Case Mod - Complete Project: Mini Metis Maximus (ITX X99 watercooled)

Soooo, that waterblock wasn't really cutting it so I decided to add some bits, namely a 3D printed fascia. I thought I'd make it look a bit like a heatsink itself, but knocked one out on my printer as a prototype. I thought it would be funky to add some text to the top too.



The final design sits around the Alphacool waterblock, which I've now modded to fit Alphacool's own skinny M.2 heatsink, which is easier to fit just using clips.



However, the prototype showed that my printer wasn't up to the task so I found a guy online to print it, only to have him go AWOL just before Christmas. Grrr.



Thankfully I found https://www.3dhubs.com, and soon had a quote for about £15 to knock one up in high resolution. Yay. White looks cool but the text just whites out so knew I needed to spray it.









I went with Montana Silverchrome in the end. However, I hit a snag in that the paint is very fragile without some sort of clear coat, but you can't use normal clear coat as it basically turns the chrome paint grey. Amazingly, floor polish was the answer... It's used in the modeling world to seal plastics and apply a thin clear coat to stop plastics tarnishing. You just dip the components in, leave them to dry, and you have a clear coat.



That's the block done and mounted to the Alphacool heatsink and ready to go.



I've been spraying pretty much everything else chrome too - PSU, fan, motherboard shroud, EK end connector....





The black screws looked wrong too so sanded the paint off and used 3000 grit plus some Autosol to get them to a chrome shine.



Should have lots more updates over the weekend!

 

Thanks Johan!

You mean mount the top to the pump or the whole contraption in the case? If it's the former the standard DDC mounting screws should be okay - not sure which specific set I used but they worked!

I'll be mounting the pump on a small section of bent-to-shape alu sheet or using mounting pads and securing it to the front of the case - not sure yet. I'm working out the plumbing today so will know where and how once I'd sorted that out

Thanks! I wonder how much it would be to mill one out of alu, but it looks okay I think. It will be mostly hidden by tubes once it's done I think which is a shame!

 

Ahh I see. TBH I have about 3 DDCs laying around from the last 10 years along with twice that many tops and the one set of screws I tried worked! lol! However, I never screw pumps to anything, it's just asking for vibration and more noise, even with anti-vibe mounts. It's such a small case that this will be even more of an issue (think of V8 being mounted to a moped!).

I'll most likely use some 3M mounting tape and secure it to a custom mount or something. It's going to be wedged in place by two brass tubes so it's not going anywhere.

 

Oh yeah! ha ha! Didn't even notice that! Maybe I'll dig around in the backend and see who it was. Or maybe I'll just continue doing what I'm doing - that will clearly annoy them more!

 

And GorgTech can be my voice of reason from now on You're absolutely right of course - must have forgotten to check the resize button! Cropped them all down to size now.

 

Yeah that's what I thought - it seemed to with some of them but not with others Never mind. Learned my lesson. Only took 10 years!

 

I've used one that came with a Thermaltake case. I haven't actually tested it yet which is silly as I know they had issues last year with GPU stability, which they've since fixed. They're available separately though. http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/T...PCIe-x16-Riser-Card-Extender-Cable_61880.html