Project Smurf 3.0

ALXAndy · 6 Dec 2016 at 12:44

I prefer it with the surround on. It looks a bit too raw and unfinished with it off.

Shame it isn't flat black really with no writing on.

Still, you can send that to the powder coater when you get the case done

Smffy · 6 Dec 2016 at 14:24

ALXAndy said:
I prefer it with the surround on. It looks a bit too raw and unfinished with it off.

Shame it isn't flat black really with no writing on.

Still, you can send that to the powder coater when you get the case done

I did think the same but what I think, or rather hope, is that with fluid in it looks good naked. If I want I can just remove the writing as its only painted on I believe, I can always just sand it off and brush again anyway just the design of it is bad with the stupid chunk for the model name (WHY???). Probably super easy just to get a nice simple 5mm surround made with no crap in the way...

We will see, need to open it up again coz I screwed a hair in to the plexi it looks like

*dumbass*

Cenedd · 6 Dec 2016 at 14:29

If you can finish off the edge and the front (or take the paint off without knackering the surface finish), you could take the metal back so it's just a bezel without the sticky-out but for the writing. Depends whether the EK logo would look odd in a 3/4 circle cut-out.

Smffy · 6 Dec 2016 at 22:11

Some more progress, slow but not got as much time as I thought lately! Sticking the rads in to place I reaslise I can have another push/pull setup on the bottom rad so i'll be needing yet more ML120s

. Just the two though...

Push pull at the top was a bit tight to the board so swapped this out:

And its now sat with just a push setup in the top 240, so thats 3 out of the 4 rads in place the last being what is in this rig and that 360mm will go in the back section again with push only to extract air out the top. Also going to order and replace the screws and the washers with something more suitable but that can be done at any point by removing and replacing one at a time.

Thats it for now... Won't get much done in the next couple of days but i'll try to plan out the loop at least. Next task is wiring the fans to the splittys and then I need to figure out what the hell to do with the LED wire from the fan - starting to wish I didnt get the RGB fans as I really failed to realise it was a separate wire to control that via the small unit but i'll figure something out

ALXAndy · 7 Dec 2016 at 00:33

Undeniably impressive dude. Maybe the black case will work after all..

Cenedd · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:00

Was just thinking that those EK rads look a lot nicer than the last one I used. Then I went back to page 1 and found they were Black Ice SR2's and you'd just confused me with EK stop-plugs. There's an irony in white Black Ice's

I think I'm with Andy, the white rads in the black case look pretty good to me. Contrasty

Smffy · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:52

Cenedd said:
Was just thinking that those EK rads look a lot nicer than the last one I used. Then I went back to page 1 and found they were Black Ice SR2's and you'd just confused me with EK stop-plugs. There's an irony in white Black Ice's

I think I'm with Andy, the white rads in the black case look pretty good to me. Contrasty

Haha! Yeah i'm thinking of getting some non branded stops to be fair, will be replacing the crappy white plastic ones on the two new rads like those. I thought the white would look pretty good, should also look good with the copper in there as a nice black/white/orange. Just remembered i'll need to paint all the blue EK fittings......... fml.

To be fair the white paint job they come with isn't incredible and i'd respray another coat if I had the time and the patience but for now I just need it at least up and running!

Cenedd · 7 Dec 2016 at 11:03

The EK logo'd stop-plugs look fine....probably expensive for the quantity you need for those rads though...but nice to have the tubing options.

The paint looks ok in the pics so it's probably something that once you get the window on, you'll never notice.

Could you return/sell the blue fittings and buy chrome/copper coloured ones?

Smffy · 7 Dec 2016 at 11:56

Cenedd said:
The EK logo'd stop-plugs look fine....probably expensive for the quantity you need for those rads though...but nice to have the tubing options.

The paint looks ok in the pics so it's probably something that once you get the window on, you'll never notice.

Could you return/sell the blue fittings and buy chrome/copper coloured ones?

They were like £2.50 each so not the end of the world - some of the underside you actually have to use the plastic because the design on the multiport is a bit dumb sticking out past the flat point on the rad makes mounting hard.

The fittings its just the screw down cap so at a guess I can either strip the paint off thats on it and its Nickel or spray over with the same sparkled black on the mobo which is probably what i'll try... Its a bit of a shame you can't buy just those bits without the fitting. Bought them a year ago so not able to sell them but just thinking about it I should check i've got enough!

OJ46 · 7 Dec 2016 at 12:54

Wow, that's one hell of a change of direction on the case mate!

Looking good though, using an old Lian Li case for my current work PC and will never understand why other manufacturers didn't copy those drive mounts - great idea

Good luck getting the RGB fans wired up, sounds like a bit of a ball-ache but will definitely look good once done. Think the black case might also look better than the white, takes the focus away from the case and makes what's inside stand out more

Smffy · 7 Dec 2016 at 14:14

OJ46 said:
Wow, that's one hell of a change of direction on the case mate!

Looking good though, using an old Lian Li case for my current work PC and will never understand why other manufacturers didn't copy those drive mounts - great idea

It is indeed - Hex have literally until tomorrow to respond to PayPal so fingers crossed I finally get my money back. I don't like to bash them but its seriously unacceptable to arrange to collect a faulty unit then not bother to look at it for a month while sitting on your money/ignoring you... Hoping because they've not responded it just gets refunded.

Very happy with the giant that is my new case though, more so that Gibbo sorted me £100 off on BF.

Bone9 · 7 Dec 2016 at 22:09

Subbed!

ALXAndy · 8 Dec 2016 at 11:59

Smffy said:
It is indeed - Hex have literally until tomorrow to respond to PayPal so fingers crossed I finally get my money back. I don't like to bash them but its seriously unacceptable to arrange to collect a faulty unit then not bother to look at it for a month while sitting on your money/ignoring you... Hoping because they've not responded it just gets refunded.

Very happy with the giant that is my new case though, more so that Gibbo sorted me £100 off on BF.

Wow that sucks. So long as you provided a tracking number they should refund you with any luck.

Smffy · 9 Dec 2016 at 10:23

ALXAndy said:
Wow that sucks. So long as you provided a tracking number they should refund you with any luck.

Well seems like the end is in sight, just waiting on PayPal to confirm it I think and I should have some cash back... Which is good because some more stuff might have been ordered

I can understand from the guys that have handled your RMA that you have been through quite the back and forth. I have asked them to refund you the full amount of the case, the accessories you have bought and the initial shipping you paid.
We figured out what was wrong with your case. A faulty PCI bracket (The black part that the graphic cards screws into) was manufactured wrongly, and was too high. I am sorry that we were not able to figure this out sooner, and have had to drag you through this.

I hope that you find a case that you will be happy with, and that we might be able to win back your trust in the future.

All the best, and thank you for putting up with the mess this has been. I am sincerely sorry that this has not been a good experience for you as we strive to supply the best products and service. But in this case we have failed, and for that I am truly sorry.

Best regards

Hans Peder Sahl

HPS is 'Pope' I believe from this world, honestly don't know if I believe it or not but the fact it took a month from returning the case to send that is just not good enough. Oh well, 8Packs beast is certainly proving fun

Edit: More stuff arrived...

Now have 13 of these fans............ Unlucky for some? Yes unlucky for me having to wire them all in.

And a massive load of these Monsoon stops, replace the crappy plastic ones and tone down the mad amount of EK ones...

Also on order is a specific bracket for the Bitspower top (from holland...) and some O-Rings to replace the old EKHD ones which seem a bit past it.

OJ46 · 9 Dec 2016 at 10:48

Glad to see they've finally sorted a refund but as you say, a full month for them to even bother looking into it is completely unacceptable and it certainly wouldn't give me any confidence to purchase anything from them in the future. Most disappointing thing is it's a bloody nice case, so doubly annoying that they've made it impossible to even consider buying one

Oh well, at least now you've got room for more radiators!!

Smffy · 9 Dec 2016 at 10:56

OJ46 said:
Oh well, at least now you've got room for more radiators!!

Yeah really he should refund me additional money for all the kit I've bought in the time its taken to resolve it

just do the maths on those fans alone... Dear god did I really spend that on fans.

If you were considering buying it then just know if they run out there are no spares and seems like the lead time from China is about 3 months+. Shame though, if they had someone local cutting the aluminium (not even sure it is its so heavy) might be better.

OJ46 · 9 Dec 2016 at 12:03

It's crazy how much decent quality fans cost, lucky for me the guys at Parvum sent 4 good PWM fans for free. Cheers guys!

The lack of spare parts would be OK if they didn't send out damaged / faulty cases, but you'd also think the couple of quid extra it would cost to get the panels cut in the UK would be more than worth it when considering the amount of customers they must be losing due to the time & hassle getting replacement parts.

Edit: If they'd cut the panels locally they'd probably also be seeing my current build in one of their cases, but as they refused to do any modifications because they're cut in China... Never mind, dodged a bullet there!

Smffy · 9 Dec 2016 at 13:29

Wish me luck... (Already done this once

)

orbitalwalsh · 9 Dec 2016 at 13:35

Cenedd · 9 Dec 2016 at 15:22

Boil for eight minutes...slightly less if you want it al dente!