**** PHINIX NANO TOWER **** Smallest and most powerful mITX rig !!!

Ladies and Gentlemen

for the second time, welcome to my project log!
After my first scratch - build - Phinix Cube - I decided to start new little adventure, little enough to call it NANO :)

First plan was to case-mod Lian Li A05 case, I'm sure some of you saw introduction to this project, but after some heavy thinking I decided to scratch build again:) I just didn't feel like modding case, when so many projects have been done with it already. You can find so many beautiful builds, I didn't feel like I could bring any new fresh ideas to this case. I felt I have to do something extraordinary, something better than we all have seen already, something that will open everyone's mouths and drop their jaws on the floor:)

Right now Nano Tower is in the first stage - planning and gathering materials and hardware.
I will update it every time I make a next step. Right now, short introduction...


http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...pictureid=9857

As you could already noticed from my previous build I'm always trying to use smallest dimensions I can get, to create great performance unit without any sacrifices on power and abilities. What I want to make is a case that its base will be smallest as possible, so it won't take a lot of space on my desk. To do that I would have to make it a bit taller, so that is why I decided to build tower-shaped case. Is it going to be tall? Tall just enough to take the longest graphic card on market. Engineering sample of dual chip ATI 5970 had ~34cm, so anything like that monster must go in my case.. just in case I win a lottery and buy one;)
Also I want to cool it with water. Baaah... not one loop, but two!:) Yep, why not! One loop for CPU, one for GPU, so these two elements won't make any influence on temps of each other, adding more heat into the loop. After reading so many good reviews of that Corsair H50 cooler I decided to get one for my new i5. What about GPU? having in mind that it's not out yet, I can predict that triple radiator will be enough for dual chip graphic card.

I built my Cube from acrylic, now its time for aluminium!

So, it will have small base, 20x20cm, it will be tall - main aluminium structure rods have 40cm. Tall, smooth tower - this kind of shape will look really good and a bit "mysterious"! :D Don't you think?:)

Now, to make it more difficult for myself, apart of longest card and i5, two loops of water cooling, internal, I will squeeze in two SSD drives in RAID0, one 2.5"HDD and one slim dvd drive. What else? Full size ATX PSU, 750W modular.
I think that will make it difficult enough to get your attention:)

So, here it is, main idea, general plans and hardware that will be used to create Nano-Tower:

Main ideas :

• install motherboard in vertical position, so I/O panel will be on top
• water cooling system installation, two loops, one for CPU (Corsair H50), one for GPU
• vertical PSU installation, power cable will go outside through the bottom panel
• laser cut window installation on the left and right panel
• fabricate mesh-radiator grill for top of the case a'la TJ-07 (clean mesh)
• some nice laser-cut front panel
• lighting system installation

Hardware:

• i5 750 watercooled
• DFI MI P55-T36 mITX motherboard - first and most powerful mITX mobo on market !!!
• new generation graphic card (also watercooled, right now I got GTX295, but waiting for Fermi :))
• 4GB dual channel DDR3 CRUCIAL Ballistix Tracer memory !!!
• 2x SSD RAID0 as OS drive
• 1x 2.5" HDD as games drive
• 750W Modular PSU

Water cooling system:

• Corsair H50 watercooling kit for CPU
• EK 4.0 pump + combo reservoir
• triple EK-CoolStream RAD XT (360) radiator for GPU loop
• GPU water block
• Bitspower silver compression fittings
• Feser tubing (yellow)
• 3x 120mm YateLoon SL slim fans for triple radiator
• Akasa Apache fan to use on H50

Additional - EXTRA stuff:

• Switches and fan controller to control all lights and fans.
• leds to light it all up:)
• yellow acrylic.. a lot...:)

Project color scheme : black and yellow!


My NanoTower Project is sponsored by:

DFI

http://pcmoddingmy.com/LP2K4/DFI/logo.gif
http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...pictureid=8574

Check this out here.


CRUCIAL

http://images.crucial.com/images/res...xperts_REV.gif

Check this out here.


MNPCTECH

http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...pictureid=6321

Check this out here.


EK Water Blocks

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/images/logo.png

EK gave me huge discount on their products so I ordered these - check this out here



PHENOPTIX

http://www.phenoptix.com/shop/images/store_logo.png

Ben from Phenoptix is sponsoring all lightning equipment in this project!


BITSPOWER

http://www.swiftnets.com/assets/imag...power-logo.jpg

Vincent from Bitspower will sponsor all amazing Bitspower goodies!


*** AQUATUNING ***

http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...ictureid=10704

Aquatuning will sponsor quick release fittings sets for my water cooling loop !!!



*** ANTEC ***

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/Mate...low/yellow.jpg

Antec will support my project with their fantastic TruePower New TP-750W Modular PSU !!!


So.. have fun with me once again and... STAY TUNED !!!

PHINIX

wow... this is gonna be awesome :)

subd here :up:

good luck. If anything like your previous projects, this will be a nice one.

Thanks guys! I hope you gonna like it! :)
Ordered some aluminium for main structure.
Bill from MNPCTECH sent me a lot of goodies, all should be here soon, so there will be a lot of work and fun :)

I'm going to keep on eye on this build =)

Can't wait to see what you come up with, Mike :up:

Looks like this will be an interesting build, I am looking forward to seeing your sketchup plans.

Let the fun begin :party3::party:

interesting! subd

OK. I picked up my first package. It was heavy! And I thought aluminium is a light metal...:8
Before I add photos this first update will contain first sketchups.
So here it is...


FIRST UPDATE

These are the first sketchups of the main frame. As I said before (wrote) main frame of my nanoTOWER has 400mm of height (well, main rods actually). With bottom panel which is 5mm and top one, 3mm, it has 408mm of height. Base of the case has dimension of 200x200mm.
Here it is - main aluminium structure of The nanoTOWER !!! :eeek:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-6.png

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-7.png

OK, I'm gonna comment on few of them.
Here you can see the most important part.. The mobo tray. It is made of 2mm aluminium sheets, size 20x17cm.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...-aluminium.jpg

Here you can see L shape aluminium support for middle-top panel.
It will be installed just above the mobo and will keep CPU cooler on top of it. That is why there is and big 120mm round hole for fan.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-5.jpg

...and this is that middle-top panel...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-4.jpg

Here's the support for bottom panel. Of course it will be also screwed in from the bottom. To make it look more light, I may use some low profile head screws...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-3.jpg

Here's a rear of the structure. Right now it shows the rear 2mm panel and 3mm acrylic "under-radiator" sheet - it will be a small decoration touch for radiator mount.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-1.jpg

...that is why we have those holes here - that's the holes where the tubing will go through the rear panel to the inside. Yes, triple radiator will be installed on rear of the case. More details about it will be presented later...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...0-alumin-2.jpg

So, that's the whole thing for right now... Looks nice. Right now I can only say that this aluminium structure is tough as hell, I didn't imagine it will be so stable and strong! When took that 3mm panel in my hands I was a little shocked! Not even mentioning that 5mm bottom one... ...and those square rods! WOW!.... It will be hell of a case!!!

I hope you like it! :eek:

i like it very nice!

Thanks Matt!

Well, I wanted to work on it this weekend, received my aluminum yesterday (7kg of it) but unfortunately they cut main bottom panel in wrong size. They said that they cut with -/+ 2mm tolerance, but I got panel 3mm less than it shoul be. Saw I'm sending it back today, and will get it next week. But I will do some work anyway, rest of the panels dont look that bad. Anyway, update coming up on Sunday I think:)

wow, looks very nice, keep that thing up :up:

Mike I like your sketchup design, however as you are going to be putting the rad on the outside.
Why not just make the case 60 oddmm bigger so you can mount it inside to give you cleaner lines.
I just feel that if you are going to all the effort to build a case for it, it would look more professional and less just tacked on.
Plus the extra foot print size would not be that much bigger.

Are the square corner posts going to be made from 2mm extruded ali.

As you can't get your hand down inside to put a nut on the back of a bolt.
So you are left with one other option, self taping screws.
Thats fine as long as you drill the holes the right size in the 2mm extruded ali. You need a drill bit the same size as the shank of the screw.
The shank/shaft is the bit that the thread is wound around.
When you look at a screw next you will see what I mean.
The real challange is, that most small screws have very fine threads, like .5mm or less and the threads of the screws are stronger than the aluminium.
By forcing the screw into the hole you will be cutting a thread in the 2mm extruded ali.
As there is only 2mm of thread to screw into, by over tighting or just by removing and replacing the screw a few times, it's really easy to strip the thread out.
Your only options then are to use bigger screws or re-drill new holes near by and that usually makes the job look second rate.

To avoid all of this crap, the easiest way around it would be to measure the inside diameter of the 2mm extruded ali.
Onced armed with this info, go to your local hardware supplier that sells wood and try to find some that fits inside the square ali extrusion.
Or get some timber dressed to the size you need.

It doesn't nead to be a perfect fit, althuo the closer the better, in saying that, most of the time it will only be screwed down to one edge anyhow.
This will give you heaps of material to screw into, you could also screw your top and bottom plates into it as well.
Now you will be able to use counter sunk screws to give you a smooth flush look.

Looking forward to your next update.:up:

OK, I'm not sure what screws are you talking about (the one on the bottom?). Also, not sure what do you mean by 2mm extruded alu posts. Do you mean those rods, bars? They full, not alu-profiles. They are fully alu, heavy as hell:)

Now, radiator outside. As I mentioned it will be 35mm thin radiator, not 60mm PA or Feser. That will look very nice on the back of the case. I will do the same thing that Bill did with one of his MNPCTECH mods:

http://www.mnpctech.3dpixelnet.com/p...y/Final4wb.jpg

OK, so the four square uprights are solid alu, what works.

What about wire management in this case?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vinas

What about wire management in this case?

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What do you mean what about it?
You want to know where the cables will go?
You will have to wait for it a bit longer:)

This is going to be good, one of the kind build, keep up the good work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanzy

This is going to be good, one of the kind build, keep up the good work.

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Thank you for kind words! :)

Just a small heads-up for upcoming update - I worked a bit on main frame structure last weekend. That was actually my first time working with aluminium and have to say - cutting and shaping 3mm aluminium sheet is hell:)
Bottom 5mm alu panel is coming to me, company I ordered from sent me a replacement, so this weekend I will be drilling rods and screwing all together, hopefuly we will see main frame this Sunday...
Also I made some small modifications to mobo tray placement - to make some more space for top cpu cooling radiator I had to push mobo a bit "deeper". That move ended up cutting 5mm of front rods thickness. Well, sketchup will show it better then words...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...botraymove.jpg

Here you can see how the mobo tray went 5mm deeper with the middle panel. That change gave me some more space for mobo I/O panel "upstairs" between H50 radiator.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...otraymove2.jpg

So Am I right, your going to recess the motherboard into the solid square corner posts by 5mm.
Is that right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

So Am I right, your going to recess the motherboard into the solid square corner posts by 5mm.
Is that right?

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Yes my friend, to gain some more space fro I/O panel in upper level I have to push mobo tray a bit deeper. 5mm is perfect - not too much to weaken the rod, but enough for mobo:)

If you haven't already cut out that 5mm section, then I would suggest using a jigsaw.
Try clamping 2 or more of those square bars together to give the jigsaw foot some stability when cutting.
Also as ali is soft, you can use blades with bigger teeth.

Looking forward to your next update there mate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

If you haven't already cut out that 5mm section, then I would suggest using a jigsaw.
Try clamping 2 or more of those square bars together to give the jigsaw foot some stability when cutting.
Also as ali is soft, you can use blades with bigger teeth.

Looking forward to your next update there mate.

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thanks, its gonna be hard, cause its 20mm thick, but will try it.
I thought I was going to drill 3-4mm hole on its side forst, then file it down, but will try my jigsaw first, like you suggesting...
I'm this close to buy scroll saw:)

Drilling lots of holes and and then filling the wast out of first one will be just dam hard work, the second one will push you over the edge.

A Scroll saw will make like work of this.
Just make sure you can either bolt or clamp an adjustable fence on the scroll saws bed, that way you will get dead straight cuts.

A jigsaw and some blads made to cut aluminium with the uses of coolant/ even just soapy water will work, just give the foot of the jigsaw something more than 20mm to sit on.

Good luck mate, may the modders force be with you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

Drilling lots of holes and and then filling the wast out of first one will be just dam hard work, the second one will push you over the edge.

A Scroll saw will make like work of this.
Just make sure you can either bolt or clamp an adjustable fence on the scroll saws bed, that way you will get dead straight cuts.

A jigsaw and some blads made to cut aluminium with the uses of coolant/ even just soapy water will work, just give the foot of the jigsaw something more than 20mm to sit on.

Good luck mate, may the modders force be with you.

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I will go with jigsaw then, but I'm worried how its gonna go. See, when I was cutting 3mm alu sheet it jumped every 10 seconds - maybe blade is used? I don't know but it took me good 20 minutes to cut few lines... I hope it won't jump and stop when cutting 20mm thick rod;)

I got some first photos!!! Its only aluminium pieces, but still! :)

These are main elements for frame structure (except bottom and middle panel).
You can see 4 rods, top panel and mobo tray....

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05933.jpg

Top panel has marked front space for dvd. Now you can see and get the idea how the slim dvd-rw will be mounted: on the front and vertically! I know.. crazy!:) But I have tested my slim dvd and it works perfectly in this position, so no worries.. If I didn't mention - it will be slim slot-in dvd, no tray.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05936.jpg

Here's the mobo tray. Right now it has marked few elements, like CPU back hole matrix of small holes on the left and the position of mobo mount stand-offs. I took them from photo of DFI MI P55-T36 mobo:D
You can also see what parts I need to cut off on both sides at the bottom - this will make space for that 45 degree "cut-in rod spacer" I did to get mobo a bit deeper, as I showed previously on sketches...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05935.jpg

Here are main rods... 20mm nice looking fellas.. two of them - "mobo holders" - will receive liposuction this weekend:)
http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05937.jpg

Here you can see where Doctor Phinix will make first cut:)

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05938.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05939.jpg

That is for now.. it has been raining last few days.. I cannot go out to do some work and every time I go back home its dark already so cannot make nice photos...
This weekend I'm going to work a bit so will show some more progress.

When cutting thin sheet metal/aluminium, you need really fine teeth on the blade, so there are more teeth in contact with the cutting face at any one time.
As the material gets thicker, only for soft materials like aluminiam, perspex, hard rubber, plastic and so on.
You can decrease the amount of teeth on the blade just a bit and still have enough teeth in contact with the cutting face to stop the jigsaw from jumping around and grabing.
If the blades are blunt the jigsaw will also start jumping around and grabing and also if the speed is to fast or you push to hard.
You should try using different speeds, starting with the slowest at first, see how you go, if ok, then try a faster one, if not, move back.
Just take your time, theres no rush, it's the quality of the finnish your after.

Look forward to your next update, parts above look excellent.

lock them all togather and use a fly cutter ;)

Nice to see someone rolling thier own :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

When cutting thin sheet metal/aluminium, you need really fine teeth on the blade, so there are more teeth in contact with the cutting face at any one time.
As the material gets thicker, only for soft materials like aluminiam, perspex, hard rubber, plastic and so on.
You can decrease the amount of teeth on the blade just a bit and still have enough teeth in contact with the cutting face to stop the jigsaw from jumping around and grabing.
If the blades are blunt the jigsaw will also start jumping around and grabing and also if the speed is to fast or you push to hard.
You should try using different speeds, starting with the slowest at first, see how you go, if ok, then try a faster one, if not, move back.
Just take your time, theres no rush, it's the quality of the finnish your after.

Look forward to your next update, parts above look excellent.

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Thanks Tiger! I think I need to buy new jigsaw blade and try it out... I hope tomorrow will be a good day to mod:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HDCHOPPER

lock them all togather and use a fly cutter ;)

Nice to see someone rolling thier own :up:

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Thanks Chopper! Nice to see you here - I see you are not sitting only on OCZ forum:):welcome:

Well, during this weekend it was raining all the time, so couldn't work outside. Worked in the attic a bit. I prepared and cut mobo tray and bottom panel, also sanded them nicely to have clean shiny edges.
After that I started with that two rods that keep mobo tray. As I mentioned above I wanted to thinner them a bit to push mobo tray a bid deeper, 5mm into those rods. So I took my trusty dremel to try it out.. During half an hour I managed to brake 2 reinforced cutting wheels and get 3mm deep cut... So I took my badass jigsaw with special metal cutting blades.. After another 10 minutes I get another 2-3mm deeper... Of course my special blade was worn to the frame;) So decided to drill holes along that cut line I drew on the side of that rod, so it will take some material off so jigsaw cutting would be easier. I drilled about 10 3mm holes and my drill press stopped when drill bit was in about half way down...
So I went to B&Q and bought 5 new mega-special thick-metal cutting blades... After another 2 hours I managed to get 2 of new blades totally worn.. and got 2cm cut... So after whole afternoon trying to cut this rod I decided these rods are going to cnc place:) Now I'm really convinced that I bought some kind of super-hard grade aluminium rods:)

I think I'm gonna have to add one more detail in description of my new build - it will be bulletproof ;)

I hope I'll get those rods back till Firday and then all good stuff gonna start.

What I need to do this weekend is:

• drill and tap all 4 rods at the bottom and top
• create main frame - measure against rod holes and drill bottom and top panel and screw them together
• drill and tap hole in "flattened" parts fo rear rods for mobo tray
• drill and fit in mobo tray to rear rods
• cut the middle sqaure hole in top panel
• measure and cut 6 support L-shape corners for bottom and middle panels then mount them
• fit in middle panel
  

Looks lie a lot of work, but it will be much easier when rear rods will be ready. That sounds fun for me this weekend!:blush: I hope you guys gonna like it as well...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phinix_mike

Well, during this weekend it was raining all the time, so couldn't work outside. Worked in the attic a bit. I prepared and cut mobo tray and bottom panel, also sanded them nicely to have clean shiny edges.
After that I started with that two rods that keep mobo tray. As I mentioned above I wanted to thinner them a bit to push mobo tray a bid deeper, 5mm into those rods. So I took my trusty dremel to try it out.. During half an hour I managed to brake 2 reinforced cutting wheels and get 3mm deep cut... So I took my badass jigsaw with special metal cutting blades.. After another 10 minutes I get another 2-3mm deeper... Of course my special blade was worn to the frame;) So decided to drill holes along that cut line I drew on the side of that rod, so it will take some material off so jigsaw cutting would be easier. I drilled about 10 3mm holes and my drill press stopped when drill bit was in about half way down...
So I went to B&Q and bought 5 new mega-special thick-metal cutting blades... After another 2 hours I managed to get 2 of new blades totally worn.. and got 2cm cut... So after whole afternoon trying to cut this rod I decided these rods are going to cnc place:) Now I'm really convinced that I bought some kind of super-hard grade aluminium rods:)

I think I'm gonna have to add one more detail in description of my new build - it will be bulletproof ;)

I hope I'll get those rods back till Firday and then all good stuff gonna start.

What I need to do this weekend is:

• drill and tap all 4 rods at the bottom and top
• create main frame - measure against rod holes and drill bottom and top panel and screw them together
• drill and tap hole in "flattened" parts fo rear rods for mobo tray
• drill and fit in mobo tray to rear rods
• cut the middle sqaure hole in top panel
• measure and cut 6 support L-shape corners for bottom and middle panels then mount them
• fit in middle panel
  

Looks lie a lot of work, but it will be much easier when rear rods will be ready. That sounds fun for me this weekend!:blush: I hope you guys gonna like it as well...

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If your burning through blades/bits/cutters while getting nowhere, it means your using the wrong speed and/or feed, this goes for any tool. What jigsaw, and how many SPM are you roughly using?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waterlogged

If your burning through blades/bits/cutters while getting nowhere, it means your using the wrong speed and/or feed, this goes for any tool. What jigsaw, and how many SPM are you roughly using?

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P&P jigsaw.. thing is I tried slow, medium and fast speed... some where fine and didnt jump, but didnt cut either...
Thing is there was no blade for full metal 20mm thickness. Maximum there was in shop was <30mm but alu profile.. empty square rod... Dremel took ages to make a 3mm deep cut so I had no time and wheels to do 173mm cuts 4 times (two rods, both sides). I ended up having one rod looking like a battlefield;)
Anyway, rods are away to cnc place. Should get them back before weekend:)

Aluminium is a different creature than steel and extruded ali is different again, a tad harder than rolled sheet.
Sorry you had no luck getting the job done, at least having them cut at the CNC place they will be perfect.

Wow, interesting... Subscribed!

If you use L-profiles instead of the solid rods, you would probably earn the extra 35mm and be able to fit the radiator internally if you want, plus it would save you some weight. :up:

But your build, your call.
I'm sure it'll end up superb either way. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

Aluminium is a different creature than steel and extruded ali is different again, a tad harder than rolled sheet.
Sorry you had no luch getting the job done, at least having them cut at the CNC place they will be perfect.

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You know how it is sometimes - you cannot do everything by yourself.
I may be able to do it, but it would take me weeks, cause I don't work on my project everyday, weekends most of the time, so it would be very long before I cut them myself and then file and polish them. CNC will make perfect lines, so I will just add some finish (polish, angle corner) to it and I can go with other things.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neox69

Wow, interesting... Subscribed!

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Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laine

If you use L-profiles instead of the solid rods, you would probably earn the extra 35mm and be able to fit the radiator internally if you want, plus it would save you some weight. :up:

But your build, your call.
I'm sure it'll end up superb either way. :)

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Thanks!

Yes, I could use them to keep main panels, but I didn't want to do it like that - I wanted to make some hard-ass stable frame first:) My first build - the Cube - didnt have frame, so yes, it saved some space. But this one is exactly like I wanted. This external radiator is a part of design - I loved it so much in MNPCTECH Bill's modded case, that I decided to make one for me. This is thin radiator, 35mm so it wont stick out so much... Plus it will be on the back of the case, plus keeping it outside will keep the heat from it out - that was also a plan...

Guys, I feel it in my bones that this weekend will be huge! Upcoming update will overwhelm you all! :D Well.. I hope;) I may receive back my rods, also some goodies coming up, have few packages to pick up in post office - cannot do it now cause Royal Mail gave silly hours to pick packages by yourself - 8-12 in the morning, so I will be picking them all up on Saturday. I will work my ass off to finish main frame and show it on log of course!

However before that update I will show you some sketches of few parts I've planned.

I have also received support from major companies, but that has to stay a secret for a while:yawn: Don't worry - I will tell and show everything in right time! :thumb:

(oooh, I love to tease you !!! :D)

So guys, this weekend will bring major update in this project and will put some more light on my project. You will learn how I'm going to mount things in this little monster and will see how this magic happens:) I know it is long time to wait, believe me - I cant stand waiting for weekends too.. It is sooo hard for me, but right now weekends are the only time I can work on my sweet rig.

As always... STAY TUNED !!!

Good to hear your excitement about your new jig, projects like this seem to take forever to just get off the ground.
Looking forward to see the next update and finding out about your secret and congratulations on receiving support as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

Good to hear your excitement about your new jig, projects like this seem to take forever to just get off the ground.
Looking forward to see the next update and finding out about your secret and congratulations on receiving support as well.

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Thanks man! I really didn't expected to receive so many support from companies! It was my wish to get attention and it actually happened! I will do my best to make this project worth of getting all those goods...
Its Friday! Tonight I'll be chillin a bit before tomorrows work. There is package coming with those rods, fixed on CNC so that means I'll be ok to continue my work. Weather seems to be better and forcast says it will be chilly this weekend, even maybe some snow! :)

Snow, I am looking at a week of high 20s-low 30c degrees, have fun making snow men/women.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

Snow, I am looking at a week of high 20s-low 30c degrees, have fun making snow men/women.

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I wish I could move to Australia! However all those spiders, crocodiles... not sure about that..:)
But you got snow as well! Depends where you live, but if you live east side, you can get all weathers there:)

My priority is Canada, second is Australia:rolleyes:

Guys, hardware update today!

I went to post office and picked up two packages.
So guess what I have received?????

Bill from MNPCTECH sent me modding items, which will add special look to my Tower:

1) BILLET MACHINED ALUMINUM CASE FEET

http://www.mnpctech.com/Machined.Billet.Case.Feet.jpg

2) Modder's round-hole mesh

http://www.mnpctech.com/mesh5.32.jpg

3) Black anodised M4 Thread x 30mm Length (1-3/16") Stainless Socket Cap Screw Sets for rear radiator fans

http://www.mnpctech.com/M4_30mm_silv...g_mnpctech.jpg

4) Black anodised M4 Thread x 16mm Length (5/8") Stainless Socket Cap Screw Sets for fastening outside panels

http://www.mnpctech.com/M4_16mm_silv...g_mnpctech.jpg

5) Fan grommets

http://www.mnpctech.com/GrommetWb1.jpg


Bill, again - huuuuuuge thanks for your help !!!!!!!!!!!

Second package came from Joan from CRUCIAL !!!

When opened the envelope I saw these!

http://images.crucial.com/images/res...DR3_lights.jpghttp://images.crucial.com/images/res...l_logo_REV.gif

These memory sticks will be PERFECT for my Tower! Imagine when they gonna light up inside, giving nice shine on all internal parts with those leds!
These are DDR3 - my previous Tracers were DDR2, which had shorter rows of those leds. These new DDR3 have leds on whole length of the sticks!
Now I need to wait for mobo and will show you guys how those Tracers look like when I test hardware!

Again, huuuuge thanks come to Joan from CRUCIAL UK !!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phinix_mike

What do you mean what about it?
You want to know where the cables will go?
You will have to wait for it a bit longer:)

---

Oh the suspense I can barley handle it!!!

Keep coming with the updates please!! ;) I can't wait to see it take shape.

Congrats! can't wait for the next update phinix :up:

Thanks Bill! Yep, tomorrow will be new update! I'll show some latest moves tomorrow night, so your time it should be afternoon:)

Good stuff there mate, nice to see these companies getting behind people that have the guts to step out and try something different and new, nice one.

Thanks tiger! I'm getting so many things now, I'm so happy cause this kind of help gives me opportunity to do what I really would like to create without any compromises!

Anyway... After few threading (tapping) attempts I decided to use something stronger - right angle (cross) dowels.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:B...ross_dowel.jpg

I couldn't easily tap those holes in aluminium rods, so I went to B&Q and bought these dowels.
They are perfect for this job - so strong, holding bottom panel firmly and securely.
I will also use them to mount top panel. I just love them! :) Truth is, it takes amount of time to install them - because they are 10mm thick and 12mm long (M6 holes), first I had to drill long hole in bottom of the rod for screw (6mm bit), then across that hole another one for dowel - there had to drill twice, once with small 6mm to make drilling with big drill a bit easier; then last drill with 10mm thick bit. Its easy to count - 4 rods, 2 holes each, 3 drills per side - gives 24 drills :eek:
Changing drill bits all the time, clamping rods... now I feel like putting my hands in pile of ice wouldn't be a bad idea...

After my previous build - the Cube - now I can say - aluminium is a PAIN!!!! :hitself:

Photos tomorrow, I'm so tired my hands are full of pain after few hours of trying to tap those rods and then all the drilling... :help:
However - weekends mission accomplished ! I'm looking on standing frame!!! You guys need to wait for photos til tomorrow :D

Let the Dremel be with you !!! :eleph:

NEW UPDATE (30/11/09)

This time - real thing! :) I worked on main frame this weekend and today.
Having some problems with tapping those rods on Saturday, I decided to go with some more powerful stuff - those dowels I mentioned in previous post. It took a lot of drilling, with hand drill and drill press. Biggest drill I used, 10mm one, made a lot of noise!:)
My attic looks like it has aluminium carpet now:D Seriously! I have to hover before my wife's gonna see it...

Here are all the photos, please have in mind this is rough aluminium, still needs some sanding on edges and polishing. After all it will be powder coated so it will look like fabric made!:thumb:

Just a quick show off - I bought some nice piece of equipment yesterday. Was going for 14.4V Bosch, but I found great deal on 18V Hammer Black&Decker:D

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05987.jpg


As mentioned in build description in first post, I'm going to use new Akasa Apache 120mm fan, which supposed to be the best with H50 cooler. So I bought it when found nice weekend deal and price went down from £15 to £9 last weekend:)

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05957.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05958.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05959.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05960.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05961.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05962.jpg

Looks ugly as hell! :) I believe the person who designed the colors for it will be working late this Christmas! :hehe: Apart of that it isn't silent, like I read on some forums, but it is very very quiet. AND it blows... blows loads of air! When turned it on my face it felt like hair-dryer! I mean it! Pretty powerful stuff.

Now, lets get back to business, shall we?

Here it is: these are cut off corners on mobo tray. All filled as you can see, will need some sanding and polishing at the end..

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05988.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05990.jpg

Also drilled holes for mounting screws. It will be screwed to the rear rods with short M4 bolts.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05991.jpg

Here's a quick shot of flattened rod:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05995.jpg

Here is how I worked out mounting rear and top panels to rods. Cross dowels Ladies and Gentlemen.. Cross dowels...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05997.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05999.jpg

So we have smaller, 6mm hole for screw at the bottom of the rod, second one is bigger 10mm hole for dowel. All lined up and drilled.. pretty cool, professional looking thingy, also VERY strong!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06000.jpg

Here is bottom panel screwed with those dowels:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06001.jpg

...aaaand all four rods, sticking out like a.... like sticking out rods..... :blush:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06005.jpg

Then top panel, with cut off long rectangle for front mounting slim dvd. It will be done later, when the mobo will be mounted. Before that I cannot line up the drive-tray.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC05992.jpg

Top panel screwed to the rods. Some holes still need to be lined up a bit and their egdes a bit polishes. Some screws didnt get to the panel surface easily, some rough aluminium bits are still there...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06011.jpg

Looks cool...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06012.jpg

...AND the whole thing!!!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06009.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06008.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06013.jpg

Now.. I used some duct tape to hold mobo-tray... forgive me that cheap move, but I haven't drill those screw holes in rods yet to mount that tray properly.. It will be done during the week...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06014.jpg

You can see that small 3mm gap above mobo-tray - that is the place where middle panel will be pushed in...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06016.jpg

Tower itself...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06015.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06017.jpg

For size comparison - Akasa 120mm fan box sticked inside ...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06019.jpg

...and on top...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06020.jpg

...and 2L Coke bottle inside the Tower... I told you it will be water-cooled after all! :D


http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06021.jpg

OK. So this is the big update from last weekend. I hope you liked it. See, even sun was out today! :)
Now I'm going to spend some time on polishing edges finishing holes and mounting mobo-tray. After that will mount middle panel with those right angle support alu shapes.

So...

STAY TUNED !!!!

Excellent work there phinix_mike, the milling work, wored out well and its all comming together.
If you want to remove the bur around the holes you have drilled, then just use a drill bit,
say 2 sizes bigger and just push slowly into the hole while on slow speed to remove that bur.
You will only need to go down .5mm, just below the surface.

Those dowels are a nice way around tapping the threads out.
If you think aluminium sucks to drill you should try bisalloy 360, it rounds of the tip of your center punch in 3 hits.

fans look unusual

case is soo tiny :eek: Won't believe until I see PC harware and WC gear there inside

Thanks tiger!

Wow.. cool:) Sounds like you have experience with metals! :)

Yep, holes look pretty rough, all edges and holes need nice finish, will do that soon. I alwyas like to measure 10 times everything, then drill and put all together, then add nice finish. Just incase soemthing needs to be re-done, no point to spend time on filing, sanding and polishing when at the end you gonna see you need to make new one:) It happens few times when was working with acrylic, so don't want to do same mistake again. Aluminium is a lot harder to work with compared to acrylic, but I like it. It gives you peace of mind, cause it looks so stable and solid structure. I remember I always wanted to build metal case - this is my moment:)

All panels and rods look pretty ugly, cause have all those small scratches, points, bumps on them. But I believe powder coat will cover it. Cant wait to see it all coated already! Its gonna look amazing:D

Right now I need to clean up all holes, sand edges and prepare rest of the elements. I'm waiting for my mobo, cause without it I cannot measur standoff holes and mount mobo tray. Then I will measure and cut out big piece from mobotray to have access to cpu cooler mount frame from behind.
There is still a lot of work, but that all it is about - fun :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aka_GK

fans look unusual

case is soo tiny :eek: Won't believe until I see PC harware and WC gear there inside

---

I know!!! :)
it really looks small, but when you look on it in real, you see that it is possible to fit all that stuff in. I had same feeling with the Cube. At the end when squuized all inside, all worked and I was happy:)

When your at your loacal hardware store next, look for a counter sink bit.
It will make cleaning up the holes easy as and lower the risk of removing to much ali, just take it slow.
As for cleaning up the ali to remove lite scratches, try fine steel wool, I know it sounds dumb, but it works really well.

Your project is comming along nicely mate, keep it up.

steel wool - I need to try that before I send all parts to powder coat... Thanks!

Nice update!!! I'm looking forward to the wire management and PSU placement. I found that was the hardest item to 'manage' in my recent build. Since it is mATX as well, there really isn't a lot of room to manage these things. I think most people don't really understand how hard it is to build a super small system. The majority are using very big lian li or sivlerstone TJ cases. IMHO those big rigs while nice, are pretty worn out so it is very refreshing to see another small build come together.

Keep up the good work!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinas

Nice update!!! I'm looking forward to the wire management and PSU placement. I found that was the hardest item to 'manage' in my recent build. Since it is mATX as well, there really isn't a lot of room to manage these things. I think most people don't really understand how hard it is to build a super small system. The majority are using very big lian li or sivlerstone TJ cases. IMHO those big rigs while nice, are pretty worn out so it is very refreshing to see another small build come together.

Keep up the good work!

---

its not mATX

its mini ITX :eek:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dubtown

its not mATX

its mini ITX :eek:

---

That's right! :) 20cm width, so mATX mobo would stick out form the case for about 5cm:))
Even less space for cables:)

I shouldn't show or tell about it now, but if you want to know...
What I'm gonna do is I'm going to cover PSU (which will be mounted verticaly!) in small cage. Will fabricate from aluminium small department for PSU and pump at the bottom of the case. Looking at the front of the case, it will go from left side to almost right panel, will stop 2mm before graphic card:)
It will have almost 2cm space above PSU, for cables and plugs, 2cm on left of PSU, same, for cables, and almost 6cm on right from the PSU, where pump and rest of the cables will be squuized:) To prevent voiding warranty on PSU I will sleeve (braid) cable extensions. I will buy extensions for all cables - 24pin ATX, 8pin ATX, 8pin PCI-e and for power cables. All will be sleeved in yellow with black heatshrink and plugs. Only extensions will come out from that "PSU/pump cage", so rest of the cables will be hidden.
That's the trick:)

Very nice progress so far!

Sounds good, looking forward to seeing it all happen, I am expecting it to look excellent!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dubtown

its not mATX

its mini ITX :eek:

---

I was comparing my rig wichi is mATX to his ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phinix_mike

I shouldn't show or tell about it now, but if you want to know...
What I'm gonna do is I'm going to cover PSU (which will be mounted verticaly!) in small cage. Will fabricate from aluminium small department for PSU and pump at the bottom of the case. Looking at the front of the case, it will go from left side to almost right panel, will stop 2mm before graphic card:)
It will have almost 2cm space above PSU, for cables and plugs, 2cm on left of PSU, same, for cables, and almost 6cm on right from the PSU, where pump and rest of the cables will be squuized:) To prevent voiding warranty on PSU I will sleeve (braid) cable extensions. I will buy extensions for all cables - 24pin ATX, 8pin ATX, 8pin PCI-e and for power cables. All will be sleeved in yellow with black heatshrink and plugs. Only extensions will come out from that "PSU/pump cage", so rest of the cables will be hidden.
That's the trick:)

---

This sounds very exciting!!! :up:

OK. Time for small hardware update.

Small, because the item is very small, however it is the most important in the whole build!!!
Without this little thing Tower wouldn't be that small!
What is it then?

Well... I picked up a parcel tonight... Take a look what was inside:D

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06024.jpg

Merry Christmas for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:blush::clap::clap:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06026.jpg

...now lets see what's in the box!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06027.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06028.jpg

Isn't that beautiful?????!!!!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06031.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06032.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06035.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06039.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06043.jpg

This PCIe will power some really heavy card:)

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06050.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06052.jpg

BIOS Led error indicator.. sweet:clap:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06054.jpg

...and these 3 SATA will be working 24/7 for my SSD Raid:blush:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06055.jpg

Again, I would like to thank two coolest people in DFI Marketing Department - Eric and Patricia -THANK YOU GUYS !!!

Lot of guys asked me where this mobo can be purchased - In UK you can buy it in SCAN.

Can't wait to see the final product! :)

that board.. is just... BEAUTIFUL! if they made that in a core i7, with triple channel slots... my god, i would DIE

Nice choice of Mobo! Simply beautiful.

It seems like my Koolance TMS-200 board is bigger :rofl:

great choice! :up:

I really like the way this is going.

Question: What graphics card are you going to put in there? It doesn't looks like you could fit anything too long unless it is set up to be vertical.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pizan

I really like the way this is going.

Question: What graphics card are you going to put in there? It doesn't looks like you could fit anything too long unless it is set up to be vertical.

---

Well, there you go!:)
Yes, the card will go verticaly. That is why it will be the latest, the baddest, the fastest card on market..
Right now I'm getting GTX295, but next year I pray and hope Nvidia will come out with nice dual chip Fermi:)

That board looks sweet, but I must say in the photo's, it does look like it would fit on the tip of a finger.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phinix_mike

Well, there you go!:)
Yes, the card will go verticaly. That is why it will be the latest, the baddest, the fastest card on market..
Right now I'm getting GTX295, but next year I pray and hope Nvidia will come out with nice dual chip Fermi:)

---

Sounds sweet.

Also the board looks sweet. I didn't know a p55 mITX board was coming out till you said it.

I was actually looking into doing a similar style project, thats why I asked.

Nice choice on the motherboard, could not have picked a better one IMHO.

You should put a 5970 in that thing. Go big!!! :up:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MaByBoI

that board.. is just... BEAUTIFUL! if they made that in a core i7, with triple channel slots... my god, i would DIE

---

wowwww. i just realised the p55 chip.... im retarted :shakes::rofl:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinas

Nice choice on the motherboard, could not have picked a better one IMHO.

You should put a 5970 in that thing. Go big!!! :up:

---

That's the plan!:)
Right now I'm getting GTX295 but waiting what Nvidia will show next year in January... I HOPE it will be January...;)

Guys, small update here - this time hardware update. I received big package from EK last week. I got huge discount on watercooling equipment from EK, so here's what I bought:

Box contained 3 smaller boxes, nice colors by the way, I like the packaging of EK parts, nice design.
So here it is - red, blue and green. Plus acrylic tube:)
http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06162.jpg

Blue one had nice reservoir combo item. Originaly it has small tube, so I bought additional, longer tube and replaced it.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06166.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06168.jpg

Red one was the pump - 4.0 version, this is REALLY HEAVY stuff! Like 5 times heavier than DDC pump!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06172.jpg

Last box, green, had the latest version of EK radiators - XT 360.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06176.jpg

Look how big it is next to the pump with mounted reservoir!

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06177.jpg

ALso bought some Yate Loons fans, slim versions - they are 20mm thick so will fit nicely behind the rear panel.
So, these elements will make together the GPU loop in my NanoTower. I am corently testing the hardware, so will add more details soon...
In the meanwhile... MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Hmm.... no pics on your latest post

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ButtSprinkles

Hmm.... no pics on your latest post

---

can't see anything too :(

sorry, I fixed those links, working ok now...

agree with you Mike, new EK packaging looks sweet!

Looks good mate, I am interested to hear what you think of that EK pump.
Also looking forward to reading Skinnee's test review of the new EK rads, really hope there excellent!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kgtiger

Looks good mate, I am interested to hear what you think of that EK pump.
Also looking forward to reading Skinnee's test review of the new EK rads, really hope there excellent!!

---

OK. I've been running this loop for last couple of days. EK pump is alright. Its very heavy, like 5 times heavier than DCC. At the beginning it was loud but only because of the air in the loop. Now after about 2 hours of running all air got out and its silent like DCC pump. My GTX295 in loop with EK triple XT rad is 28C idle/45C load during Crysis play. That is with slim version of Yate Loons fans on very slow speed, like 5-7V, so it is silent and cool, perfect for my NanoTower...

I will add new update soon:)

hey Mike, don't leave us without updates for so long :p:

OK guys, time for new update. YAY!! :)

First thing I did was to make L shape spacers to mount it under mobo tray. Exactly, between mobo tray and alu rods. It will push mobo a bit to the center of the case and give me something to work with when I'm going to mount drive cage.

You can see it on this photo: there is rod, then L shape spacer and then mobo tray.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06486.jpg

Other side is showing up on the left from the rod - this will be used to install drive cage... pretty helpful solution...

I was thinking how I'm going to decorate mobo tray with some ornaments, but at the end I thought, it will be covered with mobo from one side and drive tray from other side, so there is no point of working on beautiful shapes;) So I drilled few.. well.. about a hundred of holes to make some air ventilation under the mobo.

Here's the shape I ended up with... all holes are pretty rough...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06471.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06473.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06474.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06480.jpg


This is the final effect, after using countersunk drill bit to clean those drilling bits from every hole.. on both sides.. so its like drilling 100 holes, then drilling their edges on both sides another 200 times... Pleasure to do that :waah:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06484.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06497.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06496.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06478.jpg

Second thing I did lately was the middle panel installation. To do that I had to fabricate angle L shape support brackets from L shape aluminium profile, drill two holes in them, then measure and drill holes in front alu rods, drill holes in middle panel, cut that middle panel to shape and fit it in. To fit it in, it had to be exactly 166mm long, cause it was pushed above the mobo tray on one side and screwed to L sahpe support brackets on other side. It took me some time to cut it and sand and polish that 3mm thick aluminum panel, but final result is nice, like I wanted it to be, so I'm happy:D

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06486.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06489.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06500.jpg

You can see those small space below the mobo tray - 2mm for "power cage" top panel. Power Cage will be explained later:)

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06490.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06477.jpg

Here you can see how I cleaned up all holes with this countersunk drill bit...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06499.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06492.jpg

Now, few more shots of the whole structure...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06502.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06505.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06507.jpg

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06509.jpg

Til next time! Stay tuned!!! :dremel:

Looking good! Nice job on the holes, even if a couple are just a hair off it adds character because we know you did this the hard way -- by hand.

Congrats on the frame, your PC is coming together really nice so keep up the good work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinas

Looking good! Nice job on the holes, even if a couple are just a hair off it adds character because we know you did this the hard way -- by hand.

Congrats on the frame, your PC is coming together really nice so keep up the good work.

---

Thanks They're not perfect, some of them are misaligned, but its not that important, cause it will be covered by mobo and drive cage from both sides, so its cool. I drilled them by hand with my new cordless drill I got so excited and started to drill holes in everything around me:)
Plus that countersunk drill bit makes great finish compared what I got after standard drill bit

I've followed your previous project. If this turns out to be near as good as that one was, you definitely got my attention :).

hey Mike, really like this update! nice ornament too even if it is not perfectly aligned :p: :up:

First update of the year is sweet Mike, nice work. :up:
I like the way you have fitted the top panel into the recess in the side, nice work , very cool idea.:up:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...R/DSC06500.jpg

I totaly know where your coming from when it comes to drilling crap loads of hole, can be a total PITA.

Re-drilling them all with the countersinking bit is also a PITA, but totally worth it. :yepp:

Nice work champ.:up:

Thank you guys!:)
I'm ordering some more elements and some more aluminium. Right now I'm in the middle of designing side panels. Next big step will be making "power cage" - separated space where PSU and pump will take place. All cables will be also hidden there.

Small update guys!

Sketches of hardware placement. I haven't showed you before how all will be placed.
Here you can see the whole insides from every angle. I didn't draw graphix card and its block, so used some GTX280 from Sketchup warehouse. As you already know it will be dual chip card with EK block.
Also didn't find H50 sketchup model, so just created a "brick" with fan - I hope you are not dissapointed;)

First, view on left side - there's GPU card in the back, rear radiator and its fans on the left and basically whole layout inside. This picture has two walls of "power cage" - top and left. There will be a hole for pump reservoir combo, so the tube will stick out nicely from the power cage top and will go almost to the top of the "internal chamber":) Oh.. nice word:)

Actually this was the initial plan, now I know that I got longer tube so you won't see that black bottom part of reservoir. Higher level chamber includes H50 cooler, mobo I/O panel and GPU I/O, which will be seen on other picture later below...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware1.jpg

Here's another angle of left and front side of the NanoTower:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware2.jpg

Here's the front - I took out the front panel of "power cage" so you could see how the PSU will stand and where the pump will go... this is older picture with DDC pump, but now we know that it will have new EK 4.0 pump! Which is also thinner, so will be easier to mount it between PSU and GPU card.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware3.jpg

...and right side of the NanoTower. It will have big window so even when covered with main external panel, you still will be able to see huge graphic card:)

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware4.jpg

The picture below is showing the parts in higher level chamber - you can see graphic card mounting, mobo I/O and of course H50, which takes most of the space there...

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware5.jpg

Again, right side of the case, showing how rear radiator is placed and how the fans are situated inside the case. Notice barbs coming in at the bottom, where from the tubing will be routed to the pump and card.

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware6.jpg

Now, picture below shows where the drive tray kicks in - you can see now how the dvd will be mounted and it will stick out at the top of the case. Then you have 3x 2.5" drives.
Pretty cool thing is that the whole drive tray has 2cm of depth, so it actually comes in the space between two front aluminium rods! It has hole below every drive for cables. All planned before dremel and jigsaw walks in:dremel:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware7.jpg

Last picture shows a little close-up of the "main internal chamber":) I like that name:blush:

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/s...hhardware8.jpg

OK. That is it for now. Tomorrow is a nice cold Saturday, I will try to do some work. Have few things planned so I hope I find some time to make physical update:)
Till then....

I wish i could do that, so much easier for planning and to find out if something fits. The setup looks great too, it's so compact

Looks great - can't wait to see it take shape and get a nice paint job :)

Looks great Mike.
I am not sure if Swiftech had released there MCR320Drive when you designed this, It would have fitted in we with this rig.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmc2.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by callen_1

I wish i could do that, so much easier for planning and to find out if something fits. The setup looks great too, it's so compact

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Thanks! Its pretty easy, you should try it! You can create anything part you want plus there is huge amount of ready parts in Warehouse!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Antioch

Looks great - can't wait to see it take shape and get a nice paint job :)

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Thanks man, it will be powdercoated with matte black.. cant wait too!:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kgtiger

Looks great Mike.
I am not sure if Swiftech had released there MCR320Drive when you designed this, It would have fitted in we with this rig.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmc2.html

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Thanks mate. WOW! Haven't seen that! Bummer.. now I got another idea for a case..;) That rad+pump is perfect for internal use with fans on outside side.. cool...

Just a small heads up for this weekend and next update.
I ordered and received two big sheets of 1.5mm aluminium - I will slice them up really nicely this weekened One will be cut up for that "power-cage/chamber". This will need 3 panels/walls - one on the left side of the case, one on top right below the mobo and one on the front. Rear part will be opened cause the bottom fans from rear radaitor will suck air there... I will also use L shape alu profiles to attach panels to the frame.
I also got yellow sleeveing for power and fan cables and SATA cables, some black 3:1 heatshrinks for them and a nice small 16mm vandal switch - black with yellow ring.
I made some sketchups to show that power chamber, will add them today....
I also bought acrylic sheets for top and bottom panels - I haven't mentioned them yet - I have an idea of making top and bottom panels out of 10mm thick acrylic. There already are panels made of aluminium, but to make it look more massive I will add thick acrylic panels top and bottom. I have them already, now what I need to do is shape them (maybe make round corners, dont know yet) and paint them with matt black spray paint. ALuminium will be powdercoated in matt black so to match the color I will paint those acrylic with similar paint (or should I use different?).

I think best way will be to sand them a bit with 800 grit sandpaper and then paint them with plastic etch-primer, then matt black... Any thoughts on that process?

Another question: how would you guys mount this pump there? This is how the pump will be mounted - under the that panel, right next to the PSU. Should it be mounted from the bottom of it on some kind of stand, or from the top, hanging? Any ideas?

http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...pictureid=7667

Well.. I'm in a good mood for the weekend... so wanted to give you just a small teaser:)))

http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.p...pictureid=7678

nice.

amazing :D ;)

I'm missing something here...

Wait, I know!

Bees!

Lol, rename it to 'The Hive' Phinix :P

Looks good mate.

What are the yellow heatsink fin's that wrap arounf the side there on the botton of the render?
Are they just there for looks and made out of yellow perspex?

I think some, say 6mm perspex would be excellent to use as a mounting bracket under the pump, either clear or even yellow would look good too.
Or you could just use some aluminium thats been pressed up to sit the pump on, now having a small amount of highly polished, mirror like finish on it would also look sweet.
Add just a bit of bling to the inside, hay.
But I don't like the idea of having the pump look like it's just hanging. That to me would really give me the feeling that it is unstable and not quite finished.

Let us know what you come up with mate, really all come together now.