Pimp My Rig - TJ07 aka. "Project: Open-Source"

hughythomas · 4 Mar 2012 at 22:13

Bugger - maybe I got confused some!

I tried to cut the plastic 'web' between the two lines and fit it in the mobo's CPU 8-pin header...would that have caused a red alert captain?

hughythomas · 5 Mar 2012 at 00:04

colinmcr said:
Do you think it would look neater to route the tube through like those plumbing 90deg upvc elbows (or similar)? They are rigid and would give nice straighter runs. Although they are pretty thick and usually that horrible grey colour.

EXACTLY what I was thinking a second ago. Mine looks rubbish atm cos of the long winding tubing IMHO. The best part of this rebuild (in terms of aesthetics) is between the CPU block and GFX card because of the rotarys and short length of straight tubing...I want to expand this paradigm to the rest of the loop.

In light of this, I will mess around with the it tomorrow and grab a couple more rotary fittings to connect the CPU INLET (right in pics) to the left side of the EK Resevoir using these connectors. I will re-route the pump out to the right side of the EK resevoir - will this work OK? I'm gonna try to do a pic to explain but will have to wait till tomorrow after work.

Will definitely also grab a gfx card backplate in the next order from ocUK (and thank you for the heads up - I didn't know aboot these!).

Anything else lads?

hughythomas · 5 Mar 2012 at 09:58

stueng said:
compression fittings would look much better?

also.. you say you are new to DIY but your work bench says otherwise

Sorry - it's the quality of the pictures. I am using 8x compression fittings elsewhere but agree that in the main compartment the use of some would be beneficial from a looks point of view.

I have been using the Koolance 1/2" - 5/8" matte black fittings but can't seem to find stock of them anywhere which is frustrating. Might have to bite the bullet and get some Bitspower ones. My wallet will never forgive me!

As for the bench - I had to take everything over to my parents and utilise my dad's garage

I really am a DIY noob!

hughythomas · 5 Mar 2012 at 12:58

Ordered 4x Bitspower fittings for the main compartment - that should help with the overall look of the build

hughythomas · 7 Mar 2012 at 19:27

Hi guys - sorry for the slow update I have been busy working away on this rig the last few days.

I have tried to incorporate as much feedback as I can into the rebuild and have been waiting for new parts in various different orders to turn up at my flat.

This is just a quick update to show you what I have accomplished. It is still obviously a work in progress but I have the last few compression fittings turning up tomorrow so I am hopeful the whole thing will be finished in the next day or so! Woooo! Bring on the Skyrim!

Did a neat little bid of modding to my TJ07 allowing me to re-route the pump's output tubing straight down to the XSPC RX480:

A day or so old photo of the 'other side' - I'm thinking a LOT more aboot cable management this time!

How she looks currently:

Yes, I know I'm not 100% done yet but seriously it's close! What you don't know is that I have attached the backplate to my GTX580 now and cut all the tubing to the right size! Also, now that I've got the CORRECT 8-pin extension I have routed the CPU power behind the motherboard

I JUST NEED THOSE GOD DAMN COMPRESSION FITTINGS!!!! lol!

hughythomas · 8 Mar 2012 at 11:21

Got my Bitspower fittings through this morning. I ended up having to re-route the tubing again (sigh) as I realised that when Keplar comes out I would have found it difficult to deplumb the rig had I gone with the tightly knit small cuts that I had hoped for (looks more pro imho) - ah well!

Just a quick update to show the difference Bitspower can make!

Thanks for the kind words guys! I really hope I can finish this tonight/tomorrow!

Last couple of things I'm thinking now:

Silverstone do a 5.25" bay drive which has 2xUSBs, slimline optical drive space & 2.5" SSD rack. This could be perfect in cutting down the clutter which will inhabit my front panels. Also, I want black screws as the normal metal ones stick out like a sore thumb in my opinion!

Thoughts?

hughythomas · 8 Mar 2012 at 15:10

Yer shame they're only USB 2 though...

Whereaboots could I mount my SSD then? I was thinking on the side of the 5.25" bays possibly?

hughythomas · 9 Mar 2012 at 10:24

Oops! Thanks for pointing this stuff out!

Yup - haven't got round to switching the outlet of GFX yet. Been messing around SO much with tubing to try and find the right setup. Likewise, I have been getting order deliveries of fittings here and there all week so it's been tough to get everything where it is now (hence the slow progress!).

PaulyD - I tried your suggestion a few days ago (as I think it looks neater that way too!) but the proximity of the backplate for the graphics card was causing issues with the tubing. I will try it again though as I have a bigger variety of different angled fittings now to play with!

Thanks again for all your suggestions guys. The moniker of this build is Project "Open - Source" afterall!!!

Tom

hughythomas · 12 Mar 2012 at 11:59

Sweet - she's now up and running!

There are a few problems but I will get those after some pictures of the nearly-finished build:

Sorted loop out now - thanks for spotting Avathar!

Pulse modding are the dogs!

With tinted side panel on (forgive the reflections!):

There she blows!

I PROMISE to grab a decent dSLR to take some photos with as I know these ones are crap.

I'm really pleased with the build (and thank you all for your continuing contributions!) but there's a few niggly issues which I am trying to iron out at the moment.

Biggest problem thus far is my BigNG not playing ball with Win 7 x64. As soon as I install the drivers for it (really old software written in 08 for XP), if I restart the computer Win 7 simply BSODs on boot. I'm seriously considering sacking off the BigNG in favour of something more up to date.

Suggestions?

Also, only one of the fans on the roof radiator is working currently? I'm not entirely sure why but I'm planning on swapping them out for the fans already attached to my old PA120.3 which was replaced with the RX480, OR, buying 3x Scythe GTs...Obviously the former will be first on my list due to monies...

And finally, ripping out the front panel USB panel was helpful for pump mounting but I'm seriously missing it already! I need USB3.0 connectivity ideally so might have to get creative with the FP36. Obviously, I would need to re-seat my Laing DDC onto this panel - and I don't even know if the FP36 is compatible with the TJ07?

Silverstone also offer the FP58 which would sort out my DVD drive sticking out like a sore thumb (and enable me to slam a Blu-Ray laptop drive in = win).

It's a shame the TS03 isn't USB 3.0 compatible - that would hands down be the answer to all my problems as I don't have any 5.25" drive bays spare (because of pump mounting).

hughythomas · 12 Mar 2012 at 15:14

Ah brilliant - that product looks perfect.

As for the drive bay then, I can simply grab that stealthed slot-loading slimline optical product (which looks brilliant imo!). Wonder if ocUK stock it...

Also - anyone got any recommendations for an internal fan controller? Ideally with some sort of sensor on it (like the BigNG) so that when Im gaming the fans spin up and then when on desktop they spin down?

Your thoughts, comments and suggestions as always are greatly appreciated!

hughythomas · 14 Mar 2012 at 08:51

Nice one Avathar - Aquaero 5 LT looks spot on.

Gonna need to wait a few weeks untill pay day before splashing out on the other bits I need to complete this rig.

Will try to sort out my fan problems today/tonight by swapping them around. Funny thing is, even with 2x fans not working on my roof rad, the temperatures are already around 7c lower than previously!

God bless XSPC RX480!

hughythomas · 26 Mar 2012 at 20:48

Just a quick update today - was payday recently so I decided to splash out and grab the extra parts I need to edge the build closer to perfection!

Got the following through:

Really neat Silverstone slot-loading 5.25" laptop DVD/SSD mount:

What I had before:

I really like this Silverstone product as it combines two of my previously used 5.25" bays into one AND has the added benefit of matching the look up of the front panel:

Back all stealthed up with the black screws I got through:

Hows it looking guys?

I'm waiting on another fan controller too as I got fed up with the BigNG. Gone for an Alphacool Heatmaster I. Hopefully it'll do the trick!

hughythomas · 8 Apr 2012 at 14:11

Just another update - I've had the system up and running for about 2 weeks now and everything's great but the temperatures.

I think the main culprit causing my high temps is lack of flow. With this in mind I have some 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD fittings/tubing which I am going to use to replace the 1/2" - 5/8" Koolance stuff. It's a pain but I am going to be building a second LAN rig on custom water so I can re-use all the fittings...

Also, the Alphacool Heatmaster is way too complicated for me to understand - I'm gonna stick with the BigNG (as I can actually mount that on the side of the 5.25 bays unlike the Alphacool). Back goes the Heatmaster.

Gonna get started on this rebuild again tomorrow.

Will post some pictures up of the changes. So close now!

EDIT: Lack of USB on the front panel is driving me insane, unfortunately this is where I mounted the pump so I am going to have to re-think the whole build. I have ordered up a front panel USB3.0 3.5" bay device from Silverstone along with a new Motherboard tray that I will powdercoat black (I am going to move to a bay reservoir and mount the pump inside). Just waiting for pay day...