Green and Black Enthoo Primo build log

Ucof

Ucof

Ucof

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Hi all,
I recently had a thread saying that I was going to update my Silverstone FT01, however, after deciding that it was going to be a major challenge to watercool efficiently in that case, I decided to cash in my Premium Bonds and buy a new case to last me for the next decade. The colour scheme will be UV green/ black.
Photos are a mixture of a Nikon D7000 on an 18-55mm in terrible light conditions, and a Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Better pictures will be available when I have replaced the light fitting back to just a single fitting (its currently on 3 spot lights) with a very bright bulb.

Spec:
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Primo
Mobo: Sabertooth Z79
CPU: Intel 2550k
RAM: yes, 16gb of the stuff.
GPU: MSI R7970
PSU: EVGA 850w Supernova G2
Sound: Asus Xonar D2X
HDD: 2 x 128 GB SSD, 1x 1TB HDD

Watercooling:
XSPC Bay/Res combo
D5 pump
EK Nickel Plexi 7970
1x 480mm Rad
1x 420mm Rad
Alphacool fittings
EK Supremacy Evo Nickel Plexi (still to buy)

I managed to pick the above watercooling gear up for about £200, but being patient and only buying good deals, both on the member’s market as well as eBay. However, time is running out for my CPU block and I might have to buy new for that!

Anyway, on with the build log!

First up, was when the case arrived and I had issues in getting the case in the car. I had heard that this case was big, but I didn’t realise HOW big. As you can see, it takes up all the space in the back of my Ford Focus:


After lugging the case box in to my man cave (garage), time came for the ceremonial unboxing of the behemoth!
First, the obligatory relaxed shot before all hell breaks loose!


As you can see, the box I received was full of foam with no case in:


Oh wait, no, there it is protected in not only a plastic bag, but also some heavy duty foam packaging around it:


Up onto the newly made workbench, courtesy of Makro:


Finally managed to get the case out of the box and up onto the workbench. It’s a massive PITA getting it out!


Here’s a side by side view of old vs. new (they are lined up at the back, the angle makes it look like they are not):


And as you can see from the front on comparison, the Primo is much large than my old FT01:


Side panel off and a first good look at the inside. It’s a beauty, packed full of excellent ideas!


And a wider shot:



Here’s the back, including the bits box they give you with the case:



Here’s the bits box, with different PC screws and fixtures, cable ties and foam pads:


Right, let’s start gutting this mofo:



Well, that was quick!



It’s dead, Dave..



MoBo in!



MoBo, I’m getting too much of your chin, I’m going to take a shot from slightly below:




DVD and Res/Pump in:


With the flat blanking plate, the card wouldn’t go in properly as the card is too long:


The PCI-e clip wouldnt fully engage:



Thankfully, the clever chaps at Phanteks have already thought of that and the big square cover is uncoverable, to reveal… a lovely cut out section for long GFX cards!


IN WITH THE CARD!



Well, almost!
The fan shroud on my card is literally 3mm too long to fit in the cut out section!



Thankfully, Phanteks also thought of that and have made the entire bracket removable!

Is it in yet? *snigger*


Here you can see how it looks with the full bracket removed:


Removing the bottom drive bay:



SSDs in:



Back of the case without any cable management:



To quote Tubbs from The League of Gentlemen: “LINES AND LINES AND LINES AND LINES!”



So far, so good:


Side on, and here’s the protective wrap on the side window (and my cat):



OFF WITH THE SHRINK WRAP!!


This is the back. Obviously.


The only issue that I had with the case was that the bottom fan was fouling on the radiator bracket causing a BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG noise which I couldn’t stand. Something had to be done.
Remember the foam that comes in the toolkit? I cut 4x 1x1cm squares from it (apparently it’s for skinny PSUs?)


Attached it to the fan shrouds:


Screwed *snigger* it from the other side:


Problem solved!



Mad props go to Phanteks for offering to send me a new fan after I emailed them about this issue. I had to provide the original invoice and a shipping address in case you were wondering. Then again, for a £200 case, I’d expect this.

After some degree of cable tidying and Velcro-ing:



GORDON’S ALIIIIIVE!:



…and that’s the end of my build so far.

Planned stuff:
Watercooling with UV green fluid
5050 LED strip to go back in
Painting of fans to UV green
LED changeover to green


For some reason, only one of my USB3 ports on the top work – I’m suspecting a bent header pin as it was a complete arse trying to push the connector in!

Anyway, leave a comment.
If you want to.
I’d appreciate it anyway 
 
Well done there nice to see another Primo build. The Res cover can be cut without too much difficulty if you are confident enough to do that. I had to do that with mine due the positioning of the cards in SLi.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the Green coming more into play, it'll look sweet :D
 
Thanks all - there will be more green coming in soon, I'm just trying to get the basics sorted first, then on withthe cable sleeving and spray painting.

Pretty much all of the watercooling kit is here, though I still need to buy tubing and an EK Supremacy Evo. I've spoken to a party who will remain nameless, unless they wish me to name them who are possibly going to supply me with some unreleased cooling products. I spoke to them and am really after some opaque UV bright green coolant, rather than the semi-transparent fluid that I see in most places.

For the past few days, I've had the gear flushing through but its really quite clear now. The only thing that seemed to be slightly dirty inside was the AlphaCool rad, however it seems to have been full of hair. Though it is possible that my cat has had something to do with that!

On with the pictures :)


Here's the block in the condition that I got it. Looks like blue pastel residue to me, but either way its completely filthy.




It took it all apart and gave it a good scrub with a toothbrush and bog standard warm tap water.




Much better!




Here's some pictures of what I was working with.




And the setup I had a number of problems with, due to it being my first WC setup loop.





Here's how I finally managed to get it working, in a closed self-contained loop.




After 24 hours of pumping through the loop, here's the crud that had accumulated






When I disassembled the block what it was was clear.




Looks like cat hair to me!





After this had been cleaned up, it was off to Halfords - 5 litres for £2.99! Bargain!




Next day, I received the 2nd rad, bought for a bargain £30! Here it is, plumbed in and flushing through.




...and that's how it currently is, looping round and through the whole 5 litres of deionised water trying to flush out any bits left as well as dilute any of the standard tap water residue that was left. The quad rad that I received stank of chemicals, possibly a chlorine smell, I assume this to be the bacteria/ corrosion inhibiter additive used by the previous owner?


Added some rough LED lighting, though im still not happy with the layout. I don't like to see the LED dots and would prefer a uniform diffraction.





Colinmcr - where did you get the top and front LED strips for yours and do they have any in green? :D I've looked on ebay, but I cant find any that are slim enough to fit in the gap. I'm happy to cut the res cover plate, but all of the mods I do are based on reversability - my enitre FT01 build has been returned to stock, so I can sell it on. Any worthwile non-reversable mods I'd have to give serious thought to, however, this case is for the long haul.


That's it so far, coming along.
 
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Looking good mate. With my Primo, I put the top LED strip, just above the motherboard, hidden by the rad, and fans, and the bottom section, was on the fans between the psu section on the shroud/ motherboard tray, and for the side, I put it behind the res bracket, it looked like a side on U shape, and it lit up the motherboard area great.
 
Hi Shane - its just a 5050 led strip as detailed in this thread, set to purple: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18575513

Paul - I'll need to have a rethink, but I'm wondering if soldering wires to create extensions for the LED strip would be the best course of action? Having 3 "seperate" LED strips like you suggested, but having wires between them to make it all work.

Update!
Replacement Phanteks fan arrived today, hopefully I can get spraying green tomorrow, if the weather holds up. Its not looking promising though :(

Any other Enthoo Primo users managed to get the fan blades off for spraying yet? Im thinking that it's glued down.
 
Have you tried using a heat gun and heating the center of the fan up to melt the glue? I do believe that some people have used that method with other fans. Give it a go on your spare one
 
I found out that the blades are held on like lots of standard fans.Underthe sticker is a cap which when removed, shows the spindle to which the blades are attached.

I didnt want to gauge out the plastic cap with something sharp, so I went to The Range and bought some masking tape instead. Fan blades are already white, so no undercoat needed I assume? Fan blades will be going green, hopefully tomorrow if I can find some time.

Picture is for future reference, after a few hours of BF4:

 
Right, so next up is my first attempt at fan painting, using the same green paint that I used on the previous build.

Ready to go:




Masked up (Christ this takes AGES!! :( ):




One down, two to go:




First one sprayed:




Second one sprayed:




Tape off!



As you can see, the paint is sketchy. I tried spraying evenly in smooth lines, further than 12" away, but the paint seems so watery, that it just ran everywhere. The worst has been taken off, but it still pooled in places as it ran own whilst drying. It also seems to have a rubber quality to it, very strange stuff.


Here it is spining, and as you can see it looks fine:




Both painted up:




Both in place and spinning on the rad, with the one left still to paint:




Here's how a painted fan looks in the case, next to the sleeved cables. Its much greener in real life:




Bottom rad was put into place, though there seems to be no way of fixing it in place! Am I being mental and missing something obvious?




Another mod I did a while back (completely reversable as nothing has been removed, cut or soldered!) was to "change" the LED colour in my mouse from red to green:




The red LEDs have been taped over and the green ones taped in place. Not uniform light distribution as it needs another green LED in there, but thats a small job for another time.

I'll be moding my Razer Nostromo by soldering green LEDs in however, there's no way I can find to make that one reversable!
 
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