Case Mod - In Progress Project HAF X AMD - Feedback and suggestions needed.

Hi guys,

Welcome to my new build thread all the way from India...



After my first water cooled build, I admit, I am completely addicted to water cooling and upgrading (damn these forums). And the result of that is.....


And I keep justifying it to myself, saying that every man needs a hobby, which can block out the tensions of daily life.

With that introduction out of the way, lets get down to what we plan to do in Project [E] 2. Project [E] 2 is going to be pretty long drawn out, as I want to take the time to think and work on each and every part before I go for the final build.

As of now only a few of the main components are with me and some more is on the way. The rest of the parts will be ordered as and when time permits and as and when ideas keep coming up from you guys. So please feel free to chip in with as many ideas as possible and I will try and discuss what is possible and incorporate it to the best of my ability.

I want to first thank our sponsors for helping out on this build and for always supporting our work:



I spoke to Asus about this build a couple of days back, while discussing forth coming reviews. Asus came back to me a few days later with an offer I just could not refuse.

So enter, the two main components of this build

The Asus Crosshair IV Formula


AND


ASUS 5850 Voltage Tweak


The second sponsor of this build is Coolermaster. I have worked closely with CM in the past on a number of reviews and I hope I can grow this relationship further with this build.



Cooler master Silent Pro 700W


AND

???????



We are still to decide on the chassis and I will update it as soon as I am clear on this.

The rest of the main components will consist of:

1. AMD 1090T 125 W - AMD Phenom

2. Team Xtreem 2000 Mhz CL9 - Team Group Inc

3. Scythe Gentle Typhoons 1850 - Scythe "GentleTyphoon" 120 mm Silent Case Fan

4. MDPC X Sleeving - MDPC-X International


Most of the water cooling will be taken from my existing rig but there will be a few new additions. I will keep you guys posted on it as soon as I get some more clarity and the final look and feel that I would like to go with.

I don't want to spoil the surprise, so I have purposely left out the color scheme for the time being. I think it makes more sense to show it to you guys once its in. So lets start of with the mobo:

I am sure a lot of you would have read about the NB/PWM area heating issues that Asus had with the CH IV when it first came out. Now, we being in India, the newer batches never landed here and I thought I would take a quick look beneath the heatsinks to make sure that all was fine.



A quick look at the heatsink contact areas told me that it was not and I could have had a potential problem somewhere down the line.





So off came the old thermal pad and I replaced it with some stuff that I had got from EK earlier. I also shaved down the contact nuts a bit, to make sure that it fit like it was supposed to. Also changed the stuff on the NB and SB and added some MX2.





And screwed the heatsink back in.



Then got on to removing a few stickers.







And that my friends completes the updates till now.

On the case front, its most probably going to be a HAF X.

So any ideas on tubing for a triple uptop and a dual in front of the HDD bays would be great. The dual is from my existing rig and is a BI GTS 240, which is pretty slim. Uptop, its going to be a BIX 360, because I like the quality of rads that BI does.

I also have a EK 150mm res and a MCP355.

I was wondering if mounting the res and pump together on top of the PSU would make more sense for the tubing runs. Some help on this would be great...​

 

Hi,

Just a samll update. All the parts have been ordered.

Now I to am really confused as to how the tubing runs should be...some ideas I had are as follows. The CPU and GPU will be under water and I have an MCP 355 with an EK 150 Res, going to use a male to male rotary to connect these two. And two rads, a 360 BIX on top and a 240 GTS on the HDD area...let me know your thoughts.

 

Other than putting water-cooling in, any plans to mod the case?

 

Diagram 2 is a perfect solution, no better way of running that loop

 

I guess the second one seems better to me as well.

Well, on the modding front, I will have a few changes made. One will be the side panel, but I also want to keep it as simple as possible, so maybe this time no LED's.

 

YES! I'm so glad you posted it here

Regarding the build, please get an Obsidian or ATCS840? Please?

 

Was wondering when you would notice this. I wish I could...the ATCS is EOL in India and the 800 D costs way more than its worth. Anyway a few changes will make the HAF look a lot better, starting with the side panel.

On the build, I just got a whole bunch of stuff...so heres a list of what I have right now:

1. MCP 355
2. EK Black top for the pump
3. EK 150 res
4. EK CPU WB
5. EK 5850 WB
6. Black Ice GTS 240
7. XSPC RS 120
8. EK and Bitspower fittings, very few angled fittings

What I have received as part of the new order:

1. Clear XSPC 7/16"tubing
2. Mayhems Dye
3. Some extra fittings


What I have ordered:

1. Black Ice GTX 360
2. Koolance Drain Valve
3. Male to Male rotary adaptor


Other stuff on the way or with me for the new build:

1. MDPC Sleeving
2. Sleeving tool
3. Scythe Kaze Server Fan controller
4. Lots of small bits and pieces for wire routing

Whew, thats a long list....

 

So, couple of packs landed in the last few days, but most of the main build stuff is still to come. But here are a few updates...I will put up some pics of the sleeving tools that I am using sometime soon.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5066/img2847o.jpg

I am sure you all know what this is.

[IMG]http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2260/img2849i.jpg

[IMG]http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7442/img2862j.jpg

And finished the first set of cables...both the 6 pin GPU connectors

[IMG]http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/4894/img2866k.jpg

Oh and the background is a couple of sq ft of carbon fiber film...lets see if I can finally use it in this build. And you guys finally have an idea of the colors for the build.

 

The 'stretch' on your sleeving is fine, but the heatshrinking is a bit.. iffy.

Can't wait to see where the CF is going.

 

Well, I tried a lot this time around and I was a lot more careful than with my last mod...but I guess I was still not able to nail it completely. Anyway, maybe I still have hope for the rest of the sleeving. is the lumps troubling you, or is it the length of the heatshrink??

 

600 views and very few comments... come on guys a bit of help here. So today, I tried to improve on my photography skills, and all these were taken in the night, under normal room lights... here's the 8 Pin... DONE:







This is hopefully much better. And a pic of the tools:




The pliers are side cutting pliers and help to cut the sleeve very cleanly. And my trusty staples and flat head screwdriver for those pins that wont come out with the tool. This works very smoothly as well.

 

Okay I'm in! Three reasons, 1090T - Crosshair IV - HAF, make it four reasons.... Looks good! Sub'd

 

Try setting your camera's ISO to 100, placing it on a tripod, use a macro setting, with a 2 second shutter delay (so you have time to move from touching it) makes pics come out much nicer

 

Thanks Matt, but I use a mid budget point and shoot. Now the thing is I took the first set of photos with the tripod, but for the second set, I did it free hand. the reason for this is, if I use the Tripod, then I have to zoom, and when i zoom, macro works like crap....so thats why I did it free hand to try something different.

Anyone have any ideas on why zoom and macro wont work or how it will work?

 

The first tubing route is better than the second one. You might want to relocate your reservoir. I'm eyeing on this build since I have a Haf X too to build

 

Thanks man...I am actually considering going for a 360 and a 120, instead of messing arund with way too much tubing....lets see how it goes.

 

So the case finally came in today.

First removed all the extra plastic parts. To basically see how this is going to work. Removed each and every thing that could be done with a screw driver and also attached the wheels. This makes it much more convenient when modding. Though it does not fit under my desk...will have to see about that. I also removed all the extra wiring that I will not be using for the time being.



Then a quick look at one sleeved wire on the top panel:



Quite a few wires to sleeve, but since we dont have to remove any pins, it went quite fast.

So heres the finished job:







Was not able to finish off the USB ones today...but will work on that soon. Also a big update coming hopefully later today.

 

Ok so here goes the update:

First off a fan filter that I got made for the bottom area. Now this build is going to be a negative pressure build, so all areas where air can enter need to be properly covered. This is DEMC Filters made by and can be directly ordered from them in South Africa. One of the best filters that I have used till date.



And for the main update of the day.

Heres a roll of what was used. This is some nice Carbon Fiber Vinyl. As you can see its some good quality stuff with a 3D effect.



And it was a real PITA to get it all in. Specially the "curves" on the mobo tray and the holes....



I have done the bar near the ODD's and the main mobo tray.





Now to wait for the rest of the stuff to come. My package from PPCS has reached India, but is still stuck with customs....hopefully this weekend we should be able to finish most of it.

 

nice color combination and the carbon fiber vinyl looks nice. I'm looking forward for more.

 

Looking quite nice man!

Love ur work.!