Custom build - Thermaltake core x2

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:08

My idea for building in this case was actually a suggestion from someone else because i made a thread telling people that i wanted a case where i could see the liquid flowing through the card.

Its been ongoing now for a while and it was actually up and running at one point, but user error made me want to re-do some of it.

The case itself is good to work with and is pretty much 100% modula. The one thing that i hate the most about the case though are the thumb screws for the top/side panels. They tend to be a little awkward.

I have some more pictures that i will be adding today , along with more info on how the build has been.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:12

This temp sensor display is from my previous build that was in a phanteks enthoo pro.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:20

I knew that there would not be enough room in the case with the optical drive trays at full size.

After looking at how the display was mounted in the phanteks case, I realised i only needed the front portion of the optical drive tray.

I got this done by using a workbench outside and an angle grinder for the cutting. I sanded down the bears on the vertical parts as best as i could. The bottom part i covered with some foam type tape. As for covering the vertical parts i tryed the same method but it wouldnt stick due to lack of surface grip.

Although this does look sketchy af , there isnt actually any wires that touch the edges where it seems sharp.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:26

These are the first attempts of what was done to get the front portion of the optical drive trays.

This was using a hacksaw prior to buying the angle grinder.

Ignore the bars in the bottom of the pics, they where screen shotted from photobucket.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:36

After a short period of brainstorming because there was no where to mount my res , i had the idea of mounting it on the frame where 120mm fans would typically be placed.

To do this i used a drill and some tapping bits, at first i used a tapping bit to create the hole for the allen screws to go into not realising it was the res mount itself that they attached to.

This meant that when i screwed them in they stopped once they touched the frame and the res couldnt be attached.To work around this i used a slightly bigger drill bit to get rid of the tap.

After that it was plain sailing.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:41

After making a thread about how i mounted the res someone pointed out that without it being secure , there could be vibration issues or unwanted noise in the case.

The bar that has the res clamp mounted to it was done by drilling holes on both sides of the case slightly closer to the res itself.

Then i drilled a hole in the bar and used a self tapping fan screw to mount the clamp, when that was done there was no issue with vibrations in the case.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 14:55

In my previous phanteks case the cable managment was good because there was room in the back of the case for wires to be tucked away.

With this case being shorter and having no where for the cables to be tucked away, it looked like a jungle of wires. Seeing as i was already in the process of re-doing some of my build, i decided to put it on hold to do some custom wiring.

When i was mapping the wire scheme of how antec had done it, i knew that the wires where going to look a bit messy.

Some of the wires had two going into one connection and even some with two wires going into one connectiom on both ends.

After doing the motherboard i moved onto the gpu and then the cpu, which where a breeze compared to the motherboard.

All in all i know it does look somewhat sketchy but i like it just because its there with no room for it to be tucked away.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 15:11

The motherboard itself is a GIGABYTE Z-170MX DDR4, with having a new mobo with socket 1151 i knew i had to buy new memory and a new cpu. The memory is corsair vengence and the cpu is a core i5 6600k skylake. Sitting on top of the cpu is a raystorm v3 block.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 15:15

My gpu is an nvidia geforce gtx 1080 founders edition.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 15:33

In the back of the case is a EK vardar 140mm

On top are 6x120mm EK VARDAR'

In the front is a phanteks 200mm.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 15:36

The radiators are 2x EK-coolstream xe 360

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Jul 2017 at 16:02

Seeing as there is pretty much nothing in the case as an opttion for cable managment , i decided to run the custom fan extension around the edge of the frame.

The multiple fan header is at the back of the case on the opposite side of the psu housing.

Concidering the window is on the side of the gpu it doesnt look as apealing but when i previously had it running , i looked at it from the other side with the window there.

Gotta say that i prefer that look instead.

Also when the last of the extensions are done they will be secured in place with some cable ties , they wont look as loose as they do in these pictures.

Thats pretty much where im upto now , critique away. Give me your thoughts , weather you like it or not, what you think i could have done different or even something you think i should do different.

This is my first build aswell , i have had different rigs but those where done by the OCUK staff.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 14 Jul 2017 at 20:41

Just finished all the extensions for the fans on top , gonna be doing the front and rear fans tomorrow.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 24 Jul 2017 at 11:51

I know some of the wires are still creating a jungle like effect on the case floor but i wanted to get it running. Im also concidering sending it in to OCUK to " help " with the wiring situation.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 28 Sep 2017 at 12:47

Finally got these from pexon yesterday , deffinitly cleaned up the look a lot from how it was. still got a good bit to do i know.

also thinking about paining it to go along with the black/white and red and i need to put some acrylic in there to cover the everything from the motherboard down except for the ssd which i want showing.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 30 Sep 2017 at 18:51

Just added these lights to my rig to go along with the black/white and red. The one thats kind of in the middle is an led on the mobo.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 30 Sep 2017 at 20:38

Just changed the positioning of the light on the left , subtle but has a much better effect . Never going to buy adesive led lights strips again ...

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 10 Oct 2017 at 11:41

Just put some combs in there .

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 13 Oct 2017 at 13:15

Just put another light in at the back to iluminate the rear of the case. Got it sat on the rear panel itself , just above the radiator so the light doesnt bleed out too much.

CONSOLE_BUTCHER · 19 Oct 2017 at 14:01

Just put some plastic brading over the wires for my pump/res, i used a 10mm sleev that stretched to 15mm so i could push it over the connecter for the wire that goes to the cpu fan header.

For the other one that connects to a molex i de-pinned it using my lamptron kit , put the sleev and heat shrink on then connected it back up.

As for the mess of wires im just gonna push them to the back, kind of out of site. Gonna watch a few youtube vids on how to bend and install acrylic sheeting.

Gonna cover the front from the motherboard down , only leaving the ssd showing and put some in the back to hide the wires.

As for the power to the ssd , i took the plastic cap off , removed the wires turned it around and put the wires back in then put the cap back on.

For the data cable im going to order one from pexon to match the red on my psu cables.

Also not going to touch the front panel cables.