"Whiteout" PC 343b Horiz. Mobo. Worklog

[FrostyPanda]

Welcome to the worklog of my Lian Li PC-343b mod. My intent is to do something similar to the rainmaker that virtualrain did (horizontal mobo, lots of LC, high quality finish). My overall goal with this project is to make it into MDPC so we'll see how well I can do this!

UPDATE LIST
Initial Case with Basic Cuts and Dremel Work: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...19&postcount=4
Google SketchUp CAD Images with Final Layout design: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...1&postcount=17
Order of Metal from Onlinemetals.com: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...5&postcount=18
Finished Case Structure: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...9&postcount=42
Proposed Side Paintjobs (votes needed): http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...2&postcount=46
"Oven": http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...0&postcount=50
Finished Paint Job: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...7&postcount=51
Basic Case Assembled with Panels: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...7&postcount=58
Compression Fittings Change: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...2&postcount=75
Radiators and Painting: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...4&postcount=89
Finished Radiator Painting: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=106
Schedule/plan for November through January: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=108
Ultra X3 1600w Power Supply: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=164
GTX 260 Core 216 SSC, EVGA X58 SLI, Core i7 920, Patriot Viper DDR3 Tri-Channel: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=195

Stock Case (soon do be demolished)









BUILD PLAN

Basic Hardware

Motherboard
ASUS Rampage Formula

CPU
Intel Core i7 920

RAM
6x 1GB Patriot Viper DDR3 Triple Channel

Graphics
SLI GTX 295

Sound
ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe

Hard Drives
1x Velociraptor 150gb
1x WD Caviar 250gb

Optical Drives
Undecided External

Power Supply
Ultra X3 1600w

Cable Sleeving
MDPC-X Sleeving from murdermod.com

W/C Components - Three Loops (1x CPU, 1x Graphics, 1x Mobo/Accessories)

Pumps
3x MCP355 w/ XSPC Res Tops

Radiators
1x PA120.2; 2x Feser 360

Fans
8x Delta EFB1212VH on Rads (all intake); 3x Delta AFB1212GHE Rev. C Grand Hi Speed as exhaust mounted on back of case (see SketchUp model)

Blocks
CPU__________Swiftech Apogee GTZ
Mobo Blocks___Bitspower Rampage Formula Blocks (when they come out)
GFX__________2x XSPC Full cover 4870x2 (acetal or nickel, haven't decided yet)

Connections/Fittings
Koolance 1/2" ID 5/8" OD compression

Tubing
Tygon 1/2" ID 5/8" OD

Sleeving
Techflex Carbon Fiber 1/2" sleeving (http://www.techflex.com/prod_CFN.asp)

Enjoy

[sniperbob]

can't wait to see some frosty pc pics!!!

[.Logic]

Looking forward to pics

[FrostyPanda]

Finally I finished with my dremel, jigsaw, and after all of my dremel bits and the jigsaw blad broke, the pliers and the hacksaw! The holes in the bottom are for a PA120.2. Don't get too attached to the current paintjob as its going super glossy black on sunday after my soccer tournament!

The cutout plan:




The finished cuts (sorry for the blurriness). Yes I know they suck, but the bottom holes won't be visible so it doesn't really matter:






My "workstation"


I'll post pictures of the painting and cleaned up edges on my cuts on Sunday. In the meantime I'm off to Wenatchee for the wonderful Apple Cup soccer tourney. Wish me luck

[BlueAqua]

Looks like a great project shaping up. The Lian Li 343 is a great case to start this with.

I used to play soccer in Wenatchee, but that was many years ago. I absolutely love that area.

What are your plans with this case?

[FrostyPanda]

Looks like a great project shaping up. The Lian Li 343 is a great case to start this with.

I used to play soccer in Wenatchee, but that was many years ago. I absolutely love that area.

What are your plans with this case?

We travel there every year. We won the first game today 6-0 .

As far as the case goes, I'm looking to do something similar to the rainmaker that virtualrain did, but after the basic layout for the motherboard that's it. After that I plan to put either 2 120.3's or two Black Ice GTX 360s in the front. The holes in the bottom are for a 120.2. I'll be putting the delta fans on it hopefully upwards of 150cfm each The three loops, one for the proc, one for crossfired 4870x2's, and the other for the chipset and whatever else I feel like, will each be powered by a ddc 3.2 with xspc res tops. I'll be cooling my e4300 and my rampage formula to the max so I'm gonna need as much cooling as I can All tubing will be .5" ID and .75" OD. Since all of the bays will be used up with the front rads, I'll be putting two slot in dvd writers in the very bottom right below the rads. All the tubing will be sleeved in techflex carbon fiber sleeving, the nice type not the stuff intended for pc use. For painting the mobo tray, i'll be emulating a carbon-kevlar weave with a black base and gold "weave" and a super glossy clear coat. I'm trying to use as much stuff thats all copper, no acetal or delrin, to keep with a slick modern look. Case lighting will probably just be white LED's to enhance the copper and the rest of the paint job (i'm not really a fan of the pimped out "bling" cases with rainbow LED's and three different colors of w/c fluid). I'll just be using distilled water and MAYBE i'll use the blue LED that comes with the res tops. Sorry for the long post, but I've got big ambitions for this case and in the end I hope to make it to MDPC . I hope you enjoy!

[FrostyPanda]

Sorry. Everythings not going so well because it got really really cold and the paint isn't drying properly so i'll post better pictures when I can find a reliable time to paint. Here's what I do have though. The motherboard tray is only primed so far. The case has three coats of primer and one coat of Krylon Glossy Black spray paint. The temperature drop caused the paint to shrink and as a result it has this cracked crinkly look





Update tomorrow. My school has a half day every wednesday so i should be able to paint while its somewhat warm

[FrostyPanda]

Well i repainted it and the cracks still came up. I think I'm just going to keep adding coats of primer until the cracks fill because I don't have any other way to paint it (I don't own a powder coating gun and its too pricy to have someone else do it). In the meantime I'm in a rut because I'm waiting for an order of aluminum angled pieces to use as braces and the 2mm thick sheet coming with it to be laser cut for the back panel. I'm also at the point where I will be buying radiators. I have to buy a PA120.2 because I have already cut holes for it in the bottom, but I would still like some advice as to the other two that will go in the front. They must be 3 fan radiators and I will be putting super powerful (100+ cfm) fans on them. So...

Which should I get? I am looking for performance and price so the cheapest that performs comparably would be ideal. Thanks!

[Extigy]

nice to see another horizontal lian li build. I got the whole inner case powerdercoated of my 343b for £18 and the hard drive cage was an additional £7 (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=190700). Saved me alot of hassle, i gather you on a limited budget, but it is well worth it!

[Zw_Roodbaard]

Nice plan you've got there, I see you've got problems with the paint. Did you cleaned everything well before spraying the paint and how did you cleaned it, did you cleaned it with a grease removing fluid?

Hoping to see some more updates soon because i'm thinking of buying a 343B to. Maybe next year or a little bit sooner :P First I have to finish my V1200B project.

[FrostyPanda]

Nice plan you've got there, I see you've got problems with the paint. Did you cleaned everything well before spraying the paint and how did you cleaned it, did you cleaned it with a grease removing fluid?

Hoping to see some more updates soon because i'm thinking of buying a 343B to. Maybe next year or a little bit sooner :P First I have to finish my V1200B project.

The 343 is a very very nice case to work on, so I suggest you get one as soon as you can The overall finish is so much higher in quality than the MM cases, IMO. As far as the paint goes, I scrubbed the crap out of it with 1200 sandpaper, so the surface would still be relatively smooth. No grease removal but the previous paint I used worked just fine, so I'm assuming its just this brand of paint. Rustoleum doesn't seem to work on the larger pieces (the mobo tray covered fine) so its back to krylon for the frame I looked at powder coating and its a bit pricey for me (spray paint costs a lot less).

[RADCOM]

The 343 is a very very nice case to work on, so I suggest you get one as soon as you can The overall finish is so much higher in quality than the MM cases, IMO

RRR will never forgive you lol. I see you'll be doing a lot of sanding wax on wax off looking forward to this build. Alternative rad instead of the PA120.3 for the front would be swiftech MCR320QPK

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ghlight=MCR320

[Ashraf]

Oh, man that doesn't look good. It has nothing to do with temperatures, really. It is just that you didn't do it right. I like painting during cold weather because I always get good results.

You need to sand back down to the metal and use a self-etching primer. Then cover that with a sandable primer and wetsand the primer smooth with @ 800 grit. Don't keep painting over the cracks. Remember to paint with broad sweeping strokes. Allow each coat to dry for several days and wetsand inbetween coats. Patience will pay major dividends in the quality of your finished product....

What he said. That's exactly how I paint my stuff.

[FrostyPanda]

FrostyPanda...

I'd like to add this also. I ALWAYS clean the surface, prior to applying the self-etching primer, with DENATURED ALCOHOL... It is readily available at any hardware store in the paint section, where paint thinners are located.

Thanks for the advice. The irritating thing though is that when I previously painted it the paint stuck just fine so now i'm kinda confused as to what is going on

[FrostyPanda]

Well UPS says that my order of aluminum is our for delivery so I'll hopefully post some pictures of the stuff when it comes. In the meantime, I have spent the last 3 hours making a SketchUp model of the final product. I cannot add the tubing in but what is there is pretty cool The outlet nozzles on the pumps will be koolance 90 degre angled compression fittings 1/2" ID 3/4" OD so that I don't bump into the bottom rad. All of the fans attached to rads are intake and will be Delta EFB1212VH's (102cfm each) and the exhaust will be the San Ace 9SG1212G101's (260cfm each). Perhaps i should attach wings to it... Enjoy!

Download the SketchUp file here

Update: Here are pictures of the sketchup for those of you who don't have sketchup installed /are too lazy to download the file.

I have removed some of the walls but I will have a custom laser cut back panel made to fit my config, and LiLi PC 343b window kits on the two sides and the top.













And some with the walls:

[FrostyPanda]

Sorry to everyone for bumping myself and posting 3 times in a row But, guess what UPS just dropped off? Mmhmm, my order of aluminum. I must say that this was really really convenient. Onlinemetals.com does any size order of just about every type of metal and plastic out there (even composite products) and are located in Seattle! I paid for ground shipping and it came the next day Anyways, here are some photos of the aluminum...

These boxes seem very very large...




Ah! Its very well packaged




And the big piece custom cut to 17.875" x 18" to fit on the back

[BlueAqua]

Nice piece of aluminum. How much does something like that cost?

[FrostyPanda]

Nice piece of aluminum. How much does something like that cost?

Its actually really cheap compared to what I thought it would be. With the cut fees and all the 17.875" x 18" x.125" cost me ~$22 from onlinemetals.com. The angled aluminum for 2ft was ~$2.50 . Are you thinking of getting some?

[Hondacity]

wow!!! nice alu!!!

[FrostyPanda]

wow!!! nice alu!!!

Thanks. The company took great care when they packaged it and cut it because, up-close, the quality is amazing

[RADCOM]

Great sketchup models and nice piece of metal. With all those Delta fans will you be able to stay in the same room as that PC?

[FrostyPanda]

Great sketchup models and nice piece of metal. With all those Delta fans will you be able to stay in the same room as that PC?

Ive got a 1000w sound system so if need be i can just turn up the music. These deltas are really really loud. The ones on the rads are 45.0 decibels each and the 3 exhause are 65.0 decibels; I think my ears are gonna burst

[Nate P.]

Ive got a 1000w sound system so if need be i can just turn up the music. These deltas are really really loud. The ones on the rads are 45.0 decibels each and the 3 exhause are 65.0 decibels; I think my ears are gonna burst

Throw those puppies on some fan contollers.

[FrostyPanda]

Throw those puppies on some fan contollers.

That defeats the purpose of buying the fans. Just kidding. I'm looking for a fan controller that will handle the massive wattage these things require, but I don't want a big ugly rheostat. If i can find one, I'd like to have a little touch pad like thing that I can use to turn them up and down. I havent found anything yet, though, so I may have to find a clever way to blend in some rheostats w/o the uglyness. If you have any ideas, they are certainly welcome!!!

[Sparky]

Each of those EFB1212VH uses a tad under 5 watts, so you could get something like a sunbeam rheobus and put a rad's worth of fans per channel, and use the 4th channel for the remaining 3 case fans.