Project Log: To Build a Ninja

A_Darkfire

A_Darkfire

A_Darkfire

Associate
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
79
Location
Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
Yes! Yet another watercooling conversion of a Lian Li case! Just what the world needs I thought...

OK so this isn't very original as case conversions go, but this is first time I've seriously built a machine from ground up using custom watercooling. I'm using a Lian Li PC-201B case as the base of the thing and first I thought I'd so you all a few pictures of the thing unmodded before I tear it apart.

Here is the outside...part one that is...



Sorry if the pictures aren't that clear, my Dad lost the tripod for his camera and doesn't like taking snapshots (more like ssssssnnnnnnaaaaaapppppshot :( ). Please excuse my grubby paw prints on it :D
 
More outside shots...



I have to say that this is a very nice looking case, very cleanly built and extremely light for it's size. My only complaint would be no wheels like the V series, but that's easily fixed with a trip to B&Q later! :D

Now for the insides...

 
Such a beautiful case (Makes me want a Lian Li now :o). Can't wait to see what you get up to with it :)
 
Last two inside shots...



Loads of room to play with, though I am going to have to gut the lower section to fit the radiator in there. I get the feeling the lower section is smaller than that of the V2000+ case as it quite a close fit...going out in a while to get cutting supplies...will post some more pics later. If you want any specific shots of this virgin beauty before I violate her, ask quickly! :)

Zefan said:
:eek: You sure you want to tear that lovely piece of engineering apart?
Click to expand...
Mwahahahaha! Aren't I evil! :D

Oh and one last thing, tip of the hat to AFX_Matrix for getting me of my rear end and starting this thing!
 
Congrats on starting it, nice to know i got u off your butt :p :D

Near finishing my watercooling in my case. Just gotta fit the Tbalancer, find some screws for my Silentmaxx enclosure with Raptor in it and try and get the cables neat and tidy (really not looking forward to that lol :( )

Must say that case is very very nice and sexy :). Wish it was more widley available when I was case hunting but I am not unhappy with my beast of a V2000 at all.

And yes your case isn't as deep as mine - V2000 = 625mm deep and the PC 201A = 590mm. If your going to try fitting a PA 120.3 in there I don't think your going to be able to keep the HDD racks, only possible way is to cut them in half and hang them from the central divider.

Also could you list what components are going into the systema and what watercooling parts your gonna be using?
 
AFK_Matrix said:
Also could you list what components are going into the systema and what watercooling parts your gonna be using?
Click to expand...
Here is the plan...everything with a star next to it is something I have already brought or is my current computer and will be half-inched.

Watercooling Setup
*Thermochill PA120.3 with shroud
*Laing DDC Pump 12v Pro with PlexiTop
*XSPC Passive Aluminium Reservior
*Masterkleer PVC Tubing 7/16"
Swiftech Storm G4 CPU Block
Dangerden 7950GX2 Block (when I can get one that is)
*Aerocool PowerWatch Fan Controller
*2 x Dangerden Fillports (a cunning plan brought about my experience with Koolance cases)

Computer Hardware
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 (aiming to overclock to 24/7 stable 3.2Ghz)
MSI 975X Platinum PowerUP Edition
GeiL 2Gb PC6400 800Mhz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
EVGA GeForce 7950GX2 Graphics Card
*Creative X-Fi Gaming Sound Card
1 x Western Digital Raptor 32Gb HDD (for the OS)
2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320Gb HDD (raid 0 for games)
*1 x Samsung SpinPoint 250Gb HDD (downloads & the like)
*Samsung SH-W163 SATA DVD ReWriter
*OCZ GameXStream 700w Silent PSU
*Dell 2407 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor

As you can see I haven't got a lot of the PC itself yet but I'll getting that near the end of the month. Some thing’s are open to change (like the mobo...may get a DFI 590 if it is out by then) and it is subject to being able to get the Dangerden 7959GX2 cooler (assuming it is better than the other ones that are about by then). Initially I am not aiming to SLi but you never know in the futures so I don't think it'll be necessary to water-cool the Northbridge...

What do you think? Would you make any changes to that lot?
 
Ho! Ho! Right I've mounted the Reservoir to the case now and I think it looks quite good. She is a big beast but is only about half the length of the case, which puts it about right for dropping the pipes through the top of the case in between the drive bays and the motherboard tray. Hopefully nothing should get in the way…



I used masking tape to cover the area at the top and underneath so I could mark out the area (and this did stop any burring from happening as well). It was actually quite fiddly because when you have the barbs on you can’t get the thing level with the case easily. But after getting a rough guide to where to mount it (I wanted it set it to one side rather than dead centre as it would cover the top USB ports), making sure I had enough room to fit the clips on, I simply measured up the barbs with the pipe on and drilled out some holes to fit the through. It came up to about 20mm hole for each one if anyone is interested…it could be smaller to get a tight fit, but I left a bit of room to make absolutely sure I had enough for the barbs, pipe and clips to fit in.

And finally behold the final finish! :D



Next up; modding the PSU bay to give it some breathing room...
 
Now for the PSU breathing holes…



I am aiming to put twenty four 20mm holes for the PSU’s 120mm fan to breathe through. First up drilled some 10 mm pilot holes into the mid section of the case using a 90 degree drill bit thingy my Dad had. After that I used a 20mm Q-Max cutter to open the holes to the correct size. This thing is magic! It’s a lot quicker and easy to use than drilling out 20mm with a normal drill bit. Here are the results…

 
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