Project: Lian-Li 343B - Black Sea

[Raduke]

Introduction

Hello, I'm a fervent reader of the XS forums for over a year now, and got my WC knowledge from this awesome place.
I've been keen on building a special rig for some time now, and have spent periodical investments for a year now.

Aim

I've boldly set my list of aims as follows:

performance
silence
bling
modularity

Merging all these criteria, which are inherently mutually exclusive (omfg!, did I just write that?) is the task I find most challenging.
Combining the first three objectives comes to one sole conclusion: watercooling.

Materials and methods


Hardware
The current hardware is evidently subject to major change, however here's the deal I've got:
Case: Lian Li 343B (huge, almost hypermodular, exquisite finish)
PSU: Corsair 620HX Series (modular, silent, good performance)
CPU: Intel Q6600 G0 rev. (a pedigree one, the ex-owner boasted 3,800 MHz on air)
Mobo: Asus Blitz Formula Special Edition (not a bad choice, performance and bling-wise, but bad as WC)
RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR2@1066MHz with triple Fan Module (standard)
HDD: Dual Raptor 36Gb Raid 0 + WD250KSE 250Gb (:p:) (oldies but goodies)
GPU: nVidia 8800GTX (it's really MADE by nVidia, not other retailer, got it SH from a refurbishment)
Sound: SB Audigy2 SE (a classic!)

Cooling and Water Cooling:
I intend to have 2 separate loops, one for CPU, one for GPU+others, using these parts (along with the reason I bought them for, with respect to the main project goals):
WBlocks: Swiftech Apogee GTZ (performance, bling), D-tek Fuzion GFX v2 (performance, modularity) + 8800GTX Passive Cooling Plate, Aquacomputer Aquadrive X4 copper-Edition HDD-cooler (silence, performance, bling), Stock Asus NB WB (bleah!)
Pumps: 2x Laing DDC3.2 (Swiftech MCP355) w/ XSPC Res Top (performance ftw)
Rads: PA 120.3, PA 120.2 (performance)
Fittings: Generally Koolance compresion 3/8'' fittings (bling)+ some others
The tubing, fans, controllers may vary with regards to innumerable factors :)

Some notes:

I was very disappointed to find out that there are currently no compatible blocks for Blitz' mosfets (there was a typo in EK's compatibility charts that lead me to believe otherwise when I got the mobo). Therefore, I'm stuck with the stock Asus NB waterblock (though I've purchased a Swiftech MCW just in case).
I plan, for starters, 2 loops, one for CPU, one for GPU+HDD+NB. Subject to change, hopefully with respect to this thread and your kind advices

Modding
There will hopefully be excessive modding, emerging with every post in this thread.
Most important of all, I will love to hear criticism and advices, as this worklog is as dynamic as it can be.

[Raduke]

These are the starter photos of this project.
First the main actors (the ones that I got so far).
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/debut1.jpg

About the paint job. After reviewing and weighing the case interior of the lian li, despite its near perfect finish, I decided to paint it black (as it's quite a standard among modders nowadays). I tried several types of paint, but to my amazement, the best look I got was from a plastic black matte, dupli-color spray paint. I've painted some stuff with it 1 year ago, and looked Ok, so I think I might be able to fool the 'plastic' thing into aluminium.

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/painting.jpg

2 bad things about the 343b:
- it's not so silent
- the mobo tray is non removable

So I decided to:
1. Remove the mobo tray
2. Remove all pop rivets from the case and replace them with less noisier screws. Indeed, the case frame literally 'squeeked' when a bit torsioned. The source of these nasty noises were the pop rivets not being perfectly firm.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/wheel.jpg
Some scratches left over from drilling out the pops:

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/scratch_back.jpg

Some spray paint testing

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/paint_trial.jpg

The scratches are not good for paint job, I wanted to sand it anyways:

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/polish.jpg

Paint job took 4 days (primer+paint)...
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/screwin.jpg

Some Scotch heavy duty double sided tape between in order to decouple the two frame bars:

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/scotch.jpg

After screwing in the frame back, there was no noise, and the frame was more solid and firm to torsion (actually I could no longer torsion it). Consecutively, the squeaks were gone too. No lubricants used :)

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/corner.jpg

The frame reconstructed:

http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/frame02.jpg
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/bottom.jpg
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/holes.jpg

As you can see, heavy manipulation made some paint scratches emerge, plus the screws got some bites too. A new wave of paint will be incoming. Matte painting has the advantage of not caring how many layers of paint you fly by.

[MomijiTMO]

WOW great job on the painting.

[twwen2]

Great painting!
You should bre proud of that job.
Looking forward to more :up:

[Utnorris]

You can actually do a couple of things as water blocks for the chipsets on the Blitz. First you can remove the NB, SB and crosslinx heatsink part from the mosfet heatsink by using a hairdryer to heat up the heatpipe and loosen up the glue that holds it in the mosfet blocks. Once you do that you can use the EK Asus NB Max block for the NB or a Swiftech MCW30. For the SB, the EK Asus SB4 can be used. As far as the crosslinx chip, I just used a regular heatsink block since it does not get too hot. On the mosfet side, you can replace the heatsink next to the CPU facing the back by seperating the two blocks just like the NB, SB and crosslinx blocks. I found leaving them alone and using the pop on fans provided by Asus worked just fine though. If you have any questions about doing all this feel free to PM.

[skinnee]

Really nice paint job! :up:

I'll be watching this build progress. :yepp:

[atomic ferret]

Really, really nice paint job. This is looking very nice.

[Raduke]

Thanx for the input, I'm still busy with the painting job while I wait for the watercooling components to arrive.
The screws before painting:
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/sita1.jpg

...and afterwards
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/sita2.jpg

the backplate:
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/backplate.jpg

..but at a closer look...
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/spider-mandibles.jpg

This is something that doesn't pass the quality criteria I have for the case, therefore I, first, tried to fix it the easy way:
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/lapping.jpg

However, repainting that sanded down part proved far from fixing the issue. Other imperfections emerged so I decided to do it the hard way. As a side effect I discovered it could be split in two by doing some rivet removing (my most hated job).
Afterwards, I literally took a bath with one of the pieces and wet sanded it 'to the bone'.
Then applied the primer:
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/backplate_primer.jpg

I've also painted it, but it's drying as I'm writing these lines now.
Meanwhile, some extra plastics and case components to the paintosaurus:
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/piese.jpg

Finally, I've purchased some new tools and stuff. The pump stand is to be done soon. I intend on a sandwich + decoupling and ventilation.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq269/raduke/new_tools.jpg

[pcaddict]

MOAR! pure :banana::banana::banana::banana: :D

[Asniper]

I've been eying this case for a while now. I think you've just put the icing on the cake on my decision.

[cian1500ww]

Looking great mate, keep the updates coming !!!

[BlueAqua]

Nice job on the paint. I know it can be hard to get a great finish with the rattle can. It takes a lot of work and patience. I like the amount of quality work you're doing.

Your pictures are great too. ;)

[skinnee]

The screws in foam idea is genius! :up: