Project: Indigo

Right then,

I have a TONNE of images that all need resizing and uploading for you, but i thought i'd leave these here as a little teaser :p









Everything was done at stock just to check temps and that it was still working properly, ill overclock later :D
 
These are the pics taken after the preparation (flushing, fan spraying, etc)



test fitting the stuff before making it permanent in the case :)




The TJ07 power, reset, led stuff - i only connected the power button as that all i need (mobo has power, reset, etc buttons on it)




Just testing the flans to see if they survived their spraying and werent hitting the rad or anything






I know the fittings are all different, but this area is hidden so i went for cheaper fittings :)


This is the pump mounted in its anti-vibration housing :p




That blue block you see is a little foam that i sprayed blue so that the rad would sit properly in the lower compartment and it also reduces vibrations :D




The old rig to strip down, clean, and fit blocks to :)






The 6970 2gb that will be fitted with waterblock














I was shocked when removing this cooler - it is only attached with 4 screws around the GPU!


You can see that only 4 out of the 8 ram chips had ANY contact with the cooler! :mad:




I think ive worked out that this is a VTX3D 1gb generic cooler that only screws around the gpu so that it can fit multiple cards and only cools 4 vram chips (i.e. 1gb version of this card)


well, you can really see where budget cards cut back on - good thing all this is being replaced with a waterblock! :D










Alphacool waterblock fitted - and what a handsome beast! :D




I was dissapointed with the fact that the "backplate" doesnt cover the whole card:confused: - the point was to cover up the red pcb :p


anyway - now need to strip the rest of the components




I really love these msi mobos - the colour scheme, system stability and features are just incredible for the price :D






you really notice how much the d-14 hides when you take it off :p














The EK Supreme HF waterblock mounted


Considering that EK is meant to be a market leader, i was pretty shocked with the quality of the machining withing the block - it is very rough :(




Test fit when put into the case :)




I just love the way waterblocks look :D








I think the colours go quite well together :D


 
Mounting the hardware in the case - starting to get butterflys :D










OMG - is this really going to happen? my own watercooled rig? *weep*


at first i thought this bend was too tight but upon further testing - its fine :)




a small overfill of the res - but my heart stopped when i saw the fluid dripping into the system

:eek::eek::eek:


I rocked the back on its back side to remove all the air from the cpu area




start of leak testing *heart racing*






got bored of sitting there so tried to take some artsy shots




Leak testing went for 12 hours before i was confident that there wasnt going to be any leaks




never noticed that switch before...


These guys make some great accessories for this case :)










Leak testing a bit more with one fan on to stop the pump over-heating :p










I was a little dissapointed with the mayhems as it looked like a dark blue online... and in real life it is

more like a violet












That is how the rig currently stands at the moment

I still need to do:
- LED light strip (thanks Tealc for your advice)
- fit perspex on doors
- work out how to cable manage all this mess (no cable routing TJ07!?)

and i am really annoyed at a competitor - i ordered a tj07 acrylic door panel (ocuk dont stock :( ) and

that was on easter weekend and they STILL have not delivered!!! i cant believe i actually paid for 3-5

working day delivery!!! :mad::mad::mad:

In other news: i am SO happy with the rig as it is:
- the colours work really well
- the temps (24 idle, 33 load)
- so quiet as i have the AP-15's at ~9V and the PWM fans at min speed
:D :D :D


When the other stuff is done, ill be back with some good pics (not with the shop camera :p)
 
Looks great!

RE cable management, have you considered keeping the bottom 5.25s free to bunch up and unused cables?

If your PSU has the option, you could also buy short cables for it
 
Looks great!

thanks, your opinion means a lot to me :)

RE cable management, have you considered keeping the bottom 5.25s free to bunch up and unused cables?

the only thing in the bottom 5.25 is the front panel and fan controller - so i guess i could

If your PSU has the option, you could also buy short cables for it

cant unfortunately


To be honest, the cable management problem isnt about where to store unused cables, it is where to pass them up from the lower compartment without them being seen!

at the moment they are coming around the back, but i wont be able to put the back door on!!!
 
Nice, hoow many photos man??

I'd love to see what it looks like in real life, the photos prob don't do it justice. Prefer the blue over the purple tho :)
 
I have a nice update for you today.

I must say a MASSIVE thank you to Annie Leung of Kingston Technology who has provided some Hyper X SSD's :D



So, lets have a look at them then!





The first thing that is evident is the superb presentation - they are card boxes with nice vivid print and a really solid feel









When you open the box you are immediately greeted by a very handsome brushed aluminium drive - it really is fantastically crafted!



Even the foam padding the drive sits in is cut with the HyperX logo, Kingston have made this feel like a really premium product - and it is!







This SSD is the "Bundle" version and includes: Blue Sata cable, CD, Screwdriver Pen and a 2.5" Usb 2 Enclosure with the same brushed aluminium feel


The Enclosure is very simple to use, simply flip the slider to "unlock", slide off the back of the housing, slide in your HyperX ssd, and close it all back up :D






A little peak into the enclosure


The Pen Screwdriver really is a cute novelty, it is a metal Kingston-branded "pen" that houses three screwdriver bits which hold in the end of the pen




You know that black foam i was telling you about earlier? well they have cleverly housed the 3.5" adapter in there too!








The drive feels very well built - almost tank-like which is poles apart from the OCZ Vertex's
that these are replacing in this project (and are both currently in RMA :rolleyes:)




The 3.5" adapter is also made of anodized aluminium and really fits in well with the theme of the drive








Pros:
- Really well built
- very useful accessories
- Fantastic warranty
- good customer service
- backed by a quality brand


The only "con" i can think of at the moment is only very insignificant and really has nothing to do with the actual drive: considering the drive is well over 500MBps in both read and writes, i think a USB 3.0 enclosure should have been bundled rather than a USB 2.0 one

One point that came up with these Kingston HyperX SSD's is what is the difference with the normal one and the 3K version? Well, from what i understand, the "normal" HyperX uses cells that can be rewritten 5,000 times, where as the 3K version uses cells that can be rewritten 3,000 times.
Before you think that the 3K version is worse, the performance of the drive is exactly the same; the only significance the 3000 cycles has is that it reduces the drives life from about 11 years to about 8 years - so really the point is moot. I think it is good that they have released an updated version at a lower cost with the same incredible performance :D

As someone who has used OCZ, Crucial and now Kingston drives, I can really see the difference in how Kingston excels in: Packaging, Bundled Accessories, Warranty, After-sales Care and firmware updates - a truly premium product!

If you'd like your own HyperX SSD: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produ...atid=2101&sortby=nameAsc&subid=2103&mfrid=106

I have been asked by Annie to post up some shots of the SSD in the computer, and i want to ask you guys where you think the best place to mount it is :D
 
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This is a few pics of some other cool bits a pieces that ive been doing with my time lately (project related)

1) Variable LED Lighting Strip

I wanted lighting in the case but i wanted it so that i could turn it up and down depending on what im doing:

gaming - bright
late night - down
movie - off

I dont really like getting software to do my stuff as i regularly reinstall windows and would rather get it done in the bios or some hardware way

Anyway, i wondered if i could connect up the LED strip to one of the spare ports on my fan controller... and that lead me to contact an OcUK Celebrity - Tealc :D

Mr Tealc then advised me to get a generic strip of LED's (similar to those used in Project: Othello) and solder a spare fan cable to it which i could then connect to the fan controller and vary the voltage.

So i went on me merry way and these are some of the pics of when i was putting it all together...




These first two are pics of the damage on the LED strip when they arrived :mad:




Me stripping with my stripping tool (you have such a dirty mind :eek:)









I just twisted the ends together to see if it actually worked, then i would make it more permenant








I kept the RPM fan cable for another little project that i may show you at a later date


This is it all heatshrunk and sleeved and ready to go into the case!


A BIG thank you to Tealc - without his help this would have never come into fruition
 
looking awesome panyan :) I love the look of the hyperx drives, I'd love to get one of those or an m4 :D

tealc is awesome, he helped me when I was looking into rgb strips, although I didn't buy any :rolleyes: (I really need to get some)
 
looking awesome panyan :) I love the look of the hyperx drives, I'd love to get one of those or an m4 :D

Well feel free to ask me about either as Project: Othello uses a 128GB M4 :)

tealc is awesome, he helped me when I was looking into rgb strips,

ooh, tell me more :D

also, where do you think is the best place to mount these HyperX drives? :)
 
Looking like a really nice build, good to see some more tj07 love on these forums. With the fluid looking lilac-ey could you not get some blue dye and drop a few drops in to make it more blue-ey?

Regarding the cable management - The general consensus is to cut a piece out of the mid tray behind the motherboard tray to put the cable in when the side is on. I cut a hole between the slider for the motherboard tray and the upright at the back to slot the cables through like so http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19290654&postcount=29

I have seen someone else do it but just cutting a section out including the upright part that I left. I thought it was rjkoneill but just quick search through his thread he did the same as me so don't know who it was. As the rig is set up and running, this way is probably your best option as you could cover up your components and cut out a section in the back quite easily.
 
Looking like a really nice build, good to see some more tj07 love on these forums.

thank you

With the fluid looking lilac-ey could you not get some blue dye and drop a few drops in to make it more blue-ey?

im hoping to contact mlwood and see what he can advise

Regarding the cable management - The general consensus is to cut a piece out of the mid tray behind the motherboard tray to put the cable in when the side is on. I cut a hole between the slider for the motherboard tray and the upright at the back to slot the cables through like so http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19290654&postcount=29

This is a very good idea, thank you for the suggestion and the pics

I have seen someone else do it but just cutting a section out including the upright part that I left. I thought it was rjkoneill but just quick search through his thread he did the same as me so don't know who it was. As the rig is set up and running, this way is probably your best option as you could cover up your components and cut out a section in the back quite easily.

by the end of the year i am planning to rebuild the system as im interested to see:
- if the blocks have corroded
- if the coolant has faded
- if the plastisizer in the tubing has leeched
- if mayhems pastel coolant stains the acrylic

I also have a brand new mobo tray from silverstone that i will replace the bodged one im currently using - when i do all that, i will dremel some holes for cable management as per your suggestion :)

I also want your opinion on where you think i should mount the SSD's to show them off :)
 
Glad to see you got it all working well Panyan. You've also done a good job of sleeving it up.

How are those 5050 LEDs? Bright enough for you?

Oh and thanks for the e-mail to let me know of the update to the project as I might have missed your kind words otherwise.
 
Glad to see you got it all working well Panyan. You've also done a good job of sleeving it up.

thanks, i was going to go with blue paracord like normal but it wouldnt fit over the heatshrunk connections between the wires - so went for the classic black sleeve :)

How are those 5050 LEDs? Bright enough for you?

Yes, 5050, just like you suggested - at 12 volts they are blindingly strong!

I usually have them around 8/9 volts :)


Oh and thanks for the e-mail to let me know of the update to the project as I might have missed your kind words otherwise.

my pleasure - I really appreciate your advice
 
Project Indigo V2

Ok then - Where shall i begin?



The story goes that i was never really happy with the build as it was:

1) I felt that the case was in too poor condition that I could affordibly renovate it,

2) The colour of the coolant was too different from the internet image for me to agree that it matched the rest of the rig - it was just too purple...

3) the temps at load went up over 10 degrees whilst i was away at uni (ive got some updated for Project: Othello too :D)



So, i wanted to strip down and rebuild the machine to work out what was the cause of my temperature increase and also so that i could change the fluid.

Whilst i was there i thought i'd swap out the 6970 for the 580 i bought second hand at easter. I also had recently changed the motherboard in Project: Othello and the z68 board was free for me to use.

Then i decided: what if i completely changed case?

I thought long and hard about it but the fact was the TJ07 was going to bankrupt me if i was going to restore it to the condition i wanted it in.

I was looking at the switch 810 but i really dont like how the inside looks, those silly flappy handles on the hdd bays etc - NO.

Anyway, I found a seller who was getting rid of a 580 and an 800d and bought them off him.

Some may say that the TJ07 is a "better" case than the 800d, but from my experiences, i'd pick Corsair over Silverstone any day!

So the plan was to change the following parts:

2gb 6970 -> 1.5gb 580
p67-gd65 -> z68-gd65
Tj07 -> 800d

I bought the 800d with the full intention of dremelling out the top and sticking my RX480 up there with my bank of AP15's :)

So first i had to take apart the current build:







The new case came, i stripped her down and cleaned each part. There are only some very minor problems (torn dust filter, broken tooless plastic bit, etc)




I took my 480 grill and measured and re-measured before using my dremel with carbon fibre cutting discs, then screwed in the rad:










I taped up the edge after sanding so it doesnt scratch the grill/rad




Im very happy with how the grill looks.

WARNING: i had to cut my roof further towards the IO Shield sude becuase there wasnt enough space for the endtank and the front panel connectors - do NOT assume that you can just use the 360 holes and enlarge by 120!









This is the first of my little experiments - I wanted to use my EK Spin Res but i didnt want to ruin the look of my front panel and also didnt want to dremel out the ODD metal bits in the case - so i mounted it backwards




This means you can still see the water level and flow indicator if you look through the side panel window, but it doesnt spoil the front of the case

Unfortunately, this didnt work as:
1) it would be very awkward to fill it
2) it blocked the rad fan
3) the fitting was too flose to the rad fan and could touch
4) you need to leave the idd bay under clear for the fittings to go back out
etc etc

So, regretably, the Spin Res had to go.

You'll see what i replaced it with later...




Anyway, onto the next thing - i wanted to use my black akasa apaches but the 800d only had mounts for 140mm fans and mine were 120mm




So, i whipped out my new "small drill", as my father calls it; inserted a 4.5mm metal drillbit and got to work










I have plans to put the apaches as inlets to feed the bank of AP15's








Next thing...

The next image may distress some of you, but dont worry, it all came out alright...




Wire cutters were used to snip out a small hole from the back of the 800d, next to where the IO shield goes

Sanded all the sharp bits down...




I am VERY proud of this bit, i think it looks fantastic :D




Right then...

Ive mouted some bits and pieces and am doing test fits as i was not sure where i wanted my pump/res




This is what ive replaced my EK Spin Res with:




It is an XSPC Acrylic res for the D5. I was always envious of the DDC-Res-Tops and i wanted one for my D5 too :p
The problem is that the pump outlet is only 20mm from the bottom of the GPU block and i searched high and low of trying to make this work:




Option 1:




Try to directly connect the Pump outlet to the GPU inlet with Male-Male fittings. The problems with this were:
1) extra weight on the gfx card
2) pump-> gpu vibration
3) cause problems with the case door
4) looks a bit wierd
5) hard to expland later for sli




Option 2:




Use extenders/Sli-bridge to get the fittings over the top.

Problems:
1) It had to go to the further right port due to the cpu inlet and they would conflict
2) pump-> gpu vibration
3) cause problems with the case door
4) hard to expland later for sli





Option 3:



Use a loop to go over the top, uses the least fittings which is cheapest and less likely to leak.

Problems:
1) looks ridiculous...
2) looks ridiculous...
looks ridiculous...looks ridiculous...looks ridiculous...
_________________________________________________________________________________


Also, one evening i took apart the 580 and put on the waterblock:
















This block is OLD, had to use cheap thermal paste to hold the standoffs on :p












What do you guys thing of mounting the HyperX here?:






Tomorrow i need to:
1) do the tubing
2) leak test
3) make a decision where i want to mount my HyperX

etc
 
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