Scratch Build [Project] Interior Des(k)ign - SR-2 - the Biggest Update EVER! 90% complete! 20/09/12

[wejjy]

Update coming very bery soon, its a big one!!!

[Bladesingerz]

can't wait!

[Waynio]

^ Me too.

[Phyonics]

Nice to have you back wejjy. The itx section looks sweet.

[wejjy]

Originally Posted by Bladesingerz

can't wait!

Originally Posted by Waynio

^ Me too.

Originally Posted by Phyonics

Nice to have you back wejjy. The itx section looks sweet.

Thanks guys, well its finally here. Hope it lives up to your expectations!

Ok so it had been tooooo long, I apologise for the delay, life has been very busy of late, first up our house was burgled and then my car was written off whilst parked up outside the house (a neighbours hand brake failed and rolled down the street into my car!) So project Interior Des(k)ign hs unfortunately until recently slipped down the priority slope.

As far as progress is though, Ive done quite a bit since the last update. The biggest reason for this is the fact that I managed to bring the desk home. Once it reached a certain stage it was not practical for me to keep it at the workshop so I decided to cart it all home, this has made it easier to chip away at, as even if I only have 30mins free I can at least make progress of sorts.

Im not revealing any final shots but the itx rig is finished!! Its awesome, tiny, but cool and running at 4.2Ghz rock solid! As I said the final shots will be of the desk in its entirety not just the itx build, I will reveal don't worry. The flexi-riser linked to the 6870 has been flawless, I've had none of the problems associated with these in some builds, no artifacting or BSOD's at all, thumbs up from me! Having the mini PC has been a saviour, its now my development machine and is completely separated from my other stuff, it makes life so much simpler.

Thats enough of the waffle anyways for now, on with the pictures of the main build which I have neglected for too long! In fact as soon as I took the SR-2 out of the box again I got excited, this board has to be in my opinion one of the best looking ever! I love it!

So the desk is now in the corner it will live in, its not finished as far as the actual woodwork is concerned but it stands on its own, and the monitors are mounted on the adjustable mount I made, they can be slid to be used in Portrait if needed but also in Landscape, which is my preference.



Apologies for the mess, its work in progress but thats just to give you guys an idea of how it all looks when in place.

So as for the desk, Ive been mostly wiring things it seems, I decided to go with custom cables in the end just because they are different (not better!) so it a change from the norm thats all. I started with the fans ages ago, slowly progressed to the wires that feed the aquaero, its tedious to say the least, solder, crimp, solder, crimp....



Thats the cabling for the 2 Rads, the desk fans (penetrators x2 banks), and the HDD cooling fan all done. I need to do tonnes more, including 4 x water temp senders and several other temp senders for the CPU's etc. altogether there will be approx 10 different senders.

Progress shot, trying to keep it all tidy, working out lengths etc...



Also fitted the second rad complete with fans for the first time...



The next task was the motherboard tray, I last mounted this in the desk about 3 months ago and lots has changed since then, I nervously place it in the gap, perfick!



As soon as I plonked it in though I realised the tubing routing was way out, doh! Gonna need to change all of them to enable it to all fit! As a side issue, whilst building the itx machine I found out my DDC pump (purchased on the AV Forums) was duff! So Ive had to use the one from the SR-2 build for the itx, so if anyone has a DDC they want rid of, drop me a PM...thanks! Once I knew it all fitted still, I painted it Satin black and left it all to dry out.

Following day test fit...



All good with a tiny bit of Di-Noc for good measure! Installed my lighting just to check the look was what I was after...





Yep! Im happy, subtle but Red! Got a bit carried away at this point an started re-routing all of the tubing. This was after about 1 1/2 hrs messing, changing, tweaking, and starting again! Its the neatest I can get it for now.



I need some more fittings and possibly some more tubing for the second loop. Next job is to put the block onto the 7970 and look for a reasonably priced second 7970, then its testing time hopefully! Oooh exciting! Cant wait to start OC'ing this beast and pushing it with CS6 and some gaming fun!

Let me know your thoughts guys! Its always nice to hear what people think!

[Phyonics]

Its looking really good with lots of attention to detail which really makes a build.

I think the only way you would be able to get the tubing any neater is with crystal links and lots of 90 degree bends...

You don't need to have the CPU's first in the loop. It doesn't really make much difference to temps, although it's usually best to have the rad straight after the pump, so the heat added from the pump gets dissipated by the rad first before going to the components.

[Waynio]

It does look really good for doing the job of cooling & is as good as it can be with regular tubing.

But something I've learnt in modding, going the extra distance produces big wow factor & not just for the viewers of a log but also yourself whenever you see it that you can be proud about knowing you did everything within your means to make it as awesome as possible & you will see it a heck of a lot more than the viewers will & that extra nudge of awesomeness will make you smile every time, I guarantee it, it's a big part of why people mod for an extra bit of feel good factor in life.

I've set up a watercooling loop before so know how 1/2" tubing isn't very flexible when filled with fluid & can look a mess in a system (yours doesn't look a mess & is quality BTW) but I know little of best watercooling layout but makes sense this layout & that's how I did mine, don't want hot water going through the pump, might reduce it's lifespan especially with all that heat dumpage, failed pumps are never a good thing with it being the heart of the loop, I agree crystal links would be really sweet but I don't know of their durability but seeing how l3p used them on his I'd assume they are great & holy sheet they do look exceptionally awesome when good lighting is applied to a system with a good looking fluid.

Another option would be hard metal pipe work which will surely be incredibly durable as well as contribute to the cooling & look awesomely neat & pipe benders are nice & cheap & should be easy enough to do as long as you measure & mark perfectly & get all your angles correct & of course practice a bit doing basic precision bends.

Having give these things some thought I kinda want to do a watercooled loop now.

[Bladesingerz]

Looks awesome man! very happy to see some progress! I hope your life is back on track with all the setbacks

[Phyonics]

Originally Posted by Waynio

Having give these things some thought I kinda want to do a watercooled loop now.

You must Waynio you do such great work anyway, but a water cooling build would be spectacular.

I agree with Waynio that metal, copper, piping would look really cool too.

[Scrappy]

very nice des(k)ign to the case i think this will be awesome when it is finished

[Tattysnuc]

That looks even better than I'd thought with the 3 monitors on the top. Have you got some sort of KVM setup to switch between the two machines?

[wejjy]

So hopefully this update, of mammoth proportions will make up for my lack of progress on this project, you see there are a number of reasons, but mostly a lack of enthusiasm, I bought a Mac Air which kind of took my focus, and I also have too many other projects that Im really torn between... Some of which are...



and...



and helping my Dad finish this...



so hopefully they stand as reasonable excuses that warrant time out, ok so no they don't... So heres what Ive been up to over the past couple of months, the progress has been painfully slow, that plus the fact that I have had a couple of issues, first of all a broken pump, then a problem with a couple of orders, all of which slowed me down and meant I needed to save again!

So, first job, as always, destroy your previous progress and your room, that helps to not only motivate you, but also to disorientate you, and make sure that things take twice as long as usual to find, thats all part of it isn't it!!



Received my last fan to replace a broken one (yes I did it!) so fitted that first to warm up. Then onto stripping the 7970 down to put the block on it, first up remove all the screws, there are tonnes of them! Then clean all the old thermal compound off with the cleaning solutions, then onto the new pads with a dab of thermal adhesive.





Sorted! Then whack the new block on, gotta say I loooooove Ek they are just awesome

Fit = Perfect
Looks = Clean and classy
Performance = Fantastic

How often do you get those three in one?



Another job sorted. Neeeext!

One of the problems I had was that the mini Sata cables were moulded together with the power and the Sata in one, trouble is, they are really short as standard, so I set about sorting the issue my way...
Before...



30 seconds later...



Use the power part, but then replace the short Sata cable with a 'proper' 2m long Red Sata cable that actually reaches the mobo, always helps!



Then onto some of the trusty MDPC stuff!



Next job on the list was to rummage through my box of electronic bits,



Starting back on the making of leads, lots of them, I hate this job, first cut to length, then strip ends, then take appropriate crimps, and the MDPC tool and start crimping...



After a reasonable amount of time we have this...



Problem... Because Im using the thicker gauge wire the crimps dont always close properly, so just to make sure they are 1. Good and strong, and 2. Can handle the current they require, I solder every joint! Aaaargh, slow tedious work!



So connections and crimps thats Mobo 2x24, CPU power 2x8 x2, Fans 3 x12, GPU...you get the idea, hours of work really all in 3 photos! Doh! Worth it in the long run though.

So the new pump was installed in its home, on top of the Silverstone fans, to keep it chilly, but as I had removed the stickers from the fans they looked a bit, well, dull I suppose, so spent some time messing about creating a few designs and ended up with this.



Printed them on some sticky label paper, and cut them out...



and tested the look...



Rubbish photo, sorry but its the only one I have. You get the idea.

Time to drop the mobo in with the appropriate cables attached and tidily clipped on to the bottom of the mobo tray. Couldn't take any pics of this in progress as I didn't have 4 hands sorry, but here is the result.



At this point I was chuffed to say the least, so I stopped!

[wejjy]

Next day, fresh and enthused again I plodded on with the routing of the hose, now at this point I have to say, please don't criticise, I know that the colours wont be to everyones taste, but this is a 2 year dream project thats Ive planned and planned, so I am happy with my choice, no I didn't run out of hose, it was planned this way...



Measure, cut, screw on fittings, check, fail, unscrew fittings, re-cut 5mm longer, screw fittings back on, sorted. That was pretty much it for a couple of hours. I consider myself to have reasonably tough hands, but doing this, destroyed them, wore through the callouses!

Almost there...



Ok so are we ready???

Guess what Im doing here?



Yep leak testing! The kitchen roll is intentional and not a whacky design feature, honest. Couple of minor leaks, none of the fittings from Ek I hasten to add, rather, the front of the Ek Reservoir, weird but true, it was pouring out, and secondly, all 4 of the aquacomputer inline temperature sensors, tightened them to what I would consider overly tight, and they are sorted!

Left it to churn overnight, checked in the morning and bingo, a watertight, quiet PC!



Ohhhh yeah!





Lights out.



Ignore the rear cables, the rear IO isn't fitted yet, and the cables need tidying up at the rear. Time to fire this beast up...



Didn't quite work first time...doh! I have a dead CPU!!!! Majorly huuuge dissapointment! But popped the jumper onto only CPU 0 and got it all going in the end, looking on eBay now for another one but Xeon's hold their value well so will wait a little as its useable, and surprisingly quick already... There's tonnes more to come but here's a teaser for now...

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0a4bca89.mp4

Excuse the quality, its rubbish, but heres a little shot of it running Unigine Heaven benchmarks for the first time, it was the first program I ran! Then I overclocked the GPU to 1150 and 1400 respectively, and tried again!

Also spent about an hour sorting the different features of the Aquaero, this thing is amazing, individual fans mapped on individual curves, I can see the difference on the inlet outlet of the Rads, individually, either as a figure using a virtual sensor, or a graph to plot said variables! Its a quality bit of kit!

So far with the CPU overclocked to 3.4Ghz (lame I know, but a start!) the mobo at 200Mhz on the PCI and the GPU on the above figures, I'm not going over 32 degrees on 100% load, happy to say the least!

Let me know your thoughts so far guys!

Jobs to do:

Tidy cables
Fit rear IO panel
Tune aquaero further
Finish installing all software
Get the perspex inlay for the top cut and etched
Fit top/lid
Source second CPU :-(
Complete the structure of the desk exterior
O/C a little more
PLAY!!
Start my Prodigy build!

Hope this makes up for the lack of updates folks, sorry!

[KoSoVaR^]

Originally Posted by wejjy

WARNING!

All the crimps that you did are dengerously faulty on very high levels, you must redo all of them!
The risk of the breaking of is very big as the metalthreads can ripp of easely if you bend them for the cablemanegment for an example.

The small clamps are only for the bare metal wires/threads(strip the wires for a maximum 3, -4mm ...that is enough), the big clamps are for the insulation only ! if you do it right they will never come off as the cable insulation holds it in place propperly and secures it from leaving the pin.

This is how it should look and yes this is an AWG16 wire crimped with mdpc-x crimps and crimeper!
This picture is by me and on my official Sleeve Modders Page : KosovarMods

Dont forget to like my page if it helped you.




Please tell me if you need advice on how to crimps awg16 cables , i can make you a little tut.

[SuicideNeil]

He said they are all soldered however so very unlikely to slide off accidentally..

[Mechh69]

I just spent the past couple of hours reading you log. This build is beautiful so far, I admire your craftsman ship and attention to detail. I hope your daughter is doing well I know what it is like to have back surgery. My prayers are with your daughter.

[Tattysnuc]

The uniengine demo looks tremendous on the 3 monitors.

Shame about the dead cpu...

[Bladesingerz]

Awesome update wejjy! Looking forward to every update to be honest, such a nice build.
What will you do to close the desk up? Any glass? Would be a shame to hide all those goodies..
Oh and whats that coolant? Looks great! Really like to try it on my next refill..

Keep it up man!

[maestro0428]

This definitely needs a glass top to show off the insides. There is too much cool hardware to see. Have you thought about hard lines for your h2o system? I think that it would look the part in there. The few mods with hard lines I have seen look really great.

[wejjy]

Originally Posted by KoSoVaR^

WARNING!

All the crimps that you did are dengerously faulty on very high levels, you must redo all of them!
The risk of the breaking of is very big as the metalthreads can ripp of easely if you bend them for the cablemanegment for an example.

The small clamps are only for the bare metal wires/threads(strip the wires for a maximum 3, -4mm ...that is enough), the big clamps are for the insulation only ! if you do it right they will never come off as the cable insulation holds it in place propperly and secures it from leaving the pin.

This is how it should look and yes this is an AWG16 wire crimped with mdpc-x crimps and crimeper!
This picture is by me and on my official Sleeve Modders Page : KosovarMods

Dont forget to like my page if it helped you.




Please tell me if you need advice on how to crimps awg16 cables , i can make you a little tut.

Originally Posted by SuicideNeil

He said they are all soldered however so very unlikely to slide off accidentally..

Thanks Kosovar, but no need to worry! As Neil correctly spotted in the text, I have indeed soldered every joint for this very reason. I understand the current flowing through these connections is quite considerable, and also understand the danger of the copper fracturing, but when soldering, the solder tends to backflow up inside the outer sheath therefore adding enough strength to manipulate it for cable tidying. Hope that calms things a bit, you had me worried there with Warning signs everywhere!