Scratch Build – In Progress Project: "Nomad" - A Liquid Cooled, i7/SLI SFF system (CANCELLED)

For a first time case mod I think we can say that you really are a good metal workers.

 

Thanks and welcome! I would love to take credit for the idea, but I can't. Someone here on bit-tech pioneered that trail sometime mid last year. I have been looking for them to make sure they get credit, but haven't found them. When I do they get a cyber-beer.

Hell yeah! Although...its not the best thing in the world to be drinking 2+ liters of per day.

Thanks! You missed this because it had a great start and several long periods of downtime between last fall and now. Really want to get this done!

Thanks and welcome!

However, I did NOT show the rest of my fabrication this weekend which was the optical drive holder. Too tall, horrible cutting and imprecise bender = bowl full of epic fail sauce. It was a decent idea though, so there will be a V.2. I might show V.1 at that time

 

why dont you just trim the sides down?
or is it a complete enclosure?

 

You mean for the radiators I think. The big reason is I wanted everything contained in one box. A part of me feels like its cheating to have radiators and reservoirs jutting out of a computer. Obviously this has been done to a great effect on some projects, but it isn't my taste and when I started this project one of my unbreakable rules was that the rads would remain inside the case.

EDIT: You are talking about the optical holder. There was more to the problem than just being too tall. The cover was to hold the optical drive in place and have integrated mounts on the top facing side for (2) 2.5" hard drives. Like I said, I haven't written the idea off, but I need to make a few revisions.

 

I really admire your patience, drilling all those holes, it did turn out very well though .

 

Awesome job! I love the simple and elegant hole jig you used for drilling.

Have you considered drilling beneath the mobo tray? This would improve the air supply to the radiators and provide additional (though marginal) cooling to the mobo at the minor cost of increasing the temperature of the air feeding into the radiators. How much area do you have acting as an inlet to the radiators?

Any updates?

 

That's not a bad idea. I had envisioned this area as an airbox specifically to prevent waste air from entering the cooling system, but general airflow might supersede this. I plan on doing a full run-through before finishing to check for bugs in the design, so at that point I will evaluate this. I have convinced myself to widen the back vent (likely double the width it is now) because there is plenty of room to do so.

Just because you asked, a teaser:



OK, so it happened to be coincidence. I did this Saturday evening.

I have said this before, but I really expect to have some time to devote to this in the coming weeks, so hopefully I can provide more routine updates.

Not having your own workspace is a bit...well, you know.

Thanks for watching!

 

Great build so far, I am also designing an sff case, this log has been helpful. Those hole vents are probably the best I have seen using that method; usually people show those off and i am very unimpressed, but those look nearly perfect, great job.

Also, with airflow and such, are you planning on putting the southbridge in the wc loop? If not, at least some airflow over those parts would be good, as well as helping dump any heat in that area out of the case. Remember, as long as heat is exiting the case, the actively cooled parts are also being helped. It would also help cool the ram, as i don't see a block for that (nor should you need one).

Lastly, what mobo are you planning to use. When I was first putting together my design, about the best matx board I could find was the EVGA SLI Micro, but about a week ago I found the ASUS Rampage III Gene, and actually Bit-Tech just renewed it. If there are compatible blocks for it, It would seem to be the dream board for this kind of build.

Keep up the good work, and don't go MIA on us again!

Have Fun,
-SPNKR

 

really impressive stuff! Kudos!

i'll keep an eye out for future updates.

 

Actually I am running a Asus Rampage II Gene in a Antec Mini-P180 right now that I intend to use for this build. (At stock settings, with stock coolers it has been a tank. No issues. I have a friend with the same board and he was running at 4.2Ghz under water for a long while before backing the system back down.)

I purchased a MIPS block set specifically for this board (the Mosfet is a custom length, so there aren't many choices) and a southbridge is included. I will add the southbridge cooler if I don't go with dual 5870s. Otherwise, I am not sure there is room. I have been told the southbridge is not a big heat generator in this system, but we will see.

I am glad you are digging the holes (see what I did there?) but I only see the ones that are off . The overall effect does make me excited to see the case up and running though. I would advise that a drill press is critical to this working properly.

Thanks for the comments!

Thanks and welcome!

 

And...the end.

As some may have guessed, this project is cancelled.

Actually, a more appropriate term would be that it has been completed, but not as a finished piece. The main reason was that I got busy with work and my workspace was getting to be more and more difficult to get to in a timely manor. The second reason came at the beginning of the year when a new idea for a case just wouldn't stop bugging me. Finishing Nomad was still a priority until my friend (the one whose garage I was abusing/using) told me of his want to build a new case. Hmm...a friend with the same hardware and same needs, wanting a new case...

So he got it. For his birthday. Because of his need, Nomad was presented to him in working, but unfinished state. Compromises were made to the design (we used his res, mounted to the outside of the case), did no custom wiring, and didn't complete the lids. Regardless of this, the case is rock solid and the airflow considerations yield an overclocked i7 (3.8 GHz I believe) and GTX 275 at a reasonable 60C at a room temp of 22-23C. This is with 25mm fans on a low setting on a rheostat.

So, in the end, I am happy. My design worked, my friend has a usable system again, and I learned a ton. I also now have a free plate to work on my next idea...

Thanks to all for watching, the advice and suggestions. This is only the beginning...

P.S. Relinking the pics made me very nostalgic. The feeling of watching all the work unfold again is a bittersweet reminder of just what I went through with this build...