Hey guys/gals! Project Arctic X 945 came about as an amalgamation between having a system capable of handling all the top games at max settings as well as being able to function as an office workstation, rendering platform and of course, test system for the company I own. The main needs for me were quite varied as any part for a good rendering station would differ from what is technically needed for gaming; with that in mind, I had to go a little overkill so Artic X 945 is all about performance but without being too "overkill" so to speak! This project is being done in collaboration with the ever awesome John “Montymole” Laveric who is not only consulting on the mod, but we will be doing this rig together all the way throughout. He is the expert modifier of components and I am the technical guru making sure everything is optimal/running as fast as it can! Here are the sponsors for my project which without, wouldn't be possible in the slightest; much kudos and eternal gratefulness to all of them! So with the above in mind, here is the spec list of what the final system is going to include: Case: Cooler Master HAF Stacker 945 - Sponsored With the monstrous case in mind, the below specs will actually make a little sense; I hope! Main System: CPU - Intel Core i7 5960x Motherboard - MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX RAM - 32GB (8x4GB) Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 2400MHz memory Graphics - NVIDIA GTX Titan X 12GB Power Supply – Cooler Master V1200 1200w Platinum SSDs – Crucial MX200 250GB x 2 (looking to increase to 4 or 6 over the next month) HDD – Western Digital WD 4TB Black Secondary System: CPU – Intel Core i7 4770k Motherboard - MSI Z87I-ITX/ac RAM - Undecided Graphics – Intel HD On-board Power Supply – Cooler Master G550M Bronze SSD –M.2 SSD of sorts (undecided) Audio – ASUS Essence STX II Water cooling: CPU – EKWB Supremacy MX x 2 GPU – EKWB Titan X block /w backplate (nickel/acetal) Fittings – Nanoxia CoolForce Tubing – Nanoxia PETG Tubing Fluid – Mayhems Pastel Radiators – Mayhems 360mm Havoc x 2 Fans – Cooler Master Jetflo 120’s 120mm x LOTS! As you can see by the above specifications, I intend to house both systems inside the 1 system but to make things easier for cooling, the loop will run throughout the entire system cooling both systems; main one having the CPU/GPU water cooled and the secondary having just the CPU cooled. EKWB kindly supported this project with CPU blocks, 2 x EKWB D5 pumps to run the loop, a Titan X GPU block to allow me to overclock the balls off the components (my vice in life) and Nanoxia supplied the fittings/tubing in which I absolutely adore; Mayhems also sponsored 5l of Pastel fluid along with 2 x 360mm radiators. The radiators will be equipped with Cooler Master Jetflo 120mm fans throughout although the amount to be used is still undecided; I intend to add as many as I can as I will be hooking them up to fan controllers to reduce noise; of course noise won’t bother me as I usually have music pumping/headphones on which cancel most noise anyway! The plan with the case is to have it powder coated white with the trim to remain black; the front grills/mesh will be sprayed orange as the main theme is White/Orange with black trim; significant colours to the company I run. With that out of the way, here are some pictures of the intended components in the system as well as some of the sponsored products which have enabled me to create PLAY4H from a vision/dream, into reality More to follow soon!
Modding update from Monty He guys sorry for the little delay I was putting the case back together and got side tracked with some food . So Gavin asked me to make the Case white and fit the internal panels ,new window, new fan grills and help with the loop. 1st I took the case which is one of these rather large HAF Stacker's cut out some of the panel for a new grill on the bottom section .. Next job was powder getting her ready for powder which due to the factory powder being very thin it was possible to coat it without dipping in acid so here are some quick pics of the case the orange mesh may well end up white or different shade of orange but that is not my call.. and that is all I have for now as I need to get back to my own projects so bye for now folks
It took a few weeks of deciding on this I am happy so far but Gav being happy is the main thing so now we have some progress
Small update, some small bits been done which needed doing; pretty important in the grand scheme of how clean and flush the system is going to be, as well as functional! Here is the blocks which will be key to cooling the 2 x CPU's and 1 x GPU! The epic EKWB Supremacy MX; bargain for what you get and the quality is top notch! Titan X backplate because they don't come with one as standard.....poooooor play! - EKWB one will be sprayed when the next load of painting is ready to be done! I just love the look of the EKWB Acetal/Nickel GPU blocks; haven't found a sexier looking one tbh! My fan controllers of choice for this build; The Lamptron FC6's - Needed to keep the CM Jetflo fans at reasonable noise levels! John did a great job at braiding both the EKWB D5 pumps which have both got EKWB tops on them; they glow gorgeously in dimmed light! Both of the 360mm Mayhems Havoc radiators are sitting in the bottom of the case with 6 x Cooler Master Jetflo's awaiting to be wired up to the fan controllers! Next steps, planning out the cabling, a few things to be sprayed/modded to match the general aesthetic and another motherboard for the top section of the case; much better and beefier one! Thanks for looking
Modding Update # The Stacker got taller Hi Guys I will be taking over the updates until I hand the rig back over to Gavin, after much talk and changes of plan ( as per usual ) I decided I wanted to give my buddy something a bit more than just a change of color and a nice loop so I got my head around a new plan for a bigger Stacker with an extra layer and this means new panels all around so here is a rough idea of what them panels will look like and then some modding. Left Panel : Front Panel: So this means removing some of the case .. So the aluminium angle is level along the case I needed to make some spacers .. All of these pics are just the basic layout of things .. And a quick pic of some of the stuff getting painted in electric orange really need to show you this in better light but it really looks nice . That is all I have I am waiting on materials and next update will have the internal panels done and all the parts that need painting on the new frame and any trim will all be fitted so bye for now.
Update on the new panel's and a EK backplate spray job Hello again folks here is another update of what has been going on 1st here is a very basic render of the new panels ..... Needed to remove some more of the internals The Dogs like it .. Now the EK Titan X Back Plate Some Caustic soda and some boiling water .. Etch Primer .. White Primer ... Bling .... That is all for now folks back soon with all the internal trim and panels done and some thing new with the layout ...
