Hi all and welcome to my first ever proper project log. While I've assembled a few watercooled PCs in the past they've always been a little bit on the messy side. My current build is based around a Q6600 / NVidia GTX285 and was starting to creak around the edges. When my good friend Nitrix gave me the opportunity to upgrade the GPU to an AMD 6950 with a full cover waterblock I decided that it was time to upgrade the whole thing! So I ordered some shiny new bits, an OCZ Vertex 3 120gb SSD, an ASUS P8Z77-V LX mobo with an Intel i5 3750K, and 8GB of Samsung RAM all pre-overclocked by Overclockers.co.uk and got some watercooling goodies from from Aquatuning - and a UC-1 cooler which was kindly donated to me by Phobya I'll take more photographs of the components as I properly open, watercool and install them but just wanted to give you a taster of why I feel its necessary to try to turn my PC into something a little more elegant than any PC I've ever built before So, with some help form Nitrix I started to dismantle 'beast'... Due to the large volumes of water in the loop I didn't get too many shots of the dismantling process, but I couldn't believe that despite the dust filters there was so much dust in the case! I've hoovered, dusted and cleaned all the components that are going back in the case and thoroughly rinsed the 2 Thermochill rads (a 120.2 and a 120.3) which I bought with the case a few years back. The biggest problem I've had in the past with this Lian Li case has been the lack of holes in the motherboard tray, but armed with a drill and a dremel I hope to change that soon. But before the fun could start, I needed to make some measurements: I basically covered the mobo tray with masking tape and drew around the components so I could see how everything was going to fit together. I then decided to sit down have a cup of tea and start this PLog while I summon the courage to bring out the Many thanks to my sponsor:
Project Phoenix, July 10 UPDATE Well this thread has been quiet, but I assure you my garage hasn't been! So after measuring up all the components, it was time to start making some holes This wasn't as easy as I thought and my hole cutting tool didn't last long: I almost lost an eye as the case was hindering my ability to get the dremel cutting tools level: Finally my perseverance paid off and as I started to clean up the holes I turned the case over and spied 3 little screws... You'll never guess what they do lol Yeah you guessed it, the motherboard tray is removable after all! I then test fitted some edging round the holes: before learning how to use a spray can: This is just the primer, unfortunately I dont have anywhere to spray indoors so this first coat is as far as I've got... Next up, sanding back the first coat of primer and priming the fan grills of the Enermax PSU so I can paint them white... Many thanks to Phobya for sponsoring me:
Hi J-Lyons - I enquired very politely about the new UC-1 waterblock and I guess my subtle blend of cheek and self-depreciating humour did the trick.... Most of the build is self-funded for sure. If the weather hadn't been so bad I'd have been able to get at least a coat of paint a day done on the chassis...
Hi all, so apologies for the late update - a work trip to LA and the rain put paid to my plans for spray painting in the garden for a while... So while I waited for the rain to clear I watercooled the GPU: adding the new heat pads and thermal paste fitting the block: Anyways, once the British summer finally decided to stop hiding I decided to paint a PC while the sun shone.... Painting can be pretty boring and gives you plenty of time to think - and time to think leads to scope creep as you'll see as this post goes on. First up, though, the case after several coats of primer and satin black paint it starts looking like I envisaged: All the fan covers needed to be painted white: I also decided that all the PCIE block blanks and card connectors needed to be white too: Personally, I think the PSU looks much better with white fan grills, before: after: My biggest headache has been with HDD cover / heatsink that I will be using to mount the HDD to the base of the PC (the SSD will be mounted to the motherboard tray. Before: So I started off trying to just paint the heatpipes white and was then going to follow up by painting the 'mount' black. But after several frustrating failed attempts at trying to mask off the white heatpipes and painting the mount black I decided to start again and pulled out the heatpipes and painted the pipes and mount separately... Unfortunately, a couple of the pipes did bend a little so the finish isnt quite as good as I'd like, but hopefully I can fix this before installation.... Next up, final sanding and lacquering Once again I would like to thank Phobya for sponsoring me:
So after a 'quick' coat of lacquer (seriously this step seemed to take ages...) it was time to start assembly to check everything fitted as expected... can you tell I was nervous? First things to go in were the front rad, PSU, SSD and HDD I then added the rear fan etc I also unwrapped this great looking XSPC reservoir I then installed the mobo and gpu and several cables After much messing around with cables at the back of the PC (the hidden away mess is unreal i got these shots in my garage: BUT, there was something still missing.... I had decided to do away with the front audio and usb port as they were superfluous to requirements, so that left me with a flap to nothing so to speak: I also had an issue that the lovely Enermax T.B. Vegas Trio fans I installed have switches that needed housing somewhere... so out came the dremel again this still needs a little more smoothing but I think you get the picture? Once again, thanks go out to Phobya:
So its time for a big update, I got so carried away finishing this little beauty off that I neglected to post the pictures as a I went along (partly due to a demanding few weeks of travel for both work and vacation ) So when I left you last I had just started modding the front 'audio' port to fit the LED controllers for 5 of the 6 insanely cool Enermax T.B. Vegas Trio fans: This lets me conveniently control just how visually loud the case is And before I start showing off how much better it now looks inside, I thought I should mention how easy the Monsoon fittings were to fit (although you do need to do the 'barb' part up quite tight!). I got so involved with fitting the tubing and then rising and filling the system that I forgot to take any pictures before it was finished... The XSPC rad has so far been a dream to use and I love the white pastel dye Mayhems kindly provided me with. And I guess all the leaves me to do is show you the insides again: and my personal favorite shot: Many thanks must go to Nitrix for his help and advice, to Aquatuning for helping me find parts that fitted each other and Mayhems for the dye. Of course the biggest shout out has to go to Phobya - your assistance and support for this project has been very much appreciated
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed working on the build and seeing that even a modding newbie can make a huge a difference to the appearance of a build!
Congrats finishing the build! It is a great improvement over your last build I love the moonson fittings, but I would have used black fittings to make the contrast against the white tubing, maybe for a future update?
Thanks buddy - am really pleased with it and am looking forward to putting the skills I learned during this build on another one (perhaps a watercooled media pc for the lounge...) I know what you mean about the black vs white fitting debate - I was torn about which to order in the first place. Perhaps when I build another one to use up the spare tubing I have I will use black fittings instead and see which works best! All in all though, those fittings are a huge improvement on the old barb approach
