Hello Everyone, Between this mod and the HP Blackbird Project, I'm being kept pretty busy. About time I finish this mod off though, and got a fair bit done today. I will post progress-pics tomorrow, need to mount the fan to the SAS drive-cage, and then I am about done. Fitted the new 220Vac power-plug to the case, and completed the SAS drive-cage cover plate, looking pretty snazzy. Check back tomorrow this time, and I will have a couple new pics up for ya
Anyway, let's go.... I decided to replace the original stock aluminium chipset cooler with something more beefy, seeing this system will be my NAS/File-server, and reliability and uptime is important. Some years ago, I bought 2x Microcool Northpole, as well as 2x Swiftech MCX159-CU chipset coolers. For those that know them, they are very decent units, and both would work equally well here. I decided on the MCX159-CU here, as it allows for a slightly better/more compatible mount for this motherboard - I had to do a bit of trickery on the back-side, and use some custom plastic spacers, as there are a few smd-components around the mounting holes. Nothing to serious though, and the end result is exactly what I have hoped for: Ok, next up was to mount an AC socket in the rear of the case, and do a custom cable with 90-Deg connector to plug into the PSU, with it's plug facing towards the front of the case - the area where the case-sticker is, will be ideal... all marked up and ready to cut - the Dremel works wonders with these smaller cuts.... do a bit of cleanup with some fine-tooth files, and looking good, all ready for the AC socket...
Next up was a cover-plate for the SAS cage - the original PSU cut-out is slightly bigger than the SAS cage, as can be seen to the right of the cage in this photo, and it is looking pretty fugly - need to do something with this: So, out with the Dremel and hacksaw, files, etc, and here's the (unfinished) plate: After a bit of cleanup work with the files, and taking shape - prelim fit to see how it looks, and I like- much better than without it, what do you reckon? and a few more, different angles: and and test-fitting the harddrives, see if they insert smoothly - all good and and a shot from the rear: In the photos above, you can also observe the AC socket fitted, still have to mount it with screws though.....this was actually done after I made up the 'fly-lead' and soldered it to the socket...will post a phot of this later, but looking very good and pro. Of course, wrt the SAS cover-plate, I had to drill another 3 holes through the plate and the Li-Li case, to properly mount it to the case, here you can see what I'm on about: and and What do you guys reckon, like, no.... Feedback?
The last part before mounting the SAS cage, was to fit a nice Delta 120mm Fan - as mentioned, uptime/reliability was one of my main goals, thus proper airflow through the drives is essential, and, from expereince with the HP Blackbird case, where I have the same SAS-cage installed, and populated with 8x SAS drives, well, they get toasty without airflow. Incidentally, the Fan I'm using here was donated by the Blackbird project, which now sports a nice NB Fan to provide airflow through the SAS cage. Anyway, sleeved, and mounted: I have to mount the fan in a pull-configuration, as I cannot fit a 25mm fan between the SAS-cage and the side of the case in push-mode. To assist in having good airflow, I mounted the fan +/- 15mm above the SAS-cage, and used high density foam with (with pre-glue applied to one side) to create a nice vacuum-chamber between the SAS-cage and the fan - this also cuts down on the choppy noise with the fan-blades spaced further away from the cage: the foam is slightly compressed to form a near air-tight seal - quick, easy, and works like a dream.... with the end-result, airflow through the cage as indicated by the arrows: Ok, I will update once again in the next few days, I have evrything fitted, cabling done, and the system power-up and running PRime95 to test stability. Looking real good, and the E3-1245 chip is pretty quick. Let me have your feedback and critisism, about 99% complete, just a few final touches remaining. ps: As a side-note, with the fan located in pull-configuration, it also provides good cooling to the motherboards chipset and surrounding components, hence no fan on the chipset cooler - system runs extremely cool, even when loaded to 100% under Prime95. It is pretty important to make sure that you have some airflow across a motherboard, as normally, a CPU fan will perform at least some of this, but, with watercooling, well, no fans.....so this worked out well
As posted a couple of weeks ago, let's see where we are at, and what's left Seems that the only item outstanding from that list is the painting of the SAS-cage. Still considering if I should actually do this - yes, it will certainly enhance the looks slightly, but, I might actually have it powdercoated, a better option I think. a Few new ones to add: 1) Mount a new front 5.25" perforated bay cover - fab some brackets to accomplish this 2) Relocate water temp sensor from rad outlet to rad inlet 3)Make a permanent mount for the M4 Crucial SSD, and fit short SATA cable As you can see, only a few minor items remaining, then I can post final pics. Let's see if I can get this all done during this week (except the SAS-cage powdercoating) and post fresh pics of the completed setup
Finally moved into our new house, and after 6 years in Australia, pretty happy I finally got my own place. Lots to do still, like landscaping et al, but at least the computer-room is about done, and a nice 900mm wide x 3.4m desk made out of 30mm thick pine, and stained. Ah, bliss. 1) I was never really happy with the Lian--Li PC-Q08's internal layout - with the motherboard and pump/reservoir mounted on the side-panel, generally not conducive to creating a nice, clean, practical and easily serviceable setup. With that in mind, I picked up a Fractal Design Array R2 from PcCasegear yesterday, at an almighty cost of $259 AUD - wow, pretty expensive, but this is the case I first wanted for this project, but, as I already had the Lian-Li, decided to give that a try first. 2)Next, I am waiting for the release of the new Swiftech ApogeeDrive II, due out and available next week. Before I rip the MachoMini setup apart, and relocate the very nice bit of hardware to the Array R2, I will await the delivery of the ApogeeDrive II then. 3)Now, we all know airflow is a problem in the Array R2, and to alleviate that problem, I will most likely mount my (new spare) Feser 240mm rad on the side-panel. This won't be done by using (in my opinion) pretty fugly external rad-grills, but rather laser-cut the side-panel to be the grill. Thus, out with the existing 140mm Rad, in with the 240 - not that it's needed at all, will just suit the mod pretty well. 4)The SAS drive-cage in the existing MachoMini, will be relocated to the front of the new setup, something I wanted to do on the existing case, but due to the internal layout, was not really do-able, at least not without totally butchering the case. 5)Seeing as this will be doing duties (mainly) as a file-server, uptime and reliability is of utmost importance, hence the Xeon chip, ECC Ram, Industrial motherboard, blah-blah, ad infinitum...I decided to have redundant power. Something unique to the nomal modders out there, but pretty commonly used in carputers, is the good old DC-DC converter. This is what I would use to achieve this goal -> M4-ATX-HV 250W controller x2 -> they will be supplied from 2x 24V 10A Industrial power-supplies. This will remove a lot of cable-clutter from the case, provide a nice clean, and fresh-look PSU-wise, and give me the level of redundancy I am after. In any case, I need 24V power for an Industrial Process Control node I am designing, so this is essentially killing two flies with one smack....or however that saying goes... For those of you doubting the ability of the M4-ATX-HV in this application, I've been running a few of them, as well as the venerable 150W PicoPSU, for the past 18 months in a very hostile environment, pretty high humidity, as well as around 44+ Deg C ambients, and they are performing very well. So, just a brief update, and I am hoping to have 3x ApogeeDrive II's in my hands in 2 weeks time (the other 2 will be modified to do service in the HP Blackbird setup) As always, looking forward to your comments and replies/critisism. Kind regards, mrbean
Heya Mate, I am still awaiting the release of Swiftech's ApogeeDriveII. Without it, I am stranded. I have notified Gabe over at Swiftech I would like to get 4 asap, so as soon as they are out, I will get them in, and use on this mod. In the meantime, I am busy assembling a small little monster for the wife, with Asrock Z77E-ITX board, IB 3570k, 8gb Ram, and Gigabyte Windforce GTX670. Would clock the CPU at around 4.2 Ghz or thereabout, should make for a nice, powerful gaming rig. Her hardware is going into this PC-Q08
