Build Project "Nameless"

irtuk · 26 Feb 2016 at 11:16

Break out the freakin Laser Beams!!

Ok so my learning yesterday was that the res position is likely to be absolutely crucial to the easy fitting of the hardline because there ain't no give in it.

My res was in the wrong place, by just the wrong amount, not enough for a bend, too much to make do.

To this end I have broken out the freakin laser beams:

This should give me a really good shot at positioning the res, however my plan now is this:

< Image now not freakin massive .... >

So, I drill two aluminium pipes into the case and I find or devise some sort of mount that will allow me to attach the res to the pipes and adjust it vertically whilst I am doing the hardline fitting.

This will not only look a lot more elegant than the squared off bracket , but it will gain a bit of space, be a bit more unique and hopefully make the hardline fit ( which I am scared to death of ) easier.

-Ed.

LePhuronn · 26 Feb 2016 at 12:22

Looking good. I feel your pain though as I've had (and continue to have) so many headaches measuring and positioning elements in my In Win 901 build.

But it's all worth it in the end, keep going!

irtuk · 26 Feb 2016 at 13:36

Chapter .. umm ... 9ish? "A Fortunate Coincidence"

So after another trip to B&Q I have found a fortuitous coincidence.

Turns out that this product which is some sort of plumbing device fits the EK Pump/ Radiator combo perfectly..

Its called a "Munsen Ring" ... nope me neither.

So this is going to make the precise placement of the res significantly easier as I will be able to get the tube in the exact X offset from the CPU input and then adjust the Y offset by loosening Munsen's ring. Sorry couldn't resist.

The actual pipe I have either steel pipe or wooden dowell to work with. I am inclined towards wood because I can drill directly into it at the top to secure, the steel pipe is hollow so I would need to bang some wood into it anyway to give me something to screw into.

-Ed.

Edit / The B&Q link is fine ... isn't it? not a competitor, not even a computer product ... just fits the EK Pump like a glove. /

irtuk · 1 Mar 2016 at 13:03

So there will now be a short hiatus whilst I await the delivery of a new piece of acrylic having put a crack in the front blanking plate whilst mounting the reservoir

irtuk · 3 Mar 2016 at 23:04

OK so my spare - read "replacement" Acrylic arrived today and I can crack on with the res placement:

The laser measure is out again but only because it's about the right size:

Lining it up

Cutting the new panel:

Bit of a nightmare when a munsen ring broke, I was trying to put an extra turn on it to level it up nice and straight and the copper sheared and broke. Fortunately I have a spare but it does mean a respray:

That gives me time to look at the bending process...

mmmm what next?

Ok here are attempts one and two....

Third times the charm...

I need a 16mm holesaw and some grommets, or a 17mm holesaw and a 1mm grommet to proceed, I have worked out my loop so this gives me some time to work on the case decoration

TOP TIP!!! Print it backwards, so then when you spray mount the acetate to the acrylic then the inked side is DOWNWARDS

So, here we are so far. Its starting to look like a build not just a pile of parts!

-Ed.

Couple of quick notes.

1) Yes I know only half the RAM is in.
2) Which two attachment points do you use in Two card SLI? the ones I have the bridge on or the other ones?

LePhuronn · 3 Mar 2016 at 23:28

smexy

irtuk · 4 Mar 2016 at 23:22

So today is about getting the rest of the tubing in and heading for a leak test. I start with cutting holes in the acrylic back plate for the tube out from the CPU. I want to come into the GFX cards from the bottom to minimise air pockets so I am going to run the tube out from the CPU block to the back of the chassis, down and in again.

Yeah that's some neat drilling. Going ok so far today:

not looking bad down here:

Just a bit off kilter up here:

I am using 16mm inner diameter rubber grommets but the material depth of 5mm is too much so I have had to take the back of them off making them single sided. I have attempted to glue them in but not feeling confident

I am going to use a length of soft tube down the back of the case

Getting there

inbound and outbound ports ready to be looped together for a leak test. The rads are outside the house so this is just going to be a shortcut

and here we are five minutes into the leak test

Yup. total failure! The fitting method was wrong, you really need to push the tube into the fittings, its not really a click but a sort of docking feeling. I had not done this and the consequent leakage was massive. BIG learning point for my first hard line build!

GFX cards are taken up to the airing cupboard, everything else is dried off and I go have a think. The Grommets are also falling out.

thinking .... So I am going to dismantle it, rebuild it with correct fitting technique and I am also going to replace the back panel with something in lightweight foamy stuff to get the placements right.

TOP TIP!! When in doubt and your last plan failed, take out every tool you have and line them up until one of them looks like it might help........

Top tip. Don't use a 16mm drill on lightweight foamy stuff

I reassemble the graphics blocks separately

and use the patented liner-upper to work out where the holes should be. I can then use the light foamy thing as a template for my remaining bit of acrylic.

Leak test 2 starting

About an hour in. Couple of drips from the quick releases but they are outside the case so ... not a killer and very slow

so there we go. My first ever hardline build. Still work to do but, I think its getting there and the loop is running

I am going to change the exit point, drop it down a bit, there is no need to go up from the top GFX card I can just turn 90 degrees back, will make it cleaner. I also want the grommets back and I might swap the back plate for powder coated aluminium with a 1mm thickness so the grommets can fit neatly. Other than that, looking ok I think.

Next jobs are to flush the radiators with cleaner, they are running with mayhems red atm... decommission the old machine, rebuild it with a second R9290 that I have not accidentally exploded, give it to wife and store her damned MacBook Pro safely in a ****** lake.

-Ed.

GSXR Gaz Mc · 5 Mar 2016 at 11:40

nice build,looks very clean..wish i had teh space to do a buid like this..not much room to swing a cat in my place

theMilitant · 6 Mar 2016 at 13:28

Really good job on the work done so far. Looking really nice.

irtuk · 7 Mar 2016 at 14:57

Thanks man. Quick crosslink here to the storage forum because I am having a job getting it to boot nicely. Might get some ideas from here.

irtuk · 7 Mar 2016 at 19:49

amazingly it seems to be my CH rudder pedals it does not like....

irtuk · 8 Mar 2016 at 08:04

FINISHED!

So, its done, I went through the painful process of moving it from my garage, plumbing it in and then firing it up hoping like hell it worked!

It Worked! Here we are finished and in situ:

And of course the most important thing, this is with some very light clocking, I don't know the BIOS on my new board and I have never clocked on the intel platform yet so, plenty of headroom here. Not quite knocking on 8Pack's door yet but ...

Right now I want nothing more than to build another one! I will take the old machine I think, which, at the time I was happy with:

Not happy with that any more! I think I can do better!

Thanks for all your support.

-Ed.

LePhuronn · 8 Mar 2016 at 10:06

Seriously nice work dude, pleasure to follow this.

Now no rest for you, build log for the rebuild!