Old system looked like this. Old Chieftec Dragon with at that time an Asus Maximus Formula, E8500 and a GTX280.
Now it looks like this, 700D, Rampage II Extreme, i7 [email protected] and GTX580.
Bit of an improvement and tad quicker than my old system.
The reason I chose to mod the drive bays like I have is that the Thermochill 240 rad is about 5mm too wide to be able to stand it on its side in the bottom compartment and I didn't want to lay it flat as I wanted the air to leave the case via the side panel, not go into the case as it would do with the rad flat.
I originally intended to lower the case floor by cutting a section out and having the rad protruding through the base, with a suitable modders mesh surround to enclose and support it and also act as a handy air intake. But I looked at it one day and relocating the hdds and standing the rad vertically in that bay kind of popped into my head. I think its works, and it meant I didn't have to mess about with the 700D's bottom removable filter, which having the rad in the way would have.
The top rad grill I needed as wanted to have the the extra bit of clearance between the push-pull fans and the mobo, which by removing the depression in the stock rad mount in this case you can recover, about 5 mils worth which makes all the difference. Also I have the old 25mm spacing Thermochill so it made sense anyway, although I would have been happy to suspend the whole thing by the central fan alone as it would have been strong enough. All fans have had their mount holes slighlty modded to allow me to remove the fans easily to de-dust the rads if necessary, as one thing I don't want is to have to majorly dismantle this for cleaning.
The grill on the front side is acting as an extra intake for the rad and the 2 140mm fans which provide air for the GTX580's stock vrm/ram sink. You can't see it but I have also made a cut out in the case front behind the aluminium cover to act as another intake for the rad. I actually made the mesh I cut out of the top of the case as the basis for a filter to cover this hole, using stockings and glue. All other holes behind the front cover, i.e. unused bays, have been covered with similar filters made out of modders mesh.
I filled the cpu loop first as I sussed that would require the most case tilting and difficulty bleeding. The gpu loop bleeds itself more or less.
I took out the drain valves as although they certainly make draining easier they unfortunately look naff. I intend to drain the cpu loop via the res, by siphoning enough water out to leave an air bubble where the bottom blank is, i.e. with the case laid on its side. I can then put a barb in this with a valve on and drain with it upright. The gpu loop I could do the same though I will probably just undo the bleed screw which is accessible through a hole in the case bottom.
I could have taken a bit more care with the window but there is enough space around the cut out to redo it or change the design, mind you I am not that anal about stuff like this tbh, and as always the camera shows up stuff you don't see with the naked eye.
Now it looks like this, 700D, Rampage II Extreme, i7 [email protected] and GTX580.
Bit of an improvement and tad quicker than my old system.
The reason I chose to mod the drive bays like I have is that the Thermochill 240 rad is about 5mm too wide to be able to stand it on its side in the bottom compartment and I didn't want to lay it flat as I wanted the air to leave the case via the side panel, not go into the case as it would do with the rad flat.
I originally intended to lower the case floor by cutting a section out and having the rad protruding through the base, with a suitable modders mesh surround to enclose and support it and also act as a handy air intake. But I looked at it one day and relocating the hdds and standing the rad vertically in that bay kind of popped into my head. I think its works, and it meant I didn't have to mess about with the 700D's bottom removable filter, which having the rad in the way would have.
The top rad grill I needed as wanted to have the the extra bit of clearance between the push-pull fans and the mobo, which by removing the depression in the stock rad mount in this case you can recover, about 5 mils worth which makes all the difference. Also I have the old 25mm spacing Thermochill so it made sense anyway, although I would have been happy to suspend the whole thing by the central fan alone as it would have been strong enough. All fans have had their mount holes slighlty modded to allow me to remove the fans easily to de-dust the rads if necessary, as one thing I don't want is to have to majorly dismantle this for cleaning.
The grill on the front side is acting as an extra intake for the rad and the 2 140mm fans which provide air for the GTX580's stock vrm/ram sink. You can't see it but I have also made a cut out in the case front behind the aluminium cover to act as another intake for the rad. I actually made the mesh I cut out of the top of the case as the basis for a filter to cover this hole, using stockings and glue. All other holes behind the front cover, i.e. unused bays, have been covered with similar filters made out of modders mesh.
I filled the cpu loop first as I sussed that would require the most case tilting and difficulty bleeding. The gpu loop bleeds itself more or less.
I took out the drain valves as although they certainly make draining easier they unfortunately look naff. I intend to drain the cpu loop via the res, by siphoning enough water out to leave an air bubble where the bottom blank is, i.e. with the case laid on its side. I can then put a barb in this with a valve on and drain with it upright. The gpu loop I could do the same though I will probably just undo the bleed screw which is accessible through a hole in the case bottom.
I could have taken a bit more care with the window but there is enough space around the cut out to redo it or change the design, mind you I am not that anal about stuff like this tbh, and as always the camera shows up stuff you don't see with the naked eye.
