Hi folks I didn’t think about posting when I started to build this computer, first of all because I thought only to have fun on my own during these troubled times and just make slight modifications that wouldn’t be complicated, but the more I was making cutouts and holes, I realised it would need a lot more work than I imagined, and it started to look like a mod. The hardware will not make anyone drool neither, it’s mainly from 2014, but even outdated I still like it and I wanted to build a fully water-cooled rig as a tribute. GPU : XFX R9 290x Hawaii with Aquacomputer Kryographics and backplate CPU : I7 4930K cooled by an Heatkiller IV RAM: 16GB of Corsair DP 1866 mhz MB : Jingsha X79-M DTX This Chinese MB is an hybrid, an upgrade of X79 chipset, it offers a M2 port for a bootable NVME SSD with 4 lines and USB3 support. Storage: M2 Samsung 970 evo+ 250GB and 3 SSD sata Intel pro series 250GB (because they are cheap and shiny ) PSU: EVGA 600BR ... rollingeyes: will it be enough power ?? we shall see ) WC: Aquacomputer D5,filter,High flow sensor, temp sensors splitters and aquaero 5xt Rad Barrow (this might be a leaking crap we shall see too ) Fans: Lianli BR digital The case is an EVGA DG 72, the cheapest of the range. I found 2 stainless steel plates certainly purposed for kitchen furnishings and it gave me the idea to make a shiny background inside the case, but I realised how tricky it is to work with that material without scratching or damaging it of course I should have protect it better with tape, not yet on this picture, but I already commited a few scratches during the mounting/dismounting processes that were numerous and it's not over...I hope I will manage to clean and polish it a bit before last mounting, luckilly, most of the scratches will be hidden by other parts. This is where I realised that the top of the case would be much nicer on the front, whereas the front grill, would suit better the top of the case in terms of look, likewise in terms of cooling and it will also bring some light inside the case from the top, so I swapped the pannels without forgetting to relocate the start button and USB ports on the other side... I had to cut out a little excess of plastic but it was an easy thing to do... I really think this case is much more sexy like this It wasn't hard to invert the pannels, I just removed the push-type latches, drilled new holes and replaced it by screws from the inside ... Then I made these 2 parts for the back pannel, the GPU holder is cut out from an old Dell case, and the grill comes from an Acer desktop door and it will replace the PCI brackets as there are no PCI cards, and bring some light, air, and a point of view of the inside. with the GPU in place The GPU is higher than when mounted on the original bracket, but I will need space to route all cables so that's ok.. Placing the filter where possible, it starts to lack of room and the aquaero I used the top part of an old case to make a new plate and I am starting to look about the placement of the cables, I want something as clean as possible... I bought Bitfenix extensions cuz I love those tiny cables but I must adjust them to the case, everything will be plugged under this new plate and under the original plate, and the PSU will breath from underneath... Other pics soon, thanks for watching
Not a lot of progress this week, I just dismounted it all because I had to remove the rounded edge of this plate, to earn 1.5 mm for the drain tube, that will go the way down to the bottom of the case... I am waiting for a parcel from Aquatuning with the last parts of the watercooling including tubes and more fittings, and a step drill, to make the pass-through holes.
3 Intel SSD will make the storage, it took me hours to clean them and to remove all remnants of glue The left SSD 's bracket was for a hard drive, it has been shorten to match 2 other ones, still some work on it too... little modding on the EVGA 600 BR, nothing shows it's from EVGA from behind, and the umbossed logo was painted in black, so I sanded carefully the letters, unfortunately the logo will be upside down, but still...I also changed the original fan by one of the Lianli BR lite RGB...I still have to shorten the cables, and a few other things I'm on... before after... The EVGA logo on the back is from the original ugly sticker (white and orange) from the other side ...
Almost bought a white version of this a while ago, it's nice to see a build in one looking good so far
There is a lack of straight nickel plated copper tubes it seems, I found some, finally, but the parcel was supposed to be delivered last friday, and it's not here yet ... in addition to that, the endless waiting of parcels from China that I need for this build... In the meanwhile... I wanted to add a little RGB glow on the back panel, those Deepcool led strips are matching the Lianli controller but I realise that RGB stuff really adds a big bunch of cables to hide, if you want to reach a really clean cable managment. The controller itself has no remote control, and no mounting holes or scratch pad, I have to craft something and find a suitable place to put it, if I want to be able to change light effects. The Lianli BR digital fan's pack is a great product but some details are not up to the brand like I said in this thread: https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?threads/lian-li-bora-lite-fan-packs-and-oddities.383563/ Aside of that, I am happy with the result But I will be satisfy only if I manage to hide all wires and remove all "spaghetti effect" ...
I realised some of my pictures are way too big, my screen is a 4k tv, so it suits it, but I resized some of them. Finally the controller is easy to open and there is room to put mounting screws For now I put a scratch, and tried to route the cables and hide them as much possible inside the grooves, I am thinking about something to hide them more, but here already, 3 fans are linked with an Aquacomputer splitty 9 connected to the aquaero , I must make an extension for the 2 other ones, but all RGB strips and fan's RGB wires are connected to the controller, 2 sata cables are placed, likewise all the wires coming from the USB header and start button... and there is still some room inside, but the PSU cables will be another story to route... the red black and blue wires are from the D5
Ooooo! Don't often see the arse end of those. So many aquacomputer bits, bobs and add-ons in that "acetyl block with stainless plate" form it's difficult to pick them out sometimes. Also love those aquacomputer blocks. Some of the last in their traditional style before they disappeared into the crowd of bland rectangles.
yeah mostly we only see the front side in builds ... I had this one for several years... talking about oldies, there were 2 things I wanted for this build: this reservoir and a led cap for the filter unfortunately those items are not produced anymore, I wrote to Aquacomputer in Germany asking them if they could find those on a dusty shelf, but they never replied Agree, they're following the trends with the NEXT range, black rectangles with RGB lighting, but still, high end products IMO... May be I am kinda nostalgeek , but for me, the beauty of this R9 water-block hasn't fade away with time
That nickel plated Res I've wanted for ages too! It's made from solid brass and I wanted to strip it back to the brass.
Ohh, I see what you mean but the polished brass color would be almost like nickel no? They also produced a copper version, but both are unvailiable everywhere I'm afraid
I quote myself to rectify what I said, Sven Hanisch from aquacomputer Germany wrote me back finally. I was wrong too about the led cap, it is still availiable from Aquacomputer, it's called " Illumination insert G1/8 incl. gasket " But about the brass res, 9 years later, there are none availiable I am waiting other items to finish this build, (mainly tubes are long to come over, ) but also a few other bits I need for the cable managment, like this: I finally made a new SSD bracket I am not sure to keep it but I didn't like this large opening behind the motherboard, like a mirror, so I started something to hide it, not finished yet but I have short time for modding those days Nicer pics and progress ASAP...thanks for watching
I worked a little on cable managment, it takes me time to find the best way to plug everything and let no cables visible except the GPU power and the 24 pins... I finished the holes to pass the wires through the new plate.
I totally share this point of view Cable managment is one of the tedious tasks, actually, I realise that the 30 cms of the Bitfenix 24 pins extension is a bit too short, after forcing it to make this 90° turn ... I have to rework my plans, new progress soon
