Project : Purple Rain

[Brizzles]

Sponsored by ;

( www.tacens.com )
Tacens Ventus Ice 120mm fans

( www.techflex.com/prod_PTN.asp )
FlexoPet 'Uptown Purple' Braiding

( http://www.phenoptix.com/shop/ )
LED lighting supplies

Hi all.

New build time, so welcome

Not sure how long this build will take, but it'll keep me busy anyway.

Nothing hi-tec in the hardware department, so attention to detail will be my main priority.

The Case :

Doesn't need an intro. , a MM U2 UFO.

Never worked with one before, so looking forward to it. Bit scratched at the moment, but not a problem.

The Colour :

Thanks to Craig / Madcat for the piccies.

Hoping to match the purple metallic finish in the above pictures by stove enamelling.

The Hardware :

Q6600
Asus Maximus Formula SE
4g OCZ Reaper
Nvidia GTX 285
Asus Xonar D2X
74g Raptor
500g Samsung F1

Watercooling :

Single loop - CPU, NB, SB, Mosfets + GTX 285


CPU Block - To be decided
Swiftech Komodo Water Block for gtx 285
D5 vario + EK top
Clear Dual bay reservoir
XSPC RX240 Radiator
XSPC R120-T Crossflow
Compression Fittings
White Tubing
Purple coolant

Smoked/Tinted Acrylic Windows.

Tacens Ventus Ice 120mm fans.

Stealthed DVD drive.

Stealthed Rheobus fan controller.

Possibly some custom Acrylic work inside, similar to my Dark Water build from last year, plus whatever else springs to mind along the way.

Thats the plan anyway.

Thanks for looking.

Mark

​

 

[Brizzles]

Thanks for the comments

A few weeks have passed since i started, so time for an update.

The initial idea was to stove enamel the case in a metallic purple.

This proved an expensive idea !

The case would have needed to be stripped back to bare metal for the enamel to take. Bead/shot blasting would have twisted the panels, and chemical stripping was too expensive.

After a chat with the local powder coaters we decided on this colour. The best i can describe it as is 'Cadburys' purple.

Inside my front room :

As it wasn't raining for a change, i wheeled it outside for some shots ( not sure what the neighbours thought ! ) :

Those pics were taken in bright sunlight, so the colour isn't quite right, in normal daylight its darker. I'll get some 'decent' shots of it near the end of the build.

Close up of the colour :

So far, so good

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

Looks good. Reminded me of that movie Bowfinger with the ''Chubby rain'' lol. **Subscribed**

You going to decorate it with neons as well? what colours are you going for, or is the build going to be completly purple water-tubing, fans and liquid as well

Colour scheme will be Purple and White.

White tubing and fans , Purple case.

I thought of going the whole way in Purple, but it needs some contrast imo, hence the white.

Cheers.

 

[Brizzles]

I knew the fans i wanted for this build - Black casing, white blades with white Leds.

Enter Tacens who very generously sent me 9 of their Ventus Ice fans for my build.

MM cases need a lot of fans, so a huge thanks to Tacens for their support

Some pics of the beauties :

They ooze quality.

Whisper quiet whilst shifting a lot of air ( I've been using 2 today plugged into my mobo as air conditioning as we've had some sun ! ) .

Great finishing right down to the black sleeving ( no thin fishnet stuff here ) and black fan plug :

Saves me sleeving 9 fans

Things are beginning to slot into place

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

Looking good. Looking forward to seeing more of this, where did you get those fans and how much did they cost?

Tacens sent me the fans free of charge for this build.

I would love to know that cfm them fans move, they look nice.

50 CFM

Cheers.

 

[Brizzles]

Update time again

Braiding, a neccessary part of any build.

But what colour ?

Black was too obvious. Purple would have been too much for my liking. So i set off to search for a mixture of both.

Techflex came to my rescue

Saw this braiding on their website and decided that it was perfect.

They very generously sent me a reel from America for this build, so a massive thanks to Techflex for their support.

120 foot of top quality braiding goodness.


Now the time consuming part

Braiding an entire PSU, Sata cables, molexes, fan extension cables...........the list goes on and on.

Old school braiding workshop ;

Stanley knife
Very small precision screwdriver ( for pin removal )
Lighter ( for heatshrink )
Insulting tape ( to wrap around the pins to stop snagging when threading through the braiding )

Purple Heatshrink

Many hours later, and very sore thumbs :

1 double Pci-E cable and a molex chain done......... Well, its a start !

Plenty more to keep me busy.

 

[Brizzles]

A few pics of the build, as it stands.

New PSU ( Birthday present to myself ! ), Silverstone Decathlon DA850.

The next 2 show the fixings i am using ( simple screw covers ) as i was not keen on the look of thumbscrews, something different anyway.

Replaced the original silver switches with black vandal switches with white LED rings. (Will be fitting white 5mm LEDs in the 2 small holes)

Had a Fansis fan controller powdercoted at the same time, just need to change the 3mm LEDs from Blue to White to keep the theme going.

And finally the stealthed DVD drive ( test fitted - Will need to either spray the bare grey casing or hide it as you can see it inside ).

Thanks for looking, and any comments or critique are always welcomed.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

Thanks for the replies

Back again with a small update

Finally finished the bulk of the PSU cable braiding, just the fan extensions and odds and sods left to do.

Next up was my hard drives.

Liked the shape of these coolers, but wrong colour for my build.

So, out came the spray cans.

Thanks to the Post Office for the free 'Dent Mod' they gave me

Whilst i was spraying them i decided to change a couple of other parts.

Dremelled off the closed corner fans.

Replaced fans screws with 3mm white LEDs' and bezels.

 

[Brizzles]

Finished result is this ;

Semi Dark :

More to come soon, thanks for looking

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

hey what colour? and where did you buy that paint>
?
thanks

Holts car paint from a local car parts shop - Ford Purple Velvet

Time for another update, thanks again for the replies

Pick up a nice triple rad for the front of the case.

But didn't want it showing, so out with the trusty Acrylic

Tools ;

Dremel(ish)

1500watt HeatGun

Drillbit for watertubing holes

And this beast for the bigger holes

 

[Brizzles]

This was just going to be a simple U shaped shroud to 'hide' the front radiator.

My trusty Workbench ( Kitchen table actually ) is where i do all my acrylic work.

Trigger clamps are invaluable when you're working alone.

Pilot holes and tubing holes drilled

Then cut the larger holes using an old shelf and a footstool to rest on - Hi Tech stuff this ! ( and messy ).


After a couple of hours you end up with this.

( Its the camera making the top look curved ).

 

[Brizzles]

The holes are near 120mm ( 115mm ) so they line up with the front intake fans.

Instead of just backing them with mesh, i went for speaker mesh/grilles as they are slightly curved and would mean i could 'flush' mount them to the acrylic.

Black, before

White, after a bit of spraying.

To flush mount them i had to pin them at the right height whilst the glue dried. I used silicone sealant for this, as it holds as well as glue would, but can easily be removed leaving no residue on the acrylic.

First test fit, with tubing roughly placed to show thw colour scheme on the inside Purple/White. Have used 3mm white LEDS and bezels ( like i have on the HDD coolers earlier ) for some internal lighting.

 

[Brizzles]

Some random pics.

Fan controller, was black with Blue LEDS, now matching with White LEDS

Original silver front power/rest buttons have been changed to these Delrin White 'Ring' LED switches and the front LEDs again switched from Blue to White

More to come soon, Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

Bit more progress made, apologies for the image sizes and possible colour differences as i'm on my laptop now without Photoshop.

Rad flushing, a job i hate doing but it is worth getting the rubbish out.

Always flush a 2nd hand rad, unless you want to inherit the previous colour ;

Just as important, clean a NEW radiator too ;

Boiling water with clear vinegar, and keep flushing til you get a clear result.

Afterwards flush out with de-ionised water.

 

[Brizzles]

Time to start fitting the blocks and stuff.

Hardest part was removing the original heatsink from the mobo, had to use a heatgun to warm it up abit and plenty of elbow grease.

 

[Brizzles]

Mounted the pump on the back of the mobo tray and braided all the fan extension cables.

Dual res will feed the D5 pump and the main loop, the smaller rad at the front is for my OCZ Flex memory loop.

 

[Brizzles]

Sprayed the DVD drive as the end of it was visible from the inside ( the 3 holes on the back are from a previous mod and will be covered ) ;

Mounted inside ;

Onto another test fit, this time with the motherboard installed ;

 

[Brizzles]

A couple of random pics.

Hope it meets a few peoples approval, i'm quite happy with the results so far.

More to come.......soon

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Brizzles]

How did you buy it in the uk....if it's not against the forum rulse for a hint

It started life as a scratched and dusty ( See picture on page 1) 2nd hand case i bought from a mate. I think there is only 1 UK supplier who imports them.

Where do you get your acrylic sheeting from?

A popular auction site

Cheers

 

[Brizzles]

Small update

Added a couple of fittings to shorten the tubing loop a little.

Here it is leak testing ;

As i had the PSU running, thought i test the fans and the controller.

Wasn't dark, but you get the idea :

Have also decided to try something else with the tubing.

Using the braid i have used for the wiring i'll cover black tubing with it, to give this finish :

( The purple heatshrink ring has come out blue in the photo)

Cheers again, and thanks for reading

Mark