Define R3 Carbon

[Spazloy]

The Project

Hello, My name is Lawrence Selly and for the past few years i have been heavily involved with case modding as well as software and watercooling. I have also branched far out into the world of car audio and have developed many skills such as advanced carpentry, Carbon fiber composite production and development and metalwork skills.

I have done 2 case mods so far, unfortunately neither have been logged or documented online and the first is currently in pieces being sold on. However my second build is still kicking and its how im currently online.

Unfortunetly as with all PCs things get outdated fast, so this time im only going for the best of the best, so i can get a good 5-8 years out of it and have lots of fun on the way. I also wish to create a silent "sleeper" pc

I wish to use all of my new skills to create this masterpiece and only select the best of manufaturors to help me with this project.

I have therefor been in contact with Fractal Design who are supplying me with a stunning Define R3 case and plenty of fans, i will shortly be purchasing one of their 1000w PSUs as they are gathering quite a reputation.

Without further delay i give you

Project: Define R3 Carbon


Major Sponsors:




Project Milestones

I. Gather Parts
II. Minor modifications
III. Begin Carbon Fiber moulding
IV. Create Carbon Parts
V. Begin installation
VI. Install everything
VII. Photoshoot
VIII. Play.

Components

Chassis: Fractal Desgin Define R3
Inside: Custom Carbon fiber PSU / pump cover / seperator
Custom Carbon Hard drive cover

Hardware

Asus Rampage III Gene
Intel Core I7 (Bloomfeild)
Corsair Reactor SSD
Corsair Dominator Triple Channel
Samsung 1Tb HDD
ATI Radeon 5870 XFX
Fractal Design 1000w PSU

Watercooling

Duel D5 MPC655 /w EKWB Duel Top (Acetal)
Multioption Res X2 250
EK Waterblocks 120.1 Radiator x2
EK waterblocks 140.2 Radiator
EK Waterblocks H/F Supreme 1366 Nickel CPU block
EK waterblocks Rampage III Gene Nickel Plexi full cover block
EK Waterblocks 5870 v2 Nickel Acetal block
Fractal Design Fans
Scythe Ultra Slim 120

Coolant

Fezer Ice Blue

Tubing

Tygon R 10mm

Fittings

BP rotaries (if needed)
EKWB Compressions (black)

Next update will follow soon.
Right now i have a large box to unpack

hydr0 out.

[Spazloy]

Today i recived my case, and oh my god, what a beauty.

It fits my every need and its designed as if i was part of the team.

By my nature i am simplistic and this case just fits my purpouse.

Here are a few snaps of the case. prepare your jaws, them things gunna drop low!















I would like to give thanks again to my sponsor Fractal Design for suppling me with this piece of artwork and all the support they can give.



Now i have a lot of planning to do and a lot of buying

motherboard on the way with a few bags of shiny things with dragons on them.

hydr0 out

[Spazloy]

The Motherboard.

Unwrapped an extremly well packaged motherboard today.



doesnt it look good

Ive ordered a waterblock for it from my new sponsor EK



so ive started prepping the motherboard ready.
taking off the heatsink and whatnot.



looks clean. Love the placement of the mosfets, must have been so easy for ek to design the block.

well they managed it and its on its way



nice and clean.

anyway be back later with a glorious example of what we can do with metal.

hydr0 out.

[guilleguillaume]

I will be following the updates. Subscribed.

I will love to see Liquid Cooling on this case without putting the rad outside( for me it's just fugly)

[ScottALot]

I don't understand where you get these cases?! I see them at NCIX, but shipping = WTF!! Anyone selling them in the US?

[Elpy]

They are quite popular and well available in EU. I can even find them easily in Finland

[OC Maximus]

Looking forward to some pictures

OCM

[Spazloy]

I don't understand where you get these cases?! I see them at NCIX, but shipping = WTF!! Anyone selling them in the US?

buy them straight from the company, makes everything easier.

[aerial]

This case is rather for air cooling, not that much radiator space. Two black ice GTS should do the trick though.

[Spazloy]

This case is rather for air cooling, not that much radiator space. Two black ice GTS should do the trick though.

yuh i no the case has 2 sets of pipe exits for external cooling, but like many others i think its well ugly.

But im going to use 1 slim black ice rad on the front with 2 slim fans on the front (typhoons) and on the top im using a thick rad (swiftech or sommat) with 2 fractals. and at the bottom im going to have a single 140mm fan and rad with the pumps mounted ontop of it using UN designs brackets

[Church]

Are you shure swiftech rads (just 8mm thicker then GT Stealth) won't fit? GTS rads have bad optimisation for fast & loud fans ( = with quiet fans they suck).

[Spazloy]

Are you shure swiftech rads (just 8mm thicker then GT Stealth) won't fit? GTS rads have bad optimisation for fast & loud fans ( = with quiet fans they suck).

i no man, to be honest i dont know what rad im gunna get yet, there is so many.

cross that bridge when i come to it sort of dea.

[Spazloy]

Got my waterblock today so immediately began unwrapping

though i will say... lovely boxes EK.

seriously you don't see boxes designed this well very often, tell me if anyone finds anything better... i like boxes :P



and theres my motherboard box too, sharing a bit of the photo.

anyway inside. :O



it just getts sexier.



so after a lot of swearing, fiddling, reading, tea and gentle force i finally mounted it to the motherboard.

quite hard to do as you have to have the motherboard upside down to install the backplate which holds it all on, whilst holding the block onto the front of the board.... so much effort, but it paied off







so nice

anyway cheers EK, ill be back on the phone soon



and thanks fractal.



Next update... Carbon... if all goes to plan *crosses fingers*

ttu later

hydr0 out.

[Spazloy]

Saved for updates

[Spazloy]

Saved for updates

[Onoff312]

anything going on with this build?

[Spazloy]

anything going on with this build?

yuh sorry its been a while.

Im planning a trip to New Zealand and Australia for january.

and as that is costing me about 4 grand i have no money left for my pc right now.

Unless my sponsors are willing to help me out, im stuck for about 4 months.

however i am planning a BIG update for just after christmas (im talking carbon fiber moulding, bitspower shiny bits, CPU block, rez, begging of plumbing ect.. )

its just going to take a while, but as soon as im back from NZ this build will be finished on a week by week basis at least!

[Boulard83]

Great start !

[HackJoe]

Looks good Pal, Any recommendations when fitting the EK block?

[Spazloy]

hi yeh got a good tip, firstly its awkward so make sure u got a clean surface and set everything out ready and read the instructions before you try to do it, not as you go along know what i mean.

also once u have it fitted make absolutely sure there is NO contact between the metal and the motherboard (unless its covered by a heat transfer plate or the sticky stuff) because that is what killed some people motherboards (shorted out all the components)

and dont overtighten the screws, buts thats a given.

also for those expecting some updates they are on the way

just got to edit the photos and ill post um up, say tuesday

[mazenimad]

which tuesday are we talking about ?? lol
cant wait, been waiting for you to decide on buying the case or not.....
or did u set this project aside??

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Wow, so this guy is sponsored, and then he goes and blows all his build money on a vacation and then he just drops the build. Hasn't posted any content in 8 months, so basically he stole from his sponsors. Talk about giving modders seeking sponsorship a bad name...

[Alexandr0s]

I have to agree with Snipe, Spazloy. Not a great way to treat your sponsors if this is all that's going on...