Build: MM UFO Horizon / Duality Custom

[Giuliano]

Just got my custom Mountain Mods UFO Horizon / Duality custom case in today.


Parts installed so far:

MM UFO Horizon / Duality Custom, powdercoated blue.
The "Custom" part is the MB tray is shifted over to the left.

Asus Maximus Extreme

3 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3870's

Rosewill 950W PSU

2GB OCZ DDR3 RAM.. to be expanded to 4+ GB later.
Watercooling parts I have:

2 x Thermochill PA120.3 Rads
3 x EK 3870 blocks.
2 x EK 250 Res
2 x EK Asus 3a Mosfet blocks. (awaiting Martinm210 testing)
EK Supreme CPU block. (same)
EK Asus NB block (same)
14' of Tygon R3603 1/2-3/4" tubing.


Parts I'm waiting on:

New EK SB Max Ex block - cools SB and Crosslinx chip, replaces the stock blue heatpipe.

Misc, fans, controllers, etc...


It will probably be another 2 weeks before I get the water in the tubes, so in the meantime I'm going to be burning it in on air and installing Vista 64.

[Giuliano]

Test placement of the two EK 250 Resevoirs.

FWIW, the stock acrylic resevoir holders are junk.. I already snapped two of them just from doing test fits.


The first pic was taken with a flash.. the second was not, and shows the color closer to what it really looks like.


It's a rather nice blue, darker than it appears and not so "baby blue".


It does look very much like a Subaru WR Blue.

[Giuliano]

Reserved 2

[Giuliano]

100 Posts, whee!

[Nate P.]

Looks awesome! But... is the mobo tray warping?!

[Wolfsburg18]

Looks awesome! But... is the mobo tray warping?!

Unless that is a distortion from the photo it does look like from the side view that the tray is warped. Sweet setup but where is the water cooling???

[FuriousSalesman]

That tray does look like it is bending upward a little bit. I hope you have a lot fun with that case! I have to finagle (not a word) with my case a bit.

[Isriam]

looking good.

did your mobo mount screws fit properly? i actually twisted a screw off into the mount, ended up taking all the mounts off and using my own personal ones from another case.

[disruptfam]

looks good!

not a huge fan of case colour though

to each his own

[Eddie3dfx]

That kind of looks like audis special blue.
Thumbs up on the mountain mods case

[Jedda]

If you wanted to run the components for test it might've been better done out of case? You're going to need access to the board's rear to fit your blocks anyway.

Certainly a change from the endless line of black MM cases. How well the blue works will depend on the room and other gear's colour scheme, I guess.

Hope you're enjoying the build.

[@rne]

Very interesting. Im eager to see more about the progress of your project

[joecop120]

good lord what does three gpu's do?!? Will watercooling them fit?

[Giuliano]

To answer the questions..

Yes, the stock CPU HSF is bowing the motherboard a bit.. that should change once I get the EK Supreme back from testing and install with a backplate.


The color of the case is actually a bit darker than it shows in the pictures - the flash changed how it looks.

The color when viewed in normal light is closer to a Subaru WR Blue.. like what's on my STi.

I'll take the case out for a drive and park it next to my STi for comparison..


The standoffs that came with the case worked mostly fine, but getting the 3870's in the slots was a bit of a tight fit. They seat fine, it just took a little persuasion..



And "finagle" IS a real word.

[Giuliano]

If you wanted to run the components for test it might've been better done out of case? You're going to need access to the board's rear to fit your blocks anyway.

Certainly a change from the endless line of black MM cases. How well the blue works will depend on the room and other gear's colour scheme, I guess.

Hope you're enjoying the build.

Yeah, I'm going to have to take the MB tray out of the case and remove the MB to fit the backplates and WC blocks anyways..

And since that's ~2 weeks away before I can fit the WC, I have some time to run it in the case.

[Giuliano]

good lord what does three gpu's do?!? Will watercooling them fit?

Crossfire x 3.

Yes, the EK 3870 blocks will fit, and I have a seperate GPU loop planned out just for this.



They're standard Sapphire 3870's w/ 512 MB RAM, not the new 3870 X2 models.

I snapped three of them up a month or two ago, before I knew that the X2's were coming.


I'll probably replace the 3 3870's with 2 X2's in about 6 months or so, and then sell off the 3870's and the EK 3870 blocks with them.

Effectively going from 3x Crossfire to 4x Crossfire (2 x X2's).

[IanY]

What's the rationale behind the shifted motherboard tray ? Thanks.

[Giuliano]

I shifted it over so that I would have room for the 2x EK 250 res, and so that I wouldn't have to use a 90' bend coming out of the third EK 3870.

The third 3870 video card actually over hangs the last PCI slot opening, as it's a 2-slot card.

[ShoNuff]

Congrats on your custom case and "Kick-Ass" Hardware!

Did you do anything special with respect to the side and top panels? Pics?

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Giuliano]

The top and side panels are the "3 Big Window" style, with simple clear acrylic windows.


I haven't taken pictures of the sides yet, as there really isn't much to see.

[IanY]

Thanks for the explanation. You know that Lian Li is beginning to release 10 pci slot cases right? It may or may not be a new industry convention.. I don't know.

Here is just one example. Many Lian Li cases to come in 2008 will have 10 slots. I tried speaking to a few industry people and they thought I've lost my marbles... I haven't spoken to MM yet though... It looks like the Horizon can have 10 slots, or even more, if one desires.

I personally think this case is ugly, but it sure does have space for a regular non-cube case.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/...-li_crossfire/

http://www.lian-li.com/product/produ...=2&ss_index=59

[Giuliano]

No, I hadn't been aware of Lian-Li's 10-slot case..


In any case, I also decided on the MM case format due to the ability of having the motherboard tray positioned horizontally.


With all this heavy hardware in the graphics cards, I wanted a horizontal arrangement so the weight of the graphics cards wouldn't put any stress on the cards.

Especially when I add the EK water blocks - they add a hefy pound and a half to each card.

[_Slim_Shady_]

Very nice case! I love the blue. I ordered a custom white UFO, but it won't be delivered for a few weeks. I can't believe they charge $50 for a horizontal motherboard brace! That's my only gripe.

Those acrylic braces for the EK reservoirs are crap. I've snapped several myself, and wish they would come with the older style delrin braces.

Again, very nice case you have there!

[Giuliano]

Yeah, I'm going to order a set of the delrin holders in a week or so, once EK has his Mosfet backplates up on the store..

[Grimtas]

Giuliano,
I know you have the EK blocks in test or on order, however have you removed the stock Heat pipe yet? I wouldn't power the motherboard without first replacing that epoxy thermal grease. Seen some very bad pics of board damage trying to remove it after the board was powered for a bit.

Just and FYI