Cupboard Love

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

cavemanoc

Soldato
Joined
23 Mar 2005
Posts
3,839
I have been itching to install my media / gaming machine in our Ikea cupboard in the lounge. Having recently moved house I have taken the opportunity to crack on while I can! I wasn't going to bother watercooling it, but when I tripped over my old water box I cracked and decided to go all in. So - old / ghetto pieces in hand away we go! I did a bit before the photos started, but not much has been missed. This is the leak test:

IMG_2319.jpg


The idea is to have the large area where the motherboard is 'clean' with just the essentials, and hide all the 'other' stuff on the bottom shelf. (PSU / HDD / DVD etc.)

I have lifted the mobo up on some risers with a view to running all the cables under it - or possibly putting holes and brush plates along the side (like in the more modern cases.

If any of you remember waaaaay back - I ran a Loo-Blu project, cooling the RAD in the cistern of my toilet (fun times) - I found the heater matrix in the back of the garage and it still looks intact, so I am seriously considering attaching it to the back wall, probably just above the smaller rad.

I'm quite tempted to go for some Mayhems Aurora fluid so will take suggestions on colour / lighting - nothing too crazy but I probably will go for one of the glass doors so needs to be tidy!

Rad:
 
Last edited:
Hmm... I didn't realise the aurora was so short lived :( I really just love the fact that you can see the fluid moving - do you get that with the Pastel ones or does it look still? I really need to pick a color scheme so I can order in the cable extensions - I should try to go beech to match the cupboard but that requires more skill and time than I have - was thinking either chrome or white?

Ah

Aurora is "NOT" made for use in a home system. It has been developed for show System's (modding) and Photo work. If looking for a fluid for a Home system / Gaming system please use Mayhems X1 or Mayhems Pastel range of fluids there are fully tested and working in any kind of loop.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Sweet - I had noticed quite a few of the EK resevoirs have them (and the turbulence inserts) - I'll definitely add one if I drain the loop.

A couple of open shots to show the current colour:
IMG_2320.jpg

IMG_2321.jpg


I didn't realise how much copper there is on the board - question is, what's the best colour pastel to match it? Still leaning towards white.

I noticed the UV White Pastel says Do Not use with Tygon tubing, but the ice white does not - is Ice White OK with Tygon?
 
Last edited:
Good question - It's been that long I had to check:

Asus M3A78-EM mATX mobo
Phenom II X6 1090T
8gb RAM (OCZ and Corsair)
Asus Xonar D2
ATI 6970 (I'll have to check the cooler in the garage to get the make)
 
Last edited:
Everyone loves Ikea! I hit a bit of a snag when I fired the machine up - it booted, always a relief, but then hung claiming that the cpu had been changed and the case had been penetrated - had to chuckle at the intruder detection! Unfortunately that was its last gasp and it now won't boot at all - fans spin up and immediately shut down - sounds a lot like the old bad earth issues so I have had to splash out on a mAtx motherboard tray which will hopefully arrive early next week - not looking forward to the transfer :eek:
 
It's alive!!

Amazingly I put it all back together - no mean feat, especially as I had to remove the shelf to put the mobo tray in, really need a couple of extra hands. In spite of having flooded the board a couple of times - got to love the de-ionised water and a handy hairdryer :p - it fired up and after a bit of fiddling, it has booted all the way to windows.

Still lots of tidying to do - will get it cleaned up and take a few shots before I decide on lights and colours for the fluid (still leaning toward the white pastel).

I have had a bit of an issue that someone might to able to shed some light on. The machine kept hanging at the bios stage - either just before, or during the bios. I have cleared the CMOS a couple of times and am fairly confident it's not a flash issue. I noticed that it was very 'jerky' in the bios, pausing between inputs and freezing for seconds at a time. I also noticed that the Northbridge heatsink was scoldingly hot (as was the RAM) - I added a fan pointing in an appropriate direction and all is well again. Interestingly they are both now cool to the touch when the fan is on (cooler than I would have expected given how hot they were to begin with) - any idea what could be causing the NB / RAM to overheat? I really did abuse the poor board getting everthing into place, just wondering what I could have damaged? :confused:
 
Thanks for that - I will have to come up with a creative way of cooling the NB without spoiling the look - thinking either some sort of white duct blowing air at it or maybe see if my old NB waterblock will fit. I'm desperately trying to avoid draining the loop after the pain of installing it.

Couple of new thoughts while I wait for the last of the cables to arrive:

The Rad looks pretty horrible - I was thinking about some sort of a shroud. Unfortunately it is an odd size (just over 15cm) so I can't just hide it behind a nice fan. However, I can always mount the fan behind the rad outside the cupboard, so actually, as long as whatever I hide the rad behind doesn't kill the airflow... maybe a nice raised design sitting 10mm off the rad with an LED behind it - could even swap it out to match the theme to the seasons...:cool:

The other one was the loop itself. If I do end up having to drain it, I would be looking to pop a drain point is so any future changes are nice and easy - simplest way? (Thinking possibly a T-piece at the lowest point with a shut off valve going through the wood base with a bit of tubing underneath.
 
Well I finally took the plunge and drained the system :eek: I have re-arranged the routing to allow the pump to be on the bottom shelf (easier drainage in the future and it was interfering with the new mobo tray!)

I think I have all the kinks worked out now but am tempted to get a couple of shut off valves just to make life easier in future - should be ready to finish this weekend and hopefully everything will then be in place.
 
:D

Still go a little tidying up to do, but I think the pastel white worked out well - especially like the detail in the channels of the Maze 4. Still haven't solve the cooling issue for the NB and the RAM - would love to have either a white pipe system blowing air from a fan in the lower level or maybe a couple of white 40mm fans at very low speed - I haven't been able to find a white Ram cooler anywhere - and not prepared to fork out £20 for a coloured one that I'd have to then paint.

I'm going to add a bit of white lighting, does anyone know if there is a mayhems additive I can add to the Pastel to make it UV reflective? I have changed to tubing so it shouldn't go green now!

r218.JPG


s5m2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Might take you up on that - was thinking about a little strip of LED lights - unfortunately the fluid isn't UV reflective (the original tubing wasn't compatible with the White UV from Mayhems) - if I can get an answer from them on adding a UV additive I might go all Cold Cathode on it for the Old Skool look ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom