Right before I start let me just say... I am a complete modding beginner and have never so much as put dremmel to metal. So please go easy I'm sure that by man peoples standards this is more of an afternoons work than a project but hey... There will be very little cutting, sawing, bending or breaking of anything for 2 reasons: 1. I have no tools to speak of 2. I can't afford tools, or any remedial work in the event of 'disaster mods' 3. Within reason the bits I have are what I have, I can spend a little here and there but the whole thing is on a serious budget. Here we go. My current setup has inspired this all... Now I really like my coolermaster but as you can see there's just no way all the watercooling gear is going to fit in there, no matter how much modding goes on. To be honest I don't really want to cut it either. But all the mess looks bad in the conservatory and is really starting to piss the missus off! So it's got to go into a case. Luckily I have this likely looking customer lying around... Yes its a pre-modded Globalwin from Overclockers... what a blast from the past, gotta love the beige though As dated as they maybe these were and are still (imho) good cases if you can live with steal as pretty much everything is removeable... No room for water cooling gear... Two screws later and the space has been found As can be seen from the first piccy my current res is somewhat of a beast! The only alternative (without spending any cash) is a 4" Criticool res which isn't the best so I figured I'd try and make something. One trip to Wilkos later... As you can see from the poorly cut holes in the lid I decided upon the cup like one, and here's the finished product... I intend to silicone the coner pieces in. I know that they'll probably reduce the flow \ velocity but compaired to the existing setup I dont think it'll be a problem. Also it allows me to position the inlet and outlet at different levels in the Res. I was originally intending to mount the bix2 on the side panel, assuming it'd take the weight but unfortunately those inconsiderate boys at overclockers cut the blow holes (and mountings) just out of line with those on the rad - basically meaning that it can only be secured by one set of 120mm fan mount holes. So it looks like it'll be going on the top of the case with it just being held in place by the screws without them actually taking any weight. The current setup of the cooling loop and flow is as follows, sorry about the appauling paint skills! Hopefully that makes sense... the black box is the pump. One thing I haven't really considered is the way the pipes will get into the case, at them moment I think they'll just go in through the top drive bay. Not the most pretty solution admittidly but I'm really looking for pure functionality. Here is a far as I've got as most of the bits are currently in use... Res in position and secured down... Any comments \ thoughts on anything at all greatfully accepted, as long as they're not too scathing Nothing is finalised as yet and as it's my first time I could do with a few pointers. p.s. I hope this shouldn't be in Extreme Cooling but it's as close to a Project as I'm likely to get at the moment
this can end up good, as long as you don't get water in the box, unintended... ED: well.. forgott "don't"
I know you said you don't have any tools, but can you at least beg/borrow/steal a drill from a neighbor or something? If you turned the radiator over and drilled two holes you could run the water lines directly into the case. It would look alot better than running them up and through the front, plus it would be a bit safer, protecting the lines like that.
Yeah, that's a good point... I'll have to have a think about that. I'll have a look at the way the rad'll sit on top. Cheers
A whole other case for the w/c, and you're still mounting the rad externally? no no no no no no no no no jimbo
I know... but cutting is so scary... especially when you have no tools.. I feel I'm breaking some fundamental unwritten rules here I have been thinking though and will take another look tonight - maybe I'll cut out the shape of the rad in the top panel then I could mount it internally. It depends if the current blow holes are further apart than the hole for the rad needs to be, if that makes sense... the water cooling is all still hooked up on the other rig which makes things a little more akward. I'll get the trape measure out.
i think you could make life quite easier by drilling 2 holes to the top panel. and pull the pipes through them. like this... and it would sure look better
I think you're right! I am now thinking about trying to make the whole thing internal, although it'll involve quite a lot more work...
by turning the rad 180 degrees you get the hoses down in the middle of the case instead of in the 5,25" rack...
The problem I have though is that the current fan & screw holes don't work out exactly with rad and it's mountings. I'm just measureing things up now.
Me too Right, I had a bit of a think last night. I'm thinking I'm either going to rotate the rad and cut an extra hole in the top so the tubing goes directly down into the case OR mount the Rad internally (!) which is going to require even more cutting. Here's what I've got to work with... I masked it all off in anticipation and did a few measurements. As you can see in the picture the mounting holes for the res \ fan (marked with little black dots) don't quite line up with the existing holes (that have been punched through the masking), they're just out. Now with the original plan this wouldn't have mattered as i was just going to use one set (4 screws) to secure the rad as it wouldn't be bearing any weight. If I mount it internally though I don't think using just 4 screws will be enough especially as the fans will be between the rad and the case. The existing holes seem a little to close to the positions that the new ones need to be to allow safe drilling.... Any ideas?
So nothing much has happened for a while with this.... I've got all the components now to start getting this together. So the mounting holes for the fans \ rad. Will it be ok to drill the second set of holes on the second fan mounts so they oblong(ish)? The heads of the screws are reasonably wide so there should still be enough purchase. I just don't think theres room to even attempt to drill a new set in the correct place. Opinions?
