[PROJECT] <1cf m620

[j33pownr]

micro620

The goal of the build is for a quiet SFF that folds/games well with an all internal water cooling setup.

I am currently running an e6600 from 4 years ago and its getting long in the teeth. It is in a nice Lain Li PC-7B plus II with two 120.3 radiators mounted on the outside of it. It cools great but looks like a**. I have always wanted a small computer for when I lan, so the large case has to go. I really like the TJ07 Murder Mod builds but I just can’t get past having a SFF box. That and I can’t really afford an all out TJ07 build. I am going to try to combine the quality of a Murder Mod build with some strategic planning to fit 10lbs of hardware in a case that’s less than 1 cubic foot. It will take some time since I am too cheap for CNC time and will be making everything by hand. AKA dremel, jigsaw, hand files, sandpaper. To cut down on costs I am converting the e6600 into an HTPC and reusing older hardware with out sacrificing too much performance.

Here is what I had in mind.

I already have the bolded items to cut down on the costs.

Hardware Parts
Antec NSK3480 mATX
EVGA x58 SLI micro
I7 950
Gskill Trident DDR3-2000
EVGA GTX 275
Corsair HX1000
WD Black 640 (WD6402AAEX)
Sleeving of some sorts

Watercooling Parts
EK Supreme HF Nickel/Acetal
Swiftech MCP355
Swiftech MCW60
Swiftech GTX 275 Unisink
Swiftech MCR220-Drive
Swiftech MCR220 (x2)
45* Fittings (x7)
90* Fittings (x3)
Yate Loon D12SH-12 (x6)
3/8 Masterclear (10ft)
Distilled + PT Nuke

I didn’t realize it but after listing that out, I look like a Swiftech fanboy. Gabe I am single handedly keeping you in business.


Here is where I started. Yea I know it’s the stock Antec newegg photo but I was excited and didn’t take one before hand. It was used and scratched so I got it for $60. I didn’t mind since I was changing pretty much everything about it.




I began by drilling out all the pop rivets to 4mm to make fabrication easier. I like the look of cap heads over rivets. In doing this the case is now modular and I have a removable motherboard tray. No pictures because everyone knows what drilled out rivets looks like. Plus I forgot.

Here is the general 2d cad layout. I am not learning sketchup unless I have too.


Here is the size comparison. The power supply / cd-rom holder has been removed for "editing"


Here is a mock up of the mcr220 drive from swiftech. Sorry no unboxing pics once again.


Clearance from the side.


Front mock up.


Old fashioned CAD.



ACTUALL PROGRESS
Here is how I laid out the hole in the motherboard tray. Its the picture of the mobo I made flipped to the back side of the mobo tray and traced for cutting.


I NEED a step bit. BAAAAAD


Little bit of sanding and .......


On to the front. Must remove some metal. (Compair to the "Front mock up" picture above)


Ok now where does the radiator mount? Nothing fancy yet. Just need some aluminum to fill that large hole.
Picture is from the inside looking toward the front of the case.

Picture is from the front. The opposite side of the aluminum in this photo ^ is black. It came from an old server case door.


The 6 rectangular holes in this photo need to be open so the front can use the original mounting hardware.


Poor mans scribe.

Little Jig and lots of filing


On to some fancy-ness-c-ocity. Radiator front panel layout. Yes thats a screw hole but it will be removed since it is inside the radiator opening. To make the template so nice I printed out the dimension of the mcr220 to scale and traced it with my box blade to score it. Then used a pencil to darken the lines to be seen when cutting and taking pictures.


Its already rough cut with a jigsaw. I thought you would want to see my poor mans router table. Worked pretty well if I may say.


Here is a picture of the power supply / cd-rom holder. I already started cutting it and realized I did not have a picture of it uncut.


And Sliced



Well that is all for tonight. Hopefully I inspire someone like so many before me have already done.

[MetalWaterBox]

Good start to a sweet rig

[Polizei]

I think I had less than a cubic foot to work with when I did my watercooling build too. Props to you for effort... you planned yours out much better than I did. I also know how hard it's going to be to get everything to fit and look good.

I used poor man's AutoCAD - visualized it in my head - so not everything worked the way I was planning, but mine turned out pretty good. It's still an on-going project. Check it out in my sig.

[Pellepel]

I've always wanted to try something like this, getting tired of my MM case, but I never have the time. Good luck on your build I'll be taking some notes and be ready whenever I start mine.

[j33pownr]

Good start to a sweet rig

But you already knew that

Check it out in my sig.

Been there, done that. Looks awesome. Having a mATX as a first water build is ambitous to say the least. I applaud that. Here was my first. I am almost embarrased to show it now. Non color matching and ghetto.


The all internat SFF was my holy grail to see what I liked and what fitted where. The only way I could use the mATX board in <1cf was to have NO dvd-rom or hdd bays. So I will have to find a place for the hdd once everything else is in its place.

Good luck on your build I'll be taking some notes and be ready whenever I start mine.

Thanks for the kind words. If you have any questions let me know.

[Polizei]

Been there, done that. Looks awesome. Having a mATX as a first water build is ambitous to say the least. I applaud that. Here was my first. I am almost embarrased to show it now. Non color matching and ghetto.


The all internat SFF was my holy grail to see what I liked and what fitted where. The only way I could use the mATX board in <1cf was to have NO dvd-rom or hdd bays. So I will have to find a place for the hdd once everything else is in its place.

I did mine on pretty limited funds, but I'm hard on myself at the same time. I think it could've turned out better, but I'm happy with it. Eagerly watching your build.

If you exclude the area of the PSU, optical bays, and harddrive bays, I had less than 1cf to play with, but over all, my case has more volume than yours. Good luck.

[MetalWaterBox]

I need more pics...MUST POST MORE PICS!!!!!! HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[j33pownr]

**UPDATE #1**
~INTERESTING SWIFTECH NEWS~
The dimensions of the MCR220 drive radiator I got from Swiftech’s website is not identical to the radiators they are shipping. Here is the detail drawing.

Now here is the comparison next to the real thing. Notice the screw holes line up but the flanges are different. This means I scaled it correctly and that there is a noticeable difference. There is more material in the CAD drawing than on the real radiator around the flanges as shown by the green lines. In my case this will be fine since the offset will never be seen but I wanted to warn people that it is better to make a pencil rubbing of the actual radiator instead of relying on production manufacturing to match engineered CAD specs.


I began by cutting up the power supply / dvd mount. I needed to remove the bottom because the fan in the HX1000 is on the bottom, like most aftermarket ones are now a days. I decided to remove most of the sides for space but need to keep the top rails for strength and because that is how the side panels mount. They slide in from the top. Unlike most cases doors which slide from back to front.
Hacked Apart

Marked Up. You can't see it in this photo but I just followed the bevel that was already bent in this piece. Its under the C-chanel portion but is better shown in the Hacked Apart pic above on the left side.

Cut Out, Sanded and Primed


Upon reassembly something was amiss. The door would not align properly unless forced. It turns out that if you add 1/8” aluminum plate behind the front cover it shortens the distance between the front and back by an 1/8”. Who knew? After a bit of panic, I felt moving the rear mounts from the inside of the rear panel to the back side of the rear panel was the easiest fix. A picture is worth a thousand words….even if it is blurry. Well maybe 500 words. You get the idea. Sorry about that.


Moving the top rails mounting to behind the back panel caused the door mounting to be really snug. After investigation I found the culprit. I marked the portion to be cut out to fix the problem.



Now everything fits nicely. Time to test fit the radiator. Aww...what now. I found that the fill port on the radiator hits the radius I cut in the top rail.

Close up with pencil mark where to cut.

After looking at it I figured a radius the other direction is simpler, fixes the problem and is just as strong.



Little bit of sanding.


I had to lay some primer one these parts to keep them from rusting. You can see where they started rusting sitting in the garage for the past few months. Photo shows the position of how they will be installed in the case. Looking from back to front.

[j33pownr]

I need more pics...MUST POST MORE PICS!!!!!! HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Pic Whore! Your

[defect9]

I suspect I can learn a lot from following this build

[j33pownr]

I suspect I can learn a lot from following this build

Well what are you looking to learn? Thanks for watchin'

[Waterlogged]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, you've now got a tapered gap between the door and the bezel the size of your aluminum plate. To remove the taper, you're going to need to drill out the rivets and cut reliefs in the aluminum where those braces are. This will also screw up your door fix but it is the proper way to fix the problem you have.

Having done a few case mods like this, it's better if you install the new panel with the case fully assembled and mark all areas where the bezel protrudes through the front panel of the case . Here are a couple of pics from my current build where I've had to do the same thing for reference.

[MetalWaterBox]

You Pic Whore! Your

You wish , i want to see the good stuff, quit teasing us and show some pRoN already

[j33pownr]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, you've now got a tapered gap between the door and the bezel the size of your aluminum plate. To remove the taper, you're going to need to drill out the rivets and cut reliefs in the aluminum where those braces are. This will also screw up your door fix but it is the proper way to fix the problem you have.

Having done a few case mods like this, it's better if you install the new panel with the case fully assembled and mark all areas where the bezel protrudes through the front panel of the case . Here are a couple of pics from my current build where I've had to do the same thing for reference.

Your pictures look exactly like what I did. I mounted the new aluminum panel on the inside and cut out the rectangular portions that the front bezel used to mount. If I am not understanding let me know.

[Waterlogged]

Your pictures look exactly like what I did. I mounted the new aluminum panel on the inside and cut out the rectangular portions that the front bezel used to mount. If I am not understanding let me know.

Not the same. You had the case apart in two sections when you added the aluminum, I kept mine in one piece. The result is you have an extra layer at the top of your case which will (and has already) throw things out of whack (an actual technical term) by exactly the thickness of the aluminum (see pic below). To fix this "out of whack" condition, you need to remove the aluminum from between the braces and the front of the case and rivet the braces directly to the front of the case though some kind of notch in the aluminum. In other words, you need steel touching steel for everything to be back where it belongs.

[j33pownr]

Not the same. You had the case apart in two sections when you added the aluminum, I kept mine in one piece. The result is you have an extra layer at the top of your case which will (and has already) throw things out of whack (an actual technical term) by exactly the thickness of the aluminum (see pic below). To fix this "out of whack" condition, you need to remove the aluminum from between the braces and the front of the case and rivet the braces directly to the front of the case though some kind of notch in the aluminum. In other words, you need steel touching steel for everything to be back where it belongs.

I was correct in that all my door and panel alignments were fine. That is, until I added a back panel to clean up the back side of the case. Then you were correct because the "out of whack" was apparent and would have annoyed me if not fixed. Pics to come. Thanks for the advice.

To anyone reading this, I will try to get a real update later tonight.

[j33pownr]

**UPDATE #2**

I never showed the hole I had to cut in the radiator panel from where the pump sticks through.


Here is the test fit of the GTX275 in the case with the radiator. I believe once everything is mounted it will be less than 2mm from the radiator. Thats a sigh of relief.


So after Waterlogged got me looking at the gap/fitment issue with the side panels, I realized I wanted a nicer looking back plate. So a nice clean 2mm thick piece of aluminum was cut out and ready for marking.

marked up and drilling has commenced.


Here is the rear I/O Panel hole. Whats the name of the bracket that uses this L shaped hole? Im at a loss. Anyway you know what it is for.

Here I am trying to show the alignment of the cuts.



Back Plate with power supply mounts cut out and looking sweet



Then I had one of those “YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME” moments.
If you were observant you might have noticed that the top holes for the power supply mount were reversed. I measured twice and cut once. I even used a lian-li bracket as a guide to not mess this up and I had everything right except the piece I was working on was flipped over.

So I am going to try to go with it before I redo the back panel. Here was the easiest fix.
Trace the hole and make the power supply mount like a lain-li case, sliding the power supply in from the rear.



I know this is noobish but this picture is just an idea on how to clamp something so that the jigsaw still has room to maneuver. The 2x4 just transfers the clamping pressure to allow more room. The slot cut 90* to the jigsaw cut is made with the dremel cut off wheel to allow the router to easily make corners with out having to drill the corners and try to rotate the cut with the jigsaw.



At this point I was still angry at messing up 3 hours of work so I decided to do some non thinking progress. Paint.
The mobo tray was painted in the garage. I had to leave the fumes were getting me high.


By the way ^thats my modding area (about 2ft x 6ft work bench)

The next day I set up my paint area.




I twas getting dark by now which is why the coverage looks crappy. That and I was running out of paint .


The portion colored in silver needed to be removed so there would not be a 1mm gap between the new aluminum back panel and the door. This was Waterlogged’s concern which has now been fixed.


Here is the back panel alignment. I think it looks pretty darn good.


Must Sleep .... I hope you enjoyed it.

[MetalWaterBox]

Post up some pics!!!

[malkiewicz]

I love builds like this..... Keep up the good work

[j33pownr]

I love builds like this..... Keep up the good work

Thanks for the encouragement and the bump.

I noticed I was off the first page so I got my butt into action taking some pics.

MAIL CALL
3/8" Master Clear Tubing - 10ft. A little over kill since I will probably use maybe 3ft total.


5 of the 6 fittings for the first part of this build


One block to rule them all.


Get that crap out of the way I want to see it.

OHHH PURDY


Well this pic looks fake but I assure you its not.


Color Matching


Trial Fit looks nice.



******************COLOR SPOILER ALERT**********************
MCP355 Pump Housing trimmed sanded and painted.


Got to love the blue painters tape. It did wonders masking.




If you dont like it take it up with Laine and his white radiators. His SFF rad pics were the deciding factor for a white build. I just wish my camera or my photo talent could do the white justice but it looks 'off white' in my cfl lighting. I may try to get day light photos when the assembly ramps up.



OK so I will put it to the crowd. I got an EVGA GTX 275 backplate. What color should this be? As-is (annodized black aluminum), white, black, polished to "chrome like".

[Creekin]

one block to rule them all, indeed

that nb sink makes your mobo look like its got a boner!

edit: beautiful job on the white rad, if thats the quality do the backplane white as well

[werdwerdus]

i have that ram. be carefull, i made myself bleed, the edges are very sharp.

[manu_D]

Congratz j33pownr. I like these creative convulsions. A case ANTEC born aircooling reconverted watercooling ... you shown who is the boss. Nice and well done.

[MetalWaterBox]

YAY!!! nice pics ... very nice indeed cant wait to see the rest of the case i am so jealous now




you should post up the pics you showed me yesterday , they were sweet

[j33pownr]

i have that ram. be carefull, i made myself bleed, the edges are very sharp.

I too also noticed they hurt my fingers when I was pushing them in more than other sticks.

Congratz j33pownr. I like these creative convulsions. A case ANTEC born aircooling reconverted watercooling ... you shown who is the boss. Nice and well done.

Its gettin closer. Thanks for following.

you should post up the pics you showed me yesterday , they were sweet

I showed you that in private and you go spilling it to the internets


**UPDATE #4**
So here is some progress to keep me on the first page of the work logs.
Why do you need to see a nail punch macro?


To show you its the best for cutting out screw holes in templates. A slight tap with a hammer and you get a perfect hole.


New back plate with screw holes from the template transfered. You cant tell but I scored the center X in the 120mm template to mark the center.


Using the scored X from the previous step as center, set the compass accordingly. The metric ruler was to prove 120mm was actually drawn.


Before a uniform color was sprayed to stop rust, I thought all the edges were pretty good. This one was too ragged for my taste.


Quality time with the file....and Presto.


I just realized I never showed the cut out in the front panel for the pump. Its a nice fit with space below for the fan wires to enter back into the chassis. Sorry they are a little dark.



GTX275 reassembly layout with back plate on the TV tray table. This one really shows off my photography skills.


Assembled in the lightbox.


Bare card with a Swiftech Unisink.


For comparison sake. Look at how the new white paint makes my DVI connectors look yellow. This is in a non smoking environment and its still yellow. Oh well, cant dont anything about it.


Out with the Old. It never occurred to me that my chrome barbs would not match my chrome rotaries. I will try them with the clear tubing but I might end up getting some that match later.


I currently have the case parts hanging in the garage drying. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some black oxide screws from Ace Hardware to finish the case off nicely. The ones I got from Mc Master are a little short with the extra metal from the psu screw up earlier.

I want to get this built by next week. I am getting antsy considering I have had most of the hardware for the last month. Then after that is fabing a new front face plate since the original is pretty much a no-go.