R1.0 INDUSTRIAL

[Cenedd]

That is, as usual, looking stunning. That last panel in particular. The channels showing through, but flush with the black is what I'm aiming for in what I'm procrastinating designing. If you've got time, can I ask about dimensions like width of channel, depth of channel, space around the G1/4 hole and the thicknesses of the layers please?
I'd figured to keep the cross-sectional area of the channel roughly similar to that of tubing but would be interested to learn from your experience here.

 

[JR23]

Just a little prequel to the previous update and the unveiling of the midplate here are some shots from it's assembly.

Much the same as with the custom reservoir each channel is sealed with a 2mm o-ring. The channels are 6mm deep and 12.5mm wide, consistent in cross sectional area with a 10mm ID tube.

As I mentioned previously the o-rings and grooves used were slightly smaller than usual on this part to allow the channels to pass closely together. Particularly where the channel between the CPU and GPU passes the horizontal channels at 45°.

Achieving the parallel runs for the pumps while maintaining perfect symmetry was even tighter with the o-ring beneath the first outlet and second inlet being flattened off.

Once all the o-rings were bonded and in place it was time to screw the block together with it's lid, for that a huge amount of 6-32 UNC countersunk screws.

The lid has all of negative space surrounding the channels milled down 3.5mm to allow for a third opaque frosted black acrylic piece. Each port is surrounded by a small boss allowing the fitting to seal effectively against the lid. The OD was intentionally kept smaller than the fittings so this is not visible.

And here again is everything assembled together, at 475x275x20mm this is a very satisfying slab of a midplate.

As you might just be able to tell from the droplets I couldn't help myself from taking a look at this with coolant, can't wait to see it equipped with pumps...

JR

 

[kaku]

Incredible. That final black layer on top really looks fantastic.

 

[GAM8LE]

wow, just wow

 

[Cenedd]

Cheers JR23 that's really helped. I was struggling with how to layer things but it looks like I should be aiming for:
10mm base layer
10mm mid layer with top milled down by 3.5mm everywhere except the channel-tops
4mm? black frosted (opaque, non-shiny) top layer leaving a half mm recess or does this line up flush in real life?

Before, I was getting towards a 15mm block cut top and bottom with inlays to cover the channels...but I'm guessing this is either a bad idea or harder to do since otherwise you'd have done this, right?

 

[JR23]

Cheers JR23 that's really helped. I was struggling with how to layer things but it looks like I should be aiming for:
10mm base layer
10mm mid layer with top milled down by 3.5mm everywhere except the channel-tops
4mm? black frosted (opaque, non-shiny) top layer leaving a half mm recess or does this line up flush in real life?

Before, I was getting towards a 15mm block cut top and bottom with inlays to cover the channels...but I'm guessing this is either a bad idea or harder to do since otherwise you'd have done this, right?

There are endless different ways to approach it, the right way just depends on the machinery, tooling and materials which are available. Clear polished perspex is easy to find in any thickness (make sure it's not extruded if your milling it!), frosted clear 3, 5 and 10mm are feasible but frosted black is very difficult to find in anything other than 3 or 5mm. There is always acetal too, amazing to machine and expensive although it's natural surface finish is very poor and it would take some massive tools to finish it to a standard you would expect. Parvum just about always have 5, 10 and 15mm polished as well as the widely available frosted colors in 5mm. The maximum cutting depth for the single flute 3mm end mill used for cases is ~11mm, so drilling a #6 UNC or M4 tappping diameter hole all the way through a 15mm part isn't possible, although a blind hole isn't always a problem it is a bit more time consuming to tap the threads. A 10mm layer gives easily enough depth for channels and enough thread depth to apply way more pressure than is needed.

The third black layer isn't something we do very often, only three one off parts have used it so far, two of which are mine . It adds significant complexity and machining time but actually does have some advantages. Because essentially none of the bottom layer is visible the entire part can be faced quickly negating any deviation in the o-ring groove caused by the acrylic tolerance. But it does mean the are removed from the lid is depth critical hence why this was made 3.5mm. Although the black was '3mm' in reality it measured 3.3-3.4mm hence the extra taken off knowing that packing it back up to be flush anywhere that was needed wouldn't be an issue. As it turned out both the 10mm and 3mm were pretty consistent. The tolerance on even the best cast acrylic sheet is significant enough to cause issues so really that is one of the main considerations especially on big big parts like this which are 500mm+ long.

Machining from both sides brings it's own challenges, mainly accurately re-positioning the piece ready for the second cut. Sometimes it just has to be done like in our Parvum build MATE but generally avoided on stuff with critical dimensions. Inlaying lots of small lids for each channel sounds fun though, like a 15mm thick block with 10 mm channels and 5mm deep areas surrounding them for a small piece to fit inside. Especially if it was somewhere with the edge of the whole part on show.

JR

 

[ADmodz]

Outstanding craftsmanship.
Looking forward in seeing the end result

 

[ADmodz]

What's the thinnest material that can be machined for a block.

 

[Cenedd]

Thanks JR. I shall get back to the drawing board ...and cause Parvum a headache no doubt.

 

[8 Pack]

Where the hell did you get those superb Pro duo from

Nice build Joe!! Nothing Rag Tag here!!

 

[JR23]

Although i've been really busy with FTW I hadn't forgotten my R1.0, just needed some more parts!

One major thing that was holding me up were these two little M-M rotaries, i'm sure I had 2 or 3 spares but when it came to fit the pumps I could only find one. Locating more proved to be a bit of a challenge with none in stock throughout the UK or the international retaillers i'd use I had to wait for EK to get more, but they are here now.

First step was to fit the pump and fittings to measure the length of pipe needed.

Then with the pipes in place simultaneously push them in and screw down the pump. Luckily it all fitted really nice as EK resisted the urge to change any of the 3 components since I measured them

With the pumps solidly in place on the midplate the midwall could be added and screwed to the pump mountings.

Another easy task completed, hopefullly I will be buying the rest of the hardware this week X99M-WS, 2x WD Black 6TB, Aquaero 6 and a 960GB HyperX Predator make up the bulk of the shopping list. It's going to be an expensive week!

JR

 

[JR23]

Got some more shiny things from today's shopping spree and there are some more goodies in the post to enjoy tomorrow!

I still don't know why Aquaero's are supplied with some obsolete prehistoric mounting thing, and a... screen. But anyway disregarding that stuff what's left behind is rather awesome.

For an unknown reason I also decided to purchase these old fashioned gigantic mechanical things.

I will admit however they do have some strangely satisfying qualities to them. At the price however they should, even now i'm confused as to why I needed 12TB or why this system has 26 times more storage than my last one, overkill, maybe?

So time to start loading everything onto the backbone of the case, the Aquaero + Heatsink was simply 4 black M3x10mm screws, not the originals but far more in keeping.

Then the hard drives, I wasn't about to add some giant rubber monstrosity but just to give them a more secure and tactile home I did use some little vibration dampening washers.

Everything fitted neatly just as planned with the 3 devices evenly spaced over the height of the case.

This was good, I can't wait for the post...

JR

 

[OJ46]

Looking good JR, everything absolutely millimetre perfect as usual! Oh yes, and top work on the pump mounts, never realised EK D5's could look good

Nothing wrong with a bit of overkill, but 12TB?! Hope you've got a decent internet connection if you're planning on filling those beasts

Quick question: Can you just easily remove the screen from the Aquaero 6 to mount it like that, without it giving any issues? Am planning on using 2 in my current build and wanted PWM for all fans, so forced to use the 6 rather than the 5 LT like in the current build. Removing the screens might be a great plan B if plan A goes all to ****e...

 

[JR23]

Looking good JR, everything absolutely millimetre perfect as usual! Oh yes, and top work on the pump mounts, never realised EK D5's could look good

Nothing wrong with a bit of overkill, but 12TB?! Hope you've got a decent internet connection if you're planning on filling those beasts

Quick question: Can you just easily remove the screen from the Aquaero 6 to mount it like that, without it giving any issues? Am planning on using 2 in my current build and wanted PWM for all fans, so forced to use the 6 rather than the 5 LT like in the current build. Removing the screens might be a great plan B if plan A goes all to ****e...

I have really really bad internet but it's ok I can just use my camera to fill it up, get them in RAID1 it will take half as long.

Yeah, the screen just unplugs and then that's it, software immediately shows it as a mystical 6 LT and it works exactly like always. 6 LT's do actually exist but nobody seems to retail them.

JR

 

[OJ46]

Ah, that's brilliant, you might have just saved one part of my case from a massive Dremel attack! Cheers JR

 

[Cenedd]

Not in any way suggesting that you should doubt JR but I can confirm you can strip the screen off. It's just unscrew and (gently) pull it off. In my log I took pictures of all the slices: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=29260099&postcount=38
You can also mount the screen separately but it means making up a 24 wire extension cable with 1mm pitch DuPont crimps at each end. They're harder to find (but available at auction) than the normal 2.54mm pitch and you need smaller crimpers too.

 

[OJ46]

I remember the hassle you went through sourcing the cables for that one mate, just wondered if it threw up any unexpected software issues if you tried using it without the screen

Having seen my car have one hell of a disco every time I attempt to disable the awful adaptive steering (still not found a solution!), thought it probably best I check before spending time and effort drilling holes in the case to mount the Aquaero

 

[Cenedd]

I tried one screenless just because someone was asking in the Aquaero Owners thread. Didn't seem to be a problem and ran it for a while that way because I couldn't be bothered to put it together to keep taking it apart. Did have one issue where the buttons on the screen didn't light up but I think that was just a bad contact. The current incarnation of the cable isn't very well crimped at one end (one end pre-crimped) but I've got a new mini-crimp tool to re-do it when I know the final length....and can be bothered Have plenty spare wires (45cm IIRC) and crimps I can post you if you do want to try it.

 

[Smffy]

I tried one screenless just because someone was asking in the Aquaero Owners thread. Didn't seem to be a problem and ran it for a while that way because I couldn't be bothered to put it together to keep taking it apart. Did have one issue where the buttons on the screen didn't light up but I think that was just a bad contact. The current incarnation of the cable isn't very well crimped at one end (one end pre-crimped) but I've got a new mini-crimp tool to re-do it when I know the final length....and can be bothered Have plenty spare wires (45cm IIRC) and crimps I can post you if you do want to try it.

I'm now thinking about doing this

Was taking mine apart while deliberating how/where to mount it and this seems like a good solution. I'm actually quite surprised Aqua don't off that as an accessory as for a pretty premium product it seems like a seriously cheap thing to throw in the box and opens up a massive amount of new mounting options.

If anyone has any contacts there might be worth giving them a nudge... Seems like a really great addition to the product, even if it was a £10 add on so they make a bit of money on it.

 

[CodeMeRight]

Nothing wrong with Overkill, at least with Storage,Them WDs-128MB are nice Future-Proofing for all them Movies, Music and Gaming.

Loving the craftmanship, and keen to see the finished Build.

Thank You