Scratch Build – Complete Project Wood Ridge

Time for something new, meet project Wood Ridge

A scratch build based in an AMD first gen Ryzen launch kit box. A huge shout out to the awesome and kind people over at TechTesters for providing this opportunity to do a build in this


Like most of my projects its first time to figure out what is possible in the given space by the enclosure. Especially this time around since it internal volume of the box is sub 18L.
At first I was thinking about going the more convencional layout route for the GPU while implementing a custom loop for the cooling.


But soon after I realized that this wouldn't give enought room for all the other parts. That is when I swaped to a sandwich layout which is more convencional these days for SFF builds.


Ventilation for radiators is gonna be handeld by cuttinng holes in the top and bottom of the box with cover plates with hexagon cutouts for airflow. The top is also getting some handles for easy pickup.


The top IO that is gonna be used is out of a Fractal Design ERA ITX case. With the real also getting a cutout and frame for all the hardware IO. This should provide good modern mix of IO


For the loop I have come up with this layout on the front side.


The rear of the box is gonna be replaced by a custom distro place. This makes the remaining tube runs a lot easier and should give a clean look while also being able to see the GPU


More updates should come next week

 

Sheetmetal arrived


Some cleanup needed from the lasercutting


Time to get to work Most parts needed some cleanup from the lasercutting and holes countersunk.




First GPU went better as expected


To finish off the GPU spacers, casefeet and case handles got done.


Test fitting handles


Next up prep for paint Trying out a new paint for this project


Don't forget the PPE's

 

Something arrived early last week while I was on a little vacation A big thank you goes out to Ruben from TheDutchManModifies for helping out getting this distro made!

 

Yesterday it was time for the scarry part, cutting the box for the new interior. First marking all the area's that needed work.






Double checking against the sheetmetal parts




Cutting time








Checking against the sheetmetal agian


Some small fixing needed at a one point

Ready for assembly

 

Awesome as expected

 

These goodies from Slovenia arrived A huge thank you goes out to EKWB for supporting this project! Enjoy some eye candy

 

Productive weekend update

First had to trim two panel a bit to get the fit in the box perfect.


Then it was prepping time for paint. This was done by sanding all parts by hand and cleaning then with isopropyl alcohol before paint.





Then it was time for the paint. Tried a new product that hadn't tried before.




After 3 coats it was time to let it dry with some help of the sun.


I'm amazed by the results of this Steelit in a spray can



Now the big moment assembly time of the frame in the box




Some quick photos of the result




And to finish off some sleeving of the front IO. I kinda forgot to do that before installing it

 

Update back side finished

First it was time for the gpu block install but with some tweaks


Spacers to go in between the midplate and gpu backplate.


Turning logo around



It fits great in the case with the spacer mounts


And the IO lined up


To give some wiggle room for small misalignment the distro plate had some space around it. Used some double sided tape to fill this space out.


Snug fit in the box


All installed and leaktested Next up the front side

 

Small update, getting close to being done

All radiator screws needed 3mm trimming due case



This allowed a test fit with both rad and fans + the pump res combo. I'm not looking forward to cable managment


Bios all setup: Latest bios, memory OC and pcie 16x set to gen 3. Time for the cpu block to go on


It all fits


First the easy tube run I thought, it took 3 tries to get right


Other run from the res to the cpu block was a lot easier. Only had to come up with a diffrent route due to the pcie riser being 5cm longer then plannend.


On the final stretches now Currently waiting on the storage, custom cables and PSU to arrive. Once those are here its time to take the rads, fans, motherboard and pump/res out and do final assembly with cable management

 

This is coming along really nicely!

It's nice to see a project resemble the drawings so clearly. I think a lot of people create a drawing and then go to town on it without really have the tooling and skills to do so.

This doesn't mean what they create is rubbish, it's just not 100% as expected. This however as said bucks that trend and I like that a lot! It's good to see a plan come together

 

That's me.
I like the plumbing a lot. It levels the components into a tidy flat surface.

 

Thank you! I really like the freedom of the 3D designing part and give time to refect on design idea's to see if it possible to make them

Thanks Its is a close fit with all the tubes to the edge of the box but indeed levels out all parts quite good

 

Excellent work, so clean...the design, the hardware choice, everything is absolutely perfect

 

Thank you! Now its time to finish it off with the cable management

 

Nice looking project. Good work!

 

Final assembly update

Partial loop leakdown test.


Gettiing this this final psu screw in was a nightmare


Pre running the psu cables


Cable managment on the small wires



All main parts in


Installing SSD


Final leaktest

 

Project Wood Ridge is done Enjoy some eye candy

 

Final system temps during full system load test

 

There is a problem with some images, anyway great job!
You should take some pics in the dark.

 

Thanks for the heads up, the image problems should be fixed now