Build log of "Unobtainable" - X79 in a white Bitfenix Prodigy

[Fruergaard]

Hi all

When I first saw the Prodigy I was sold, and knew I had to have one and make a killer transportable rig in it.

Only down size was the only option of a ITX motherboard with only one PCI-e slot and socket 1155.
And I believe I am/was not alone in the boat

BUT to the rescue a custom motherboard came in sight, which would allow me to make a much more powerfull system in the prodigy case.

So this will be the build log of what to me in some time was "Unobtainable".
Hope you like it, any suggestions is welcome

Thanks to the sponsors who have help me make this rig possible :

NZXT

I will update this worklog as much as possible.

This is what there so far will get into this build:
Hardware
- I7 3930K (got it)
- Shuttle X79 motherboard (got it)
- Corsair 4x4 gb Dominator (got it)
- Two Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce X3 (got one, other was not in stock )
- NZXT Hale90 1000W Gold PSU (got it)
- Two Samsung 830 128 gb SSD (got them)
- Two WD Green 2 TB (got them)

Watercooling and suchs
- EK Supremacy Nickel - Pexi (got it)
- Two EK-RAM Dominator X2 Nickel - Pexi (got them)
- Two EK FC7950 Nickel - Pexi (got them)
- EK back plates for HD 7950 (en route)
- Two Single Slot I/O bracket for HD 79X0 (en route)
- Koolance MVR-40 VRM waterblock and Koolance MVR Heat Transfer Plate 84mm (en route)
- Watercool HEATKILLER® NSB Rev3.0 nickel (en route)
- Phobya Extreme 200 mm radiator (got it)
- Alphacool NexXxos ST30 Full Copper 120 mm radiator (got it)
- Alphacool NexXxos XT45 Full Copper 240 mm radiator (got it)
- Two Phobya Balancer 150 mm reservoir Silver Nickel (got one of them)
- Swithech MCP35X with a EK CSQ top (got it)
- Alphacool Heatmaster and Digital Flow sensor and tempsensor. (got it)
- Aquatuning 16/13 mm fittings and some MasterKleer Clear tupe. (en route)
- Bitfenix Spectre Pro fans (one 200 mm, one 140 mm and two 120 mm) (got them)

And then a some light, sleeving and suchs small things (most I got or is en route).

So lets get some updates with this build.
In the Spoilers there is pictures

Spoiler

A lot of pictures of products and some of it installed (17-09-2012)
To day the first package from ***** arrived so let's have a look at it:

A lot of great stuff in there, I am really looking forward to see what Alphacool Heatmaster can do:

Also some temperture and flow sensor:

And it fits perfectly in the PSU cage:

Also got some stuff for PSU sleeving:

I have done some of what I think it should look like:

Like it?

And the three radiators

And some Masterkleer tupe:

And one (another will come as well) Reservoir:

Looks really nice:

Also got the two HD 7950 waterblocks:

And first the installation of the 120 mm radiator:

With a bitfenix Spetre Pro 140 mm on the outside:

And then the rest installed:

I might flip the 240 mm radiator so the fittings outlet is at the 140 mm end.
Will look at that tomorrow :thumb:

And as you might see the red coloar on the DIMM slots really stands out, so I will later try painting them along the Motherboard Power and the two Orange Sata ports

Spoiler

Pictures of installed HW (21-09-2012)]
So today I got some more things in the door that I have played with, so wanted to bring you some updates:

First I got some nice things from my good friend at Coolgamers.dk :

The two EK RAM, Sumpremacy, Swiftech MCP35X and EK top some fittings, EK-TIM Indigo, Feser One light and a Bitfenix spectre Pro 200.

I bought the MCP35X to get the PWM control, but doesn't really like the swiftech top:

So to go in the same path, I got the CSQ Pexi top from EK:

I also got the 200 mm fan installed which just fitted in there :

I also got a package from PCB.se which had the new Hale90 1000W powersupply from NXZT (Thanks again )

A really nice powersupply in a perfekt white coloar which will go great with the white Prodigy case:

Though not fully modular, and there is fairly many connectors there:

But they will be sleeved and the not used cut of and the others shorted to make the fit just right in the case
The PSU is also 180 mm in lenght, so the PSU holder will be modded to fit it propperly.

Along the PSU I also got the first GPU (other one not in stock ) which is the Gigabyte HD 7950:

Normally not liking the blue PCB, but it will fit in this build

So here is the first RAM block and CPU block installed:

Here with the other RAM block as well and the Pump and flow meter. The pump will get installed on som anti vibration foam:

And here the GPU with the block installed (remember that one more will get in there )

So hope you liked it and in beginning of next week I will get fittings, and then a pain in the ass begins; connecting it all in a loop

Many great pictures of this build can be seen here:
http://www.cooledpc.com/build/224

Hope you like it and will share and vote

If you got any ideas for some changes please comment.

 

[Fruergaard]

The motherboard comes from Shuttle's SX79R5 and here it is:

OP: Looks good so far.
This was with the old EK block design, could be the new one works better and is slimmer so he might be ok.

Thanks

From what I can see then there should be room.
But not with a backplate in between.

But the cards will be single slot with these block so it should fit.
Just waiting for the other card to arrive to test

 

[Fruergaard]

So lets get going with some updates

First I got an other package which mostly contains fittings:

But also got the Chipset and Mosfet block:

The Koolance Heat Transfer block to the Mosfet should hopefully arrive tomorrow or monday

In that package there also was the Back plate for the GPU and single slot I/O plate:

I believe the two GPU can fit in there:

If Im lucky the other HD 7950 could arrive next friday (cross fingers :thumb

There was also some smaller things like some UV light, dust filter, Anit kink (not sure if I will use it) and som anti vibration for the two HDD.

HW installation and mods
First, last night I cut the hole to make the PSU and cables to fit better:

I like the result. Most of the non modular cables will get removed so except the CPU and 20 pin motherboard.
And then I will use the modular cables and shorten them to make it fit better and then of course sleeving them :thumb:

And then to the installation of the fittings and tupes.
BUT I realised that placing the two 120 mm fans on the out side will make the tuping and inside look a lot better, and it doesn't look that bad to have them out side:

Also installed the Heatmaster beside the PSU. Looking forward to test it :roll:

And here is some pictures of the installed fittings :

And then with tupes, which did take some time becaurse of the small space:

Lets see if there is one who can, out from the above pictures, tell how the loop is. Let's all start with the pump
Sleeving will propperly be done tomorrow

Hopefully the other HD 7950 is comming next friday and in the weekend I will make the two windows.
AND then this build should be done

 

[Fruergaard]

wow, that is mind boggling. looking forward to seeing it filled.

from what i can see i would guess its like this:

pump > ram 1 > front 200 rad > ram 2 > Koolance Heat Transfer block > cpu > Mosfet > top 240 rad > gpu's > rear 120 rad > res

btw, what point are you going to use to drain this (the res?)

If you with "Koolance Heat Transfer block" mean the Waterkiller block for the chipset, then you are corret

And yes I will use the res to fill and drain. But hopefully wont do it that many times

Looking epic. Will happily give it a good home if you ever decide you no longer want it

Thanks, but this is going to be my new gaming rig for quite some time i think

i bet he has a ban for the comp link

Nope, still here I did also remove the link to "you know what shop"

 

[Fruergaard]

thats good to hear, hate those trigger happy mods! can you buy the mobo separate to the case?

I had to buy the hole bare bone to get it (though split it with a friend how took the case, PSU and cooler).

This is easily the best prodigy build I've seen so far IMO. I've never been a fan of them because to me, ITX shouldn't be easy, but it does seem pretty easy to build a standard ITX system in one...

However, 6 cores, 4 DIMMS and 2 graphics cards in one is pretty inspiring. Do you reckon you could get 2 GTX690s in one?

Thanks

But yes If you un solder/cut the top DVI port of the two GTX 690, then yes two of those could be put in there.

But I don't have the need to have that much GPU power
(and not really have that kind of money to spend on it)

 

[Fruergaard]

could you get white cooling liquid? maybe try milk

Milk? why not just some white dye..

But I already bought blue water and sleeving for the build theme, since the motherboard, RAM and PCB on the GPU's is blue

Also I really like the blue coloar in UV light

 

[Fruergaard]

yo mean like mayhems pastel white?

yea that, but I will go with som blue which is also UV reactive

You really are pushing the case to its limits, I like it!

Very impressive so far

Wow that is awesome, keep the updates coming, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for sure

Both thanks. An smaller update on my work with the sleeving and HDD + SSD installed will come later tonight (8 hours)

 

[Fruergaard]

So a little update on the project.
I have installed the two SSD beside the PSU since they could not be placed in the left side.
But they fitted just fine beside the PSU:

Also installed the two HDD with some anti vibration rubber.

And as you can see I have also sleeved and shorten most of cables.

Just need to sleeve the fan, temperatur and pump and then that's done

And in this weekend the two windows will be made.
And hopefully the last GPU arrives monday and then I will fill it up and boot it up

 

[Fruergaard]

Thanks guys

Awesome work, is the board a straight fit or have you had to do work to get that in there?

The board is a just fitting in with the rad and fan.
That's less then a mm between fan and motherboard, but it fits

You sure it's okay to have the hard drives placed on their side? Always thought you had to lay them flat.

That's no problem for a HDD. The moving parts are so perfectly fitted and thight inside that the angel doens't matter. Many external has it allong many case like the epic Silverstone FT02.

Also there isn't room for the HDD to placed vertical.
So horisontal it is, only thing is that maybe the anti vibration isn't good enough.
Time will tell, when I boot it up.

And did test the PSU after the mods of cables, and seems to function just fine. But fan is a bit loud for me, so might mod it to run a bit slower

 

[Fruergaard]

External HDD should be placed vertical or horizontal, they aren't moved when powered on, and aren't knocked about.

Drives on their side are still not at an angle...

Laptops are okay because when in use they aren't being knocked around, if knocked this can cause damage.

Hard disks should be mounted at right angles to gravity, this makes sense because it's how pc cases are made to fit drives, but also it is easier for the disk inside to spin on it's axis without being weighed down at any angle. You wouldn't put a disk in a CD player then hold it at an angle for long periods of time.

An SSD is not a HDD, it isn't mechanical, it's just like ram/usb stick you can do whatever you want with it.

http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/160/ssd-chips.jpg

I do know what an SSD is.

But to compare and CD player and a HDD isn't any good! The CD is sitting very lose as where the disk in an HDD is very well tighted.

Maybe there is a quicker damage but it's really minimal. shock is more a killer then an angel. If the angel even is a "killer".

But I have seen non case (internal as external) with any form of angeled exept 0 and 90 degress. And couldn't figur out why an angel of lets say 30 degress would be a benefit for a case.

 

[Fruergaard]

Yeah, I read around to try find a definitive answer. It seems that newer hard drives are made so that the odd angles don't matter. My old drives would sound different at odd angles.

With my older drives I was advised against installing them at asymmetric angles.

"Samsung wrote:
As long as it is securely attached to the chassis, hard disk drives may be mounted either horizontally or vertically depending on how your computer's case is constructed."

"Hitachi wrote:
6.7.4 Drive mounting
The drive will operate in all axes (6 directions). Performance and error rate will stay within specification limits if the drive is operated in the other orientations from which it was formatted."

"Maxtor wrote:
The hard drive can be mounted in any orientation."

Source http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21533

yes, the old drives had trouble with angels since the spinning disk wasn't that firmly installed, but new once are

wow, cammed so much in and still looking clean!

I know

I was worrid about the cable managament but I think it did/will turn out great

 

[Fruergaard]

Seriously top effort cramming all that in. I'd no idea Shuttle made boards for sale on their own. Their slightly out of spec sizing (ie NOT mitx/mATX etc) always putme off their cases and boards becasue nothing would fit without modding.

Still- this is a beautiful build. Looking forward to seeing how it performs

They do not sell them on their own.
You have to buy the hole bare bone..

 

[Fruergaard]

As promised an update first with some big pictures of the case with the new windows:

Also made a hole to get the cables from the three fans in to the case :

And some more Cable sleeving now that the other GPU has been placed inside

And the two GPU fitted just perfect :thup:

Really love the EK block with Pexi and nikkel. Looking forward to fill it up and see it with UV light

Hope you like it.

The back plate will be painted white and the RAM dimms blue to make it fit the theme.

And then it should be ready to be booted

 

[Fruergaard]

That's so smart. Though, you know the best part I love about it... does it make anyone think the power cables are trainers/shoe laces?

that is one sick looking trainer. very nice pics

Thanks both

Look's amazing, considered de-badging it? You have made it your own, deserves your own logo. I am jealous.

I have thought about making something like "Unobtainable" on the front.
But that can come along the way

 

[Fruergaard]

Thanks guys

This is a TARDIS, it just has to be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside - incredibly neat build too

HA, nice joke.. really lol

So lets tease a little bit more:
Last night I booted the baby up and it all worked just fine (only in the bios).

So next step was to paint the motherboard and also the GPU back plate.
First of the GPU's and the now white painted back plate:

Now that's close for two GPU's

Here the now white back plate:

And with a bit more light:

And then to the motherboard.
Before:

And then three hours later :wackosmil:

So im just missing some UV LED and then this build should be done

Tomorrow I will fill it up and boot it again.

And friday the LED should arrive and then you will get some cool pictures

 

[Fruergaard]

Im guessing you wont be overclocking high the cpu with this MB iv heard its suffering from throttle isues.

Also as it has an msata slot and uses intel rapid storage are you going to add a msata SSD for the hdds?

I'm not going to OC the CPU, since it got enough power for me as it is
Maybe for bench, since the chipset and mosfet is watercoold.

I already got 256 gb SSD so there is really no need for the msata and Rapid storage, since the HDD propperly will run Raid 1, and that speed is good enough for me to media, dokument and backup

Great build.
On another note,
Ive just been reading through another mod thread were a guy fitted a m-atx board to his prodigy, but did involve cutting and modding the rear back prodigy plate, plus removing the MB mounts and fitting 6 new ones for the larger MB.

Has he done it or thinking about it?
Could you provide a link?

I have installed the last stuff, filled it up and is currently leak testing.
And I must say, it is pretty awesome with the blue water inside

But I like to tease a bit, so:

Tonight (12-10-2012) at 21:00 GTM 0
You will get pictures of the currently final build (updates to the HW may come later on ).
So hang tight, it will blow your mind

 

[Fruergaard]

So as promised (little late, sorry (problem uploading pictures))

So I filled it up, and did some leak testing and there was a small leak.
Luckly it was from a temperature plug that just need a bit of tighten

But you really just want the pictures right

I will try to take som more "show" pictures tomorrow.

AND around the same time as today you will get pictures of the build with UV light!
Which makes it look even more awesome

 

[Fruergaard]

So here is the pictures of the build with UV light on.

It is pretty deficult to take really good a UV picture (looks better in real life), I will try some more settings, but if any of you got some please share

Maybe some more light around the build next time

I cant show the GPU side without the side, since that where the LED strip is placed:

But then it's good I got a window right

Again it looks better in real life.
So if you got any setup/setting for the camara (Canon EOS 7D) please let me know

I have also just gotten windows installed on the Raid 0 with the SSD's.

Iwill do some bench and post result along temps. And of course with som OC

Got any bench program you like me to run?

 

[Fruergaard]

Thanks all.

Some people asked about the windows (no pictures, sorry). But here is a short "How I did it":

The windows I have made myself along with my dad and the machines he got.

The holes in the side panel were the easy part. Drilled four holes at each corner of where the windows is going to be (we used a 13 mm drill) and then gut the rest with Jigsaw.

Window was a bit trickier. We could have made it easy by just clue it on, but it wouldn't give a smooth transition from side panel to window.

So we cut the 3 mm Plexiglas with 1-2 cm more than the holes dimensions. Then we used a big stationary saw to take away approx. 1 mm of thickness of the glass in that 1-2 cm out of the holes dimensions, and then we filed the corners round. And the we clued the side on leaving us with a smooth transition :thumb:

Also if you consider doing these windows, the make both sides big and cover the I/O panel on the left side and use two of something like these in to top or something:


(Look back, that I should have done, since the I/O panel is a pain in the ass to work with when the side is getting of and on because of the rad and fan...)

I would also like to give you some more pictures and bench + OC and temps (have been getting some settings I will try out), but my front fan ran only with 600 RPM at maks speed out of 900 rpm that it should, silent but not that much air being pushed.. so I bought a new one, coming in tomorrow
(the other one have been taken out and played around with until it broke)...

 

[Fruergaard]

Hi guys

I have tried to take some more show pictures of Unobtainable.
(still trying to get the perfekt UV picture. might go with some external UV light next time).

Because I got a Non EK reservoir I can't enter the Limited CSQ catagori (but the Open CSQ), which clearly is the best place to be put (less competition and way better prizes).
(And i can't use the reservoirs that EK makes since the are 60mm in diameter which i 5 mm to much).

So by removing the reservoir and the two non EK motherboard waterblocks I will then enter the Limited CSQ catagori.
Course I'm here to WIN

So now I know what the rest of my night will look like

I will link to the new system on CooledPC.com ones it up, and still hope you will vote on it even though its missing two small blocks and a reservoir.



About bench and temps, I have out of the blue problems with leak from the flow meter
Havent got time to check why it leaks, but I will get it done ASAP.