Case Mod - Complete Project code name - Time.Sync. End name The Hellcat.

haha no it didn't, I have been clearing and cleaning all day ! Jokes aside yeah, it really helped. It's hard not having a shed or a garage or anywhere really. Everything I needed for the build had to be out and accessible or it would have taken me ten times longer.

But yeah, my workshop days are over. I really can't do this any more it's made me quite ill tbh. My problem is I don't know when to stop, so I end up working until like 5am then having really terrible anxiety when I can't sleep because my brain has crashed into my skull at 200 miles an hour.

All I have left to do is cable tie in some wires I added* and then prepare the old skool rig to go on show (put the panels back on etc etc). Then I can clear off my desk, put all the tools away and get out all of the very expensive RGB peripherals I have been collecting over the past two months (Asus Xonar U7 MK2 USB, Razer Huntsman Elite, Alienware RGB mouse, RGB mouse pad etc).

* OK so I actually had a problem I didn't know I had. If you look at the clock when I was building it and it was in the panel it was nice and bright. Fast forward to the recent pics of the machine together and it's dim. Normally I would leave well alone but I was worried the DC connector had shaken loose or worse I'd pinched a wire. So I popped the plastic clips that hold the front on and... Well it lit up as soon as I opened the panel off the front. Closed it, sure enough clock went out again. Lots of head scratching later I shone my torch in there and it seems the clock is light activated. Dumb thing is I must have soldered the sensor on at some point and forgot. Any way, I took a white LED strip and put some black vinyl over it so it made a very dim yellow light.

That did the job it would seem.



We wish you a Merry Christmas and an Alienware new year

 

Paint finished. One of the reasons I used hammered is because if it ever needs touching up it's easy to hide. Had that been flat paint I would have been in all sorts of trouble.



I've also made a flat black IO shield, and want to make two small grey ones later today.

 

It's finished. I've also taken some photos (and a video) with a half decent camera, capable of transferring how the build looks in person into photos (almost, we all know it's actually close to impossible)

Tech specs.
CPU - Intel Xeon E7 ES. 14 core 28 threads
Motherboard - MSI X99 SLi Plus!
Memory - 8x4gb DDR4 running 2133mhz
GPU - Nvidia Titan X (P, Pascal)
Sound - Asus Xonar U7 MKII external USB
PSU - Enermax Platimax EPM1500EGT 1500w

Storage
1TB Intel 2280 NVME PCIE SSD
1TB Sandisk 2.5" SATA
500gb OCZ ARC 100 SATA
240gb Sandisk SATA
250gb Samsung EVO SATA

Cooling
Radiators - 2x Bitspower Leviathan 240mm.
Reservoir - Bitspower Z-Multi tank (100mm)
Flow Meter - Bitspower hex RGB
Fittings - (red) Bitspower
Fittings - (black) Bitspower, EK & Barrow
Hose - 11/8 (OD/ID)
Fans - Bequiet! Silent Wings 3 (4x120mm 1x92mm)
Fans cont - 140mm (in PSU) 80mm Noctua Industrial (cooling floor)
Pump - DDC
Pump Top - Alphacool acetal
CPU block - Aquacomputer Acetal
GPU Block - EK 1080Ti/TXP
XSPC EC6 clear coolant

Electronics

Aquacomputer Poweradjust 3
Aquacomputer Splitty! 9
Aquacomputer Hubby 7 (X2)
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 LT
Aquacomputer Farbwerk RGB controller
XSPC RGB splitter box (X2)
RGB memory module cooler (X4)
30CM RGB strip (X2)
7" 1024x600 touch screen
EVGA Powerlink
RGB Fan halo (X4)

Modifications

80mm industrial feet
Complete interior refit (skinned with 3mm acrylic, painted with Hammerite)
Coolermaster vertical GPU riser and ribbon
Custom front panel constructed from acyrilic, hosts -
Twin volt meters in front, with two way mirror/clock and coolant temp meter
Completely rewired
Bitfenix Alchemy 24, 8 and 6+8 pin GPU extensions (black)
Dodge SRT "Hell Cat" badge









Enormous thank you to all of those who helped me. Whether it be through advice, support, kind words or whatever else.

 

Came out looking awsome VT Clean and pro looking internals ,That screen inside is too cool ! this needs a Pro B-Roll

 

splendid result, with that greenish halo and the screen, front panel rocks too, it came out really great

 

Nicely done. It should be important to note that you kept the exterior and workings intact despite multiple refits. I would have broke most of it by now.

 

So time came for an upgrade.









And...



I noticed recently in a photo that something doesn't seem right with the 92mm fan in the back. I have no idea what happened or how it happened, but the grey ring on the fan is all messed up. It looks like some one painted half of it black. I don't know if I scraped it or something but it looks bad. I got this to play with.



Mostly because I've always wanted to play with one lol. I've also bought an addressable 100mm RGB strip for the GPU (EK)



My buddy is machining me a channel piece out of black acryl. I also need to make a couple of pieces I didn't do before (but should have) and touch up the paint.

 

You held out for an entire year.

 

I've been very busy moving and sorting my life.

I've hardly touched the PC. Really getting back into it now though, as my bank account will attest to lol.

 

Nice job!

 

OK lots more work done. Spent the day wiring yesterday. Getting the USB working properly as AMD chipsets have issues with hubs.

That's all sorted, so I moved into the GPU. I had to make a converter, and the strip was faulty (this is a common theme with RGB) and so the traces were broken so I had to chop one led off and go to the next set of traces.



As you can see, 5 LEDs are way more than enough.

 

Drained and stripped last night. Sure enough the backlight on the floor screen had been flicked to off. So I sorted that. Had a few issues on the way back but that's all sorted now.

Have started work on the led diffuser for the GPU. Have drawn it all and cut templates with my plotter, so I just need to wait for the acrylic and get on with that next week.

I knew that upgrading would take ages and I was right lol. It's a serious undertaking with this rig because of how I built it.

 

Another update. Maybe the last for a few days (I'm tired and beat !). I've now drawn, plotted and cut all of the templates for the RGB diffuser and a PCIE screw cover. I was going to do that (the screw cover) right back at the beginning but it slipped my mind and then I had to move so time ran out.



I won't try and explain how the diffuser works I'll just build it and post up pics tbh. Much easier that way.



That's all of them cut and two put in place for cutting. Ignore the fact it's red vinyl it's just what I had. Doesn't matter about that, what matters is I can get to points of MM to make things super accurate. Instead of drawing stuff out onto the acrylic and then having pen width issues and ETC for fractions of MM I can just cut them and they're so accurate I could literally assemble a case with no gaps or bits sticking out. TBH? I would say the plotter is more useful for that and I have probably used it far more times for that than making decals etc.

Any way, burnt and badly bruised hands.



Got some cut knuckles in the mix too, so I am taking a couple of days off now. I did do this the other day.



It's nice isn't it? They used to make them for HIFI which is kinda stupid unless your amplifier pulls like 1500w from the wall socket. This one was with a 40w per channel amp so yeah, snake oil at work. However, it's actually really nicely made. Each wire (Earth, Neg, Pos) is made from three strands of solid copper cable twisted.

So, in the rare event my rig ever pulls 1550w (max rated capacity on the PSU lol) then I will be covered. You can't buy this stuff any more which is a shame. People sussed it out eventually and realised it was snake oil. I added the clear 3 pin plug. It had some manky old black thing on there. It was also filthy, so has been thoroughly cleaned etc.

 

The pinnacle of human achievement?



You decide.

Sadly the GPU diffuser is too big (well, one part) so I need to rework that but can't for a while. I only got home Thursday arvo and had to run around town doing errands so that was Thursday gone. Yesterday I had to do loads more errands too, so that was gone also but I'm on new anxiety meds and let's say they're working well. I'm knackered.

Had some problems when I got home too. The PC had somehow gone back to the old BIOS and was being a d word. So I had to mess around for ages. I think I probably flicked the switch accidentally when working blind.

Slow ish progress but hey, fan works a treat.

 

I like the upgrade pic of it all powered down with its lights off, see it for what it is ...evil nasty looking beast ...awesome

 

That's the beauty of RGB. You can have a lovely understated PC, and tons of bling. And you can go from one straight to the other in seconds.

I've been working on the GPU diffuser today. Hoping that's done tomorrow cause its dragging.

I promised myself I wouldn't get out the big messy tools in my new flat but it was that or wait another 10 days. So I used the belt sander. On my thumb it seems lol.

 

I strongly advise you not shorten your fingers. Having stubby fingers won't impress the ladies.
The pickle of human achievement, maybe. We can't cure cancer, but we can activate sex toys via wifi and talk to our cars.

 

Today I finally finished the GPU LED diffuser. It's a chunk of 8mm acryl, that sits below the block with the LEDs stuck on top. Then there is a grey part that shrouds it in. The issue I had was that the grey part pees light. So I had to glue some acetate (black) to the back. Vinyl was thin and looked patchy. Which meant loads of work and then re polishing all of the edges because they went white from the superglue.



It's not easy when you set yourself a rule "no using power tools in new flat". I had to break that rule twice, but that's it. I also removed a large chunk of flesh from my thumb with the finger belt sander and it's taken two days to dry up.



Couple of notes. It's absolutely filthy and covered in finger marks and the paint still badly needs doing. Few bits and pieces before I get to that, though.

 

Hi, Great job, lot of work, the look is incredible !

 

Thanks Herman. Should hopefully finish it next week.