X99 Phanteks Evolv Rebuild

Petelock · 23 May 2016 at 08:33

Blame said:
That looks very nice! the cabling at the back is so neat! great job!

But i agree the GPU droop needs some attention

Also think you should straighten the gpu power cables. looks to be leaning to the right on the photo. would look nice if it was straight like the rear cables

Agree on both points. I need to work out the best way to get the gpu cable combs more secure - as the braids are so thin even the thin combs don't really grip them. It's meant that they are less tamed! I'll figure that out though.

I'm thinking of reaching out here to anyone with a 3d printer to print me out a T or L shape thin brace for the gpu. I need to take measurements of what I need and hopefully someone can come through for a fellow OCUK member

Cenedd · 23 May 2016 at 08:46

You sir, have a tidy back-side!

Well done!

What have you got covering your M.2 SSD? Looks good.

Petelock · 23 May 2016 at 09:01

It's a custom cover that I had made by Cold Zero. He also did the Soundcard and the SSD cover. I gave him the assets for the SSD drives and had him modify one of his existing Soundcard backplates to match my colour scheme requirements. Highly recommended service if anyone else is interested.

I'm now on the fence for a possible etched front of the case. Also, on the back-side I'm considering a custom cover to go over the fan hub and perhaps in the bottom left where all of the Predator fan splitters are - they are messing with my cable mojo :cool:

Cenedd · 23 May 2016 at 09:20

It looks really good. Does it serve any heatsink function? They can get quite hot. 60-80C hot.

Etched side: could look good with the right image. Could also distract from the contents - which I don't think you need to do!

Back covers: hub doesn't really notice in pics. See what you mean about the Predator splitters but because they're black I didn't notice them in the pics until you pointed them out. Easy cover with some flat acrylic though and space for artwork.

Petelock · 23 May 2016 at 10:08

Cenedd said:
It looks really good. Does it serve any heatsink function? They can get quite hot. 60-80C hot.

Etched side: could look good with the right image. Could also distract from the contents - which I don't think you need to do!

Back covers: hub doesn't really notice in pics. See what you mean about the Predator splitters but because they're black I didn't notice them in the pics until you pointed them out. Easy cover with some flat acrylic though and space for artwork.

RIght now no heat sync function although it is raised from the actual M.2 via a very small velcro attachment. I was thinking of adding in some heat sync tape though to help with any heat dissipation.

The etching wasn't going to be the side, but the aluminium front. I would only consider a very minor side etching in one of the top corners (but probably would leave the glass as is for cleanness).

Flat acrylic was my thoughts too on the splitters. Likely from my man Cold Zero once more so I can get some bespoke graphics done. I was also thinking about getting him to make me a gpu brace.

Radox-0 · 23 May 2016 at 12:37

Very nice work. Love the cable management.

Out of curiosity, how well would a radiator breath up top do you think? looks a tad closed off?

Cenedd · 23 May 2016 at 12:45

This case is known to be a bit restrictive at the top for airflow - as it is in the front. That's probably why Petelock has gone push/pull at the front.

faheemrazzaq · 23 May 2016 at 14:15

top notch. very neat build.

Petelock · 24 May 2016 at 09:07

Radox-0 said:
Very nice work. Love the cable management.

Out of curiosity, how well would a radiator breath up top do you think? looks a tad closed off?

Thank you. As Cenedd says, the top airflow isn't great (without modding) and I would expect that a more aggressive water cooled loop may struggle if there were more rads. I'm not convinced that enough heart would be expelled efficiently. Having the 360 rad on the front though seems to keep everything in check. I am aware of the argument about no to minimal impact of push pull in fan configurations, but for the time being it seems to be handling the temps of a high cpu and high gpu overclock well.

faheemrazzaq said:
top notch. very neat build.

Thanks mate.

I also spent a little time considering the best options to deal with the GPU droop. I may have a solution using a 24 pin cable comb and a couple of screw holes that are on the back of the case. I'll need to test out whether this is viable later in the week, but it will be a subtle low impact solution if I can blag it.

I think that I'm also going to get a white customer acrylic plate for the rear side of the PSU with the SuperFlower logo to tidy it up. That will go alongside a black vinyl rectangle to hide the Predator splitters which will likely have some build details on it. Finally, I may add in an additional vinyl cover to go over the back of the mobo and cover the cpu plate and fan hub.

Then I may be about done!

I'll keep progress updates going and am going to hold off on final shots with the polariser until I get these last few additions sorted.

If anyone has any other suggestions, now would be a good time before I place an order for the custom plates.

Cenedd · 24 May 2016 at 09:40

The GPU prop I might have some suggestions - but they're probably based mainly on what I've read between the line of what youve already said.

I've seen a nice build where instead of the cable dropping down from the GPU it wheels sideways and goes through a motherboard grommet. That might let you use the cabling to prop the card up rather than drag it down. Even screw a comb down if necessary.

You could also do a prop to the case floor but probably ugly unless you can make it a feature.

You could screw a small chunk of acrylic to the motherboard tray that just juts out under the graphics card. Should be nearly invisible as hidden under the card.

naz_myth · 31 May 2016 at 15:23

Petelock said:

Hello!!

just created an account to ask you this:

is the color of the silver aluminum from the picture above similar to what you see in person???

i've seen pictures and videos of this case, in some it looks almost white and in others is more of a dark silver.

Regards!

Cenedd · 31 May 2016 at 15:26

There's a white version, a silver version and a gun metal version. I think Pete's is the Gun Metal.

naz_myth · 31 May 2016 at 17:18

actually, the color for the enthoo evolv atx (both versions) are:

- galaxy silver (which I think is the one that Petelocks has)
- anthracite grey (which is really dark in some pictures, lighter in others and a bit purple in some)
- satin black
- the atx does not have a white version, only the matx has one.

I having trouble deciding between the silver and grey (the one on the picture above looks sweet).

Cenedd · 31 May 2016 at 17:42

I think they've named the colours differently in different regions. UK "silver" is US "Galaxy Silver" and UK "Gun Metal" is US "Anthracite". I believe they have done this solely to confuse

Not certain if Pete's silver or gun metal but I think it's gun metal (aka anthracite). Pete?
I can tell you that this one is definitely gun metal if that helps.

Petelock · 1 Jun 2016 at 09:02

Hey all.

Mine is the silver version and I would say that it is certainly silver to look at rather than gun metal or grey.

naz_myth · 2 Jun 2016 at 16:41

So the picture above doesn't show the true color??? it looks light grey

Regards!

Petelock · 3 Jun 2016 at 08:51

naz_myth said:
So the picture above doesn't show the true color??? it looks light grey

Regards!

It's probably a bit off as I didn't set up my studio lighting for the shots I took. However, it's not THAT far off. WHilst it's called silver, remember that it's brushed and matt aluminium, rather than say the silver of the nickel GPU block backplate (for comparison).

I guess you could describe it as a light grey though!

naz_myth · 3 Jun 2016 at 17:33

Awesome!, i'm getting the silver version then. I even have a white power supply (the seasonic silent snow), so it will look similar to yours.

Thanks a lot

wordy · 10 Jun 2016 at 22:31

What's the little EKWB tag on your mobo, is it just an aesthetic item?

Love the build btw, this is pretty much what I'm going to be ordering when I get round to it

Petelock · 11 Jun 2016 at 18:46

wordy said:
What's the little EKWB tag on your mobo, is it just an aesthetic item?

Love the build btw, this is pretty much what I'm going to be ordering when I get round to it

It's a custom M.2 SSD cover that I had commissioned for the build.

Really appreciate the kind words too. One day it will be a full hard line loop!

I've also got the GPU sag sorted now so am really happy with how things are running. 50c on CPU and GPU in 1440p gaming so happy with how things have turned out (so far)