Project Shrink Ray (or something better)

Marvin · 23 Apr 2010 at 17:01

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.

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.

Marvin · 23 Apr 2010 at 19:34

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.

With CPU block and 5850 installed:

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

This way, whenever I have to remove the motherboard tray, it'll be simple to reconnect the front panel connectors.

Marvin · 23 Apr 2010 at 21:01

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'.

Marvin · 23 Apr 2010 at 21:04

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...

Marvin · 23 Apr 2010 at 21:05

Psypher5 said:
will you have the rad internally?

I had to get a black ice 240mm rad to fit as nothing else would

Yep - got an XSPC bog standard Rad that should go in there nicely (according to my ruler).

Marvin · 26 Apr 2010 at 19:43

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!

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

Mock up of layout:

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

Falls apart slightly with the return loop though:

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

Picture 'from the other side':

Marvin · 28 Apr 2010 at 21:06

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

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:

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.

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...

Marvin · 29 Apr 2010 at 16:18

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).

Marvin · 29 Apr 2010 at 21:30

Why thank you.

Marvin · 6 May 2010 at 16:02

Thank you very much

.

There'll be an update soon where I add some extra bits too

.

Marvin · 31 May 2010 at 00:40

Since the original pictures, I've fitted an Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo Pro to my 5850, replaced the Xonar DX with a D1, fitted an Alpha Cool LCD where the two blank covers were (shows CPU usage, network usage, time etc whilst gaming).

No chance on getting a 5970 in there with the WC as well. Not only that, they are a tad pricy for me.

I'm not sure whether I like the side fan, but if you can't see it I guess it makes no odds.

I've started overclocking it a bit (to 3.5GHz on CPU, 2.4GHz on NB, not bothered yet on HT/SB, and have played with timings on the RAM):

After 15 goes at IBT, overall OC is stable (though still need to play with the HT link), with undervolted CPU (from 1.35 to 1.30V so far), and temps don't exceed 48°C.

The new GPU cooler works wonders... Under normal gaming load before (with stock cooler at stock clocks) it was reaching 86°C after an hour's gaming. I've just posted this after gaming for about 2 hours, and max GPU temp reported from Afterburner is 58°C, and it's a lot quieter to boot. I've set up two OC profiles with Afterburner, as the stock 2D clocks seem a little unstable (157/300), so it now sits at 400/750 in 2D mode, and then boosts up to 850/1100 for 3D.

Marvin · 6 Jun 2010 at 17:34

Sayso said:
Just noticed how you was able to fit the dual bay in there!! no DVD/Blu ray drive?

No, with the age of Steam (pun...) and digital downloads, I haven't really needed one...

Pics would be pointless at the moment - my 5850 has died, and my computer is currently running with the stock cooler on the MB tray outside the case.

Marvin · 7 Jun 2010 at 09:50

In the original pics they weren't shown (as they rather ruin the look), but there are cable ties on every section now.

Marvin · 7 Jun 2010 at 17:28

To be honest, whilst it looks great (and it's brilliant having such a small PC), I am always modifying my set-up, and this case is a complete pain to work with. It probably wouldn't be too bad air-cooled, but with the tubes everywhere, it means I have to remove my CPU block every time I want to take a PCI card in or out, the mobo tray is a good idea, but limited.

Soon I'm moving all my stuff over to a slightly larger but more practical case, especially as the temperatures are not good in this case (I think it killed my 5850 over the time through heat-damage).

Marvin · 7 Jun 2010 at 23:49

At the minute I'm looking at a Mountain Mods Bob Slay V2, a Danger Den Torture Rack (with front and top panels) and a Lian Li A05N.

If you aren't going with watercooling, and don't need to get to the motherboard every minute then the V351 is good. For shoe-horning, not so good.

For my needs, one of the cases above would be better - I almost went too small to start with.

Marvin · 8 Jun 2010 at 13:44

The 5850 was doing nearly 90°C within 20 minutes of gaming. Furmark, the temperature would just keep rising (I usually aborted at 90°C).

Marvin · 10 Jun 2010 at 22:31

I think the main problem is shoe-horning the radiator in kills off the airflow. There's a warm radiator, meaning that all the air from the front fans is sent over all the components, and there are no exhaust fans, and few exhaust holes.

I'm changing case for the next build - and it should be something special, so keep your eyes peeled...

Marvin · 13 Jun 2010 at 10:18

I'd been watching the Da Box since it was announced on [H] Forum. As good as it is, it doesn't suit my needs/vision.

I'm going to be moving to a larger case - probably a test-bench type case.