I’ve had a very quick fiddle and it appears if I remove the front 2.5” exterior bay my Stealth 360mm rad + fans will fit snuggly in the roof on the PSU side which would be perfect. I too am planning on removing the expansion card support. I’m going to fit an additional 120mm rad in the front intake. 480mm x 120mm of cooling should allow me to run my fans at a very low speed indeed. I looked around, at a lot of different sound dampening kits etc, and found them all staggeringly expensive for what they are. Yesterday however I stumbled across Efoam.co.uk which supply acoustic dampening foam cut to fit, in many different sizes. I got a piece 132cm x 125cm x 1cm for £11, which I can cut to size and install myself. The one I decided on is called 'Convoluted Acoustic Foam' which apparently is 'Designed to control the acoustics and reverberation characteristics of recording studios, (and) will greatly assist in reducing reverberation, reflections and flutter echoes.' What the pictures don’t show is that the inside top of the case is already covered with Akasa sound dampening material. However, that will have to come off for the time being, because I’ll need to cut the radiator hole out. Hopefully if I’m careful, I can re apply it later. Spray paint on the list is for both the inside and out. Currently the case is a very dark blue, but I'd prefer it totally black. I'm thinking of heading to Halfords and checking out their selection. Its hard to tell how things are going to come out, but I'd like something like Obsidian Black. They do do some others like 'sparkling graphite' that sound cool too. I really need tester cans!
Well can't wait to see it take shape. Ideally I would like to do a lot of what you mention to mine but at the time I really needed it to build the server so the inside got a matt black treatment, some sound dampening and some hardware. Good thing now is you can carry out your mod and I can steal your ideas later down the line for myself
Ok so here is what I’m thinking for the loop. (purple 'x2') boxes denote compression fittings) Because of the horizontal nature of the case I’ve painted arrows in green denoting piping on the left (Motherboard) side of the case, and arrows in red denoting piping on the right (PSU) side of the case. I figure its best to have the pump just before the CPU/GPU loop for maximum throughput, with the rad at the end of the loop, so water can spend some time larking about in there and cooling down (though of course, technically pressure should be the same throughout the loop). I’m also wondering about fittings. I have 6x Black Nickel fittings which I’d like to use on the CPU/GPU/120mm Front Rad, as that will be on show, and they look awesome and then 8x Silver fittings that I’d like to use for the back – I think I only need 6 here for Res/Pump/360mm Rad. A question about filling/draining ports: I’m thinking of putting a fillport right at the top of the case by the 360mm Rad, and a draining port at the other end of the same piece of tubing just before the water enters the pump. Is that ok? What should I buy to do this? I have some kind of T junction thingy (you can see it in the pic of all the fittings on page one) but I don’t know if its suitable
I use a junction and a ball valve for draining. Also, I cant see your res feeding the pump? Which I would recommend
Ah yes, that’s a much better idea, make sure the Pump has a consistent supply of water. I’ve redesigned the loop to take that into account. Also, I’ve moved the drain so its just after the pump. Is it possible to drain a loop by just running the pump so it sucks out all the water? I’d know when it was nearly dry because the last thing to clear would be the res.
Personally I wouldnt do it....It might work for a few seconds, but not for long. You will never drain a loop completely without a fair bit of effort. once you have emptied via the drain valve you will need to tip the pc one way and the other to get water out from rads and blocks anyway
One more question I have this block here It says the thread size is 1/4". Does that mean I'll need some kind of converter to attach to my 1/2" hoses and compression fittings? Or does the 1/2" refer to the hose size, and the compression fittings are all 1/4"which is some kind of standard size? Sorry if these all sound like dumb questions!
The 1/2" fittings will screw into the 1/4" thread no problems. Then you will need 1/2 inner diameter (id) hosing. I use 1/2". Its good, but not if your working in tight spaces.
Not that it matters too much as it will reach an equilibrium inside anyway, but I always like running the pump straight into a rad and then onto a heat source - I like to think this would knock out any heat that was dumped into the loop by the pump, I also like to think that if say it went pump > rad > cpu, then the cpu is benefitting from getting water at its "coolest" point in the loop, but the whole thing moves so fast that yeah equilibrium is reached so I dont think that makes much difference. Just how I have always designed my loops.
I'd be very tempted to user 3/8" ID tubing as you might find it a little easier to work with inside due to the very tight nature of the YY cube. It looks very roomy until you actually get hardware in it then its not a big you might think. I would be very suprised if you see 1-2% cooling difference in the smaller tubing - I didn't really notice any difference when I moved from 1/2" to 3/8". If you are looking to add drain ports - I've two Danger Den fillports (http://www.petrastechshop.com/dadendefi.html) in my unused watercooling bag if they might intrest you.
I could do! I'm not adverse to it. Will it still be compatible with my compression fittings? Interested in the fillports yes, anything to make my watercooling experience easier. How do they connect to the loop (ie: would I need to buy something else, like some kind of T junction??)
yeah, only issue would be new compression fittings as you would need G1/4 3/8 fittings Normally you would setup the fill ports with T fittings, I've got one derlin danger den one I could include. Only extra you would need is compression fittings if you wanted them over standard barbs.
Ah! Well, since I already have the CF's and tubing I'll try it out with that, and if I run into problems I'll change the tubing as you've suggested. I'd definitely take the T fittings and fillport. How much would you like for them?
Ok, so because I know you guys love answering my neverending questions: The case has a set of 6 LEDS. Currently these are a disgusting mix of yellow and green. It is my belief that one is a power light, and most of the rest are hard disk activity lights. Does anyone have an experience replacing case LEDs. Is a simple case of buying new LEDs and then desoldering the old ones and soldering on the new ones? I'm happy to take apart that box if you need more information on the makeup of the wiring etc. Untitled by Penderyn, on Flickr
Take that LED bracket off and have a look mate, half the time they're just soldered then hot-glued into place, and very easy to remove/replace. Just don't forget to wire up the replacements the right way round.
Yeah they are only wires soldered to the legs of the LED, as spreadie says just make sure you get the legs the right way around.
