Lian Li Mini Rejig

[im4gine3]

After about a years worth of gathering parts and putting off from making any changes to my rig, decided to get off my butt and actually make a start on this (otherwise it'll never get done), as i was not satisfied with how my rig looked.. and whilst this will not exactly improve performance, i just wanted to make it a bit more special, since this rig is planned to last another 5 or so years before an upgrade.


Still awaiting for a few bits and bobs from AliExpress, Ebay etc so will make a start with what i can.



This is how it looked previously




This is how it looks currently after replacing my 6800xt with a 3080FE



Items i have purchased and will be replacing some of the parts already in the build. Some may not be used.. all depends how overkill i want to be:


HardwareLabs LS240 Radiator (Had as a spare, may as well make use of it)
50cm Linkup Extreme PCIe4.0 Riser cable
8x Lian Li AL120 Fans
3x Lian Li SL120 Fans
EK FLT120 Reservoir - Body only
Aquacomputer Highflow Next
Zillions of Bykski 14mm Frosted Acrylic Tubing. also have about 3m of BitsPower 14mm Tubing if i decide not to go frosted
Excessive amount of cable sleeving and cables to try my hand at custom sleeving
Various Video Panel Mount and extension cables



Switch over from Vardar to AL120 are only based on aesthetics. Both are very good fans, whilst the Vardar's are brighter, but the AL120 look more appealing to me


Most uninteresting part since it won't be seen is the rear hard drive cover. Drilled out a square hole and lined with blow hole trim. Ordered a couple aluminium plates which will be shaped to include mountings for the video panel mounts. I could've taken the easy no hassle route of lining it with a large rectangular grommet but in my opinion looks more messy.




First attempt at making a panel mount with a lot of sanding and filing.. and not liking it, so will be redone when the aluminium sheet arrives... would be nice with a lasercut, but too expensive and probs a waste for what i need it for... plus the holes aren't centerd and they'll annoy the hell outta me so that has to be redone right.



Most of my ideas are 'up in the air' as i don't exactly know whether it will fit/work, but that will be the fun part of making it work.

Purchased one of these to hold the GPU in place.


Lucky the 3080 is a single slot card so should have enough room for a couple fans sitting behind it, which will provide some cool air to the back plate. Sprayed and shortened to fit the dimensions of a 120mm fan mount.



Lastly, with no pics as i didn't take any, to cut out a 60mm hole in the rear fan mount so i can attach an FLT120 with DDC to it. Should the DDC not cope, then it should be relatively easy to pop the old pump out and replace with a D5.

More progress to follow this weekend.

 

[mickyflinn]

I like the gpu watercooled on top of the case i think your on to something

Look forward to the build.

 

[Haz123]

No wonder the Lian Li fans are always out of stock

Looking forward to seeing the end product.

 

[im4gine3]

Was meant to be working today but it was real quiet so spent the day making mockups for the case... looks like this will be a really tight fit, but will give it a go anyways. With a bit of inspiration and ideas found on Reddit, thought i'd combine as much as i could into this build. One thing which annoyed the hell out of me was the top radiator being slightly offset from the bottom, so it doesn't line up right, so that had to be corrected.




GPU bracket test fitted along with all other parts and looks promising so far. I used threaded aluminium spacers and M4 screws to help provide extra support for the floating GPU. The bracket itself can hold the weight, but i like the extra piece of mind... and to stop the GPU from bending should the case fall to its side, i will be using 50mm screws and mirror fasterners to help keep it stable.



The mirror faster is slightly too big at 25mm diameter so 10mm have been ordered... otherwise will stick out like a sore thumb once build complete




Mockup of intended presentation.. though could change. I'm still 50/50 on the bottom radiator fans, whether to keep the SL120 or replace with thinner Arctic P12 Slims (both of which i have in my inventory)




Purchased a 14" panel which will sit in the front panel of the case. Had some aluminium U-channel laying about as i was thinking of making a acrylic bending machine but decided to go for a metal back panel instead, therefore chopped these to size and glued them to the front of the case. This will help support the screen at just the right height.





Measurements taken, so time to strip everything again. The screen is 10mm thick therefore side fans have to be shifted 10mm away from the front, so will need to create new fan holes for them and attach the third radiator. New aluminium rear panel to be cut too to hide all unnecessary holes and keep everything clean. More updates by end of weekend hopefully

 

[im4gine3]

i can already see the loop design being super tight.. and may have to resort using ZMT tubing in some areas.. but will cross that bridge when i get there

 

[im4gine3]

Panel cut.. some lines not straight so that will need to be cleaned up




Starting to take shape... just need to replace some of the fittings with proper static extenders which is a pain... i have millions of differetn fittings and none of the exact extenders!


Still undecided on location of drain port.. i may hide it at the back coming out of the third rad/GPU.

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

looking good so far. unique place for gpu but i like it

 

[im4gine3]

looking good so far. unique place for gpu but i like it

Thanks.. builds going slow at the moment.. run out of frosted tubing so waiting for more to arrive.. wasted around 7m so far as the lines are not as clean as i want them lol.. and there are 2 bends which is super finicky to do.. each run has about 5 bends in them :/

Not only that, my old rig which was my main has died on me, so rather than source a new mobo for a 4770K, decided to strip it down and sell off the parts. Make some money back

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

Thanks.. builds going slow at the moment.. run out of frosted tubing so waiting for more to arrive.. wasted around 7m so far as the lines are not as clean as i want them lol.. and there are 2 bends which is super finicky to do.. each run has about 5 bends in them :/

Not only that, my old rig which was my main has died on me, so rather than source a new mobo for a 4770K, decided to strip it down and sell off the parts. Make some money back

did your old system see the new guy in town surely that would have done the deed on your old system. R.I.P old boi

 

[im4gine3]

did your old system see the new guy in town surely that would have done the deed on your old system. R.I.P old boi

haha yep.. i guess even with the big brother sat next to it.. i was too lazy to shift all my data across to the new drives. Now i have no excuse to do that

 

[Mr Mcgoo]

haha yep.. i guess even with the big brother sat next to it.. i was too lazy to shift all my data across to the new drives. Now i have no excuse to do that

Yep it messed itself and now needs to be clean up (data moved across).

 

[im4gine3]

Not so much happening at the moment.. as i am awaiting delivery of more frosted tubing. Unfortunately the tubing i buy, though cheap only come in 500mm sizes, so ordered a couple of Corsairs Satin tubing as a run i need doing is around 75cm long.. as i'm not satisfied with how the run from the CPU outlet to the bottom third radiator looks... even if half of the tubing can be seen, i prefer to use 1 long run than to use a bunch of extenders. This run is a 6 bender. The U bend from the CPU outlet needs to be bent at a 45degree angle as there is not enough clearance due to the radiator being in the way, even if the radiator is pushed against the side.










This is how the rig is looking at the moment. I'm still uncertain whether i want the base panel left as is because its in a brush Aluminium finish, or whther to vinyl wrap it.. what do you think?

Made minor changes to the GPU bracket. Removed the original spacers as the bracket will rest directly onto the side fans, and removed the need for the mirror fasteners, as i will be using extenders to connect the side radiator to the inlet of the GPU. That will act as a brace and holds well even when the case is tilted. I had a couple sets of Anti-sag brackets by Lian-Li which i modded to use as an upper brace for the pci slot.

One hack i found out (unless everyone knows this), since tubing hardens pretty quick, i removed all the inner o-rings of all the fittings to allow me time to measure and set the tube runs right. All previous times i have wasted time jamming bent tubes into the fittings either A) shredding the inner O-rings by being in a rush and B) having the tubes harden too soon and not measured right.

Since my other computer died, that has freed up a D5 pump, so contemplating on switching the DDC. Will see what the flow rate/temps are like once up and running before i do this.


Also wanted to bypass using the Lian-Li hub to control the RGB lighting, so purchased a Farbwerk 360 for this. Looks tidier too. Would have been nice if AC do shorter USB cables but 100cm seems to be their only size... plus splicing the cable to make it shorter is a lot messier than i though... wasted trying on 1 so will keep with what i have.

 

[im4gine3]

more frosted tubing arrive but hit a minor issue. Rubbing pencil marks from Bykski tubing after bending is straight forward, however having the opposite effect with Corsairs satin tubing.. If an eraser won't remove the marks.. anyone know what else i can use? granted it can't be seen unless up close.

 

[im4gine3]

Been a while putting any updates. Tried a bit of custom PSU wiring myself and failed miserably as the sleeving is still too 'fat' for the space i have. I ended up buying a custom set across the shores (resulting in a long delay), and is kinda growing on me, albeit may be temporary when i give it another go.. not that the sleeving can be seen much anyways.

Center run had to be redone a few times, as i couldn't get the top radiator to fit flush without bending the tube, and in turn flexing the waterblock/motherboard, so after 5m of tube out the way, that is perfectly lined up the way it should.

Saw an EK Magnitude block up for grabs in the B-Grade section so thought i'd nab that, so my frosted Velocity block has been replaced. Gone are the days of thumb tightening, when it can now be done using a torz driver.

All components connected and passes the leak test.








Back Side cable tidied. Want to get the computer up and running soon as, since i can't play games on my little NUC. Will be redoing the rear IO panel at some stage as i am not happy with it.. would have like to have a CNC machine handy but doing it third party is incredibly expensive just for what i need.



The most painful part of this process was filling the loop. Given the Pump/Res was at an awkward position, i had to tilt the case flat on it's side (with CPU facing the floor) to help push bubbles out the case, and with only tiny vented holes at the top i could see what was going on inside.

Still trying to work out whether its best replacing the DDC with a D5 given a D5 is much quieter.. but the DDC pressure is the advantage here.. hmm.


Rainbow puke



Too bright





Better after a bit more tweaking


Lights off





Lights on






Did it improve temps at all? Surprisingly yep. Don't have a pic of what it was before but i remembered from the amount of testing i did with Heaven:

Pre-rejig:
CPU Idle: 35c (random boosts to 65c)
CPU Load (1hr loop of R23): 71c
Chipset Idle: 50c
Chipset Load: 65c

GPU Idle: Mid 30s
GPU Load (1hr loop of Timespy): Early 50s
GPU hot spot: Early 60s


With the new setup (Temps after 1hr loop of TS):

CPU saw a decrease of around 10c on load
Chipset saw a decrease of around 12c on load
GPU Core saw a decrease of around 15c on load and never goes beyond 41c, while hotspo barely hits 57c







Was it worth the rejig? Yep in my opinion.

 

[V F]

When did you manage to obtain the Highflow Next 2? Was it 2 - 3 weeks ago when OcUK had 4 in stock and disappeared days later... Sadly I missed it. Had to put a pre-order in for one.

Those Aquacomputer flow meters are almost impossible to find!


I've had to settle for a Bykski for now until it comes in stock.

 

[Thekwango]

have to say, that's mighty purdy. good job.

 

[im4gine3]

When did you manage to obtain the Highflow Next 2? Was it 2 - 3 weeks ago when OcUK had 4 in stock and disappeared days later... Sadly I missed it. Had to put a pre-order in for one.

Those Aquacomputer flow meters are almost impossible to find!


I've had to settle for a Bykski for now until it comes in stock.

Ahh.. i've had this lil' device for a while now, and bought it elsewhere.. just never had thought of the ideal place to put it.

have to say, that's mighty purdy. good job.

Fanks!

 

[Haz123]

WoW great job. Very unique layout with pump res at back and gpu side mounted.

 

[V F]

@im4gine3 How are your fingertips in tight places with EK fittings? Mine are wrecked from some of the sharp threads.

 

[im4gine3]

@im4gine3 How are your fingertips in tight places with EK fittings? Mine are wrecked from some of the sharp threads.

Luckily i learnt my lesson the first time i used EK fittings. Even though it is recommended to only hand tighten, i use a set of nose pliers taped with masking tape to tighten them, and only enough pressure as i would have with my hands... so all good there

WoW great job. Very unique layout with pump res at back and gpu side mounted.