Associate
Looks really good and a well written, informative build log.
MODZERO DYNO - LIAN LI 0-11D RAZER EDITION
Thanks for the comment, here is a tease of the green. I took this when I'd first put the case back together.
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It has a slight pearlescent shift to the colour. So really it changes slightly depending on the light.
J.
Looks great, however, the USB ports now need to be yellow to match the colour scheme of the McLaren.
Yeah! Agreed! I looked into buying the IO from a non Razer 011D chassis as it looks terrible. I resolved to using the rubber USB blanking plugs you see in the log update posts above.
J.
UPDATE 5.0 - IT'S SO CLOSE
Well, it's the next day, I'm back with another slice.
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So I filled it up, bled it and booted. Faught the awful Gigabyte RGB software and didn't feel much better about using the Razer software suite just to set the case RGB either. On the plus side, while all the RGB was cycling it gave me some better ideas on what colours to set. But I'll get to that down the bottom.
Did anyone notice that the bottom run in the above shot is now different from how it was documented in the log? Well, I said I'd come to regret that double female 90' fitting and here is why. It's pretty heavy and that's all pulling on a rotary fitting up on the GPU which meant it wasn't great at holding its position.
Having sat and looked at it for hours (as you do when you boot up these sorts of projects) I was falling out with my runs. It just felt as though the angles were slightly off. Not just on the bottom run but the two 90's coming from the rads seemed too short, with their connected runs pulling on them slightly causing them to not look quite straight. So I shut it down, drained it, removed the bottom run and cut a single length with both the 45'and the 90' bends in it.
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But that wasn't all.
When booted up, the CPU, RES and GPU are lit up. I wanted to set a single colour and be done with it, this one wasn't about all the RGB glory hence the non-lit fan choice. However, each lit component seemingly holds different LED ICs so the hue wasn't a perfect match (component to component). The RES looks amazing!!!! I'm totally sold on the flat res! it's great! Magnitude uses a higher density strip which looks great too but so close to the GPU the difference was obvious. Even dimming the blocks didn't really help.
Now the GPU is only lit from one edge and I'm running a EK solid coolant so the lighting effect really dropped off the closer it gets to the IO. All in all, I wasn't too happy with the look. Remember I'd swapped out the terminal for an old school looking EK one. Well, that was a mistake. The Vector block terminal is also lit so I thought **** it, let's swap it back in.
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Looks loads better. All the runs meet in this middle point, but with them being black they seem to blend into the overall look without being on show.
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MDPC sent me a couple of stickers with my last orders so I've started putting them on my work. I'm really not one for stickers.. but those look epic.
So I also decided to redo the top run from RAD to CPU. As I'd said the 90' bend from the RAD wasn't spot on and I'd thought it was looking a bit awkward from certain angles. With the only terminal and that CPU run as it was, that centre point looked more of a clutter. With a new cleaner single run using only a 45'bend it opened up the block more. Looks much better IMO.
So whats left..
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This worked a treat! With me having the rads push air out the chassis I didnt need the RAD filters. But the case has grills above the PSU, IO and PCI brackets that are not filtered. so I cut up the RAD filters and peeled off the mag strips to make some new dust filters.
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They work great! the Rads, of course, pull a lot of air in through those places. The filters are working a treat.
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The original colour concept for this project. The case is the green, the coolant is the yellow, the carbon/orange (seats) is the cables. the chrome (alloys) are the fittings. Secondly to that this project is meant to be Razer branded. The case has the etched logo on the front but I want to take it further.
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My neighbour has an A2 plotter so she hooked me up with a great big Razer logo.
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Only I screwed it up.... wow it's hard putting these on when they are so big. But not to worry, we plotted another.
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This time it was a little bigger and cropped to go on at an angle.
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Really pleased with that. As the glass is tinted it mutes the lights and with the fans and tubing being black to does a good job remaining subtle. The great big white logo pulls focus and shows off the green and thus the exterior nicely. It's then a lot of fun looking through and picking out the details.
I've plotted a few more bits, But I can't decide if I want to put them on. I've got 'RAZER' and a few different 'For Gamers, By Gamers'. I thought perhaps the 'for gamers, by gamers' could work on the rads and maybe 'razer' on the res. But as I said, I can't decide. What do you think?
For now, I'll leave you with these.
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I'd been holding off shooting it as I'd not been totally sold on the vert mount. It has horrid sag that required I prop it up with a trimmed slice of tube between two of the bottom rad fans. Propped it looks great, but EK announced and have since started shipping their own vert so I kindly asked for one and held off taking the final shots.
The mount arrived last week.
So that's next.
J
great tubbing runs ... so nice and parallel .. my OCD is satisfied
Haha, Yeah I'm that way too..
J.
there is something satisfying about it..
many do it "good enough" but when its so nice it just takes the build to a higher level
Associate
Brilliant build. The black tubes work great!
So I'll go into more detail in the next update but I've ended up sticking with my Phanteks mount. The EK is better in almost every regard! But it mounts the GPU 5mm (approx) closer to the IO. So both my runs were off and would need redoing.. I swapped out the mount without draining my loop (scary) and whilst it both held the GPU firmer and the bottom edge looked cleaner I just couldn't bring myself to draining the loop and redoing those runs.
Actually, what really got me was, had I had the EK mount before I started the loop the mount holds the GPU in perfect alignment with the CPU! I could do my parallel loop! as I'm not running the XL I modified both mounts to allow me to fit it two slots higher. With the Phanteks that weaked its hold but the EK mount with MUCH stronger.
Thanks buddy.
Cheers.
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I've taken a lot of photos and gotten that down to 88 keepers... they are mostly slight variants of the same two dozen angles so I'll edit that down to 24 and post 6 on here.
They're coming.
J.
UPDATE 6.0 - IT'S DONE!
Well, It's finished and I'm really interested to hear what you think of it. I'll jump in and share some photos then I'll give you my take on how it turned out.
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Overall, I'm pleased with the results. I set out to do something a little outside of my norm. I picked a bold colour scheme and ran with it. Now, has it worked? No, I don't think so. I'll try and explain.
The paint is amazing! it's a pig to shoot! the pearlescent effect makes it hard to get a consistent colour result and its harder still to capture the flake. Now, its automotive paint, it is Mclaren paint! Its meant to be outside and sure enough under the sun it really delivers. Indoors, in my office, it actually looks darker and slightly dull. Point some studio lights at it and the colour shifts lighter to almost blue/green (which looks ace! but crap on camera).
The fittings and the tubing I really like, it has an almost engine hose finish. I wish I'd stuck with the chromed accent rings though... Not sure the black rings really add anything. Either way, I'm a fan of the EK torque fittings. It was high time BP had some competition in the fittings space.
The yellow isn't great. I actually have the blocks pushing a yellow light too, otherwise, the coolant looks too much like custard! the colour is stronger in the res as its deeper, more intense in the cpu block as the LEDs are brighter. Its really quite washed out in the GPU with it only getting light from one side so far away from the coolant and the channels being so shallow. So loving the yellow...
But the loop design I'm delighted with! When I kicked this off EK got in touch asking if I'd like a distro they had planned for it (at the time it wasn't released) So from the off I wanted to get this out the gate to show off that distro. But the build hit delays with hardware then covid killed a lot of marketing budgets causing more delays and so I shelved the build.
None of the above was a problem though, I build maybe one PC a year and rarely in doing so am I without a PC. So I really enjoy just being able to pick it up and put an hour in here and another hour there. Granted this one, like my last has been harder now I've young kids.
By the time everything was in hand EK had a hand full of different distros on the market and the PC-011D was already a HUGE hit! I mean it was a huge success long before I decided to build in one.
I'd taken that TopGear McLaren photo and saw a version of the 011D that embodied some of those design cues. but ultimately the build went in a different direction. picking the purple lighting out in the ram and the case and putting more yellow into the coolant actually makes it look more like a Cyberpunk 2077 or Joker themed build with a Razer logo on it. haha. Either way, I'm happy with how it's turned out though perhaps it is not how I'd originally intended.
I kinda think I occupy an odd position in the modding scene. I'm not young, I don't have loads of free time (or much at all) or do this professionally as an extension of say an education or fulltime job. I'm far from the best and my work isn't overly exciting. But it is constant. I do what excites me and build PCs that are intended to be used 24/7 hard! I enjoy writing these logs though they often just read as blogs and rarely see huge numbers of view or responses. The forum is losing to social media which is a shame but I'll keep it old school as long as I can.
I'm an enthusiast, I love it! I had access to a 386 a 486! (as a kid). Loved overclocking the snot out of old Pentium chips pre 1ghz days (as a tweenager). Started building as I couldn't afford to buy a workstation (when I was a teenager). Cherry-picking AMD Athlon chips (1400+ 1700+ 2200+) and OC'n them to match the performance of my mates who could afford to buy prebuilt work stations. I fell in love with Charles Harwoods work and I've spent my life since trying to achieve something close...
I've stuck with it and continued to be excited by the industry. In recent years I've been lucky enough to have amazing support from brands I love!!! That's all come about slowly and wouldn't have happened at all without the support and encouragement from the likes of Adam Faulkner, B-Neg! The Parvum boys and a few others. I enjoy the process, all the while others are raising the bar and taking PC modding to a new place. It's a great community, one I wish I was more involved with.
I keep learning and think I get better with every project.
I've got another couple photo sets I'll be posting on Insta and Fb (if you follow on there?). I shot it on a white background too which came out pretty cool. Not too sure what the future holds for this one. I'd love to put a 5900X in there with the 3900XT or a 3080FE with that super block EK have done.
My next project will be the EK vert ITX case they teased at their expo! (please!!!) My first MODZERO build was in the Silverstone FT03! I have a fondness for vert cases. I'm thinking of doing it fully blacked out. black everything! with ZMT soft tubing! I guess we'll see.
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Thanks for coming along for the ride.
J.
Sure, on some level I agree. I'd offer that the tinted glass mutes the internals so much that the Razer logo contrasts really well. It is very eye-catching and easy to look at. It also breaks up the reflection you get off the glass, draws your focus. But if you're not a Razer fan its a great big horrid snake thing on the side of a green case covering some cool yellow water cooling stuff!
hahaJ.
Sure, on some level I agree. I'd offer that the tinted glass mutes the internals so much that the Razer logo contrasts really well. It is very eye-catching and easy to look at. It also breaks up the reflection you get off the glass, draws your focus. But if you're not a Razer fan its a great big horrid snake thing on the side of a green case covering some cool yellow water cooling stuff!
J.
Have you thought to have it in black instead? (the snake)
Associate
Love the colour scheme. It really stands out and makes for an interesting build. Well done! I have not enjoyed a build this much since JR23 last posted!
I'd not, it's a valid suggestion.
Wow thanks! JR23 is the best in the world IMO.
J.
Hey folks,
I finally got round to doing something with these extra shots I took. I'd wished they'd come out better. This paint is awesome in natural light, my mistake was publishing the final shots using a black background. Looking back, I should have taken it outside.
A few of these are cool.
Enjoy.
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It's up for Mod of the month, which is always great! Go check it out and vote for your favourite. I'm heading back to the wonderful world of ITX next. I've two builds on the books with a third and fourth planned for later in 2021.
Working name of MODZERO SHOCK coming up in the new year. Sliger has kindly supported the build with their great looking S620 chassis.
Check it out here
I've also bought the S610 both are coming in White with black top panels, black handle/feet. Silverstone and Noctua are on board too so the plan is to bring a console size/spec console killer build to life.
I'm in love with the new FE coolers so it'll all come together once I can get my hands on a 3060ti/3070. Hoping to go with Intel on this one.
If anyone LOVES to green 011D above I'm selling it, so send me a DM. I'll include the matching RADs for a little extra. I'd keep it if I had any use for it. as it is, the whole build has been retired and the case is back in its box ready to go.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
J.
I finally got round to doing something with these extra shots I took. I'd wished they'd come out better. This paint is awesome in natural light, my mistake was publishing the final shots using a black background. Looking back, I should have taken it outside.
A few of these are cool.
Enjoy.
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It's up for Mod of the month, which is always great! Go check it out and vote for your favourite. I'm heading back to the wonderful world of ITX next. I've two builds on the books with a third and fourth planned for later in 2021.
Working name of MODZERO SHOCK coming up in the new year. Sliger has kindly supported the build with their great looking S620 chassis.
Check it out here
I've also bought the S610 both are coming in White with black top panels, black handle/feet. Silverstone and Noctua are on board too so the plan is to bring a console size/spec console killer build to life.
I'm in love with the new FE coolers so it'll all come together once I can get my hands on a 3060ti/3070. Hoping to go with Intel on this one.
If anyone LOVES to green 011D above I'm selling it, so send me a DM. I'll include the matching RADs for a little extra. I'd keep it if I had any use for it. as it is, the whole build has been retired and the case is back in its box ready to go.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.
J.
Associate
Great photos as always! Looking forward to seeing the new builds. Those slingers are giving me a NR200/NCASE M1 feel, so will be interesting to see them as build logs, since the new 30 series FE's work so well with this layout.