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Package from Solvenia! The new EK Ascendacy!!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1135.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1136.jpg
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http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1142.jpg
Sample unit that I'm going to play with and push it to it's limits. Should be fun.....
What is that green jumper cap, in the middle of the pcb? Is it stuck in there ?
It was actually just sitting there on the board. Not sure what it will sit on....but I'll report back once I find out.Quote:
Originally Posted by felix_w
Question: What's more uninteresting than a CPU unboxing and installation?
Answer: Not much. So.....I won't take up toooooo much of your time with these. But here's a few shots. :o
Going with the 4930k for this build.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1148.jpg
Here are the sticker stats....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1150.jpg
I'm not in marketing....but I think someone at Intel should have to explain themselves for the selection of the interior packaging....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1151.jpg
Good news!!!! Inside my Intel box....I got a special offer from McAfee!!!! :rolleyes:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1152.jpg
Anybody know if this is a good batch for overclocking?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1153.jpg
All appears intact. No scratches or other abnormalities......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1154.jpg
Pop open the cover.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1156.jpg
...and then put that thing down in its slot. Hard to mess this part up.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1157.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1158.jpg
While I've got the case sides off....here a few more shots to show how the fans are looking. Don't have the stickers done yet....but I'm real happy with the pink rings and how they look in the case.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1144.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1145.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1146.jpg
I'll be messing with a temporary air cooler for the CPU this afternoon.....so more pictures later. Need to get this thing booted up on air and make sure everything is in working order.
I've re-asked all of the questions that I've received from forum members, and a few of my own, to the EK folks. Here are some more facts that EK has confirmed about the new EK Ascendacy.
1) It's going to be a single 5 1/4 bay unit that mounts horizontally. Interesting.
2) There will be a version that has an LCD screen and the LCD will attach perpendicular to the PCB. Interesting.
3) There will also be a version that does not have an LCD. Kind of like the Aquaero LT.
4) The 2pin PCIe port is intended to power a pump. If you need rpm reporting also, you could run the rpm sensing wire over to one of the PWM ports to the right of the waterblock.
5) Yes, the production units will have a black PCB, and yes the waterblock will most likely be nickel plated.
6) The blue jumper that someone asked about automatically overrides any profiles and feeds all attached devices with 12 volts. I like this option. I like it alot.
7) Much like the Aquaero, the device runs autonomously. Software is only used to make changes to settings and profiles.
8) Overcurrent protection is actively measuring power draw and voltage on the fly. It is not thermal dependent. You can operate the unit without the waterblock hooked up. Just keep TJ-Max below 120 degrees celcius.
9) This will give you a better idea what the ports do:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/image002.jpg
The OCP values are subject to change for production units, but right now the Red ports are supposed to be good for about 20W before OCP, the GREEN ports should be good for 40W+. USB connector is right above the 2-pin PCI-e connector.
Hope that helps. Feel free to continue asking questions and I'll accumulate them and forward them on to the kind folks at EK.
Time for a temporary air CPU cooler so that I can test components and make sure everything is working before moving on to destroying the warranty on everything. :)
I was worried about space in the S8 for an air cooler since I have that EK radiator right above the motherboard. So I picked up this little bitty CPU cooler from Phanteks....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1159.jpg
Hmmmm.....I don't think I knew it was white when I ordered it.
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The bottom is not polished all that nicely either....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1162.jpg
Even though this is only temporary....it would throw off my mojo everytime I looked in the case if I left this thing white. So.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1164.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1165.jpg
There. That's better.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1170.jpg
This thing really is small. I don't expect fantastic cooling out of it. But then again, I don't expect to have it in the case for all that long either.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1171.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1172.jpg
Uh-oh. It also came with a horribly cheap looking white fan. [Pink Floyd Voice] This will not do.
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Luckily for me....one of my extra Corsair AF120 fans that has the full pink treatment on it....fits nicely right between the memory sticks.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1174.jpg
Aesthetic tragedy averted....time to get this thing booted up.
With my quickly rigged temporary CPU air cooler in place, the time has finally come to boot this baby up and make sure everything is in working order. I got out my HUGE bag of cables for my Corsair AX1500i, and started plugging in the required cables. Although the stock cables are clearly not going to be the perfect length for everything I need, the flat black ribbon style cables are actually very nice to work with. I was easily able to fold them over and use zip ties to take up the excess length. Here is what it looked like with the GPU's and motherboard all plugged in......
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http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1177.jpg
I don't have my 4k monitor from ASUS yet, so I plugged the computer into the TV sitting beside it to use as a monitor. I nervously re-checked all connections one last time, and hit the power button. Success! Nothing to boot to yet, but I got a successful POST and entered the BIOS to start configuring. I plugged in one of my Corsair Neutron SSD's and an ODD with my Windows 8.1 disk, and got that installed. This will be our first 8.1 box in the house. Thought it would be fun to try.
Anyway....the Windows install went REAL fast and problem free. Picture below for proof I'm up and running now...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1178.jpg
Here are a couple more shots of what the cabling looks like with the stock Corsair cables. I would always sleeve mine...but these really do look nice for stock cables.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1176.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1180.jpg
Now that I can power up and use the box while I continue to work on it....I'll be able to start playing with that EK Ascendacy I showed a few posts back. Kind of excited to see what it's like.
Next projects on the build will be to get ready all of the remaining parts that will be powdercoated into one last batch. I think it's distracting when you have faceplates and/or mounting brackets, etc., that don't match the build colors, so I'll be getting one last batch of black and one last batch of pink parts powdercoated.
After that, I'll work primarily on custom length sleeved cables while I wait on the powdercoat items to be finished.
Time to help Jenn pick a color combination for the 24 pin cable....
I want to do a 3 color combination for the PPPP sleeving. Black and pink are the no brainer choices for two of those colors. I think we'll use grey for the 3rd color.
These shots are just to show the black and grey Telios sleeving from Lutro0 Customs, and how it fits with the color scheme of the ASUS RIVE BE and The Corsair fans. The RIVE BE has both black and grey ports for several things. One set of the memory slots is black, and one set is grey. They also use black/grey to differentiate their SATA2 and SATA3 ports. For the Corsair fans, they all have the grey rubber vibration dampners on each corner....so there is also plenty of black and grey for the fans. Grey just makes sense for the 3rd color....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1182.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1183.jpg
So I used some of my test batch of pink dyed Telios, along with some black and grey, and stuck them in a 24 pin connector for some combinations. From left to right we have....
#1 - BBPPGBBBBBBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1201.jpg
#2 - BBPPBGGBPPBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1202.jpg
#3 - BGPGBBBBGPGB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1203.jpg
#4 - BBPPGGBBPPGG
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1204.jpg
#5 - BBPPGBBBBBBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1205.jpg
#6 - BBBPPPGGGBBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1206.jpg
#7 - BBBPPPGBBBBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1207.jpg
#8 - BBBBBPGBBBBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1208.jpg
#9 - BBBBBBGPPGBB
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1209.jpg
Jenn gets to decide what she wants....but I'll tell you now that she was heavily influenced by forum opinion in selecting the fan combination colors. So....here is your chance to influence her. Let her know what you think would look best in her pretty little pink computer! Or feel free to suggest other options. Like they told me in Louisiana.....vote early, and vote often!
Ok. I've summarized all of the preferences/favorites/votes from all of the forums where this build log is being replicated....and here are the results from forum members.
The top 3 vote getters ended up being #1, #3 and #9:
#1:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1201.jpg
#2:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1203.jpg
#3:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1209.jpg
There was a group of 4 options that all received significant support, but not near as much as the top 3 vote getters. These were #2, #4, #5 and #14.
Before I let Jenn absorb all the forum wisdom, I sat her down in front of Lightroom and had her start picking favorites and explaining to me what she liked and didn't like about each one.
Her 4 favorites were #1, #3, #7 and #9. So three of them were identical to the top vote getters among the forums, with only #7 being the one that didn't receive a lot of forum support.
#7:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1207.jpg
TBH....I think #7 grabbed her attention because it was a lot like #1....but more centered. She liked the thinner pink stripe (2 pinks in #1) more than the thicker pink strip (3 pinks in #7), so I think she might really like a variation of #1 that was more centered. She seemed to want the overall look to be predominantly black....and veto'ed some of the ones I thought were pretty, just because they had "too much color". She also seemed to really like it when the grey sleeve was a border around the pink. My baby knows what she likes.
So....based on what I think I know now...I'm going to present her (and you all) a final group of pictures to select/vote from. They will all be based on either #1, #3 or #9. For the #1 variations....I'll play with different locations for the PPG stripe to sit. The #3 variations will all be double stripes, and I can have 2 or 3 different places for the double stripes to sit....and they don't necessarily have to be symmetrical. For the #9 variations....I'll play with different locations for the stripe, as well as both single and double pink variations.
I should have those picks posted later today or tomorrow......
Can't wait to get started!
why the grey? i would personally like alot of black, a little pink, no grey.
if grey, border the pink with it.
I've always like 3 color combinations better than 2. And...the grey just matches the Corsair fan corners so well.....Quote:
Originally Posted by NKrader
I'd go for #3...
Picking up where I left off........
We/I/Jenn had narrowed down the initial list to 3 favorites. For each of these 3 favorites...I can spin it several ways.
First up....are Group #1. Group #1 all has a PinkPinkGrey combination inside the black cable. Different spots to put the PPG. We could do:
1-1
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1216.jpg
1-2
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1217.jpg
1-3
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1218.jpg
1-4
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1219.jpg
1-5
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1220.jpg
1-6
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1221.jpg
1-7
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1222.jpg
1-8
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1223.jpg
I know she wants black on the outside edges of the cable...so those are the possible combinations.
For Group #2, there were double stripes. Jenn called them racing stripes. :) Each stripe was a GPG combination. We could put these at a few spots in the cable, including:
2-1
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1224.jpg
2-2
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1225.jpg
2-3
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1226.jpg
For Group #3, we had the single stripe, but it was in a double pink GPPG combination. We could put these in the following locations:
3-1
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1227.jpg
3-2
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1228.jpg
3-3
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1229.jpg
3-4
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1230.jpg
As a next step Jenn is going to pick her favorite from each group, and then narrow it down to the final one. She'll probably be weighing in with her selections tomorrow....so feel free to try and influence her along the way....
Jenn has narrowed it down to 4 options, and is going to sleep on it one more night before making a final selection. Thank you to everyone who has influenced or steered her in the right direction.
Today's project involved getting ready for making that 24 pin cable. The Corsair AX1500i is close to a 1 to 1 pinout for the 24 pin....depending on how your board and PSU are oriented. There is, however, 1 double wire on the motherboard side, and one empty hole on the motherboard side. Close....but no cigar. The other thing I was noticing as I traced the wires from the PSU to the motherboard, is that I was going to need to flip them. If you picture an nicely done extension in the shape of a 1/2 circle....the wires on the inside of the C stay on the inside of the C for the whole extension. Wires on the outside of the C stay on the outside of the C for the whole extension. If I was going to run cable straight from the PSU to the motherboard, I would have to deal with the situation of the inside of my "C" at the PSU connector, would have to become the outside of my "C" at the motherboard connector. This can ruin the look of a nice and neat 24 pin. Combine it with the double wire I have to deal with, and the 24 pin could get messy....
The way I handled this on the BBBB, was to make a short power cord that handled all the non 1 to 1 and double wire connections. It had female connectors on the PSU side using the PSU specific connectors.....and had a male connector on the other end....that could be plugged into a typical extension. This allows the extension to be 1 to 1 and perfect....while the short cable handles all the messy stuff. I'm going to do something similar here for the PPPP.
First step was to cut some lengths of wire for this short power cable. I'm using my Lutro0 special 16 AWG wire. Through a couple of practice runs, I ended up settling on 1.75 inches for the length of the wire for the short cable. Too long....and it looks messy. Too short...and I wouldn't be able to have enough slack in the wire to make the connections. Was using the Lutro0 snips for this step also. They work really well for cutting wire. I don't think they work as well for cutting sleeving.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1234.jpg
You already know I like assembly line style work....so I cut all of them I thought I would need...plus a few more. For mistakes....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1235.jpg
Next I got out the Knipex wire strippers (also from Lutro0) and took off the perfect amount of insulation on everyone of my lil' pieces of wire.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1236.jpg
Look at those brave lil' soldiers....
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Next I got out the Lutro0 crimper and the ATX pins and went to work putting a female ATX pin on one end of every piece of wire....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1238.jpg
I didn't take the time to go up to the studio and use the tripod and good lighting....but take a look at the crimps that these pins/crimper can do. Top notch quality tools here. I can get better crimps more often with these tools....than I could with my MDPC crimper.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1239.jpg
Look at those brave lil' soldiers.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1240.jpg
Next I put a male ATX pin on the other end of the wires. If you count them, you'll notice that we lost a few soldiers on the battlefield. Even with nice tools, you will occassionally get a pin that gets crushed the wrong way in the crimper. I wanted all these to be perfect, so any crimped pins that had imperfections were tossed. I had to make up a few extra wires in the end.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1241.jpg
The time has come to put this thing together. I started with the male pin side of the wires, and inserted these into the proper holes on the male connector. Then I used the slack in the wire to bend the top row down to the bottom, and the bottom row up to the top.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1242.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1243.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1244.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1245.jpg
Then I got the PSU connectors and started to insert the female pins from my short wires into the connector. It's this step where you will be glad that you measured carefully and that every wire is the exact same length. If you have one wire longer or shorter than the others....it gets tricky to get everything to lock in place.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1246.jpg
After I had secured the 14 pin PSU connector, I added the 10 pin PSU connector also, and snugged all the pins in until I heard that satisfying 'click'.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1247.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1248.jpg
This I used the little bit of slack in the wire to bend each wire back far enough to insert the other row of wires into the connectors. This step is where you will find out if your wires are long enough. Too long....and it looks messy. But too short...and it's very difficult to bend them back far enough to insert the pins......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1249.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1250.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1251.jpg
All that was left at this point was the double wire. The pins I was using had large enough wings where they were able to hold two of these 16 AWG wires nicely.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1252.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1253.jpg
When I did this for the BBBB, I also put some sleeve on the wires. I chose not to for this one, because I found that it created a huge bulge in the connector since basically every wire has to wrap around and down before getting to it's connector. It actually looked much cleaner with just the black wire and black connectors. Additionally, you won't see this connector when the build is done. The PSU side of the 24 pin connectors are beneath other connectors and not seen.
So....that's all for this step. Now, I'm off to do a big pink dye batch and turn the rest of my white Telios into a gorgeous pink. Need to be ready when [@]JennG[/@] makes that final selection!
Text update....
Finished up my big pink dye batch last night. I'll have some pictures to post tonight.
Also, Jenn finalized on her 24-pin selection. It was also one of the crowd favorites from the voting. She chose 3-4 from the last batch, which was this one:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1230.jpg
Pink Dye Bath!!
I kind of walked through the step-by-step awhile back when I did the test batch, so I'll skip the narrative on how to make the dye bath this time, and get straight to the pictures.
Mmmmmmmmm......what's for dinner??
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1261.jpg
I tied up a loose roll of about 75 feet of white Telios, and put it on a strainer plate, so that it wouldn't sit on the bottom of the pot. Away from the direct heat.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1262.jpg
I tied some pipe cleaner around the strainer plate so I could raise and lower it and check on the progress of the sleeve in the dye bath.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1264.jpg
Coming along nicely after just 5 minutes.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1265.jpg
...and after about an hour of cookin'.....it looked like this!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1266.jpg
I kind of lucked out with how nicely the color matched my case....without having to do a lot of trial and error dye mixing. Anyway....now I've got some pink sleeve.....so I'll get started on that 24 pin right away. Kind of anxious to get rid of all the excess power cabling in the case already.
Time to make that 24 pin!
I'm going to make this extension have a pretty extreme and tight bend in it (more than 180 degrees). If you want your 24 pin to have a nice curve and keep it, you have to make the inside row of wires shorter than the outside row of wires. There is a formula you can follow if you want a precise down to the millimeter measurement, based on how many degrees of bend you will have, but my rule of thumb is to use 1/4 inch shorter on the inside row for every 90 degrees of bend you want in the extension. I'm going to have a little more than 180 degrees, so I'm going to make my inside wires about 5/8 inch shorter than my outside.
Let's make the outside row of wires first. Based on a couple of trial and errors, I settled on 8.5 inches for the length of the outside row. This length created a nice snug fit with a tight bend. No excess wire here. It's all work and no play. So I cut myself 12 pieces of my 16 AWG Lutro0 Customs special wire into 8.5 inch lengths....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1271.jpg
There they are....all lined up and reporting for duty.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1272.jpg
Then I used my Knipex wire strippers to take off the EXACT same amount of insulation on each of these soldiers...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1274.jpg
They didn't mind one bit.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1275.jpg
Then I used my Lutro0 crimper and pins to make some more of those PERFECT crimps on one end of the wires.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1276.jpg
I always do just one end first, because I can run through these all without having to worry about rotating the pin in the right direction before crimping.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1277.jpg
For the second pin, I always make sure and lay out the wire on something flat and ensure that I'm crimping the pin with it rotated in the right position on the wire. For this extension, both pins needed to be facing up the same direction. If you forget to make sure they are lined up....it causes grief when you go to insert them into the connectors, because you'll have to be twisting the wire/sleeve around to get it to fit into the connector. No-bueno. So make sure you have them lined up correctly.
Stripped and crimped. Sounds like a bad 80's movie......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1278.jpg
Next I cut lengths of my sleeve to use. I've found that if I cut the sleeve a little less than 1/4 inch shorter than the wire, that it comes out just about perfect for the shrinkless method I use. Of course, this 1/4 inch will depend on how much insulation you take off, and how tight you stretch the sleeve. But for me....a smidge less than 1/4 inch shorter works nicely.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1279.jpg
I always touch the ends with some flame and taper them at this point also. 2 grey, 2 pink and 8 black. That's what I need for the outside row I'm working on.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1280.jpg
Now I need some heatshrink for my shrinkless method. I've always found that kind of funny. Took out my jig and a pair of scissors, and went to work cutting some up.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1281.jpg
Perfect. I mentioned this awhile back, but I never could get consistently good results using an exacto knife or box cutter or razor blade. But with a pair of scissors....I can cut up 50 pieces of perfectly sized shrink in about 2 minutes. It's quick. And I love being able to adjust to get the perfect size I need for whatever I'm doing. Nice lil' tool....
Look at them. They don't even know they are about to get burned alive.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1282.jpg
Next steps were to cinch my wires into a piece of sleeve, and melt the sleeve onto the pins at the end of the wire. If you've never tried shrinkless.....give it a shot. Plenty of good videos available, so I won't recreate the wheel for you. But check some out and then give it a go. I find it more forgiving than using heatshrink, and it secures the sleeve MUCH better than when using heatshrink. Since the sleeve is literally melted and formed around the first ridge on the pin....it's on there securely. It's not going anywhere. This lets me pull the sleeve much more tightly than I ever could if it was secured by heatshrink. Tighter sleeve....is nicer sleeve.
Oh Lord. I've now mentioned strippers, shrinking and tighter in the same post. I fear the gate has been opened for off-topic comments. :)
After completing the outside row, I went back and did all the same steps for the inside row, but I cut the wires 5/8 inch shorter than I did for the outside row.
So....here is what it looked like after I got both rows.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1283.jpg
If you try and lay it flat, you'll see that one row (the outside row) has to buckle up since it's longer.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1284.jpg
But have no fear. If you measured right, when you bend the extension in the shape you are going to use....all of the wires will magically snug up next to each other and look incredible!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1285.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1286.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1287.jpg
Here is what it looks like inside the build. It came out perfect length. There is not an inch of extra slack in the wire. Perfectly sized, and looking like it's a full one-to-one cable since the ugly doubles and cross-overs are all handled in the mini-cable right by the PSU.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1288.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1289.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1290.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1291.jpg
I actually gave away a surprise with some of those pictures....and I'm sure the eagle eyed forum members will catch it. But I'll do a full post on it tomorrow anyway so it's not like I would have kept it a surprise forever!
Now....to test and see if I got everything wired up correctly, the first thing I did was plug it in and see if the computer would boot. Check.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1292.jpg
All voltage readings read normal in my Aida64 screens. But....I decided to test out one of my new toys anyway. I got this little multi-meter from Lutro0, and I hadn't used it yet.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1294.jpg
One of the very cool features of the ASUS RIVE BE are the places on the board where you can place probes and test the different voltages on the board. VCore, VTT, DRAM, etc. All of mine tested perfectly. I even tested the memory at 1.5v and at the XMP settings of 1.65 volts. The measurements I got from the motherboard were exactly what they should be under each scenario. Very handy tool and I love having that feature on the motherboard. Nice touch ASUS. :)
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1296.jpg
I initially tried some of the stealth cable combs from Lutro0, and decided that I liked the look of cable sewing better. So....next up on my project list is to do some sewing on the 24 pin. I'll also start in on the other motherboard power connectors. There are lots of ways to pimp your ride when doing a computer build. But custom sized cables is one of those things where you get a lot of bang for the buck. In my mind, nothing makes a build sharper than custom sized and sleeved cables for every connector.
ASUS North America posted a teaser on their Facebook page yesterday! Thanks ASUS!
https://www.facebook.com/asus.n.america
nice! keep up the good work man, i wish i could make even half of this rig for my girl :)Quote:
Originally Posted by cpachris
All right. I mentioned that my previous pictures gave away a surprise, and I think most people probably spotted it already. But in case you didn't, .....here are the pictures....
The Corsair Dominator Platinums have a removable bridge that goes over the heat sink fin, and serves to cast the light from the light bars downward on the ram. Take out the four small screws, and it comes right off. See the translucent light bar sitting on top of the heatsink fins?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1267.jpg
The actual light bar is not attached at all. It was merely held in place by the bridge. The two ends of the light bar sit on top of tiny LED's inside the memory sticks, which light up the entire bar.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1268.jpg
Well....you remember that big pot of dye that I used for to create my pink Telios? You can see where this is going, right?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1261.jpg
I threw the lightbars into the dye bath and cooked them for about 20 minutes. They took the dye real quick, and came out a gorgeous shade of pink!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1269.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1270.jpg
I reinstalled the light bars in the memory sticks, and put them back in the build. I turned the lights off and took some flash pictures....but then turned the exposure down far enough so that you can kind of see the neat lil' pink glow that is created.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1297.jpg
I have the light bar upgrade kit installed in just one of the memory sticks right now. You can see the pink lights on top of that one stick. The top inserts are actually still clear....but the pink light bar from underneath makes everything appear pink on top also.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1298.jpg
In addition to the one stick that has the topside cutouts....you can see on all the sticks the pink glow created at the edge of the memory sticks. In person, it creates more of a glow than I can pick up in the pictures, ....but you get the idea.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1300.jpg
I think the pink glow looks amazing, but I'm going to try something else with these sticks also. You know the silver covered bridge that runs across the top of the sticks? I'm going to have that powder coated black to match the inside of the case. So the top of the sticks are going to be black....with those pink lightbar cutouts showing through. Can't wait to see how it looks that way! Will take 2 or 3 weeks to get to that step though. I'm accumulating all the stuff for my second powder coating batch right now, and then I'll ship off the pieces to CaseLabs. I'll have some other pieces also. Faceplates, mounting brackets, etc.
I'm still working on stitching for the 24 pin. Got one more row done tonight. Need 2 or 3 more....and it will be done.
More soon!
I finished the stitching on the 24 pin last night. I find it pretty easy to watch TV while I do this. On the BBBB, I watched most of the Breaking Bad seasons while I stitched that bad boy up. Last night, I started watching Game of Thrones with Jennifer (future owner of the PPPP) while I stitched. Good show. Watched two episodes and finished up the 24 pin......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1304.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1305.jpg
I started doing the cables for the other motherboard power connectors today. There is an 8 pin and a 4 pin at the top of the board. That puts 6 wires in a row across one side if I bring the two connectors together. Can't really duplicate the pattern used for the 24 pin....but I think I'm going to do a BBPGBB theme, which would be similar. At least that's what I'll start with and I'll let Jenn steer me differently is she chooses....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1301.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1302.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1306.jpg
For the routing, I'm going to stitch both cables together on top of the motherboard side, so that they turn into one seamless cable. After feeding it down through the cable management cutout and below the motherboard, then I think I'll secure it to the underside of the motherboard tray so that you can't see it (above the PSU), and then do a loop down around in front of the PSU to plug it in.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1307.jpg
It's a shame, because it will barely show this way.....and the cable itself is gonna be pretty. :) But cleanly done power cables that barely show and are just the right length....are the look I'm going for here.
This power cable won't take too long, so I may finish it up tonight......
Finished up the motherboard power cables....and 2 more episodes of Game of Thrones.
Here she is.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1308.jpg
The ASUS board has a 8 pin and a 4 pin connector, so what I've done is joined the cables together going across....so I can use a similar pattern to what we did for the 24 pin. I left off the connector on one end, because the cable management cut-out is small enough where I couldn't fit the connector through without scarring it up....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1309.jpg
Here she is inside the build.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1312.jpg
I'm using the cable combs on a temporary basis to help train the cables, but I'll eventually do some stitching to keep it nice and tidy.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1313.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1314.jpg
It's amazing to me how much custom length cables can clean-up the look of a build.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1315.jpg
Notice how the 8 pin cable starts out separate from the 4 pin cable (they have some space between them on the board), but come together as one cable before disappearing underneath the motherboard....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1316.jpg
Need to figure out my GPU power cable path now, and get started on those. May take a break and work on some fan wiring just for a change....
Very nicely done cabling and sleeving....
Is there any guide for the stitching pattern you follow ?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1252.jpg
Greatest idea ever, doing this with my rig now.
You and this build finally gave me the drive to finish sleeving my Seasonic
Thanks! Try this link. Pongo put together a pretty good tutorial that was the basis for what I started doing. His cable work was insane!Quote:
Originally Posted by felix_w
Hope you're not cursing me by the time you're done. :) Thanks for the kind words!Quote:
Originally Posted by NKrader
no cursing, when I said doing this i mean paying a sleever to sleeve my cables! :PQuote:
Originally Posted by cpachris
I'm back on the 3d printing design of the pump stand. For the next version that I actually send to be printed, I needed to add a mounting spot for the reservoir. I also wanted to make it a tad bit sturdier than the last version, so I'm going thicker, and I'll probably print it at 75% fill instead of 50% fill. See what you think of this design (views from all 4 sides below)....and offer me some ideas or suggestions that I could stick in before I send it to the printer......
You'll easily notice the extension over on the right of this picture. This is where I'll hang the reservoir. I don't have the holes in the design yet, but there will be holes in both of the horizontal bars, and the bars are positioned right where the brackets for the EK reservoir will be...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...%20Stand/1.png
The reservoir will be positioned right in the middle of the front window of the case. The two legs that extend out from the pump stand are for more stability, but I've also designed the space in between the legs to be the exact width of 2x inverter boxes for the cold cathode lights I'm planning on using. I'm needed to utilize this space on the floor, because there is not a lot of extra space with all the windows my case has....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...%20Stand/2.png
From this view (the back), you can see how I've built up a little more support at the base. It comes higher up the vertical plate, without interfering with the pump vibration dampners....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...%20Stand/3.png
On this side, you'll see two legs that are extended much shorter than the ones on the other side. These will wrap around the cable management cutout that is right by the SATA connectors on the motherboard.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...%20Stand/4.png
I'm finding it pretty easy to add/change/delete in Google Sketchup. Send me some cool ideas that I can incorporate before I print the next (and hopefully final) version of my pump bracket on the 3d printer!
Here's the stuff I'm planning on putting in my Flex Bays. If I rotate the front 240 rad so that the ports are on the bottom, I'll have 3 flex bays to play with....
I've got an Aquaero 6 XT, Aquaero 5 LT and a Lamptron FC8 controller.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1254.jpg
I used an FC8 in the BBBB, and although I don't think anyone would ever accuse Lamptron of top-notch quality, ....there are some features that I really like about the FC8. There is an LED indicator light above each channel to indicate whether it is on or not. The color of the LED light is customizable with just a few clicks of the buttons. And the "purple" LED light option looks pretty darn pink when next to this case. So it's like I have pink LED power indicators for the channels in this FC8. I think my baby will like that....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1255.jpg
Here is the back....
It's been about 2 years since I purchased my last FC8....but when I did, none of the extensions were sleeved. This time around, Lamptron made a little effort and put some black sleeve on the extensions. Much nicer. I wouldn't call it great sleeve....and I don't like how long the heatshrink is close to the connector....but if someone wasn't going to take the time to sleeve these on their own...these look much nicer than the black, yellow and red wires that were showing on my last set of these. Now Lamptron....sleeve the power connectors and you'll have a nice looking product!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1256.jpg
I'll still re-sleeve all of these in my black Telios sleeving. Plus, I'll get rid of the 3 molex power connectors and make something cleaner. I guess I can understand the need for 3 molex connectors if someone was going to run all 8 channels at 30 watts. That might be too much current for a single molex connection with small gauge wires. Maybe. But the Lamptron FC8 is going to be for controlling/dimming lighting. That's all. It won't ever handle too much wattage, so I should be fine with a sleeker power delivery system than this horrid 3 molex cable it comes with....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1258.jpg
On the left is the Aquaero 6 XT and on the right is the Aquaero 5 LT. Plenty of pictures of these out there already....so I won't bore you with too many here. I'll probably treat each set of rad fans as a separate fan channel, so there are 3 channels there. Both pumps are voltage controlled, so there are 2 more channels there. Plus, there are a couple of exhaust fans on the back of the build. So it would have been almost impossible to get away with only the 4 channels available on the XT. I toyed with the idea of some PowerAdjust2's....but since I hadn't ever used an LT in slave mode before....I opted to go that route.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1259.jpg
I did get a few accessories for them. The black passive heatsink is a naturally addition for this build. That bright red heatsink would have looked hideous in here, so I'm glad they came out with a black version. I also have waterblocks for both. May need to paint the outside of these black to keep with the theme. A hunk of copper in the middle of this build would ruin my mojo.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1260.jpg
I also got an extra faceplate in black. I'll have to decide if a black or pink faceplate would look better. For the BBBB I had the faceplate powerdercoated crimson....and it looks awesome. May have to try an extra one in pink and see what that looks like.
I have high hopes for the new EK Ascendacy that I showed earlier in the thread. Beta testing is ongoing, and EK has knocked out a few software bugs already that were stopping many in our test group from being able to open the software application that goes with it. But I don't know if they will be ready with a retail version of the product in time for this build. I'll still have some screenshots and shots of the software later so you can get a better feel for how it compares with Aquasuite.
More soon!
Doing some preliminary installation of the flex bay stuff today to see what it looks like. First off, to make everything easy to access, I removed the front 240 radiator mount. Love how this works on the CaseLabs S8. A few thumb screws and I can pop the whole thing off and remove it. Super easy.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1318.jpg
I took this opportunity to rotate the fans so that the power connectors would line up on the inside of the case instead of the outside. I also turned the radiator so that the inlet/outlet are at the bottom of the case instead of the top. This way, I don't burn one of my few precious flex bays.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1319.jpg
While I had the radiator mount out...I took a few shots. Easier to see the 24 pin cable with the radiator pulled out. Really need to get on the GPU cables though. They stick out like a sore thumb with the other cables done....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1320.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1321.jpg
I got the Aquaero 6 XT out and pried the stainless steel face plate off the back of the face plate. It's just held on by some sticky.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1322.jpg
I replaced it with this black one that I picked up.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1323.jpg
....and then I put the Aquaero's and the Lamptron FC8 in the case. I think the black faceplates look pretty good! But I still think I'll get the extra Aquaero faceplate done in pink, and see which I like better....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1491.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1492.jpg
It's been awhile since I had it all suited up....so here are some shots with all the panels on.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1324.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1325.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1326.jpg
I can't wait to see what it looks like with the dual pumps on the left side and the reservoir in the front window. More soon!
Front plates of controllers .. are not pink! :)
Are you suggesting they need to be pink? Or that they shouldn't be pink?Quote:
Originally Posted by Church
i was actually thinking if i wanted mine to match the case, and after seeing the black on pink (looks great) i think i may just keep controller black on my white case!Quote:
Originally Posted by cpachris
A dramatic reenactment of a conversation from a few days ago......
**************************************************
Me: Come check out the stuff I put in the flex bays!
Jenn: What are flex bays?
Me: ....just come look at the front of the computer.
Jenn: Awesome! Looks great! Where will I plug in the card from my camera?
Me: We can get an external card reader to plug in when you need it.
Jenn: You mean I can't just plug in my card to the computer?
Me: You can after you plug in the card reader to the computer.
Jenn: Why do I need to keep it separate?
Me: Limited space in the front of the computer.....
Jenn: So move something to the back of the computer....
Me: Like what?
Jenn: What is that blank spot there for?
Me: There is an Aquaero behind it. It will control your fans for you.
Jenn: Do I need to touch it?
Me: No. You can't touch it.
Jenn: Then move it to the back of the computer, and put a card reader in the front for me.
Me: But......but...... Ok. :p:
************************************************** ***
My baby may not fully realize what she's getting....but she always knows what she wants. She's usually right about these things anyway. :) Soliciting ideas for a revised location for the Aquaero LT!
Here's the card reader I hastily ordered from Amazon to address the situation. Same one I used on the BBBB with good results......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1494.jpg
My camera uses compact flash, and Jenn's uses SD, so this one covers both of us.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1495.jpg
I'll hook up at least 2 of the CaseLabs USB ports on the front panel to the motherboard 20 pin. And probably both of these cables going out the back of the case will give Jenn at least 3 USB ports on the front of the case. May see if I think I can hook up the other two CaseLabs ports in a clean fashion....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1497.jpg
I already had one of the 3.5 inch adapters from my initial package of stuff from CaseLabs....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1499.jpg
Fits perfect! I think I like the pink around the border. Makes me think I'll like the Aquaero with a pink faceplate....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1500.jpg
Here it is with the panels on....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1501.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1502.jpg
But....that dull grey box is ruining my mojo....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1503.jpg
Definitely going to have to paint or powdercoat the housing for the card reader....but I do like how it comes out just about even with the radiator. Doesn't stick out too far....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1504.jpg
Still playing with alternate locations for the Aquaero LT that was displaced by the late discovered need for a card reader!
Finished up what I hope are the final 3d printing design changes for the pump stand, and I have it sent off to the 3d printing club that I have an "in" with. Not huge changes from last iteration I showed off here in the build log....but I made a few.
From the angle below, you can see the holes I positioned for mounting the EK Res X3. They are positioned so that the brackets included with the reservoir should be at the very top and bottom of the reservoir.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...laneous/21.png
From this angle you can see what I'm doing with lettering for this final version. The way I had the lettering positioned before really wasn't very visible from the angles people would be looking at the computer most often. No one would ever be sitting down on that side of the computer....only standing. So the downward viewing angle lends itself to lettering laid out flat on the mounting bracket, instead of standing up. You should be able to see this lettering from a downward angle on the side window....as well as from the top window.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...laneous/22.png
This lettering on the back of the pump stand should be visible from the main sitting position while using the computer. You would see it looking through the right side window....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...laneous/23.png
I hollowed out a larger hole that doesn't go all the way through for the reservoir mounting bracket. It became apparent that the nut would interfere with the pump mounting mechanism if it extended beyond the vertical plane of the bracket....so I needed to recess the nuts into the bracket.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...laneous/24.png
....and one final angle....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...laneous/25.png
Designing a custom part for this computer has been fun. I'm a first timer with 3d printing. But it is just downright cool to be able to come up with a vision of what you need for the build.....and then "print it". Once I've heard when the 3d print will run, I'll keep you updated. Non-members typically only get print time on weekends....and then only when members are not using the printer.
I'm still deadly serious about trying to start a 3d printing club for computer forum members, where we all collectively purchase a 3d printer. More info on that soon.....
Finally had a chance to use the latest iteration of the EK Ascendacy software yesterday. EK was on it's 6th iteration of the software trying to solve an issue that most of us in the beta group were having when trying to run the application. They fixed the issue, and I can now use the software (and thus the hardware) for the first time. Don't laugh...but my quick setup is shown below. I hooked up one of my voltage controlled D5's and 9 fans.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1506.jpg
You can barely see the Ascendacy tucked in there among all the cables, but it's there....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1508.jpg
I'm going to do a little bit of walking through the screen shots on the system to give those that care a look at how it's setup. At the end of the post, I'll summarize my likes/dislikes about the current state of the software/hardware.
One of the best parts of the Ascendacy software is this little status box. It's really the hub of the entire application, and everything can be launched/accessed from here. It's main function is to allow quick switching between profiles, and access to more detailed screens when desired. The long thin grey text box that is kind of in the middle keeps switching between different pieces of information. Such as which profile you are currently running...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...creenshot9.png
...how much power your cooling setup is currently drawing (fans and pumps, assuming you have the ascendacy powering everything)
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot10.png
...water temperature....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot11.png
...and flow rate....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot12.png
The information is OK....but it's really the profile buttons that make this little screen so useful. I'll preface my comparison to the Aquasuite controls with the caveat that I'm still running version 2013-2 of Aquasuite, and things may have changed. But for the Aquasuite, if I want to load a different profile, I have to have first 'exported' that profile and saved the file in a location that I can find later. And then to load a new profile, I have to use the file/open dialog box and find that previously saved profile. And....I've had issues with custom fan/sensor names getting truncated and/or lost on profile changes.
These little buttons making switching profiles effortless. One click....and you're done. There are always times when I just want everything to spin as slow as possible, or as fast as possible.....regardless of what my detailed control curves are setup to do. EK really hit a home run with how simple they have made this type of process.
There are 3 predefined profiles. The 'Silent' profile runs everything undervolted. It reported it was giving all my stuff about 7.2 volts when I chose the Silent profile. Balanced was about 10 volts, and Extreme was the full 12 volts for everything. You will also notice the 'Custom' profile button to the far right of the screen. When you click this button you get a fly-out box that shows you all the custom profiles you have created. You can simply click one of these from the fly-out screen to select it. Very elegantly done.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot13.png
Before I move on to some more screens, I will say that this little widget/control box really takes up far too much screen real estate on an 1080p screen. I'd like for it to be smaller, and I'd like the option to make it vertical instead of horizontal. EK...if you need to give up some of the status window to make it smaller....do so. The beauty of this screen/widget...is the quick switching between profiles. Also, I would give users the ability to pick one piece of information they want shown and leave it static. I don't always want to wait through 5 screens of info I don't care about to get to the one piece that I want to know about.
Moving on. When you double click the grey status text box on the main screen....you get a fly-out window up above it that provides much more detailed information about your cooling system. It's laid out very nicely and intuitively. It's got 3 tabs across the top. The first tab is 'Cooling System Overview'. Each of these 3 main tabs also has subtabs that show up right underneath the tabs. On the 'Cooling System Overview' tab, we have subtabs for 1) Fans, 2) Pumps and Flow, and 3) Temperatures. The first subtab (Fans) looks like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot14.png
It's fairly intuitive and doesn't need much explanation. Fans 1 and 2 are the voltage controlled connections, and 3 through 8 are the six PWM connections. You can use the PWM connections to plug in non-PWM fans...but you will be limited to simply On/Off capability. However, you can use one of the sensor values to trigger the On/Off switch. But...you can't control the speed at all. It's either 100% or nothing. I'll also note there that even though you have the option to customize the name of your fans in the custom profiles....this screen here doesn't update at all with the custom names. It always just shows 'Fan1', etc. Lame.
I also am not sure what the light grey shading is supposed to represent. It would make sense if it were supposed to cover all the 'current' values to help easily identify them....but the 3rd 'current' column (Current Watts) is not included in the light grey shading. Not sure what they were trying to do here. I'll ask.
I like how below the list of the individual fans, they show the total power draw for all the fans. The fans I had hooked up to these 3 channels were drawing 3.8 watts when I did this screen shot. That's pretty cool. Also, the min/max/avg values are shown right below that. Nice. And in the orange box EK is showing the power draw for the entire cooling system (pumps included). I like how simple they are making it to get totals for all cooling system components. Very nice.
The orange 'Delete' button just resets the min/max/avg calculations. It was a little scary to press it the first time. Probably should be re-labeled to something more like 'Reset' or 'Clear'. Not 'Delete'.
The second subtab...for Pumps and Flow looks like this.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot15.png
Very similar information to that which was shown for fans.
The third subtab for Temperature looks like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot16.png
You can plug in up to 8 temperature sensors to the EK Ascendacy board. The last two locations are hard labeled as water temps....so make sure and plug in your water sensors to these spots. You can't rename the sensors either....so you'll have to remember that Sensor 3 was the one that you ran back to your memory sticks. Lame.
Also, on this screen the light grey shading is only around the current values. I think this is probably what was intended for the Fans subtab and the Pumps and Flow subtab also.
Moving on to the second main tab....'General System Overview'. This tab has 4 subtabs, including 1) CPU, 2) Motherboard, 3) Graphics Card, and 4) HDD.
The first subtab, CPU, looks like this:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot17.png
It shows speed, temps and power draw. Well laid out. Easy to understand.
The next subtab is for the motherboard.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot18.png
It shows temps, voltages and details for any fans that are powered by the motherboard fan headers. Simple.
Next subtab is for the Graphics Cards.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot19.png
It shows identical information that was shown for the motherboard. The one comment I'll make here...is that both of my graphics cards were identified with the exact same name and no number identifier. I figured out that the orange arrows on the sides of the screen must be cycling through any graphics cards it finds...because I could see the temps change when I would click the arrow. But without the card being identified with a number.... I had no idea which card was which.
Next subtab is for the HDD's.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot20.png
Just temps for the HDD's.
You may have noticed that orange button on all the screens that says 'Details'. Clicking this button on any of the 4 subtabs just brings up a larger window that has all the information on these 4 subtabs in one large window. Like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot21.png
Time to move on to the 'Diagram' main tab. I would probably suggest EK relabel this as 'Charts', which I think is more descriptive of what it is than 'diagrams'. The Diagram tab has subtabs for 1) Temperatures, 2) Fan and Pump Speed, and 3) Power Draw. The first subtab for Temperatures looks like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot22.png
The charts are pretty basic. There is a drop down box on the right that lets you choose between the temp sensors plugged into the EK Ascendacy, or the temp readings from other hardware components in your system. You also have the ability to change the duration shown on the chart with a simple +/- box to click. The charts are drop dead simple....but you really can't do much with them.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot23.png
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot24.png
The second subtab is almost identical to the first, but shows rpm's instead of temps.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot25.png
And the third subtab works very similar to the first two....but shows power draw in watts.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot26.png
Again....even though you have ability to create a custom name for a fan in your profiles....these names do not carryforward into the charts or detailed status window. So you'll just have to remember that Fan 2 was the push fans on the 360 rad in the pedestal of your build. Lame.
Almost done. Hang in there. The next screen is what you get when clicking the 'tool' option for a custom profile. It's your dashboard for making custom profiles. It shows you each of the 8 fan channels (2 voltage and 6 PWM) and one pump channel. I didnt' ever plug a second pump in, so I don't know for sure if you get an additional window on this screen....or if the one 'pump' window would control both of your pumps the same.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot27.png
From the window above, you click which fan or pump you want to customize, and then it opens a screen like the one below....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot28.png
You don't have a ton of choices for custom control....but it is drop dead simple. For each fan or pump, you can choose a fixed power value (i.e., 50%), or you can choose to have it controlled by a sensor reading. The sensor can be one of the EK temp probes, or one of the system hardware temp values. It was nice that the EK software had all these system hardware temps readily available. For the Aquasuite, you have to have a 3rd party tool, like Aida64, loaded and running to have access to these values.
Once you select a temperature source, you have a control curve with two points you can control. So although it doesn't offer near the precision or control that the Aqausuite controllers do, it is very simple to operate and setup. You may be losing a little bit of control here, but you can pretty much make it do what you want it to. Not near as comprehensive as Aqausuite controllers options, but much simpler to use.
Last, but not least....this screen below is the general settings screen. Not much here to discuss...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...reenshot30.png
Summary of Praises/Concerns
Overall....it's an exciting start for EK. Personally, I'm thrilled that there may be some decent competition for AquaComputer in this area. Always better for the consumer to have companies pushing each other to improve.
If you are comparing the Ascendacy to the Aquaero, the Ascendacy is clearly geared more toward PWM controlled fans. There are only 2 voltage controlled channels for fans, and 2 voltage controlled channels for pumps. You could use the pump channels to power a fan it you wanted, but since a lot of the status screens and charts are hard labeled to treat each connection as a fan or pump....you would render the status screens and charts meaningless if you did. Sure, there are also just 4 voltage controlled channels for the Aquaero....but I could use them for either pumps or fans.....or even lighting.....and then use the custom charts and labels to clearly identify what it was. No so with this version of the Ascendacy.
However, if you are using PWM fans instead of voltage controlled fans.....the Ascendacy would actually have a leg-up on the Aquaero, with it's 6 additional PWM channels.
I absolutely love the simple switching between profiles that the Ascendacy software allows. This needs to be copied by AqauComputer. Much slicker. I also like not having to use a 3rd party application to read hardware temps. Ascendacy does that out of the box.
As far as dashboard and charts and other custom reporting....the Aquasuite has a clear advantage over the simple approach of the Ascendacy. If you like to tinker and build your own dashboards....you want the Aquaero. If you don't care about this kind of stuff....the Ascendacy may be for you.
For me, I think the biggest Achilles's heel for this beta version of the Ascendacy software, is it's inability to control fans based on Water/Air delta temperature. The Ascendacy doesn't offer anything like the 'Virtual' sensors that Aquasuite allows. Virtual sensors allow you to use basic addition or subtraction of two different sensor values to create a new sensor value. So...a virtual sensor that subtracts your ambient air sensor from your water temp sensor....would provide a delta value for you that is what most people would use to control their fans/pumps. There is no such concept in the Ascendacy software right now. I believe this must be addressed.
My other primary concern is accessibility. The Ascendacy PCB will be mounted horizontal in a 5 1/4 bay slot. Because the waterblock is on the edge of the card, all of the voltage controlled ports are directly behind it. If you are using a single slot setup, then I think it will be downright impossible to plug in fans while the Ascendacy is installed. You would almost HAVE to have a free slot above the Ascendacy to have any room at all to make/change connections. Even then, it would be difficult to make a connection directly behind the waterblock while the Ascendacy is installed. You would be working blind.
Now....if EK is planning on the LCD screen taking up two 5 1/4 bays, then maybe it is worth it to have precious little room to make connections. But if the LCD screen will take up a single 5 1/4 bay, then I think most people will have to burn an additional bay above the Ascendacy just to have room to plug/unplug fans.
To be fair....we can't really judge the Ascendacy yet. The hardware and software are still subject to change before release. If they are able to price it where it is $50 cheaper than the Aquaero XT....then I think they may get a lot of takers. It doesn't do as much as the Aquaero.....but it is much simpler to understand and setup. That will be appealing to many.
Just got back the 2nd version of my 3d printed pump stand this evening! This print had some warping issues on the bottom. It's not too bad. I'll take some pictures of it as-is....and then I"ll see what I can do about maybe applying a little heat and trying to flatten the bottom some. Also, we learned that the 8 inch build height limit of the printer.....is actually closer to 7.8 inches. It totally garbled the letters I put on top of the pump stand because they ran outside of the build area. I can probably sand those off.
If I can't get this one to sit flat and look presentable....I'll tweak the design one more time and do a final print. Pictures tomorrow!
Pictures of v2 of the 3d printed pump stand.
Way too nice a day here today to take pictures inside....so outside we go. Overall....it came out pretty nice. You can see in this picture how the letters on top are garbled, since they were out of the top of the print space by just a little bit.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1514.jpg
The lettering on the back and bottom came out very nice though.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1520.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1511.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1513.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1510.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1512.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1516.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1518.jpg
This one was printed with 100% fill rate, and it is a solid piece of equipment. Very sturdy. The vertical plate is much thicker than last time also. Very pleased with how sturdy it seems to be. Won't know for sure until I get some pumps mounted and running in it though.....
The pumps and reservoir mounted perfectly. Exactly as I had pictured it.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1532.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1531.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1530.jpg
And the fit inside the case was pretty good also. A few nits....which I'll mention after the pictures....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1523.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1524.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1525.jpg
In the picture below, you can see how the legs on the front of the pump stand leave just enough space to put two of the modSmart cold cathode inverter boxes between the legs. They are fairly hidden because they are below the window level of the front of the case, and since they are black they blend right into the interior....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1527.jpg
...and the legs on the back of the pump stand allow the existing cable management cutout on the S8 to still be utilized....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1528.jpg
Overall.....I'm pleased.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1529.jpg
Now...for the nits. I didn't plan on how much space the fittings on the front of the pumps were going to take up. It makes me slide the whole pump stand further to the right of the case than I was planning on. Not a big deal...but it leaves the reservoir not perfectly centered in the front window. So...I either need to make a tighter bend with acrylic than this 90 degree fitting gives me...or I need to tweak the positioning for the holes for the reservoir mounts a little bit on a future version of the pump stand.
I still don't know for sure how much the slight warping will effect things. I was already planning on lining the bottom of it with some dense foam material. This alone may give it enough padding where the slight warping doesn't impact anything. We'll see...
More soon! Been spending some out of town time for family trips a lot lately...and haven't been around to work on the build as much as I had been. But it should kick back up into gear again now. Got one more trip planned in August....but that is it.
excuse my language but that pump mount is the :banana::banana::banana::banana:, man that is some amazing work. Love the attention to detail, this is a great build
yep, you never fail to impress.
always simply amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Circaflex
Aw shucks. :p: Appreciate the kind words!Quote:
Originally Posted by NKrader
Made the EK page again! :up: Still no link back to the build log. :down:
https://www.facebook.com/EKWaterBloc...type=1&theater
Picture update! Too much traveling lately...but we are almost done. One more trip next weekend and then we will settle back down into school schedule, and I should have some more time to finish this thing up!
Last week, I was working on some more wiring. Decided to start with a fan power harness for one of the rads. After several starts/stops, changing of mind, etc., I finally settled in on the style of harness that I think will work the best for these rads. I think these take me the longest of all the wiring because of the soldering. I'm really just not that talented with a soldering iron. So it sometimes takes a few re-do's before I'm happy with the finished product. Here is what I ended up with.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1534.jpg
A strange looking cable, indeed. On the bottom of the picture above, you'll see a typical female fan connector....which then branches into 5 separate male fan connectors. Close up of the female end below. This will plug into the Aquaero for control of all 5 fans on one channel....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1535.jpg
And below is a closeup of one of the male ends. These connectors and pins I got from Lutro0, and they were of excellent quality. Much nicer than the pins/connectors I got from FrozenCPU for my last build. These pins go in nicely with a satisfying click. The hooded portion of the connector keeps the pins from making contact with the case at any time, and helps prevents shorts.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1536.jpg
And below is a close-up of one the branches of the wiring where I had to solder. Some of the Lutro0 heatshink covers any indiscretions nicely....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1537.jpg
Since this cable was going up next to the radiator, I really didn't have a way to screw in these cable clips that I had sitting around...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1538.jpg
My sweetie Jen suggested I just use a touch of superglue and put the clips directly on the fans....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1539.jpg
I'm very happy with the end result. The cable clips keep the wiring close to the black part of the fan frame, and the wires don't hide any of the pink accent rings. The cable clips are securely on the fan, and still allow the cable to slide back and forth inside the ring, so if I ever need to remove the cable or a fan for any reason, it shouldn't be an issue.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1551.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1552.jpg
The pictures above are from the side of the radiator that will be in the middle of the case...not up against a window. The black cables almost disappear into the black fan frame and black case.
Below are a couple of pictures from the side of the radiator that will be against the window. You can't see any cables at all on this side. Very clean look.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1553.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1555.jpg
...and, a few more parting beauty shots. I love the look of these Corsair fans on the thick EK XTX radiators.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1556.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1557.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1558.jpg
I'm working on the wiring for powering up the Aquaero and the Lamptron now. More soon!
Question: What do you post online when a package from Slovenia arrives with a NDA and a promise to be shot if you reveal any details?
Answer: Nothing. For now.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1566.jpg
But stay tuned.......
Some progress on the GPU cables.....
You know my love for assembly line production. The following steps were done over a two night period while catching up on all of our DVR'd Big Brother episodes in the living room with my sweetie.
Step One -- Cut 32 pieces of wire, long enough to cover any of the routing ideas that are lingering around in your head. Proceed to torture the dogs with the wires for at least 15 minutes....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1561.jpg
Step Two -- Use your awesome Lutro0 wire strippers and take off the insulation on one end of all 32 wires. Proceed with calling Jen's name over and over while she's watching TV....and then showing her the wires. Try to remember than Jen won't appreciate it if you leave all the little wire bits on the living room carpet.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1562.jpg
Step Three -- Use your awesome Luto0 crimper to put a female ATX pin on one end of all 32 wires. Proceed to repeat Jen's name until she finally gives up and stares at you.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1563.jpg
Step 4 -- Cut sleeve long enough to cover wire, and then go ahead and melt one end onto the ATX pin you did in the previous step. Proceed to announce loudly and repeatedly...."Look at my colored spaghetti!!!"
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1564.jpg
Step 5 -- Insert the end of the wire with the pin into a connector. Proceed to insist that Jen come back into the living room to serve as a background image for my wire shot.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1565.jpg
What I'll do next is plug the connector end into the GPU's and do some test routing of the cables using different options....and decide which one I like best. Then I'll cut the cable down to size, and start putting pins on the other end of the cable also. The part that takes the longest is melting the sleeve on the pins. You do anything 32 times and it just takes awhile to do. For each of the 32 wires,
-- I'm cutting the sleeve to the right length,
-- stretching it tight,
-- adjusting the cut if necessary,
-- putting on heatshrink,
-- melting it till it's gooey,
-- risking the flesh on my fingers to press it down onto the pin while it's hot,
-- and then cutting off the heatshrink.
When you combine doing each of these steps 32 times....while trying to watch a TV show....it takes awhile. But I'll keep you posted on progress.
Alas, no progress this weekend because we are leaving on a little family trip tonight and will be gone through Monday.
Nice colors and good job !
Thank you sir!Quote:
Originally Posted by G40RoCkEt
how long were the wires on this? im having my guy make one tomorow for me
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1252.jpg
About 1.5 inches. You may need to make some of the wires longer than others if they do more of a crossover than rest of wires.Quote:
Originally Posted by NKrader
I did something similar for the GPU cables, but haven't taken any pictures yet.
Hey bro quick question, When doing custom sleeving making ur own cables,You insert the cables into the PCIE connector any way you want also same goes with the 24 pin ? Or do you follow the same routing as the default cables that come with the PSU? I wanna start my own custom sleeving just not sure if i purchase all the tools,sleeving etc I might make a mess and actually ruin my PSU lol and connectors..
cool thanks! mine should be done soon! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by cpachris
finally pulled the trigger and got Ultimate Personal Computers (adamBirli) to finish all of my cables in mdpc black :)
if your only doing one psu,Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny87au
i would really just have somone do this for you, after buying tools and materials you end up spending as much if not more (not even counting time lost) than if you would have paid a professional to do it. and they end up perfect if you use the right person.
Some more TV time with my sweetie while doing some cabling work....
The same way I did the short cable for my 24 pin that handled the double wires and cross overs.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1252.jpg
....I'm doing the same thing for my GPU cables. All of the 8 pin connectors on the Corsair have a double wire in one slot and several cross-overs. I want all that to be handled in a short patch cable down by the GPU, and then have a 1 to 1 extension that is sewn and tight. So......I took some of the connectors that came with the PSU and snipped off the wires with a couple of inches to spare. Then I stripped and crimped.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1866.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1867.jpg
The above two pictures were actually a goof. I put female pins on the end, and I really needed male pins. So I had to redo those. But in the end, I had male pins on them and put a male to female connector on here.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1868.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1869.jpg
The extensions that are sleeved and pretty have female connectors on both sides. They will plug into the extensions like this, and then plug into the PSU.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1880.jpg
With hindsight, it might make more sense to make the extensions with a female connector on one end and a male on the other. This would make them usable with any PSU standard cable as the patch cable. I'll always make custom sized cables....so it really doesn't impact me. But it is probably wiser.
I've played around with several different cable paths from the GPU to the PSU....and I think I've settled on one. I really like the way my 24 pin and motherboard power connectors have the GPU side of the cable doing a tight and immediate loop up and out of the PSU section. Like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1316.jpg
So the same way that the motherboard power connector goes up and underneath the motherboard......that's how I'm going to do the GPU cables also. They will track immediately back under the motherboard tray just like the motherboard connector, and then go through a cut-out (probably need to expand one) in the divider plate, and then up through the midplate to the GPU's. I think it will look pretty clean this way. But it will really need a lot of cable stitching to keep it nice and tight.
I started in on that.....and decided I needed to stop and get my next powder coating batch ready to go first. I'm sure it will take a week or two to get the powdercoat batch back....so I can be working on stitching and cabling while the pieces are off to be powdercoated. So....next up is pictures of my PSU window cut-out work......
So since this case I selected had a lot to do with all of the windows.....why not make some more in the components themselves? Right? Got some ideas for both the PSU and the SSD's. Here is the start of what I've done to the Corsair AX1500i.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1870.jpg
Void the warranty....and take the top off. Hehe.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1872.jpg
Remove that fan from the top of the PSU cover......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1873.jpg
Tape up the PSU cover where the cuts will be made....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1874.jpg
Rock that Dremel....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1875.jpg
7 cutting blades later (gasp), success!!!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1876.jpg
Get out the file and start working those rough edges....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1877.jpg
Starting to look better....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1878.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1879.jpg
Test fit. I'm having to pull down the plastic insert that usually protects the circuitry from touching the metal sides of the PSU. Before I"m done, I'll need to cut it down below the window panel....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_1881.jpg
Different angle view....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1882.jpg
That's where I got so far....but I'm pretty pumped about how it's going to look. Next steps.....I'm going to send the PSU cover to be powder coated in CaseLabs black. This will make it match perfectly with the interior of the case....and will help hide some of the nicks and scratches that happened while cutting it out. I'm going to have the top fan grill powder coated pink to match the outside of the case.
While these parts are off to be powder coated, I'll cut some acrylic out for the window, and then have a local shop etch it with a Corsair logo and maybe a PPPP mention. I'm planning on running a LED into the inside of the PSU and lighting up the etched acrylic window. It will be very cool.....
May even find a little bitty pink panther or something to leave inside the PSU....looking out through the window. :thumbsups
Mine came out a little different, apparently corsair wires a bit easier than Seasonic
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l6...psc740820b.jpg
But just imagine how beautifully perfect your extensions can be now!
yep, i had both made at the same time.Quote:
Originally Posted by cpachris
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l6...psd98cc01a.jpg
Based on all the other WONDERFUL pictures of the new EK Supremacy EVO, you've probably concluded correctly that the black van was there to ensure not a word was breathed of it before it was ready. The waterblock is beautiful, and the new insert really makes the insides even more attractive than before. Not to mention the performance has been improved. I'll be posting my own pictures of it with some beautiful pink coolant after I get it polished up. :)
In the meantime....I'm still prepping items to go for another batch of powdercoat items. Got the memory ready a few days ago. For those following, you will remember that I've already done a custom dye job of the light bar to make it glow pink instead of white. The one on the left has the normal light bar, and the one on the right has lightbar upgrade kit and the custom dyed pink light bar....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1883.jpg
But I want to do even more with the memory to personalize it for this build. So I took off the light bar cover....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1884.jpg
...and then removed the heatsink.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1885.jpg
The heatsink just took a little bit of wiggle to remove it.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1886.jpg
Then I repeated for all 4 sticks of memory....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1887.jpg
The plan here is to powercoat the light bar covers matte black to match the inside of the case, and then powdercoat the heatsinks pink to match the outside of the case. I think it's safe to say I'll have the only set of Dominator Platinums like this. :o
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1889.jpg
Corsair tells you to personalize it right there on the package.....who am I to say no?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1890.jpg
Can't wait to see how these look when they get back from CaseLabs! More powdercoat prepping tomorrow!
Still working on getting ready the package of stuff that I'm shipping off to be powdercoated. Today was the card reader and some faceplates. I pointed this out previously....but the card reader's light grey color is really throwing my mojo off when I look in the case. See?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1892.jpg
I can't spend all this time on black and pink accents....and just leave the ugly grey box. Jen already previously weighed in....and the color needs to be black for this box. I could just rattle can it....but as long as I'm already sending some stuff for powder coating, why not make it match the inside of the case exactly, right?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1893.jpg
The cover came off easily....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1894.jpg
...and to my delight the wires inside were simple micro-b connectors, so I could remove them with no effort.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_1895.jpg
Cute lil' pcb.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_1896.jpg
Pop off the face plate. Since it's already surrounded by the CaseLabs 3.5 inch adaptor which is pink....I'm going to leave this faceplate black for a little contrast. Plus...it's plastic, so powdercoat is not an option.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_1897.jpg
Snip the cable tie holding the cables in place.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_1898.jpg
....and remove the cables completely from the PCB and card reader housing. These will be a breeze to sleeve. The pass PCI pass through bracket will also get powder coated black....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_1899.jpg
Ta-da! Card reader housing ready to go.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_1900.jpg
Few more nits. The Aquaero 6 mounting brackets are silver, but are hidden behind the black CaseLabs mounts so that they really don't show much. But....as long as I'm getting some stuff powder coated....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2256.jpg
....so I removed the Aquaero and took off the mounting brackets. We'll make these black as well.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2257.jpg
This black faceplate for the FC8 is aluminum. It won't be black much longer. We'll send this in for pink powdercoating, so that it matches the outside of the case exactly. I did this with my FC8 on the BBBB and it looks pretty sweet and custom when it matches the rest of the case exterior.
I'll also give some props to Lamptron. They've improved the build quality of the FC8 significantly since I bought my last one.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2258.jpg
I had some left over flow meters from the last build. I had powdercoated the faceplate white for one....and had the other copper plated. I think I'm going to have the white faceplate on this Aquaero flow meter powdercoated pink. That will be unique.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2243.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2244.jpg
I have just a few more items to get ready, including the SSD's and the LED lighting brackets. More on those tomorrow!
Finished up the last of my items for the powdercoat batch, and I've sent the package off. Woo-hoo! Here are the last of the items that went....
These Corsair Neutron SSD's are already pretty darn good lookin'....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_1901.jpg
But I wanted to do something special with them, and I have a couple of ideas kicking around in my head. So I took the innards out again. The PCB inside is even smaller than the case.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1902.jpg
Got out the Dremmel....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_1903.jpg
...and cut-out a window for the front of the SSD cases. The idea here would be to put a thin piece of plexi on the inside of the cover...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2241.jpg
...and then etch it with a logo and light it up with an LED fed through this hole I made.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2242.jpg
The SSD cases themselves are being sent for black powdercoating so they will match the inside of the case. I may make the LED glow from the window a pink'ish glow to tie out the theme.
My other idea with the SSD's is to not use the case for them at all...and instead stack the two PCB's together with some standoffs, and use a solid piece of plexi on the front and back to provide some protection. It would become kind of a clear "brick" of SSD's. Might be fun. I'll probably try it both ways and decide.
I asked the kitty what he thought.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2249.jpg
....and he said he liked both ideas for the SSD's....but that we really needed to think about making the lighting for the inside of the case look nice also. Fair enough....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2251.jpg
So I showed him the 3 different styles of LED U-channel that I had picked up.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2245.jpg
This one is for corners where you want the light to point at a 45 degree angle...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2252.jpg
This one is for flat mounting and has some heat fins....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2253.jpg
This one is for ultra low profile flat mounting....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2254.jpg
I cut them all up into sizes that would fit nicely in the spots in my case where I'm considering lighting....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2255.jpg
....and included them in my package of "black" items for powdercoating. These covers should blend right into the inside of the case since they will be finished in the exact same powder as the case. Should be almost invisible. I did a lot of LED strip lighting in my last build also, but was able to hide the strips from view based on how big the case was. With this S8 and 4 windows....almost everything inside is view-able, so there is no place to hide something ugly. Must make everything attractive. So we'll give these u-channel a shot and see what they look like when finished black.
That's it for the powder coat items. Now...I'll get back to some wiring work while I wait on these to be returned.
Getting close to time to start plumbing this baby up!
With all of my "to-be-powdercoated-items" sent off to California....I've resumed working on some of the cabling/sleeving....
I finished up the last two of my little patch cables for the GPU's.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2264.jpg
...and I've started in on the cable sewing again. Got caught up with Big Brother, watched 3 more episodes of Game of Thrones...and had a date with Nucky Thompson. 5 or 6 hours of watching and sewing...and I had most of one of the GPU cables done. I'm sewing the two 8 pins together into one solid cable. This allows me to make a mini version of the same pattern I used for the 24 pin.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2262.jpg
My current idea is to have the top GPU cable wrap down and between the GPU's....and when I'm finished with the other GPU cable, it will wrap up and between the GPU's. So they will meet together and become one solid mass going down between the GPU's. May even sew them together like that. You can't see in these pictures....but I'm going to have to make the cable management cutout a little wider to allow the cables to keep their flat shape when they pass through the midplate.
Wait....what's that thing in the lower right corner...?????
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2269.jpg
It's the kitty! He approves. You can see how well the GPU pattern matches the 24 pin pattern in this picture . Similar pattern....similar shape. Coming together nicely....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2267.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2270.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2271.jpg
Now I need to queue up another couple of Game of Thrones episodes and finish up the other GPU cable!!
You are in for a treat tonight! I was lucky enough to receive, and Kevin was kind enough to send me, some pictures of the pink parts getting the powder applied right there at the secret laboratory CaseLabs keeps in California! Let the action commence....
Looks like they use a nice Encore powder gun system....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7968.jpg
Kevin was even kind enough to drill some holes for me in parts that didn't have a place to hang already. Like the memory heatsinks in the picture below. Here they are up on the line...awaiting their glorious pink treatment....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7969.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7970.jpg
This lucky guy got the honor of seeing the first Corsair pink heatsink. :o
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7971.jpg
Spray on, my brother. Spray on....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7972.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7973.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7974.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7975.jpg
Yes!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7977.jpg
Looks like the powder covered the engraved lettering on the Lamptron faceplate nicely....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7979.jpg
Into the oven to bake!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7980.jpg
Kevin mentioned that actual curing was done at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. Must still be heating up here. Man they've got some cool toys!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7981.jpg
Just like any tasty treat....needs some time to cool after baking. :rolleyes:
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7982.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7985.jpg
And presto! All done. These look even tastier than a fresh hot blueberry muffin. Or, something like that. Er....never mind.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7986.jpg
Even some protective film for parts that didn't need powder! I was going to sand off these areas. CaseLabs saved me some time!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSC_7987.jpg
They'll shoot the black parts next, and then return my lovelies to me. Kevin also shared some pictures of my PSU cover....which got pretty bent up during transit. He spent some time trying to return it to its original state, and thinks it will survive. USPS. Gotta love em'.
Anyway....thanks a ton to CaseLabs for sponsoring this project and continuing to show it love. Above and beyond the call of duty!
Received confirmation that my newly powder coated parts have shipped and will be here early next week. Hooray!
While I'm waiting, today I'm working on prepping the midplate for some additional cable management spots. To get to the midplate, I needed to take out the motherboard tray. Really appreciate how quick and easy this is to do with the CaseLabs S8. Four quick screws and I can lift the whole thing right out....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2273.jpg
There are two changes I'm going to make to the midplate. You see that existing rectangle cable management cutout right on the other side of the PSU? Well, the way I'm going to wrap my GPU cables down and around into the PSU compartment, I need for that cutout to be further back so I can make the cables curl up right out of the PSU and disappear underneath the motherboard tray. I also want it higher up so that the cables are hidden underneath the tray and can't be seen through the windows.
I also need to widen the existing cutout on top of the midplate where the GPU cables will drop down below the midplate. The double 8pin cables are wider than the existing cutout.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2274.jpg
A few more screws and I can take the whole midplate right out for easy Dremmel action. See Tebow's tail down in the lower right? He sat and watched what I was doing with great interest.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2275.jpg
He even likes the kitty....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2277.jpg
Need to tape the midplate where I'm going to make the cuts. I'm fresh out of painters tape, so I had to borrow some of my daughter's Duck Tape. Of course, she had a variety of colors and combinations available, but she picked this fabulous pink and black tape for my use. FAB-U-LOUS!!!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2278.jpg
Taped and ready to go.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2279.jpg
Sweet Dremmel action on that FABULOUS tape!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2280.jpg
I tried this little brush attachment to clean-up the edges and it worked well.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2281.jpg
I'll take some more pictures of the midplate after I get it back in the box. Should all make sense then if it doesn't already.....
Midplate back in, and sewing on my GPU cabling all done. Really happy with how this portion of it came out....so time for some glory shots!
There are a total of 4 8pin cables for the GPU's. The two for each GPU are sewn together into what looks like a 16 pin cable, and then both 16 bin cables fold toward each other to meet in the middle and drop down between the two GPU's and through the midplate bottom. I even sewed the two 16 pin cables together so they would become one cable dropping down to the floor. You can just make out the expanded cut-out in the midplate at the bottom of this picture that was necessary to run the cables down this way.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2284.jpg
This view from the top (radiator drop-in mount removed) shows the cabling off well.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...G_2283-PSD.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2285.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2288.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2289.jpg
I still have some cabling work to do for fans and lighting, and a touch more sewing to do on the motherboard power cables, but I'm stoked with the progress. Those dual ASUS DirectCU II 780Ti's look nice already. Can't wait to see them blocked up!
More soon!
Always a good day when you come home to a FedEx from CaseLabs. :)
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2292.jpg
After removing all of the paper and bubble wrap surrounding the items....they even had packaged all of the items individually into their own little baggies!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2293.jpg
Those are spare windows at the top of the stack, for some sponsor logo etching I'm going to have done. I'm going to start putting some of the items back together now, and will take some glamour shots as I go. More later....
I've been busy playing with all my freshly powder coated parts. Today, I'm showing off the Corsair Domintor Platinum sticks.
I spread out my powdered parts and went to work...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2294.jpg
One last parting shot of the RAM in it's as-is form. It's really nice looking RAM already.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2295.jpg
But...now it's a lot nicer looking RAM. :) Especially if you are building a pink and black computer.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2296.jpg
The lightbar cover is now black, and the heatsink fins are now pink. These customizations are in addition to the dyed light bar insert I showed awhile back. Pretty sure these are the only Dominators Platinums like this....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2298.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2299.jpg
Kitty liked them so much he suggested a photo shoot up in the studio. Kitty always likes pictures....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2301.jpg
He started some weird modified Full Metal Jacket chant when we got upstairs for the photoshoot: "This is my RAM. There aren't many like it....but this is mine. My RAM is my friend. My RAM is my life....."
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2331.jpg
I just ignored him and kept shooting....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2332.jpg
It looks pretty sweet in the build also. Since the black and pink powder used on the RAM parts are the exact same as that used on the inside and outside of the case, they are a perfect match.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2333.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2334.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2335.jpg
More done already....so more pictures soon!
Pictures of the Aquaero and Card Reader reassembly....
The Aquaero face plate was sent for the pink powder treatment, along with the Lamptron face plate. Aquaero face plate on the bottom, ....looking positively pink!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2305.jpg
But before I put the Aquaero 6 back together....I might as well go ahead and install the passive heatsink I bought for it. Black version, of course. This thing is solid, heavy, and reeks of quality....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2307.jpg
I cut and laid down the required thermal pads for the heatsink installation.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2308.jpg
But then took a pause. I hadn't really decided yet whether or not I was going to water cool the Aquaero. If I'm going to....it would make sense to go ahead and put the block on now...while it's disassembled. Quick executive decision.......yes. Yes, must water cool. But....the waterblock is copper. I love copper. But not in this build. What to do.......what to do.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2309.jpg
So....I grab my roll of FABULOUS tape, and protect the innards. Then a few thin coats of this......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2340.jpg
...and a few thin coats of this.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2341.jpg
BOOM! Yes, I like that. Put a couple of my EK fittings on also.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2311.jpg
BOOM! Sorry. Had so much fun typing that the first time, I thought I'd throw in another one. I like how the sealer I used created a matte texture to the block. Makes it really match the inside of the CaseLabs case.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2312.jpg
BOOM! Really sorry. Couldn't resist one more. I'll stop now.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2313.jpg
Here is the heatsink put back on the PCB's...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2314.jpg
...and here is the entire thing reassembled with the face plate and display back on also. I'm pretty sure this is the only pink and black Aquaero 6 with a black waterblock. BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2315.jpg
Now....before I go and show you how awesome this thing looks inside the build....I want to show you the card reader. First....you must be subjected to a reviewing of what the card reader looked like before it was sent out for the powder treatment. Sorry to do this to you. It was grey, unfinished, had shiny silver screws, and ugly rubber cables coming out the back. It was really throwing off my mojo. See...?
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_1892.jpg
But now...my freshly powdered card reader case looks black and beautiful. I even went ahead and sleeved the USB cables while I had it disassembled.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2316.jpg
Snap the cover back on the top....and I've got one sharp lil' card reader. My mojo is realigned and reinvigorated.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2317.jpg
Even had the PCI pass through bracket powdered black also. No need for a shiny silver part back there....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2318.jpg
Now. Here is how they look in the build. I'm really happy. It's a clean, sharp and sexy little corner of the build. An improvement of 1000% from it's pre-powdered days.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2337.jpg
BOOM! Hehe....had to throw in one more. Also notice the black mounting brackets for the Aquaero. These used to be silver also.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2338.jpg
More to come very soon.....since I've stayed busy on the build the last few days! BOOM!
More stuff going back together. Tonight, I'm displaying the PSU, the Lamptron and the flow meter.
Now....the PSU isn't done, ....because I still need to cut some acrylic for the window. But...you can get a feel for how gorgeous this thing is going to be even now. I had the top case of the PSU done in a matching black for the interior of my CaseLabs S8, and the fan grill done in a matching pink for the exterior of my S8. Mmmmmmmmm...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2302.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2303.jpg
Imagine the window in place with some logos etched into it and lit up from the inside. Mmmmmmmm.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2304.jpg
I showed this Lamptron face plate picture off yesterday with the Aquaero assembly pics....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2305.jpg
....and now here it is on the front of the Lamptron. BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2310.jpg
I also had the face plate for one of my Aquaero flow meters done in pink also.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2322.jpg
I'm pretty sure this is a one-of-a-kind flow meter.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2323.jpg
I've been busy getting stuff done on the build, so there will be more BOOM tomorrow!
You'll remember that I took apart the SSD's and sent in the shells to get the powder treatment. How much....is that kitty....in the window.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2319.jpg
Not done....because I'm going to put a piece of acrylic in here also, etch it, and light it up. At least that's one of the two options I'm playing with in my head. This shot really shows off the texture of the matte black that CaseLabs uses. The SSD's will match the case interior purr-fectly.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2320.jpg
Two are twice as much fun!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2321.jpg
The tough thing here is finding a place to mount them.....that shows them off. With the window and lighting....these things are going to be beautiful. They are worthy of prime real estate inside the case....but I'm almost out. Would love some ideas on location and mounting methods so that these get shown off! What say ye?!!!
I'll definitely show off some mock-up pictures of the SSD's in some different locations. But on to more cabling pictures for today.....
Working on cabling for the fans on this radiator. Way too nice of a morning to stay inside....so......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2346.jpg
Similar to the approach I took on the last radiator....I created a branching wire that lets me plug all 5 of these fans into one Aquaero channel....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2342.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2343.jpg
Female connector on one end.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2344.jpg
...and male connectors on the other 5 ends.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2345.jpg
Plug the male connectors into each of these fans, and then run the female end to the Aquaero. Minimal wiring.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2347.jpg
Viola! More soon!
Yesterday I finished up more of the Aquaero cabling.
First up....I present to you....the world's longest Aquabus cable! Measuring in at almost 4 feet....sleeved in beautiful black Lutro0 Telios! I contacted Guiness but apparently they don't keep official records on longest Aquabus cables. But since they didn't threaten to sue me....I'm going to claim the title. World Record baby! Until you provide proof of your own Aquabus cable that is longer.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2348.jpg
Naturally it has black female connectors on both ends, with some heatshrink. It will connect my AQ6 in the flex bays with the AQ5 in the rear of the build. To keep the wire somewhat hidden, it has to take a long path from the front to the back. I"m going to run master/slave mode this time instead of two independent Aquaeros. I'll show some pictures of both Aquaero's, and how they are connected, coming up soon. By the way, that's Tebow in the top picture and Taylor in this one. They're siblings. I love these dogs.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2349.jpg
Next, I need to run some power cabling to the second Aquaero. So I measured out my desired cable run, and cut four lengths of wire, and put a female molex pin on one end, and a female ATX pin on the other. Cut some more of the Lutro0 Telios sleeving......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2351.jpg
...and then melted the sleeve onto the pin on the ATX end....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2353.jpg
....melted the sleeve onto the pin on the molex end....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2354.jpg
....slid the pins into the connectors, and....BOOM! Sorry. :o I'm still on my BOOM kick, and it's tough to stop once you start. Anyway, I can now check off power cabling for the Aquaero's, since I've done both of them.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2355.jpg
But I also need a USB cable for the AQ6. Now, of course they come with USB cables, and AC actually sleeves these for you. But....as you can see in the picture below, their idea of sleeving a cable isn't the same as mine. It's an improvement over bear wire....but come on Aquacomputer! If you're going to do it....do it right! The picture below is the USB cable that came with the units....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2356.jpg
I replaced the sleeving with some more Telios, and then used some heatshrink to cover the ends. Much better.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2358.jpg
OK. That's all the basic Aquaero cabling. There will be some temp sensors that need sleeving eventually, but I won't know for sure where those are going until after the plumbing is done. The only cabling I have left is one more bank of radiator fans, and a couple of solo fans on the back side. Plus the pumps still need some work on the cables. But that's not much....and then I'm ready to start blocking everything and bending some hard tubing. Can't wait!
Radiator cabling work last night. This finishes up all the fans!
I start with doing a rough layout of how the wires should connect. Then I strip insulation at each "join" point, and open up the middle of the wire and wrap the joining wire around it.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2359.jpg
Then each join gets some solder. I'm notoriously bad with the solder iron....but have improved somewhat from my last build....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2360.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2361.jpg
Then each solder join needs protection so it won't be touching the other wires underneath the sleeve. I use this tiny little heatshrink from Bitspower that barely goes over the cable. Very tight fit. I forget exactly what size this was....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2362.jpg
But here it is compared with some normal heatshrink. You can see it's much smaller.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2363.jpg
Here's what it looks like once it's shrunk on the wire....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2364.jpg
Couldn't resist a shot of a perfectly crimped Lutro0 male fan pin on the Lutro0 wire with the Lutro0 crimper. His tools really work well together.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2365.jpg
Skipped a few picture opportunities along the way....but here is the finished radiator cabling. This is the front flex bay area 240. Minimal wiring. Nice and clean.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2366.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2367.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2368.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2369.jpg
Ready to move on to the pumps!
Time to finish up showing the Aquaero's in the build. I already showed the back of the Aquaero 6 in the build, and the black waterblock, and all the wiring work I've done, but I haven't shown the 2nd Aquaero 5 LT that I'm running....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2324.jpg
I'm going to use these in master/slave mode, instead of running them independently like I did in the BBBB. Mounting this second one became more of a challenge, since I'm completely out of flex bay slots already. It was going to require a little creativity. So....I got my drill....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2380.jpg
....and some more of my FAB-U-LOUS tape, and stuck this controller right above the PSU on the back panel of the case. It tucks away pretty nicely there....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2383.jpg
BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2372.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2373.jpg
This is what the front of the case looks like, without the panel, but with all of the faceplates (Lamptron, Aquaero and card reader) powder coated in the same pink as the rest of the case. BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2374.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2375.jpg
....and with the panel on. BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2376.jpg
In this shot of the back of the case, you can see the 4 screws above the PSU that are holding the Aquaero to the back panel. Some standoffs on the other side of the back panel create plenty of space between the AQ and the panel.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2377.jpg
I'm not usually a fan of pass through cables....but I actually really like the way these came out. The cables are clean and sleeved, and the pass through bracket itself blends right in with the powder coat treatment that CaseLabs gave it for me. This build will not be in a spot where it will be handy to access the back panel, so it was important to me to bring as many USB ports to the front as I could....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2378.jpg
Just got another nice size package from ASUS also! Can't wait to get it out and play with it. More soon!
Last night I parked myself in front of the TV with Game of Thrones playing, lots of sandpaper close by, all my waterblocks and pump tops, and some water and towels. Just a normal Sunday night, right?
The kind folks at EK have equipped me well. But I'm itching to polish up these blocks before I put them on. So I gathered them all together....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2384.jpg
Started with some 320 grit. Wet sanding....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2385.jpg
The pump tops are such large and thick pieces of acrylic, that I really wanted to start with them first. Out of the box they were pretty clear and smooth on top.....but were still kind of frosted on the sides, and had lots of machining marks on the underside. I used a heat gun to warm up the glue under the EK badge, and lifted that off.
After the first pass with 320, they looked frosted all over...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2387.jpg
Next....600....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2388.jpg
Frosted......but smoother.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2389.jpg
Then 1200.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2390.jpg
Even smoother....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2391.jpg
Then 2000....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2392.jpg
Even smoother....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2393.jpg
Then comes the plastic polish....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2394.jpg
BOOM! After you get to this step....the blocks just gleam. Like a solid chunk of highly polished glass. These pictures don't' even really do them justice, since I have such poor lighting down here. I'll get them up in the studio with some pink coolant next.....but I'm pumped with how they came out.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2395.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2396.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2397.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2398.jpg
These are going to look amazing stacked on top of each other in the 3d printed pump stand. More soon!
Couple of quick pics on polishing progress before I head to the Pearl Jam concert tonight. Looking forward to it. With Eddie Vedder, ....you're never quite sure exactly what he's saying....but you know it must be important. :rolleyes:
Worked on the GPU's and CPU yesterday. And yes....that means more GoT. Not enough of the dragon girl in the last episode. She's my favorite. Anyway....here is what the block looked like to start...
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2402.jpg
Disassembled it....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2401.jpg
This is a before polish picture. The face of the block was already very smooth. But you see all those machining marks in the water channel? Those have to go....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2403.jpg
....and.....they're gone. :D
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2405.jpg
The CPU block came out like glass. Crystal clear. The Supremacy EVO is an amazing looking block. The design of it is really nice also. I polished up the plastic innards also.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2399.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2400.jpg
These are going to look AMAZING with the pink coolant. Soon. Very soon.
Now....I'm off to hear Eddie mumble.....
Got the board blocked up. BOOM!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2418.jpg
She's a pretty lil' lthing. Pretty and powerful. And Pink. And it processes. Yeah.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2409.jpg
I wanted to keep the I/O cover....cuz it looks boss. So I dremelled off the pipe that led to it from the VRM Heatsink.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2408.jpg
Man....EK blocks really dress up a board.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2413.jpg
Love this shot.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2420.jpg
The EK Supremacy EVO. This block is what had the black van outside my house for days while it was still under NDA. :)
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2415.jpg
Mmmmmm....the southbridge block for the RIVE BE is sexy.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2421.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2416.jpg
Sponsor shot! ASUS, EK and Corsair all well represented in this shot. Thanks for the support guys!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2417.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2423.jpg
Got some more pictures coming soon......having some fun with the EK Nickel. :D
EK Clean CSQ waterblocks look great in nickel......
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2426.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2430.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2424.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2427.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2429.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2434.jpg
Got the EK blocks on the ASUS DirectCUII 780Ti's!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2440.jpg
ASUS + EK = <3
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2441.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2439.jpg
The EK backplates are also sexy as hell....and fit my theme perfectly....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2447.jpg
Again I say......ASUS + EK = <3
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2443.jpg
The board is starting to take shape. It will be processing the latest Pinterest pins before you know it....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2446.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2436.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2435.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...9-_MG_2437.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...0-_MG_2449.jpg
I swapped out the black terminals for some of the new'ish clear terminals. They look amazing and I can't wait to see some pink fluid flowing through here....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2454.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2438.jpg
Still lovin' my custom black and pink Dominator Plats....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2442.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2450.jpg
With the cards in slots #1 and #5 positions, you can still get a great view of the southbridge block right between the GPU's.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2451.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2452.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2453.jpg
More soon!
Fitting shots are almost obligatory these days.....so here goes....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...1-_MG_2455.jpg
Probably a good time to thank EK again for being such a fantastic supporter of this build. Blocks, rads, pumps, pumptops, tubing, fittings, backplates......EK has been a great partner. Thanks!
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...2-_MG_2458.jpg
Crazy kitty.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...3-_MG_2456.jpg
I fell in love with these EK fittings back when PCModderMike used these in his last build. I just think they are fantastic looking fittings...and a refreshing change from the usual.....
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...4-_MG_2457.jpg
B-Neg's latest photo set inspired me to see if I could put a little color of my own in the fittings. On my first couple of attempts (the 45 degree fittings) I was using an exacto knife to scrape paint remants off the fitting. You can see the scratches this left. My last attempt was the 90 degree fitting shown below....and it was virtually scratch free. For this one, I just painted a glob of paint into the recessed logo....and then used a straight block of wood to scrape across the top of the fittings....leaving a pool of the paint inside the fittings. I let this dry and then q-tipped the paint that was left on the face of the fitting with some acetone.
I think I could do the remainder of them, if I choose, with this method and no scratches.
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...5-_MG_2459.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...6-_MG_2460.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...7-_MG_2461.jpg
http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/...8-_MG_2462.jpg
What do you guys think? Make the logos pink? Or leave them black? Or randomly do just some of them for a touch of pink....