Hello!

This will be my first worklog for my first water cooled PC. I've already got most of my parts in, and have been waiting a long time to do something like this, so here goes.

The Specifications,

AMD's 955 BE
Gigabyte's 890GPA UD3H MSI Z77 MPower!
8 GB Corsair Memory 16 GB Patriot Intel Extreme Masters Memory Kit
MSI's R7950, reference edition
WD's 500 GB Green OCZ 128 GB Vector and WD 500 GB Scorpio Black
WD's 1 TB Green
Corsair's TX 650M
Lian Li's A05NB

The Loop,

Laing's DDC 1T Plus + Phobya light black top Aqua Computer's DDC Delrin Top + Swiftech MCP 35X
Alphacool's NexXxoS XT45 240mm radiator
Alphacool's NexXxoS XT45 360mm radiator
Koolance 370 CPU block

Noiseblocker's XL2s

*more to come

The Aesthetics,

Bitspower 360mm Radiator Grill Watercool Heatkiller 360mm Stainless Steel Hex Guard
Vandal resistant switches, blue dot + ring LED, stainless steel
Clear acrylic panel for side window

Just two photos to kick off this post. "Project: Rebirth" begins next week!

The case that I will be cutting up, already removed the USB + 3.5mm headers to make way for the 360mm radiator!



Just got these goodies today!



This post has been edited by pristine: Jan 23 2013, 12:08 AM

You can fit a 360mm on the roof?

I intend to stuff one there!

That's going to be a tough one. I sure hope you did some measurement. With an MATX board you most likely can fit the XT45 + Fans in there while still probably can SLI. But the board you chose is a full size board

Btw, paint that sucker up.

hopefully I didn't miss any measurements.

definitely planning on painting it up, later on when I'm finish cutting it up. haha

This post has been edited by pristine: Sep 8 2012, 01:35 AM

Excellent. Had an A05N sold it with little regrets. The anodized layer is rather thin with LL's products and stains + oils can burn in.

any tips on how to remove the anodizing?

---

Added on September 9, 2012, 1:37 am08/09/12
Issue:

Bitspower 360mm Radiator grill won't accommodate my 360mm XT45. Seems that the Bitspower grill is meant for radiators with wider fan spacing.

This post has been edited by pristine: Sep 9 2012, 01:37 AM

necessary for grills??

won't affect the progress of my build but I want to put just so it looks more polished. haha

This post has been edited by pristine: Sep 10 2012, 07:11 PM

Project: Rebirth begins today!

Did a test fit for the 240mm radiator at the bottom of the A05NB,



Hardly any space left! Just enough to seal the ports at the end.



Top panel ready for cutting, to accommodate a 360mm radiator.



Weapon of choice:



Fin!



Only used one regular cutting disc (small) for the panel. Didn't break till when I finished and wanted to remove it.

Will properly finish it and pop the fan holes tomorrow when my drill comes in.

great work, 2 thumbs for lianli user

Thanks bro!

This post has been edited by pristine: Sep 11 2012, 10:19 PM

Update!

Popped some M3 holes in the chassis today, with this!


And made the 240mm radiator opening, with a dremel.


You'd think it'll be less work than yesterday, but for some weird reason, I broke two discs, changed two discs, totalling FIVE discs. I think the chassis aluminium is different from the panels. I'll find out tomorrow when I cut my side panel.

As you can see the dust from cutting the 240mm hole. It's more than yesterday!


Also cut out a hole for CPU mounting plate change.


Took a break from all the cutting and drilling, made measurements and drawings for tomorrow's session:

Going to swap out the power and reset switches for delrin switches.


And make a windowed side panel! Still haven't drawn out the design. Have to make a few more measurements.

Interested on how it'll turn out ...



Good luck !

Had to make more measurements yesterday for the side panel,

I got inked.


Worked on cutting up the front and side panels today, along with cutting out an acrylic sheet for side window.

Front panel:


Issue with the hole I made, not big enough. Gotta go file it down some more tomorrow.

Side panel, complete with acrylic window!


Perfect fit when fixed back on the chassis! Quite literally. And I need to get more screws. HAHA!

Cutting the acrylic was ridiculous. Did it with a dremel, got showered with acrylic dust. I was covered with acrylic dust.


After that everything I saw had blur spots.

Should be able to put everything together soon. And file down/finish the cut sections if required.

This post has been edited by pristine: Sep 29 2012, 09:45 PM

Bro, got clearance for ODD with this rad? Planning to use this casing too...

The 360mm? definitely not on the first bay. Maybe on the second 5.25" bay. I'm not using an ODD. .

Will post a photo for you when I test fit!

Thanks bro, appreciated it. Looking forward your nice build...

Just did a test fit since I just realise I haven't test fit the 360mm rad after I cut the top panel!


and it works! holes all properly aligned and spacings estimated/measured are correct! I just need to do some finishing for the top panel.

Here's your answer!



It fits! Just don't go using deltas/push-pull (maybe if thinner rad can).

The space left is JUST NICE for an ODD or whatever you wanna stuff in. Also, depends on how you mod your case, you might still be able to use the top bay for something, depending on how big that something is.

Thanks bro...maybe can fit shorter body fan controller there...

hey i saw ur front panel u put the vandel switch damn sleek man...whr u bought it?

OR the new NZXT Hue.

but have to take measurements first.

Thanks bro! the switches I got them from PPC when they were on offer. You can get them locally as well, from lamptron (ask niclasteoh/lingloong). I think limhongwoon has as well.

The ones I got are delrin blue dot LED momentary switches.

that is a very nice switch! btw ur rig is awesome! fully wc..just wanna know how much does this cause you?

thanks!

Current running costs or cumulative?

If cumulative then I think past 6k already.

If current then I think about...2k? and I still have more parts to get.

oh thks! coz i'm gonna do mod after exam...got 6k budget but all tols i don't have, so gonna left 1k for it, now i think hard to get wc for cpu...

btw nice mod...wish to see more!

Just get a dremel with the extension, seriously. BRILLIANT tool. And a corded drill with speed control. and safety gear, if you're that kind of person.

Personally I got glasses, mask and foam plugs.

Depends what you wanna do with your WC really. Get in touch with ezzy or cyntrix. Pretty sure they'd be happy to help you out.

naiseee

Can't do any more cutting for the time being. lost my mandrel screw. . Currently waiting/searching for a replacement.

In the meant time, I've made some more drawings so I can finish the panels properly with straight edges(!)

Also, selling off the Bitspower 3x120mm radiator grill. Anyone interested?

Bitspower 3x120mm mesh grill

Such a sad waste. Gotta go find a replacement now.

Still hunting for that damn mandrel, so still no cutting.

Spent the day filing down and finishing the panels.

Got the switches to fit!


Don't even need to remove the original LED acrylic thingy.


But had to cut out the chassis, where the original power/reset switchboard was. Small matter


Did a test fit of radiators with the PSU I'll be using. FIT.


Resuming semester tomorrow, so log might slow down.

But will be actively procuring more parts to stuff in, since I still need:

Tubing
Fittings
Reservoir
7950 FC
Sleeving
Lighting
Odds and ends

look like pro modder here. nice mod bro.

can potong my side panel? hehe

just starting out only la bro. haha. but thanks!

sure! why not. if you're serious, shoot me a pm.

This post has been edited by pristine: Oct 11 2012, 11:41 PM

Sorry for the lack of updates you guys. Will be posting some photos in the coming days as my package from Aquatuning arrived yesterday! Got some new switches, a pump top and radiator grill.

Also, I'm thinking of selling off the current switches I have, 22/19mm(depending how you measure) Black Delrin/Acetal blue dot LED switches. Perfect condition. Haven't put up the sales thread yet, but if anyone is interested, shoot me a PM!

OKAY! an update, of new parts I just got over the last week.

I managed to trade off my Bitspower grill that I couldn't use 'cause of the fan spacing. Paid a visit to PPTEK in Subang Permai and got this(!) :



Thanks vlad and ezzy for the help and time!

A couple days later, a box arrived all the way from Germany, courtesy of DHL and PosLaju.



They sent me gummy bears, German gummy bears!



And other stuff, of course.

Got a new radiator grill, which fits!



Watercool's 360mm HEXX grill, 15mm spaced, stainless steel! So shiny.

This, from Aquacomputer



Inside is:



Aquacomputer's delrin DDC top. Very nice. Phobya has one which is full nickel! Tad more ex.

Also bought new switches to match what I have in mind.



Phobya stainless steel switches, blue dot and blue ring LEDs.

So much stainless steel.

A couple weeks back, got a pair of fillports from Pargon:



and today, APES.my sent me 2 units of this:



Thanks G.Bonez and Vlad/Ezzy!

Can get back to cutting up my case this weekend.

Going to riddle it with more holes.

This post has been edited by pristine: Oct 16 2012, 12:36 PM

Nice mod, can't wait to see the final result!!

This post has been edited by zgerm: Oct 17 2012, 11:55 PM

Didn't manage to do any cutting over the weekend. Having difficulty sketching out the location. Will probably wait for a few more fittings to arrive then I'll try again.

In the mean time, I've opened up a group buy from Performance PCs. Anyone interested can check here!

pls continue the worklog bro.

Been such a long time since I updated anything. Sorry you guys! Been busy with a whole lot of other stuff, my casing is still the same condition as the last update.

I have however been getting more bits and pieces for my build so there'll be a lot of pictures. Eventually.

Been having terrible luck with the fitting of my stuff. First it was the Bitspower grill, recently it was my 7950 water block. Had to sell off a super beautifully sexy watercool heatkiller block along with it's backplate.

Fellow forumer shepard owns it now. Lucky bugger. Hope you're enjoying it!

Not sure if anyone noticed, but I updated the first post in my thread. No longer running an AMD system. Gave it to my brother. Will be upgrading to an Ivy system and I already bought my motherboard, an MSI Z77 MPower (!) a steal from Newegg at RM620 with shipping when it was on promo.


Okay, no images of the board yet. Will do that when I can set up a nice area and use a proper camera to take some photos.

Loving Newegg's box!



Got the reservoir that I wanted, a Bitspower Water Tank Z Multi-80, Full Acrylic! Looks like glass. Very nice build quality. Thick acrylic walls.


My koolance fittings arrived some time back so I could get to marking the fill and drain ports on my case. Unconventional way of doing it, but hey it works.


Still have quite a number of components and mod things to buy -

Components:

120/128 GB SSD (Crucial M4/Samsung 830/Samsung 840/Intel 520/Corsair Neutron or Neutron GTX)
Intel i5-3570k (!!)
16 GB of RAM (Avexir/Patriot Extreme Series/Gskill Ripjaws X/Samsung Greens(?)/Corsair Dominators)

A whole lot of fittings which I haven't totally figured out

Mod stuff:

Sleeving!
Sleeving tools
New hole saw because I misplaced my brand new unused one.
White LEDs! or the NZXT Hue

I have a bunch of water cooling stuff on it's way over, an EK 7950 nickel plexi block that will fit my card, some brand new primoflex advanced lrt and some other stuff that's classifed under water cooling but I'm really just using for aesthetics. lol

Got myself some MNPCTech case feet as well!

I'm just hoping now I can escape tax.

If escape tax, you guys here can take turns buying tubing!

A little stumped with cable sleeving my PSU. using a TX650M, it's got a daisy chained 4-pin molex which I have no idea how to individually sleeve. ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA?



or should I sell the TX650M off and get a different PSU?

me too the molex really made my cable management looks messy

Got some new stuff today!

One from Primochill's new range of products. Their 'Zencoil'. Wasn't very zen when I stuffed this in my reservoir. Why? Small diameter res, large diameter 'zencoil'.


Okay, so the zen coil is suppose to sit like:

Image from Primochill

But for the purpose I'm using it for it ended up like:


It's pretty much stuffed in there. Hopefully there are to adverse effects to the reservoir. Because of this, the aquapipe in the reservoir can't be used. Oh well, small matter.

Got some case feet!
Felt a little cheated though. When I first saw them I thought they were compression fittings. .
They're pathetic. TINY. Only slightly bigger than a 10 sen coin (the old design). Guess I'll make my case look like it's floating.


Got a flow indicator! Anyone know what the purpose of the flow diameter conversion is for? It's beyond me.


Another from Primochill's new product line, 10 ft of Primochill Advanced LRT in UV Blue. Free SysPrep!


A close up:


Those interested in the clear version can find a photo of it on my bulk page!

Got a replacement waterblock for my GPU, from EK since it's a guaranteed fit. I really hope so.


"High Performance Watercooling Product


Guess that's it. It's just going to be a lot of buying for now because any modding will require more test fits, need some fittings and adapters for that.

This post has been edited by pristine: Jan 14 2013, 11:52 PM

great stuff...with nice picture summore...wish i have a camera like you

hope can join your bulk someday..

thanks bro. simple camera la, nothing fancy; a very old Canon 20D with a 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. hand me down from uncle. heh

it'll always be open. Just PM me if anything!

bro have you survey the price for that alphacool rad that you are going for? can let me know how much is it?

Why not going for xspc ex240 instead?

already have the rads. . cost me about RM 600 for both together, coz kena tax (I think large shipment). would have been less. if you're interested, let me know which ones you want I'll quote from PPC.

opted for this coz of the multiports, which I will be using for fill and drain.

This post has been edited by pristine: Jan 3 2013, 10:24 PM

ex series got multiport also ma...available locally if I am not mistaken...

btw pm me the price for 240mm rad & how much you kena tax?...if price difference is not that huge from xspc might consider getting it since its slightly better than xspc

didn't know they existed when I got my alphacool rads. haha!

but the finish quality for the alphacool rads aren't that great. I kena tax 200, IINM. gotta let me know which exactly you want bro, got like, multiple versions of 240mm. different thickness.

what kinda of feature are you looking for, anyway, since you said better than xspc. (in what way better?)

Alphacool's NexXxoS XT45 240mm (full copper). Not sure about finish quality of both of the rads as I havent own any of it yet but cooling performance wise nexxxos xt45 is about 1degrees lower than ex240.

I dont have any features in mind, only price haha. sorry turning your worklog thread into a garage sales thread

ok. will PM you shortly. haha.

don't worry bout it.

Small text update!

Ordered my SSD and RAM before something goes wrong with the world and suddenly all the NAND chips and whatnots go out of stock and prices soar like they did with hard drives. As it is, Intel SSDs are going up.

My 128 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM kit should arrive by the end of the month. Not disclosing what I ordered. Exciting times!

Only component left before I can get this rig booted is my CPU. Anyone feel like sponsoring me an Ivybridge K-class i5/i7? (I kid, I kid. But if you want to, or have one to sell to me at a reasonable price, you're very welcome to shoot me a PM )

Now, be as excited as I am and await my post for my SSD and RAM!

ps. you're welcome to speculate here! hopefully it's not deemed as illegal.

This post has been edited by pristine: Jan 10 2013, 12:00 AM

price goes up almost every few days. what is wrong man!!??

Had some time today, so I took photos of my motherboard!


They even specify where to plug up your SSD.


Just waiting to be inhabited


Also realised there are no proper photos of my radiator and pump top, so






Just some photos today. Hopefully my modding can resume soon. Been so long since I played with my Dremel.

Got to working in my backyard again!

Tiny update.

Got around to cutting out the holes for my fillports.


Turns out my method of marking the spots to cut was SPOT ON! perfect fit for my fillports and aligned with my top panel and radiator.

Next thing to cut is my stainless steel grill. Anyone tried cutting up stainless steel before?

really got some great items in ur mod bro...damn.. kinda jelly for a bit.
really want to try out that Alphacool thinggy..

thanks man. Alphacool thingy? You mean my rads? I'm actually not very happy with the finishing. haha! If you're interested in multiports, XSPC has. But their version has high fpi and thinner. Alphacool's is lower and thicker.

Yea bro..i mean the rad .. Alphacool's rad is better for low rpm fans (as far as i know) yet thicker.. kinda good for my setup.
Besides..i kinda like how it looks bro..

Gotta agree with looks part. More symmetrical compared to xspc. Haha. Just paint job and overall quality could be better I guess.

Text update

I FOUND MY HOLESAW

and because I was so excited I went ahead and cut up my stainless steel grill to accommodate the fill ports on the top of my case. No photo yet, unfortunately. Need to file it down and clean it up a little before it's photo worthy.

Also decided to add a little something to the radiator grill. Since I have excess acrylic, I'll probably go ahead and make an acrylic spacer just for kicks. It'll double up as something, but you'll just have to wait it out and see what it doubles up as.

SSD and RAM should be arriving tomorrow!

pristine~ do you carrying ppc order ? nice update.

Haha! I hope to share what's coming tomorrow. I'm so excited for it to get here.

and to answer your question, yes! I still am doing the PPC bulk. it's still in my sig. . what do you need? hit me a PM!

Received my items today! No one played the guessing game. . oh well.

Some photos that I managed to take:

Perfect color scheme of Vector + Patriot rams

sadly in real life, it doesn't look the same.

Yea i know the feeling at the moment of try to get the stuff u wanted is exciting but in fact it doesnt come as good as expected.
However cheers Your modding kinda motivate me to try some of my bro's pc casings

Well, upon closer inspection I suppose I can let the slight difference slide. It's more like a gradient I guess. Different shades of blue. haha!

Thanks man. And I'm glad to be able to motivate a fellow forumer to start modding something.

a game? i didnt know there was any bro..
anyway, more great items u've been bringing in for ur mod..man, really wanna see how it turns out

This post has been edited by qwe13: Jan 23 2013, 10:40 AM

haha! no la, I invited you guys to guess what I bought mah.

the RAM looks awsome

I know! it's even got great reviews!

shoot beetle_larvae a PM if you want to get a kit for yourself

nice ram. . bro bila mau siap ini projet

This post has been edited by Zzorro: Jan 31 2013, 06:18 PM

thanks bro. project ni lama lagi la bos. funds in then out, in then out. haha. After CNY dah boleh boot. Nak beli i7 lepas CNY.

dat angpau

Bro, I'm waiting for your update lah.

BTW, regarding the reservoir and zen coil, I'm pretty sure Primochill recommended on their product side to cut it. :/

I will be able to do more work once some replacement parts for my dremel comes in. The third party mandrels I bought locally sucks SOOOO bad.

I can't wait to get back to work either. haha.

Oh, I know about the zen coil. I intentionally did it that way. . Believe me when I say, I already cut it. HAHAHA.

I think I should get a dremel myself too. Planning to mod my current FD XL and do a inversed motherboard layout since my new casing will take at least another 6 months.

I wonder how mine will look. First time building a custom rig and already finding myself asking what have I gotten myself into.

I highly recommend Dremel's dremel although they cost a bit more than B&D. Let me know if you want a Dremel dremel, can link you up. Got mine at a good price. If B&D, can probably find at any ACE Hardware or on our forums.

Custom rigs are fun man. I keep adding on to my case design it's getting crazy. hahah

Gotta gather all my parts and do them measurements first.

Looking forward to receiving some interesting parts from you.

Sorry, double post.

This post has been edited by Lucassss: Feb 1 2013, 04:47 PM

Alright! An update because some new parts arrived!

Sold my Laing DDC 1T-Plus, and bought this(!) a Swiftech MCP35X, white edition. I probably will change the top though.



Also took the dive and bought these.
The most powerful non-PWM version of the E-Loops.



Ridged blade edges with dimpled frame.



6-blade interconnected blade structure, small fan hub with no sticker (!), making this one super sexy looking fan.



A close up, showing the small grey inserts for vibration dampening.



The inserts go all the way through, in case anyone was wondering. Some artwork on the frame, rigid with slight flex, maybe because of the thickness (or rather, thin-ness) of the frame.



This post has been edited by pristine: Feb 10 2013, 12:44 AM

pm me where u got those nb fans..

sure!

More stuff!!

Met up with bob(nz) to collect an i7-3770k from him. It was nice meeting with you! And thanks man. Now my rig is operational.



First thing to do? Pop the thing in!



I thought the stock paste would be alright. Who knew upon turning the thing on my temps were 70 on idle. Replaced the crap which didn't even contact (WTH! ) with some PK-1 (I think. All my thermal paste tubes have no stickers. LOL)

My beautiful RAM sticks!



Was super excited to press this button.



AND IT BREATHES



Final specs:

i7-3770k
MSI Z77 MPower
16 GB Patriot Intel Extreme Masters Edition RAM
MSI R7950 Reference Edition
128 GB OCZ Vector SSD
500 GB 2.5" WD Black
320 GB 2.5" WD Blue

This post has been edited by pristine: Feb 16 2013, 12:35 AM

That processor.

Cheaper than retail.

But nothing compared to yours. I think you have like, 4 times more cores than I do.

Interesting, mind sharing how much you paid for them? I gotta get one for my upcoming midget build.

No la. My cores are for show.