Cosmos S by BigSi

Ok this is my first attempt at case modding, water cooling and writing a worklog.:) So first things first i would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone on the XS forums, have learnt a lot from this site:up::clap:.


Hardware List

Cosmos S case
Coolermaster 1000W Modular Power Supply
Asus Striker 2 Extreme MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
OCZ DDR3 Reaper Memory 4Gb
2x BFG GTX275 Graphics
GT240 for PhysX
Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality
Western Digital 1Tb And 500Gb Hard Drives
LG Blue Ray Disk Drive
2x Enermax Magma 120mm fans (Side Window)
2x Enermax Vegas Apollish 120mm fans (Front Intake)

Water Cooling Parts

Ek 360mm Radiator
Ek HF cpu Block
Ek Multioption 250mm Advanced Reservoir
Ek compresion fittings
Ek DCP 4 Pump
Primoflex Tubes 3/8
3x Coolermaster 120mm Excaliber fans (Radiator)

Ok i know some of the hardware is a little dated, cant afford a major upgrade at the moment:( so have decided to do a bit of modding to improve the looks and water cooling so i can overclock the system a bit;) .

Front Shot of my case before i started any work More pics to follow.

Ok a few more pics of how it was. Followed by a couple of shots of the case back from the powder coaters and re-assembled:) Its a fine texture satin finish kind of industrial look not to everyones taste but i like it:rolleyes:

Good start....the paint looks great :up:

aren't you gonna WC the GPUs ??

The paint came out nice. Can't wait to see the rest.

Thank you for the comments. To answer josk1 no just the cpu for now im hoping to upgrade to GTX470's in sli at some point so not laying out for the GTX275 water blocks:). Have got the case side panels and top and bottem rails back from powder coaters Gloss Red finish will post pics soon;)

ok been sorting the acrylic side window most of day got it mounted now complete with the two magma fans. Window is dark smoked and the panel is a bright gloss red not pink like it looks:shakes: will try to get some better pics in daylight:rofl: not always easy in uk.... and yeah the fans have filters on the back. I HATE DUST:dammit:

ok managed to get some better pics of sidepanel, quality still not great i aint no photographer thats for sure:(. got the rad and fans in to case aswell. Hope you like:up:

Ok time for another update got some custom panels back from powder coaters the main one for the reservoir to mount on. So in went the panel, pump and the res. Also got the drain system in and started tubing. Let me know what you think please could use some feedback.:shrug:

Once i get the loop together im going to use feser aqua ultra pure water and pt nuke biocide. Will that be ok or do you think i need a corrosion inhibitor? I'm certain i only got brass and copper metals in the loop, oh and the cpu block is nickel plated:shrug::shrug::shrug:

get this (or another color)... it's an all-in-one... way easier and you can't get it wrong as long as you don't mix it with anything else!

oh, and you should mount your HDD somewhere else or differently (say verticaly) to route your tubbing straight... that's a bit of a shame to hide this pretty reservoir ;)

also, i do like the idea of the black tubing and the "emptying port"... but will that work for more than just the reservoir if you have the tube routing going in from above???http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...lies/shrug.gif

Thanks for the input josk1:). Have heard those all in one fluids can cause a build on the blocks ? you used them had any problems? Had not thought of vertical mounting the drives :rolleyes: good idea thank you very much:clap:. As to the drain port it will drain all the fluid except for the pump as it lower than the res :confused: but with a little tilting will be a lot easier than pulling a tube:up: that drain valve leeds to a drain plug at front of tower. Nice and easy and no spill so the plan goes;)

actually i've never used those fluids... but i'd like to give a try someday... i've heard good stuff about primochill's on their duration, but not for fluidXP... ?? have no data for this one in specific but OcUK don't sell primochill ;)

if you have colored tubing (i have black ones) you can use distilled water + cooling fluid for cars > looks kinda faded but you can't see it ;) (i use a 50/50 ratio and it's been like this for over 18 months now... in my cosmos s... 2 years in the first build)

the good thing about primochill or fluid XP is the fact that they're non conductive!!!
had two leaks in the past and got my graphic card full of water (in both build... gotta check this on the next one :D) ... i got lucky 'coz it started back again once everything dried, but it's rather scary when you get that BSOD !!

Any updates

Ok sorry folks things been going a little slow, Had our wedding anniversary to celebrate:D. Have got the loop sorted and in. Have been leak testing and am pleased to report all is well:clap:. Next task some cable managment:shakes: anyway here's a picture of where im upto:).

To josk1 You were lucky with those leaks:shocked::up:. For now im going to stick with distilled and pt nuke but will change to Mayhem dye's X1 and a silver kill coil at some point. Now gotta work on a Hard Drive mount:rolleyes:. Let me know how you get on with Fluid XP if you do ever try it out:yepp:.

We got some 3/8 1/2" EK barbs here in the US not too long ago and they look so elegant, shame on you for mixing them with crappy BP.

FYI those 90° are killers.

The one on top of the res is only for filling. Your right need to do something about the one on the cpu block.Will see how tubing looks with it removed may need a 45 in their to keep it neat though. If only EK made angle fittings:down:

Trust me they look just as good without angle fitting, simplistic and elegant, just let the tubing do the curving for you, and you get much better flow:up:

Ok managed to take out the 90 and the 45 on the cpu still nice and neat tubing runs and just like you said better flow rates. Spent most of day on cable managment but getting their now will post some more pics soon camera batteries are dead

OK folks i got a problem and need some HELP please. My motherboard is an Asus Striker2 Extreme when i boot it up i get a continuous beep from the bios speaker and the lcd poster stays at CPU INIT. Have tried clear cmos have taken motherboard battery out removed all extra hardware tried a differant ram module but still the same. I think my mobo may be dead anyone got any suggestions????

Well it seems that my motherboard is no more:shakes: so ive had to order some new parts. Should be here on wednesday new prossesor motherboard and memory. Until then not a lot more i can do will post some pics once the new stuff is here and in:D.

got my hard drives mounted vertically and got the new board processor and memory in and all running. Wow very impressed its a core i7 875K Processor, Asus Maximus 3 Extreme board and 4Gb Corsair DDR3 at 2000MHz. Got the processor running at 4Ghz and all is sweet as a nut:clap:. Anyway here's a few pics for you:up:.

Agh... I love that motherboard so much, I need one!

WOW....this is turning out very nice BigSi :clap:

Loving the color combos, very nice job sleeving, and the HDD mounts came out great :up:

Keep it up man ;)