Project Leekspin - FINALLY FINISHED AFTER 5 YEARS!

[Muel]

Intro

After running linux for 3 years and only playing Minecraft I heard that GTAV was finally out for PC and decided it was time to update my rig. The reason for the name is that at my old job, all of the computers and servers were named after memes, and I never stopped doing it!

All that remains from my old build (build log here) is the case, 2 fans, the SSD (for booting Xubuntu from) and the CPU cooler.

I've always loved the looks of this case, but the airflow through the front was nothing like enough, so I decided it was time to solve that issue and fill the case with new hardware.

Spec

• CASE: Bitfenix Shinobi XL
• CPU: Intel 5820K
• MOTHERBOARD: Asus X99-S
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4x4gb 2800mhz
• GPUs: 2x Gigabyte GTX960 G1 Gaming 4gb
• PSU: Corsair AX860i with Cablemod black/white cables
• CPU COOLER: Phanteks PH-TC14PE White
• FANS: 4x Bitfenix Spectre Pro, 3x Corsair AF120 Purple LED
• SSDs: 2x Samsung 850 EVO 500gb RAID0 for WIndows, Crucial M4 128gb for Xubuntu

Side Panel Intake

I've always disliked how much space is used up by HDD and optical bays in most cases, because I only ever had a handful of drives, so got thinking about putting watercooling radiators in place instead blowing across the case. I ended up deciding to do make an intake there anyway to aid air cooling this rig.

I covered the whole sidepanel in tape, marked out my intake hole trying to use the window edge as a guide for the shape, then cut it out using a drill, hacksaw, angle grinder and a dremel, then filed to the lines. Took a total of about 14 hours and I think it looks OK, not perfect but good enough for me.

I then mounted a Phobya triple 120mm radiator bracket to the front of the case and fitted the 3 Corsair AF120 purple LED fans. I connected these up on a switch so that I can have them either on at 12v, being all bright and making a racket, or I can switch them off and it all quietens down.

Pictures

Mandatory shot of the boxes first!

Pretty happy with it for the time being, although I think I am going to watercool it at some point. Spec wise though I'm very happy.

 

[Muel]

Cheers.

Yeh combs are mostly coming out, just needed that many because when I had 1/2 on each they kept falling off. These Cablemod cables are too skinny so the combs are actually loose.

I'm happy with the side panel when it's on, but not happy with the colour (needs to be white) and it needs to brace the case more, as it's pretty floppy with the cages removed. Plenty of room for 2 stacked radiators though so if I watercool it'll all be getting re-done anyway.

 

[Muel]

Cheers everyone.

Pretty happy with it atm, got ideas for other mods but won't be looking into those for a long time, I've got another PC and my home server to mess about with first.

 

[Muel]

Took me 5 years, but this year I finally got round to finishing this build! I did have the CPU watercooled for a few years but was never happy with the result so never shared it. Earlier this year, I had a major leak where a pipe popped out of the CPU block and pumped a load of coolant out over the motherboard and graphics cards. Fortunately I had just booted it and saw it happen, so I switched it off at the PSU in a few second. No hardware died!

The leak spurred me on to pull the whole thing to bits and have another go at making it look like the build I had in my head in 2015 when I started.

Since the original post I made above, I've not changed any of the core components. What I have done is to make my own rad plates and mid plate for the case, converted my Gigabyte GTX960 G1 gaming graphics cards to hybrid cooled using a couple of generic EK GPU blocks, and filled the thing up with watercooling gear.

This is the end result:

Here's a few close-ups and progress pictures I took along the way. I decided not to post updates as I went in case it all failed to go to plan again and I ended up waiting another 5 years to finish it!

 

[Muel]

Cheers all! Does feel mega to finally finish it, and for once a project looks how it did in my head.

How did you make the fan bracket?

I designed it in Deltacad, marked it all out on a sheet of 1.2mm mild steel, chopped it out with an angle grinder, then drilled all the holes and cut the fan holes with a massive holesaw in my £50 bench drill (which took ages to get through as it doesn't have much torque, so get jamming, you can see it in the background of one of the pictures above), before bending it in my vice break, then painted it.

The only specialist tool I had to buy was the vice brake: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222186897725

I actually made two, there's a rad in the back as well, so the air gets pulled in through one and out through the other.

I made the mid plate in a very similar way, just no hole sawing.