Very good question. I'm yet to look into this but it's on the agenda to research today. Initial thoughts are some kind of gloss clear coat like you said. Not sure what the other options might be, if any.
Scratch Build: Blu & Red Aluminium - Sponsored by Gelid
- Thread starter Sam__
- Start date
Very good question. I'm yet to look into this but it's on the agenda to research today. Initial thoughts are some kind of gloss clear coat like you said. Not sure what the other options might be, if any.
Custom SATA cable made up today. The drives are mounted so close together on the back of the motherboard tray it doesn't make sense to have a conventional cable to power them.
Decided to match the colour scheme of the build even though the cable should never be seen as both the PSU and SSDs are below the motherboard tray.
L-bracket mounting for SSDs.
First wire added to connector.
Checking the distance between the drives.
The metal locking parts had to be removed. It was too difficult to remove the connectors from the drives with them present. Also the push fit was more then enough to hold in place.
Fully wired.
Cover plates on.
Added a third for another drive.
Then crimp the molex connectors (by hand, no crimp tools here!).
All done.
Decided to match the colour scheme of the build even though the cable should never be seen as both the PSU and SSDs are below the motherboard tray.
L-bracket mounting for SSDs.
First wire added to connector.
Checking the distance between the drives.
The metal locking parts had to be removed. It was too difficult to remove the connectors from the drives with them present. Also the push fit was more then enough to hold in place.
Fully wired.
Cover plates on.
Added a third for another drive.
Then crimp the molex connectors (by hand, no crimp tools here!).
All done.
I've been dreaming of making a case for the last 15 years and I thought why not just go for it!
I would also agree that more visible shapes on the red would look better. Planning to do it over again sometime so will do that.
Today's update: Some progress today making the PSU panel. It contains the PSU, a 140mm exhaust fan and four USB ports.
Marked up:
All cut out: (sorry for the wide and lens distortion and yellow lighting)
The USB ports on the left were particularly challenging as I only have limited hand tools. The majority of the cutting on those was with a knife and finished with sandpaper over a screwdriver.
Small update:
Put together the magnetic fan filters today. Filter + small neodymium = magnetic fan filter!
Countersunk, by hand, the screw holes so the filters would be flush with the panel.
Lovely fit.
Testing out on the panel. The best part is they are self positioning on the screw heads so you can almost slap them on and not worry!
Put together the magnetic fan filters today. Filter + small neodymium = magnetic fan filter!
Countersunk, by hand, the screw holes so the filters would be flush with the panel.
Lovely fit.
Testing out on the panel. The best part is they are self positioning on the screw heads so you can almost slap them on and not worry!
RIP Antec P280 case. This is the transition point where all the hardware comes out of the old case and there is no going back!
Marking up the motherboard tray for cutting.
A mostly in-tact motherboard tray, minus a lot of rivets.
Trim one side.
Trim a second side.
Trim a third side.
The finished result. Perfectly sized for the new case.
Now for the IO and PCI bracket. Again with the rivets!
After removal.
Marking up the motherboard tray for cutting.
A mostly in-tact motherboard tray, minus a lot of rivets.
Trim one side.
Trim a second side.
Trim a third side.
The finished result. Perfectly sized for the new case.
Now for the IO and PCI bracket. Again with the rivets!
After removal.
Now onto fitting the motherboard tray mount... mount.
Made some corner pieces to hold the mounting sheet in what I'm starting to call the mezzanine motherboard area.
Cut perfectly to size by hand!
Figuring out where to mount the motherboard tray so the IO lines up with the edge of the case.
And finally with some hardware on it just to get a feel for what it will look like.
Made some corner pieces to hold the mounting sheet in what I'm starting to call the mezzanine motherboard area.
Cut perfectly to size by hand!
Figuring out where to mount the motherboard tray so the IO lines up with the edge of the case.
And finally with some hardware on it just to get a feel for what it will look like.
Got the screws in today for the power supply, them being imperial is a little irksome as everything else in the build is M3/4/5.
Got to manually counter sinking. Pretty happy with the job.
It's getting really awkward to remove and replace the panels as the nuts are quite hard to hold in place while undoing the bolt from the other side. To save any further frustration I decided to epoxy the nuts onto the l-brackets. Much better!
Also also managed to mock up the reservoir mounts. They will be mounted to the edge of the motherboard mezzanine. Will get it mounted up and a picture taken tomorrow after some of the panels have dried from spray painting.
The current plan is to have the tallest reservoirs I that will practically fit in the end of the case, potentially 300mm tall, leaving some room for tubing and fittings.
Got to manually counter sinking. Pretty happy with the job.
It's getting really awkward to remove and replace the panels as the nuts are quite hard to hold in place while undoing the bolt from the other side. To save any further frustration I decided to epoxy the nuts onto the l-brackets. Much better!
Also also managed to mock up the reservoir mounts. They will be mounted to the edge of the motherboard mezzanine. Will get it mounted up and a picture taken tomorrow after some of the panels have dried from spray painting.
The current plan is to have the tallest reservoirs I that will practically fit in the end of the case, potentially 300mm tall, leaving some room for tubing and fittings.
Got a mysterious delivery today.
What could possibly be inside?!?!
Fans... (7 x Gelid Silent 14 PWM)
Fans... (6 x Gelid Silent 12 PWM)
More Fans... (Gelid Radiant-D RGB 120mm)
Really excited to use the individually addressable Radiant D fans.
Especially with the COD16 ARGB Controller Kit, which uses an Arduino! Luckily I've got a fair bit of experience with Arduino so should be able to get into the code and have some fun.
Also a few other accessories like GC-Extreme thermal paste and GP-Ultimate thermal pads.
The total package contents:
7 x Gelid Silent 14 PWM Fans
6 x Gelid Silent 12 PWM Fans
4 x Gelid Radiant-D 120mm Individually Addressable RGB Fans
2 x GC-Extreme Thermal Paste 1g
1 x GP-Ultimate Thermal Pad 1mm
1 x GP-Ultimate Thermal Pad 0.5mm
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
What could possibly be inside?!?!
Fans... (7 x Gelid Silent 14 PWM)
Fans... (6 x Gelid Silent 12 PWM)
More Fans... (Gelid Radiant-D RGB 120mm)
Really excited to use the individually addressable Radiant D fans.
Especially with the COD16 ARGB Controller Kit, which uses an Arduino! Luckily I've got a fair bit of experience with Arduino so should be able to get into the code and have some fun.
Also a few other accessories like GC-Extreme thermal paste and GP-Ultimate thermal pads.
The total package contents:
7 x Gelid Silent 14 PWM Fans
6 x Gelid Silent 12 PWM Fans
4 x Gelid Radiant-D 120mm Individually Addressable RGB Fans
2 x GC-Extreme Thermal Paste 1g
1 x GP-Ultimate Thermal Pad 1mm
1 x GP-Ultimate Thermal Pad 0.5mm
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
So, what to do first with these fans. The only logical thing... replace the PSU fan! Spent about 20mins before this cleaning all of the dust out of the PSU, it was on the bottom of my previous case sucking everything out of the carpet. Disgusting.
Take the grill off.
Void the warranty, although I'm pretty sure than ran out a while ago.
Check to make sure the new fan is a good fit.
Of course the pin out of the fan is different to a normal PWM fan. AND the connector is different.
Had to get the oscilloscope on the pins to see which was which and luckily had some molex crimp pins the right size to transfer the fan wires to the PSU connector.
Plugged in and verified working.
All back together. Looks a lot smarter doesn't it! Also is a lot quieter.
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
Take the grill off.
Void the warranty, although I'm pretty sure than ran out a while ago.
Check to make sure the new fan is a good fit.
Of course the pin out of the fan is different to a normal PWM fan. AND the connector is different.
Had to get the oscilloscope on the pins to see which was which and luckily had some molex crimp pins the right size to transfer the fan wires to the PSU connector.
Plugged in and verified working.
All back together. Looks a lot smarter doesn't it! Also is a lot quieter.
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
What's up with your cable?
So this is a fun one...
Firstly enjoy the beautiful Gelid Radiant D fans.
In my enthusiasm for the RGB Radiant D fans I may have been hot swapping them on the COD16 controller and touched the data line of the RGB controls on the 12V line for the fans motor. As you may have already concluded this did not end well. Some of the LEDs immediately turned off and then none of them turned back on when the connector was re-seated. This required some investigative work to find the issue.
Prepped for surgery:
There was a really awkward retention washer. Took a lot of patients and some good tweezer work to remove.
We're in!
Well there's your problem sir...
Four of the LEDs were burned out. And because they are in series. like Christmas tree lights, none work if the first one's duff. So by shorting the dead ones I managed to prove the good ones were fully operational.
So now I'm waiting on some replacement WS2812B's to arrive and I'll pop the bad ones off and throw the new ones on. Should be good as new.
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
Firstly enjoy the beautiful Gelid Radiant D fans.
In my enthusiasm for the RGB Radiant D fans I may have been hot swapping them on the COD16 controller and touched the data line of the RGB controls on the 12V line for the fans motor. As you may have already concluded this did not end well. Some of the LEDs immediately turned off and then none of them turned back on when the connector was re-seated. This required some investigative work to find the issue.
Prepped for surgery:
There was a really awkward retention washer. Took a lot of patients and some good tweezer work to remove.
We're in!
Well there's your problem sir...
Four of the LEDs were burned out. And because they are in series. like Christmas tree lights, none work if the first one's duff. So by shorting the dead ones I managed to prove the good ones were fully operational.
So now I'm waiting on some replacement WS2812B's to arrive and I'll pop the bad ones off and throw the new ones on. Should be good as new.
Thanks again to Gelid for supplying the goodies!
Big update time:
Here's a mock up of the rear of the case with the PSU panel and PCI & I/O panel in place. A few extra USB ports on the lower left, because I use a LOT of USB apparently. Along with a 140mm exhaust fan. Gelid Silent 14 of course.
Another mock up of the reservoirs in place using the mounting bracket made earlier. Just imagine these twice as tall as some 300mm reservoirs are on the way! These two smaller ones may find their way somewhere else in the case when the big ones arrive.
Both of the radiators were pretty bashed up so I felt they deserved a new coat of paint. Here you can see the damage to the 420mm EK rad.
All taped up and ready to go.
Looking a hell of a lot better.
The 360mm rad was also gloss black so it needed painting anyway.
Planning out the rest of the loop using old tubing got a bit busy so some 90 degree angles are on the way, which should make it a lot better.
Who wants a screen on their case! An old tablet I've not used in years will be used to show temps and fans speeds etc.
The tablet was white, so like everything else, had to be painted!
Here's a mock up with a lot of the panel in place. Still not sure which paint scheme to use in the end. Will see what inspires me on the day.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Here's a mock up of the rear of the case with the PSU panel and PCI & I/O panel in place. A few extra USB ports on the lower left, because I use a LOT of USB apparently. Along with a 140mm exhaust fan. Gelid Silent 14 of course.
Another mock up of the reservoirs in place using the mounting bracket made earlier. Just imagine these twice as tall as some 300mm reservoirs are on the way! These two smaller ones may find their way somewhere else in the case when the big ones arrive.
Both of the radiators were pretty bashed up so I felt they deserved a new coat of paint. Here you can see the damage to the 420mm EK rad.
All taped up and ready to go.
Looking a hell of a lot better.
The 360mm rad was also gloss black so it needed painting anyway.
Planning out the rest of the loop using old tubing got a bit busy so some 90 degree angles are on the way, which should make it a lot better.
Who wants a screen on their case! An old tablet I've not used in years will be used to show temps and fans speeds etc.
The tablet was white, so like everything else, had to be painted!
Here's a mock up with a lot of the panel in place. Still not sure which paint scheme to use in the end. Will see what inspires me on the day.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Yeah, really trying to make the most of my furlough! Thank you very much for the kind words.
I'm genuinely excited to use the GC extreme. No one seems to talk about it but everything I've read puts it right up there with the best.
Hopefully via USB cable using wiredxdisplay andriod app.
Update time:
The Gelid Radiant-D fan repair conclusion. The replacement LEDs arrived.
Removed and cleaned up all the broken LEDs.
Fitted the new ones. Pretty cool to see the internal controller using the macro lens.
All up and working first time!
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Update on the VEGA56 watercooling.
This has been a bit of a saga unfortunately. So I decided to make a custom shroud to be able to re-use the stock fan alongside the water block on the GPU. This would also allow for some nice RGB to be mounted around the GPU. Here's how it went.
Cut the acrylic to size:
Add some heat and bend it into shape.
Cut a hole for the water block. At this point I totally forgot that the mounting hardware would interfere with the shroud so had not cut holes.
Cut a rough hole for the fan.
Tidy everything up and it's looking quite nice.
The most satisfying part. Sanding to create the satin finish. Went with 400 grit to get a really smooth finish.
At this point I realised the mounting hardware had not been accounted for so had to make adjustments.
The final result:
I think it looks awesome and with some RGB behind it will glow beautifully.
Only one problem. When I went to put this ex-mining (most likely the cause) card back on the motherboard to leak test it... error 43 (something went wrong), the most generic of them all. There is an output to one screen but not multiple monitors and nothing 3D can be done. Okay I thought, this can be solved. After spending 16 hours over 2 days trying absolutely everything on any forum or article I could find about removing drivers and fresh windows installs, even trying Ubuntu at one point, I gave up and declared it RIP. All this work and nothing to show
.
So the hunt is on for a new GPU. For which I will plan to make a similar shroud depending on what cooling is already installed. This time I'll be well practiced and better at it!
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
This has been a bit of a saga unfortunately. So I decided to make a custom shroud to be able to re-use the stock fan alongside the water block on the GPU. This would also allow for some nice RGB to be mounted around the GPU. Here's how it went.
Cut the acrylic to size:
Add some heat and bend it into shape.
Cut a hole for the water block. At this point I totally forgot that the mounting hardware would interfere with the shroud so had not cut holes.
Cut a rough hole for the fan.
Tidy everything up and it's looking quite nice.
The most satisfying part. Sanding to create the satin finish. Went with 400 grit to get a really smooth finish.
At this point I realised the mounting hardware had not been accounted for so had to make adjustments.
The final result:
I think it looks awesome and with some RGB behind it will glow beautifully.
Only one problem. When I went to put this ex-mining (most likely the cause) card back on the motherboard to leak test it... error 43 (something went wrong), the most generic of them all. There is an output to one screen but not multiple monitors and nothing 3D can be done. Okay I thought, this can be solved. After spending 16 hours over 2 days trying absolutely everything on any forum or article I could find about removing drivers and fresh windows installs, even trying Ubuntu at one point, I gave up and declared it RIP. All this work and nothing to show
.So the hunt is on for a new GPU. For which I will plan to make a similar shroud depending on what cooling is already installed. This time I'll be well practiced and better at it!
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Got a few fittings in a couple of days ago. Mostly right angles along with two temperature probes, which will connect to the motherboard and be used to control the fan speeds on the push/pull radiator fans.
Also took delivery of two 300mm reservoirs! They look amazing, and huge next to the 150mm ones I already had.
Here's them sitting in the mounting brackets.
Also wired up the power button.
And yet to make up the headphone jack for the front panel.
Speaking of the push pull fans on the radiators. The motherboard doesn't have enough fan headers to control 17 fans that will be in the case so I made up some distro headers for the radiator fans. Takes six fans and connects them to a single header on the motherboard. One distro board for each radiator fan set so they can be controlled independently. I had the taco feedback connected to the fan connected closest to the input so the motherboard has some feedback, and all the fans are running from the same PWM output source.
These will me mounted in the back corner of the case so no need to spray them or anything as they will never be seen.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Also took delivery of two 300mm reservoirs! They look amazing, and huge next to the 150mm ones I already had.
Here's them sitting in the mounting brackets.
Also wired up the power button.
And yet to make up the headphone jack for the front panel.
Speaking of the push pull fans on the radiators. The motherboard doesn't have enough fan headers to control 17 fans that will be in the case so I made up some distro headers for the radiator fans. Takes six fans and connects them to a single header on the motherboard. One distro board for each radiator fan set so they can be controlled independently. I had the taco feedback connected to the fan connected closest to the input so the motherboard has some feedback, and all the fans are running from the same PWM output source.
These will me mounted in the back corner of the case so no need to spray them or anything as they will never be seen.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
Time for an update. Decided to learn a new skill in developing the water cooling for this build. Never used hardline before so this was fun.
All bending done freehand. None of these fancy custom tools!
4 x 1m of tube.
The first bend on the left did not go very well, however the second on the right was a big improvement.
Lined up.
A few adjustments later:
It fits!
The tube from the pump to the CPU block was a real fun one!
A wild third reservoir appears! Two big ones left a huge gap so I thought I'd fill it with a smaller res. What do you think?
Then to the drainage port. This was what I came up with from all the parts I had available. It's quite bulky though so I'd like to make it smaller by using a male to male threaded part instead of the fitting + tubing + fitting.
Also you get a sneaky peak of the new (to me) GPU after the Vega56 died. 1070 TI is the replacement.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!
All bending done freehand. None of these fancy custom tools!
4 x 1m of tube.
The first bend on the left did not go very well, however the second on the right was a big improvement.
Lined up.
A few adjustments later:
It fits!
The tube from the pump to the CPU block was a real fun one!
A wild third reservoir appears! Two big ones left a huge gap so I thought I'd fill it with a smaller res. What do you think?
Then to the drainage port. This was what I came up with from all the parts I had available. It's quite bulky though so I'd like to make it smaller by using a male to male threaded part instead of the fitting + tubing + fitting.
Also you get a sneaky peak of the new (to me) GPU after the Vega56 died. 1070 TI is the replacement.
Thanks again to Gelid for the support!