Alright, I thought I should join up instead of my usual lurkings and ask for a bit of advice. I am about to undertake a case mod, well creation really. There comes every few years I just buy a new PC and have a bit of a hack, but this time I am going to make a complete case. I haven't had a mod in a few years, so should be good getting back to where it all began (Last few years been making speakers and furniture and the like, you can only do so much till your house is full...). Aiming to be quiet/silent, dust free and good looking. Timber case made from either Tasmanian Oak or so Blackwood. Everything watercooled. Cubey type case. Glows a nice red at night and somewhat functional. I mean, what more could any one want? Well, apart from making you coffee... I'll add that function later... Initial sketchups: Right Side http://www.darcheraudio.com.au/madsurro/Right Side.jpg Top black box housing Black Ice Xtreme 3 Radiator, 3 fans pulling air through, all fans muffled on the top with louvers that close with power off (keep dust out... and look cool really). Draw air from holes in bottom of case (Not shown on the sketch. So Bottom to top air flow. Hard drives will be water cooled and mounted in box, dampened and isolated there to minimise noise and vibrations. And mobo mounted other way around... well just because really. Left Side http://www.darcheraudio.com.au/madsurro/Left Side.jpg Top fans again muffled. PSU mounted down bottom drawing cold air in and large muffler to dampen the noise. Next level sees the pumps enclosed in a box, once again dampened and suspended to stop vibes and noise. Res on top. And hole in bottom again to draw air though. Other details are lower air inlets will be filtered in the least, have external LCD panel for monitoring and also custom make some speakers to match the case. And yeah. And aluminium frame supporting the two boxes. Main question is water cooling. And that is, well I don't know how to go around it, well I do but just wondering if anyone has had something similar to the following. Route for the water is pump > radiator > CPU > Vid Card(s) > NB > SB > RAM > Mosfets > HDDs > Res Question is, will one DCC+ pump cope and the BIX3 cope with heat? (More than likely be E6600, with 8800GTX plus 4x 320+ Seagates et all). I can fit 2 pumps or a Ehiem 1048, but the focus here is silence. And I highly doubt I will overclock it. Any input on that would be great thank you. Also, any other questions or comments, feel free to post.
you can get mini radiators that just act as joints between tubes that will help with heat loss it will only have a marginal effect as theyre so small but every little helps
The woodwork needs more curves. An expensive wood deserves more work/detail. I would round the corners of the box with short 25 degree sections, then sand them down to a smooth curve... -And dovetail joint everything! That would be sexy!
All the corners will be dovetailed thats for sure. As for the expansive space, its mainly due to the BIX3 radiator that sits on top and really built around that. Might stick another one on the other side. Maybe. Maybe not. As for my reasoning behind such a radiator... Its been lying around here for over a year, so I thought I better use it sometime.
