Ikle A05-B Project..

So, I was after a Mountain Mods H2Go, but I couldn't justify spending £200 odd on a case, when about half of it was going to be shipping...

So, I've ordered an A05-B with the plan of sticking my PC in it, complete with water-cooling...

I'll have a BIX2 on the top above the PCI ports as I only use the top (or bottom in this case) two ports for my GPU and my Wi-Fi card.

The point of this is to have a small, VERY quiet PC. I've ordered lots of ant vibration pump-y bits, and 4 quiet Low speed Yates and some 12v-7v reducers to keep the noise down.

Now. Where did OcUK put ma' case...

This is only a temporary distraction from Watery, as I cant use a Laser at home. Don't worry!

Hmm any A05 with wc is going to be awesome. It's going to be a tight squeeze with the roof mounted rad but if you don't use the bottom slots it should be fine. I don't know if you can have the rad centered though as it might come in contact with the mobo. Isn't there more room at the bottom?

I've thought about getting the A06 and enjoying the compact size of it.

With my case now here, I made a gentle start...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...untitled-7.jpg

The case I'm replacing: My Powdercoated Cheiftech Dragon Midi. She's served me well.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...anktelow/1.jpg

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Internals.. Its rather dusty I know... Cable management wasn't one of my largest concerns when putting this system together.. :p

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After removing some parts, blowing and cleaning
I found some lovely copper deposits on my GPU block too.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...anktelow/4.jpg

Gave the Supreme-o a quick clean..

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...anktelow/5.jpg

Case cutting starts tommorrow

Lovely project. I'm about the start the same project probably tonight with the same BIX 240 radiator on top ;) We can relate to each other on how to fit all them inside but the bonus I have is that I use a mATX motherboard (P5E-VM HDMI) since it's a HTPC box.

You can fit a 240 rad inside the top of the case with fans, but if you use a full ATX mobo you will lose the top expansion slot. Also, you can fit a 240 rad in the bottom behind the a standard sized PSU. Both will be a tight fit and it also depends on the rad you use. The swiftech MCR series works. I put a 360 in the bottom of mine, had to shift the psu up where the hard drive cage is and use a single hard drive in one of the 5.25" bays. I look forward to both your builds.

wow how did the EK block get that oxidized? That's not a good sign for the compatibility of your watercooling parts!

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4219.jpg

Its here! My first Lian Li....

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4221.jpg

It really is diddy. Its about 15cm shorter than the Cheiftech its replacing, but its deeper and wider.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4223.jpg

The obligoratry internal shot

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...untitled-8.jpg

Where the radiator is going to be mounted. As far back as possible, so that it touches the PCI slot, but still gives me enough room to route the tubeing and the IDE cable etc. It fits nicely.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4226.jpg

Todays workshop. I managed to drill the holes for mounting the radiator and grill, and then swapped to the dremel. It died after about 5s...

So its going to be cut by a local metal fabriator for me tommorrow (we don't own a Jigsaw etc.)

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4230.jpg

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Low Speed Yate Loons and 12v to 7v resistors arrived. At 7v, they really are silent.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4240.jpg

The front of the case as it will be. I'm debating about wether to get a 3.5" bay card reader.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4234.jpg

And finally, a quick mock up to see how the drives would fit.

Is that case supposed to use back to front airflow?

I cant wait to see all that stuff packed in there tightly:eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kibbler

Is that case supposed to use back to front airflow?

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Yes, it's back to front airflow.

Suscribed!

A quick little update, I'm hoping to start leak testing the loop tonight :D

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4245.jpg

So, I took the case down to a local metalwork shoppy called "Ting-Ama-Jigs" who were very lovely and did the cut for a £5 which I didn't think was bad at all! It required a little filing and some sanding to get a nice finish.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4247.jpg

I enlarged the holes on the rad-grill to 4mm so that it was easier to fit. The drill is older than I am.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4248.jpg

And it fits! Wahoo! I quite like the silver bolts, but they might have to be swapped to black hex ones...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4250.jpg

Lots of clearance to route the USB, Audio and IDE cable, which is nice.


I hope to have another update tonight!

What is the DVD-RW drive you have ?

I have a Pioneer DVR-212 and it's a tad on the long side and clearance is very thin. I have a Samsung on my main box which seem to be much shorter so I'll swap it out but yours seems to be very short.

My drive is some random LG retail one... A local shoppie had it on offer and I needed a quiet drive, and its brilliant!

More work and a mega issues sorta kinda - but more on that story later!

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4254.jpg

Fitted the DFI "MADE OF PURE LEET UBER BOARD" DK P35 T2RS... Looks hawt.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4257.jpg

The build area..

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4261.jpg

Pretty happy with how that came out actually!

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4265.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4270.jpg

And various stages of tubing installation. I'm actually using 2 pumps in this build, one built into the 5.25" res, and my old trusty Alphacooled DDC1.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...w/DSCF4272.jpg

And then bleeding and leak testing...

All was well in the land of water, so I went for a quick test boot, and....

fans whirr...

hdd whirrs....

pump starts...

and not much else...

Nothing on the screen, even though all of the debug LED's on the board seem clear... The one by the bottom of the board is yellow, and the one by the ram is green, but Im not sure what colour its supposed to be

I also have 2x Red LED's lighting up on my GPU (X1800 XT) and thats it. I've tried different PCI-E cables in my HX520 and no luck...


Help please.!

Plugged PCI-E cable on the video card ? Plugged P4 ATX connector on the motherboard ?

She lives!

I took out the GPU, air-dusted the slot and the bottom of the card, then did the same to the modular connectors on the PSU and it works...

Nice work! I'm starting to really like these small cases with all these water cooling equipments pack into them.

Hmm giving me some ideas for my next water rig.

Can't wait to see more pics!

Common problem of ATI GPUs around that age. I tought that my X1950XTX died too, but after few days without any power plugged in I booted the system and everything worked fine again. Something very strange is happening inside these oldies, something that we havenät been informed by ATI..

Subscribed! My next build will be m-atx case and watercooled, so I'll allways have the time to see this kinda projects:up:

The answer is dust and oxydes. The oxydes form an invisible layer on the slot connectors and really give some so-called "weird" problems. I had a similar experience after putting my watercooling loop in and located the problem at the memory module - oxydes. Since then I have a can of deoxydizer (contact cleaner) standing by.
I really like the way you managed to fit a large-bore waterloop inside this case.

Righty Ho, lets get this finished...:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4274.jpg

How I started today...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4278.jpg

Coffee Ice Cream helps me think..

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4279.jpg

WAHOO! We have post!

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The hidden cable mass...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4285.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4286.jpg

I really love how clean these cases look...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4287.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4288.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4289.jpg

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The EK Supreme-O. and the sex-Dominators.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4297.jpg

And the ever awesome HX520..

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...5/DSCF4301.jpg

And how it looks on my desk...

I'm very happy with how this came out! The case is the perfect size, not too big, but not too small. If you were using thinner rads like MR220's or BIPII's you could fit another rad in the bottom easily too.
Next upgrade is a 750Gb Samsung F1 to add lots more lovely storage space. Also, the Low Speed Yate Loons @ 7v are AMAZING! They move plenty of air, and are sooo quiet..

The end specs are..:

e2200 @ 3.4Ghz (38*load)
DFI DK P35 T2RS
2Gb Corsair 8500 Dominators
Connect3D X1800XT 256Mb
500Gb Samsung F1
LG DVD-RW
Corsair HX520

EK Supreme
EK FC18/1900
Laing DDC1 w. Alphacool Top
BIXII
XSPC Pump+Res 5.25" bay thingy...
2x Noiseblocker XL2's @ 7v
2x Yate Loons (low speed) @ 7v...


It kinda pwns...


Thanks for looking!

Great job, gonna repost my Project Short Stack with updates soon. Great to see another PC-A05 build!

Nothing much new to report on the modding front, but time for a re-build with a new graphics card, a Palit HD 4850 512Mb, which will be a lovelly boost frommy somewhat elderly X1800 XT 256Mb.

Start bytaking apart the loop again

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5000.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5004.jpg

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I dismantaled the Supreme to 'de-grot-ify' it..

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5008.jpg

And thats what came out, no wonder my temps have gone up by about 14* on each core over the last 3 months...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5010.jpg

AAAAAHHHH! :jawdrop: And thats with distilled water and G11, nothing else!

More this afternoon,when its back up and running again.

Moving quickly onwards...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...DSCF5015-1.jpg

Firstly say hello to my assistant. Her name is Honey, and she is really really stupid.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5018.jpg

A package arrived with my 4850, and some Zalman heatsinks..

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5021.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5022.jpg

My 4850. I was rather shocked when it came out of the packaging. The card is TINY!!!! Its far shorter than my X1800 was, and I suppose its a Palit only design..

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSCF5025.jpg

Mounted up.. I'm running a leak test as we speak, and hopefully I can be back up and running tonight, so I can 'attempt' to get GTA:IV working.

Looking great mankz, what size tubing are you using? Is it 5/8 or 3/4 OD?

I think its 3/4" Tygon and one or two bits of XSPC.

great work! I really like this case for a small loop waterCooling! :up:

Cool watercooling loop there man... SO 54mm thick radiator can be fit in A05 - good to know:) So I believe PA will fit nicely too, covering only two PCI slots... right?

Nice work, i'm thinking of getting the supreme

Thanks. I still need to take some overall finished shots.

wow, for a small case you certainly get a lot of hardware inside, looks good :up:

hmm maybe i'll make a cheap lan rig with the a05-b, then make a main rig with a ufo, of course my mother still won't understand the point :slapass:
edit: when are you going to have any updates on watery?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by just a noob

hmm maybe i'll make a cheap lan rig with the a05-b, then make a main rig with a ufo, of course my mother still won't understand the point :slapass:
edit: when are you going to have any updates on watery?

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Sooner than you might think... It'll be something rather noice....

:clap:

This is nice to see. I like these small cases with everything crammed inside nicely :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phinix_mike

Cool watercooling loop there man... SO 54mm thick radiator can be fit in A05 - good to know:) So I believe PA will fit nicely too, covering only two PCI slots... right?

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The A05 is about 5.5 inches between the left and right rails and about 16.75 inches between front and back rails at the top. There is also a little more clearance under the front rail(enough that the end of a TFC 360 will fit even if it's shifted too far forward :eek:). It might be big enough for a PA120.3 if you squeak the ends under the front and back rails.

but with a pa120.3 i guess you wouldn't be able to fit an optical drive, right?

Pretty much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skane

but with a pa120.3 i guess you wouldn't be able to fit an optical drive, right?

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Well, you can do everything if you only want to:)
You see, I'm planning a nice mod of that case - PA 120.3 and GTX280 in SLI.
I will flip to mobo tray on other side so will have mobo in regular position on the right side, CPU up. I will move this mobo a bit higher to make sure even a ful ATX mobo will not loose more then 2-3 PCI slots with PA radiator on the bottom of the case. I will move PSU on the top but leave 2cm for slim DVD-RW. Then gonna use 2 SSD in RAID when still having space for 1 or 2 huge hdds. CPU and both GPUs watercooled. How does it sound now??? :) Already bought PA rad second hand, now looking for used Lian Li A05B..

wow, that sounds impressive.
ive finally got the money for a wc build, and was thinking of an a05 with xspc rs360 or swiftech mcr 320 in top, and a double on the bottom if it doesnt interfere with the psu. im not much of a modder, so relocating stuff is a bit much for me.

Nice build for such a small case!

I really like your build, I was looking for a small case to do a decent-spec quiet build and this is just perfect! :up:

Could you let me know how much space is there on the top for a radiator? It seems like a pretty tight fit for a BIX2 and I'm not sure if you can put any other rad in there. I was hoping to use one of the new 2x140 rads.

Black Ice GTS/GTX 280 are 316mm long, dunno if there's any space to squeeze. I'd want to keep the optical drive, same as you.