CaseLabs SM8 Blue/Green w/ Custom 5 bay reservoir

[p3nnyw1se]

CaseLabs SM8 Custom 5 bay reservoir. I'm still working on a name for this build.

For my build this winter I'm going to be using CaseLabs new Merlin SM8 case,

EVGAs Z77 FTW board, 2 EVGAs GTX 680 Classified Hydros, and an Intel 3770k. I

am still working on the rest of the components. I will be building a custom 5

bay reservoir, feet, and a few other parts.

Thank you CaseLabs for another high quality case.



Thank you EVGA for your continued devotion to the enthusiast community.



Thank You Roccat for your outstanding products.

[p3nnyw1se]

These are my final pictures of Triton. It is featured on the front page of CPU Magazine.
Thank you everyone for your feedback, ideas, and support.

[p3nnyw1se]

The CaseLabs Merlin SM8 case is smaller than my last build (EpiDemic). It is a single wide case with a variety of options.










The first thing I will be working on is the 5 bay reservoir.



this is my first attempt to see how the water will flow



after getting it all glued together, and building an icycle design into it.



I sanded down the outside to create a frost look to it. I still need to use a larger grit sand paper.



I put together a quick gasket to see how every thing works. I also made a video.
I still have a few other things to do to, but let me know what you think so far.



I put togeather a video of the water flow for you guys to see.

http://youtu.be/kXk-nz6FInw

[fuzelogic]

i like seeing new builds using the caselabs cases, can't wait to see more pics!

[p3nnyw1se]

I've been looking for fans that would go with my build. I picked up an Xigmatek xaf-f1256. It has white leds. not sure if I like the white leds or not. Great fan though. Very quiet and great air flow. Would be nice to have some blue leds in it though.


I've been putting in some leds on top of the resevoir to illuminate the reservoir. This picture only has one for now, but when i'm done it will light it up really well. I will probably put it on a dimmer. I have a couple small tweaks to do on it, but minor ones.

[Utnorris]

That res looks awesome! Wish i had the skills for that.

[fuzelogic]

Yes, the res looks awesome!! How much fluid will it hold? Do you plan on using a single res for all the various loops?

[p3nnyw1se]

It holds quite a bit of fluid, not to bad though. Yes this res will work with the entire loop. I will be running my loop in series.

[p3nnyw1se]

I started working on the feet today. I still have some polishing to do. I also ordered some MDPC sleeving.
Freshly cut


After a little sanding


And some more sanding

[p3nnyw1se]

Happy Holidays everyone. I've been ordering parts and working on the feet.
I received my sleeving from MDPC. I picked up some Carbon fiber vinyl, and the rest of my fans.
I was playing around with the carbon fiber vinyl a little of a 240 rad my buddy DA gave me.
I ordered some other vinyl to do the rad in my build with.
I am also fabbing up a mount for my pump.












Here is an early picture of one of the feet i wrapped, drilled and tapped. I will be mounting a blue led inside once finished.

[editor22]

wow that res looks brilliant p3nnyw1se, the pictures really don't do it justice!

[p3nnyw1se]

So I picked up a d5 pump and a 480 rad today.
Took a picture and quick video for you guys. There is no resistance an I need to turn the pump down a little, so the water is just flying through there. should have less bubbles once turned down.
http://youtu.be/ZNEfJT2YI10

[p3nnyw1se]

So I have been very busy the last 2 weeks. Used up about 220 feet of wire and sleeving. I have wrapped my gpus, psu ssds, hard drive andp with brushed blue steel, carbon fiber, and green vinyl. Its all starting to come together. I decided to order in a corsair force gt 240 gig ssd, and 16 gigs of dominator platinum memory from corsair. It should be in tomorrow. I have sleeved and sewn cables for th3 mobo, and gpus. I have almost run out of sleeving, so i must order more asap. Why is it when you do your take off of how much sleeving you need and then add some to that number, you always need more. I am wiring the feet light tonight and plan on wiring in the uv lights and cutting in the switch on the front panel tomorrow. Im under the gun now with pdxlan in just 3 weeks. I will be picking up the pace this next week. I promise more pictures tomorrow. I also have a new keyboard and mouse coming in from Roccat. They make some really good quality products. I cant wait to try these out.

[p3nnyw1se]

As promised, here are some pictures of what I have been up to the last couple

weeks. First here are some pictures of what I got in the mail.

I talked to the guys at Roccat this week about a mouse. These guys are great.

They are sending me there Kone XTD mouse, and there Isku FX keyboard. Thanks

Roccat.

Blue connectors in as well as my ax1200 connector kit.




The rest of my Fittings, Orings, and Tamper proof buttons.



Picked up this 480 gtx rad from Clamdip on the PDXLan Forums.



I got my Dominator Platinum, and force GT 240 gb ssd in today.





I started out by wrapping the gtx 480 rad with some brushed blue steel vinyl.



I wrapped the koolance block with vinyl and cut out the dark grey metal.







The 2 gtx 680 classies were pretty time consuming to wrap.





I continued on my vinyl wrapping spree by rapping my AX1200, followed by my

drives.







I have about 90% of my wiring complete at this point. I finished the 24 pin,

the 4 pci 8 pins, and the 2 mobo 8 pins. I still have a couple more to do. I

also built, wired and sleeved the feet light and I also lite up the acrylic

peace behind the pump.











Here is the support and mount for the pump that I built.





I did some decals and painting a little yestarday.








Ok, lastly. I need your opinion. Should I wrap the top of the Dominator

memory and put green lettering on top that says dominator. OR, should I leave

it chrome. It looks so nice the way it comes.






Let me know what you guys think.

[p3nnyw1se]

The gtx 680 classified hydros come with the red led, that light up the frosted acrylic block in the water bridge. The Led are soldered onto the board, so i covered them up and drilled a hole in the bottom of the water bridge. I made a new acrylic block with a channel board out on the bottom. I ran up some wire through the channel to some blue leds on either side of the acrylic. Looks realy cool. I need to put my dimmer on for my UV lights. they are up way to high.
I then wrapped the cover to the block.
So, I needed to see what the ram would look like with the lettering on it to make up my mind.

[Ivanlabrie]

Pretty unique radioactive color scheme! I like it...
Love this case model, it's big enough but not obnoxiously huge.

I say wrap the ram heatsink, blue fits better.
As for the pump, why not a 35x? Also, no clue on the xigmatek fans...you chose those only cause of the looks?
What fluid will you use?

[p3nnyw1se]

the radio active is alot more than it is. the uv light are on full. I need to install my dimmer. These caselabs cases are extremely nice.
the d5 pump is a very reliable pump and has plenty of flow.
I chose the xigmatek fans because of the airflow, noise, and look.
I will be using clear fluid. probably just di water.
thanks for the input.

[p3nnyw1se]

I was sick all last week. I did manage to get a few things done though. I sleeved the sata power cables, sleeved the sata

cables, sleeved the 6 pin power cable for the pci slots, wrapped all the dominator memory (Thanks for everyones input), built

a mesh guard for the wires that sit over the top of a fan. Organized some wires, and have been trying to come up with a name

for my build.
I also received a Roccat Kone xtd mouse, and Isku keyboard. I spent the night playing around with the mouse. Is all I have to

say is, WOW, what a great mouse. Besides just the basics of a mouse, comfort, smoothness. It looks amazing. I love the way I

can customize the colors on the sides.
All I have left to do is build a power cable for my pump lighting and fans (I'm just waiting on the sleeving to come in.),

install the wire guard above the fan by the pump, and get some decal work done on the outside.

[p3nnyw1se]

Ok guys, I'm finally finished with this mod. I have decided to name this build Triton. I brought it out for some pictures and will be posting up some after PDXLan this weekend. Here is a teaser for you guys till then. Let me know what you guys think, and thanks for all the feedback.

[Prozium]

that's a sweet build and a sweet case.

[p3nnyw1se]

Hey guys, PDXLan this weekend was a blast. I won first place in the mod contest and will be featured on the front page of CPU Magazine. I have some pictures of other cases, and If you haven't seen the youtube video yet of the Harlem Shake here, Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90YhkMNoEg8. I will have more pictures up after I get a chance to develop them this week.

[p3nnyw1se]

Ok, guys as promised, here are the final pictures.
Thank you guys for following my build. Keep watching for new ones, I have one already in the works. Let me know if you have any questions and how you guys like the final pictures.

[fuzelogic]

i like all of the mods you made to the system....but I've never remember seeing anyone do the black braiding thru the cables to make them lay flat. I just can't seem to have the patience to get everything so neat, especially when making changes to a system that you can't afford to have down very long

[Saltire]

Very nice !

[tool_462]

WHY IS THIS BUILD NOT RED AND BLACK LIKE EVERY OTHER MOD!>?!!


:p

Very nice work, I really like the controlled chaos of the color scheme. I look forward to doing a big build in a CaseLabs case soon

From the words of my forum namesake, "Finding beauty in the dissonance."