Case Mod - Complete Killer Panda - Z370 X Code

Atomac said
Lol,im getting used to the lack of comments here
I know how coments can be a motivation for someone who is posting a worklog here, and as an active member, I can tell you that I come here every days and read more or less all threads, including yours, because you put a lot of efforts and passion in what you are doing, and I like that, keep on modding mate, there are also silent followers

 

Bit is very mod-centric. The more radical the modding, the more attention you get. You have to stand out in a truly massive collection of builds. -It's best not to start this discussion though.
Blue towels: I assume so you can see the wet? You could have opted for colored crepe paper. The stuff that the ink bleeds out of if you get it the tiniest bit wet. It even gives you evidence of the slow drip that would dry out on towels.

 

I would imagine I do more builds than most, last year I build about 7 computers for various purposes, it's just not all that I document about because that alone is a task on it's own.
I feel this build is the most advanced in any way I have ever done, so therefor all the trouble of showing each and every step of the way.

About blue towels, it was the best I could come up with also limited by the fact we don't have really easy access to things like this here in my local stores, Denmark is pretty boring in many ways.

I like the idea of silent followers, I would imagine there would be some, with the amount of visits the thread have gotten so far.

 

I just got featured today on Facebook!

Over at the Danish tech site Tweak.dk



Anyway, beside that I decided to make a public Facebook profile, so I can interact with the commenters there without making it too personal.
-so if anyone is interested, now you can even follow me on fb! Will at some point throw more stuff there about other crazy projects I do in my spare time, I am an all-round-nerd. I just don't really like their privacy police about ownership of content, so have to pick and chose wisely.

Rig have now been running Bliz Kit Part 2 for 23 hours and eventually got all the air out, so its actually rather quiet even that its on full speed. Pretty nice.

About time to empty the rig, no leaks so far, and starting to flush it trough a couple of times.

//Catch you later

 

Dang it! I just found out I have ordered the wrong RGB motherboard adapter
Its a normal RGB one, not a digital RGB one, like what I need.

It's being delivered tomorrow but whatever.....

So I have now ordered a Phanteks Halos Lux fan frame, because I know it comes with the right adapter.
In the same order is a slimmer 80mm fan for my m.2 cooler, because im fairly sure that the one I put there now, is going to hit the side panel when its back on.
Also, ordered some different pressure valves, as I actually rather have a black than a silver, and not sure what design I like best, so bought both the Thermaltake and the Alphacool one...

I still hope for a reveal latest monday or tuesday next week.

//later

 

Minor update.

I'm done flushing the loop and have filled it with the strange Koolance LIQ-702 liquid, it's little clearer than water but a little thicker, looks like good stuff to fill a loop with.

So I have turned the system on and am playing around with BIOS updates, BIOS settings, overclocking, lighting and in general tweaking the system for top performance.
Have neglected the last cable management until I get my digital RGB fan frame, and also not mounted my LED light bar in any permanent place, it's just floating around.

When I turned it on and started playing around in BIOS i immediately noticed a thing I have totally overseen - my pump is 12v Molex powered, the 3pin cable is only for monitoring!
So as of now I have no way of speed controlling it and it chugs away at max level, making quite the hum.
Just ordered a rotary voltage controller for molex in/molex out, but only place I could find it was on ebay from the US... So will take quite a while before it arrives.
Should not impact my deadline of soon making a big reveal, I can always add this thing later.

God damn there are many settings in this BIOS, i'm trying to make the best of it and reinstall a tuned version of Windows 10 Pro, tuned for max gaming performance.


For now, you get a picture with some un-adjusted lighting...




If you notice the 2 lighted keyboards, the upper one is for the Killer Panda, the lower for my Mini3 machine, my daily driver for now until this is done.
I have more PCs and more keyboards than most......


See you later!

 

Im not totally sure my last package will arrive by tomorrow as planned, so don't hold your breath if I can not reveal on monday.

Currently overclocking and it looks like Der8auer did his homework on my CPU from Caseking, I can't get past 1.38volt and 5GHz, just like it was written on the box of the 8600K Advanced Edition binned CPU I originally bought there.




This is the last picture you get before it's done, I will be silent until then.

//Take care till I write you next time

 

Let me give you an update:

I have broken one of my LED fan frames by adding too many LEDs to the same motherboard output, it will only cycle rainbow colors or show white now, I can no longer control it, it does it all random.
To make it slightly worse, it's one of the digital fan frames, were I need that little adapter thingy I had problems getting last time....

So either I will move my non-Lux Halos to the top mounted fan, and use Halos Lux on the graphics card, or I could buy both a non-Lux and a Lux, to replace the now broken non-Lux and get the extra adapter off the Lux version.
Will have to decide latest tomorrow so I can get it ordered for delivery sometime next week.

Another slightly annoying thing, I want this build to be ROCK solid, so I'm testing my OC with a lot of different software, but one of the first I use is OCCT - it can detect errors the other programs don't seem to find and it really pushes the system to it's limit, more than AIDA, IntelBurnTest or Asus RealBench does.

To that extend it looks like my Advanced binned CPU from CaseKing can not live up to it's claim of 1.38volt and have to be somewhere near 1.41volt for a stable 5GHz OC on all cores.
With the temps being around 85c it's actually not a problem, but in the long run it might mean my CPU will have a premature death as I burn out the components on it's substrate.
Well, I kind of think even that is worth it, I have never burned out a CPU before, so this might be the first one anyway.

Actually part of the high temperature might be because my 18watt pump is little too powerful for this very short loop, there is about 225ml of fluid and the total length is close to 1.2 meter long including rad.
One time when filling the loop I had forgotten to close one of the valves, it's pretty high speed the liquid comes with!
Not sure the flow meter is reading correctly, it's stated as 9L/min but to me it looks much quicker.
Anyway, I thing that when I get the volt adjust thingy with molex plugs, I ordered over seas in the US the other day, then I will be able to lower the speed a little and give the fluid a better chance of actually picking up some heat before it rushes trough the CPU block.

So I can surely say, I can not reveal on monday, I'm not good with dead lines.
I will keep you posted, the system is alive, it just need to learn some baby steps before I deem it perfect.

 

a 3 hour OCCT test have just passed and I now know it's dead solid on 1.41volt at 85C, but I very much rather stay below 1.4 volt and have been reading up on how Caseking bin their CPU, found out I have missed a few settings along the way...

Also, can see they use Prime95 26.6 with a custom 1344 FTT size and FTTs in place, to determine if a CPU is stable, as that should represent the kind of load most users will experience.
OCCT is way above that level and more for mission critical environments.



Let's see if this is going to pass and I can move on to RAM and GPU tuning.


//I will be back!

 

While I wait to proper stress test my OC and I wait for the last few parts to arrive to fulfill my vision, I have now taken on other side projects to tie in with the new rig.

So i'm sorry if i disappoint by not revealing today, but i will rather do it the right way instead of stressing trough it.

I have ordered a new mouse and mouse mat, and I'm thinking to even upgrade my monitor!
Also some plans to mod the closet, an active ventilation system and some mirrors to give it more "bling" - just because it's in a closet I don't have to be ashamed of it.

I'm so close to finishing this very long build.
Will see you very soon for more exiting show and tell

 

I'm still at it trying to find the perfect monitor upgrade...

Today my new mousemat and mouse arrived, on friday I should get the new fan frame, sometime next week my pump speed adjusting thing should arrive and somewhere in between I should be able to get mirrors and mod my closet with better airflow.

It has kind of turned into a whole-room mod, not just the case i'm modding anymore.

To give an idea of what Im trying to build, without revealing too much:

• The closet.
• 4x ML120 fans + 2xML140 fans - because I already have them (yes, I definitely got fans to spare)
  
• Will use the fans to blow warm air out to open air from outside - have some clever filters and closing mechanisms to avoid bugs and other nasties to get into the closet.
  
• On the shelf is my server, so it's also going to get much better cooling by doing this.
• And lastly, adding some light and some mirrors around the machine, to see it from all sides when I open the closet without having to move it around (it's drop dead heavy!)

So in the end, its a combination of both "bling" and practicality - pimp my closet!


See you later, but will not deadline it until im absolute sure of when a reveal will take place.

 

Hey guys!

As we wait for the build to be done, help me pick a new monitor for it

Head over here and let your voice be heard

https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?threads/ultra-wide-gaming-monitor.344663/page-3

 

1.) Are you going to be gaming on this or what is its main purpose? (Yes im sure you have said, but I cant remember) That will help me help you pick out a monitor

2.) How are going to light up the closet? They make those cool Nano Leaf lights, it kind of looks like what you have in your drawing.


3.) If you go regular LED's, you can get those LED channel covers I got on amazon, they were like $14 or something, for 5 of them and hide the strips well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XFWLF2G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

those the ones i got

 

I was trying not to clutter this thread more. But anyway, 1) its mainly for gaming but also intended as a general upgrade than the TN screen I have now.
I will keep my current monitor too for other projects.

2) well its actually mirrors I want to install so I can better see the system from all sides, even just for when plugging things into its backside. Its seriously heavy to move around. Also to give the leds little more play.
About ligting in the closet I was thinking a more simple solution with some Philips Hue Go lamps, 1 or 2 pieces. Could also use them other places around the house and sync it to the Aura lights when I play.

3) that looks fancy!

 

Hey - Im still at it! Whats holding me back is I don't have total success yet in my overclocking attempts.

I'm so close to have OC'd my DDR4 2400 to 3000Mhz.



Have now readjusted timings and trying again, a full set of 4 passes takes about 9 hours so sometime tomorrow I will know.


In other news, I received the parts I need to finish!
Just have not yet had time to actually mount them, due to OC going wrong, garden work, kids, wife, job and having a life next to being the biggest nerd in town.
It's all dependent on when my OC is succeeding, a day or two after that and then I can reveal the whole thing.

I also started to mod the closet, but have come to a conclusion I will reveal the build before I deal more with the closet, it proved to be way more difficult than anticipated.

Lastly, I found out what my new monitor should be - LG 32GK850G-B, it just ticks all the right boxes for me., going to order it later tonight.


So stay tuned, we are very close now, 98% done!

 

And yes I've been watching this thread to, apologies for the lack of comments along the way - you've planned things much the same as my own methodology

 

Nice, another one of the 15.784 viewers (spread over 4 sites) who is now identified
In total above 16.000 people have at one time or the other fallen over my updates in 4 forums, on my facebook page or on twitter.
I'm kind of looking forward to the reveal very soon to see what people actually say when I show off what it has all been for.

I have come such a long way since my Z170 and i5-6500 I had on the day I ordered the motherboard, the part that inspired me to do this build.
It's now 6 months ago...

Also, it's like a 3-step reveal, first the build, then the setup (when the monitor arrives) and then the very strange closet I'm making (that part is taking a few weeks though)


-so stay tuned, you might get some ideas

 

Success!! I have overclocked my DDR4 2400 to 3000 Mhz with reasonable tight timings @1.4Volt

A few days more and all this is over and I can start enjoying the fruits of my work.

 

I have lately resorted to post minor updates on the facebook page dedicated to my alias.

https://www.facebook.com/at0mac

I'ts just little bit easier as I only have to post one place and can do it all from my phone.
Don't want to reveal too much so sorry if I have been quiet.

Now I can see the end of the tunnel and am ready to put a deadline on the big reveal:

Thursday 24th of May 12:00am GMT+1 midday Danish time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until then, you get small teasers of what I been doing the past week or so:

Found out the fan frame I had gotten a good deal on, was not for 120mm but was for 140mm!
So despite I have a crap ton of fans, Noctua, Alphacool, Corsair MLs and other high-end fans, they where all to no use, as they are mainly the wrong size, 120mm...

SO had to get some new that will fit, so I can vent the closet to the outside air.



Could have gone with cheaper ones, but I do love the ML series and white light seems like a good idea in a dark closet.
Will be the most technologically advanced closet I have ever seen myself.

In other news, my monitor arrived!



But because im super busy finishing this build, I have not unpacked it yet, hopefully will do so tomorrow.

Yesterday I installed my new mouse and layed down my new mousepad, ROG Scabbard & ROG Gladius II Origin



The best pad/mouse combo I have yet to have (I wear out or break a mouse in a year typically so I have had a lot of mice)

And today I have done arts and crafts, you will see the purpose in the reveal





See you very soon again for a lot more show and tell, or wait for it and the reveal is in just a few days (hopufully I can live up to it this time it's announced so much)

 

Today I passed by Ikea and picked up 4 boxes of tiny little mirrors, I think there is 8 mirrors in each box and first of all it took forever getting trough that huge store, it's quite far from where I live and lastly, god damn they are heavy little things!
I'm totally exhausted from that trip....
But ir's part of the plan, so everything should still hold up

I'm going to be super busy tomorrow, there is a lot to do before the reveal:

* Make a hole in a shelf for my closet cooling solution.
* Mount set shelf im closet including 3x ML140 Pro LED fans
* Install fancy mirrors in closet
* Paint the air tunnel so moisture will not be a problem.
* Maybe install a fan inside each airtunnel, to help the ML140 at the beginning of it?
* Install dust filters in airtunnel
* Setup the new monitor
* Re-mount the old monitor in a new spot
* Take awesome pictures of the whole shebang !
* Reveal on thursday!!

There have been some minor changes to the system the past few days, like it will not have a magnet mounted quick release for the front/top cover, it was too difficult to make it work with the USB and power button also mounted on the front, and the fact that my clever little m.2 cooling solution makes the perforated side panel rattle due to turbulence, well that just means it will be with open side panels.

So I think I will mainly focus my time on the actual build reveal for thursday, and then the rest maybe later on thursday or in the coming days after, but I will try to get as much done as possible tomorrow.


For now I just need to relax, have unwrapped the new monitor and really enjoy it even that is is just temporary set up in this spot for now, it's HUUUGE!






See you sson with more finished work