Planning The GuilleAcoustic design thread

[GuilleAcoustic]

Hi mates,

to begin with, I wanted to thanks all the people that are / were involved in the Phobya contest. This is where this project came to life, and I really think I wouldn't have make it without this contest and all the advises I got.

I invite all of you to show your support to the 5 finalist, and the thread can be showed here :

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=203582

Well, here are some pictures to show the concept at the end of the second stage of the contest :

















The concept was a tower shape case that supports EATX mobo as well as two triple 140 / 2 quad 120mm rads. It has 3 removable trays (mobo / hardware, watercooling stuff, PSU).

As I don't need EATX mobo and only need 1 PCI-E (GPU) and 1 PCI (sound card), I decided to shrink it to microATX form factor. Here are the early work :









Here is a size comparison between the EATX original version, and the microATX revised



full size : 370 x 370 x 640
microATX : 300 x 300 x 638

I'm trying to shrink it even more, but I really want to keep the separated area concept (each with it's own tray). Since this is my first project and my first watercooling attempt, I need some advises.

I'm planning to use my core2quad Q6600 and a GTX560. What kind of radiator do I need to keep everything cool (stock and overclocked) ? I'll maybe switch to sandy bridge later, but I'll keep single GPU setup.

Here is the current hardware :

- mobo : XFX MI-9300-7AS9
- CPU : Intel Core2Quad Q6600
- GPU : none (my 9600GT passed away and I'm using the integrated 9300 ...). I'm going for a GTX560.
- RAM : 4Go Kingtson PC6400 cas 4
- sound card : M-Audio 2496, but I'll replace it with an Infrasonic Quartet
- PSU : Corsair HX520, but it will probably be a little light for a GTX560

[Djayness]

Hey!

Neat looking case and I admire your sketchup skills. I think it will be quite the challenge to do it all in those dimensions but if sketchup says it can be done, then it will be done!

[GuilleAcoustic]

Originally Posted by Djayness

Hey!

Neat looking case and I admire your sketchup skills. I think it will be quite the challenge to do it all in those dimensions but if sketchup says it can be done, then it will be done!

Thanks mate . I made a correction, the size where wrong it is :

full size : 370 x 370 x 640
microATX : 300 x 300 x 638

I don't think I can shrink the 300 x 300 footprint, I'm working to reduce the height.

[Roboduck]

Sub'd. Looks great!

[Zesti]

Been waiting for this project log. Sub´d.

About water cooling: One good 3x120mm rad (for example EK XT 360) should be enough for your hardware. If you want to go extreme or if you want a very silent computer, get two of ´em.

And your Corsair PSU will be fine. If GTX560 and i7-920 @ 4GHz pulls only ~310W from the wall, I dont think yours will use more.

[GuilleAcoustic]

Originally Posted by Zesti

Been waiting for this project log. Sub´d.

About water cooling: One good 3x120mm rad (for example EK XT 360) should be enough for your hardware. If you want to go extreme or if you want a very silent computer, get two of ´em.

And your Corsair PSU will be fine. If GTX560 and i7-920 @ 4GHz pulls only ~310W from the wall, I dont think yours will use more.

Thanks. I'll try 2 version then. One with a single 3x120 and one with two 2x240 (maybe I could shrink the case by a good 100mm this way).

Materials will be wood and copper I think, but I'm not completetly done with rough drawings (I'm not a fast drawer, and didn't used my wacom in a while )

UPDATE (2011-03-24) :

Here is a little update. I shrinked the height from 638mm to 571mm. It can fit two dual 140mm rad.

[GuilleAcoustic]

Hello everyone,

here is my today's lunch work.

Reduced the height by another good 30mm (but increased the depth by 20mm ... I couldn't resists this gorgeous frozenQ res)

Hardware are :

- Dual EK XTC 280 radiator
- FrozenQ reservoir
- NVidia GTX560
- Seasonic X750 PSU

here are the pics :





Next step : BIG BIG BIG work on the bottom area. I have to optimise this space.

[Blarte]

I'd probably buy a case like this if it was for sale, ample cooling ability and less of a foot print on the desk

[ianclowe4c]

This looks fantastic....can't wait to see more.

[ianclowe4c]

I would but one of these as well....most definately.

[GuilleAcoustic]

Thanks mates. I'm still wondering if I should go with the dual EK XT 280 (with 540mm height) or go with a dual EK XT 360 (with a 620mm height).

I think I'll rethink this after I'm done with the bottom area (PSU and HDDs).

Stay tuned

[GuilleAcoustic]

Hi mates,

just a little update to show off something I wanted to try about the outside design. I didn't had much time to play with SU, but here is the current state. The inside evolved a lot, but this will be revealed later .

[ixmatal]

Hey Guile,

I like the way your design is "evolving". Kind of taking on a life of its own.

Keep it up!

[Roboduck]

Love the new design! Can't wait to see this one built

[llamafur]

I would totally buy this case!

[IvanIvanovich]

oh no its growing again. i was really hoping you'd make it more compact. then i guess if it was small it wouldn't really be a monolith would it? in any case your internals were very well organized. looking forward to you getting out of the sketch up phase.

[GuilleAcoustic]

Originally Posted by lysol

oh no its growing again. i was really hoping you'd make it more compact. then i guess if it was small it wouldn't really be a monolith would it? in any case your internals were very well organized. looking forward to you getting out of the sketch up phase.

I have a less tall build in mind but I have to make all the tubing and wiring to decide the one I'll make . That's where SU helps

Anyway, with the new internal organisation, I gained 60mm in depth.

Thanks to everyone for your support. I appreciate it a lot. I apologies for the looooooo,g SU phase, but I'm kind of perfectionist and won't start building it until I'm totally sure with the build

[GuilleAcoustic]

Eye-candy only, but I needed one in sketchup to visualize used space. Here is a freshly modeled GTX560 with completly custom full cover block (couldn't find existing block for the GTX 560)



Time for tubing and wiring now and I'll have a better idea of left space and ease of use. I'll try to post a few picture tonight.

Stay tuned

[randomhero]

Awesome, been thinking of doing something like this since I saw the Phinix Nano Tower. Hope you can give me some more inspiration for my future build

[GuilleAcoustic]

Originally Posted by randomhero

Awesome, been thinking of doing something like this since I saw the Phinix Nano Tower. Hope you can give me some more inspiration for my future build

Thanks mate. Here is so far what I've done tonight (hope you'll like what I've changed) :







What has changed since the first design (Ihope I made the good choice, but I'm still in SU ) :

- Mobo is now on top
- The case now fits dual 280mm push - pull configuration

I still have a lot to do :

- Pump and res.
- Wiring and cable management.
- Hot swappable Hdd bay.
- Air intakes and dust filters.
- Trying to gain 10mm here and there .
- Watercooling tray system.

I also have to completly seal the three zone. I don't want to see hot air leeking from mobo or psu to the cooling chamber. Who said massive use of pass-through quick disconnect ?

Any input, advise, comment are welcome