Hi guys! New year equals new build or should I say builds because i'm crazy enough to start 2 at a time!!! But let's talk about this one here! During the holidays, I received a wonderful offer from EK. They offered me to be part of a small group of builders to promote the new EK-Vulture ITX case and with the case came a full watercooling gear sponsorship! How could I say no!! Such a wonderful case like this needed to be named after a wonderful thing or person so this is why I named it "Lady Sif". The beautiful Asgardian Warrior and wife of Thor! The color scheme will then be red and silver like Sif's armor. The case will be custom painted by my friend Mark Fryer better known as Hanoverfist in the modding scene. I would have paint it but since it's winter here and that my "paint booth" is my garage it means that I don't have any paint booth at the moment. For those who have seen his painting skills you can already know that the case will be awesome!! Finally, EK is joined by two other great sponsors in this build! Joey from Ensourced will do he's magic on the PSU sleeving job and also Daz from Darkside will light up the interior of the case with some amazing LED strip! Thanks guys!! As always, I hope you will enjoy this build! Build setup/parts listing : Case EK-Vulture mITX case (limited run of 50 cases) Each case is numbered and I got 02/50 Components EVGA Z97 Stinger Wi-Fi mITX Motherboard Intel i7-4790K CPU G.SKILL Ripjaws Z 8GB DDR3-2400 RAM Corsair AX860i 860W 80PLUS Platinum PSU EVGA GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0 SAMSUNG 850 EVO 120GB SSD Cooling EK-Vardar F2-120 (1450rpm) 120mm Fans (6x) EK-CoolStream PE 360 Radiator EK-XRES 140 D5 Vario (incl. pump) EK-D5 Cover Kit (Nickel) Acetal EK-RES X3 - Multiport TOP (with 40mm Internal Tube) EK-HDC Fitting 12mm G1/4 - Nickel (8x) EK-AF Angled 45° and 90° G1/4 Nickel EK-Extender G1/4 Socket - Nickel (2x) (for the radiator) EK-CSQ Plug G1/4 - Nickel (4x) EK-HD Tube 10/12mm EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel CPU Waterblock EK-FC980 GTX - Nickel GPU Waterblock EK-FC980 GTX Backplate - Nickel EK-FC Terminal - Plexi EK-Ekoolant EVO Blood Red Coolant Sleeving, lighting and misc. Sleeving job done by Ensourced with Paracord 550 in Imperial Red and Charcoal Gray (or Silver) Darkside 12" RGB LED strip with controller Swiftech PWM Fan Splitter Sorbothane (70D) 12mm square pad feets (2.5mm thick) Some simple tease pictures
Hi Everyone!! Here are the first pics while waiting for my watercooling gear!! The case!!! Pure beauty!!! And look at the tickness of the panel!!!! Close-up of the window mountings Perfect curve The components The motherboard mainly black with a hint of red and silver The GTX 980 Superclock...hummmm The new Samsung 850 EVO The CPU and the RAM. I wanted an all-black heatspreader and the blue "Ripjaws Z" will be removed DHL should deliver my watercooling gear from EK tomorrow so I will update you soon!
I received my watercooling gear package from EK earlier this week but with work and everything I wasn't able to update before now. So here we go!! The whole package of goodies! The rad and fans It will now be my 3rd build using the PE rads. I just love how they look and perform. For the first time I will take advantage of the fact that they can be dismantled for easier customization like painting. For the fans I finally have the chance to work with the Vardar. I decided to go with the F2 (1450rpm) in push-pull. The blocks I did go with the plexi-nickel combo for a few reasons. First, I just love them lolll. Second, They will match nicely in the color scheme. Third, with a big window like the Vulture has you have to show the goods!! I will have a bit of polishing to do on the plexi even if they're already good looking but the little lowfat in me saw a few flaws that needs to be fix lolll In reverse layout the backplate isn't visible but I couldn't resist the nickel backplate! Pump/Res combo I must have changed my mind 5-6 times between D5 and DDC. In the end the D5 won only based on the fact that I really love the D5 and that's it. The choice of coolant is Blood Red because it will fit the theme. The fittings I chose the EK-HDC in Nickel finish for the theme match and also because I worked with them on Xenomorph and I liked them. The angled adapters are the new EK-AF Adapters also in Nickel. I took the last 2 pictures just for the kick and also that sometimes people like to have some comparison. Since I will use the EK-HD fittings on another build I had some on hands to do a side-by-side of the 2 to show there difference in size. There's not a big difference but for some people it can make a difference. Just for your info the EK-HD and the push-in style of fittings compared the the EK-HDC which are compression fittings. Both for hard tubing. On the left it's the EK-HD and on the right the EK-HDC. This weekend I will do some test fitting in the case and then it will soon leave my house to go south for a painting trip! I'll keep you all updated!
Unfortunately there are no pictures of the work in progress. A mod might move this to the modding section unless you upload pictures of work being done. It is a 'project' after all.
Hi! I did a test fit this weekend to be sure that everything was going to be ok. Since i haven't truly decided if I was going with the 850AXi and that it's still in one of my rigs I used my XFX that was available for test fitting As you will see everything fit in place! The case will leave for the painting in a few days so it's the last time you will see it in black! During the time I will be able to test the components on my bench and also decide which PSU I will go with so I can order my sleeving from Ensourced. Take care everyone!
Is this case just for MiniATX or also Matx? It kinda feels like the MiniATX motherboard is placed in case made for bigger formfactors
It would be a nice mod not so hard to do. You would need to redo the IO panel to drop down the IO shield placement and to add 2 more PCI slots. And you would need to also redo the backplate. Since everything is screwed on the case, it would ease the process a little bit The only thing is that you would still have only a 360 radiator so you would have to go easy on the dual GPU setup
Hi, Just a mini-update to let you know that the case is now in route to Hanoverfist to receive it's new paint job! The choice of paint is obviously from House Of Kolor and they are Kandy Apple Red (KK11) and Orion Silver (BC02) Here's the colors
First tease pictures of the paint job by Hanoverfist!!! I'm so happy with the color!!!! Thanks Mark! I can't wait to see to case with my own eyes!!
Update! Update! Update! Hi everyone! It's been a while since the last update but here we go!!! Just as a reminder, the case was away for painting but the painter had a good waiting list. I knew it from the beginning and it was ok for me. Last friday, I received the case back from him!.....MAN that case is looking sooooo good!! The pictures aren't even able to show how good it looks! Thanks again Mark (Hanoverfist)!!! A while ago, I did receive my package from Darkside too and I just realized that I didn't add the picture in the log. So let's start with the Darkside Modding stuff! It's their wonderful RGB LED Strip! I used them in the Xenomorph build and they work like a charm!!! I also installed the GPU block on the GTX 980 SC with the plexi terminal and the awesome Nickel backplate!! And here's the piece de resistance in Candy Apple Red and Orion Silver!! I took the case with me for my morning coffee on my deck. Taking pictures of a candy color isn't the easiest thing to do but I hope you can see the color shifting in some of the pictures. This is also why on some pictures the Candy Apple Red will look more orange, some more pinkish and some darker red. It's sooooo gorgeous in real life!! These new pictures are also marking my recent camera switch. I moved from my trusty Canon Rebel XSi to my new Nikon D5200. I still need a few adjustments but so far I really my switch from Canon to Nikon. The PE rad has been painted in Orion Silver too. You can still see the original lettering but I will "highlight" it. Very cool mirror-like effect on the paint!! I just love that shot! Later the same day, I took the studio shots. When I checked them after the shooting, they were ugly for the most part so I redid my shooting early the morning after. I can see you... Things will go at a faster pace from now on! Before the end of the week I will receive the last 2 things to have everything on hands to complete the build. One thing being the sleeved cables from Ensourced for my EVGA Supernova 750 G2. I will hold you in the dark for the other package until the weekend. Thanks and cheers!!!
Yesterday I received my sleeved cables from Ensourced!!! One thing I did struggled and feared was the color match between the case and the sleeving. When I ordered the sleeving, I didn't have the case in hands and I also didn't had any samples of the sleeving colors. My choice was based only on pictures. When I opened the package yesterday it was such a good relief to see that the color match was awesome!!!! The sleeving is Paracord 550 and the colors are Imperial Red and Silver. During the weekend, I should be able to have most of the build done. Stay tuned!
