FINALLY!!! I get to do my very first custom build.. I´ve wanted to do this for years. I started planning a build for more than a year ago. But... As thing sometimes goes, other projects took up most of my time (and wallet) so my project ended up on standby. But now I've finally gotten the time to do some work on my personal project, and not landscaping for the whole family. Parts list in stock: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Asus z170a i7-6700k 2x8GB 3000Mhz Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 sticks 3x 250gb Samsung evo 850 SSD (for raid 5 (or maybe 0)) 1+3 TB of WD black HD's LG 34uc88 34" Curved Monitor EK-D5 PWM pump EK 360 x 45mm copper rad (can't remember model number, bought used) XSPC 240m copper rad (can't remember model number, bought used) 2 litres of Mayhems UV-reactant purple fluid. Parts still to be purchased: Reservoir Fittings, drain, etc. 14mm PETG tubing (needs to be sandblasted or sanded) 14mm fittings (white or purple is still to be determined) EVGA 1080ti SC EKWB block for the GFX Firstly i started with a bit of shopping, and got myself a case. A nice Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX (sadly i bought the first edition before the one with hardened glass was released ) Next i got on forums and Ebay to get some more bits and bobs i needed Steel wool, double sided tape, sandpaper8 280-3000 grit), diodes (UV and white, 3 and 5mm), paracord, microfibre cloths, ultracut and wax (if needed to fix paint later on) A bunch of tools for modding Some used cooling parts. And some new fans! The fans was taken apart and prepped for paint. My very high tech painters booth Here the fans have had the center ring painted in a nice mat purple, and i must say i´m very pleased with the result. (the nasty red/black Enermax stickers have been removed and replaced with a clean white sticker, and the fans now look fantastic IMHO) It's really hard to capture the color on the middle rings, and the pictures doesn't look as good as real life (maybe i should get a real camera for this instead of a phone) But now they just need a sleeving job, since the factory sleeving is so bad it's sad, but that fortunately, is an easy fix! Some more parts have been painted.. Including the old gtx 770 (making a new garden took the savings for the 1080ti, but hopefully i can manage to get the funds for it before the build gets too old) Here's the chassis for the case painted, and my ASUS z170a has been mounted, along with the 6700K The old Corsair M2 Silent Pro - 850W PSU is getting some sleeving done to it. That **** takes forever!!! And also i neede to do something about those boring black sata cables.. Their now cut for custom lengths and tested (love those cables, as their easy to take apart, cut, sleeve and reassemble.) The sleeving on the PSU I'm not completely satisfied with, since the white paracord doesn't completely hides the color of the wires, and it gives the sleeving some odd tint, but for now I'll stick with it, since the funds are kind of low and there are other items i prioritize more. This is how far I've come in the last week or so, and next I'll be making some custom SSD mounts and cable cover in some plexi. Stay tuned for the next update!
Well.. lost a bunch of pics due to a dying phone, but i do have a few left, so here they are.. The project is now complete!
After math: After doing a project like this i found out a few things i would do different for m next project. First of all.. MAKE SURE TO BACKUP MY PICTURES When it comes to the case, then i would do more research than just reading reviews. While i think the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX is a beautiful case, there's a few things that makes it a complete P.O.S. Firstly the case is VERY prone to getting overheated when your using custom water, and its a lot of fiddling and modifications to make sure the exhaust air doesn't recirculate and actually gets exhausted out the case (also had to order an extra fan to help exhaust the hot air). The intake also is very restrictive and i had to make spacers to move the front panel forward so the fans could breathe. The system could easily had made room for placing up to two 3½" drives on the back instead of making room for 5 or 6 drives on the front (and still it only comes with 3 bays?), which really doesn't make a lot of sense and could add a lot to the overall aesthetics. Second.. Don't use Paracord for sleeving.. It's too see-through and the end result only gets really good if its possible to make fully custom cables aswell (alternative.. resolder the complete PSU, not something i was willing to try out on my first mod, since I'm a derp at electrics! ) Most important of all.. NEVER buy cheap led's from ebay... Spent hours on custom lighting and now 3 weeks into the use of the system they have all burned out and are very dim! Guess i have some work to redo! The great things.. Acrylic is so much fun to work with, and i'm definately stepping up the challenge for my next build, just not gonna buy the crap they had at the local hardware store. It was covered with plastic that fell off during storage and left the acrylic uncovered. (also really crappy to draw on!)
Well.. it's been running perfect and there's no noices coming from it, so for now it's gonna stay as is. I'll be doing some more pics showing how i made the fill port and bleed system if i remember to do so.
