Wife's Despair - Finished!! 19 June 2006

Interesting thought but I would imagine not.

I will make do with hiding them well

 

As long as they where seeled well I am sure you could, though could turn into a project of it's own.

 

Midweek update due to having a couple of days free from work.

Second hand mainboard and CPU arrived. Should save me having to dissassenble my main rig while building this one.
Got an MSI K8T Neo and AMD 64 3000+ nice and cheap.

Test fitting waterblocks to make sure there are no clearance issues.



SHould be a nice short tube between CPU and northbridge.





Cut fan mount for the other rear panel. Probably won't have a fan fitted initially...will see if it is required.



Changed my mind on switches. The large red and blue illuminated ones will now just be used for lights...blue for power and red for HD activity. They will go behind the mesh panel.



Have got two really small switches to use for 'On' and 'Reset' that will fit also behind the mesh but with small cutouts for a dainty finger.





Rear panel with some filling of dings done and partially sanded.



Got some primer on the bare metal areas after sanding the side and top panels...very expensive spray booth!.



Panels drying in my work area (I so hope my better half never see's these pics)



Started some of the fiddly stuff...soldering wires to the switches. I'm really no good at all at this and it takes me ages. These two took the best part of an hour.



Thats about it for today. Hopefully get the inside of the case sprayed matt black over the weekend...unless it rains.

All suggestions and comments very welcome.

 

this is really starting to come on well now keep up the good work

 

Cheers...I appreciate the encouragement very much

 

Yes! You could fit CCFLs to the resevoirs. The problem is, that they have aluminum bases. What he'll have to do is make an acrylic disk, and drill holes over where the barbs are. Then, using IPS weld on to fuse a CCFL tube with a tiny bit of silicone filling it's base, the tube can slowly be lowered in (to the primordial goo, sorry), and it's top sealed against another plate, through which the wires exit. The wires can also exit the bottom, if this plan is flipped.

Edit: Of course, if water ever makes it inside the tubes, he's totally and utterly ****ed.

 

when will we be getting the next installment as it is giving me some great ideas

 

Looking wicked.....I want more.

BTW.....You just gotta love them reservoirs.

 

Some small jobs done today.

Access for the two switches sorted with the use of two polished washers and cutouts in the mesh panel. The large one for the 'on' switch and a small one for 'reset'.

The result...



Found the big ring outside work...needed a polish.



Pretty shiney now.



Started painting. This is the drive cage. ALso did the inside of the case but no pic as its in my shed drying.



Sleeved the rad fan leads.



And mounted them.



More tomorrow.
All comments very welcome.

 

Im interested in how it end...looks interesting so far...

 

I'm interested in how it will end also

I didn't really start with much of a plan so it has been changing as I go along. Still haven't made my mind up about the outside colour or several interior details but I guess I should soonish.

 

just an idea but i would keep it as clan as possible, that means:

-no ugly aquatube
-no ugly aquaero
-etcpp

I absolutely dislike those standardmods whe everyone has a tube and so on...

 

Biggish update today.
I've worked long hours and am knackered so I apologise in advance for spelling errors.

Mounted the rad assembly in the painted case. This was the easiest job of the day!



Mounted the pump and started on the tubing runs.







Realised I had connected the outlet and inlet on the pump the wrong way round..Aaaaggghhh!!

The correct way this time.



Mounted the waterblocks on the board and the board to the case. Connected these.





Installed control board for the pump. I don't really like it here so I may mount it somewhere out of sight.



Spent three hours soldering and sleeving the front panel switches and led's. I find this stuff very hard but ultimatly rewarding.I guess I will get better/quicker at it.



Fitted smaller mesh piece and installed the resevoirs. My brain was working today as I remembered to use a small bit of tubing to connect them unlike the mockup.





I've got to make the decision whether to rip apart my working rig now. I need the graphics card and waterblock plus the RAM and VFD. I may backup my XP install tonight and see if I can get the new rig to a point that I can fire it up tomorrow. If you don't see any updates for a few days I guess you will know why.

As always...comments/suggestions most welcome.

 

Can I say - excellent work!

oh forgot to ask how thick is rad? need a thin one and foun a 20mm one but the thiner the better1

FORGET THAT Have noe looked through all pics (still impressed but from other pics its not thin (not needed here of course)

 

This just looks better every time i look in here!!

I'd still like to see less 90 degree connectors, although there are loads less than your initial mockup!!

Keep it up, can't wait to see the finished result.

 

You deserve the front page my friend, and if your wife doesnt understand the love of modding, devorce her, and marry your mod... it worked for me, if i had a wife, and a devorce.

 

Whoa, awesome! I too have a soft spot in my heart for big cases... Where did you get this case? Anyone know where I can get one?

 

I'm already divorced once...can't afford it again

Case I got as a freebie after I put a wanted ad on Boards.ie.

 

ebay probably..

 

Thats a really big rig!! Working on a plexi case now and its kind of cramped inside... I like the spaces in that monster.
But u gotta get rid of the red and blue button, looks like two pieces of lego.... But thats just my opinion. Is there any front bezzel in planning?