A Window To Wales

Good news! Local metal work place can get some UNC 6-32 x 1½" and machine them to the exact length I want, all for a tiny fraction of the price of the Rainforest ones. It's nice when annoying little problems end up having easy solutions, was worried it was going to be a nightmare finding these :)
 
Couldn't find any on eBay mate, only UNC 6-32 I could find were all 30mm or shorter. Only 35mm long one's I could find online were far too expensive so got local shop to make me 40 of em for the price of half dozen off t'internet :)
 
I've got some coming now mate but cheers for the link. Only problem with that style head is I think it might be too tall, needs to be shallow enough that they don't protrude past the panel or they'd hit the green / white panels. Luckily I've managed to find some with button heads that are as small as the original phillips headed bolts & are also cut to exactly the right length, so should be good to go :)

Also, after a bit more research, I've decided to go the cheaper route on the GPU. Was going to wait for the 1080Ti but after seeing 1080 v 980Ti comparisons I'm going to use an MSI 1080 instead. The 980Ti in the current rig bosses anything I throw at it so the 1080 should be more than enough, and the difference in price should cover the block for it and leave some cash towards the other Aquaero I need. Still going to wait until new year though to see if there's any bargains to be had :D
 
If only you'd bought a pair of MSI Gaming X's I'd say it's a deal, but not sure the house insurance covers EVGA fire lighters ;)

Haha you actually planning on selling em on though mate?
 
After what seems like an eternity of zero progress due to lack of time, lack of funds, lack of space and everything imaginable preventing progress, I thought I'd at least get something done today.

Plan was to get the floor done (minus the EL panel), then sort the EL panel for the dragon in the front panel and make a start on the top loop. Well, as per usual things didn't go to plan!

First issue: An A4 sheet of vinyl is the perfect size for the floor, but guess which colour I have on a roll that's about 15mm narrow than an A4 sheet? Yep, black :mad:

Oh well, that's that idea out of the window until new vinyl arrives then! Still, after setting everything up decided I may as well run a quick trial / proof of concept to see how it looks...

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The res randomly laying on the floor will be green and roughly in that position if all goes well, just lay that one there to get a rough idea of how much space I had to play with.

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Very quickly bodged up with the eye missing, massive air bubbles etc, but what you think? Should look OK once it's done properly with the dragon in red :)

Planning on using window tint film for the dragon, like the trial piece below :cool:

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Other problem? Back in work now so made ZERO real progress again :mad:

Oh well, at least now I know it'll work and have the design saved ready...
 
Cheers guys :D

Work is more than irritating for me through Jan & Feb, being self employed it takes stupid hours for a couple of months to make up for Christmas and New Year drop off. Missus is off to China & Japan* in March though so hopefully get the cash for the 1080 before then and hammer through it while she's away.

Yeah it's semi transparent window film, so works very well. Better than I ever hoped for tbh! Have also got a slightly deeper red than the one shown so will probably go with that :)

How are your builds coming on? Not really been online much over the last few weeks so got a lot to catch up on!

*I wanted to go but a 1080 is more important!
 
Trouble is the holiday would have covered the 1080, the extra Aquaero and numerous other components, and also meant a couple of weeks off work with no income... Would have been nice but unfortunately it was a no-go until Paddy Power get more generous :(

Haha yeah, young kids and long haul flights aren't the best mix ever, there isn't a movie / TV series on the planet will keep em entertained for that long!

Still have the 980Ti in the old build which was going to be used, but yes, you know how it goes when you plan on reusing old bits...! Think it was the right call not demolishing it though, got the old one on the TV and this one will be on my work monitor when it's done, so we can both game / watch TV :)
 
Oh yes, the ol' copper pipe. It's going to look stunning when it's finished but don't envy the work / skill it'll take! One of these could be a life saver if you're at all nervous about it leaking :)
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That's true, trouble is it gives you far too much time to make extra work for yourself. Knocked my case together for 2 minutes just to check something and somehow made new jobs for both covers & lighting ideas :D

Hoping the dragon will look good as it has been a right PITA to do! Altered the loop layout to make room as well so if it goes wrong now...!
 
Yeah the gauge certainly isn't the best quality, although it's just about good enough so long as it isn't Dr Dropped ;)

Not had any issues with mine losing pressure yet but have only used it a couple of times, so will have to see if any slight leaks develop. Will certainly be testing everything as I go this time though, don't want to have to drain 4 radiators worth of liquid & pull the case apart to replace a £5 component!

Ooh, I like following desk builds so hope it's going to be logged on here :D
 
Testing done, so time to remove that god awful temporary cooler. Very quick update of not a lot but I'm hoping to get a few jobs done this weekend, so HOPEFULLY have a bigger update in next few days...

Thermal paste removed, surface nicely cleaned up...

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Ooooh shiny! :cool:

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Best thing about this cooler? You can mount the actual block upside down...

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...But keep the bracket / cover the correct way up :)

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Just need to remember I have the block upside down when plumbing it in!

Worst thing about the cooler? Those awful black nuts :mad:

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The black nuts annoyed me so much I gave the block a pair of black eyes :D

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Why could they not include red nuts with a red cooler? Oh well, guess the tins of paint will be coming out again!

One thing I can't decide though: With white coolant going into the CPU block, would the nuts look better red or white, or should they just be left black? My brain immediately defaulted to red, but the more I look at it the more undecided I'm getting... Thoughts?
 
Aye, think you could be right mate, it would make more sense being red.

Trouble is if you ask a woman they usually A: Suggest a colour you hadn't even though of, making it even more difficult to decide and B: Change their minds even more often than we do!

It's such a simple idea it makes you wonder why others hadn't thought of it, although I do wish they hadn't put the arrow on the bracket as it's both not needed and now wrong... :p
 
Not sure the benefits would outweigh the hassle on that one tbh mate, it's so small it hardly shows anyway. Just found it odd they put the arrow on it in the first place when it's already on the actual block, especially as the design means you can easily switch the inlet / outlet over. Very strange decision.
 
I know I'm probably in a minority of 1 but I actually quite like the branding, just found the arrow for the inlet a bit pointless / irritating so probably not worth the extra hassle for me tbh mate. Definitely suits your build a lot more with the branding removed, but mine isn't quite as clean as yours :D

Will have to do the nuts though, more I look at them the more I hate it... That's tomorrow morning sorted!

You know what would have helped you remember mate? Some sort of arrow / marking on the inlet... ;)
 
Now etching would look far better, maybe we should offer them a bit more feedback!

Always thought if they really must have an arrow it would look better putting an arrow on both ports, just looks a bit odd to me only having it on the one side.

Maybe Parvum should get into the cooling business, they've already got the perfect logo for it :p
 
That's true, could knock up some decent reservoirs / floors with channels etc that were suitable for mass market and make a killing :)

Some good news, I've just stumbled across a nice piece of rocking horse ****: An Aquaero 6 LT that's actually in stock! Ordered one plus the heatsink to go with it :D
 
Sorry for the lack of updates, but Cardiff beat Bristol City today, so I may have got a tiny bit drunk when I should have been sorting out the top loop of AW2W... Hopefully I'll be sober enough tomorrow to smash through some of the more awkward jobs :)
 
So long as I only drink when Cardiff win at either football or rugby it will probably be a very sober 2017 mate, unless of course Wales surprise everyone and aren't completely useless in the 6 Nations :D

Unfortunately I've now had windows delivered that need painting, so between my proper job and painting a load of windows it looks like things will be going slow again... I swear this build is jinxed, just can't get a break long enough to actually make a proper start at it :(
 
Was hoping to get the top loop sorted today, but as per usual other things got in the way so it's still not done :mad:

On a slightly more positive note I did find just about enough time to get the front dragon done. Biggest issue? There's a border around the panel that doesn't light up, and it's damn near exactly the same size as the gap between the bottom of the dragon and the top of the hexagons... Getting it centred was fun!

As you can see the new bolts also arrived so all the radiators are mounted ready to make a start :)

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Not brilliant photo's as they're off my phone, but very happy with how it turned out. Also seems the driver provided with this panel is better quality as it's completely silent :D

Can't wait to see what it looks like with the fans lit up now! Also ordered some switches so I can turn the dragon, the floor and the LEDs on & off independently.
 
Cheers mate, can't wait to get the top loop done so I can fire it up properly. Just need a 1080 to go in it then... :)
 
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