Project Shrink Ray (or something better)

Marvin

Marvin

Marvin

Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2009
Posts
3,869
Location
Maidstone, Kent
Introduction
I'm going to Uni in a couple of months, and decided that my current system was perhaps a little big to be carting around with me every holiday, and I also figured that the desks may be a bit small in the digs. This meant that I needed to shrink my system down to a more compact layout.

Old system:
-AMD 955 BE
-Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4
-G.Skill 4GB RAM
-ASUS 5850
-ASUS Xonar DX
-Kingston 128GB SSD
-Western Digital Caviar Black
-XSPC 120x2 Radiator (outside the case)
-XSPC 750 Pump/Bay combo
-XSPC Waterblock
-NZXT M59

Here are the pictures of my old system (as you can see I've already started tearing it down again). You can also see that I'm not brilliant at taking photos, and that I'm a bit untidy. It was also dark outside, which didn't help a great deal either.

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Objectives:
-The new case must be able to fit all the components from the last system - only exception being the motherboard can be changed. I'm not expecting to be able to maintain the same overclock as before, on either the CPU or GPU (3.75GHz and 850/1150 respectively)
-The new case must still have fair cable management (considering the size).
-The new case must be able to fit the radiator into it as well, as it would be a pain to transport separately.

Anyway, that'll do for now, some more updates later.
 
The case I've settled on is the Lian Li V351, in black. Just seems like such a nice looking case - but importantly, should have enough room for the radiator and the 5850.

Motherboard wise, I thought I may as well move to the new chipset, so I went for MSI's 890GXM-G65. Then I'd have definite x6 support, USB3.0 and SATA3.0.
Two PCI-E x16 slots means I can either use one 5850 + sound card, or sacrifice the sound card for 2 5850s. The second would be limited to x8, but I can live with that - it's still an open option.

So, here's the motherboard with the CPU and RAM installed onto one of the V351's best features: a removable motherboard tray.

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With CPU block and 5850 installed:

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While the case was empty, I tidied the front panel wires:

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This way, whenever I have to remove the motherboard tray, it'll be simple to reconnect the front panel connectors.
 
Looking good, and liking the idea!

Great looking case to boot.

Subscribed as Ill be needing something like this pretty soon :p
 
Great choice of case. Lian Li for the Win! :D

Any plans for any particular mods, or just a straight MAtx W/C Build going into it?

Edit: Just noticed you have both RAM Sticks in the same colour slots, is this correct for Dual Channel setup?? Excuse my AMD Noobishness if it is :)
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

It's going to be fairly straightforward to be honest, not quite on the same magnitude as some of the other projects on this forum. I'll be doing some cable braiding, shoehorning WC into it, and will eventually have something to fill the unused 5.25" bays.

I certainly believe that they're meant to be like that (RAM) - and that it's only Intel boards where the RAM is 'split'.
 
According to the manual, it's the first two slots for two sticks, and all four for four (obviously), so no other ways to do install it.

Had me worried for a sec though... :D
 
I was really wanting to build something with an i3 and H50 in this case, I think its a stunning looking case with a perfect size. I am a little worried about the size of the H50 and if it fits to the front air intake with no modding needed, can someone confirm if this is possible?
 
I think you should easily be able to fit one in there, but how it would remain in place may be more difficult.

Anyways, sorry for the delay, but onwards with the build!

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Picture of Xonar DX installed - I won't be doing crossfire anyway - it'd get far too hot in there...

Mock up of layout:
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And with tubing and reservoir/pump combo. I've decided to go with 1/2" tubing - I just like how big it is:

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Falls apart slightly with the return loop though:

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That was the only way to route the tubing without kinks.

Picture 'from the other side':

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For braiding, I'm doing anything that is visible, but not the main ATX connector at the moment (run out of heatshrink).

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I'm not individually braiding the wires on this build on most of the wires - it would take up too much room and block too much airflow. So I've just 'restyled' the original wires.

Nearly finished:

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All done. I modified one of the front bay covers at the side to allow me to hide wires in the space within the 5.25" bays. Note the poor picture quality, and the un-whitened ATX connector in the background.

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I'll have a look at some overclocking later, and do a components review with it.

Configuration:
CPU: AMD 955 Black Edition
Motherboard: MSI 890GX-GD65
GPU: Asus 5850
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX
Memory: G.Skill 2000MHz DDR3 CAS9
Hard Drive: -Kingston V Now 128GB (SNV-425-128GB)
-Western Digital Caviar Black

Watercooling:
Radiator: XSPC RS240
CPU Block: XSPC Delta
Pump/Res: XSPC 750
Tubing: XSPC 1/2" ID White

Hmm, I see a pattern there...
 
You did a nice job of that mate.

One niggle. Your second from last pic, you can see your Radeon and the radiator. From the position, I would think you have that pulling the air into the case. I just wanted to be sure that was the case. 'cos if its exhausting it would be detrimental.

I know your pushed for space, you should, and probably do have that radiator's fan bringing fresh air in, but that air is now gonna be warm air entering your case then right into your GFX card. Not ideal. Yet if it was exhausting its gonna choke the GFX' fan.
 
What tool did you use to get the pins out of the connectors? The ones I always get with kits always tend to break so I end up abandoning the sleeving project.
 
Thanks for the comments.

The fans are set up so they use the front air space as an intake, then blow the air over the rest of the components.

This does cause the GPU to run a little warmer than usual (though it may be that I'm simply looking at the temperatures more often).

One fan is in front of the radiator, and the other behind, to make space for the GPU on one side, and the front I/O on the other.

As for removing pins...

I used a 4mm (with a fine tip, and pronounced corners) slotted-head screwdriver to remove the fan connector pins (just hold the block in place, then press down with a corner of the screwdriver and lever down - comes straight out).

For the Molex pins, 4 pin CPU connector and PCI connectors, I used a staple bent to make a tall 'u' shape, with a pair of pliers to push it into the block. I didn't break one staple, or one pin, or one block.

Idle temps currently are (at 3.5GHz for the CPU, stock for GPU), 33°C for the CPU (though generally this hovers around 28-35°C), and the GPU is at 44°C.

After 5 runs of IBT on high, the CPU is at a MAX of 50°C, though normally ~48, and the GPU, after a 5 minute run of Furmark (stability test, 1280x1024), is at 86°C on the stock fan profile. I'll just do a rerun with a more aggressive profile (wear headphones anyway).
 
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