ALUMIA by JR23

[JR23]

Welcome to project ALUMIA, originating around EK's new all aluminium Fluid Gaming kits which informed and reinforced the deeply rooted theme of Auto Union Grand Prix cars. However it won't be a 'themed' build in the commonly accepted sense, I have no intentions of building an augmentation between a race car and a PC. Instead it will be a sympathetic reflection of the cars materiality, purpose and craft.

This build will eventually be a successor to my previous system alphaclass, with an excessive amount of GPU prowess to comfortably push 4k. That way I can relieve Chocolate Box of daily duties and return it to rapid deployment LAN status. Using a single GPU system every day is wearing thin having had SLI since I built my first PC so i'll definitely be stepping back up. Perhaps not to quad again, an appropriate balance between raw power and VRAM needs to be reached. Following graphical power acoustics are by far the most important characteristic for me so i've held back my excellent Essence STX and a pair of Aquaero's to keep all the rotational devices in check.

CPU - Intel i7-7700k @5.2GHz
Motherboard - EVGA Z270 Classified K
RAM - TG Xtreem 4x8GB 4133C18 "8 Pack Edition"
GPU - Nvidia GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti x2
Audio - ASUS Xonar Essence STX
SSD - HyperX Predator M.2 960GB x2
PSU - EVGA Supernova 1000T2
Case - Caselabs Bullet BH7
Fans - Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 24v 3000 x4
Controller - Aquaero 5 LT x2
Watercooling - EK Fluid Gaming A240G x2

I can't exactly remember if it was the Auto Unions which came to mind when I heard EK would be making aluminium components or if I hounded EK into sending me aluminium components because they would be a great fit for an Auto Union build. The important thing is the result and I now have the joyous task of reproducing what I have envisaged. So to start things off i'd like to familiarize everyone with the beautiful 1939 Auto Union Type D twin-supercharger.

(Unfortunately these aren't my photographs, I believe credit goes to Audi themselves)

When building PC's we often try to reduce the different finishes, metals and textures visible to a minimum in favour of consistency and colour. Yet the variety and harmony of so many different and purposeful elements on display within the engine compartment is exceptional here. Cast, machined, polished, painted and tarnished surfaces all co-exist elegantly. There are no philips or allen head screws, just slotted, hexagon nuts and bolts everywhere. Nothing is bonded or welded, just rivets and fringes of copper gaskets. Not to mention the louvres and drilling.

Now we could just look at cars all day, but I get the feeling at least some of you would rather see hardware. The Z270 Classy K really chose itself as soon as I saw EK's parts, I did wait out all of Computex to see if they would bring this aesthetic over to X299 but i'm glad that didn't happen actually as this has just the right amount of slots for me to completely fill out.

With the first major piece in my hands most of the remaining hardware choices have been locked down and are on the way. I've even decided on a case which I ordered from a shop (weird), using some kind of currency! So strange, it's been so long since it worked like this. Don't worry though, i'm sure the Parvum team will get involved when there is machining to do and dankness to be added.

JR​

 

[JR23]

Last week many packages arrived but before having a chance to properly unbox them I had to head away to Beauleiu for the weekend. But on the plus side I did encounter several relevant cars in the motor museum so once again lets start with some automotive inspiration, this time my pics too! Firstly this 2010 McLaren Mercedes MP4/21 in it's very German livery.

Also relatively recent was this straight six Honda CBX motorcycle, I disapprove of the philips head screws however the castings, chrome, bright silver paint and black frame were an instant reminder.

Perhaps sharing the most similarities was the 1930 Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged with it's humongous blower and drum brakes, no doubt slightly on the heavy side knowing British engineering of that period.

By far my favourite car on display this 1935 Auburn 851 Speedster, maybe followed up by the Gulf 917.

Just wandering among the former land speed record holders when the lights came up over this 1920 Sunbeam 350hp and I noticed the fan positioned ahead of the radiator. How original that fitment is i'm not sure, at speed it would seem redundant but an instant trigger back to the land of PC's.

And of course what was waiting for me to open when I returned home.

Just like in other EK-Kits i've had lots of normal retail boxes and some rather more interesting mystery boxes.

Like this spooky water block.

And the unmarked box of many things.

The second layer was just a bit more eventful with this awesome Alu Supremacy, not quite an MX duplicate I was pleasantly surprised.

Cheeky SPC always welcome, these things are so quiet and compact.

Right, what's left. What haven't we seen yet...

Ooooh a block and a backplate!

Many many things from just one of these little boxes. Each piece so neatly formed.

Right lets take a look at the stuff with the board, whiiich is about the only thing I have, no CPU

An epic match though.

Right time to get a whole lot more abstract with the photography as we explore this new GPU block. I mean, all the other parts are excellent but this really is a significant and impressive piece of engineering. I saw a prototype many months ago, I liked it instantly but didn't look too hard, the cavities were interesting and the compound angles achieved on the edges were really special. But it wasn't until I looked straight through that I realized it was an extrusion, no parallel boxes but epicly inclined planes and edges... take a really close look.

Also really could not match the board finish and style any better at all.

One minor oddity were the little acetal stop plugs, I expected aluminium versions of the conventional EK plug but also pleased they were slotted, just in case I do end up using them.

So much hype now, I just want all the bits!

Just to accelerate things I found all my old parts and cleaned them up.

Perfect gold, another accent for the plethora of metals on show. I've had it so long now little parts of the coating are wearing where it fits into cases, looks just like it's been through a season of races.

One thing that became increasingly apparent today was that everything is very black, perhaps a disproportionate amount of silver so something my have to get re-finished or remade. Essence shroud, IO shroud and GPU backplates are likely candidates. I'll keep a close eye on the overall balance of things. It's quite easy to add bright plated items but some rough cast textures will be needed.

And two Aquaero 5 LT's equipped with heatsinks, how i'll use both i'm not sure, maybe I won't. But they are ready when needed, the de-stickered look certainly helps too.

And finally some much needed rough alu on the heatsinks.

Lastly a little MDPC-X, well. You know how it is if you get over 3 times more than you actually need in the hypothetical scenario where you decide to do every wire all one colour. Plus it's a great price per metre and one day it could be very useful. So 100m of Copper Brown, 100m of Shade 19 and 100m of Black. Not gonna lie, MDPC-X is just the best retail therapy possible after becoming hardened to new hardware releases.

Well that's a whole load more stuff than I had last week, lets see what comes this week!

JR​

 

[JR23]

Welp it's late but i'm way too hyped about this update, somehow I don't think many people will be expecting this! What you're about to witness is straight out of 2009, discontinued long before DDR4 was even rumored and actually ridiculously hard to locate. Despite that this morning a pristine package from Czechoslovakia arrived at my door containing a factory fresh set of Thermalright HR-07 Duo Type H and Type L memory heatsinks!

Pretty sure these have always been completely pointless and even way back less desirable than the classic Dominator GT's... which is exactly why I was so excited to find them.

They don't exactly have any styling, no branding either, just two heatpipes and a fin stack, literally what you expect of a memory heatsink.

Might be jumping the gun a little here as I don't yet have the RAM for this build buuuut i'm still gonna try out a few configs. I bought one of each type purely because I was unsure which would look right.

L-L

H-L

L-H

H-H

H-L-H-L

I was planning to run two tasty 8GB B die DIMM's but seeing all 4 heatsinks woven together by 8 heatpipes, I think I need all 4!

Yes, exactly right, looking good against the copper brown MDPC-X too. Still finding it hard to believe they really arrived!

JR​

 

[JR23]

car looks amazing looking forward to seeing how the build turns out

If there are any similarities it will be worth it!

Very interesting ideas, looking forward to the results

Me too but the journey is always the best part.

These pics are stunning once again. Looks better then when you get the items in your hand! Really digging the design on that Aluminium GPU block.

EVGA motherboards and MDPC-X definitely look that much better against the competition IRL!

Popcorn and tissues at the ready...

Well of course, I hope you have the endurance! Taking photographs in this weather is not ideal, many late night sessions required.

Those heat sinks work so well with the design.
Thanks for sharing this project with us. I am really enjoying seeing your design come togther.

Not a problem, thanks for joining!

JR

 

[JR23]

No big packages in the mail yet, just these awesome little guys. Well, not this exact one actually, I decided to move my 960GB Predator into this build and pop the new 480GB into my R1.0 as these will be the only drives used in this build. I think. Unless I need to fill a space out with 3.5"'s.

Also got these M.2 heatsinks a few weeks ago, back when EK definitely weren't going to make M.2 coolers!

The original black finish was slightly glossier than the board and it didn't really fit, so I sanded most of it off to get this... not quite all of it because I wanted to try a slightly dirty look.

One thing to note is that the clips did not fit around the double sided HyperX Predators, for now they are just 'in place' but i'll use some adhesive thermal pads once i've decided.

I'm quite pleased with the outcome although not entirely certain, what do you guys think? I'm considering trying the nickel plated EK ones, or their black ones, or fully chemically stripping them, or sandblasting them to a duller finish... so many options now!

JR​

 

[JR23]

The way you have done the photos are amazing!!

Thank you!

your RAM already have its own heatsink, so is those heat pipe ram cooler necessary? And is there a fan to cool off those ram cooler?

No, they aren't necessary but neither are the stock heatsinks, any DDR4 would happily sit at higher frequencies than this board can support without any spreaders at all. They will sit quite closely behind the cases intake fans although they don't have any fan mountings inherently, they are optimized to function passively with perforated fins. I'm sure the memory and top end of the board will be kept suitably chilly with such massive surface area.

But they heatsinks tie in perfectly with the angles, and change in materials.

Great work so far, I think it will look grand once done! I'm watching this!

Well exactly, how could anyone resist!

JR

 

[JR23]

Many thanks to Nvidia USA for these big graphics doggos and Nvidia UK for passing them on, I was quite surprised when they arrived at Parvum on Friday morning! It now feels like i'm well past half way to acquiring all of the parts now, such progress.

Oh not you again FE!

Many many microscopic screws later...

Very much like my Titan X Pascal, aside an absent memory IC and DVI, however great to see all of the power phases filled in with VRM's.

Time to build it back up lighter and faster...

We'll take a much better look at the blocked cards soon, I got a new phone on Saturday so bartering with EE and playing with that put me a day behind on taking pics. Hopefully I can build some things up in the case and start developing a plan tomorrow.

JR​

 

[JR23]

As anyone who as ever worked on a Japanese motorbike will ascertain, they'll be JIS not Philips! Which is why they all get wrecked.​

Is JIS a shallower angle? Most old screws get wrecked maybe that saved a few castings from time to time, a little effort removing a gnarled screw certainly beats trying to put threads back in a casting.

cant decide what i like more the photgraphy or the parts !

Well if I didn't like the parts I wouldn't take photographs of them so I guess you know both are good

JR

 

[JR23]

@JR23

Looking SWEET!

with the heatsinks, might go against the either or colour scheme but painted black with the top of the fins brushed/sanded to reveal the silver underneath?
Have some sort of Grill effect. If they had a higher fin array would have matched the ram perfectly, but just looks a bit chunky

I did do that first actually, it looked amazing but just way too Harley for this. I'll see soon how visible they are with the cards in place and figure it out from there, I think it will need to be something subtle not trying to steal attention when it's half hidden.

JR

 

[JR23]

I said something about a case soon I know but I had to see how the cards looked on the board, just because all that brushed black aluminium together.

Ok, now maybe just a little look at the case too, USA! The third major part to be sent from California, well not to me, I got it from Romania.

I don't plan to keep the powder coat, so I thought it most appropriate that it should start off white just like the silver arrows.

Now time to start thinking what to do with it, most urgently I need to find space for rads and there just so happens to be a huge well ventilated and isolated chamber ready to go. Even a little extra width for some other stuff next to the PSU.

The E-ATX Classified drops in no problem, sort of.

In front of the motherboard tray there was an extra little cable tidy which fitted back in the wrong way around quite neatly.

The first placement i'm 100% set on! The Aquaero's have definitely got to go up here at the back.

And the second 240mm radiator quite logically placed in the front.

Some things that definitely won't be positioned as anyone anticipated are the USB3.0 and auxiliary PCIe power, because i'm pretty sure they won't fit inside the case. Starting to make 7-slot seem weird, but i'm all about saving space and not having USB headers.

RAD > CPU > GPU

Missed until now, EK's very stealthy backplates.

So, I think that's all the things

Yeah, definitely no chance of front fans while using standard length cards, i'd say getting a flat front bracket cut and countersinking the rad screws might just net enough space for slim fans.

Definitely do need all 4 memory heatsinks, the hierarchy is just right.

So a lot of things i'm starting to figure out, pump/reservoir placement not so much, maybe infront of the PSU. To actually fit front fans and have room to route tubing i'm definitely going to need to extend the case just a bit. I knew that all along and I do desperately want to get rid of the windows and hideous holes for handles that ruin the look of the case. Thanks handle people, you killed it for everyone. But then do I make it significantly longer to fit a 360 and start putting parts inbetween the motherboard and the radiator. Many decisions to go...

JR​

 

[JR23]

looks really good!

not to sure how you ordered up the BH7 but are you able to install a 240 at the top end of the mobo ( CPU Power cables might be a pain) or on the top panel (but does cover view from above of the CPU/RAM) ?

Seen some stunners with windows replaced for Custom Acrylic Reservoirs

It's just a standard BH7, the only style bestcase has. The only place actually intended to mount rads is straight above the motherboard so it's too short overall to have one at the front. It would be tall enough to fit one on the side above the EPS connectors however that would clash with the front and top mounts. Although I don't want to have any windows at all I also don't want to cover the CPU area so it can be displayed and photographed without the top part of the clam shell.

Awesome as always. Personally I'd keep the M.2 sinks in raw aluminium. Not for the aesthetic quality (because you can't see them), but for a thought process in keeping with your design inspiration: would a designer in the 30's put an unnecessary layer on a heat-dissipating component?

You can see them a little bit and the bright aluminium throws some light back up across the blocks. Definitely not black or painted but there are still many options. They do look pretty good right now though. Also plan to remove the terminal covers from the cards to show the cast part of the GPU blocks.

How did you convince EK to sell you a separate/second GPU block? I've been asking them for weeks but nothing lol.

I didn't, I have two entire kits check page 1 separate things will come soon. I've been asking for months

JR

 

[JR23]

Time for a very peculiar installment, I was hoping to have a little more design work done but i've been relentlessly busy with work away from home. Sooo instead just lots of weird stuff. Last weekend Dave from bit-tech came over to nosey around my place and chat modding (go find the article on my social media). Anyway he was desperate to play with my lathe so I set him up doing something useful!

For now the ACF style 10/13mm fittings are EK's only aluminium offering, 13mm OD was a limitation I really didn't want on this project as EK don't have a ZMT that small and it's just too thin walled for my liking. So my plan was to turn off the compression ring threads and use them as simple barbs.

Off to the shed me and Dave went! Using an old pass through fitting to easily hold them true in the chuck without risk of damaging the 1/4" threads.

With and without threads removed. I didn't take off all the material purposefully to make sure the tubing didn't flare over the taper and bunch back in.

It's me! Doing a concentrate.

Mine and Dave's completed EK Aluminum 10mm barbs!

Conveniently enough to try out one tubing run.

Right, now the weirdness of me appearing in my own project log is over lets move on to my equally odd mail.

If memory heatsinks weren't a significant throwback today we are going way further to a style of hose clamp popular 50 or more years ago. I was inspecting the hose clamps of the Auto Unions best I could in photographs and noticed they were far from the screw/gear/srping types typically used today. The closest ones I stumbled across belonged to early Mercedes W113 SL's moments before contacting Mercedes classic parts I found these on a website in the Netherlands.

Surprisingly simple they consist of a small buckle, a cotter pin and a roll of thin steel ribbon which can be cut to any length.
​

With a scrap of 10/16mm ZMT I tried one out, first the ribbon is folded over the buckle. then wrapped around the tube once and under the cotter pin with the cut edge facing out.

After completing a second loop the ribbon passes back out through the split of the cotter pin ready to be trimmed down.

Trimmed....

Then simply tightened by coiling the loose end around the cotter pin.

With the method nailed down it actually proved far less fiddly than I expected on such small diameter tubing. So I unraveled my test piece and cut off two strips the correct length.

And there we have it.

I'm really enjoying this project! <3 The combination of minimalistic fittings, oversize ZMT and old school hose clamps strike the perfect balance between elegant PC hardware and the automotive inspiration. Hopefully I can tear myself away from building PC's long enough to work on building this PC a little more next week but if it all goes this well then i'm not too worried. Thanks to Dave for your work on the project and some of the shed pics.

JR​

 

[JR23]

Just a fast written update to let you all know that the project is still going strong, I just had to slow down and get some other builds done before LAN but I will be taking this with me, just air cooled with the stock case. It was a fair few parts short of being a full build so today I set that all straight and bought all the outstanding gear. Inbound is an EVGA Supernova 1000T2, 4x8GB 4133MHz C18 Team Group Xtreem '8 Pack Edition', a 5.2GHz bin 7700k and another HyperX Predator 960GB. (OP updated) Hopefully the Noctua parts are arriving just in time too!

I was hoping to use a Silverstone PSU as usual however supply of 1000W+ units seems to be extremely limited at this moment so I deviated a little to EVGA. Much like the tubing the cables will be of a more purposeful style, not the flat parallel affair that's fashionable so the pinout wasn't super critical.

Pretty sure that's everything! It's going to be a mad rush to insomnia now but i'll try to sneak some pics in as I get everything together.

JR

 

[JR23]

The good news since the last update is that I made it to LAN with ALUMIA, the bad news is I had to take my studio area apart to build PC's for a few weeks. Builds which I can't take photographs of, not only because I have no backdrop and lighting but also because I have no time whatsoever, because i'm building them.

Slight catch 22 but hopefully at the end of it all I can improve my photography setup and have some extra funds to frivolously squander on the outstanding parts for this project. So far i've completed 8 of the builds and there are 10 more to go, so probably another 3-4 weeks before my space can return to relative normality.

Oh and PARVUM APIS dropped by again, sadly in need of a new PSU as the original 1200P2 wouldn't turn on, so I let TJ borrow ALUMIA. I think it must've been pretty good as he ordered a replacement PSU on the slowest possible delivery service, still APIS is back running with no dramatic failures.

LAN (insomnia61) already seems like a distant memory although it was an awesome weekend filled with almost no game time at all, lots of chicken was eaten, films watched and probably more time was spent battling in 3dmark than any other virtual universe.

www.3dmark.com/fs/13478193

Even in air cooled spec ALUMIA decimated, hitting 5.0ghz on a retail 7700k without delid under a Noctua NH-L12. Cards peaked at 2063/3002mhz with the FE blowers. Still a couple thousand points to get with the right CPU and water but sufficient for a weekends 'gaming' nevertheless.

So I really can't say when the next update will be, some more Fluid Gaming parts are landing from EK any day now. When they do i'll start to draft case changes but it will probably be a little while before serious photos resume.

JR​

 

[JR23]

Well the build is still together on air going out to LAN's and ripping some serious frames, it will stay like that until i've finished R1.0 INDUSTRIAL, a couple weeks hopefully. But I do have a little cache of parts that i've yet to post in the thread, namely these Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-24V-3000 Q100 IP67 PWM. Catchy name, take note it's all important!

Now if you've scrolled through 3 fan pics and are starting to get a little bored, itching to find another thread or open facebook again in your 27th chrome tab. Please do, because you don't deserve the next part...

...what's dis...

...ahhh yee!

See I wasn't just ignoring ALUMIA! I'd been busy creating the artwork for these acid etched aluminum plates, not stickers, nor are the original Noctua plates incidentally.

Google translate as well as my German and Dutch friend tell me they make some grammatical sense, but most importantly to me they are visually just right! I went with Rascom (Noctua's parent company) because Rascom Computerdistribution was much longer!

Anyway, mounted in their Doppel configuration to the EK-AluStream 240.

I'm loving ALUMIA, can't wait to tear down the air config and play with all the Fluid Gaming kit. See you all soon on one thread or anther

JR​

 

[JR23]

Very fitting that update 10 marks the introduction of XTC, 10 years after MDPC-X introduced the original blackest black sleeving.

It came as quite a surprise when Nils announced a second sleeve was on the way, I had to try it so rather than just starting with a little sample I figured 100m was required to get to know it.

And as i'm sure many know already, sometimes it's quite difficult to just 'stop' adding MDPC-X items to the cart. So 100m of 15AWG which i've yet to properly try out, 1000 15AWG crimps then seemed obvious, 1000 shrinks.. because and then a CTX3 naturally as I seem to be getting 15AWG everything. Then all the new dupont stuff... plus some Carbon-BTI for imersa.

So about 3 minutes into try that new sleeve and chill...

Four identical wires, two sleeved with classic small black, two sleeved with XTC black.

The difference is certainly a subtle one and a mere civilian would be hard pressed to tell the difference on looks alone. Which is definitely a good thing. When stretched to the maximum they both hold onto the 15AWG wire with ease, no discernible difference to melt and as demonstrated both absolutely glorious to train.

So which would I recommend you may ask? Well in the hands of an experienced user they are both equally capable, classic is slightly more versatile as it will expand around much larger wires and terminals as needed. XTC however is extremely reluctant to change diameter or length making it effortless to obtain maximum stretch on a single PSU wire. So for new users doing purely 15AWG PSU wires XTC is easier to get tight results that hold shape. If you've got a huge collection of classic MDPC-X and some skills to go with it then I see no reason to run out and replace it all immediately, but do try XTC!

For ALUMIA I will definitely be using XTC, perhaps after 70 or 80 wires i'll change my opinion but the fractionally denser and rougher texture will certainly fit in. Also, it will be entirely black with the Noctua brown fan corners being the only 'colour' in the build.

JR​

 

[JR23]

Good work mate. Looking really solid.

Running solid also www.3dmark.com/fs/13738684, going to be very good once under water!

I'm looking at becoming a real boy very soon and breaking my MDPC-X virginity, so I'll be very interested in how you get on with XTC. I also wasn't going higher than 18AWG at first, but with everything in one place it seems silly not to.

Baited breath, etc.

MDPC-X 15AWG has a smaller OD than some 18AWG I would usually use. It is all absolutely excellent together though, particularly the 15AWG crimps.

talking about detail: changing the stickers/plates on the fans. damn!
very nice work and some awesome pictures
PS: why did you get the case from Romania, may I ask?

That's just where the EU Caselabby distributors are, I don't think Caselabs can sell standard items directly to the EU as part of their agreement but either way with shipping and then VAT handling charges it would have been more expensive. Especially as the Bullets ship assembled.

JR

 

[JR23]

Any one know how MDPC-X compares to Teleios? I assume they are pretty much the same?

Teleios and original MDPC-X are a similar material and weave, they react to heat in the same way. MDPC-X is more consistent in general but particularly the size disparity between different colours is less noticeable. The biggest and most obvious difference is the range of colours and lasting richness that makes MDPC-X stand out from all others. Either can deliver great results but the entire MDPC-X array of tools and supplies makes the biggest jobs straightforward and satisfying.

JR

 

[JR23]

Finally I have ALUMIA back and the air cooled phase is coming to an end. It’s been to insomnia, epicLAN, LSUCS twice… stayed with Tj and Happy while I worked on APIS and K… used by Oli Sykes and an extremely white kid from the Netherlands. Quite a set of accolades for a temporary setup but it did work magnificently well, now it just needs get to quieter and prettier!

This was our LAN setup at Oli’s last weekend, Post Malone completed our 4-man PUBG squad. Oli took ALUMIA with the graphical power needed to drive 60fps to the 4k projector, I had Chocolate Box and imersa had i1.0-II both with ROG XG35’s (which are bent).

Nothing particularly special inside at this point sadly, just a hard working pair of FE’s and a little Noctua swag, D9 being just about all that fits safely inside the BH-7.

Powered by the phenomenal EVGA 1000T2, I don’t think this has made any pics so far as it arrived just in time. Considerably more cable work will be needed next time lol.

I had planned to take somewhat fuller and better looking pictures of the air cooled build, but, it was dirty and frankly who cares. So instead I took it completely completely apart straight after those 3.

Wat is dis?

Literally every anodised part of the build just took a nice warm bath in Sodium Hydroxide, removing the black surface and revealing fresh aluminum.

That mystery shall return. First it’s time to attac some fittings!

These are the Fluid Gaming Multi-GPU fittings, basically an aluminum EK-HD with branding and an internal hex, exclusively black but now stripped.

So they complement the compression fittings which I changed to barbs they will also get simplified. First removing all of the knurling and branding.

Then facing off the tubing side to remove one of the o-ring seals.

So overall they are quite a bit smaller than they were originally.

Lastly a small chamfer cut between the two machined sides.

All done and assembled. New Quadro HB SLI bridge too.

Removing the anodising chemically meant that the stickers originally applied created stencils on the parts, definitely a welcome addition in some places, others will get removed.

I intentionally left some black behind in obscured areas to add some depth and variance. Right now I’m not happy with the way everything looks, it’s too bright and ‘new’ so I’ll be trying out different ideas to add patina and wear to the parts.

But the bigger picture is going very well, trying new things, making mistakes and moving forwards at astounding speed. Right, lots of screws and fittings to order tomorrow!

JR​

 

[JR23]

Hang on, is EVGA's I/O shroud actually aluminium then?

Of course, it always has been Z87/X79 onwards, the X299's are an aluminium plate inside a plastic frame but that's the only exception afaik.

JR