Introduction Welcome to project Eris. Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord. My previous project, Erebus, was a Trifire R9 290X, X99, watercooled Corsair 900D behemoth featuring two 480 mm radiators. Eris will be an ITX build based in the In Win D-Frame Mini, so on a different scale. The emphasis will still be on watercooled gaming performance, but this project will look very different. The hardware is based around the new Intel Z170 chipset, with MSI's Mini ITX offering for the mobo and a Skylake CPU. Paired with a MSI Gaming GTX 980 Ti, Eris will pack a punch. The project will be fully watercooled with a rigid loop, and I'm planning several mods to make this build something special. Hardware Case: In Win D-Frame Mini (limited edition red anodised) Motherboard: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC CPU: Intel Skylake GPU: MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB PSU: Corsair HX750i Cabling: Custom-sleeved with E22 Teleios Watercooling Radiator: Mayhems Havoc 240 Pump/res: EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 - Acetal CPU block: EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel GPU block: EK-FC980 GTX Ti TF5 - Acetal+Nickel Fittings: EK-HDC Fitting 12mm G1/4 - Elox Black Tubing: E22 Custom 12/10mm Ultra Clear Hard Tubing Coolant: Mayhems X1 red / aurora Confirmed sponsors Thanks to the following sponsors for making this project possible: Updates In Win D-Frame Mini MSI GTX 980 Ti GAMING 6G MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC Corsair HX750i PSU and Vengeance LPX RAM EK Water Block and backplate for GTX 980 Ti Custom motherboard tray Custom IO shield for motherboard Custom watercooling loop Custom cabling ---------- Custom gaming computers and mods by Darwin PC Darwin PC on Facebook
Thanks to the first sponsor, In Win, for providing this awesome limited edition D-Frame Mini. The anodised red finish is just stunning. Custom gaming computers and mods by Darwin PC Darwin PC on Facebook
Thanks to MSI for supporting Project Eris. First of their products is the graphics powerhouse, the GTX 980Ti GAMING 6G. The Twin Frozr V is a really nice looking cooler. This one however will soon be replaced with a water block... Custom gaming computers and mods by Darwin PC Darwin PC on Facebook
The Z170I Gaming Pro AC motherboard from MSI. This mini-ITX board will be perfect for Project Eris. The styling of the new Z170 boards from MSI look great. It also comes with a handy M.2 slot underneath. Looking forward to modding this board! Crucial M.2 fitted underneath the mobo: Custom gaming computers and mods by Darwin PC Darwin PC on Facebook
Thanks to Ebuyer.com for supporting custom gaming PC, Project Eris with these components. The PSU is a Corsair HX750i, which will provide plenty of power for the system. It’s also fully modular and has few double wires, which will be helpful when sleeving the cables for Project Eris. The memory is Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 RAM at 2400MHz. The Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM is both fast and good looking, and the red colour matches well. As the only colours in Project Eris will be red and black (with minimal silver), the RAM was modded by removing the info and yellow logo stickers. This was done with an X-Acto knife and a steady hand. As shown installed in the MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC motherboard, the colour matches well the heatsinks and design.
Thanks to EK Water Blocks for sponsoring Project Eris. Here are some of the main components that will form the watercooling loop. The EK water block for the MSI GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G is the EK-FC980 GTX Ti TF5 - Acetal + Nickel. This is paired with a custom backplate featuring the MSI dragon. This was made by Coldzero. For cooling the CPU, the high-performance EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel water block will be installed. Finally the pump that will power the watercooling loop, is the EK-XRES 140 DDC PWM.
I'm getting some custom-cut plexi parts to customise various aspects of the case and motherboard. Here are the basic designs - they'll be finished with vinyl graphics cut by myself. Can you guess what the different parts are for?
Since the theme will be all black and red, I decided to mod the silver parts of the EK Supremacy EVO CPU block. The thumb screws were primed, sprayed black and then finished with a matt clear coat. I also plan to mod the EK badge, potentially to have a red logo on black background? You can also see the Mayhems Havoc 240 fitted in the last pic, thanks Mayhems!
Custom motherboard tray laser cut from 3mm matt black plexi. It fits perfectly around the motherboard, and gives perfect mounting points for the pump/res. I used only the minimal holes necessary for the cabling, to keep the clean look. The tray was mounted to the case with four screws, utilising the holes already tapped in the case backplate. I also removed the front I/O and power switch panel, this will be relocated into the PSU module of the case.
Modding a custom IO shield to cover the IO ports of the motherboard. The parts were laser cut from 3 mm matte black plexi, then welded together using a solvent weld for acrylic. This involved some creative clamping/taping, as shown below. Cure time was approximately 24 hours for a strong bond. After construction of the IO shield, red vinyl details were cut with a cutter. These match the style used on the motherboard, and will be a theme running through the rest of the build. Also shown here is another MSI dragon detail and a new red and black EK badge on the Supremacy EVO water block.
Custom watercooling loop for Project Eris - completed and installed. The loop will be filled with Mayhems XT-1 red / aurora red after the cables are all installed (the pump will need to be sleeved). I've had a few comments asking what would be done with the black/blue Corsair HX750i PSU to fit the theme. The plan from the start was to construct a black plexi surround for the PSU compartment of the In Win D-Frame Mini, and here you can see it in place. Some detailing will be added to this section soon. The PCB edge of the MSI GTX 980 Ti 6G Gaming graphics card has been pin-striped in red, and there is also additional vinyl detailing work on the motherboard surround to complement the IO cover. Again this is styled after the distinctive MSI PCB design from the motherboard. Also featured are custom stickers for the Corsair SP120 fans. Only the 8-pin CPU power cable is installed. This cable was finished first to gauge the correct spacing for the pump and tubing. The remaining cables will be shown soon.
*powers it on, the radiator fans have blue led* at least, that is what would happen to me - even though the packaging would clearly state that i had bought the right product... Looking good - really dig the way you have stuck to the color scheme!
Thankfully I tested them beforehand - definitely white LEDs! But if I did have to change them after filling the loop it would be a royal pain, as they're sandwiched under the rad and the mounting bracket. Thanks, much appreciated. I tried to take out, cover or paint anything that wasn't black or red
Hi guys, a quick update for you. The cable sleeving (from scratch) is almost finished. After that, I just need to clean and fill the loop, and finish a couple little details.
Filling watercooling loop for Project Eris with Mayhems Aurora Red. This is just a fill for show - I'll be running X-1 Red for 24/7. Full video: Fast gif version: http://gfycat.com/WaterloggedThickJunebug
Hi guys, I made a little video for this build. Hope you like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Z93EqIVuw
