RIVALRY - Dual BitFenix Phenom rivalling game projects

[Hukkel]

Welcome everyone to a new project.

I am in the closing stages of Game Hard, Fold Harder and Opteron Prime. I am waiting for some stuff and in the meantime I am starting this project.

I can only confess I have gotten the idea from my nametwin (Tim Longroadtrip). He started his Ying and Yang project log a long time ago now. Due to a flood in his workshop and other reasons of his own the air + watercooled projects never got side to side. But I liked the idea right away. When Bitfenix launched the Phenom ITX case I was instantly in love. It is such a clean and fluid case. (Ian; strak en kaal!) It just has something special about it that keeps grabbing my attention.

Therefore I present to you project Rivalry. Like Ying and Yang they are are two builds. I am personally using a black and a white Bitfenix Phenom case. (after Opteron Prime I wanted to do something smaller xD)
They will be similar but also different. One will be watercooled and one will be aircooled. One will have a black theme and one will have a white theme. They will both use differend brands hardware, fans and a different modified Bitfenix logo. Yet both will be ITX, both will have a single gfx card, both will be using a raid setup and custom box for 4 SSDs, both will have 16GB ram (same brand and type). And both will be modified by me :lol:

Here is a quick overlook of the hardware being used.

Black build:

- Bitfenix Phenom ITX in black
- Bitfenix black fancontroller with touchscreen
- i7-4770k
- Gigabyte Z97N
- HyperX Beast 2*8GB 1600 mhz
- 4*HyperX 3k SSDs
- BeQuiet Dark Rock pro 3 cooler
- BeQuiet 140 and 120mm fans
- BeQuiet POWER 850W PSU
- Gigabyte GTX770 OC Windforce 3
- MDPC-X sleeving

White build:

- Bitfenix Phenom ITX in white
- i7-4770k
- Gigabyte Z87N
- HyperX Beast 2*8GB 1600 mhz
- 4*HyperX 3k SSDs
- Diamond Cooling CPU waterblock
- Diamond Cooling custom GPU waterblock
- Diamond Cooling custom reservoir
- Diamond Cooling hardline tube fittings
- Enermax white LED Vegas fans in 120 and 140mm
- Enermax Platimax 1250 W PSU
- KFA2 GTX680 Hall Of Fame
- MDPC-X sleeving

I am still unsure about a few watercooling parts for this one. But I will pick them up along the way

I will start on the aircooled build first as I am also waiting for a few parts for the white build.

I need to make a small comment on the sponsoring of this project. It has become quite a heavily sponsored project in terms of hardware. This is due to the fact that I am using remains of projects that didn't went through / got cancelled etc. They weren't even my own, I made an arrangement with one brand to use the hardware that was meant for another ones project that didn't got to it anymore because of things happening in his personal life. Next to this I have been lucky enough to be able to write some reviews for some parts and I am using those review samples in this build as well. I have chosen to use those parts in these two builds as they suited them perfectly and also name the companies that provided those review samples.

I would like to start of by showing a very very rough render / idea / comcept for the black one. I normally don't do this, but I am kinda still searching for the design on some details. But the general idea is present in this render.



Ian thanks again for all the help with the render and the gfx and banners for this log :rock:

 

[Hukkel]

Subbed, should be good

Thank you sir, happy to have you on board.

Looks very nice.

Thanks MM!

Hukkel you are like an expert fisherman ! You got me hooked !

Most definitely subbed for this, your builds are inspirational. Can't wait to see some progress and lots of pics

The logo you have chosen is very cool, have you just kinda stretched the original Bitfenix one?

Very happy to see you will also follow this project CMcR! It really means a lot to be to read you find my projects inspirational. I will be sure to give you your weekly shot of pictures to last untill the next one

A good friend of me (Ian) always does my banners and such and I asked him to use the BitFenix logo and change the phoenix wings into more evilish wings for this one and more angellike wings for the white build. So yeah it is the BitFenix logo with a twist

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I hope to show all sponsors and hardware in this reply so I can more on with the modding in the next reply. Since I really need to show modding to be allowed in this section I hope my previous projects have given me a little credit so that the moderators will know that in the next updates modding shalt commenceth!

First of all BitFenix with the case. I will start with the black one. The aircooled "dark being".











Thanks BitFenix and especially Michel for providing it to me for this project :thumb:



Next up is Gigabyte. This is one of those sponsorings where a previous project that didn't go through changed into a change of hardware and led to this project. Gigabyte BeNeLux provided the project with the new MiniITX Z97N-WiFi motherboard. I bought the Z87N-WiFi myself for the white build. Gigabyte HQ provided this project with a GTX770 OC Windforce3. I am really happy to receive this for the black build. It fits in perfect in every way. From the performance to the shape and colour of the aircooler.

























Gigabyte also provided me with 2 sets of in-ear headphones. Well not me personally. They are for giving away to followers of my log in 2 different communities.

Thank you Gigabyte for the sponsorship with special thanks to Bernice, Eva and Catherine :rock:



https://www.facebook.com/GIGABYTE.Benelux

A sponsor special for this project is BeQuiet. The stealthy look and strong performance of their high-end hardware fits the project perfect. They provided me with 2 120mm fans, 2 140mm fans (all silent wings 2), a Powerzone 750W full modular PSU (and I LOVE full modular PSUs) and a Dark Rock 3 CPU cooler.



































Thanks a lot for wanting to help me with this project BeQuiet! Special thanks goes to Christopher and Armelle :rock:



And last but certainly not least the fine gentlemen from Kingston HyperX. They were planned on 2 other projects that were cancelled because of reasons outside of me. So I was getting quite nervous about it. I think when you get a sponsorship you need to deliver as well. You need to create a good project and feature those parts in. And I could understand very well that these gentlemen would become rather restless since it was taking ages now. It is a great thing I could use the parts in these builds. They sponsored me with 4 HyperX Beast 8GB 1600 Mhz memory and 4 of their 120GB 3k SSDs. I have a special plan for those babies.













Thanks a lot for believing in me Krys, Edward and J.B. and thank you HyperX for helping out with this build :rock:

 

[Hukkel]

nice
will look forward to this!

if you want to offload one of them sets of headphones.... you have my email address lol

I will be sure to write that down
And thanks Dave!

The bequiet gear looks awesome, the fan blades look like they will match the theme perfectly. The CPU cooler looks beast also

Once these builds are complete what happens to them? Your home must be full of gear!

Well first of all yeah it is full of gear. I am keeping GHFH and Opteron Prime. These two builds will likely (when not wanted for trade shows) be taken apart to re-use the hardware for another project. Unless someone really likes it so much he wants to buy one.

Gonna be awesome!

Thanks mate!

I have to say that case looks awesome, although it doesn't appear to have much in the way of vents for air intake (although that could just be the picture).

That I where I come in my friend ^^
Just follow the project and you will see the changes

 

[Hukkel]

Well I needed to get an idea how big stuff was on and in the case before I could start measuring and make and order stuff. So that is what I started with.









I have also been busy sketching on the case with a white pencil to see what looks good and what doesn't. haha



I will show you what I did with the sidepanel in a bit.

First the motherboard. The Z97 is a big up compared to the Z87 because the Z87 socket is waaaaay too close to the PCI-E slot for a normal aircooler.
It is silimar in specs but boy did they improve on the layout of the mobo. Almost alle connectors have gone to the outside border of the mobo.
The Z87 has all kinds of connectors under the aircooler in the middle.

Only downside is the placement of the 4 sata connectors. When using ram and a gfx card they will be hard to get to.
But hey you have to put the stuff somewhere on this tiny mobo.



















Here it is fixed and installed.
As you can see the front 140 mm fan hits the ram so I have the option to a) move the fan up like I have did now b)put the fan in pull position only or c) get a 120mm fan instead. I am really toying with the idea of getting a 120mm PWM fan and installing that instead of this one. It should fit exactly. I have tried with one of the fans I was already using for the top.









Next update there will be modding!

 

[Hukkel]

wow that's a tight fit

It is actually quite ok Because I put the fans on top of the fan holders in the top instead of hanging them from the brackets there is plenty room

Ha that cooler on that board is hilarious!

lol ^^ I kinda like it. Imagine how it would look with the dual heatsink cooler on it.

Its almost like the heatsink on the RAM is designed for this build, just about fit that massive CPU cooler in haha

A friend of me said the same. But Iam going to put a 120mm fan on it, the thing sticking out on top is just annoying my **** off.

Dis gone be gud

Thanks man, hope so!

 

[Hukkel]

One of the things I have been realy struggling with in my hollow skull is the exact shapes and holes for the fans and sidepanels. I had like a concept in my mind, like a flow. But I just couldn't get the right angles on paper. But after a while I just had a go at it. Who doesn't dare....etc etc

So I created a rectangle shaped hole for the front fan to match more the top of the case. There will be a smoked plexi cover over it like the idea in the render. I also created the windows on the sidepanels for a testfit and then made the holes in the doorpanels. And tbh I am rather happy with it. Although it needs to come together with the cover over the case as well.






What are these holes and drawings? :think:



ZOMG it almost looks alien-like. It this their landing zone??? :eyebrow:























What I did not like was the transparency of the plexiglas. It needs to be less transparent / let less light through. So I ordered another 4 samples of various types of grey smoked plexiglass. I chose a better version and have just ordered a big 750mm*750mm sheet from Germany. I will recreate the windows out of it and a shop close to me will laser the front and top end out of it.

Lastly I will need to bend this lasercut piece in the shape of the case myself. That is going to be tricky to say the least. If I screw up it means throwing away an expensive lasercut piece and ordering it again.

 

[Hukkel]

I thought I saw something via Dutch Lion on facebook Looks good if it's for you

Yeah man it is for me and for this build

Looking good - nice modding!

Thanks a lot!

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A small update.

I murdered the plate I teased above here accidentally. It was my own fault. I was being hasty and grumpy and I should have let it untill someone could help me. :facepalm:
New plexi is on the way and the lasercutter has been informed. This week a new one will be made and I hope I won't kill that one xD
All in the game of modding I guess.

On a brighter note. Last time I ordered a bigger piece of the more dark smoked grey plexiglass to also make the side windows from it.
Here is the testfit of one side. I am REALLY happy how it turned out. It is really dark when it is dark inside the case. But when a light on inside of it I am 100% sure you can see everything. Exactly how I hoped it would be.

Here are some photos.

 

[Hukkel]

I would also consider the 2 top fans as exhaust not intake.

Nice build and love the window mod

Same here, looking good though. Can't wait to see the new laser-cut plexi!

Thanks guys.

The top fans for intake are fine tbh. Both sides will have so much openings with these mods that it can handle the positive pressure easy especially together with the rear 140mm exhaust fan. Otherwise I would have had 3 out fans and one in meaning the case would have heaps of negative airpressure and was going to intake air through the window openings meaning heaps of dust.

 

[Hukkel]

Great selection of parts. Looks very promising!

Thank you very much

A big update is incoming one of these days.
I have the front- and top panel lasercut from plexi and bent it yesterday. It is a matter of fitting it now (drilling and threading holes etc). The 2nd panel is also done. Both sidepanels have been repainted with mat-black.

I can't wait to see how it looks with everything on.

On a sidenote, the project has been nominated at Bit Tech for Mod Of The Month July 2014. I am not asking for your vote, just to have a look and vote for the best project of your liking.

 

[Hukkel]

Looking good, look forward to more updates!

Thanks, well lets get to that straight away then

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Time for a bg photo update.
I had the front and top cover I showed earlier lasered again. Since I broke the first one.

This time I didn't break it and actually managed to bend it ok. It isn't as perfect round as I wanted, but I still think it is good enough to not having to redo it.

I also mirrored the first doorpanel to the second one. I wanted two of the same doorpanels and windows.

I managed to forget to take photos of the repainted doorpanels. I painted them mat black and the finish is much more like the front and top than the original colour of the doorpanels. It is actually a really nice finish.















Here is a fitting of all the panels. I am quite happy with the outcome.
It is very hard to take photos of. I will have to ask for assistance on that later on as I have no photographing skills at all. In real life the contrast between een mat black finish of the case and doorpanels vs the shiney smoked plexiglass is very nice. Also from some angles you can see the fans through the plexi and other angles you can't. I also like the agressive look of the case.

You can still see some white lines I drew on the case for the hole allignment, drilling, etc. I will need to take them off anyway to do some final stuff on the outside.

Next up is to create a clean inside as well, hide all wires, sleeve wires, sleeve PSU etc. Enough to do.



































What do you people think about the stand-offs? Should I paint them mat black as well?

 

[Hukkel]

Love the case! Looks awesome! Well done

Thanks VK

That dark, smoked acrylic looks beautiful against the black case. Nice work.

Thank you. I also like the shiny contrasting with the matt finish.

That looks awesome!

Thanx MA.

Man that front/top cover looks amazing! Love the idea of the two cases but holy moly, that CPU cooler is a tight fit!

haha it is actually not as bad as it looks like. This case gives a lot of headroom for a CPU cooler.

 

[Hukkel]

Another few work in progress photos. I will create two covers on the inside that should hide all wiring from the eye except for the parts that go into the motherboard and into the GFX card.

This is the first piece. I took a piece of smoked plexi. Drew gfx on it to let the air through into the case. Then used the Jiggsaw to get it out. Bent the edges using a heatgun and testfitted it here. The plastic foil is still on the cover. The GPU wiring will go under it, behind it and then enter at the top to go into the connectors with a nice flow.
I made it so the gfx card will fit exactly.

The second cover will go from front to back to cover the sides of the PSU up to the mobo and all the way forward to this cover. I am not 100% sure on the shape of it. Somehow it must fit the cables and also fit the quad SSD setup AND look good at the same time.

















Untill next update.

 

[Hukkel]

Looking very nice!

Thanks man.

Graphics card looks cool mounted that way

Thank you Walder. The other cover will also be at a slope so it all kinda resembles the doorpanel and the flow of the case.

 

[Hukkel]

I now have 2 weeks off so in between spending this time with my family I can actually get some modding done

Today I worked on the placement of the on/off switch and usb ports etc. There is not really a need for reusing them, but in the spirit of the Ncase I wanted to have them down in the front. In the photo's the covers still need a final layer of paint.
Also the plexi cover is off for the fitting etc so in the final photos the knobs and ports will be a bit further in the back/deeper into the case.

Since I was using my Dremel I also cut of the left and right flaps attached to the motherboard tray. I have plans for a cover and they were "in my way" to get that done ^^

 

[Hukkel]

I went to work on another piece today. The cover for the PSU area.
Again I used a piece of smoked plexi and attacked it with a saw, then some hot air and a tad filing. And to finish it off 4 holes with my drill.
This was probably the easiest cover but it fits like a glove.

I am still not sure wether I will keep it shiny and smoky like this or paint it matt black.

 

[Hukkel]

That acrylic is too nice...

Must... not... use...

haha DO IT!! DOOOO IIIIIT!

Very nice amazing the skills a lot of people have on this forum so many nice builds. Im guessing the white will be started when then black builds finished?

Hey Pedaars, thank you. Yeah essentially that is the plan. Maybe I will do some stuff on the white one as I wait for stuff for the black one. Biggest issue is our own custom waterblocks. They take time to design, prototype, test, new prototype etc.

This is absolutely stunning dude! Can't wait to see what it looks like when it's complete.

Thanks a lot Roger!

Any tips for drilling the acrylic? Does it crack easily?

Hey mate, plexiglass melts really fast. If you have drilled or sawed it a couple of time you know exactly when this starts happening. I personally use drillbits and sawedges for metal (the fine type with small teeth). If you can always keep the foil on both sides, this keeps the temperature lower. If you see it starts melting at the drill or saw edge just give it some time to cool down and do another bit (or be impatient and poor some water over it). Just take your time and do not overly use pressure or use a big teeth saw edge. They will chip the plexiglass like mad.

How did you secure the standoffs, just a nut on the other side?

The plastic front and top is thick enough to just drill a 2,5 hole and then thread the hole for M3. The doorpanel is a tad too thin. I will buy some nuts to put behind the metal to secure the standoffs even better.

Absolutely amazing skills, can't wait to see more pics.

+1 for "shiny and smoky" - I reckon you will get some interesting lighting effects that you wouldn't get from "matt black"

Thank you Luggs. I am going to give that a try first. If it will look meh I can always paint it. The other way around will be quite difficult ^^

Looks great man, I'm sitting here trying to talk myself out of a mini ITX build and you go and do something amazing like this. I'm very jealous and looking forward to the finished results.

Thank you very much for your kind words Gambisk. Means a lot.

How are those Be Quiet Pure Wing fans? I am considering picking up a few.

Hi Terrabytez. They're Silentwings 2.

 

[Hukkel]

So I wanted to also make a cover for the rear fan but the gfx card is dangerously close in the way. Knowing I would make a backplate for the gfx card as well I needed to make that first in order to know how much room I had for the fan-cover.
I have made one using the same smoked acrylic and wanted to try and retail some of the WIndforce 3 cooler shape in it. In my opinion it would look odd with the cooler sticking out the side of the backplate on all sides.
Also I like the Gigabyte new "eye" logo a lot, but I rather do things a tad different. My good friend Ian helped me out (as he always does) and we created a bit more of an evil dragon/snake/cat eye. Something a bit more sinister fitting the theme without using skulls and bones and stuff. The reason why the gfx are in the left 12 cm of the backplate is because this way the gfx are visible when the gfx card is inside the build. The big aircooler is blocking the rest of the rear of the card. I didn't want only the tip of the gfx sticking out. I have just painted the IO shield of the gfx card matt black. That is drying currently. Tomorrow hopefully I can show a picture of how it looks inside the build with the cpu cooler partly in front of it.

 

[Hukkel]

Already liked you image via Dutch Lion but just thought I'd how good it looks. Can you tell me how is the image applied to the panel?

Hey Colin, yeah I saw tnx man.
I tried a new route this time. The backplate was lasercut, the gfx were laser engraved and then acrylic paint was applied to the engraving twice. Just put it on the gfx with your finger, rub it in and then rub over the entire plate with a piece of cloth.

 

[Hukkel]

Again a small update.
I painted the IO slot for the gfx card matt black. Now the entire gfx card has this dark theme to it. I could paint the fans as well but I kinda want them to stick out a bit.







Here you can see that the backplate gets covered by the CPU cooler for quite a bit.
But the eye doesn't get covered this way.

Pls note that 2 of the inside covers still have the ugly foil on them for protection.





I bought this used fancontroller by NZXT. I wanted this because it actually gives some decent wattage per channel and it has slides which is what I wanted for this build.
I will take the front end off and fit it directly to the plexiglass middle cover.
I was actually doing that this evening and then I cracked it so I need to make a new middle section cover now :facepalm:





And 2 more photos of the gfx card on it's back. I think it makes the card look very smooth.

 

[Hukkel]

Haha great minds think alike bro. It reminded me of the same thing.

Well I have found by accident a shop that is silly close to my house where a friendly man has all the tools I could dream off and charges so little I could not want one of these machines in my house or shed. I rather go to him instead.