Project Thief - CaseLabs TX10-D Dual Workstation/Gaming Build - Gulftown and SB-E

I made a review of the TX10. I hope it's helpful and that people like it. It's not exactly professional (iphone ftw) but I tried to do my best with what I had. To give you an idea of the scale of the case - I'm 6ft 5, so it's pretty big.

http://youtu.be/3a7kKKPs6J8

Let me know any feedback you have to improve it (or future videos). This case is a tough subject to review, simply because there are so many things to cover. I don't particularly like the ending, I'm thinking of adding on a real conclusion, but for all being one take I think it's decent :thumb:
Stren!

The last pic looks really clean & nice, but I have to imagine that all of those 45 / 90 degree adapters really ratchet up the resistance in the loop. What are your thoughts?

I agree - I did try and use the dual rotary 90's that have a less sharp bend, however it will still hurt a bit. That loop is one that performance isn't critical on. The GPU is used only for 2D stuff (8800gt), the cpu itself will be on a separate loop. In fact the only thing I really care about on the loop is the VRM block.

First thanks to Primochill for stepping up and taking care of the tubing - a box has been shipped so hopefully that's the end of that. PPC's should have been the ones to take charge of the situation in my opinion, so I know where I won't be shopping in future. I was able to use some of the pink stuff for the fill ports as I ran out of good tube.

Anyway here's a video update as I'm short on time to edit the photos. The house is full of parts everywhere and I need to tidy up before my wife kills me. This is about halfway through what's been done. One thing I've found with this case is that it's so large, that every wire needs to be lengthened:

Skip to the end to see the case next to a mid atx tower:

http://youtu.be/PjUD_uLTS9U

So quiet up in here XS! Alright here's some photos.


So I finally tidied up the house. For some reason the wife was unhappy with every available surface being covered with stuff. This means I can start processing some photos.

So I started off by putting together the workstation upgrade. My gaming rig can be down, but I still have to work, so that's the first priority. The workstation consists of two loops:

1. i7-3930K - Mora3 140x9 - Dual PMP450S (D5 Strong)

2. EK R4E full cover block - 2 EK ram blocks - EK 8800GT block - D5 Vario - EK 250 cylinder res

As most of loop 2 was done, I started work on loop 1. So I started off mounting the fans to the mora3. Here it is with the CaseLabs "Super Mount". There are four dedicated mounting points independent of the fans which is nice:

http://i.imgur.com/BpHDuh.jpg

This means you can just mount the fans to the supermount and not the radiator:

http://i.imgur.com/uhfHLh.jpg

This is useful for cleaning because you can just undo the four mounting screws between the supermount and the rad. I.E. You don't have to remove every single fan for cleaning. FYI the fans are low speed 140mm yates (700rpm). I chose these because I wanted something cheap and quiet, and yates are both of those when at 700rpm.

Here's the super mount with fans mounted placed on top of the rad:

http://i.imgur.com/9ksQ3h.jpg

Then I attached the rad to the super mount:

http://i.imgur.com/WCHx8h.jpg

The only downside to this is a tiny gap between the fan and the rad. However it's small enough that I don't think it will cause a problem:

http://i.imgur.com/tzfwch.jpg

Here it is mounted in the top of the case:

http://i.imgur.com/LoWguh.jpg

I then attached the quick disconnects to the CPU block for loop 1. Originally they were going to attach to the case and then have compression fittings on the cpu block. However there wasn't enough room to make the 90 degree turn, so i think this works better:

http://i.imgur.com/R0yOCh.jpg

In the final setup I'll have some bitspower pass throughs that go to the top chamber. For now the tubing curves around to the drive bay area where the temporary reservoir and pumps are:

http://i.imgur.com/CnrRUh.jpg

Again you can see the pink vs red tube. Primochill have shipped me some replacement tube - so props to them for taking care of it.

So to build the workstation loop I also needed a rx360 rad from my gaming rig. So this meant that it was time to take the gaming rig apart. Here you can see it minus one fan that was clicking and had been removed. Yes you can cool 3 480's, a 920 and motherboard block with 5xAP15s but yes your water gets pretty warm lol.

http://i.imgur.com/V2Wtah.jpg

So once the radiators were removed, I could take some side by side pics with the new case:

http://i.imgur.com/Dq6Bqh.jpg

Yes the TX10 is huge!

http://i.imgur.com/abn1fh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lHMX5h.jpg

So enough posing, it's time to take the guts apart:

http://i.imgur.com/r6396h.jpg

You can see how the window was hiding some messy wiring. I hadn't bothered to tidy and sleeve much after putting in the Koolance res and STX because the TX10 was already on the way.

Lots of dust to be cleaned, here you can see the "saddlebag" setup of the external rads

http://i.imgur.com/d9RDih.jpg

About to take the fans and reservoir out:

http://i.imgur.com/ullW6h.jpg

Top fan and PSU removed:

http://i.imgur.com/2LWuih.jpg

Parts on the ground, parts on the ground looking like a fool with my parts on the ground!

http://i.imgur.com/jFaqyh.jpg

The STX is a sexy card:

http://i.imgur.com/PFk5Vh.jpg

Alright so more photos taking the old rig apart - we left off by removing the pci cards and the power supply:

http://i.imgur.com/KD1JYh.jpg

So now let's remove the cpu block and check the tim spread:

http://i.imgur.com/KYC1Ah.jpg

Not the best but not awful. Now time to take the motherboard out:

http://i.imgur.com/2C6F8h.jpg

Out it comes:

http://i.imgur.com/Z5G2Wh.jpg

Which leaves a sad empty and dusty case!

http://i.imgur.com/eLd0fh.jpg

Now it's time to take apart the rad setup:

http://i.imgur.com/DKsQ5h.jpg

Remove the steel bars:

http://i.imgur.com/ctYtGh.jpg

Then the fans:

http://i.imgur.com/nCT7uh.jpg

I noticed one side of the rads now had white stains on them, these were the sides on the top:

http://i.imgur.com/ZfTjGh.jpg

Compared side by side to the underside (bottom rad):

http://i.imgur.com/J3CxCh.jpg

Anyone know what that is?

woww, nice!

that withe thing must be paint degradation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeoAndrade

woww, nice!

that withe thing must be paint degradation

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You can scratch it off and there's paint underneath though? Looks like it's some kind of chemical deposit on top of the paint??

Well I haven't done any more on it yet. Still working through the photos from the last two weeks. So here's another update...

So we left off with the antec 300 emptied out, here's another shot of it next to the TX10 now that it's empty:

http://i.imgur.com/IS38ph.jpg

I was also now left with a big stack of fans. This is without the 15 fans that have already been used in the TX10:

http://i.imgur.com/50lkqh.jpg

Now I could start rebuilding the gaming rig into the TX10:

http://i.imgur.com/2aLGDh.jpg

Adding the 120 rad for the motherboard loop:

http://i.imgur.com/N20r0h.jpg

Testing that it still fits in the case:

http://i.imgur.com/ZXCnyh.jpg

Soon it must be time to start tidying up before I get slapped!

http://i.imgur.com/RnfOJh.jpg

However first I need to get my work computer up. The free 360 is being used for the workstation motherboard/ram/gpu loop and will sit approximately here:

http://i.imgur.com/BHicJh.jpg

So now to take apart the loop that was leak testing in order to add the rad:

http://i.imgur.com/xCUhih.jpg

I changed out the 45 degree bitspower compression on the GPU as it felt like it had a slight leak in in that position, so it has a temporary barb, I also removed the pump sticker. It's much cleaner now, and who needs an overpriced dress kit ;)

http://i.imgur.com/vboMEh.jpg

That's all for now!

That "chemical deposit" is kind of strange.. but anyway, if you can clean it, good!

Its funny to see yous old antec side by side to the new caselabs.. man, thats FREAKING HUGE! Where you gonna leave that case?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeoAndrade

That "chemical deposit" is kind of strange.. but anyway, if you can clean it, good!

Its funny to see yous old antec side by side to the new caselabs.. man, thats FREAKING HUGE! Where you gonna leave that case?

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Thanks dude yeah it's huge. What do you mean by where will I leave it?

Alright I have a question about sleeving, I'm getting grey, titanium grey, black and red from mdpc and wondering the best pattern to do, what do you think?

http://i.imgur.com/YtgUp.jpg

I think the best pattern is the first one...

about what i said, i meant where your case will be in your home.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeoAndrade

I think the best pattern is the first one...

about what i said, i meant where your case will be in your home.

---

Thanks dude - it'll be in the office, I'll have photos this week :)

Here's a quick update - time to start drilling!

http://i.imgur.com/7hRDXh.jpg

Adding some fill ports:

http://i.imgur.com/68dJ5h.jpg

2 done:

http://i.imgur.com/gdvelh.jpg

All done:

http://i.imgur.com/GzOH6h.jpg

Not as messy now:

http://i.imgur.com/D27JTh.jpg

Time to get the workstation up and running so I can get back to work (once I've cleaned up of course). I'll be using the Koolance dual bay dual D5 reservoir for now. It's a real pain to use because it doesn't bleed well, however if you add on some tube from the fill ports on the res up to the fill ports on the case you can keep the water level above the reservoir and it really helps.

http://i.imgur.com/ruLwdh.jpg

Now we've freed up a 360 rad for the workstation gpu/motherboard/ram loop, we can put the loop together:

http://i.imgur.com/ANcC5h.jpg

I'm using AP15's temporarily until I'm done painting the low speed yates. Also that one barb is temporary too:

http://i.imgur.com/YpzPZh.jpg

The wiring is temporary too. So for loop testing, I disconnected the QDC's pulled the motherboard tray out of the case and the 360 out seperately, then I reconnected and filled the loop and left it to bleed/leak test on the counter for a few hours.

http://i.imgur.com/sE2ehh.jpg

This build looks like a monument to a whole IT industry! Great work so far! :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fr0wn3r

This build looks like a monument to a whole IT industry! Great work so far! :up:

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Thanks :):)


Alright time for another update. Here's the loop testing for the workstation. Bear in mind this is not the final loop - it will be tidier with nicer fittings, for now I need to get my workstation up and running, I can pretty it up later.

http://i.imgur.com/sHpxvh.jpg

Some of the tube is the pink tube that I had mentioned before, that will be replaced. Bleeding of the annoying koolance reservoir was made easier by the dedicated fill ports and by the QDC's. The D5's struggle to push that much air out of the system, so it was much easier to bleed the cpu section and the radiator seperately and then connect them up as a whole:

http://i.imgur.com/53ezph.jpg

Now that it had passed leak testing it was time to take it to the office:

http://i.imgur.com/zag1Xh.jpg

It was now heavy (and bulky) and I didn't trust the BP crystal links not to loosen up if I didn't take it down the step smoothly, so I found a piece of plywood in the shed to help:

http://i.imgur.com/g9zE0h.jpg

First boot! Yay! It wasn't just the kitchen that was covered in parts, so was the office, it's a real mess as I still had my old workstation running while I tweaked the clocks on this one.

http://i.imgur.com/XMrAO.jpg

I temporarily put the power supply in the top chamber while I did the overclocking tweaking:

http://i.imgur.com/lOixxh.jpg

Did a quick bench to see the limit of the chip, I couldn't get past 5.22GHz on water. I tried up to 1.66V, but nothing past 1.56 really helped. 5.22 means it's a pretty average 3930K, certainly no golden chip :( I tried to settle for a 24/7 clock of 4.95, but I didn't like the volts, so settled down for 4.9 instead, I'll see if I can tweak the memory faster than 2133 CL9 later, here's a SS of the 5.22:

http://i.imgur.com/8NpqS.jpg

Next I installed the power supplies properly, here you can see the optional PSU support bracket for long power supplies. It's probably not necessary, but why not? It comes with some rubber tape to damp any vibrations:

http://i.imgur.com/Xh7sih.jpg

Here's the first PSU installed:

http://i.imgur.com/Wp2SVh.jpg

Took a break to put together an ivy rig for a co-worker:

A board!

http://i.imgur.com/ZfwJEh.jpg

blah blah blah marketing - where's the window that the extreme boards have?

http://i.imgur.com/FEXZsh.jpg

Now there's a board

http://i.imgur.com/oSGTnh.jpg

I liked the door hanger - unfortunately this is for an overclocked workstation so not too useful here:

http://i.imgur.com/73g0jh.jpg

A large box for some memory (32giggles):

http://i.imgur.com/sAS12h.jpg

Matching:

http://i.imgur.com/5E9pQh.jpg

Oh and a cpu:

http://i.imgur.com/wxHafh.jpg

Best put that in the socket then:

http://i.imgur.com/qga2Nh.jpg

We should remove that plastic cover too:

http://i.imgur.com/n6sjah.jpg

Putting in that H100:

http://i.imgur.com/A09cbh.jpg

Yeah I know no custom water loop, but this is going to someone who can't be trusted with such things ;)

miniThief is getting there:

http://i.imgur.com/PSq1lh.jpg

miniThief- now with 100% more PSU:

http://i.imgur.com/EK7o9h.jpg

Don't forget a GPU (9800GT ftw!)

http://i.imgur.com/OW1jhh.jpg

Close up:

http://i.imgur.com/9TVbIh.jpg

ISO:

http://i.imgur.com/GjTZWh.jpg

wow, your playing with 3 setups (LGA2011, LGA1155 and LGA1366)

nice combo!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LeoAndrade

wow, your playing with 3 setups (LGA2011, LGA1155 and LGA1366)

nice combo!

---

Yeah that's true. 1156 too if you include my wife's rig haha.

Made an unboxing video of the cpu/mobo/ram

http://youtu.be/89UngExlDHQ

What Fractal case is that? It looks similar to a Antec 300, but maybe a bit nicer? Overall, looks great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Endgame

What Fractal case is that? It looks similar to a Antec 300, but maybe a bit nicer? Overall, looks great!

---

arc mini -matx case, not as tall as an antec 300 and a lot nicer :)

So back to the *real* project. Now that my workstation was up and running, I could take the old one down:

http://i.imgur.com/CAWtEh.jpg

OMG dust! This is three months worth:

http://i.imgur.com/h7hT3h.jpg

Still yucky:

http://i.imgur.com/CnUwQh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FM6Lvh.jpg

Got out the duster and started taking it apart:

http://i.imgur.com/GLMpqh.jpg

Nearly done

http://i.imgur.com/S5nUjh.jpg

Now I've gone and made the kitchen messy again:

http://i.imgur.com/Xfe37h.jpg

So as it's the weekend you get bonus updates :)

This is how I initially wanted the PSU's to give maximum air intake:

http://i.imgur.com/Swvxoh.jpg

However the left PSU once it had cables would conflict with the 360 rad mounted in front of it, so I decided to move it:

http://i.imgur.com/0CHWfh.jpg

Done, you can see there's still a good amount of space in between:

http://i.imgur.com/dkEw6h.jpg

Now to mount them - they're going in the second to bottom compartment:

http://i.imgur.com/f6Q65h.jpg

and mounted:

http://i.imgur.com/cnGNhh.jpg

Now time to mount all the hard drives - here are the gaming rig drives:

http://i.imgur.com/rCuHlh.jpg

Now let's add in the workstation drives:

http://i.imgur.com/1wpUbh.jpg

old skool x25e:

http://i.imgur.com/AJ1z2h.jpg

All done:

http://i.imgur.com/p8ZOwh.jpg

Now to cable it - I hate how asus only give you sata cables with right angles at one end and straights at the other. For this build I really need straight to straights, so I had to order some more from the egg, this is the temporary rats nest:

http://i.imgur.com/YNoEbh.jpg

Yikes!

man, that's a lot of dust on that poor rad!