Planning Corsair Obsidian build (PSU fully sleeved)

i don't know if you ever done this but

Spoiler

i tried using a lighter, candle, hairdryer, and all of them sucked for doing the heatshrink, then i tried a heatgun (300 C) and it was easily the best, just have to be careful not to melt sleeving or connectors. (2 sec on heatshrink then 3 sec break worked best for me)

can't wait to see your build

 

Well, I won't get a chance to work on the actual sleeving until saturday which is actually a good thing. Means i can get some PhD work out of the way

 

This sounds like it's going to be a great build. The first Obsidian build I know of, will have to tune in

 

Oh crud, now I'm going to be nervous

Well, the PSU arrived today and I am praying that the case does too. I'll post pics of them up over the weekend as I won't get them until saturday morning.

 

my obsidian will/should be arriving today as well
the plans that i have for it
that poor case
ill be watching and see what you do to yours
later

 

Well, the PSU and Case have arrived safely and I will be getting my eager paws on them tomorrow. Weekend of sleeving, huzzah!

Also, I have a question and call for opinions out there regarding the choice in Motherboard.

I am looking towards the EVGA x58 SLI LE. Primarily because it is all black components on a lovely black PCB.

After reading alot of the reviews on NewEgg, I have some concerns. Very long POST is the first thing that comes to mind, so if anyone might have additional info on that, it would be great. Is it normal for i7's?

The looks are going to be key with this build, so it's important that I get it right. I don't want to go to the hassle of getting expensive as hell parts and then find out that they simply do not cut the mustard. Actual reviews for the board are in short supply, I have found 2 thus far and both said it was awesome.

Anyone reading this, if you could possibly have a gander at the "Routing Acrylic" thread I started in conjunction with this thread, I would appreciate it. Especially if Bill or Cheaps wanders that way.

*EDIT* Disturbed, did you get your case?

 

WARNING! Images galore!

Well the case and PSU arrived safe and sound.

Flipping heck, I thought my Gigabyte 3D Aurora was big!


Boxed up case and PSU


All the PSU cables come in a nice sturdy bag and the PSU itself comes in a nice velvetine bag and loads of heavy duty foam packing.


Most of the cables are separate, which will make sleeving that bit easier I reckon.


It has a massive 140mm fan, so that should keep it nice and cool. All the reviews for this one rave about it.


The case has such a nice finish on it. The sides and top are steel and the front is brushed aluminium. The dvd (which I won from eating a pack of peanut M&M's) is there for scale. It's 61cm tall, 61cm deep and 22cm wide.


Up top, it has space and pre-cut grille for a 3x120mm radiator. Very nice touch and it's bevelled into the case too.


Side open. Has a nice locking mechanism which is simply a push button at the top at the rear, press it in, remove the side. Simple, tidy, no thumbscrews. Included with it are mounting rails for HDD's for the lower cage, black SATA2 cables with 90 degree angles and a series connected power cable for the hot-swap HDD bays (connector shown).


There is also another 140mm fan here and there is on at the back of the case too. There is space for a 120mm fan directly below this 140mm. Also it came with an anto-vibration piece for any 120mm fan, mounting screws, cable ties, and a few other bits and bobs.


Front shot. I won't remove the plastic until I am actually putting more parts in and stealthing the optical drives.


Shot of the motherboard tray from the other side, it has a hinged back panel for easy access to apply any backplates for CPU coolers without having to remove the motherboard. At the left are the front I/O connectors.


Rear shot here, loads of space.

All in all, I cannot wait to get started with sleeving. It's agonising to even make this post!

 

yes i did
ive been schemeing like my friend over there <
that poor case
ive got the paint chosen
and most of the ideas are hashed out
i just have to get them on paper
and then get to cutting before it gets too cold for me to spray paint
thats my first concern as of right now
this thing is unreal!!!!
its soooooo BIG!!!!!

 

I am actually going to leave the case pretty much standard as it is. I think it is absolutely gorgeous. The only modification I will be doing to it will be a logo on the side panel, but I have no idea how I am going to get the look I want.

The internals are going to be all black PCB's and boards with green wiring and eventually green tubing as well.

Disturbed, looking forward to seeing what you come up with dude.

I am stuck on sleeving and not much else for the next few months. I am still debating what motherboard, CPU and GPU to get, especially with the new releases approaching fast.

 

Christ.... There is alot of this stuff to do.

I am slightly concerned about the shrink curling up at the ends, don't know if I applied too much heat or too little...





1 down, LOADS more to go. Can't wait

 

I have a question for you, why not spend a few dollars more and get THIS I know ist about $60 US more but the "A1" part number comes with a Life Time warrenty. I was looking at the same thing but my wife asked me if i was spending that much money on a computer why didnt i look at the stuff that had the best warrenty. I dont know to many computer manufacutres that actually give a lifetime warrenty on their parts. It kinda says somthing like " its good enough that were willing to warrenty it for life". But thats just my 2C. I went a little overboard and got the 760 but i like the fact that i have a life time warrenty on a lot of my parts.

P.S. Nice job on the sleaving keep up the good work.

 

so many ideas, so little time
im under the gun of outdoor temp
thats what im really up against
and with that in mind i have to weight my options
and see what all can be done
then again...................




we shall see

 

Very nice! I'm liking the neon green sleeving! ;D

Just wondering, does the molex pin-extractor work with 3-pin fan connectors as well?

 

Little tid-bit of information regarding the 'lifetime' warranty. (AFAIK) That only applies if you fill out their registration card and send it back to them. Otherwise you get the standard 1 year warranty. A buddy of mine got burned by that.

 

Thanks for all the comments.

@Mech - Lifetime warranty sounds great, I have heard things about getting the A1 version of the LE as well. However, I think we can all admit there is almost no component in a build that one will keep for their lifetime, maybe 5-6 years at a stretch.

I am contemplating getting the board from Komplett.ie (I am based in Ireland) as it list a manufacturers warranty of 10 years on ALL EVGA components. This would be more than sufficient for any build.

In all likelihood, I will be going with a single GPU solution, perhaps a 3rd party sound solution or PhysX, but I doubt it.

The additional expense for SLI for what little FPS benefit never really seems justified in my mind.

@H20, thank dude. I will actually be tidying the sleeving up today with some scalpel blades to remove the "curled up" heatshrink as it's not easy on the eye I think.

The silly thing is though, that almost none of the connectors that I am doing at present (SATA and SATA power) will actually be seen as the hotswap bay has a pastic cover to direct airflow which Corsair recommend you maintain. I may try to design som kind of alternative cover, but the design they have is nice (guiderails, clips etc) and I am a complete and utter numpty when it comes to any kind of fabrication.

I have half of the SATA power connectors done, will get them finished this afternoon hopefully and post more pics. I only hope I ordered enough sleeving

 

Righty here are all the SATA data and power cables done

From this :


To these:





Not exactly professional quality, but a reasonable effort I think for a first time.

 

Looking great!

If you are having problems with the SATA power cables, you could use just heatshrink between the connectors instead of using the sleeving. IMO it looks much better.

 

This is definately a learning experience for me. I am using too much sleeving and not enough heatshrink in some instances, nor am I pulling the sleeve tight enough.

I am happy enough with the power cable thus far, especially since it will be hidden anyway, but it is one of those touches that I think is necessary.

Going to start the ATX cable this evening. I am still trying to decide if I go with individual wires all the way from the PSU or if I go half way. I reckon I will throw the PSU into the case and have a look at how the cables reach and if I will need to use extender cables at all.

Rome wasn't built in a day....

Also, H20, I haven't tried the extractor on the 3-pin connectors yet, but I have a few lying around and I'll let you know.

 

The sleaving looks good keep at it. The first time you do anything it is never perfect, but with practice it will get better and better. Im sure the finished product is going to be steller. Keep us updated.


I usually like to get the "life time warrenty" because it says something about the company willing to put their reputation out like that. And the 2nd reason is I have really bad luck with electronics, 1 im in my case all the time for somthing or other ( I just killed my last build by trying to reroute the cables and pulled something now the board dosent work any more) Try finding a 939 socket motherboard with an AGP slot now lol. #2 When i move which is quite often the military movers dont exactally take the best care of your stuff hence i have 2 new TV's in the house now. The bummer is it was still a viable computer for the wife and kids and would have been nice to call abit and get a new board. I had an issue with my G Force 6800 UltraOC video card from BFG i called them up told them the problem and they sent me a new card( thats why i went with BFG Again great customer service).

@Interloper I know that you have to register you parts in the first month you have them, I read their policies when i was researching my build. This is not uncommon for any type of warrenty. Some times it pays to spend the extra 3 min to read their warrenty policies.

 

Aye Mech, I get your point and certainly, from the sounds of it, for someone in your situation is is advantageous.

EVGA offer the best warranty over here in Europe and most US manufacturers that offer a Lifetime warranty, it is only 10 or less over here.

Also, the theme I am going for is dictating parts as well. I want to have all black components (and recently saw a review of new Corsair Dominator RAM with black heatsinks ) with green highlights from the cabling and from the future WC loops.

This WILL be a slow project, but it is something i want to take my time on.

My big question now is how exactly I tackle the PSU sleeving, do I do the whole cable? or just back a little bit?