Project: The Ivory Tower Lian-Li A77 Watercooled

[-TYPHOON-]

In the previous update the chassis was built. Since then a lot of progress was made.
It's starting to look like a case!

For starters, I've made the frontpanel using a custom piece of aluminium, some profiles, epoxyglue and lots of sanding. Seen here with the top-panel.


Unfortunately, the dimensions of the toppanel were incorrect (not my fault). The difference was only 1mm but it was enough to be visible.


Modifying the panel by sanding would take a lot of time and effort. Then it was still probably visible in the end. So I chose option 2:



After this it's just a matter of gluing the pieces together using some reinforcements and finishing it up using putty.


So after a lot of sanding and mounting some brackets, you get something like this:


Yesterday I also placed the backpanel. While attaching the panel I noticed that the chassis is somewhat skewed.

Luckily it's fixable by mounting the backpanel correctly. In the end this panel will be permanently attached to the chassis to keep it correctly.

I also made use of the opportunity to put some other parts in the case so you guys have an idea how it would look in the end.


It has plenty of space for the PSU that will be mounted in the front of the case.
Concerning the radiators, I haven't decided yet how I'm going to mount these in the case.
Could be the same way like before, or more like what TATH is doing.

I also ordered some parts from Highflow:



The box contains:
- MountainMods motherboardtray
- Lian-Li PSU Bracket
- lollipop

Assembly of the motherboardtray:


Unfortunately I won't be able to use the rear panel of the tray, but that was expected.
The panel is as wide as the chassis. This would mean I have to cut into the chassis. Other than that I wouldn't have a lot of room behind the motherboard for cablemanagement. Since this is already problematic in my HAF932, I chose to move it more in the center, meaning I would lose the 120mm fanhole.


Measure twice, (hopefully) cut once!

[-TYPHOON-]

After the shape of the motherboardpanel was marked, it was time to make the cut using a prehistoric jigsaw. Compared to the cuttingtool I was using before, this is much easier to control so it gives better results:




It was my intention to replicate the original panel as much as possible. This panel had a flange which was bent inwards.




As you can see the flange is bent inwards but it still has a curve in it. Solution?
HAMMER TIME!!
Resulting in:


Unfortunately I didn't take the thickness of the material into account. This is why the parts don't align.
No fit:



There was an offset between the holes that was unsolvable.


Bending it back would be very difficult and the result would be ugly. So I decided to cut the flange.


Mounting the motherboardtray:



Your opinions plz:
-In the picture above the motherboardtray is 'floating' above the panel behind it. It was my intention to have it sit flush with that panel. But this would mean that on the left side the gap between that panel and the sidepanel would only like 1 cm.
-The panel behind the tray is now completely in the back of the case. The reservoir will be mounted on the angled side of it. This would cause to hang 'over' the motherboardtray which might make the scene cluttered. Maybe it's better to move the panel more forward (to the front of the case like the picture below) so that the reservoir is not above/in front of the motherboardtray. This would also give more room for routing the cables to the back of the panel. The downside is that there is less space for the PSU.



What's your opinion on this?

[-TYPHOON-]

So I've had the chance to continue working on this build.
Warning! low picture quality!
For some reason my camera won't focus correct on these parts resulting in some blurry pictures.

I made some brackets to mount the bended panel to the chassis.




To make more room available for cablemanagement behind the motherboardtray, a part of the panel is removed.



Resulting in:

[lowfat]

Nice updates.

Having the reservoir so close to the motherboard would have likely been a problem. Especially since it would be so close to the 24 pin connector.

[-TYPHOON-]

Short update without too much text.
I've been working on the internal part of the case, which is almost finished except for some small things.
It still has to be prepared for the watercooling.




Next step will be the sidepanels. This way I have some new material to create the brackets to fit the radiators.