Scratch Build – In Progress Homemade Alu case /w copper highlights. FINISHED.

this is the coolant I was using. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6...th_z7_-_UV_Invisible_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184 It claims it's non conductive, but I added some water because I ran out of the coolant. I was probably running a 4:1 coolant:distilled water mix. The dust on the cards, aluminum dust/copper dust from inside the loop all probably increased the conductivity enough to kill both cards.

And lol to the Water gods. I had though of that, but these full cover water blocks are expensive! The block alone cost more than 50% of the card cost. It's almost not worth it. I will however consider buying a 2nd 3870 and going with crossfire. (only if I can still use 3 monitors, I read that you can but I need to be sure.)

 

Try using feser one liquid cooling fluid. Works just as good as water, is non-conductive, and you can get it in soo many different colours. It is also fairly inexpensive compared to other types of cooling fluids. Sorry to hear about the leak, i'm sure you'll enjoy the second 3870 though if you get it.

 

Hi legoman I've read the whole log and you did a great job I have to say - a big bravo by me.
I have a question regarding the above photos. Since I am doing a mod myself and I am that particular step (to drill a billion holes as your original log entry says ), can you give me a tip on how you marked the holes so to be that straight and perfectly aligned to each other (I mean before the knife part). How you placed each hole equally spaced between each other and aligned on both axis?

Thanks in advance.

Aris

 

I know the answer to this one, i think. The classic method is masking tape and modding mesh or some form of mesh to form a guide, ala Cyprio G5 mod. Am i right? And do i get points?

 

This is how I will do it (sorry for the rough draft I just did that in PowerPoint )



You draw horizontal and vertical lines equally spaced then you draw diagonal lines at the cross sections. This requires precise measurements though and is "painful". I asked legoman just in case he had a quick method or tip for that.

 

I used a little bit a trigonometry and trial and error. The holes are 1/8" in diameter. Then with trial and error, I got the spacing how I wanted it horizontally. Then I used a little trig to mark the holes on the next line the same distance from each other as the holes are horizontally. It took forever. If I did it again, I'd do it with a computer printed template because as you can see, the holes aren't 100% aligned.

Have to go to class now, if you want a better explanation, post again in here so I get an email (I'm subscribed). But if I were you, I'd go with the template method.

 

Thanks for your reply legoman. This is what I thought so. I've seen what you say. At first it appears that all holes are perfectly aligned but they aren't (at some places). Either I will use a template from a printout or I will draw the lines on the surface with a pencil as I described above. One more quick question. I noticed and liked the quality of the holes especially in the closeup (as if there were done with a punch press). Have you done any special process because the holes done by a drill usually aren't so smooth or "clean".

 

Because aluminum is so soft, when I drilled through it, a small lip formed around the edge of each hole. This occurred both on the top and the bottom. I should have taken a before and after pic, but before I sanded the panel, it was quite unsightly. So after I drilled all of the holes, I took a random orbit sander to the panel. In the middle of the "mesh" it is actually quite thin because I sanded off so much material.

I did use a wood drill bit. If there is a such a thing as a metal bit, I'd invest in a few of them if I did it all over again.

 

Damn man... As you say, the use of 1/4 water, and dust and other crap might have been the reason for the outcome... I guess the liquid I use is working... I kinda spilled some on the mobo/memory, and almost peed my pants when it happened... But - - - I felt like testing when it happened, so I didn't even clean it up, and left the rig running! Everything kept running like it's supposed to! *Pheew*

One way to get rid of those pesky lips in the holes, at least at the bottom, is to put the aluminum on a piece of wood/plexi or something like that. The important thing here, is to keep it tight, NO air between the layers. You will get an almost sharp edge from that.

To get rid of the lips at the top, you should use alcohol, you know; the type you have to clean stuff in the house. Alcohol and Aluminum = Great result!

We use something called IPA-alcohol at work. It's a mix of 10% isopropylalcohol og 90% ethanol, so it does not contain any water. This is because of the rust that might occure on the machines when the alcohol evaporates... But we buy that straight from a distillery, and we need a licence for that. At home, I use the stuff you buy at any store.

And... Metal drills are probably the most important... At least if you've used the wood drills I'M thinking of.

I hope I haven't given you too many advice that was already written in this log...

 

Thanks for the advice! I am (obviously) done with this mod, but its useful nonetheless. I did have a piece of wood under the sheet aluminum while drilling, but it was not tight; I only had it there so I didn't hit the steel platform on the drill press when I broke through the aluminum. I occasionally lubricated the bit with some tapping compound to prevent the metal shavings from building up on the bit. But I'll give the alcohol tip a try the next time I have to drill a billion holes.

And I don't mean a "wood drill," I mean I used normal drill bits. If there is a such a thing as a bit designed for metal, I need to buy some.

Also, I never updated this thread after I mentioned I killed the 3870 and the x1800, but I cleaned them both up with IPA real good. The 3870 was beyond hope; it still had artifacts. On the other hand, the x1800xt worked perfectly fine after I cleaned it up with the IPA. I sold the x1800, RMA'ed 3870, and bought a second 3870. So now I have 2 3870's that are both watercooled. I don't actually have them in crossfire though, I only play 2 games: TF2 and Sins of a Solar Empire. Sin's is more CPU bound, and TF2 runs perfectly fine with a single 3870.

 

Really a nice, solid work...congrats

 

I must say that this worklog was the first one I read over here at bit-tech (before I registered). I must say that I agree with DaveVader, reading you guys tear apart this poor modders work actually made me think twice about posting my worklog here. It was actually a good few months after visiting these forums (and NOT returning) that I made an account under the recommendation of one of my fellow modders from TBCS (b4i7). Getting stuck into him is not constructive criticism. The bigger man would have told you to STFU and taken it in his stride and moved on. Yes, saying that you don't care because it can't be seen may be insulting to "veteran" modders but what he said was grossly misinterpreted.

I am glad I found this thread again and got that off my chest.

On to the mod. You have done a great job. Fantastic work.

 

sorry about your terrible water leak. but you got urself an upgrade in vga power =]

keep it up! love this mod

 

what brand 3870's were they? how did they allow you to RMA a card you watercooled? doesnt that void warranty?

 

The 3870 that I RMA'ed was by Diamond. And no, replacing the stock cooler with a third party cooler does not void the warranty of most video card manufacturers.

 

Great job!!!! loved

 

Sorry to hear the bad news.

I was using that coolant, spilled it all over my HDD's, 8800GTX & Ram whilst running. Almost pissed my pants but it kept on running and still is today.

 

oh thats good to know incase i have problems. i would have thought warranty would be void cause you got a leak.

thank you.

 

Sorry to pipe in at such a late stage, but just a tip if you have to use water, use demin (de-mineralised) as it is low conductivity and is low or non corrosive. Great build by the way. i way prefer scratch builds. Good luck with motm.

 

Heh, it's been more than a year since I completed the build. My next mod is almost nearing completion. Thanks for the tip though, but in the future, I don't think I'll bother with water cooling. It's expensive, messy, has large space requirements and hardly performs better than a nice high end air cooler.