Watercooled FT03 : C.M.A.L.

chluz

chluz

chluz

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Joined
20 Feb 2012
Posts
19
UPDATE IN 5th POST

Hi guys, havn't posted much in this forum, but I thought that since the build section was new, I would give it a try.

So I had been running a FT03 black case on air since january. It was used mostly for a HTPC, with some gaming as well (I had a HD 6850 GPU back then), and running some matlab/fortran simulations. It was pretty quiet, with a DARK rock pro and be quiet 120mm fans... but it wasn't quiet enough (and I also wanted to try watercooling :cool: )

The parts back then were:
Asus GENE-Z gen 3
i5 2500K
vertex 3 120gb
2x 2TB samsung F4
Seasonic X660
Random ram 16Gb
asus HD 6850
slot load Bluray drive
Blackgold BGT3620

Unfortunatly I only have a pic of the components in the case when I had an am3 mobo with Athlon X2 and HD4850 (burnt because of short) and seasonic M12, so here you go so you can see the size of the dark rock pro


IMG_0077 par Chluz, sur Flickr

My brother wanted to do watercooling on a FT02, but he was too slow making his mind up, so I decided to get some practice on my own system.
I decided that I needed a big radiator, I didn't want any of the 160 rads underneath the GPU, or a small 120 at the top. So I went for a phbya Xtreme 200. The surface area is superior to all other alternatives I had seen out there for this case, but the air pressure for 230mm fans isn't so great. I though i'd try anyways.

For the rest of the watercooling, I used massive Tygon 1/2ID 3/4OD clear tubes, blood run premixed fluid (I know I know, don't use premix, use coloured tubes, but to be fair the non UV reactive premixed shouldn't clog up that much), cheap black niquel fittings, an EK 2.2 waterblock and pump, a EK supreme full nickel and a new 6950 with a copper block I got used (unlocked to 6970 of course ;))

And so I started with my first iteration fo watercooling
Front view

_MG_5696.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

and the top.. with a radiator balanced on a ruler and a 9V battery, and a box lid :cool:

_MG_5698.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

But I had a plan for the top radiator. I wated to use a new 3D printer I had available to me to build a custom made fan and radiator chassis to fit on the top. Here are some pics:

angled view

Sans titre-1 par Chluz, sur Flickr

top

top par Chluz, sur Flickr

Side

front par Chluz, sur Flickr

That chassis would sit on top of the panels, just like the previous plastic lid did.
Here are pics with the new chassis on

_MG_5811.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

top view, missing a mesh panel that will sit in built in grooves on the side

_MG_5813.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

Side view

_MG_5808.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

Of course I needed to be able to remove that lid to connect new stuff on the motherboard; to do this i added quick disconnects routed right behind the front manel of the case (where the cd slit is).

_MG_5814.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

disconnect the quick disconnects

_MG_5816.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

and then just lift off the top

_MG_5818.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

Next iteration of the project will modify the tubing connecting to the quick disconnects and add a drain line, as I don't think it's very neat. I also don't like the pump tilting forward that much, proabbly because the foam underneath is abit too pliable, and the tubing is a bit heavy... oh well. Tell me what you guys think.
 
Last edited:
that's awesome, not seen 3d printers used for modding before sure they will become common place although i dont think hobbist ones can print such large items can t hey?
 
Somnambulist said:
That's epic, you'll probably get requests on here from FT03 owners who're watercooling lol.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I hope so, maybe the community can make silverstone make a mold for this thing and sell it mainstream... that would be awesome

blueseidboy said:
that's awesome, not seen 3d printers used for modding before sure they will become common place although i dont think hobbist ones can print such large items can t hey?
Click to expand...

The typical hobyist one is called the Replicator, and thats 2000 pounds for the machine + the material, but you would have to do the top section in 4 parts so that would be much more complicated, but not impossible
 
UPDATE

So I added a drain port at teh bottom, and some extra damping under the pump, and the mesh grill at the top. Hope you guys like it

Mesh added at the top. There are grooves built in all around to slip the mesh grill in


IMG_6162.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr


Front view with the quick disconnect disconnected. The pump sits more or less level on the shoggy sandwich (I cut the orange middle section along the thickness to reduce the height)


_MG_6155.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr


Side view. The drain line has a ball valve to open or close the flow quickly. The air inlet will need to be done throught the graphic card. I will probably have to mount a fill port at some point to avoid having to do that


_MG_6156.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr

The quick disconnects slipped in. The problem is that with the foam, the weight of the quick disconnects and tubes compresses the foam and teh pump is not perfectly level. Don't know how I'm going to solve that. Its all down to those massive tubes. But they are pretty :cool:


_MG_6159.jpg par Chluz, sur Flickr
 
I'm afraid I'll be too old to build any of these when that happens :) But is will be awesome !

On another note, I have a Bitfenix Spectre 230 mm in there at the moment. Allegedly the spectre pro has a much higher pressure and should help shaving off I expect 5°C off the temps. The rad that I have on that rig is huge, and so I really think it's just down to allowing enough airflow through it.

I was wondering if anyone had had any experience with noise from the pro version (bitefenix spectre pro 230mm). I run the current one at around 350RPM when idle, and I can't hear it 5cm away. Does the pro perform similarly ?
 
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