Case Mod - In Progress Trident - Case Complete - Final Update

-A Case Modifaction Showcasing a Custom Made CPU waterblock and SSD/HDD Cooler-​

About Me
I began my working life in a toolroom working with CNC mills and lathes where I stayed for 4 years.
I am a currently a computer aided design (CAD) Engineer, working with Solidworks and AlphaCAM. I not only design items but I also machine them using Computer aided manufacturing (CAM) using CNC mills. I have been in this role for several years and have a vast knowledge of these subjects, aswell as my love for for PC hardware and overclocking.


About the Project
I have been working at home on my own custom designed water blocks and cooling components for some time now, and wanted a platform on which to showcase my work, therefore i am modifiying a Lian Li PC-P50B to complement my custom cooling products, once machined.
Using my skills above I hope to complete the project within 4-5months but as i tie down a full-time job, this may alter slightly.
I will be using my current CPU and motherbaord in the new Case, as funds are tight.

The CPU Cooler
May i introduce Trident 001 A LGA775 CPU cooler (to fit my Q9450)

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It features:
Flow Plate - which can be changed/altered to alter the flow through the CPU Block
Deep Flow Channel - ensuring liquid is closer to the heat source for optimum cooling
All Copper Design - to best disperse heat.

The Blown up Image shows the CPU Mounting bracket, Top Half, 2 O-rings, Flow Plate and botom half

I Have flow simulated the design using software within Solidworks and I have also been able to do heat transfer simulations again within solidworks to prove its capable of removing the heat from my CPU

The SSD/HDD Cooler
I will also be showcasing a custom cooler which is able to take and 2.5" SSD/HDD and retrofit it into a standard 3.5" Bay while providing a large heatsink to take heat away from the Drive and transfer it into the atmosphere.

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The Case
Ok, so i have taken a Lian Li PC-P50B, as i like the sleek desgin and produced a mock up of how i want it to look (Here i can only apologise as my photoshop skills are rather poor)

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I Have since redesigned the Front of the Case to look like

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Sponsors
I am currently gathering Sponsors but bellow your find the current sponsors to this project and their contributions.

Thanks to Eddy at EK for sponsoring me all the watercooling Blocks required to cool my Nvidia 790i motherboard - See these items here


A Huge thanks goes to Pascal from Aquatuning UK who sponsored me lots of neat case modding and water cooling parts - See these items here



A Huge thanks goes to Joan from Cruical for sponsoring me a 4GB DDR3 Ballistix Tracer memory kit - See the photos and video Here​

 

The Progress So Far

So I have received the Lian Li PC50B, but much to my surprise while it is an easy case to strip down, the top was too shallow to fit both fans a radiator, therefore my first job is to somehow increase the depth case by 30mm.
First i stripped the case down to its bar bones

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Within B&Q i was able to find some 30mmx20mmx1.5mm Aluminium bar, which is ideal to make up the height in the case, however i was unsure how to attach it to the case

At work the next day, i was able to find some epoxy we use to bond chassies of sports cars together so i thought i would use that to bond the bar to the top of the case.
I cut the aluminium bar to size

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24/08/09
I have taken the top inner part of the case into work to bond the bar in place, and bond small upstands behind the bar to allow me to drill and tap them allowing me to secure the Case lid in place.

Inner top part of Case


Inner top part of Case now cleaned up ready for bonding


bar and upstands bonded to Inner top part of Case, bonding agent has been cleaned from visible edges​

Left for 24 hours to cure

25/08/09
Drilled and Tapped M3 Holes into now fully hardened Inner top, and assembled to Case to check result.

Waterblocks arrive From EK​

So folks thats where were upto, hopefully more will follow soon

 

Awesome block design. Will be fun watching this get built. Do SSD drives produce enough heat to warrant that large of a heatsink? Them having no moving parts I would think they'd produce less heat than a standard drive.

Great project name btw!

 

i love the 3d views of the cpu waterblock.
great start to the log

i will definetly be watching this one

 

Thanks Guys, as i said before this case mod is all about the custom cooling products, and i'm currently purchusing raw material to get them machined.

Boddaker - i'm unsure as to how much heat is produced by an SSD, but there will be some and the cooler will help reduce that. However the cooler also makes fitting SSD drives easier as it allows any SSD to be fitted into a standard 3.5" bay.

 

also copper looks friggin kool

 

Wow, I'll without a doubt follow this one, your designs looks awesome. Bot the hdd-cooler and the cpu!

 

27/08/09
Hi Guys,
The slotted DVD-Rom, 280mm radiator , Acrylic sheets and copper are now all on their way to me, meaning next weekend should be a big weekend in both the workshop on the CNCs and at home modifying and fitting parts to the Case.
I will update you further with pictures once the parts start to arrive.
Till then I will be detailing up the stainless steel parts (Mounting bracket, flow plate and front of case) to get laser cut

 

Looking good mate.

Subscribed

 

subbed
nice start
nice face plate btw

 

Cant way to see what they turn out like.

 

03/09/09

So the 280mm radiator , Acrylic sheets and copper are now here with me (see pics) and i have been tweaking the designs of my CPU cooler ready to manufacture in the coming weeks.

The Copper Blocks


The 280mm Radiator


The dark transparent acrylic sheet - to hide the LCD ​

I am still waiting on the Slotted DVD-rom but that should be with me any day now.

I have machined away a slot in the inner top panel of the case to allow the hose connections to come through from the radiator and into the case it self. I used my trusty dremel tool to rough cut it the end result shown below.
I then went on to file the slot by hand, but as i done this at work i was unable to photo this stage .

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I am still trying to finalise the front design of the case, but now its nearing a conclusion.
I'm now looking at how i will mount the LCD display and how it will sit behind the dark transparent acrylic screen at the top of the case (as shown in original design).
I have found some CAD data of the LCD in question and currently i am mocking up a model to show it in place on the final case design, and to help solve how i will fit it.

As my photoshop skills are poor i am tempted to model the case out fully in solidworks, what do you think?

More to come soon
Hg

 

Crazy cool stuff mate

You have some serious CAD skills!

 

I like the way you made the case taller.....I might use that.

 

yeh its looking to be a great mod

 

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=26

SSDs consume around .5w at idle and ~3w under load. In my opinion this hardly warrants a massive copper heatsink, but it's your money and you can spend it however you damn well please

 

Thanks legoman666, thats useful to know.
The heatsink had originally been desinged to cool a WD Velociraptor.
I am now using it to showcase an SSD drive and show that the cooler can also be used as a platform to allow an any 2.5" HDD/SSD to be fitted into a standard 3.5" Bay, while providing great design and extra cooling.

 

Yeah I agree with this not sure why making heat-sinks for the SSDs

Unless its for aesthetics in which case DO IT! lol!

Looks really nice, I love coper as a material too

Subscribed!

 

First of all... sweet . I am totally digging the self designed water blocks.

I am far from being an expert on SSDs, but is it not similar to a stick of RAM? Would it be either (a) cheaper or (b) easier to simply remove the cover and attached a heatsink directly to the modules like you would with RAM?

I do understand / see that you've designed the cooler to take advantage of the lack of 2.5" drive bays on the market, and applied it to a 3.5"... Nice 1 stone, 2 birds. But I was thinking if this were a feasible patent or license then you'd be set for more than just you're cooling needs.

Either way, definitely sub'd.

 

The SSD-cooler-mount-thing sure looks cool, BUT I can't help but think how the connectors aren't in the right place. I mean, for a custom case it's ok, but after just reviewing two cases with hot-swap backplanes, having the connectors could come handy.

Anyway, good luck with the project, and the cooler will still look pretty dang awesome. Copper always does.