Project Arcturus by PEXON

pexonpcs · 13 Jan 2017 at 23:57

Welcome
this transmission
from a fallen star
otherwise known as Arcturus

CASE:- Lian Li PC-V1000L
MOTHERBOARD:- MSI Z270 Gaming M5
CPU:- i5 6600K (7700K TBA)
GPU:- SLI MSI GTX 980Ti 6G GAMING or MSI GTX 1070 FE
RAM:- Crucial 16GB Sport DDR4
SSD #1:- Intel 600P M.2
SSD #2:- Crucial MX300 525GB
HDD:- Samsung M8 500GB 2.5"
PSU:- Silverstone Strider 750W or SuperFlower LEADEX Titanium 750W

Hello! Time for another build log. Off the back of my Overwatch build, I was itching to start a new build, something a little different this time, no theme really, just a nice, clean and sleek build; only one chassis brand to help me achieve this... Lian Li. My first big project was a Lian Li and I have been wanting to build in one for a while, the PC-V1000L caught my eye and got the creative juices flowing.

Lets get the case out of the box.

inb4 it looks like a Macintosh

Easy LAN access with those wheels!

Original plan was to go for MDPC-X Platinum Grey and Shade 19, but I am still unsure as the idea is to keep it clean and simple; however, it may need some colour later on down the line

First up, sleeving those USB 3.0 front panel headers

Light is bad on the following photos (sorry)! I ordered some aluminium angle and some plexi to mock up a lightbox/ midplate and mother board tray cover

I have some more pictures to add this weekend, just waiting for them to upload on imgur!

Happy weekend! See you soon.

James/pex

Please make sure you follow the guidelines regarding images-schizo

LePhuronn · 14 Jan 2017 at 18:12

Gonna be sweet as a nut. Hurry up imgur!

MegaMasher · 14 Jan 2017 at 19:45

I have a feeling this build is going to be really cool, I just get a tingly feeling when i see Lian Li

pexonpcs · 14 Jan 2017 at 23:44

As promised, here is another update

I order a sheet of 6mm thick aluminium for the midplate, but when I picked this up from Overclockers on Friday afternoon and installed it in the case, it wont work, its way to thick...

I went with the M5 as the dark grey heatsinks and reasonable sleek visuals will suit the build better than most of the new Z270 boards from any vendor, so many RGBs. The XPower board would have been great, but 350 for a Z270 is a little too much for me, maybe if I was going X99, but hey.

I will be reusing some Crucial RAM from a previous build, the white heatsinks will add some nice contrast to the black/ anthracite mobo

I think I will remove the stickers once the boards been tested etc

Next up, some drilling. I wanted to create a nice clean look for the cables, namely the 24 pin as I am still undecided on the SATA cables, or if I should go all M2 SSDs or go for an external NAS.... Anyway, I used a cable comb as a guide and drilled through the plexi mobo tray and case with a 3.5mm drill bit, luckily there wasn't any chipping of the plexi, I took it nice and slow.

NOTE:- SLEEVING COLOUR is not the final product, just some spare wires I had ready sleeved

It needs some filing to neaten up a little (but I cant find my round jewelers files). With that said, I am really happy with the result using an old Makita 240v drill lol

I realllly like Vanilla sands, it was my original idea to go with Plat grey and VS, but I don't think I can make it work.

Anyway, cheers for looking!

Please follow the guidelines regarding image size-schizo

Smffy · 15 Jan 2017 at 15:10

Nice work mate, didn't even notice you posted on here but good to know

Something really cool looking about the 24pin cables going straight through the case... kind of wish I had done that before getting to the point it's almost done. Presume you used that comb as a guide and drilled out the holes?

pexonpcs · 15 Jan 2017 at 21:20

Hey dude!

There was no other option really, the positioning of the 24 pin header on the mobo would make for an odd routing if I went through the stock grommets, it would have have had to go up and to the right.

I used the comb as a guide indeedy and used some cheap and nasty glue so it didnt get fixed super tight and just tapped it off after drilling, got to do the same for the 8 pin CPU socket too, which is remarkably almost 100% bang on with the stock grommet, if only the 24 pin was. I think it looks really cool though, I just have to decide on what colours now

Hyburnate · 15 Jan 2017 at 21:22

Ohhhh yes! Subbed! Reminds me, I need to send in my next order

pexonpcs · 15 Jan 2017 at 21:25

Haha cheers for subbing man! What do you need

Hyburnate · 15 Jan 2017 at 21:35

pexonpcs said:
Haha cheers for subbing man! What do you need

Just a coiled USB cable for the keyboard

e; Should have something in trust

Smffy · 16 Jan 2017 at 13:59

Double post...

Smffy · 16 Jan 2017 at 14:04

pexonpcs said:
Hey dude!

There was no other option really, the positioning of the 24 pin header on the mobo would make for an odd routing if I went through the stock grommets, it would have have had to go up and to the right.

I used the comb as a guide indeedy and used some cheap and nasty glue so it didnt get fixed super tight and just tapped it off after drilling, got to do the same for the 8 pin CPU socket too, which is remarkably almost 100% bang on with the stock grommet, if only the 24 pin was. I think it looks really cool though, I just have to decide on what colours now

Nice ideal and agree it looks very tidy, sits well with my PC building OCD

. I'll have a proper think and might do the same as the 24pin routing is never on point with the board is it.

pexonpcs · 16 Jan 2017 at 21:45

@Hyhurnate can you send it to me over via email, the trust thing never works for me

I just did the 8 pin connector on the top of the tray and my god its tight with a 240mm rad and fans on there, I will have to see how that looks, other wise I may have to route it round the top top top left hand side of the case as there seems to be a little empty space to get it round.

Using a cable comb is a super useful thing, I will definitely be using that idea again!

Dempsey22 · 19 Jan 2017 at 19:58

Was thinking of doing something similar. Looks awesome

Also, I mailed you at the start of January actually asking do you do custom PSU cables as I'm in need of one.

pexonpcs · 19 Jan 2017 at 21:54

@Dempsey22 did I get back?

Right, cable update!

Managed to get the 8 pin and 24 pin, they need to be taken down a little bit. I plan on cutting each wire to different lengths to get all the cables laying perfectly in the rear of the case...

Pretty time consuming getting each cable through the mobo tray and secured in each connector!

and even MORE time consuming pulling them through to the right curvature!

Progress looking good! Next update will hopefully have some watercooling stuff involved

Please follow the guidelines regarding image size-schizo

Dempsey22 · 19 Jan 2017 at 22:39

Nope got no reply , would make sense for me to include that in my last post. lol

pexonpcs · 19 Jan 2017 at 22:39

Strange, send it over again mate, I will get onto it ASAP

Dempsey22 · 19 Jan 2017 at 22:49

pexonpcs said:
Strange, send it over again mate, I will get onto it ASAP

Thanks James I just sent it on again.

LePhuronn · 19 Jan 2017 at 22:51

Gotta love proper cabling. Remind me of the colours? MDPC-X Black, Shade 19, Titanium and Platinum?

pexonpcs · 19 Jan 2017 at 23:08

Sorry I completely missed that didn't I?!

Black, Shade 19, Titanium Grey and Platinum Grey indeedy!

LePhuronn · 20 Jan 2017 at 10:16

pexonpcs said:
Sorry I completely missed that didn't I?!

Black, Shade 19, Titanium Grey and Platinum Grey indeedy!

Sweet, nice to see a well-lit action shot of Black and Shade 19 together. I wasn't sure how much contrast there was between the 2, and none of the product shots or other builds I've seen were clear enough.

Black, Shade 19 and Platinum for my cables then!