CM 690 First time water cool

max51 · 18 Aug 2011 at 22:52

alex2k10 said:
Yeah i have been looking to go into the w/c world just saving up the money now for all the bits and bobs shouldn't be long hopefully.

Good luck with that. If you need any help with the bits and bobs just stick a post on the WC section and the guys on here will help.
Also check this thread. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18290835
it helped me.

max51 · 22 Aug 2011 at 11:19

panyan said:
hi mate, i am thinking of changing the acrylic on my 690 II windowed side panel as well, can you give me some more details of the process plz

Yes i can do that for you.
First thing i did was messure and source some 3mm Acrylic, there are all sorts of colours and types you can get, including a very smart mirror finish which turns clear when you put lights on behind it

First thing you have to do is remove the 8 plastic clips that hold the vented panel in place. They are simply removed by pushing from the back with a small screwdriver, put to one side and save for later or you could replace with some small anodized cap head bolts and nuts.
Important. make sure you leave all the protective film on the acrylic sheet until you have finished cutting and drilling.
The next job is to cut the new Acrylic to size and drill the new holes in it for the fittings. The holes are 3mm.
How i cut it to size.
I used the vented side panel as the template and clamped the new Acrylic sheet to the original side panel, making sure you get no movement (VERY IMPORTANT). G clamps or snap clamps are good for this making sure you put somthing on the feet of the clamp to protect the face of the Acrylic. I used tile fixing pads.
Next this is where my dremel came in using a side cutter and not the cutting disk as that just melts and burns the Acrylic. With a steady hand gently cut around the side panel then whilst the two are still clamped together drill the new holes for the fixings to be replaced. If you are not confident with this job, then there are places that will cut it for you for a few £.
Next either take the two parts of the plastic clips apart and put the bottom part into the new window and put against the side panel and replace the inner part of the clips into the holes or use the cap head nuts and bolts.
That should be job done

max51 · 22 Aug 2011 at 11:49

panyan said:
awesome mate - thanks

can you tell me if you used a special drill-bit to drill the acrylic because i;ve heard you shouldnt use a wood/metal one because it will melt/crack the acylic

also, what diamter drill-bit?

thanks mate

I used a 3mm/ 1/8 hss drill bit. just make sure it is a new sharp bit and you will have no problems. The only time it will melt or crack the Acrylic is if it is an old blunt drill, thhen you will have problems like that.

max51 · 22 Aug 2011 at 11:52

And no problems, glad i could help

max51 · 22 Aug 2011 at 12:11

panyan said:
ok - thanks- and did you drill a pilot hole? ive been told it is better to drill a pilot hole with acrylic

I used the old side panel as my guide and pilot for the drilling, but if you feel more confident doing it with a pilot hole then do it that way. It is best though to drill straight through with the main drill as sometimes a pilot hole may offset the hole to a small margine, unless you have very acuratley measured the hole spacings and got the pilot hole dead centre.

max51 · 22 Aug 2011 at 12:18

There is another way of doing it as well and that is to get a stanly knife and cut just the tops off the plastic clips leaving just the thickness of the side panel, super glu them into the holes to cover them and then use double sided tape to secure the window in place.
Cheats way but has same affect

max51 · 29 Aug 2011 at 19:11

panyan said:
the acrylic sheet i bought is the perfect size anyway so what i might do is this:

1) pop off the clips
2) use the old acrylic as a template for the holes on the new acrylic
3) dill the holes in the new acrylic
4) put it back onto the panel with the 8 clips

job done

if i get time to go it, ill email you a picture

A pic would be good

Hope all fits well for you and again, glad i could help.

max51 · 29 Aug 2011 at 19:17

A little update. Just re routed some of the tubing and had a bit of a tidy.

Think it looks neater without the tube across the front

max51 · 31 Aug 2011 at 05:24

alex2k10 said:
That looks really clean now.

I hope your impressed with your first go and i bet you have got the bug now lol.

I am happy with it now and yes i have got the bug now. Allready got the case for my next project. A Coolermaster ATCS 840

max51 · 1 Sep 2011 at 22:40

Hanuki said:
Mate, That is a beauty - if it was for sale man I would pay thousands if i was a rich man that is : ) but good work! I can see it paid of in the end.

For the right price it would be for sale

thanks for that Hanuki

max51 · 11 Sep 2011 at 21:10

Thanks for the comments guys.
Next thing i have for my build is a Eyefinity setup. Just ordered 3 21.5in monitors, pics to follow when they arrive.

max51 · 11 Sep 2011 at 23:14

alex2k10 said:
A bit of eyefinity sounds good what monitors are you getting?

Three of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-034-BQ&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

Looking forward to trying it out with my system.

max51 · 13 Sep 2011 at 16:44

More goodies

First up DVI connectors mini dp to dp and Active DP to DVI Adaptor

Next up, 3 lots of high def 21.5'' goodness.

Arranged the monitors and connected yet more cables under my desk.

All set up in CCC and working Eyefinity goodnes.

First game i have tried so far is Shift Need For Speed and all runs well

max51 · 13 Sep 2011 at 18:27

The ultimate test, 4 nephews later and a couple of solid hours gaming with Shift Need for speed and running in eyefinity, here are the temps that my WC system ran up to.