Project: The Ivory Tower Lian-Li A77 Watercooled

[-TYPHOON-]

Well this update came later than I planned it to be but thats because I got some new stuff in...
More on that later...

First continue the work on the internal "drivebaycovers".

I still had to cut some profiles to the correct length:


It needs lots of holes which is lots of work for what is is really


Offcourse the holes need to be tapped to M3:


Little bit of filing for good contact...


Once mounted:


The gap between the 2 plates is minimal and will be smaller once it is painted.





Had one problem though: One of the tapped holes didn't line up and caused that one of the screws didn't fit.


When I was bored I disassembled the pump:



In putting together the pump I used my own black screws which look better on the pump...


New package:
A new load of M3 screws, 8mm and 30mm
A 16GB SD card
2 Packages of J-B Kwik. J-B Weld wasn't available anymore and this will do.

Solution for the bad screw hole:


Once filed:


Afterwards it wasn't very smart of me to file it first and drill later. When I drilled it, it pushed the glue right out off the hole. I should have drilled and tapped it first and then file it. But eventually the screw fit so no problem there.

The case is originally equipped with a fancontroller. Since I will have a decent controller I didn't needed the fancontroller provided. I switched the front plate for a small aluminium plate.

It doesn't look very decent but this is juist the first layer that isn't filed yet and it needs more J-B Kwik.

I had some metal plates lying around on my desk. I don't know what they were for but I used them for a better connection for the plate with the front panel. It doesn't look pretty but this is not visible in the end so I don't care.



I didn't need the original LED-holes since I probably will go with some Vandal-switches or something similar.


That's it for today.

[-TYPHOON-]

Sanding time!!!

First refresh your memory:


After sanding it looks about like this:


There is still a gap that needs to be filled:


By using a piece of scrap metal I can prevent the use of to much glue and a better finish thus less sanding for me.


Almost ready but not quite:


All sanded an dried in the sun:



On first sight it look near perfect:



But on second sight:
What the **** is this?



This is probably an airbuble formed while the glue was hardening. By sanding it became on the surface.
I think I leave the finishing to the painter. He has more experience and equipment than me...

[martensch]

impressive and beautiful work up until now, I am really looking forward to the final result...

[-TYPHOON-]

A while ago I received a package from my sponsor EK Water Blocks.


A package as you would expect from a trip from Slovenia to Belgium.


It is very well packed. Any opening or side that can be easily damaged has been taped with brown tape.


Once cut open:


Here you see that the boxes used are very well for transport because of the double layer of cardboard:


So what's in the package:


- RES 150 Advanced X2
- EK DCP4.0
- 2 Mounting brackets for the pumps.
- A few more screw fittings



Mounting Brackets:

Included are a quantity of screws, two foam pillows, a guide and of course the mounting plate.
The quality of the mounting plate is very high as is seen at the finish:


Two different foam cushions:
No idea what I am supposed to do with them...


And probably no one who reads the manual but still useful.


Each packet contained a stamp so you can see that it is not an opened package. Not really important as the package comes directly from EK.


The number of screw fittings that I have now is inadequate so I had to reorder some.


RES 150 Advanced X2:
To bleed a little easier and of course for the looks I bought a reservoir. I thought for a size larger but did not fit exactly where I want the reservoir.
The box is traditionally formed with the color blue which represents reservoirs at EK.


On the sides there is some information that might be usefull.



In the outer packaging is a white box that contains the reservoir.


In the box we find the reservoir wrapped in bubble wrap, mounting brackets, screws and some stopfittings.



The reservoir is of high quality. EK used to have some problems with cracked and damaged tanks. But this is very well finished and feels very solid.







Presumably this anti-cyclone thing should be mounted in the reervoir when necessary.


Now I have a small question:
What is the best of both: Radiators series or in parallel using Y-Connectors

[-TYPHOON-]

Small foto-update:

[-TYPHOON-]

Small update:

[-TYPHOON-]

Midplate fanholes:




Someone have an idea for cutting acrylic?

[-TYPHOON-]

Goodies!!

A couple of days ago my package from It-Service.be arrived.
Thanks to Eddy from It-Service.be!!


This is the package:



The box dwarfs my HAF932 which is already massive...

The goods are very well protected by the filling materials.


Into the box there was a smaller box which contains most of the goodies:


In the coming updates you'll see more and more from this.

First up is the mounting of the reservoir.


Instead of using the clamps from the reservoir, I'll be using some Bulkheadconnectors for mounting the reservoir to the case. On the top there is also an plexi fitting for LED installment.


That's it for now!!That's it for now!!

[jackies]

Very nice! I love doing metalwork too!
Other thoughts: that aluminum plate with holes, the holes are too small, would probably restrict the airflow too much... You don't want to use some regular fan grills?

[-TYPHOON-]

Update

Last time I showed how the reservoir would be mounted.
Well today I realized how it had to be.

First it must be determined where the holes have to be. This is very simple as the bulkhead fittings are already mounted on the reservoir. Then it is simply marking the perimeter of the hole.



Once all the holes drilled, filed and sanded the reservoir can be mounted.
In the following pictures I mounted the tank opposite without realizing it ...




Besides the holes for the reservoir, there are two holes for connecting the CPU block.


Lamptron FCT: Review
Since my build: The Ivory Tower will be use quite a lot of fans there was a problem to come. My current fan controller: Scythe Kaze Master, has only 1A per channel. In my build I have planned to have four fans per channel. The Kaze Master would probably not have coped so I choose a stronger fan controller. There are few 30W Fan controllers that offer a reasonable amount of channels. The choice was simple: Lamptron FCT.


The FCT comes in a pretty simplistic black box with a plastic sheet for its protection.
On the front are obviously the product name and a picture of the product. In addition, a few highlights of the controller listed:
- 6 channels
- CNC faceplate
- 30W per channel
- Automatic and manual control
And did I mention it's a touchscreen?


At the back we find some more information about the FCT as well as specifications and contents of the package.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 148.5mm x 42.5mm x 64.5mm
- Screen Size: 118mm x 31.5mm
- Power: 30W per channel
- Number of channels: 6





If we open the box we find the fan controller with the associated stuff.


- 6x 3 Pin fan cables
It are the fan cables familiar to everyone. Unfortunately these are not sleeved black. One downside is that I had is that one of fan cables was smeared with oil or something. That is not very nice since they don’t use oil to fabricate the cables…



- 6x Temperature probe
Here the same disadvantage as the fan cables: not sleeved. But at least the white is better than the usual black, red and yellow


- 1x Jumper
This jumper is for the alarm. If the alarm is activated with the jumper installed then there is an audible warning signal when the temperature exceeds 70 ° C or when one or more fans do not rotate when voltage is supplied.


- 4x black screws
It's nice that Lamptron gave attention to providing black screws. Metallic color would otherwise stick out against the black controller.


- 1 x black cloth
Touchscreen results in fingerprints but Lamptron has also found a remedy. With this you will easily wipe the fingerprints from the screen.




- 1x Lamptron FCT
The front is the CNC-cut from brushed aluminum. In this case, I chose the black version because it best suits the current build. On the front is: "Lamptron Touch" in white letters.
The front is of very high quality as shown in the pictures.
Behind the front are the two PCBs that control the LCD and the fans.


At the rear, the six channels can be seen as the Molex connector and the connector for the temperature sensors. The PCB looks very neat with no sloppy soldering etc ... Since I'm no electronics expert I will not speak at length about the electronics.


The interface:
When starting fan controller the screen remains bare except for two things: an on / off button and a button to adjust brightness. Once the on / off button pushed, we get an overview of the 6 channels from which we can continue to adjust the channels. If we select a channel by pushing 3 FAN for example we enter the next menu.


In this menu there are several things to find. An RPM indicator, temperature, etc ... With the power-percentage bar at the bottom the fan speed can be adjusted. The operation works relatively well for inaccurate values. Not that it’s really necessary to choose between 51% and 52%, but I had some difficulty selecting 100% or 0%. Instead, it is sometimes 97% and 8%. This does not change the operation because the fan is still in full power or does not work in both cases respectively.
Besides sliding bar are arrows that you can use to switch the channel. Far right is a button to go back to the main menu. In the right top corner can the temperature corresponding with the channel be found. By briefly pushing the temperature it can be switched between Celsius and Fahrenheit.
In the top left corner is the RPM. The RPM can be switched to supplies voltage by pressing it. Bottom left you can see an M and A which stands for Manual and Automatic. This indicates how the current channel is managed. In the automatic mode you can set a limit temperature and a fan speed. In normal operation the channel remains on the set-fan speed. Once the temperature is above the limit set for the channel the fans will go up to 100% until the temperature is again below the limit. I did not have the opportunity to test this extensively.

In the video below you can see how the fan controller is operating. Note: Since the fan controller isn’t mounted, it moved away if I wanted to select something. This results in a few tries to select something.


Competition?
There are relatively few fan controllers with much power. Lamptron has the largest share in it with. Other brands such as Sunbeam also have a fan controller with similar specifications, but not with the same looks. The FCT has more features than the average fan controller without a huge additional cost. Other controllers such as the Aqua Computer Aquaero 5 have more options but the cheapest model would cost about the same as the FCT (~ 60EUR) but doesn’t have a screen and lacks the power. Do you want a screen then you can roughly double that cost and pay even more for extra power. For some people this is worth it, for others it is not.

Summary
Lamptron the FCT is in my opinion a very good fan controller. It has many channels with enough power so you have many options. The advantage is that it has no buttons sticking out that can block some doors from the case. The screen is very readable in different directions. The interface works properly except for some specific situations. Another negative point is that the supplied cables are not sleeved.
All in all, this Lamptron FCT is a very good buy if you want a fan controller with lots of power and channels for limited price.

[-TYPHOON-]

Update: Yes, I'm f*cked

Well I started on finding out where I should place the pumps.
The easiest way would be this:

This would result in low number of 45° and 90° couplings.

But from another angle:

Beware: the second rad + fans aren't placed yet.
Pump is to large in this direction to place in between the rads. No problem: I have enough 90° fittings.

But the this comes up: connecting the main part of the PC to the "cellar".
The bulkhead-fitting is sticking out a lot. But more worse is the length of the PSU.
I miscalculated the length of the PSU or something but I thought it would be 16cm long and not the 18 cm in reality. You can see the measurement of the PSU.


So Yes, I'm f*cked.

At the moment I see no other way to route the tubes to the cellar.

A possibility I thought about was buying a new PSU like the AX750 since it is 2cm shorter, quieter and fully modular. My CM M850 is relatively loud.

If anyone has a suggestion that doesn't involve buying a new PSU is always welcome!!!

[LeandroJVarini]

perfect project! nice work! congrats

[nickbaldwin86]

Clean work with the JB weld, great idea

[-TYPHOON-]

Small update:

Solution for the lack of space for the PSU:


Playing with the pump-setup:


Slightly improved lay-out:

This way I have a little bit more room for other stuff.

Massive flow!!

[v1ral]

Any more updates!!???

[Furball Zen]

Yea, and still need that acrylic work done? I have a laser cutter

[-TYPHOON-]

Sorry but at the moment I'm drowning in projects I have to finish next week or so and then I have to study for my tests so: no time...

[-TYPHOON-]

Long Time No See

So finally had the chance to make an update on this one...
It has taken so long because of too much work at school and had to work in July.


So I cut out the window to lighten up the interior...


I planned to use lots of screws. But in the end it was too much effort to loose the every time and wasn't very clean. So I filled some of the holes...



My GTX280 is failing on me:


For paint I was thinking about Plasti Dipping the case.
But it's hard to get a hold on of some Plasti Dip here...

[lowfat]

I don't think you want to Plasti Dip the entire case. Any parts that rub each other will pull the Plasti Dip apart very quick. Plus the big thing is that it attracts a lot of dust. I did a Stacker entirely in plastidip last year, after a few months all the Plasti Dip had a white fuzziness to it. Does powdercoat stick to JB Weld? If so I would suggest doing this, since you've put so much work in to the case. Might as well finish it off right.

[-TYPHOON-]

Nah that is the problem.
the JB Weld I used isnt that temperature resistent...

[LeoAndrade]

impressive biuld

[-TYPHOON-]

Thank you.

@lowfat: I used KWIK Weld which is the fast hardening version of JB Weld. It does contain metal particles but doesn't resist high temp. Some say it creates bubbles...

[-TYPHOON-]

UPDATE

About those GPU-problems: The only method for being able to play was lowering the clocks from 607 to 550 Mhz. This required me to play on low settings for decent FPS. So I started my search for a new GPU. I was about to buy a GTX660 Ti when I saw a 2 month old EVGA GTX680 pop up. And I bought it.


So the card is a bit shorter than the GTX280 but cooler, quieter and of course faster.

I am also trying to order my Plasti Dip but no one seems to respond properly to my emails. Besides that I am bound to the scheduled delivery for the Benelux in 2 weeks...

But before any color comes on, I need to finish some things.

On the back there was a gap that had to be finished. I already made a plate for it but it still had to be mounted with JB Weld.


To fill the gap between the 2 pieces I used a piece of paper that prevented the epoxy from dripping down.

[Piggin]

Good to see you have come back to this build as its very good
Have you considered changing the standard bolts for something like this

http://www.fix8.co.uk/products/Faste...rew/4170255166

Come in lots of different sizes & look good in black or silver

[-TYPHOON-]

! REVIVAL !

It's almost been over two years since I posted here, let alone update this build.
The reason: not enough time because of my studies.
Two years later and I'm 2 Masters richer.
So I've got some time available (before I start working of course ).

In the meantime I've been working on the case but insufficient to update this thread.

So it starts (again) with the search for a solution for the front of the case, more specific the filling of the empy drivebays. The first plan was to reuse the original drivebaycovers. But this was somewhat difficult to get a good result. Also for some reason the baycovers wouldn't fit properly. So I thought to just close the opening in the front with some aluminium. But my fear was that the edges would be very much visible when it was painted. So I decided to order a custom aluminium part that will be the new front of the case. I also ordered another part but that will be for another update.
I encountered some problems: my sloppy work in the beginning of this build adapting the original chassis to an inverted ATX, was catching up with me. I had to modify too many parts to make them fit and I feared that the flaws would be visible in the end. So I decided to go for a scratch build case with similar dimensions.

Based on a CAD drawing I ordered some parts.

The profiles that will form the new chassis + some extra's:


The top and bottom panel of the case. The bottom one is 3mm thick as it will be used as base for the rest of the chassis. No bending allowed!


The chassis is build using epoxy to glue the parts together. This is easier compared to using rivets to get a perfect fixation. By using only rivets I would risk that in the process some parts move creating a bad chassis (like the one I had ). The rivets are only used when the epoxy has cured.