Time.Sync.

[ALXAndy]

The front panel is finished. Sorry about the pics, the storms of the past couple of days have left a lovely salty haze all over my windows lol. All of the wiring is done and everything is set in. So it's literally ready to fit.



And I have stripped out the triad, cleaned all of the parts that came out and turned it into a server.



ph33r my benchmark smasher !

 

[ALXAndy]

OK am back. Feel better. Bit anxious, but then I am trying to finish the build in my head in ten minutes and that isn't going to happen. Had a bit of a mishap earlier which did its level best to bum me out, but I pulled myself through.

Basically I was upgrading the RAM and finishing up the Triad for server duties (fitting all of the PCIE covers, you know boring ****). Any way, I thought "Let me just release the right side panel so I can run this fan extension off to a molex" and then it slid and I heard this sickening crunch. Looked over, it had landed on one of my cherished valve amps. It shattered the acrylic valve guard before smooshing the valve. The valve had come out, and the legs were badly bent. Instead of smashing things up (like I normally would) I had a wave of calm come over me. I sat and bent all of the valve legs back, pushed it back in and amp works fine. Big phew, glad it didn't die. Seems valves are far more robust than I ever gave them credit for.

OK so today I began by dipping and soaking all of the fittings in straight white vinegar. Then I rinsed them off with cold water, then I dried them all. It took ages, it stunk, and it wasn't very pleasant. And that has been the build for a while really. Nothing I've done has been fun for ages and it has all been spade work due to my over complicated design.

However, I got there eventually.





Just turn it 90' counter clockwise in your mind and you will know how it should look. I can't bolt it into the PC yet as I need access before hand. So it will need to go in second to last (just before the front panel, which will cover access to the screws).

Like I say, all has to be done in order. And that has been the biggest challenge. Whilst that assembly looks pretty basic there are literally mms in it. Like bolt length so nothing fouls etc. Very happy with it, finally something I designed can be seen.

Next up? more wiring. At least it's given me a positive kick in the ass, though.

 

[ALXAndy]

After a marathon wiring session I have gotten a whole crap load done.



Apols for horrid photos, had to resort to flash (ahhhhh, he saved every one of us !)



It's getting just a little busy down there.. I have now glued all of the connectors to the AE, so that can go in tomorrow. I then need 3 more fan extension cables, but I ordered those on Saturday so they should be here Weds.

 

[ALXAndy]

Back out of bed at 2am. Ended up downing tools at 3:30. The vanity panels are now fitted and man, what a difference it makes. All of the silver now disappears leaving only black.



Apols about pic. As I suspected it's quite dark today, with only white light (very cloudy).

Time to test its faculties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50QNt178hA

Yup, seems like they are all there

Do excuse the fan noise. Obviously they are running at full pelt now and man, do they shift some air. I can't address that until the PC is smart and no longer dumb.

 

[ALXAndy]

More done ! decided to cover the tacky Chinese logos on the ram coolers. First I found the logo...



Changed it a little bit.



Et voila (it's more Fifty Shades Of Grey, but ho hum it's an improvement).



I had to remember to flip the memory for two. Good old X99, it flips the ram banks.



Cleaned up the CPU.



Then I used a combination of AC posts and springs but with EK bolts. They are just so much nicer looking.



And.



Next up coffee and pills, then I need to daisy chain the RGBs and tape them under the board. I also need to make an IO shield.

 

[ALXAndy]

Well one thing is clear, I won't need a Christmas tree or any decorations this year. Simply set the outside case lighting to red and the inside green, instant St Nick.











https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2dQV9Atmbw

 

[ALXAndy]

Daylight ! oh how I have missed thee.



Fitted the GPU into the riser, fitted the stop plugs and uh oh we have a problem. Can you see it?



I wouldn't even mind if they were actually the same bloody size *waves fist*



Total bust that was. I guess I will have to resort back to the sodding hex wrench bolts

 

[ALXAndy]

When your LED are so bright you can take half reasonable pics, without any flash or sunlight.



I *totally* planned on it reflecting like this *lies*



OK, so I admit I did not know it was going to do that at all but it's truly astounding. It makes the whole thing look like it's 3D. I wonder if Bitspower ever realised that when spinning around fast enough their logo turns into a pic of their flow meter? (look in the centre, concentrate, congratulations you have autistic vision )



Any one for squid ink spaghetti?



OK, so since then I have tested the screen to make sure it fits over all that wiring, it does. Literally drops in flat. I have no idea how or why but I am not arguing. I have also managed to get the 80mm fan in, right dead centre. It blows air toward the front and out, but more than anything will just allow some air to circulate down there. I was beginning to worry that I would need to extend about 30 wires for the front, so to ease my mind I measured the wire, cut a test piece and ran it where I would need to run it now that there are no gaping chasms. It reaches.. Phew.

Tomorrow I am hoping to finish up modding the floor panel (I need to create two grooves, one for the single USB wire that goes to the motherboard and one for the PWR SW, PWR LED and HDD LED) and then get that in. Then I can fit the front. Then the pump.. Hey, you know how it goes, right?

 

[ALXAndy]

Few problems.

The GPU almost touches the board. You can't mount it further forward on the mount either, so I would bear that in mind if you were thinking about buying one of these Cooler Master mounts.

It's also stopped me from hooking up the loop into the back of the card, as there's simply no room. On a positive note though, I don't need the caps I just wasted £4 odd on lol.

I need two more 90' rotary fittings and extenders, so I have ordered those.

A kink has developed in the cold over night and I can't get it out (right down at the pump where it meets the hose going to the flow meter.). To fix this I am going to measure it up, then buy one of those extenders that looks like a bar. This will bring out the 90 deg fitting enough so I can literally straight pipe it right into the flow meter.

I am going to go away for the weekend I think, given that there's not much more I can do for now.

 

[ALXAndy]

OK so I ordered two of these.



And one of these.



An issue I was having was with the Q adapter. It is so bulky that you can not put a regular fitting next to it. The only way was to extend out a little, but I want it out further so I got that ^. Not only should that clear the Q adapter but it will also look tidy. The 90' are EK, and unbranded (I hope). They should fit in well with the Bitspower stuff.

I have also decided (today) that I am going to make a cover for the GPU. That block just doesn't look right in copper and it needs something else. So, I think I will make a full cover fascia for it, but keep the cut out, if that makes sense.

I will design it when I get back home. I am away for the weekend now.

 

[ALXAndy]

Really having a spell of bad luck with this. Tied my money up for 5 days on a block not in stock (not here, another place) and then found a B grade here on OCUK so hoping to have that on Friday.

 

[ALXAndy]

Thank the heavens for OCUK. Scored this EK on sale and it's unused.



Snake fitting has been lost other than that I should have something to keep me busy as I decided to move the GPU on the vertical riser meaning it needs to be chopped up lol.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update. OK so the other day I powered the rig on for a few seconds with no coolant. I just wanted to see if everything worked.

It didn't. I had nothing coming from the USB on the mobo. Panic set in....

So last night I removed the block and fitted the AIO that came with the Triad. I also fitted an old Quadro. Sure enough it booted up and started fine, but nothing was happening on the USB. I removed the connector, then fitted it back and Windows popped up a message saying something like there was insufficient power for the socket. Thank god, or I'd have spent days trying to figure it out. I traced my steps back to when I last tested it and decided to remove the clock and the screen from the USB hubs. I ended up sending them 5v from a spare SATA rail. Bingo bongo ! it all works.

So the one thing bothering me was that basically this riser bracket is useless and doesn't fit. The end block on the EK was hitting the RAM and the thumb nuts on the water block for the CPU FFS. So I decided to do something about it. Here is the block fitted and the bracket modded. Note, I have managed to move it a full slot outward, meaning if I really wanted to I could now fit another card and use a 1X ribbon.



I am flummoxed as to why Cooler Master designed this so badly. I mean, it is a PC mod that you have to mod *scratches chin*. Any way, it's now 100% more usable and even fits in the PC without hitting anything. Who'da thunk it eh?



One thing that was peeing me off was the EVGA Powerlink. It is, quite clearly, incompatible with blocks with large ports. I wanted to use it, as it means the PCIE cables virtually vanish, but there was a rotten great big gap in it. So again out came the tools, and....



And that is where I am at. I am basically a roll of hose away from being able to complete, which makes me very happy.

 

[ALXAndy]

Changed to an actual camera. Still work to do, so not ordered lights and backdrop yet.



Sadly when I pulled the masking it took off some paint. I was really mad, then realised I had loads of touching up to do any way in areas I missed etc.



Still very annoying though. Wiring is now pretty much finished.





Leak testing last night.



Screen is working but can't run rig on DP atm as it's on the floor. Once I get it up on the desk I can hook everything up.

 

[ALXAndy]

Merry Christmas



So earlier I fixed a problem I didn't even realise I had. If you look back to when I made the clock and had it running out of the PC it was about five times brighter. I figured it was dim because it was now closed in, but I had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right. I can no longer remove the front, but popped it away from the chassis and stuck my torch in there. All of a sudden the clock got much brighter.. WTF? it turns out after much prodding with my torch that the clock dims itself at night, and when it sees light it gets much brighter. I fixed that by putting a white LED strip behind it and closing it back up.

Just some paint touch ups now, then I can get stuck into the awfully expensive box of peripherals I have amassed over the last three months lol. Three months ! can't believe it !

 

[ALXAndy]

Thanks mate. Yeah, it was and still is in ways a massive test of patience. The problem is that you have to rely on external sources, and the only reliable one these days (proven tested theory) is OCUK. Seriously, I cannot speak highly enough of how amazing they are. It's literally like they have supported me all the way through by getting their end of things done on time, every time. They even switched deliveries to Saturdays for free a few weeks back (Xmas I would assume) which again really made this happen much faster. The only issue was all of the other sources. Blocks that were not in stock (and a week of nothing before contacting THEM only to find out they were not in stock) huge delays and hoses that were not the advertised size (who sells 9.3mm hose as 10? plenty of people. Seriously I have had that happen so many times). I went through three batches of black hose before ordering a 20m run from China which finally was the advertised OD. I could literally pull all of the others straight out of the fittings.

I'm glad it's (nearly) over. I still need to make an IO shield and I want to try and make one more grey cover panel but we will see how that goes. Then some masking up and touch ups and then it'll be finished.

But again yeah, enormous shout out to OCUK. No arguing, no quibbles, just rock solid service and fantastic customer service.

 

[ALXAndy]

Paint finished. One of the reasons I used hammered is because if it ever needs touching up it's easy to hide. Had that been flat paint I would have been in all sorts of trouble.



I've also made a flat black IO shield, and want to make two small grey ones later today.

 

[ALXAndy]

It's finished. I've also taken some photos (and a video) with a half decent camera, capable of transferring how the build looks in person into photos (almost, we all know it's actually close to impossible)

Tech specs.
CPU - Intel Xeon E7 ES. 14 core 28 threads
Motherboard - MSI X99 SLi Plus!
Memory - 8x4gb DDR4 running 2133mhz
GPU - Nvidia Titan X (P, Pascal)
Sound - Asus Xonar U7 MKII external USB
PSU - Enermax Platimax EPM1500EGT 1500w

Storage
1TB Intel 2280 NVME PCIE SSD
1TB Sandisk 2.5" SATA
500gb OCZ ARC 100 SATA
240gb Sandisk SATA
250gb Samsung EVO SATA

Cooling
Radiators - 2x Bitspower Leviathan 240mm.
Reservoir - Bitspower Z-Multi tank (100mm)
Flow Meter - Bitspower hex RGB
Fittings - (red) Bitspower
Fittings - (black) Bitspower, EK & Barrow
Hose - 11/8 (OD/ID)
Fans - Bequiet! Silent Wings 3 (4x120mm 1x92mm)
Fans cont - 140mm (in PSU) 80mm Noctua Industrial (cooling floor)
Pump - DDC
Pump Top - Alphacool acetal
CPU block - Aquacomputer Acetal
GPU Block - EK 1080Ti/TXP
XSPC EC6 clear coolant

Electronics

Aquacomputer Poweradjust 3
Aquacomputer Splitty! 9
Aquacomputer Hubby 7 (X2)
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 LT
Aquacomputer Farbwerk RGB controller
XSPC RGB splitter box (X2)
RGB memory module cooler (X4)
30CM RGB strip (X2)
7" 1024x600 touch screen
EVGA Powerlink
RGB Fan halo (X4)

Modifications

80mm industrial feet
Complete interior refit (skinned with 3mm acrylic, painted with Hammerite)
Coolermaster vertical GPU riser and ribbon
Custom front panel constructed from acyrilic, hosts -
Twin volt meters in front, with two way mirror/clock and coolant temp meter
Completely rewired
Bitfenix Alchemy 24, 8 and 6+8 pin GPU extensions (black)
Dodge SRT "Hell Cat" badge







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ3FaKpHMoY

Enormous thank you to all of those who helped me. Whether it be through advice, support, kind words or whatever else.

 

[ALXAndy]

After having the board, CPU and RAM for coming up to three years (dang, it's really been that long !) it was time for an upgrade. With the TR1 prices being what they are I had to get one. £230 for a 1920x. Board stung a bit (£260) but hey, it's HEDT.



I've also ordered the memory, now that the prices are agreeable.



Me being me I will do nothing for ages, then take on two projects at once. What you see behind it is "Project sort out your cinema rig" Tag Mclaren. Something that also has me stuck, as I have nowhere to put bloody hifi components lol.


Cenedd? Cened? AKA Gareth lol was going to help me adapt my block to fit TR. But after looking at it and thinking it over I decided to stump up the cash for a block. A proper TR block. This was annoying, as if I were careless I would smash all of the value out of the 1920x by over spending on a board and block. After weeks of searching I ordered this.





Those of you that know me know that I am not a brand hooer. I simply buy what's cheap, looks presentable and works. So at £35 inc it was quite the bargain.







OK, so it's sorta a Bitspower rip off, but that's fine with me. The best block for X399 is the Raystorm apparently and there's a 4c difference and a £90+ price difference. Which when you think about it makes no sense as Ryzen isn't really thermal limited, especially first gen.

I drained out the coolant the other day and sold off the old parts.







It was a sod to build and it's a sod to take apart. It all has to be done in absolutely one order, or nothing fits. Main floor, pump board, motherboard. To get it out? reverse. The motherboard and pump have to come out before the floor can come out.

Normally I would have designed it otherwise, but tbh it's not been apart since I built it. Not even once. I have other rigs I constantly meddle with, this isn't one.

 

[ALXAndy]

Thanks man. It was definitely a labour of love.

I've ordered some more stuff I'll put up some pics later