PROJECT: V300 Chilled

[StevenG]

Well ive just been to the MM (big mistake) ended up buying a 8800GTX with EK Full Cover Block. so this means i need to do more modding good for the viewers not so much for me lol.

the full cover block has the barbs sticking above the card so im going to have to remove the bottom of the hard drive cage and only have 1 drive installed at the top to allow this to fit.

also. because the card is so long and the power connectors are on the end of the card i'll have to drill or cut some holes into the bottom of the 5 1/4" bay to allow the power connectors to get to the card.

no other changes apart from slight hardware ones due to stocking and pricing really. should be ordering the gear friday. i'll try get another update before then of the cage modding.

also tried the black parts into the case and they look awesome i'll get a picture up with the next update.

after looking through case galleries i seen someone had put perspex (frosted) behind their panel and put the cathodes behind that and it looked really good so i think i'll do this too

watch this space for an update soon

thanks for reading
StevenG

 

[StevenG]

are you sure that rad is going to be able to take a Q6600 and an 8800GTX?

not entirely sure, but with yate loons at the full 12v i should be okay. i dont plan on clocking the gfx as there simply is no need for it as im only running a small res monitor (compared to some monitors out there lol) 1280x1024.

Another update on the spec im getting some OCZ Flex 9200 ram to go in here also and the 620w version of the hx psu

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Updaed OP with new specs, parts should be arriving next week so hopfully i'll get some sort of update up soon

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Massive Update:

Covered in this update: switch problems, radiator fitting, watercooling mockup/problems (a lot of problems lol as always)

to fit the graphics card with the EK block i had to remove the bottom of the hard drive cage this is shown in the next 2 pics. these will be sprayed black once i get a chance.

after i rivited the bracket together and sprayed it the switch had moved slighly so i had to fix that by cutting some larger holes to allow the mounting to be changed.

in this picture i couldnt press both switches they were pushed against the case and this would have caused problems when turning the pc on etc.

i had to modify the switch to allow it to be slid into place once i'd tried to fit the bracket. this seems to have fixed the problem. all these little mods are holding me back (as well as parts not being here lol and not having the time)

i thought i'd try the black parts id sprayed in the case to see how it looks and please could you comment on this to see if it looks better than the silver

Thanks for reading
StevenG

 

[StevenG]

as you know i'd taken out the 3.5" bays from the front so i have started to try find a way to blank these off.. i think this will look quite good once i get some glue to fix it to the case

held in with tape to get an idea

think it looks quite good. comments please.

water gear arrived so i thought i'd try fit some of it. pictures speak for themselves really. fitted the fans to the radiator and fit that in the case. i measured up and if the graphics card is the stated 27cm long i'll be able to squeeze it in *just* with some longer screws on the motherboard tray.

started to install the cpu block mounting screws to get an idea of where my tubing might go, need the graphics card to show up to start getting a propper idea. but heres some pics of how it could look.

Thanks for readin/looking should be getting the rest of my gear in the next 2 days including a Canon 350D to get you some better pics

thats all for now i'll update once ive sprayed the hard drive bay and the other parts have gotten here to start fitting the tubing.

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

just waiting on your 2 parcels to show up to start fitting things together really im going to have to cut some of the metal away from the drive cage to allow the tubing through.

so really waiting on the gfx card getting here to get things sorted

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

the gfx card is 276mm long iirc... hope u got room for that extra 5mm

Great work so far dude, have some stars

read about mate and ive seen that some people are saying as long as 28 and some as short as 26. i've seen a pic of the card next to a ruler and its about 26.7cm long

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

this water is the best solution i could think of for the case. i couldnt get a decent air cooler in the space of 100mm so i went for water. this was should be sufficient to keep my components at normal decent air cooled temp but in a really small case

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

My girlfriends been ill tonight so we couldnt do our normal couple'y things so ive had some time to get the hdd cages painted just trying to get most things done that can be with the parts i have.

as with the bracket above i sanded down to get a key and then spreayed with 3 light coats of matt black to get the nice finish.

let me know what you guys think. i need to get the rest of the stuff before i can mount these in the case as these attach to the 5 1/4 drive bay which needs to be modded to allow the tubes to access the pump

3 layers of paint and looks much better IMO should look good with most of the internal cage parts painted black. the front 5 1/4" drive bay will only be black on the outside, it would just scratch off on the inside if i painted it.

should look something like this but with a hard drive in

thats it for now till friday, thanks for reading again

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

New camera so i though i'd get some decent pics up of the hdd cage finished up.

Should have some more updates tomorrow

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Not going to blacken the plastic drive holders to make it all fit?

InvG

nah, id thought about it but i think too much/all black will look a little too much. plus the reason i did the hdd bays to begin with was that those drive holders will take the drives so the bays wont get scratched.

im going to spray the outside of the 5 1/4 bays for the same reason so i'll still have the mix of black and silver.

a mate said to me i should use silver mesh behind the side panel to set it off a little so i think i'll take his advice and do that.

Cant wait for all my gear to finally turn up later today

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Exciting Update

Well at long last my panel is back from the laser cutters

StevenG

edit: more updates due today/tomorrow as im in the middle of building and just thought i'd put these up to tease you a little hope u like it. and i'll have another update for you soon with the water build and hopefully the pc up and going

 

[StevenG]

Sorry but no updates. after putting it all together i found out the pump has a problem and leaks. so i'm in a faul mood and will post my progress when i feel better lol

FYI if your trying to get watercooling and youve got ideas in your head, leave margin for error and things that wont go as planned. i used every milimeter of my tubing in the case and i though i would have a fair bit spare..

anway pics and an update to follow soon. thanks for reading

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Love the quality on the spraying, i cant do any of this stuff i'm far to useless.

Really nice, that laser cutting looks really well done.

Is it me though or does the front cuttings for the rad (when viewed from front of the case) look off centered?

yeah they are off centered, this is because the radiator has the barbs at one end and as the rad coveres the full front of the case, i had to put them off centre to get them to match up with the rad,

thanks for your comments on the spraying, its only done by cans andmy first real attempt at spraying and i think it came out quite well.

thanks for the comments and following my build i'll get some more of my pics up today with a little write up about my problems.

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

well after sorting out my pump reaplcement ive got some time to write up what ive done so far,

all thats left to do is get back my pump and do some final little mods and it'll be done at long last.

Sophie guarding my dremel

most of the pics are self explanatory so i'll just add titles. Cpu block fitted

here you can see how much room i have to play with. not a lot

here you can see how much room i have to play with. not a lot

did some cable tidying.

and for all those thinking this wouldnt fit... it did.. JUST

see its touching very very very very close fit.

started putting my tubing in...

the finished hdd cage assembly to go into the case reason i put this in last is that the gtx wouldnt go in the case with this in place so now this is rivited in the GTX is a permenant fixture lol

Another update to follow directly

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Okay because it was so tight i had a kink in my tubing some coils fixed this

very tight in the drive bays here. with only one tube in, you can see i cut 2 square holes in the side of the drive bay to allow the tubing through.

bit more detail on the holes and tubes

this completed my loop soirry i didnt get it all in, in as much detail as i'd hoped but it was a stressful time and didnt think about my camera much.

and the problem of my build. the leaking pump... which is now sent back and i should have a new one soon

thanks for reading, your comments are always welcome and appreciated

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Another Update as promised Nearing Completion.

these are just a few snaps of the case & internals. since this ive installed the ram and started to clock the system. i still have to finish the panels by attaching the 3.5" drive covers properly and find some mesh and led's / neons to put on the laser cut panel.

Pics speak for themselves really:

Thinking about this rig now its built a GTX in a W/C mATX case like this is some achievement.

the fine Q6600 cpu under is EK Supreme waterblock

wheres the wires? you say? behind the drive bay covers (hidden away for no one to see as its a big sphagetti junction type thing under there lol)

Artsy shot of the gtx and tubing

Panel shot - i'll get some final better pics once its all completed *little photoshoot to come*

Overall ive enjoyed the project apart form the leaking pump but thats all sorted now. All up and running for a first clock i went in at 3.2GHz @ 3.2V (Cpuz) which is prime stable. still running the ram underclocked by a longway, going to tighten timings soon.

ran a quick 3dmark06 and got something like 12700 which is about right for the clocks i have and the gtx at stock.

running games/3dmark 06 doesnt really push temps up that much, during prime the cpu reached 60'c so im a little weary about clocking it much more as i think this is a good temp to stick at. although the chance of me matching this temp during gameplay or normal tasks probably wont happen.

Thank you all for reading the project log hope you enjoyed it and it just shows that u can puck a lot of punch into the mATX form factor.

Final pics will follow tomorrow or something, maybe a little later as ive got stacks of uni work to be getting on with (which i put aside to build this rig lol)

Thanks again, Please leave your comments

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Got a better pic of the final product for you -

still have to put mesh and a light behind the panel but i'm going to do that at a later date im fesh out of funds atm.

Ram Modules in place decided to only go with 2gb as 4gb wouldnt be used 95% of the time and i can justify the cost.

Final Image of the Build - Enjoy!

Thanks for Reading.

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Superb read from start to finish, very impressed. Are you going to W/C the RAM too in time?

Have some stars

W/C the ram would make the tight case even tighter as id have to use F barbs and go from 1/2" tubing to smaller tubing so ive decided that its not really worth the hastle tbh, ive got the fans on the rad blowing directly onto it so it should stay nice and cool.

thanks for the stars

StevenG

 

[StevenG]

Great build m8. Told ya the ram and the GTX would fit...just

yeah, JUST lol close call didnt think it would fit when i held it up against the case, but it did thank god lol. couldnt bare to part with something so powerful becuase of space reasons lol

anyway heres the final pics, decided to leave it like this as it looks really smart



StevenG