Hi well, Ive just completed my latest project, this time on a classic ATCS/CM 201-BXT.
This is not a full project log as I have done before, but some latter stage development shots, and the completed article.
Quite Simply, the aim was to watercool the 201 as neatly as possible, keeping the case as untouched as possible. The case willl then house my main rig, heres the spec:
AMD Opteron 144 o/c from 1.80ghz to 3.15ghz
DFI Lanparty Ultra-D Motherboard
1gb GeiL PC3200 DDR Memory at 3-3-3-8 Timings
PowerColour X1800XT 512MB PCI-E o/c to 700/800
Western Digital Raptor 74gb inside Silentmaxx Enclosure
Silverstone Strider 450w PSU
Sony 16x DVD-RW
Silverstone Eudemon Temp/Fan Control Unit
Akasa Fan Control Jr
Laing DDC w/ Plexi Top
Alphacool NexXxoS XP CPU Block
EK FCX1900 GFX Block
Thermochill PA120.2 Radiator
Alphacool Repack Black Resevoir
All on 1/2" ID Tygon Hose
Alrighty, enough of the listing, I'll get on with a brief outline of what I did...
The radbox was obviously the first part to be completed, the panels were made from MDF, the joints made with 90' aluminium angle. I simply glued the angle bar to the MDF, clamped the thing up with a bit more glue, and then drilled and added the bolts for extra strength. Next day, I firstly marked and cut all the holes that I needed, a smaller one in the bottom, using the pa120.2 template so I can fix the rad in place whilst maintaining airflow, and secondly a larger hole in the top so the radiator could simply be dropped in. It would have been nice to just have holes for the fans, or maybe some mesh, but the way I constructed my box made this impossible - it was however very quick to do and very strong. Then I filled any imperfections and covered the thing in black sticky back plastic - this is a temporary measure, the box is still a little small, but I have enough room to clad the thing in black plexi once I get some - this should match nicely with the piano gloss black finish of the case! The feet of the case are simply discs of MDF cut and painted black, with some Quiet PC AcoustiFeet stuck onto the bottom (I had to cut the discs to give that extra bit of height to aid airflow).
Once the box was complete and the rad installed, I could then place the case on top and CAREFULLY decide where to drill the two holes to allow tubing to the rad barbs, these holes were then drilled and deburred. Thankfully these are the only two holes that are drilled in a visible place.
On the other side however I did drill 3 15mm holes, now although these are modifications to the case, they do however improve it for cable routing, so therefore I would not consider them a negative in the event of a resale. There was 1 drilled just behind the two intake fans, this was to allow me to connect the two 120mm Sharkoon fans on the PA to the Fanmate JR, and two further 15mm holes drilled into the off-side drive cages, again to allow for better cable management (AND CABLE MANAGEMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS PROJECT!!!)
As a nice little touch to the overall mod, I took an old 5.25" blanking plate and cut a nice oval hole into it and sprayed it black, so you can see the Silentmaxx enclosure, simillar to the repack res, I covered the front with some clear plexi, and used some hex-heads to fix it, I think it blends in nicely!
Believe me when I say it, there is A LOT of wires inside this case, and as many of you may know its not exactly the most spacious, so cable management has been a real headache!
It was then that disaster struck! ...it was a Sunday evening and I decided enough was enough for the day, so I stripped the mobo tray out with all the components on so I could use the PC during the week, I replaced the stock GFX cooler as normal, and the stock CPU heatsink...turned the PC on, came up to BIOS then went blank..........I ONLY FORGOT TO PLUG THE DAM HEATSINK FAN IN!!!!
DOH AND DOUBLE DOH!!! so I now have my superb clocking 144 fried to a cinder, wont work for love nor money. Damn! First time Ive made such a mistake in over (ok lets not go into that) how ever many years, but it happened. Thankfully though OcUK Members Market came to the rescue, and I managed to get hold of a nice Opteron 146, CABYE stepping (sweeet!)
Once the new CPU arrived it was fairly straight forward the blocks were re-installed, and the tubing cut and clamped, and the loop filled...however this loop is SO efficient, and so precise, the flow that the DDC pushes round is IMMENSE, bleeding this thing is a nightmare because the air bubbles dont get a chance to settle in the res, they're just pushed straight back round! Now the way I got round this was clever, its a trick I saw another guy do and it worked, all I did was place a piece of the blue filter material from an Eheim pump into the res (I tied it to some string so I could retrieve it) and this just gave that bit of resistance to make the bleeding process much simpler!
Thats about it really, like I said it was the cable tidying that took most of the time, that and placing the 4 cathodes correctly to give the correct amount of subtle lighting that I wanted - no blinding blue and UV here please!! its not a scene from The Fast and the Furious!!!
Ive probably missed something in this blurb, but if you got any questions do post them and I'll try n answer them, other than that, on with the pics..!
This is not a full project log as I have done before, but some latter stage development shots, and the completed article.
Quite Simply, the aim was to watercool the 201 as neatly as possible, keeping the case as untouched as possible. The case willl then house my main rig, heres the spec:
AMD Opteron 144 o/c from 1.80ghz to 3.15ghz
DFI Lanparty Ultra-D Motherboard
1gb GeiL PC3200 DDR Memory at 3-3-3-8 Timings
PowerColour X1800XT 512MB PCI-E o/c to 700/800
Western Digital Raptor 74gb inside Silentmaxx Enclosure
Silverstone Strider 450w PSU
Sony 16x DVD-RW
Silverstone Eudemon Temp/Fan Control Unit
Akasa Fan Control Jr
Laing DDC w/ Plexi Top
Alphacool NexXxoS XP CPU Block
EK FCX1900 GFX Block
Thermochill PA120.2 Radiator
Alphacool Repack Black Resevoir
All on 1/2" ID Tygon Hose
Alrighty, enough of the listing, I'll get on with a brief outline of what I did...
The radbox was obviously the first part to be completed, the panels were made from MDF, the joints made with 90' aluminium angle. I simply glued the angle bar to the MDF, clamped the thing up with a bit more glue, and then drilled and added the bolts for extra strength. Next day, I firstly marked and cut all the holes that I needed, a smaller one in the bottom, using the pa120.2 template so I can fix the rad in place whilst maintaining airflow, and secondly a larger hole in the top so the radiator could simply be dropped in. It would have been nice to just have holes for the fans, or maybe some mesh, but the way I constructed my box made this impossible - it was however very quick to do and very strong. Then I filled any imperfections and covered the thing in black sticky back plastic - this is a temporary measure, the box is still a little small, but I have enough room to clad the thing in black plexi once I get some - this should match nicely with the piano gloss black finish of the case! The feet of the case are simply discs of MDF cut and painted black, with some Quiet PC AcoustiFeet stuck onto the bottom (I had to cut the discs to give that extra bit of height to aid airflow).
Once the box was complete and the rad installed, I could then place the case on top and CAREFULLY decide where to drill the two holes to allow tubing to the rad barbs, these holes were then drilled and deburred. Thankfully these are the only two holes that are drilled in a visible place.
On the other side however I did drill 3 15mm holes, now although these are modifications to the case, they do however improve it for cable routing, so therefore I would not consider them a negative in the event of a resale. There was 1 drilled just behind the two intake fans, this was to allow me to connect the two 120mm Sharkoon fans on the PA to the Fanmate JR, and two further 15mm holes drilled into the off-side drive cages, again to allow for better cable management (AND CABLE MANAGEMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS PROJECT!!!)
As a nice little touch to the overall mod, I took an old 5.25" blanking plate and cut a nice oval hole into it and sprayed it black, so you can see the Silentmaxx enclosure, simillar to the repack res, I covered the front with some clear plexi, and used some hex-heads to fix it, I think it blends in nicely!
Believe me when I say it, there is A LOT of wires inside this case, and as many of you may know its not exactly the most spacious, so cable management has been a real headache!
It was then that disaster struck! ...it was a Sunday evening and I decided enough was enough for the day, so I stripped the mobo tray out with all the components on so I could use the PC during the week, I replaced the stock GFX cooler as normal, and the stock CPU heatsink...turned the PC on, came up to BIOS then went blank..........I ONLY FORGOT TO PLUG THE DAM HEATSINK FAN IN!!!!
DOH AND DOUBLE DOH!!! so I now have my superb clocking 144 fried to a cinder, wont work for love nor money. Damn! First time Ive made such a mistake in over (ok lets not go into that) how ever many years, but it happened. Thankfully though OcUK Members Market came to the rescue, and I managed to get hold of a nice Opteron 146, CABYE stepping (sweeet!)
Once the new CPU arrived it was fairly straight forward the blocks were re-installed, and the tubing cut and clamped, and the loop filled...however this loop is SO efficient, and so precise, the flow that the DDC pushes round is IMMENSE, bleeding this thing is a nightmare because the air bubbles dont get a chance to settle in the res, they're just pushed straight back round! Now the way I got round this was clever, its a trick I saw another guy do and it worked, all I did was place a piece of the blue filter material from an Eheim pump into the res (I tied it to some string so I could retrieve it) and this just gave that bit of resistance to make the bleeding process much simpler!
Thats about it really, like I said it was the cable tidying that took most of the time, that and placing the 4 cathodes correctly to give the correct amount of subtle lighting that I wanted - no blinding blue and UV here please!! its not a scene from The Fast and the Furious!!!
Ive probably missed something in this blurb, but if you got any questions do post them and I'll try n answer them, other than that, on with the pics..!
