The Left Handed Build

[piggin]

Subbed
great workmanship

Thank you

Your attention to detail is incredible, and can't wait to see this mod/build finished! Is your hardware the same as at the start of the thread? Its quite old now (but still good i bet!)

Work has ground to a halt, as I still have not had the panels back from the painters.
As for hardware, I have another update I have to put together this weekend.
Should be a good one

 

[piggin]

As before, another brown box appears on the kitchen floor

And again on first impressions there is very little to see

But once the packing is removed, it gets a little better

I went with the 3930K chip, with the all important SPORKY version

Went with the ASUS RIVE motherboard

I had the full fat version so there are lots of toys to play with

I thought I would try Muskin RAM for this build

The red will look nice with the motherboard

The RAM does look @ home in this motherboard

Chip fitted

Waterblock fitted for some testing

Due to the motherboard being shipped with two slightly misaligned CPU pins, the motherboard was RMA’ed back to ****.
I have to say this was the worst RMA experience I ever had.
I was accused of damaging the motherboard myself & after 3 months of banging my head against a brick wall, I finally had the motherboard returned.

I also had this

I went with nickel again (hope they don’t corrode like the last lot)

Screws removed from the rear of the motherboard around the CPU area

Also removed the screws from the board chip

Original cooling all removed

Old TIM removed & waterblock fitted

New thermal pads & waterblock fitted

When the motherboard was away have a trip around the world.
nVidia was launching its new range of cards.
So on launch day the plastic had another battering & these turned up the next day

Not much to look @ in the box

And comes with very few extras

But they do look better in two’s

A few weeks later, these were ordered

Again I ordered nickel

And acetal

The screws from the PCI-e bracket have to be removed

Once again they have thread lock fitted but were removed

All the screws have to be removed from around the GPU

Again, thread lock does make this a little harder

Cooler removed

Card all cleaned up

New thermal pads fitted

Waterblocks fitted to both cards

I thought I would go with the EK link system this time

The system comprises of the link

And two fittings that are attached to the cards

The screws from around the inlet/outlet holes have to be removed on both cards

The link piece is then fitted to one of the cards

Then both cards can be joined together

 

[piggin]

nice

Thank you

Jesus, by the time this is finished your have the components of 10 pc's!

lol, Mrs Piggin is not that understanding.
Most of 'The Shelf' has been sold on the MM & eBay.
I would love gaming Pc's dotted around the house by she is not so keen

That link piece between the two cards looks properly eipc! Sooooooooooo many levels of win right there!

Keep the updates coming dude!

Stoner81.

I agree.
I have always used an SLi link piece in the past but the EK system does look that much better (even though it's very expensive).

As for updates, the case is now being painted.
The job is taking a lot longer than I ever imagined but should be finished soon.

 

[piggin]

I think I need to get the panels back from paint very soon as Mrs Piggin is now coming home to this

I think the dining room table is a great place to build a test bed but she is not so sure

 

[piggin]

Hah, the last pictures reminded me of when I had to run without a case for a while:

I have now run without a case for almost 18 months due to this build taking forever.
My ASUS Rampage 3 & 580 's never felt the warm in-brace of a computer case but spent their life sat on 'The Shelf' in my home office/ man cave

I wouldn't like to be in your shoes when Mrs P does come home, and sees what you have done to her favourite dining room table!

Are you sure that IS a computer though, and not part of the control room for a small power station, or something?

I am looking forward to seeing it all inside that rather smart case though!

Keep up the good work Mr. P!

lol, Mrs P did not see the funny side when she came back from a weekend away with friends & found I had been 'moving things around'
She still looks at the table and asks 'when will that lot be moved'

I think I will have to give in soon & give the table back to Mrs P if the panels are not finished within the next week (or maybe a little longer if I push my luck).
The just hope she has given up reading this build log (fingers crossed)
If she figures out that this setup is not the one that was taken from 'The Shelf' & boxed up, I will end up dead.

Regarding power stations, that's what I do for a living & I can tell you we have nothing like this in work.
If we did, shifts would be a lot less productive but more fun

 

[piggin]

My mate finally phoned me to come and pick up the panels for this build.

Not that impressive at first glance (also a poor image due to poor lighting, incorrect WB etc)

But after some polishing with my DA

The panels look very good

I then needed to attach the mesh onto the inside of the panels
The mesh was laid out & the panels marked

This gives the position of where the double sided tape will sit

After some time the panel was covered with tape

The rear of the tape was removed & the mesh attached.

This was done to all the panels

So the build is now in full flow with more updates soon !!!!!

 

[piggin]

Thanks mate.
Been doing more work on it this week, so should have another update soon

 

[piggin]

Thanks ZZZAC, its good to know that people still enjoy what I am doing.
I know the time scale for this build has been very long but it will be finished soon.

I have done some work on the build this week, so just need to put an update together

 

[piggin]

It's coming a long beautifully.

It's been refreshing to see that you also live in the real world - ie with a real wife, who busts your chops about the mess

I wondered how you got away with it for so long until I saw your mention of Mrs P...

Love the reference to Man Cave. My rooms been nicknamed my Toy Room, much to Mrs T's friends mirth...

I have to apologise to you Tattysynuc for not reply sooner
I have been spending all my spare time on this build & have not had any time to respond to anyone.

As for living in the real, Mrs P is busting my chops big time @ the moment as I have the build on the dinning room table @ the moment.
She is not happy
There are bits of computer everywhere, with cables & tools scattered in for good measure.

As for the 'Man Cave', that started as a home office for Mrs P & myself to do work from home but that soon changed
Basically it is now just a play room for the 14 year old child Mrs P never wanted (me)
As for getting to meet Mrs P friends lol
I am not allowed, just send up to my room to play

 

[piggin]

Long time OcUK lurker, had to register just to say

WOW

dobertron, welcome to OcUK & thank you.
Its very nice to know you are enjoying the build & I feel honored that you posted in my thread first.
I was also a long time lurker & I still enjoy sitting in the background

This is looking really good am enjoying it a lot of thought going into it, keep up the good work piggin!

Thanks Toxic
I have to say that I am very pleased in how this build is turning out.
There has been a few changes on the way but I do like it a lot
Work is still ongoing with another update coming very soon.

Eek, this build is phenomenal in all its forms since the beginning! I may have just spent about 40 minutes of work-time just reading this thread. *Guilty Face*

lol, I have found that my lunch times are getting longer when I start looking on OcUK
I have found that looking over your shoulder periodically helps me get away with it (for now)

As for the build, good to know you are enjoying it.
I am surprises how long this build has taken (coming up to 2 years) but if you consider all the obstetrical s that have been put in the way, I am surprised it has got to this point & I am not wearing a straight jacket

 

[piggin]

It used to be easy for me to do what I wanted as I was the only one in the office
Unfortunately, I now have a junior engineer in the office & I am suppose to set a good example

 

[piggin]

Yes, I maybe setting a bad example but there are worse places to be

Will finish the next update today, so a new post tomorrow

 

[piggin]

Fitted the lower section divided

Bulk head fittings used between the upper & lower sections

Lower support fitted to frame with rubber dampers in the corners so the pumps will not pass vibration through the case

Double DDC & D5 pumps fitted to the dampened plate

Cables held in with P clips

Rad fitted into bottom section

Pipe work fitted

I am using a combination of fittings & pipe extensions to get a neat finish

Double DDC plumbed in to res from above & rad

Suction feed pipework to D5 plumbed in

Second rad fitted into the lower section & discharge of D5 plumbed in

Both rads joined together with discharge pipework going back through the lower section divide

 

[piggin]

Amazing! Keep up the good work! I can't believe the lack of comments! It's good worksmanship! Subscribed

Thanks for the kind words m8
lol, I thought there would be a few more comments or questions but everyone must be stunned into silence

err, how are you going to bleed it?

There will be two reservoirs sitting on the closes two fittings on the left side of the case as shown in this picture.

The GPU system should not have any problems with bleeding as the whole system is lower than the res.
The CPU could be an issue as the res is not the highest point.
I should be able to overcome this by adding extra high to the water level with an extension piece on top of the res fill port

 

[piggin]

Thanks m8 for the kind words.
Its nice to know that people appreciate my efforts & can understand how much work has gone into this build.

I remember when it was just a pile of gubbins on the shelf...

Things have not changed that much, just the location & Mrs P now comes home to this

 

[piggin]

I don't get it.

That Hirst fella chops a cow in half and pickles it, and gets to call it art, yet your giant novelty watercooled calculator and pr0n locator gets you the 3rd degree. I don;t know about you, but in our house there was nothing but moaning about the lack of a suitable dining table, and the minute that I try to use it for anything other than dining (which should be it's primary function, but is more often used as a dumping ground for washing waiting to be folded and taken upstairs)

It just doesn't make sense.... :| I'm going back to my man cave to have fun...

Agreed, If I leave anything out its called a mess & if Mrs P leaves anything out there is nothing said.

Having 'junk' (Mrs P words not mine) lying around the house cost me a fortune as we ended up moving to a bigger house.
I still have nowhere to put any of my 'toys' & Mrs P shoe collection has grown exponentially.
I just think its double standards

Wow! You're 14. My wife always tells her friends I'm 12....

lol, I think the exact quote is 'Its like living with a stroppy teenager'
So I think I maybe making myself more mature than Mrs P thinks I am

 

[piggin]

oh, good god.

Awesome build. Subbed.

Solitaire is gonna run so smooth when this is built!

Honestly mate epic build and amazing workmanship! Everytime i see it this just gets better and better

Thank you both very much.
I played so much solitaire when I was doing my degree
The only problem is I prefer to play minesweeper
I will have another update soon.
I was going to put it up Monday but was admitted into hospital to have a discectomy & an artificial disc fitted into my neck
Just got home from hospital, so should have time soon to put together a few updates

 

[piggin]

Subbing to this thread, looks like it'll be an interesting one

Yes, lot more to come.
The anesthetic is now wearing off, so should be able to put an update together over the weekend

Such a great built this - looking forward to seeing it complete.

PS Cheers for putting detailed guides in here and there, a couple have come in very handy

lol

It was my intention to try & help others with their builds (I know that's a little precocious)
When I started 'modding' Pc's (a long time ago now) there was very little information around but now with the help of good forums & talented builders (I don't class my self as one) people are doing excellent builds.

I am more than happy to help people & share any hints, tips & tricks I have found over the years

 

[piggin]

AWG 24 7/0.2mm will do the job
Just make sure the amperage of all the fans you have joined up does not exceed 1.4A (general specification of AWG 24 cable)
If it does, the insulation can melt & you can have issues with 'dead shorts', fires etc.

As for asking questions, not a problem, as away

 

[piggin]

The cabling on the underside of the case is just as neat as the rest of the build

The bottom panel is held on with black 4mm button headed bolts
The feet are attached by screws through the bottom plate

All four feet are attached the same way

The rear panel is attached to the frame with the motherboard section

All the power cables for the fans & pumps come through the cut out in the centre deviding plate

These cables then run up the side of the motherboard panel

They come through the top of the motherboard panel where the fan controllers will be fitted

140mm fans are fitted in the front of the frame with 5mm countersunk screws

Also 140mm fans fitted in the rear

All the braided fan cables come out to the fan controllers & DVD drive

Test fitting of the front panel

As you can imagine, Mrs P is not a happy woman coming home to this