Project Smurf 3.0

Smffy · 7 Mar 2017 at 21:37

Some small updates, so the giant was drained and removed the CPU block firstly to redo my delid to be 100% confident it was awesome. Its now awesome and the good news is that second time round I didnt kill it either... After that the front fans were swapped out with this swag:

The result is a much less whiney fan noise and consistent RPM from all the 3 hubs including the front 8 fan stack. Pretty happy with that, if you are viewing this with binoculars you will have seen the yellow/green UV coolant - WTF you say?! Short story, the dye does nothing on the blood red coolant so having drained out roughly 2 litres of prime red I literally threw it away after its two day stint and added two litres of this.

Result was an interesting deep orange with the odd strange tint. Much better:

Been pretty busy really and away, ironically after all this the only thing broken is my mouse... So a new Deathadder Chroma turned up today, plus I had a bit of a crack overclocking the GPUs:

With the fans at 50%, pumps are silent at 65% (Pumps are working fine off the mobo header for signal connected with a Y splitter from EK) it still only hit 38/39c with a reasonable boost going on. CPU next but for whatever reason my 6700k which had run fine at 4.8 is being a pain so work required to shift it past the happy 4.5.

Smffy · 18 Apr 2017 at 19:14

Well, its been a while but kicking off some more work on this bad boy... Mainly on where i'm putting it, finally got round to making my industrially desk for it - the thing is huge so needs much more space:

Some scaffold pole cut to size with the clamp fittings:

Crafted in to this mega frame, seriously strong... Its 150cm long for reference:

Have yet to decide/get round to making the final top piece but basically this is made from Ikea chopping boards for now

Its come up alright I reckon, will give the thing some thought for a final finish but for now at least its off the floor! Also have to make a mount for my custom bit of tempered glass to create a full side window and show off all the good stuff inside, glass is just sat there for now but planning to sort that out pretty soon when I next get time:

As you can see from the above bit of a glare but its reduced when flush to the case and I plan on applying a very light tint film to it just to take the edge of the LEDs.

The trouble is that this has also happened this weekend:

Madness?

Something to play with until x299 comes to retail, will be sticking the grey modified Z170 Deluxe and delid 6700k on the members market once its in. From looking at some measurements the GPU pipe work should still line up, the CPU i'm not 100% on but the brown box is the AM4 adaptor for the Raystorm Pro so its possible I won't need to make a load of new pipes... I'll be ordering a few more 16mm copper elbows just in case and have about 10 x 500mm EKHD PETG laying about if I need a temp solution.

So yeah basically i've not even finished it and its already changed... Oops

LePhuronn · 18 Apr 2017 at 19:48

Iiiiiiit's back! Hurray!

I know what you mean about changing kit before things are even finished. I've had that Maximus Impact for a year now and even though it's been modded up, the damn Strix Z270I Gaming showed up and it's actually the perfect board I wanted way back at the beginning!

Can't afford to change it, but I'm still soooooo tempted.

Cenedd · 18 Apr 2017 at 20:56

Smffy said:
Crafted in to this mega frame, seriously strong... Its 150cm long for reference:
Have yet to decide/get round to making the final top piece but basically this is made from Ikea chopping boards for now

Now why didn't I think of that brilliant idea. Instead I'm stuck with my wooden workbench (which should be good if I can ever surface it!) that I'm still swearing at and pouring varnish onto/into.

Smffy said:
so its possible I won't need to make a load of new pipes

Hah! You're so funny!

Smffy said:
So yeah basically i've not even finished it and its already changed... Oops

Well, that's the way the upgrade itch goes. Better get used to it!

Smffy · 18 Apr 2017 at 23:45

In fairness chaps, i've not actually bought ANY 1080Ti's so I've done pretty well!!! Once this Ryzen lark is in i'll sort the glass front out, it will look lovely! We shall see if i've had any luck with the chip, i'm hoping it copes with my SLI cards a bit better and clearly temperatures are not a problem in this so if I can get a comfortable 4.1 out of it then job done... 4.2 and i'll be very happy.

The scaffold is really good, i'm leaving it uncoated so it tarnishes up a bit and should look nice and industrial. Which is why i'm thinking for the desk top it should be a bit of aged timber or something, kind of railway sleepers but of course not that thick... So stealing a pub bench maybe

Cenedd said:
Hah! You're so funny!

I've measured up and because my current board is Asus pretty sure the GPU from the bottom is exactly the same (same PCI config 100%), the CPU is either very close to the same or slightly different which means I might get away with a simple trim on the tube to the top of the GPU and a new piece for the top left... So actually pretty decent all things considered. If it happens to all line up beautifully well i'll be loving that.

Cenedd · 19 Apr 2017 at 09:24

If you're looking at a wood top, how are you planning to finish it? Oiling it is a pain. Had fairly good results with Ronseal Diamond Hard varnish (water based) on a kitchen worktop but it's not as heat resistant as I'd like (cup of tea starts to stick to it) and if you leave water on it, it starts to turn it white - although this fades again. Tried yacht varnish for the workbench and having no end of grief getting it to set in some places - that could be partly what the timber was treated with (tannelised) and party what I was washing the brushes in. Looks lovely when it works though.
If i were doing it again, I would probably try either a two-part epoxy or Osmo hard wax as both of them look like less grief.
...just on the off-chance this is useful to you (or saves you from the sanity-erosion that's happening to me where it won't set!)

orbitalwalsh · 19 Apr 2017 at 09:28

looks sweet, Polarized lens is a must with glass. will help the shots a lot! but you still need to get angle right, just being off centered and at slight height or drop

Smffy · 19 Apr 2017 at 15:00

orbitalwalsh said:
looks sweet, Polarized lens is a must with glass. will help the shots a lot! but you still need to get angle right, just being off centered and at slight height or drop

Literally just got an iPhone, zero photography skills

Re:finishing, it's oil treated already but if I did change for wood I would probably do that anyway... then possibly glass over it not sure!

Smffy · 21 Apr 2017 at 19:29

Cenedd said:
Hah! You're so funny!

New pipes: 0...
5mm trim on one (both ends), slight cheat with a 10mm extender on the top left behind the fans.

So I guess now I try and get my memory working properly... Or buy something new. At least it works so far, playing with clocks with stock RAM and so far 4.0 is fine, 4.1 next.

Cenedd · 21 Apr 2017 at 19:45

10mm extension is fine. Like I always say: if at first you don't succeed....cheat!

Smffy · 21 Apr 2017 at 19:47

Cenedd said:
10mm extension is fine. Like I always say: if at first you don't succeed....cheat!

Stupidly ordered a load more 16mm 90s (copper ones) but didn't get any straight joins or I could have just made a proper new one very easily... Oh well, next time I drain it!

I literally don't know anything about memory OC so this is going to be fun, seems pretty happy at 4.1 so far. Actually don't even know what RAM I have... The model number was on the heat spreaders LOL. DDR4 3000 corsair somethings.

Brizzles · 23 Apr 2017 at 00:16

That are those internal white fans Smffy ?

Looking for some nice bright ones, like those

andy_taximan · 23 Apr 2017 at 02:49

Looking good, tho your be forever polishing the copper.

Smffy · 23 Apr 2017 at 10:26

Brizzles said:
That are those internal white fans Smffy ?

Looking for some nice bright ones, like those

Those are the ML120 but actually the RGB ones just set to white... Nice fans, but regret bothering with the RGB so just get the white ones if they are the same clear body? So HD120 RGB Corsair but the ML120 white should be spot on.

andy_taximan said:
Looking good, tho your be forever polishing the copper.

It's coated in micro crystalline wax so doesn't actually tarnish much at all... just goes a nice Orange colour.

Smffy · 9 Jun 2017 at 23:37

Guess whos back

... Some updates, monoblock for the Ryzen 1800x and CH6 motherboard. Looks very tidy, was of course a little bit of work making some more copper again (been a while

) but i reckon its worth it:

RGB connector is in and run round the block, funny thing with this monoblock is that the CPU contact is a circle... So its not touching the corners???! I mean I guess it must work but its odd given its all cut to size and then the CPU contact isnt the right shape, or i'm just a monoblock noob?

New pipes run:

Left Mr. Drop connected and went to the pub... Just come back and of course did some ill advised filling half cut

More beer, no leaks so far but the Dr. Drop tests were spot on so none expected. It obviously works coz i'm using it to do this... For those of you that have followed this ill advised copper fest from the start, no I STILL havent fitted the tempered glass side HAHA! I did recently measure up and intend to do it before Xmas

.

So far so good... Possible intel swap next year but we shall wait and see, some new 4,000mhz RAM will be the next addition.

ALXAndy · 9 Jun 2017 at 23:48

Amazing !

Not been around much so didn't know you'd gone red. Looks awesome dude great work.

Smffy · 10 Jun 2017 at 01:26

ALXAndy said:
Amazing !

Not been around much so didn't know you'd gone red. Looks awesome dude great work.

Thanks and ditto to not being about! Its not really red I add both yellow/green and blood red so I get a sort of nice copper orange colour. This refill I dont feel i've got the balance quite right so I might drain out a bit and add more yellow/green. Its a pain this copper lark but it does look nice and its all about the experience and learning along the way isn't it?

Smffy · 11 Jun 2017 at 09:00

Few more snaps with it all up and running, looks nice and seems to perform well so far though I've not done any benching since.

Bone9 · 11 Jun 2017 at 10:04

Looks very nice

Smffy · 20 May 2018 at 20:20

Well hello

Recently moved house and given I had to fully drain this beast to transport it I took the chance to have a bit of a refresh. In case anyone is still interested some pictures of the cleaned up machine and my crazy fan and rad collection, there is STILL only 1 GPU in the build as i'm on a stop gap 1080Ti (sold my 1080s) until new cards release then back to a more fitting 2 card setup. Currently contemplating getting a Corsair 1000d and doing a rebuild... Decisions!

Enjoy...

Fully stripped down machine reveals my 17 fans, neatly cabled doesnt even cut it once its put together:

Stripped and cleaned the copper:

Cleaned all the radiators (480, 360, 240 x2) and decided I would respray them - if you scrolled back through this build I was never completely happy with the paint job on the white HWLabs SR2s it always seemed a little thin. They now look amazing in new brilliant matt white:

Reassembled clean as hell components, hiding my massive amount of fan cables:

Opted for a new colour coolant, I think the contrast with the white and orange really works. Its a blend of some mayhems UV purple (which looks blue guys come on) and the UV pink, about a 60/40 ratio in favour of blue gave me what I was looking for:

Any last but not least, scroll back and you'll see I was rocking a scaffold galvanised desk frame (custom tube ordered and assembled), I now have made a proper top by reclaiming some old scaffold boards and sanding/teak oiling to give me a desk with a lovely industrial almost old oak looking feel. It fits the size of this rig also given its MASSIVE... I've made more furniture from this also, some shelves (with cast iron brackets and coffee table, looks nice).

Thats me for now, shall I buy a 1000d then?