Parvum Systems Project Magnus

[parvumsystems]

Rads and Fans

Sponsors/Support:

WE BACK WE BACK! on time for once a small update, but one of many...

ITS PEXON TIME WOO PEXON GO PEXON!!

So long story short, with such demand at work and focusing my time in much needed places (being slapped up if I stay at work too late).. I had to call in reinforcements. Doing this level of work was just not feasible. I suppose that's the great thing about having awesome friends. We've known James of Pexon PCs for some time now and each time we get around to hanging out its great fun. Roll on iSeries...

Moving onto his work of wonders; The job was to do exactly what I showed in one of the earlier posts. Different custom length wires then braided in MDPCX Shade 19. A very fiddly solder job indeed. The points are pretty close together on fans and this isn't helped when the wires are all black.

To make things even harder each fan had to run to a single 3pin header. Basically a daisy chain to allow us to run 16 fans from just 8 fan headers. The controllers being used here has more than enough power to do this:

Thank you very much mate and indeed I owe more than beer!

Next now that the fans are ready it was time to start fitting the radiators. See close ups of these beauties in one of my first posts. Using the XSPC AX series:

Had to connect the two rads together as they will both be working in the same loop. First try was a male to male and a male to female extenders. Sadly too short by about 5mm. Sad Panda

Considered searching for a differnt length extender but the problem with this build is the black chrome finish. Parts are much fewer than standard chrome finish for example.

Decided to go with a baby piece of acrylic tube. I suppose the extra work was a bit annoying but got the job done:

Installed 4 fans and two rads and got connected up. Managed to squeeze all 4 cables between two fans which was tight but neat!

Little test fit in the top of the case:

SADLY my friends... that is it. I started to fit the next two rads in the bottom of the case but ran into some design complications so have to figure a few things out before the next update.

My only other frustration here is the slight bow that's happening in the roof of the case due to the weight. This wont happen once the side panels are on as they will take all the weight but it's a bit annoying when building. May make a little reinforcement as the side panels wont be cut to the VERY end.

Thanks again for reading.

 

[parvumsystems]

Looking good. How much clearance have you got between the fans and the case? Will there be enough air flow? (I'm not doubting you)

Well at the moment actually not that much. I think as they have still pulled the air through the rad they will have done most of job and with the venting at the back. Considering adding venting slits into the white chamber below now as you have got me thinking. I'll have to see how it looks aesthetically first tho.

Just Wow,
I keep trying to find time to comment on this but mostly follow the build on my break and I'm not logged in
Absolutely loving it, just when I think it's great you do another thing to make me want one more.
I'm very approving of the solid tubing in straight lines (something I mentioned in email discussions with inquiries about my own Parvum )

One question/concern would be worrying about staining to the tubing while it's build into the case front, would it be easy to replace?

Keep the updates coming, Can't wait to see the next set of ideas you have.

Ah glad you found the time. It's nice we have so much interactivity here.

As for the front.. hmmm I get your concern. Considering I will use black oil coolant here also. However I guess I'd probably get the same issue throughout the build. I was considering using quick connects for the 4 points on the tubes at the front... well you got me thinking anyway

great looking build this is.

EPIC.

That is all.

Thank you both very much

 

[parvumsystems]

Well if you're planning on an opaque coolant then there shouldn't be much of an issue I'd say. Yeah it might not look the best when drained but filled the black stain on black coolant would be indistinguishable

Haha that's true. I don't even want to think about draining this rig.. ever. It certainly won't be practical I know that much.

 

[parvumsystems]

MORE RADS MORE FANS

Every time I check the updates in this thread and I see the scroll-bar reaching the bottom of the page I get a very very sad feeling.

Keep the pictures coming, it's truly awesome

Then this update will keep you a happy bunny:

Sponsors/Support:

HOLD UP...! ITS TIME AGAIN!!!

Going straight in with some adjustments to the white bottom chamber. Cable management was impossible to be clear when we did the drawing for Magnus as we really had no idea what we even going into the build. In turn however this gives a really nice and easy 'hands on' way to planwhat changes we want to make.

The old:

The NEW:

As with all cases Magnus is fully modular. It makes making changes like these a lot less stressful. Unscrew and slide the new panel in place:

New panel in and with the addition of two new cubes (you'll see what these are for shortly) and better cable holes:

More changes and this time on the bottom black panel. By using the technical drawing on the XSPC website we managed achieve this first time:

Time to install more of these beautiful fans:

A mirror now of the top chamber connections. Connecting the two rads together with acrylic tube:

Two more new cubes. These will correspond to the two I mentioned earlier:

This little frosted guy will be doing the work between the four cubes:

Installed:

Entire panel installed in the bottom of the case now:

The purpose of the frosted panel will become clear now. It basically acts much like the mid wall does in the body of the case and provides much needed extra strength. We did this as the rads are heavy even before they get filled with coolant. If you are wondering why frosted and not black. Frosted acrylic is in much less demand at work & this part of the case wont be visible:

Now you can see what the new cable management holes are for. All falling into place well:

Last for today we install the fifth and final 240mm radiator into the system:

The clearance and fit we are very happy with. Had people mention vibration issues from the fans/rads touching panels like this but had no issues in previous builds and no sound problems upon test run:

So we did get a bit more done on the build but no more time for Photoshop today so will end it here.

Love it? Hate it? Ideas? or even just want to show some love; VERY WELCOME!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!

 

[parvumsystems]

*jizz*

Nothing more to say ;D

Thanks.

Haha *hides*

I love you th----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------is much.

Like the good free marketeer that I am, I will demonstrate my love by showering you with money should this case make it to market.

We for sure plan to make this a possibility. Had to rebuild this one a few times and building it has been such fun

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes !

Seriously amazing build

Cool stuff
You mentioned some problems with weight.
What kind of acrylic do you guys use?
I think about using polycarbonate in my next project.
It looks like much better choice than normal acrylic.
Do you have any experience with it?
I looked it up on wiki and range of aplications is impressive, computer cases are also mentioned, but I also checked prices and its about 15-20% more expensive than perspex.
So I'd appreciate your opinion

Cheers

Due to the design of our current cases we have no problems with weight. The mid wall takes any bowing/bending problems due to weight or heavy components in the roof away. Also the shape we choose for the mid wall means it has no problems holding the motherboard and GPU weight etc.

As for polycarbonate we personally don't have experience machining it so I couldn't comment on how difficult or easy that may be.
What I can tell you is that we use 5mm thick acrylic but have choose in many places to use double layers. Both for aesthetics and for strength. Pair this with a very good structural design and you wont have any concerns with strength issues. Due to our background in signage we are very at home with acrylic which is why we choose it for Parvum.

 

[parvumsystems]

Cannot describe how happy it makes me to see all your components slotting and routing through the holes. I am too much of a neatness fan
The way the rads & fans are setup is divine.
I've just spent the best part of a day re-cabling a server and patch panels and to sit down and see such a clean build puts a smile on my face.

Ah glad to hear it! Servers and patch panels usually look like spaghetti junction! Decided while we had a bit more time on this build that everything would be exact and to length by a couple of mm. Really wanted to try make the cables a + point in the build rather than hide the mess

Its coming along nicely good work

Thanks

That tiny tubing between rads. Love it

It's like a wee baby tube

Haha pretty cool isn't it! Was a super fiddly to get in but happy with it. Hope it wont leak ;D

 

[parvumsystems]

Cable Management

Sponsors/Support:

HOLD UP, HOLD MY PHONE!!

Won't be able to annotate AS much this time. Pretty busy to say the least.

First up cutting a new cable management piece. Notice the V-bit 45° cut. This is vital to get the piece to actually fit.

Measure up:

Apply heat:

And bend:

Repeat to complete:

You can see now how the 45° was necessary:

Did another couple of tubes for the rear rad:

Installed the fans on the 360. Really cant get over how good these rads and fans are:

A little look in the case internal... suppose it's a bit anticlimax now half the stuff has been taken out:

Back to our old tricks. Really like physically marking stuff:

Then do it all again but with holes:

Installing the cables:

That would be it for today.

Thanks for checking in

 

[parvumsystems]

So tidy.

Loving it.

Looking great

Thank-you

 

[parvumsystems]

That is f'n sweet. Love the cable routing holes in that panel.

Thanks mate

By the way, I always wanted to ask you, where do you guys get those little 'cube connectors' from?
Do you make them or buy them and if buy, where?

Cheers

We actually have these made for this purpose now. However if you search google you'll find similar things. Some other companies make them in 10mm and other sizes.

We're in the process of a rollout of fibre infrastructure (ok, it had stalled for 10 months, progressing more now) so when I started (2 years ago) I made the purchase of a big 19" cabinet to replace a 6U wall mounted one... Thankfully my users wouldn't know where to start and dare not touch anything!

Anyway, digressing too much for this thread!

How many loops is this system heading towards? The acrylic 'blocks' used for spacing looked very similar dimensions to pumps... 4 pumps?!

Don't mine going off talking about other things. It's great to read differnt comments, changes things up. Keeps me from stressing about finishing this build haha.

Ahh the blocks are for something else, but that space will be taken up.

I have 4 pumps but honestly now due to the lack of space we somehow have in this case we may just go with two.

Agreed,

4 pumps would be outrageous
but I am hoping for at least a couple, and multiple coolant colours

Two loops! Two coolant colours. The theory is 360mm, 240mm & 240mm for GPUs. Then 240mm, 240mm & 240mm for the CPU, Mobo & RAM.
Should be suitably overkill.

 

[parvumsystems]

more tube

Sponsors/Support:

Hi folks!

Will let the photos talk. Managed to hook up the second GPU and the 240mm rad at the back. Basically 90% of the hard line work done now which means we can really start to speed things up here:

Decided to use acrylic tube to connect GPUs as we've used a lot of it. Thought the XSPC connecting system may have looked out of place:

Another pretty wild tubing run:

Hello third GPU; nice to see you:

Also connected up the back 240mm rad:

Will be a fuller update soon. Sorry for the small ones

 

[parvumsystems]

Those thin rads going to cope with those 3 cards? Looks awesome as usual. You should do build videos showing how you set up all the tubing.

As people have already cleared up you probably missed the 4 x 240mm radiators, a pair hiding each in the top and bottom chambers of the case. Should be plenty. Ok I'll try and get a video up

With such fin density, are there any fans you'd recommend/recommend staying away from?

I'd just grab anything that can move a lot of air really. I wouldn't say the fans I choose are 'perfect' but I had so many rads it wasn't as much of an issue to run fans pushing less air etc.
The more FPI the more that''ll help dissipate the heat but the denser that rad will become. You'll just need to be sure you've got something that can smash a nice amount of air though the dense fins

 

[parvumsystems]

Milling custom parts & more braid

Sponsors/Support:

Back with another update:

First up we draw... powered by Monster Energy!

A little while later the CNC can start the job. 5mm frosted clear acrylic. Tooling for this job 3mm single flute and 2.5mm single:

Understand this is a test for what will next be cut in the 25mm thick block I showed some updates ago:

At the time of photography the O Rings had not turned up. However they have now and I can let you know we are fitting no problems. We will cut the 25mm next.

Time to smarten up the D5's; XSPC pump tops and MDPC braid:

Next a small make over for the fans. Grabbed some little fan stickers from Nate over at E22. Nate has helped out as and when he can and was a great guy when we met him. Sadly we don't get to see enough of him. He has also sent us a few other useful things that finish this build nicely:

Before:

After:

Simple indeed but so necessary.

Braided the molex to mini-sata. Wasn't sure if there was a better option for this but needed something to power the slot loader so these seemed sufficient:

Next task was to make some kind of mount for both the bumps. A lot of people ask why we don't use other materials such as aluminum wood etc. For the most part anything we do cut we wait and cut while we are already cutting that colour of acrylic. For example we cut these frosted clear parts when we had to cut frosted accents for a customers case. It's realistically the most feasible way of getting a project log done while not interfering with to much of our workload.

We need something to sit on please:

You can sit on me!?

OK thanks:

Some little fix ups on the sata cables:

So that's all for the update this time around. Lot of small bits but they all have to be done so please stick with us!

I will leave you with a couple of photos from the Multiplay Insomnia i50 LAN event. Any questions please ask:

Thanks for reading. Please ask questions and leave your opinions!

 

[parvumsystems]

Wow, I should ask for updates more often

Great looking stuff, really clean look of the fans now.

Love the mount of the pumps, how does it do for noise dampening?

I'd never thought of the acrylic cutting being done when that colour was already being cut, makes perfect sense.

I couldn't go to Multiplay, no time and build's in pieces both in my head and my floor, nothing worth showing people

Haha I had actually planned on posting the update the night before so was all set to go and your comment just made it come even faster

Really happy with the fans, the stickers literally made a world of difference.

As for noise dampening; I've not tested it yet, however I will do soon. I may add some rubber or foam to the unit as it wont effect how I plan to use it. However it will be used in a pretty noisy environment so not the end of the world if I dont.

Yeah cutting it that way is the only real way to make project logs viable while at the same time prototyping future ones.

You'll have to make sure you go to the next one! They are moving venue actually.

my computer (nice shooping skills btw ) chilling next to your V, the amount of people who asked me about it whilst your mate wasnt there was insane, i think you need to put it for general sale!!!

Was great to see you lads again!

Also those pump stands are a great idea, when i do a dual pump loop, expect a little email

Haha was a stroke of luck that we could get that seat and have you doing some work for us , it will actually go for sale of course!

Was great to see you also mate. Will you be at the next one at the new venue? No worries mate Facebook or email open!

great update and i50 looks like it was great fun.

do you have a build log for the the V? looks lovely and interested in the lighting you have going on in there.

Thanks dude. i50 was awesome yeah, tied in some important meetings at the same time so cant complain!

We don't sadly it had to be start to finish in less than a week. I'll have more photos I did get a few along the way so I'll post some when possible.

also what is the qpad headset like?

The thing is amazing. Honestly best gaming headset I've used. It actually looks the part as well. Leather look finish with embroidered logo. Really looks far better quality than other gaming headsets for these reasons alone. I'd try to get the closed cup version possible.

That case looks incredible... Great job

Thank you mate

 

[parvumsystems]

Hardware fun and 8 SSDs

Sponsors/Support:

Back with more:

Little progress shot. Just installed the test plate in the bottom:

About 90% perfect, a few little changes needed. 1-2mm here and there:

More changes for the top section. Getting everything lined up for cables and more fittings:

Very advanced measuring systems:

Next up a little bit of a hardware show off. First is the LSI 9271-8i. Got to thank Tiny Tom Logan for this little beauty. We've had a great relationship so far and have been working on a few bits here and there. More on that coming so keep your eye out!

More importantly on top of this the cables... I had concerns about what fun it may be braiding sas to sata leads like these and Tom has saved the day again. He did a LOT of searching to find these perfect cables and they cost a pretty penny too. When he said I could have some I actually thought he was joking until they turned up. Awesome solution and no braiding for me. Happy days:

Next I suppose we would need something to go with this raid card, SSD heavy. I'm going to sleep on these tonight. Thank you Kingston!!! (please understand you don't just get given things like this for a simple project log, we are doing some work for them in exchange).

Got a couple of fan controllers in for the build. Great packaging and solid overall product. Used a bunch of Lamptron stuff and always very happy:

We decided to use a couple of the XSPC Photon tube reservoirs. Technically we could have made it work without them but it's a hell of a lot less stressful using them and they are great. Actually made from glass which is not something I've used before. Makes for a great feel and finish:

Amazing little mounting system. Very high quality. However not something we will use so removed:

Looking a little more angular now, perfect for the Parvum aesthetic:

Cut the new top section with the new changes:

Installing the reservoirs:

To be honest I didn't expect this to line up first time. I mean we are amazing and everything but this was a 'guess and hope' effort:

Finally installed the raid cards and cables:

Thanks for reading. Please leave feedback

 

[parvumsystems]

Love it
Any concerns about supporting the full res?

LSI card

love the photon res mouts too but as above, is it supported well?

i know the res alone is quite heavy with it being glass.

Sexy raid card ain't it! Wan't to make it fit the build a little more.. don't need any green PCB on show, however it is pretty hidden away.

As for the weight thing.. don't think it'll have any issues. The thread on the glass is pretty thick so I can't see that not holding the weight. The lip difference between the lid and the glass is about 2-3mm but on all sides, when you distribute the weight around the full circle the 5mm should really be super strong.
If you see smashed glass and coolant at i51 you'll know what went wrong.

God dam heart attack at that price

Haha you mean the price of the raid card?

id say once the tubing is in, that will support it a bit too, so it should be fine?

Yeah that should help out a little bit also

 

[parvumsystems]

Yes

I was following this log with anticipation, thinking about holding out on a Case until this was finished and went on general sale.

Thing is it's pretty big

I've seen the S1.0 Parvum cases which were extended at a cost, would there be the option to have one reduced?

It's a pricey little thing but awesome performance. Need to think about cooling it however!

This is an early prototype, we will be releasing a smaller version of this as the retail version. Probably to support a max of 1 x 360mm rad and 2 x 240mm rads. Probably losing a good 15cm or more in height.

 

[parvumsystems]

Two custom milled reservoirs

Sponsors/Support:

Favorite time again!

Really big section of the build out of the way now. Been preparing for this for a little while now over the last few updates. Had to really ensure everything was going to work first time. Due to the lack of any time and only being able to work on this build in personal time it really meant we had one shot.

As with anything first to tool path the drawing:

Set up the material. 25mm thick block of joy:

Warmup the CNC!

I think we are ready:

With the little help of some tools; fitting the 2mm cutter into one of the cones:

We are really in business now:

Removed the backing. This was to double check some depths. Even with a CNC as expensive as this there as still some variables. The material for one can vary slightly; even if its 0.1mm etc. Same goes for the bed. Currently we are using a MDF bed rather than a Medex bed. This means it can have a little play in bed height from one area to another. We are talking TINY amounts but these have to be taken into account when milling something like a reservoir:

Two reservoirs will be cut from the same block:

Another tool used for the job. Using 6mm cutters here to breeze through the block:

We actually shot a video showing a little of the cut process and the finished items. Will get that edited over Christmas and post it as soon as I can.

Total cut time for both pieces was about an hour and 40 minutes. Not bad all things considered. The 6mm feed speeds made fast work of the acrylic!

Some quick shots of the finished items:

Next update we will install the O rings, tap the reservoirs and give them a little test run. Rather fun that will be

Please check back soon. Will do our best to get the test run update up over Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a few days off at least! Try not to spend it ALL on the forums

 

[parvumsystems]

Custom Reservoir 1 Leak Test

Sponsors/Support:

DON'T WORRY! A little more update before Christmas


First up we install the O Ring. Very fiddly. The recess is the exact size however its hard not to ever so slightly stretch an O Ring when installing:

Next I'd like to highlight how we will mount this vertical reservoir/chamber. It was a nice little touch I think. Removing a section from the 25mm thick block large enough to fit the bolt head. Then installing the bolts to the reverse of the lid:

This shows the little technique nice:

With all the lid bolts installed we should be water tight:

With the G1/4" tap holes tapped we can install some XSPC fittings for a nice test. No problems with these threads, really chunky and solid:

Next the scary part of course. Couldn't have been more confident but with everything that you put this much time into there are always a few nerves on testing.

Test setup an old D5 with Alphacool top, just using one of the XSPC res' for ease of filling. Connected each chamber one to another with a bit of tubing just to test both chambers:

Filling with some coolant:

We have success!


Loop has been running for about 5 hours now with no problems. Tested it on its side and will leave vertical for some hours this evening.

Reservoir number two testing when we are back from Christmas. Should be able to post an update 30-31st along with a video we made of the full process and end result !

Happy Christmas.

 

[parvumsystems]

Looks awsome

Beautiful

MY GOD! That.. that... O_O

Awesome stuff, keep it coming!

Thank you all very much! Always so much support here
Update coming tomorrow. More Parvum cases will be loaded up in the store very soon also

 

[parvumsystems]

80% SYSTEM FITTED!

Sponsors/Support:

IT'S ALMOST 2014 UPDATE!

First and most frustratingly with any of my builds, we strip the system back to almost stage 1. Even more frustratingly we will have to this AGAIN before the build is complete:

Replaced bottom panel with frosted so we can pump a nice amount of light though the bottom section of the case. We fitted the long res:

A really nice thing to see when you use CAD and CNC machines... when you plan something about 5 months ago and finally get to use the hole you cut

Next we install the LARGE reservoir! We had to remove most things to actually get this in:

Cable routing for pumps:

A lot of the system installed, pumps in place etc:

Top mounting for res:

With GPUs in for a test and some pretty awesome shots! No wasted space:

That's your lot for now folks. Super happy with how it all looks with the reservoirs in.

See you all again soon!