Project Capella (Lian Li PC-P50R)

[CptDreadFlint]

Ahoy, Kai!

Dropping by to represent the love for Capella.

Candy-apple PCB deliciousness for the win!

[LogAn'sRun]

wow, I love that PCB!!! I had the same idea , but not so advanced, I was thinking of just soldering on the connectors to the back of the mobo , but I'm liking this much more. More simplified and more clean, fantastic execution. Waiting with popcorn to see how it's executed!

[Lagaaja]

Your build is getting way more epic that I originally tought Thumbs up!

[theToX]

that cable management board is ing legit. definitely will be following this much closer

[dreamaxx]

Honestly the most epic build of ALL TIME.

/cue Kanye

[rjkoneill]

epic

[Kibbler]

Thanks all you guys.

Want to answer a few things that were asked:

1) I ordered my PCBs through Pad2Pad (Google it). You need to download their design software. There's a significant learning curve to the design process (unless you're already an EE) but if you've ever used any other CAD software then you should be able to pick up the interface pretty quickly.

2) Yes that big red PCB is for cable management. There's very little space behind the motherboard tray for cable bundles. This is my solution to that.

3) As for details like trace width and etc...it's a bit complicated. The holes are spec'ed to the connectors I ordered, and I set the trace/clearance to be as wide and as spaced out as possible for the software to auto-route successfully. It's probably over-engineered considering motherboards can be quad-to-hex layered with tiny traces and this one has only two layers and big fat traces. But, since they will be carrying 12V at unknown amps, better safe than sorry.

***

Faceplate update

I can dis-aggregate this project into 4 major parts:
1. Watercooling setup (the rad and pump and res thingy). This is done.
2. Front panel assembly
3. Aquaero and LCD, pretty much done.
4. PCB wire management. This is the next step.

Today we're looking at #2.

Two older photos first. Here's the "LED splitter board."


And the backlight/mini-sLight assembly from before.


I soldered 6x 2V LEDs to the board in serial, and a 90deg pin connector on the back. Serial means I push 12V to the board and each LED gets 2V. Perfect. Disadvantage is if one LED dies, they all die.


Here's the backside of the LED board, and the 90deg connector I mentioned.


Now it is all wired up + sleeved into a single cable run. You see the pairs of little holes I laser'ed in at the left side of the plate, they're zip-tie anchors.


This is the back of the front panel. I used black mesh and a thin aluminum frame to hide the serrated mesh profile (I think this was one of Callen's brilliant ideas).


Installed the backplate.




You can barely see the three zip-ties I used. The zip-tie "lug" is hidden between the faceplate and the backplate.


Two small p-clips (middle and right screw points) secure the cable in that groove and make a bend at the end.


Yay.


Miraculously the 3mm LEDs are perfectly centered in the 5mm holes. ~1mm gap around the circumference.


Ta-Da!


Once I reattach the original trimmings it looks like this.








I hooked up an old trusty PSU to serve 5V and 12V.


Yay!


Thanks for looking.

[Johnny87au]

mate thats some innvoative work right their, loving the way the colour of the rad, your custom named LED, the way you have setup your drain ports.. Just read all 19 pages hehe, cant wait till the end!

[ScottALot]

I'm not just saying this... upon seeing those above pictures, I yelled "DUDE!!!"

[Colossous]

Brilliant stuff duder

[Alexandr0s]

I'm not just saying this... upon seeing those above pictures, I yelled "DUDE!!!"

Lol, that's pretty similar to my response .

[Vinas]

Kibbler, thanks for posting the pictures up. They are top notch! The first thing I've noticed is how nice that Lian Li PC-P50R really is. It's my opinion that a red rad would really set this build apart. What's better is that you may even be able to get some sort of design on the rad (in black) that matches the side panel art! Looking forward to the rest of this build for sure!

[Wezly]

Holy crap.

Your planning and design is the really amazing part here. Yes, other people could probably reproduce that, but not necessarily as cleanly without the tedious and proven proper planning.

Looks amazing.

[WoodWorker420]

^^ What he said. hahaha. Seriously this build is EPIC. Custom PCB's, amazing anodizing, and LED work on the front. Loving this build.
Just realized that thanks to XS, I have read more worklogs then I have books!!!

[Red-5]

Thats a great looking faceplate. Such fantastic attention to detail.
Awesome as always mate.

[JoeChuo]

Soo nice! great job Bro!

[Johnny87au]

Cant wait to see this in action!

[callen_1]

Holy Crap, Sweet Mother Of God, WTF, GTFO LOL!

Nicest, most detailed face plate ever! Kudos x ∞, Kibbs

[Moitrux]

Wow ! Crazy man

[josk1]

Holy Crap, Sweet Mother Of God, WTF, GTFO LOL!

Nicest, most detailed face plate ever! Kudos x ∞, Kibbs

i couldn't say it with more details
love it a bunch!!!

[Elpy]

off. This build seemed kind of "normal" at first in my eyes but then you started making it epic and now it's definitely my favorite build here . You make me feel like my PC is crap

[nlancaster]

Awesome Job on the faceplate.

I have been looking at the Pad2Pad software and I cannot find any of the connectors for power like you used. Do you know where I can get them? Thanks.

[o2bme]

Just found and read through this while thread. I am amazed. The creativity and thoroughness in the design - just incredible. Thanks.

1st – love the little touches like the stickers for the memory. 2nd – That PCB is brilliant.
But that front plate is outstanding. I liked your first revisions but this has got to be one of the best looking mods I have seen.

[Kibbler]

Thanks guys. Appreciate it.

@nlancaster
They're not from Pad2Pad. I ordered them from Mouser, Digikey or similar should also have them. You need to go in and look for what you need.

[bianco]

wonderful front plate bro... i should get my thesaurus and find more synonym for awesome and great. haha.

anyways, i know it's just me...
but would it look better if the led (dots) would be a bit more diffused/less bright like the capella lighting?