Twice7 Worklog - Currently no name...

[zoob]

My goal is to put this into a Twice7:

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-guts.jpg

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-hdds.jpg
(Ok maybe not the hard drives)

Without it looking like my old setup:
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-old_twice7.jpg


STEP 1:

Went to Canadian Tire, picked up some Thin Metal jigsaw blades, and a pack of screws.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-screws.jpg
No pic of the blades.. I used them before I started taking pictures .

Using the Thermochill grill as a template, I cut out the holes, filed and sanded the edges.

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-cutout.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-cutoutb.jpg

Test fit of the grill.

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-grill.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/01-grillb.jpg

It's mostly OK. It looks like I didn't make the holes big enough so I can still see the case behind the grill. I might go back and file it away, but right now my #1 goal is to get that stupid mess off my desk!

NCIX didn't ship me the FG120.1 that's supposed to go on the right side of the case... I will need to get that back. Not sure if I'll be cutting that one out.

To be continued eventually :)

[afX]

the cutting job is better than the one I first made, btw nice setup I actually have a fetish for raw systems showing all their glory like that:D

[zoob]

Had problems fitting my PA120.2 using the stock fan holes that MM put in the case.

Here's the fix! I messed up with the first hole... woops!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/02-rad_hole2.jpg

Also had to tear away some foam that I used when the rad was mounted sideways.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/02-rad_hold.jpg

Sitting flush against the floor:
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/02-rad_inside.jpg

Screws to mount the fans to the rad.. no proper screw driver to fit through the fan screw holes!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/02-rad_screws.jpg

Rad mounted!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/02-rad_mounted.jpg

[zoob]

Somewhat unrelated, but here's the video card I am using. Watch for the next post or two to see why I posted this ;)

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/03-3850-s1.jpg

Accelero S1 + stock backplate for increased pressure!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/03-3850-s1a.jpg

Check how close the Swiftech RAM sinks are to the fins:
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/03-3850-s1b.jpg

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/03-3850-s1c.jpg

Stock ram sinks:
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/03-3850-s1d.jpg

[Yeknom]

Looking pretty good so far!

[zoob]

Looking pretty good so far!

Thanks! It gets messy fast :D

Here's a quickie to help cool the P5K Premium NB.

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/04-nb_cooler-1.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/04-nb_cooler-2.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/04-nb_cooler-3.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/04-nb_cooler-4.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/04-nb_cooler-5.jpg

[zoob]

Just realized the screwdriver + screw pic didn't make sense. Maybe this will help:

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/05-rad_mounted_a.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/05-rad_mounted_b.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/05-rad_mounted_c.jpg

I had to slot my jeweller's screw driver through the corner hole in the fan to fasten it to the radiator.

[zoob]

My crappy sleeving job using bits and pieces hehe.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/06-sleeving.jpg

Unoptimized settings for my E8500 OC.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/06-e8500-oc.jpg

[Kilyin]

What is that material you made a shroud out of for the NB fan? I just velcroed a 40mm fan to it, seems to work okay.

[Eddie3dfx]

Wheres can I pickup cheap sleeving? I like that blue one you have

[Kilyin]

Erm, so apparently the velcro didn't work as well as I had anticipated - it fell off. I was just looking at the PC and there was the fan laying on the video card. :stick:

I suppose I'm lucky it didn't cause any damage. I'm guessing when the NB heats up it significantly deteriorates the adhesive properties of the sticky pad. I found an alternative mounting mechanism though, using a nut and one of the mounting posts on my CPU block, seems to work okay and I KNOW that's not going to fall off.

[zoob]

The NB shroud is from an old post card, wrapped tightly in electrical tape.

The cheap sleeving actually came with the case because I bought it used off of Kato. I have no idea where it came from :) Here is his Twice7 rig (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116210&highlight=twice7).

This case is a really tight fit... It's not going as well as I had planned, and I was a bit hasty cutting the fan grill for a barb-up mount. This build would have worked MUCH better had I gone barb-down. The only way I can fix this is if I cut out the entire front and mount a different sheet of metal. It would have simplified the routing of tubing.. but I'll work with what I can get. I'm thinking a FC GPU block would work well to help my routing issues.

Pics to follow...

[zoob]

Fitting stuff in...

WOOPS!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/07-vid2_0.jpg

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/07-vid2_1.jpg

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/07-vid2_2.jpg

The Accelero S1 is too tall for the case!

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/07-vid2_3.jpg

Swiftech MCW60 to the rescue!

[zoob]

Some miscellaneous shots:


I wonder what this is for?
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/08-psu_shroud.jpg

I really need that missing FG120.1!
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/08-temp_grill.jpg

[zoob]

Finished modding my X-Fi with LM4562's for all of the outputs.

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/09-xfi_a.jpg

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/09-xfi_b.jpg

Rather poorly done.. I'm still learning how to properly solder surface mount components. Extra solder around the cap legs because the last one I had moved too much and broke the joint.

[karl_eller]

What's the benefit of replacing the X-Fi's chips with those LM4562's?

And yes, heat shrink is your friend. Seriously, I use that stuff on just about anything I can. Makes wiring a hell of a lot neater, not to mention a hell of a lot safer.

Eller

[zoob]

Head-fi thread on modding the X-Fi (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/hotrodding-x-fi-laymans-guide-no-56k-226975/).

Basically, it'll bring your X-Fi audio quality to roughly Prelude quality.

I was thinking about heatshrinking the cap legs but it's not like I bump my card around while it's on. If anything, I'll just toss some electrical tape around it :P

Regarding the sleeving, maybe one day I'll heatshrink the ends on that too, but I haven't found any sleeving kits at the usual places I order from (in Canada).

[karl_eller]

Hmm interesting. I might try that out one day if I get around to upgrading from my P5E's SupremeFX II card to an X-Fi card.

BTW, with his comment about keeping the sound card as far away from the GPU as possible, which do you think would create more EMI: An OCed 8800GTX, or a PSU (the PSU is bottom-mounted in my case)?

Eller

[zoob]

Good question. You could put some EMI shielding on the back of the card that faces the 8800GTX and move it away from the PSU.. just try not to starve your video card of air.

[karl_eller]

Heh, problem is the only 2 PCI slots I have are either right above the GPU or right above the PSU :p: I guess I could probably chuck some EMI shielding either between the GPU and sound card or PSU and sound card, depending on placement, and figure out what sounds best :p:

Now to find out if this mod is possible with one of the half-height XtremeGamer cards. Just need to find a decent top-down pic of the card to see if they use similar op-amps.

Eller

[zoob]

SO
here's the clean side of my build :)
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-mobo.jpg

X-Fi with foam and some shielding
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-xfi.jpg

Back of case mobo side
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-backmobo.jpg

How I mounted the fanmate that controls the rad fans. Temporary solution that will probably stay for a while..
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-fanmate.jpg

I managed to keep one side clean at least.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-top.jpg

The reason I needed the PSU shroud. SAFETY :)
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-psu.jpg

Where I stashed all of the cables. This case is difficult to manage, even with modular cables. I think my Scythe Quite Drives, and Nexus 80mm fans are partly to blame. I'm not keen on chopping off the tails of those fans yet...
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-cables.jpg

The whole side
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-psuside.jpg

Crammed the tubing in the top.
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-tubingtop.jpg

Some more foam to dampen pump vibrations
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/10-foam.jpg

[zoob]

Upgrades:

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/11-8800gts512_a.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/11-8800gts512_b.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/11-8800gts512_c.jpg

[zoob]

http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/12-new_parts.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/12-new_loop_a.jpg
http://verbicide.ca/images/worklog/2008-twice7/12-new_loop_b.jpg

[[XC] NetburstXE]

Why did you switch to a m-atx motherboard?