Project Light & Water

A quick update before I head off to work...

managed to get most of the stuff installed yesterday, however decided I need 4 more 45degree fittings to be how I wanted, so they're on order now, and hopefully should be here tomorrow, so I can then get the system filled up, and leak testing.

Got a load of pictures of my progress from yesterday, so I'll be uploading them this evening after work. Just thought though, would have been a lot better if I had taken a time lapse vid of my progress, but too late now :(
 
So, time for a nice picture update of what I got upto yesterday :)

First of all, a picture of what I'm starting with, with a massive Noctua D14 cooler. Going to be nice to get some of that weight off the motherboard!

DSC_3594 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Always interesting to find out how the thermal paste turned out, seems to have gone alright, used the pea method incase anyone else is interested. Possibly could have got away with a little bit less (judging by the bottom of the noctua), but wasn't too bad.

DSC_3595 by RCAnderson, on Flickr


DSC_3596 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

I was quite surprised how shiny the bottom of the waterblock was, literally a mirror shine!

DSC_3597 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

My motherboard with the CPU block installed, has made quite a differenc compared to having the noctua on, you can actually see the motherboard ;)

DSC_3599 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Now, time for the gfx card...

DSC_3600 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

It was actually easier than I was expecting it to be, although it did still require a little persuasion to get it apart, but nothing serious, and the card is revealed.

DSC_3601 by RCAnderson, on Flickr


DSC_3602 by RCAnderson, on Flickr


DSC_3603 by RCAnderson, on Flickr


DSC_3605 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

The card with the thermal pads on it. I was suprised when I got to it, that I was required to cut the thermal pads to the right size, guess I was just assuming they would be ready cut, but wasn't too much effort, once I had decided I definitely could cut them how I was going to, and have enough pad!

DSC_3608 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Now the block goes on. This took a little fiddling, as I found it quite hard to hold the card & block up with one hand perfectly horizontal (otherwise the thermal pads slide around, and end up covering anything other than what you were wanting them to cover!), and with the other hand trying to find the hole underneath the card to insert the tiny screws! But it's worth the effort in the end, and this is the result.

DSC_3609 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Now to get the board installed into the case.
Shame it's blue, rather than red, but I don't really want to spend more money, just to get a motherboard with matching colours!

DSC_3610 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Got the LEDs installed on the back of the motherboard, so this is what it looks like with them on.

DSC_3611 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

quite like it myself, although think it might be better if I get something reflective behind the motherboard to reflect all the light out, so that it's a bit brighter. Should look better in the dark though.

I haven't got a picture of how I've mounted the LEDs, as it's not hugely tidy ;) But if someone requests it, I could get a picture for them.



That's all for now though. Hopefully getting the extra 45degree fittings I ordered tomorrow, then I can connect the tubing & get leak testing :D
 
Got the extra 45degree fittings I was waiting for, so I've just put all the tubing together :)


DSC_3612 by RCAnderson, on Flickr

Took more effort than I thought to get the tubing onto the compression fittings, however a little hand from a hair dryer (or hot air gun, depending how manly you want to sound :p) they were a lot easier to get on.

Time to add the coolant I think, then hope that it doesn't leak!
 
An unexpected long day at work today (almost 12 hours), so it's unlikely I'll be able to do much today, although I might have time to get the HDDs in atleast, but probably won't have time to wire everything up & sort out cable management.
 
Boo ya.

All up and running (I'm typing from it now) Don't think I've ever seen a GPU this cool (not counts screen shots on the forum etc) My 6950 is c

Going to get a picture up tomorrow, don't really have time tonight, as I got back from work late again, but I decided to make sure I got the system up and running anyway :p
 
Almost looks like you've got light coming from behind the motherboard tray and it's bleeding through gaps.

Was meaning to do this myself with SMD LED strips rather than discrete LEDs hoping that it gives a better distribution of light but never really bothered as I don't have a black interoir.

Looks nice and bright though. What resistor did you use?
 
I used banks of 5 LEDs (2.1V @ 20mA each iirc), so a 75ohm so I can run them off the 12V rail.

Meant to be 5.5cd @ 30 degrees, so they are quick bright. Wondering if it's worth the hassle of getting some kitchen foil, coving it with cling film (so it's not conductive) and putting it behind the LEDs to try and reflect more light out, but I'm not sure how much difference it would actually make. And, if anything happened to the clingfilm, I would have a nice short circuit situation...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom