The Big Shell Project

I'm arriving back home this evening so I can get the log going again!

Also, since my girlfriend won't be home until tomorrow I'll be staying up most of the night to get some serious work done and I'll hopefully be sort of live-logging it as I go here so you can expect some updates tonight and tomorrow

The metal pipes look so cool. Don't think I've seen anything other than the flexible tubes before.

senorgrande said:

The metal pipes look so cool. Don't think I've seen anything other than the flexible tubes before.

Click to expand...

They're reasonably common in builds, metal less so, mostly hard plastic tubes

First update of the evening: That rad is just about as thick as it can get to work in this situation!

I tried just eyeballing the length of the first piece of tube and it predictably ended up being 6mm short... Oops! It made an easy guide for how long to cut the second tube though


I am a lot more tired than I thought I would be (not enough sleep and too much alcohol over the last 3 weeks), but I am determined to get a couple more things done. At least one more tubing run and then map out the cutting for the metal plate that will cover the top of the case (I'll also explain what I mean by this mythical "metal plate" as well haha).

One more run down! I have to say, this is really starting to really take shape now. I'll get the final pipe run done tomorrow (top rad to GPU) and I can't wait to see the result.



Time to try and sort out this whole metal plate palaver!

My metal plate idea is to bolt a sheet of metal to the inside of the fan bracket (between it and the radiator) to create a shiny metal interior top panel.

The original idea came from worrying about the air exhaust from the top of the case, since the fans are closer to the top than they should be, and thinking the exhaust air my regurgitate back into the case through the fan bracket.

That's where the idea of the metal top plate came from, although I do understand that it really wasn't an issue worth solving, the exhaust air coming into the case a bit wouldn't have altered performance whatsoever, I just like the idea now.

I got this piece of metal from a blacksmith friend, I just need to carefully drill the holes for the screws and cut out the large central hole to allow air to pass through. Plans for tomorrow!

I'll be honest, my life has gotten in the way of completing the project!

There are a couple of small things that need doing, but it is almost complete. All the bends are done, I have drilled and cut the metal top plate and have almost finished the wiring (updates will soon follow).

I have finally devised a drain system that I am happy with so that will be coming soon too and after that all I will have left is to install software, overclock and benchmark!

I want it done by Sunday, but that will likely not happen...

Gorgeous. Love the piping it looks very classy.

Thanks a lot, I'm really pleased with how it has come out

I finally got around to the metal plate!

I originally wanted holes drilled for every fan screw (instead of just sandwiching the plate between the rad and the fans) with 4 screws for the corners of the plate. After losing count of the number of minutes it took to drill the first 4 fan screw holes (I believe it was in the tens of thousands, though I'm not sure) I decided to have the other half of the plate sandwiched between the rad and the fans haha.

This plate was seriously tough and I really wasn't expecting it so I busted out the angle grinder to cut the main hole. It made short work of it!

This is the semi-final product, it still needs polishing up and a bit more filing:


One thing I did notice that bothered me greatly was that although one side of the plate is nice and shiny, the other, which was covered in protective plastic, is brushed. I want it to be beautifully shiny so I had a go at removing the brushing.

I would have just flipped it, but I didn't remove the film until I had already cut the holes (Ironically to stop the it from getting scratched...) and since the holes aren't symmetrical I can't flip it

Here is my attempt at polishing out the brushing:



I started with sand paper and then used a metal polish paste. I would have used a few different sand papers of increasing grit, but I didn't have them. And as you can see, the result shows it. I may take it out and polish it more at a later date, but now it is installed I doubt it. I'll explain later with an installation picture that I am yet to take

The polished product does reflect a lot better than it did, so at least I didn't make it worse which was my major worry.

Here it is installed. The reason I'm probably not going to go through the process of removing it and polishing it to a complete shine is because it is such a minor part of the build now.

In my head this was going to be a gleaming beacon inside the case that would scatter light everywhere! In reality, it really doesn't show that much when installed and even sat at my desk you have to crane down to see it.

I do think it adds a nice look to the case though, definitely nicer than just seeing the fan bracket there!

Little case mod update, the fans look like they will have plenty of clearance for airflow. There is around an inch of space integrated into the top panel which will be more than enough breathing room for the fans

So all in all I'd say cutting out those top supports is a pretty useful mod to do.

The main gripe I have with the case is the lack of clearance at the top for radiator installation. If you want a radiator in the top of the case (pretty normal nowadays with AIOs) then it will start to significantly cover up your motherboard, which is only made more annoying by the fact that there is space in the top for the fans.

I feel Phanteks could have engineered the supports to sit above the fans, even if it would mean that only one or two positions of the fans would be possible without airflow being impeded.

Brace yourself for the wiring updates. Most of the cables are done, all that is left now is the power for the Aquaero 5 and the LEDs.

The reason this has taken so long is because since both side panels are made of glass, I want the rear of the case to be spectacular just like the front. I'm going to have a small LED strip back there and as a result I'm making every cable myself so that they are all the perfect length. In total I think it has taken around 3 days of work (a good 6 hours-ish a day I think)... Worth it!

I haven't trimmed down the velcro ties yet, there are a couple more wires to put in, but so far not bad I don't think

Given the density of cables I think that's remarkably neat!

Also just spotted your rotated graphics card. Would be interested to see how you've mounted it to the outside of the case.

The Evolve ATX does have a rather odd upper rad layout. I stuck the rad tray back in the box and sidestepped the whole issue I'm surprised there's enough space to let the air in/out between your fans and the roof though - unless they've changed things between the ATX and the ATX Glass edition.

Cenedd said:

Given the density of cables I think that's remarkably neat!

Also just spotted your rotated graphics card. Would be interested to see how you've mounted it to the outside of the case.

The Evolve ATX does have a rather odd upper rad layout. I stuck the rad tray back in the box and sidestepped the whole issue I'm surprised there's enough space to let the air in/out between your fans and the roof though - unless they've changed things between the ATX and the ATX Glass edition.

Click to expand...

I'll get a picture and explain how the GPU is mounted this evening

There is around 2 cm of space between the fans and the roof, but the exhaust vents along the sides are also right there so it seems to vent quite well. And with the sheet of metal covering the bracket there is nowhere else for the air to go

I did a temp test yesterday of all of the panels (Side, front and top) on vs off and the coolant delta over the ambient air was only 0.5c higher at load which I think is explainable by the fact that the top rad is drawing air from the front rad rather than the outside when the panels are on and general heatsoke inside the case.

That's good. 0.5C is neither here nor there really. Sounds like your plate is doing a good job then - I know some people had commented they thought regurgitation (hot air being drawn back into top rad) was an issue.

Now I've said it I think I'll do another test later to confirm it, sounds a bit unlikely to be that low so I'll do a more controlled test and post the results. But what I am fairly certain of is that if there is a difference it is not substantial by any means.