I agree with John. The black hoses will give more attention to your blocks. The black hoses go well with the black wiring and internals too. I like the flush fit on your radiator screws BTW. Very clean. I think once you get everything inside, the gaps in the floorboard will be barely noticeable.
The acrylic, the tygon loops and those blocks combined with that case, an exercise in amazingly clean case design.
Been really busy this weekend - hopefully now that we have more light in the evening over here i can get some done after work in the evenings. If not then next weekend. Cyp.
/slaps dark's hand. Will post update today. Possibly of me bleeding the waterloop. Possibly. Cyp. ps i say possibly as it's also the London Marathon and i want to go get some snaps.
Lol, thanks for noticing me [/eeyore] sorry, i'm a huge fan of your case... as soon as i can afford a dremel, i might jack a couple (not all) of your ideas
Very very nice work here mate. Absolutely fantastic. You have great attention to detail. I also agree, leave the tubing black, one the coolant hits the blocks then it will glow and draw attention to your hardware, should look awesome. Keep up the good work.
Sorry guys its not going to happen tonight. The Raptor X that i was hoping to use in the machine (and have been using in my current rig) has just died. Had to do a complete reinstall. That also means i don't have lightroom or photoshop installed so i cant process any pics. I have got the loop 99.9% completed though. It's a real tight fit and i have actually had to re-route the tubing slightly. The hard disc dying also made me think about "what if it happens inside the new PC with a perspex cover over the top..." so i have thought of a way to have a 'slot-loading HDD', accessible by simply removing the case door. I will post what pics i can during the week and have booked out the next weekend to FINISH this off. COMPLETELY. Till then, have a good week all. Cyp.
Better late than never i always say... Well, i didnt quite get it finished as i had hoped. As always, things come up that you didn't plan for. Problems i encountered over the past few weeks: 1. A very small case for a complicated watercooling loop. 2. Hard disk dying 3. Not having room for the HDD ias planned as the watercooling fittings took up the free space. 4. Finding my patience running out with all of the above! I have managed to get some things done though: 1. Finally completed the loop, managing to incorporate a main loop (CPU/GPU/PA Rad), side loop for the RAM/Motherboard/120.1 Rad, drain port and T-line/Res. 2. Made another base plate out of acrylic that was simpler than the previous one. 3. Finding another spot for the HDD. 4. Installing light switches for the LEDs in the roof and the UV cathodes (or LEDs, whichever look best) 5. Installing the USBPoweradjusts that will control the pumps. The other thing that has been trying my patience recently is the modding work are i have. If you remember i had to move house in Jan and i have gone from having lots of outdoor space to modding in my room: ... not ideal eh? Final touches to loop I needed to cram a lot into the base of this small case (roughly 30cm length to work in). For the pump connections i had a t-line just before the pump input and used 2 acrylic T junctions to split the loop into the RAM/Mobo loop and the CPU/GPU loop. Close up of the RAM after i used zip ties to clamp the tubing on: For the return of the RAM/Mobo/Small rad loop to the main loop i ended up drilling another hole in the rad cover and looping the tubing between the bottom of the small rad and the top of the exhaust fan. Poor pic as taken at night with flash but it gives you an idea of the loop. Look at all those cables that need tidying away! Base plate I decided to made a simpler base plate rather than having it bend up at the end to cover the 80mm fan as it was too hard fitting it in the case. I planned to bend the edges to see if they looked nicer flush with the Rad cover. First a mock up: Then i got started on the bending: e voila! Testing it in the case: Cutting a hole for the pump: With the loop in place. Before anyone asks the tin of Vaseline was needed to get some of the hoses in the fittings! It looks pretty snug - the difficulty is that i need to have this in place before i connect the loop up... SO HOW DO I BLEED THE LOOP! Argh! I haven't thought my way out of this one yet! Hard disk As my Raptor decided to die i decided to go with a tried and tested Samsung 500gb 16mb cache. I love Samsung drives as they are fast and silent. I had been planning on having the HDD to the left of the pump and connections under the panel. However, after the connectors were in place the HDD no longer fitted in the space. So, without further ado i did what any desperate man would do... velco it to the roof of the case. Yes, you heard right. Velcro. I had bought a large rectangle of Velcro intending it for going under a HDD - easy way to mount it with 'quick-release action' and 'vibration reduction'. However i didnt have any floorspace for it left so it went above the DVD drive. It's pretty strong stuff so it stuck fine! It also worked out best for the power cables and SATA cable that can easily be hidden. Switches Self explanatory really - installed a couple of switches on the bottom of the case for the LEDs and UV lighting. USB Poweradjusts These little babies are what will control the laing pumps, giving them a little voltage kick to start them off each time and i will probably turn them down as well, depending on temps. The pumps molex and RPM wires plug into them. In turn the poweradjusts are linked to the PSU and the mobo via USB. I attached them to the inner side of the rad cover so they are close to the cabling for the PSU and so you can see the little lights that show correct function (they have one red LED and one green one). Drilling some holes: Reverse angle: Done: And another angle: So, what is left you ask? 1. The door window and Aquaero. 2. Tidying up the cables 3. Finishing wiring up the lights. 4. Filling and bleeding the loop - answers on a postcard please! Cyp.
Bloomin awesome case, but im dissapointed at how complicated at the loop gets. IMO i think its far too complicated and has a "busy" look to it.
Yeah, i know. It's a combination of the small size of the case and the number of blocks. The pic above is pretty bad though and the overall aim is for the tubing to hardly be visible but to have glowing blocks. Cyp. /me crosses my fingers.
I am very convinced that you will be able to pull it off spectacularly...You have already exceeded my expectations of this project a long time ago! I feel that the loop is a little complicated right now, but a little more work, and it should look just fine. Great job in hiding the switches for the lighting. That was an unexpected and welcome move on your part. So I leave you with my kind words and compliments. I hope that you continue working and that you will not try to rush to finish. I know you won't, but I want you to know that also.
