 mounting plate.

More to come soon!

 

Good luck and have fun sir.

 

Alright, next up I want to show off a few more parts that are going into this system, as well as reveal the color scheme - Blue & grey.



As I will watercool the entire build (except for ram and motherboard as that does not really give off a lot of heat) there is bound to be a LOT of watercooling stuff!



I choose the new EK RES X4 (I think it is called?) because I wanted to see how their glass reservoirs where, and oh my god it is so frigging BIG! And also quite well built. A warning for people wanting to use the built in LED strip, put it on something so you can dimm it down as it is as bright as a THOUSAND suns!



As you saw in the previous update, I will be using 3 of these bad boys. These are PWM controlled D5 pumps, and I plan on running them at setting 1 at all times, hence why I am using 3 (I could most likely get away with just using one or two, but again, I wanted to show how much I could cram in)



I choose to sleeve these in a bit of a funny way. I made the cables very short, so I can just run them trough the motherboard mounting plate, and from there directly to either a power source, or a controller.



Only one of the pumps has all 4 wires sleeved, as the other two do not need the RPM signal. They will be hooked up to the same PWM plug, so multiple RPM signals would just mess things up.



All three sleeved. I am not a big fan of sleeving pumps, but it has to be done, and I think I nailed it quite well.



To control the watercooling loop for this build, I went with the Aquaero 6.



One of the only reasons I choose this over the cheaper aquaero 5, is because of the full PWM channels. One will be for the pumps, another for the top fan cluster, and another for the bottom fan cluster.



Now, I do have a few problems with this controller. First off, it is a VERY expensive fan controller, and this extra heatsink is probably not needed, but it is available, and my initial thought is "hey, it is a fan controller, it will get hot, so I better cool it the best I can". Why is this piece of alu not included in the 200$ fan controller!?! I mean, come on!



My second problem with it is that there is no "XT" version like there was of the Aquaero 5, basicly a version without the screen. I do not need the screen, so now I have an expensive screen that I will never use -_-



Third and most annoying! This little component on the PCB is not put properly in before it was soldered in place. The little "bend" tabs are to hold this component in place while soldering, they should not be that high up.

My previous aquaero 5 had the same problem, so I think this is a general problem with these products, so watch out before you cram your heatsink down on top of it.



Other than that, it looks great, and I love it to bits. Best fan controller you can get, and have more software options than you could ever need.



Everything mounted on the mounting plate.



As mentioned before, the lights that comes with the EK res is SUPER bright, so I will be running these to the aquaero, and dimm them down. Sleeving those ends was quite interesting as I had to file off some of the alu on the holder it sits in for the sleeved cables to fit.



The cables from the pumps goes into extender plugs that sits firmly in place in the mounting plate (made by drilling a hole, and filing it square)



This little cable was a proper pain to make. It is the cable that will join all the 3 PWM signals from the pumps, and go into one fan plug. That way when the fan controller tells the pumps what speed to run at, they will all 3 run at aprox the same speed.



Everything mounted on the rear. You will notice that the bottom pump has another cable that goes into the fan controller. This is the RPM signal so that I can read the pump speed, and since all 3 is going to run at aprox the same speed, I do not need this one from the other two pumps.

The downside of this is that the two top pumps could theoretically die on me without me being able to see it in the software, but what are the odds?



Closeup of the splitter.



And how everything looks from the rear. I still need to mount the cable from the reservoir lights though.

More to come soon!

 

Such a clean build!

You ought to be careful when near a thousand suns, don't look directly into them and watch not to burn your... computer.

While I feel your pain the fact is that the controller is probably as cheap as it can be. There is a post on OCN where Shoggy explains that there probably won't be an LT version of the AQ6 as the AQ5 LT is basically sold at a loss or around BOM cost, just so that they could maintain the userbase. I would argue that it is fairly priced considering it has no direct competition, either in functionality or quality.

As for the heatsink, the main reason is that it must be double sided CNC milled (with a person turning it) and they do not do anodizing in house, that way you have to account for the work as well as the logistics cost.

This is something that seems unprofessional considering all things mentioned above... Have you tried contacting them?

 

I get what you are saying, but right now I am paying money to have a screen that just sits in a box somewhere, and is not used. I would not mind if the LT was more expensive, I would have gotten it anyways instead of the one with the screen. In my opinion the LT was too cheap, and I would not mind paying more for that exact version.

Just a quick update in regards to the radiators I will be using.



I have always been a fan of the rule of thumb that you need a 120 mm radiator for each component, and then one extra to quiet things down. For example, for a cpu/gpu setup, I would go with a 360 mm radiator, for a dual GPU + CPU I would go with a quad setup etc.



When it comes to radiator capacity more is always better, up until a certain point where you do not really get anything in return. Yes you can buy a HUGE case and put 4 480 mm radiators in there, but in this build I would like to prove that a 480 + a 360 is MORE than enough to cool an ultra high-end build without the need of 3000 RPM fans.



Bottom of the case (Or top, depending on how you mount the fan plates) supports a 480 mm radiator in 60 mm thickness. You can get a thicker one as the limiting factor is the PCI bracket, but the radiator can be pushed forward so it steers clear of this. But if you go with 4 dual slot graphic cards, these will hit a thicker radiator.

So it is actually possible to go push/pull with the bottom radiator.



Top radiator cannot be more than 60 mm thick, as the motherboard itself is the limiting factor. So no push/pull config for this, unless you go with a 40 mm thick radiator.



Everything mounted. The case is starting to get filled up, and I have not put in the last "big" part - the PSU.

More to come soon!

 

this is looking interesting
i love what you did with those pumps

 

Quite like the new case.

Same here, but you could have mounted them and the reservoir on a manifold with say... D-shaped blocks that match the top of the EK tops.

 

Thanks!

Not really sure what you mean here?
Glad you like the case!

Small update with the graphic cards!



Small shot of the card itself. Super interested in seeing how the new cooler on the next series of cards are going to look!



Wonderfull combo! Backplate and block from EK. Going with Nickel for this build.



I choose the blocks with clear acrylic as I like the looks of these over the solid acetal versions. It is also easier to see if there is any air pockets trapped, or if there is any buildup of gunk or the likes in the jet plate.



This block is the same that is used for the 980TI´s. It always annoyed me when doing a build with TI´s that there would be "titan x" on the waterblock. Luckily I do not have that problem in this build.



The stock cooler for this card is basicly the same as the ones that have been on the many previous generations of Nvidia cards, just with the names changed. Lets see if that changes in the coming months.



The stock card does not come with a backplate, and just shows off the nice PCB. It also shows off what is one of the biggest differences between the 980TI and the Titan x, the extra 6 gb of Vram.



Stock cooler pulled off. Pro tip - ALWAYS put the screws and thermalpads back onto the stock cooler, and put it in a bag. You THINK it is enough to keep the screws in a bag, and have it put away somewhere, but you might eventually need that stock cooler, and it is 1 min extra to screw them back in where they belong.



Bare PCB with the GPU itself cleaned for thermal paste.



The GPU itself has a mirror finish, as this is the main GPU. The reasons you do not see the same mirror finish on CPU´s is because CPU´s has a "heatspreader" on top of the CPU itself to protect it. If you take this "lid" off, you will see the main CPU which has the same finish: http://i.imgur.com/CtnOCpP.jpg



The EK block comes with new thermal pads that you have to put onto the ram´s and volt regulators. Be carefull where you put these, as they may vary in thickness depending on what manufacturer you get your watercooling block from. But the manuals are usually quite throughout so this is not a big problem.



New thermalpaste placed on the GPU. A single drop is enough, as the pressure from the block being fastened to the PCB is enough to distribute it over the GPU.



Waterblock mounted to the card.



You can choose to go with, or without a backplate. I choose to use a backplate, both for looks, and to transfer some heat away from the vram on top of the PCB. Again, follow the instructions to place the thermal pads in the right locations.



Backplate screwed in place, and all done.



From the front.





Rinse and repeat until out of money, or PCI slots.

 

Got some goodies from Intel! But I messed up. I thought I could just throw the PCIe ssd in between the two top graphic cards and be done with it, but after testing it out, the heatsink gets VERY hot during use, and I would not be comfortable with having it sanwitched in between two cards. The other option would be to watercool it, but it would require a special made SLI bridge, and would put the ssd out of the rear of the case. All in all, no really good solutions. I even tried messing around with a X4 extender cable, but could not really find an alternative that I liked.

So the end of it will be that I will be taking out one of the Titan X's after thermal testing and benchmarking is done, and then I will put this baby in the rig and shoot some more pictures!

One a bright side, I have the Klevv Urbane ssd that I can use as a main OS drive until the Intel one can be put in.



A 1.2 tb PCIe ssd, and a i7 5960x!



This disk is just INSANE in every way.



One thing I quickly noticed compared to standard ssd's or M.2 ssd's is the huge heatsink.



Also, the backplate is a nice touch!



It is actually suprisingly small. CPU for scale. But even though it is not huge, it is actually quite heavy because of the heatsink.



Not much to say. Lots of dots.



Just messing around with the macro lense.



I again opted for the dedicated X99 waterblock. This one just makes life so much easier if you know you will only be using it for X99 setups.



The polishing on these waterblocks are quite alright



Almost to the point of stupidity.



It looks good, but will never be seen again.

 

Another product update before the "real" progress starts in the next update!



Recieved some ram from Klevv! I have been drooling over these ram for soo long, and finally got my hands on a set.



64 GB in a total of 8 sticks.



These have built in light, and I am quite interested in seeing if this will be too bright for my liking.



They are drop dead gorgeous though!





Again, a few macro shots.



Mounted in the motherboard. Sorry about the yellow tint from the plastic protector on the motherboard, I had not gotten the cpu installed on this pic.





I could not decide which one of these two shots to keep, so here is both.



I also got one of the Urbane 480 gb ssd's which was initially thought as a secondary drive as I wanted the 750 PCIe drive as the primary, but since that will not fit until I get a graphic card taken out, I will use this drive as the main drive for the benchmarks and so on.

 

Sharp and understated with taste.

I thoroughly enjoy your photography skills.

Would you be kind to share your setup and perhaps a tip or two? (specifically for shooting with the dark background)

 

I am using a canon 500D with a 50 mm 1.8 lense, and I am shooting with two lightboxes in a home made "studio"

The rest is just playing around with the light, and camera settings

Update time! Lets get some cables on the table(s)!



Obviously the four Titan X's is going to draw a bit of power, so a 1500W PSU.



I have estimated that each GPU will use around 280W with overclock on them, so that is 1120W, leaving 380 for the rest of the system, which should be plenty.



This thing is BIG!



Nothing the case can't handle though. With this setup, the pumps gets quite close to the PSU, but with more "normal" setups, there will be plenty of space.



Sleeving time! I am reusing the concept of the 180 degree cable combs I used in the engineering station, but this time with quad power!



General color scheme!



Just for fun, showing how I took the previous picture.



24 pin mounted. I will put a 180 degree cable comb on this as well.



And with everything mounted on the motherboard.

More coming soon!

 

Polished photos.

This is exactly what is asked. Thank you!

 

Damn. I totally know how you feel. When I can't slab in my 1.2 tb SSD because one of my Titan X is blocking up the space!

I really like your sleeving, and especially the 180 degree "combs". Will be following this eagerly

 

That 4x comb: Love it! -wouldn't want to be the one to unplug it, though.

You were only pretending to not understand me when I hinted at making a manifold behind the pumps.

 

You are so very welcome

Yeah, I know.. It is some serious first world problems.

As mentioned, I am keeping this one clean. I got plenty of crazy stuff to do with another build

Check out how I routed the 24 cable These 180 combs are one of my better ideas!

 

Agreed. -Now we need something to twist a SATA cable 90 degrees. Those buggers seem to have a mind of their own.

 

Hi,
really love those combs...
Attila too engineered a elegant solution for the 180 cables; is in the "new" section of his blog

 

Just use your fingers The sata cables I got is normally pretty firm, so bends tend to stay in place.

Ohhh I have not checked his page in forever! There went another hour -_- What that guy can do is pure magic. It is almost a shame that he covered up the wires on that 180 degree bender.

Update time again! This time a quite big one. Or at least there went a LOT of hours into the preparations for this. As well as a LOT of cable. All in all I think I used abou 70-80 meters of cables for this thing! All in all there is a bit over 115 individually sleeved wires in this build!



When I make wires for builds where I want a specific length of cables, I always start out by making the end that plugs into the components first. Then I route the cables the way I want them, and figure out what length they circa needs to be, and adds around 5 cm.



I actually had to take out the 6 pin that goes into the motherboard and suply's extra power to the graphic cards because I had no room in the PSU for it Oo.



Almost too bad as I quite liked how it ran over the graphic cards.



But such is life. Testing showed that there was no performance or stability loss by taking this out, and no extra overclock to earn from it (when not running LN2 or other crazy voltmods, which is what I think this power plug is meant for)



Closeup of how the pumps are sleeved. It works great, but it was a major pain in the bum to sleeve.



Rear side with everything routed how I wanted it. Aquaero is not mounted in this picture, so I had to take that into considderation.



With the first few cables finished. As you saw in the previous pictures, I start out by making all the ends in one end, and then route the cables. I then cut the other end so it fits with the PSU, and the length the cables needs to be, crimp it, and put them into the connector.



And BOOM! A few hours later, the rest of the cables got connectors on the other ends as well. You have to be careful not to switch some of the wires this way as it is not super easy to see what wire is going where. But I have almost sleeved enough corsair power supply's by now to know the pin layout of the different ones in my sleep.



Really like this quad comb. The thing is a beast!



From the rear. Do not mind the zip ties, they are only in there to keep the different bunches of wires together for when I put connectors on them, and to keep the wires in the "route" I want them to go.



All the wires out of the build for testing with a PSU tester.



Proud to say that everything worked the first time around! So no magic smoke in this build!



I also managed to almost completely fill out the PSU with plugs! The only ones available now is the sata/moles plugs which is kinda scary!

Next up is piping!

 

Alright, small hickup! I found out that the PWM pumps does not work with the aquaero 6 I got because aparently the D5 pumps does not follow the PWM standard or some stuff, and does not have 5 volts on the PWM signal line so it can be registered on the aquaero.

So long story short, since the pumps is not drawing 12v from the aquaero itself, but directly from the power supply, it is possible to take the 12 volt line from the aquaero, convert it to 5 volt and feed it into the PWM signal line.

Before this mod, the pumps would run at a constant 60% speed aka 2200 RPM which was kinda noisy. With this mod, they can now run as low as 1100 RPM, and possibly more, making them dead silent!

A big thank goes out to Darlene / IT Diva from oc.net for helping me figure out the correct resistors to use!



This is now the finished mod looks like.
From left to right:
1/4W – 2.2K resistor
1/2W – 1K
1W -5.1v zener diode



To make it all neat and tidy I bent the resistors and diodes and put them into one of the empty pin holes of the 4 pin connector.



I could have made this mod directly to the cable that went from the pumps, but since I already sleeved that, I decided to make an extender instead.



Finishing it up with some heatshrink. Stealthy!