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Project: Ventmaster

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by coolmiester, 22 Sep 2005.

  1. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    Project: Ventmaster - 22 September

    Ventmaster.
    By Paul Edwards
    (aka coolmiester)

    All Pictures are clickable

    Well i'm off again on a quest to make another water cooled Wavemaster only this time it will be in black which i hope will make a nice contrast to the previous polished one..........so read on and see if it measures up!

    Here a list of parts i will be using:-

    Wavemaster (Black)
    Asus SK8V (Socket 940)
    AMD Athlon FX53
    Tagan 480watt PSU
    2x 512mb OCZ PC3500 EL-DDR ECC (Registered)
    2x Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB in Stripe Raid Zero
    Gainward 6800 Ultra Cool FX
    Sony DWU-18A 8x DVD±RW ReWriter (Black)
    Sony DDU1612 DVD-ROM

    Water Cooling:-

    TDX Athlon64 Solid Silver
    Maze4 Chipset
    NV-68 GPU Block
    Laing D4 12volt Pump
    Thermochill 120.1 Rad
    Papst Alu 120mm Fan on Vantec Rheobus
    Dual Floppy Bay-Res
    Tygon Hose

    OK, first off was to mark and cut the hole in the top of the case for the radiator but as you can see this is hindered by a cut out already made by Coolermaster for the flip up USB ports which unfortunately is just too close to the PSU cage slung below for the rad to fit so i had to move the new hole forward slightly so the rad would miss the cage but also making sure the grill would cover any of the previous hole.

    The USB flip up........a standard feature on a Wavemaster

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    This is the top of the case masked with tape which shows the hole already there once the USB thingy is removed
    I used a Thermochill 120.1 shroud to mark the cut lines

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    Bit of a jig saw moment and hey presto!
    Once that was done i moved onto mounting the pump and as it was the powerful Laing D4 i thought it was best to bolt this down using the supplied foam to stop any vibrations
    Simple case of positioning the pump on the base of the case and marking and drilling the 2 holes.

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    Not forgetting to stick the foam in place............and then bolt the pump to the base like so.

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    Now it was time to fit the Dual Floppy Bay-res which wasn't straight forward as there where 2 screw heads on the inside of the front of the Wavemaster which stopped it from mounting flush to the front so i had to attack the front of the Res with my trusty dremil making 2 recesses for the screw heads to go into

    If you can imagine this is the front of the res and the 2 cut outs you can see on the pic below will allow the res to push up flush against the front of the case unhindered by the screw heads that protrude on the inside of the case ......the res is upside-down in the pic BTW

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    /..........and the res in place

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    Right, onward and upward..........after adding the motherboard and blocks it was time to start measuring and cutting hose which is the way i like to do it so you get the exact length of hose making a much tidier job when all done.

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    Hose in place and remembering i will be swapping the GFX card in a few days i decided to just use plastic hose clamps all round for now in case i need to lengthen/shorten any of the hoses and will replace with metal "O" rings once the new GFX card arrives and i'm total happy with the set-up.

    I rigged up a PSU so i could run the pump and completely fill the system and i got to say i was really impressed with the power of this Laing D4.........even though a little noisy

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    Don't know how accurate the D-Tek flow meter is but it is showing just over 3psi as you can see

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    So basically that was the whole water loop up and running and it was now just a case of fitting all the rest of the PC hardware which i'm sure you've all seen before so i'll move right onto the Vents which gives the case its name!
     
  2. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    OK I got my hands on a couple of mini BMW Z3 Bonnet Vents that are going to take pride of place in either side of my Wavemaster along with a blacked out window mod using some Perspex and Savage Black Limo Privacy Film to keep the whole side of the case looking shiny black and to finish the mod I’ll mount red or green (not decided yet) LED’s to cast light downwards out of the vents.

    Here’s the two BMW Z3 Bonnet Vents (mini as in 3 vent instead of 4)

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    As the vents are designed to be functional and allow air to flow through just like on the BMW some pretty accurate cutting of the side panels is required so rather than rely on guess work I decided to do the job properly so first of all I needed to make a template out of cardboard.

    Basicaly just needed to draw around the vent........

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    /....and from that line i could then measure in (same measurement taken from the vent) and draw a second inner line which could then be cut out the cardboard leaving a template.

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    After covering the entire side panel with masking tape i just needed to temporarily (with tape) stick the template onto the side panel where i'd already decided the vents would end up.....

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    /........and again mark the inner line.

    I thought this would be a good time to mark out the window also so after a few attempts came up with this rather odd shape but with a bit of luck should look better than just a square........i hope!

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    And before carrying on offered the vent up in place just to make sure my prior marking out had been fairly accurate……..

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    And with the vent in place the window opening starts to look a bit more than just an odd shape

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    Anyway the cardboard template was reversed and another vent hole was cut out of the left side panel.

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    It was now time to get sticky and just to add a bit pressure I was due to set off for the GP’s at Donnington on the Friday (this being late Thursday) and given that the rather snazzy double barrelled Araldite didn’t go off for at least 2 hours I needed to get both vents glued and clamped before I left. Adding glue to both surfaces and then clamping with a few G clamps off I went for a drunken w/end

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    On my return on Monday I found most G clamps firmly stuck with excess glue that had seeped out but with a bit of gentle persuasion I managed to pry them off and a little light wet n dry was able to clean off the rest of the glue so they were now ready for some filler around the edge and the vent. I just used normal 2 part Loctite auto body filler for this……..bit messy but gud fun and you don’t get long to work with it especially in this mini heat wave we are having up here

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    First one I had tried to be way to accurate which takes for ever and given you only get a couple of minutes max, I was much more liberal with the second as you can see

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    After that had gone off came the laborious task of having to wet n dry (with water) starting at 400 grit to get the basic shape and finished up with 1200 grit to give a really smooth finish ready for priming and then painting

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    Wet n drying the filler is a lengthy job but one that’s worth doing really well as preparation at this point is paramount if a good paint finish is to be achieved so after quite a lengthy process its now all smooth as a babies bum and as the panels don’t go to the paint shop till Friday I decided to make a start on the window…..

    After cutting the Plexi to size I got the roll of Savage Black Limo Privacy Film

    [​IMG]

    ......and basically followed the instructions which entailed spraying much soapy water onto both the Plexi and the film then sliding the film into place………..more soapy water and a squeegee over the top of the film to get out all the air like so……
    Hopefully once the side panels come back painted and the window is fitted it will give the desired look which is to be totally black when the PC is off but when fired up the water cooling should show through………I hope

    [​IMG]
     
  3. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    Nova style blacked out window looks great........you just can't see in at all when the PC is off......

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    Theres 2x 36GB Raptors in raid zero sitting behind the vents so with a bit of luck the downward air from the 120mm top fan/rad might catch a bit of the hot air from them and push it out the vents.............though they were more for looks than function there is definitely warm air coming out :))

    The panels left here yesterday mid morning and they were back here at 7pm
    /.....and his is both the side panels in the cold light of day after they had been waxed and polished

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    And then came the Gainward 6800 Ultra Cool FX and Danger Dens NV-68 Block which was just crying out to be LED modded:))

    The Innovatek Cool FX was a great block but as i had it installed in the same 1/2" loop as the CPU and Chipset block it was basically restricting the system too much which resulted in sacrificing flow which the TDX needs....... hence my CPU and chipset temps went up.

    The D-Tek flow meter was reading 5psi the Cool FX and dropped to 2.5psi with the NV-6800 and already i can see a drastic reduction in CPU temp and also a considerable drop in GPU

    [​IMG]

    Anyway here's some eye candy of the Danger Den NV-68 Block LED modded and onto the finished case..........or is it finished!!!

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  4. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    Bit of an update............I wasn't too happy with the overall temperatures achieved with the single 120 radiator and the addition of the Gainward 6800 Ultra GFX card so it was time to take the whole thing to bits and add a Thermochill 120.2. Anyone who has tried to fit a double rad into a Wavemaster will know that this isn't as easy a job as first appears.

    It entails cutting part of the PSU tray so the radiator can sit far enough back so as not to fowl the front bay and also i decided to change the PSU to a 600watt Enermax Noisetaker which has the intake fan on the base a oppose the the end as the air flow would be hindered by the rad.........so once that was done (see Flying Banana Case for pictures of the gut away) i used Hank nuts to mount the radiator. These are small Allen bolts that screw into a special brass nut that can be squashed making a permanent fixture on the radiator shrouds.

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    This improved air flow no end and also allowed to run the 120mm fans much slower at 7volt which inevitably makes for a much more silent PC :))

    The Ventmaster now takes pride of place along side the Shiny Wavemaster and the Flyin Banana Wavemaster

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  5. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    I think everyone knows how annoying those first Laing D4 pumps are noise wise so as it was time to change the liquid it was an ideal opportunity to swap the pump over to the new Laing D5 with the built in rheostat.............and while i was at it i added the PolarFlo chrome frontage to make it look a bit nicer.

    The results.............much quieter ;)

    Also added red UV Dye and had the double Watercooling grill and front end of the PC painted black the same as the sides and top :cool:

    I'll leave you with a few more pictures :cool:

    again, all pitures are clickable
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  6. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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