Case Mod - In Progress Watercooled SFF

This is kinda a cut n paste job from my other thread made at xoxideforums, but here goes!

this is my first real "I'm gonna do it" mod. Every other attempts have sucked or they stopped because of lack of funds/whatever, so this time it's time to hit the project hard. This is gonna involve painting, epoxying, cutting, drilling, sanding, and swearing. Enough prequel.

PC Hardware:
Mobo: DFI p45 Jr
CPU: Intel q9550
PSU: Mushkin 800
HDD: 150gb WD Raptor X, 1TB Seagate
GPU: Dual Powercolor 4870 512mb
Ram: 4gb Mushkin pc6400

Watercooling Hardware:
CPU block: AquaExtreme Mp-1
GPU block: DangerDen Maze4 (Ram cooled by stock heatplate/fan)
Radiator: Dual Black Ice Pro II
Pump: Alphacool Laing DDC
Reservoir: Alphacool mini water tank
Fans: Yate Loon Low Speed

The uh... watercooling parts aren't exactly super, but this is my first time and I got them for pretty cheap. So if and when I get money I'll look into the better blocks.

The pump. It's pretty cool looking in person. I've started making brackets to mount the pump underneath the CD drive.


The case. I am making the PSU external so there is better airflow. So there's no need for a big ass hole in the case right? Time for some aluminum and cold weld epoxy!


The outside. I also filled in a bracket slot above the PSU opening. Case will be sanded, painted black. woo woo!


Radiator plans. Mount em externally on the outside of the case. All done. So.. yeah here's what I did.


The side facing the mobo tray. Thankfully the screw heads clear the tray so I can easily slide the panel with the radiators on and off.


GPU block.


How I plan to use the block and stock plate. NO RAM SINKS HERE!


Oh and some PrimoChill tubing.


Next update will be spring break... March 9th will be my earliest time to work again on it. *sigh... college

 

This is where I am at now. In fact I just finished doing this... ~15 min ago?

Before I go back to school I got an itch only modding could cure. Ahhh it's getting addicting!

Holes drilled on top for tubing and lined with 5/8 grommets. Yum.


Since I got ahold of a digital camera, I decided to take some better pics. The old ones were cell phone garbage.


The radiators again. On the case this time though.


The top with the tubing. Inspiration from Tremeloes (http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/showthread.php?t=200084&highlight=tremeloes&page=5)


The inside. Tight bend, but I don't want any 90s. I like flooooowing tubes. I will shorten/extend this if needed. Maybe put some anti-kink coils in it eventually.

 

pretty sweet job! is that a siverstone sg03 btw?

 

Just out of interest... what case is that? (can't find it in the OP at all)

Awesome work on those grommets though

 

Sorry. Yeah it's a Silverstone Sg03.

More updates though. Pump mounted with a makeshift bracket.




I kinda messed up the Reservoir passthrough to the pump, but I like the extra loopy thing on the outside. The overall look kinda makes me think of snakes weaving in and out of like a skull or something



Thanks for looking. Modding is addicting... damn

 

:O :O :O I love you.

I have the same case and doing a build in it. Not watercooling mine. Mite get sum ideas.

Any plans of what colour your going to do the case?

 

Black. I have primer and then black paint. It's cliche, but eh black is always in style. :-o

I don't expect much silver in this case. I'll be painting the fan grills, etc.

 

Sweet yeh just read the part just then about the colour. Im doing Black and blue.

My project log.
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=162154

Cant wait for a update.

 

wouldn't the radiators being so close to the side of the case restrict the cooling ability/airflow?

edit: how weird is that, two kiwis posting one after the other on a UK based forum?

 

The airflow is pretty good because they are already low speed Yate Loons, so they aren't struggling to pull air. BTW the fans are in pull config as of right now. (could change) Quietness is what I want in this case build first and foremost.

and... absolutely last update til march


I had to snap this with a cell phone as I was walking out my door. haha. Tubes will be shortened. This is just testing purposes. You can see I had to cut holes where the gpu blocks were because it was bowing the shroud out. I was concerned this wouldn't let the ram/vrm heatpads sit properly. Plus I needed to hollow out the inner GPU a bit more because the back bolt heads on the outer GPU interfered with the shround on the inner one. So now they sit comfortably together with no awkward slot bending. Not that you all knew that was a problem anyways.

@icutebluezone: It's funny how I posted in your thread a little back about you inspiring a case mod from yours. I reread your log just now. Some friendly SG03 competition Eh? haha!

 

LOL yeh.

Looking good man.

last update til march Why so long?

Yeh I should have more parts this week.

 

Spring break time. I'm at college now and the PC is at home. BTW loop will be edited because I have new ideas. Y fittings are flow killers and the loop can be more efficient with less tubing. THAT'S WHY WE TEST RIGHT?

 

Oh i see thats why. Dam I have to wait that long.

Could you use 1 Rad for the cpu and 1 for the GPU's ? and install another pump?

Looking good by the way. Also did sum more work on mine tonight no update yet wait till i have more photos and parts.

 

no pic update. I ordered some 12 gauge silver wire in 6" pieces off eBay so one will go in the Reservoir and the other... another build? And I ordered some black fan grills as chrome was just... not meshing well. More clamps ordered just in case and also 5 new Yate Loons because I have a sneaky suspicion that mine were just rebadged something or anothers. They are loud (bearings are noisy). Petra's Tech Shop get's their shipments directly from the manufacturer so I know these ones will be real.

 

um... you're not going to get ANY air-flow through those radiators! You can feel air flowing because the fans are blowing air at you ("pull" config") but none of that air is going to be moving across the radiator fins!

You have to have a clear air-path on BOTH sides of the radiator for it to work. With your current bracket, this would mean using standoffs to at least get a clearance of a couple of centimetres!

 

Looks like he has stand offs on the rads. look in this photo.


I was thinking the same thing till I seen that photo.

 

nice! my 4870 is cooled the same way

 

Nice project and nice box with good tasting bars use them myself

 

Update. Kinda a MISC one right here, but I have to start somewhere. Also you can see that I am terrible at logging my progress and I get giddy and don't take pictures that often. But here goes.

Pump ready to be modded into an ultra. Solder mod.



Silver being added to the reservoir






With the modded pump, I decided that Y fittings were okay. I ended up testing the loop out and built it into the case so the tubing length are all finalized. I assembled the internals and then took it off the mobo and gpus, so everything sitting here is as it needs to be. I put clamps/zipties on the barbs here.



Case got stripped. Prepping for paint (in a day or so?)


PSU modding action! I hate the unorthodox fan size on the PSU (130mm? wtf...) so I am modding the psu case to make room for a 120mm Yate Loon. So I plugged the top port and will recut a new hole. Also I found that Mushkin covered a hole with a sticker on the modular connector panel... so I had to plug that too. Pretty ****ty work on their part if you ask me...


Also I started doing standoffs so I can mount the PSU externally.


There's some other stuff I did along the way that I forgot to take pictures of. I redid the pump mounting bracket and changed the radiator fans out for some real Yate Loons. The ones I had before were rackety in their bearings. Got some nice ones from PTS and when I tested them, there was a noticeable difference. PTS ones were dead silent. Props to PTS!

 

nice work on the cooling.