PARVUM i1.0 Prototype

[parvumsystems]

Thank you to EK Water Blocks, ASUS ROG UK, Silverstone Technology, Samsung, Nvidia, Bitspower and of course JR23 for collaborating on this project.


For a long time we had been planning a new ITX build, getting parts ready and running through new case ideas, but the daily pressures of keeping Parvum moving forwards stood in the way of devoting any serious work hours to a project. However that very rapidly had to change when one of our work rigs started showing serious signs of old age. With a sketchy RAID0 array and everything bordering 5 or so years old the best way forwards was to quickly round up all the fresh parts we had already collected and get a rig together. That being said, our office rigs have some serious standards to live up to!

So JR23 was summoned to Parvum HQ at the soonest available opportunity and instructed to bring some new case designs along with him. We had already discussed this build a while back, penciled to use an old Maximus VI Impact with EK monoblock and even drafted some layout concepts. Rather than waste this fresh thinking we picked it back up, threw in some fresh hardware and reworked it all into an elegant build that wouldn't be too time consuming.


Case - Parvum i1.0 Prototype
CPU - Intel i7-6700k
Motherboard - ASUS ROG Strix Z270i
RAM - Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x8GB 3866C16
GPU - EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti
SSD - Samsung 960 Pro 1TB x2 RAID1
PSU - Silverstone SX800-LTI SFX 800W Titanium

Fans - EK Vardar F1-120 x6
CPU Block - EK Supremacy-MX
GPU Block - EK FC Titan X Pascal - Acetal
Radiator - EK PE240 x2
Pump/Res - EK XRES 100 SPC-60 MX x2
Tubing - EK HD 10/12mm - Acrylic
Fittings - Bitspower Deluxe White (C47)

Most unusually this time we start with the case rather than hardware. Everything had been measured and modeled ready for the build so the case could be cut straight off with no pass through's to add in or mounts required.

Ice cream!

May have noticed by the odd M.2 placement that this isn't an old V Impact and that's the main reason it got swapped for this one. A 1TB 960 Pro in the back...

...and another 1TB 960 Pro in the front of this awesome little Strix Z270i.

While everything theoretically should've just fitted together obviously, mistakes were made, and the radiators didn't match up exactly with the drawings for the case. But thankfully enough rotaries can quite literally solve any problem. So rather than joining the rads in the middle we dropped below and joined the bottom port on each, sneaking around the other port.

Quickly checked the midwall fitted properly with our new fitting fix, crisis avoided, new side panel not necessary.

Fans! Very slow ones, and lots of them.

Without wanting to add a fan controller we didn't have or overload the board with loads of fans and pumps joining all 6 fans together was the neatest option, first they were all cut to the same length.

Then the unsightly wires on the front fans heatshrinked black. Vardar's now have all black wires, that's how long we've been planning this for!

All the PWM and Tach wires were removed as they will be used on a fixed voltage directly in a PSU peripheral connector.

A + and GND wire soldered on to all the fans ready for sleeve and heatshrink.

Quick check that the pumps fitted neatly, no problems here.

Small tube between the inlet and outlet of the two pumps, configured in series for ultimate work rig redundancy.

And the little board prepared earlier screwed down to the midwall.

With the board screwed down we finally had the chance to see it on it's feet having built from the side panel upwards.

CPU of choice being a 6700k, all the threads ready for occasional nesting and rendering duties.

So that wraps up our first day on this incredibly high speed build, already looking very different from any other Parvum, the first triple white and an eerily simple midwall with very little need for cable routing. Let us know your thoughts on this little guy so far! J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Interesting layout, what are the dimensions of this case compared to your other ITX cases? However big it is an ITX with room for proper cooling has definitely got my attention...!

It sits right in the middle of our production ITX cases in terms of overall size, the footprint being much closer to an X2.0 than anything else. Good going considering it has the biggest radiator support of them all with 2x 40mm 240's.

Furia - 73 x 320 x 335mm - 7.8l -69%
X2.0 - 250 x 250 x 310mm - 19.4l -23%
Rocket - 243 x 322 x 297mm - 23.2l -8%
i1.0 - 235 x 307 x 350mm - 25.2l
VEER1.0 - 267 x 307 x 357mm - 29.3l +16%
Asteroid - 275 x 337 x 350mm - 32.4l +29%
Manta - 245 x 426 x 450mm - 47.0l +87%

All that being said it is very specific to this exact build with the perfect width to fit an EK blocked reference Nvidia card and no extra space, anywhere, so it would most likely have to grow a little bit closer to the VEER1.0 to make a sensible production case. J.

 

[parvumsystems]

Thanks for all the replies so far guys.

Once again it was another very sunny spring day in Essex and with the prospect of new hardware arriving in the post we made a very early return to the warehouse.

Nothing like the morning light on a new Ti.

But before JR23 spent the entire morning on glamour shots of the card, creeping slowly back to the usual studio style we were interrupted by DPD with many fresh toys!

A much needed CPU block, the only part missing from our watercooling stash as we anticipated using the old Impact and monoblock and a very mighty 800W Titanium SFX PSU.

Which didn't quite fit in as planned. It was evident from the product photos that the fan grill protruded every so slightly so we cut a hole for that to sit in, which it did, however the screw heads holding it in place also stood proud. Didn't need it anyway

Fans tested with the PSU and new shiny RAM installed.

And that seemed like a great opportunity to tidy the ever growing pile of boxes from our work area ready for tubing and sleeving tools and go get some lunch! J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

No time was wasted fitting the card along with the 24-pin. After JR23 changed PSU in his R1.0 build we had a huge amount of wires to pick through, re-pin and make up a new set. All sleeved in MDPC-X shade 19.

Unlike in the back this time around fittings and routing were going exactly according to plan

So very quickly bending commenced.

The first was a very straight forward 90°.

...and the second could have easily been the same however we decided to switch it up and take a slightly more direct path.

The first attempt was good, however, we felt it looked too parallel, almost as if it was unintentionally off.

So next time we exaggerated the angle a little more, paying slightly more attention to lengths each side of the bend.

Success!

Tubing to the CPU block was next up, we tried a few different combinations of fittings, contemplated slight bends and even tried something different on each side.

But the obvious option prevailed. Continuing the loose angles while mirroring the pair of DIMMs, pumps, fans...

All starting to piece together now. J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Thanks guys!

Love the dual res layout. Any reason why you didn't stand a bigger res vertically? Make tube runs neater?

Well we didn't know exactly how or what configuration we would use them, but having two meant we could run dual loops, serial for redundancy or parallel for super low RPM. That just seemed like a great place for them when drawing the case, filling out the inevitable void under the graphics card without wasting any space. Good for hiding and routing cables around too.

 

[parvumsystems]

Sorry for the big gap since the last update, someone decided to run away with all the photo's and then take his daily PC apart!

Anyway, right back to it. Where were we?

Yes, building up cables!

Being the first and only Parvum with a front mounted PSU that made tackling the cables quite a unique task so we took a unique approach.

We wanted to achieve a really organic form, a contrast to the harsh straight lines of the loop but still purposefully direct.

Enough admiration for the moment, prep for coolant!

With the case completely together you can see just how exactly the GPU fits inside

I'm so used to seeing a PSU fan on the side, this just isn't right anymore.

Mayhems Pastel white incoming! Both little reservoirs filling simultaneously was great fun.

**coolant intensifies**

Well this was the end of our 2-day build, but a little package from Slovenia arrived today... J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Great cable management... very tidy build mate

This is very lovely build!

Many thanks. Got some benchmarks from testing up next.

I'm 50/50 on the cables being on show. Can't believe you've teased us and not showing the coolent all the way through. Also repping the white coolent here.

Yeah I suppose if cables on show isn't your thing then any of our other cases is a pretty good bet

 

[parvumsystems]

Decided to pull the 1080Ti out recently. Upgraded the block to the new EK motherboard block so will have a post together soon. In two minds on the GPU plan currently.

 

[parvumsystems]

Although we had it running good there is always just a little more to unlock and aesthetic tweaks to be made, so we pulled it all apart ready for the latest Slovenian care package to be installed.

Bye bye copper/acetal!

One moment please RAM, we'll get back to you soon.

Right, new 7700k for extra ghz! The 6700k was benching at 4.9ghz an exceptional sample but some very rushed screening was showing potential for 5.1ghz with this new guy.

And here it is, the new Strix 'i' (totally not impact) block.

Preparing the Impa... i

Here we go now, pace is building.

...and a new GPU block to match! Another Titan block rather than the Ti or FE variants because the hefty new terminal definitely wouldn't fit in our mm perfect chassis. Wishful thinking also, we may find an extra 1GB IC on the warehouse floor to turn this into a Titan one day!

Now everybody, remember there is a fan header right under the block, erm, we didn't and we were using it. But if you remove the Wi-Fi header and try hard enough, it can be done. (mileage may vary on finger size)

As if by magic though, we managed to get the pumps in under the block.

Some ~7mm longer tubes were needed to make the extra distance.

Also got a proper EKWB backplate in that fancy nickel, very shiiiiny RGB enhancement.

We know some of you are eagerly awaiting those coolant shots, well maybe the tease has gone on long enough.

Getting real close now! J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Those blocks look super sweet

That looks absolutely beautiful!

sweet build, subbed

totally stunning build

Thanks for the support everyone.

Had JR down and tinkered a bit with the rig. Benched some 1080Ti's but all pretty bad clockers. An upgrade for the RAM did some somewhat wonderful things. Will update soon!

 

[parvumsystems]

We return for another round! i1.0 Prototype-I has been performing very well and with the monoblock fitted it feels complete, definitely the best system in the office for a quick game of PUBG. So instead of cannibalizing it's parts and swapping in a different motherboard we will be building i1.0 Prototype-II.

Each decision on the original was focused around keeping it as small and simple as possible, now we have a little more time it will be taking the opposite route. Just the same concept but a very different approach...

Furia - 73 x 320 x 335mm - 7.8l -76%
X2.0 - 250 x 250 x 310mm - 19.4l -40%
i1.0-I - 235 x 307 x 350mm - 25.2l -22%
VEER1.0 - 267 x 307 x 357mm - 29.3l -10%
i1.0-II - 285 x 320 x 355mm - 32.4l 0%
Manta - 245 x 426 x 450mm - 47.0l +45%

Getting a little wider but for good reason a 30mm acrylic plate through the center houses the reservoir (20mm thick internally), the motherboard, active cooling for the rear M.2 drive and the rear side of the CPU socket as well as all the distribution of cables and coolant. Front and rear chambers are also a little wider giving extra fan clearance and room for a wider GPU.

The PSU has moved to the back with an EK PE 240mm in it's place out front. Then surrounding the PSU in the rear chamber will be a second PE 240mm and an additional PE 120mm leaving just enough room to route the PSU cables. The dual SPC pumps will be dropped in favour of a single D5 REVO but the GPU and motherboard block will remain in parallel.

We collected the 30mm polished acrylic block yesterday and all of the stainless steel screws are due next week so building will commence very soon!

J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

With the designs finished they went straight onto the next white drawing on Thursday, along with some X2.0 parts, S2.0 accents and some experimental S3.0 parts.

DANK PIZZA!

Getting the offcuts down to very small pieces lately, just the occasional window left which make awesome little pieces to cut inlays or KFC plates.

The entire case done!

So time to move onto the 30mm block!

After cutting all the features on the rear side it was parted out and then pressed into a negative milled from MDF to add all the features on the front.

Definitely the most complicated single piece we've cut with the possible exception of MATE and there are still some elaborate secondary operations to go so it's all been sent away with JR23 to get finished up. Lots more to come very fast!

J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

There would have been an update yesterday but so much work was put in there was no time, straight off to sleeps. First task was drilling out the re-purposed monarch X2 to 3.1mm, tight clearance for M3.

Then of course countersunk to get the screws flush.Because there were features on both sides of our block the acrylic will be tapped instead of the copper.

Fitment check looking OP.

The positions for the coldplate were marked accurately with 2.5mm end mill but not taken to full depth as the collet wouldn't fit inside the slot so they were all drilled after.

M3 tapping for the motherboard and M.2 coldplate taken care of.

Because the plate was 30mm with 5mm lids in both sides that left enough thickness to a fill port along the top edge. The inside panel was added to mark it out and the lids on either side to strengthen the part while drilling. First 5mm, then 8mm...

...finaly 11.7mm.

Small CS added to help the thread lead in nicely.

And tapped to 1/4" BSPP

Quickly tapped the other 100 or so #6-32 UNC holes and 6 1/4" and it's ready for the nice clean work!

Nitrile rubber o-ring cord all cut and bonded.

Each o-ring was greased and fitted, mainly to get that really nice glossy look through the clear acrylic and help it all slide together.

Our modified Monarch part going in with the original o-ring and new M3x12mm stainless screws.

And just the same with the Supremacy coldplate. We didn't use the internal EVO jet plate parts instead opting for a much simpler design which left more material behind to screw the lids onto the opposite side.

Pt.2 and 3 following on as soon as we can upload them ​

 

[parvumsystems]

Just like that it's all done, pic heavy this time, enjoy.

...and the front side.

Just needs a motherboard to complete, intro. ASUS Z370i Strix...

Still more to go!​

 

[parvumsystems]

Here. It. Is. Piece by piece.

Guess we do have time for a little look around our complete case!

Lots more inbound soon!

J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Your i1.0 Prototype doesn't look like it's resolved this design issue? Anyway, I'm not looking to **** on your parade as you can clearly see I'm a big Parvum fan... I just wanted to give you some constructive feedback as I'd be all over another Parvum ITX case if it didn't have the sharp edges. I bought the S2.0 from a guy on here so not sure if that was a special request he made or if you did the chamfered top lid as standard?

Anyway, keep up the great work.

None of the retail cases have a chamfered top panel by default. On earlier cases (S1.0's and S2.0's) when a customer requested two layers all over the top one would have ordinarily been chamfered and the bottom one made from the accent colour.

When we added the R1.0 and L1.0 which always have two top layers the way the panels meet each other changed slightly. The additional top layer sits behind a larger front panel so that the front is one continuous piece and when viewed from the side the accent colour shows an undisturbed line around the side panels. We haven't done much chamfering to panels since all the aesthetic revisions last year. It's not something that we will likely add to any design by default again but we do have the tools to cut them still if required.

 

[parvumsystems]

The shipment has been located and we now have all the required watercooling supplies to complete our evil project, I mean, project. Just an ordinary project.

No time for that unboxing hype, time to equip the blackest radiators with the whitest fans and test fit everything.

As with every other piece of the build we got Stainless screws for that task too.

Perfect!

So onto the radiators in the back too...

Total whiteout on the front!

And the beautiful D5-REVO to try out also.

We don't yet have the correct screws to mount the D5, however it's looking pretty close. It may need a little material removing from the feet to the front pipe 100% true but that should be a fun job.

The test fit all went very nicely, everything accurately coming together. When the pump screws roll in that will get set correctly, then fan/pump wires planned out and then taken apart to execute those.

J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Yesss, 5 M5x20mm screws for the pump!

In the first test fit the pump out which drops down into the rad didn't quite align, the pump was about 2.5mm proud. So while extracting the captive screws from the bracket it also has some material removed from the feet as well as hollowing out all of the webbing from the bottom section to give it a more floating look.

Pump all installed, now lining up much better. Exactly where the discrepancy came from we aren't sure, maybe just the tolerance on the radiator, pump and fitting stacking against us.

With a pump now securely attached everything was ready for a little leak test and coolant preview. With so much of the block covered by components and radiators it made sense to do it out of the case with little bridges for each set of ports.

Filling was simple with the top port and the opacity of pastel white looks epic again.

All is well after a day now, onwards!​

 

[parvumsystems]

Some progress from early last week before JR dropped this to go work on his R1.0, first testing all the correct wires were connected together as we splice all of the fans. The 3 from the rear and front 2 form one set powered directly from the PSU and linked to the motherboard via PWM for control.

Tubes cut and mounted, joining the rear side and radiators to the midwall.

The stretch of wires across to the individual fan will be partly visible through the top grill hence they were sleeved in white to blend in.

Because the back side of the front rad will be clearly visible through the transparent midwall the wire from the left hand fan was passed under and out together with the right hand fan wire.

So when observed from the front or rear of the build the fans are in the same orientation and free of little wires.

With those neatly routed it was time to trim the length and crimp both front fans together. These will plug directly into the bottom motherboard header and take power from the board just to minimize the amount of cables passing through the midwall and also allow this rad to be easily removed.

Fast PWM check from the Aquaero 5LT.

After that the pump was sleeved, the +12V and GND trimmed and terminated with ATX crimps ready for a 6-pin AUX connector and the tach/PWM diverted across the motherboard.

Front 2 fans added to the rear 3, again with +12V and GND directly to 6-pin AUX and PWM out to the motherboard.

All bundled and routed ready to fit the front panel. The 3 wires (PWM from rear fans and power for the pump) tuck inside of the front fan frame and get trapped in place, leaving the unlseeved white wires in the tiny space between the front panel and rear fans completely hidden.

The partly visible side of the rear fans...

All the ATX terminated power cables ready to go when the PSU arrived, for now bundled in heatshrink to protect our nice polished midwall. So shiiiiiny.......

Front side all wired, tubed and ready! Front tube sitting just right with the modified REVO mount.

And this is why so much work went into 7 fans, just two PWM wires are visible from the back side of the build, neatly sleeved heading to the motherboard.

Hyped for PSU and cables!!!!!

That's us for now, we collected the PSU and CPU today so more updates tomorrow!

J.​

 

[parvumsystems]

Watch this space intently, all will be revealed very soon!

J.​