♠.Scarlet Spade.♠ - watercooled + modded lian li build.

joxang · 31 Mar 2011 at 19:47

See HERE for my newest build log

♠.SCARLET SPADE.♠

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Progress so far...(31/05/11)
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Components
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Modded Lian Li PC-8FIA (exterior anodized silver)
ASUS Rampage III Extreme
i7-930 processor
CFX ASUS RoG Matrix 5870 2GB
ASUS Essence STX
3 x 2GB Geil Black Dragon (red led)
Vertex 2 40GB boot drive
Corsair HX850W
MDPC braiding

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Background
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Hey guys

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This was my last build, 'Red Spade'. Spade as in the playing card symbol, and as my handle on other forums and sites is 'mrjackspade'. As an attempt at a 'beautiful build', this was very much a starting point, through which I learnt how to braid properly. Also the first time I'd coordinated a proper colour scheme in a PC build

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This time I wanted to try to do something similar with watercooling, using the same components in a new case that I'll mod for the purpose.

joxang · 31 Mar 2011 at 19:48

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Case
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I originally bought this case to turn into a Hackintosh (silver!) but after I got tired of using OS X, I decided to use it for this next project. It's not the prettiest of Lian Li cases; in fact I think the front grill looks absymal. Not the best case for watercooling either - the proximity of the top of the case to the motherboard means there's barely room for a fan up top, let alone a radiator, so the only place where you might fit one would be the front. Three things that need doing anyhow:
(1) Better looking front grill
(2) Radiator mount
(3) Case window

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Here's two of those things half sorted

. I went for laser-cutting instead of dremelling as it's a lot cleaner and faster, and isn't too expensive either. If anyone is looking for a laser cutter you can find a very good guy on eBay (not hard to work out what to search!). Turn-around isn't the fastest, but he's a top guy and keeps in touch constantly.

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Sorting out the window - quick dremel on the acrylic and a rough sand, thin double sided-foam tape (look for the industrial strength stuff!)

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Cut the modder's mesh to the right shape (AC Ryan black mesh), and notched to fit into the case front. This'll probably be held in place by a mixture of the double sided tape and superglue.

crisbduck · 31 Mar 2011 at 21:34

Woah, very professional, looking forward to more

joxang · 31 Mar 2011 at 23:29

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Case 2
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I decided to fit a set of wheels on the case with the assumption that it was going to be pretty heavy after water-cooling. I had originally planned to fit red led 120mm fans to the front - sadly, didn't look that great even behind the mesh. Just too small behind the humongous black bit out front!

So, cutting 140mm holes

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And the result...

Pretty much the look I set out for so I'm pretty pleased with that. I will be putting black foam panels on the silver bits behind the mesh, so the shiny bits surrounding the fans don't show through. That's all for today

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domthecondom · 1 Apr 2011 at 16:50

preffered the original front but keep it going

Gundog48 · 2 Apr 2011 at 14:36

Great work! Didn't like the front fan grill on the original so a good improvement IMO. Also a big fan of side windows so a fantastic job!

bugeyewrx · 2 Apr 2011 at 18:22

The new mesh front gets my vote too .... much cleaner look .

Sayso · 2 Apr 2011 at 19:03

looking good.

joxang · 3 Apr 2011 at 00:23

Thanks for all the comments guys

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Rad Mount
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There was simply no room for a 280 rad mount in the front of the case (which I wanted to do) and no room for any radiators at the top of the case, so I decided to put a 240 mount where the hard drive cage used to be. Used a Lian Li 343B radiator cover plate as the base for the mod:

Very simple mod - cutting the sides off...

And ghetto hammer bending

!! This bit was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

And the result:

The rad mount screws into the bottom of the case, and there's a foam pad at the top which slides into place and stops it moving around. I have some concerns about the air flow as the grill is quite restrictive, but there is room for push pull on the rad. If worse comes to worst I can cut out the grill bits on the rad mount.

joxang · 3 Apr 2011 at 12:19

Anyone have any suggestions for any particular radiators that would be good under a restrictive grill? I have an RS240 at the moment but I don't anticipate the performance to be spectacular.

SupermotoMX · 7 Apr 2011 at 23:33

i think the mesh would look nicer silver...

but its deffo an improvement from the stock

powelly · 8 Apr 2011 at 20:05

that is smexy

Greboth · 8 Apr 2011 at 20:25

I would have thought if you have a restrictive grill then any rad that works well on low air flow would be the best one to have. Depends thought on what hardware you plan on cooling.

Little side note: Are those white fans on case 2 140mm NZXT fans (FN-140rb) ? If they are, how do you find them? Looking at getting some for my rad.

Gundog48 · 8 Apr 2011 at 20:29

Out of interest, what are you doing with your previous project?

joxang · 8 Apr 2011 at 20:43

Sorry for lack of updates, exam next week and will post after

. Also waiting on the new Lamptron Fan controller.

Are those white fans on case 2 140mm NZXT fans (FN-140rb) ? If they are, how do you find them? Looking at getting some for my rad.

Yep they are, I bought them off an alternative retailer based here in the UK. [REDACTED!]

Out of interest, what are you doing with your previous project?

Dismantled, most of the internals are going in here. Rest are getting sold. x900b case is on sale in MM at the moment as I need the monies

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I think I'm going to make the grill less restrictive with a bit of drill work...don't think the rad stand will be strong enough to withstand a giant dremelled hole in the middle.

Gundog48 · 9 Apr 2011 at 00:51

Do you have a build log of Red Spade anywhere, would love to see a more detailed look at it as it looks fantastic!

joxang · 9 Apr 2011 at 11:39

Gundog48 said:
Do you have a build log of Red Spade anywhere, would love to see a more detailed look at it as it looks fantastic!

Aw thanks

. Sorry no build log as it really is mostly stock with Nexus Quiet fans, braided cables, and an SSD mount on the floor of the case. If you click on the pic in the first post it should take you to the flickr album though.

joxang · 10 Apr 2011 at 13:26

Well here's just a lil update

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Window Mod
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Personally don't like tinted acrylic - reminds me a bit of bad car mods - but I love the effect of having a reflective window until the lights come on inside. So to get roughly the same effect (but classier imo) I just put a mesh window behind the transparent acrylic.

Put black foam panels around the front case fans to hide the metal. Looks a lot cleaner.

This next pic's a bit of a teaser, stuck all the components in and gave it a spin

. Just a rough idea of where I want to end up - I'll post incremental updates after my exam next week

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MacLef420 · 11 Apr 2011 at 16:04

joxang said:
Well here's just a lil update .

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Window Mod
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Personally don't like tinted acrylic - reminds me a bit of bad car mods - but I love the effect of having a reflective window until the lights come on inside. So to get roughly the same effect (but classier imo) I just put a mesh window behind the transparent acrylic.

<SNIP>

You sir, are a genius. Was enjoying the build log anyhow, a very intuitive approach.

Adore this window mod, was looking towards a tinted/reflective window myself, however, like yourself I find most tinted acrylic somewhat "cheap". Do think I shall be borrowing this idea, much obliged

joxang · 11 Apr 2011 at 20:08

Thanks + you're most welcome to the idea

. Was just experimenting a bit, didn't expect it turn out as well as it did.