Worklog: CM 690 + Water

[karl_eller]

Despite the fact that I got woken up at 8 am this morning, the arrival of the delivery man gave me new energy.

The first (of 3) packages for my water cooling has arrived, this one from the wonderful people at Flabbergast. My order from Petra's Tech Shop is on it's way (should be here by friday), and I'm just waiting for a TR HR-05 to get in stock for my order from PC Case Gear to ship.

It has begun *cackles*

This is the plan, in general: Do a couple of small mods to my CM 690 case (mostly for cable routing, plus ease of access to CPU/Northbridge/Southbridge mounting holes from the back), paint the case internals, and then install a water cooling loop on the CPU and graphics card.

Computer Parts (all of these I own already):

• Q6600 B3
• eVGA 680i A1
• 4x 1 gig Corsair 667 Mhz RAM (I'll be upgrading these soon )
• Inno3D 8800GTX
• Thermaltake ToughPower 750 Watt Modular PSU

Cooling components:

• D-Tek FuZion CPU block with Accelerator Nozzle Kit (Petra's)
• Swiftech MCW60 GPU Waterblock w/ G80 Adapter plate (Flabbergast) (arrived)
• Enzotech BMR-C1 RAMsinks + Swiftech MC21 Mofset heatsinks for GPU (Petra's)
• Swiftech MCR320 QP Radiator (Petra's)
• Laing D5 Vario Pump (Petra's)
• Swiftech MCRES Micro Hi-Flo res (Petra's)
• Thermalright HR-05 IFX heatsink + 80mm fan (northbridge) (PC Case Gear)
• Thermalright HR-05 IFX/SLI Heatsink + 80mm fan (have)
• 7/16" ID MasterKleer tubing + various fittings (Petra's)
• Swiftech MC14 Ramsinks (for mobo's Mofsets + chokes) (Flabbergast) (arrived)
• Yate Loon D12SH-12 (Most likely run on a rheostat) (Petra's)

Misc Components:

• Side Window kit with 120mm fan mount (PC Case Gear)
• 5/8" ID coils for tubing, UV Blue (Flabbergast) (arrived)
• Anything else I forget

Ok, slightly more details on what I'm going to do:
Cut holes directly behind CPU, Northbridge and Southbridge, so I can change the waterblocks/heatsinks or the CPU (CPU waterblock uses a backplate) without having to take the motherboard out.
Sand the inside of the case with 800 Grit wet-dry sandpaper and then spray with a Satin Black Acrylic spray paint. I had considered getting the case powder coated, but it was going to cost AU$100+ which, compared to AU$10-15 for good spray paint, wasn't worth it.
Install and leak test a water loop on CPU and GPU. MCR320 Radiator is going to be mounted off the rear 120mm fan mount using a bracket similar to a Swiftech Radbox. Cooling chipsets with water was considered unnecessary, due to the fact that they already have 35-40°C load temperatures with Thermalright HR-05 IFX/SLI cooler, which will be changed to an HR-05 IFX (not IFX/SLI) due to the fact it leans up against my 8800GTX.

The package that came today wasn't too much, but it was the sign I was waiting for to start modding

And now it's time for pics They're all roughly 1024x768, so you can either click the link below, or else right click > view image to see them full size.

My computer at the moment:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5515.jpg

My shiny new Swiftech MCW60 w/ G80 adapter plate:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5507.jpg
Won't install it on the GPU until the rest of my water gets here.

Case stripped down to the bare metal, ready to be cut, cleaned then sprayed:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5503.jpg

Back of the case, with rough markings for where the mobo tray will be cut:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5518.jpg

I made a slight boo-boo when it came to your viewing pleasure. I replaced all the mofset heatsinks with Swiftech MC14 Ramsinks, as well as put ramsinks on all the chokes. However in my excitement, I forgot to take photos before I re-mounted the CPU heatsink. These are the best I can do for now, but I'll have some proper ones when my CPU waterblock gets here:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5514.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5522.jpg

That's all I have for now. Tomorrow I'm going to cut out the holes in the motherboard tray, sand back and clean the case, and then spray black. After that, it's all up to the postal service as to when the next update will be

Eller

[Origin_Unknown]

good luck hope this goes well

[Xilikon]

Good luck ! I'm sure everything will work great for you

[phelan1777]

WOOT!

Can't wait to see this one down.

My 690 was just dropped off yesterday and also my 140MMs from Petra's showed up as well.............now to figure out water cooling as well.

Good luck with the build and waiting for more pics.

[Start]

Yes finally a worklog on a water cooled 690 Good luck with it.

[eXa]

I like the CM690

Btw... macro is ur friend :p (pictures)

Edit: To remove the HDD cage.. u just have to cut 6 rivets at the bottom and 6 rivets at the top?

[NaeKuh]

lol... i'll have one up soon also. Going to use it as a showcase on anandtech case and cooling section. I'll probably amend to my sticky on that forum.

But i messured and planned out, i figure if i can sacrafice the top USB ports, i can fit a 120x3 rad on there.

[cnumartyr]

lol... i'll have one up soon also. Going to use it as a showcase on anandtech case and cooling section. I'll probably amend to my sticky on that forum.

But i messured and planned out, i figure if i can sacrafice the top USB ports, i can fit a 120x3 rad on there.

The problem there ends up being the thickness of the rads+fan and the top of the motherboard.. I've measured it out as well, cuts it close, but doable.

[karl_eller]

A small update for you all.

Finished cutting out the holes in the motherboard tray for a little bit of cable routing, plus getting to the CPU backplate + NB/SB mounting holes.

Front of the case:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5533.jpg

Back of the case:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5532.jpg

Back of the case with mobo installed:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5544.jpg

I slightly increased the size of the holes, both to tidy them up a shade and give me a bit more room to work with. Looks messy as all crap, but nothing a coat of paint and some of PC Case Gear's Fan hole moulding can't fix.

Also, took my CPU heatsink off when I was test fitting the mobo, so I have a snappy snap of the CPU mofset/choke area:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5537.jpg

That's 12 Swiftech MC14 Ramsinks. 6 for the chokes, and 6 for the Mofsets. Had to cut two Ramsinks in half for the 8 mofset chips up the top.
I've discovered two things while cutting them:
1) Forged copper is surprisingly hard to cut with a hack saw. I thought "meh, it's just copper, can't be that hard". I was wrong
2) Forged copper, when sawed, gets rather warm. And I mean painfully so.
Also, I really REALLY hate that tall-ass capacitor that sits between the 8-pin EPS plug and one of the CPU mounting holes. I'm surprised I haven't accidentally ripped the damn thing out yet.

Anyway, case has been sanded quickly, and wiped down with warm mildly soapy water, and has dried. Unfortunately it's raining, so I haven't had a chance to paint it yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

I like the CM690

Btw... macro is ur friend :p (pictures)

Edit: To remove the HDD cage.. u just have to cut 6 rivets at the bottom and 6 rivets at the top?

The first pictures of the Mofset area was taken while the CPU heatsink was on, and the LED fan on it was playing havoc with the camera. Not to mention the lack of light there

[Nate P.]

Looks pretty good so far... can't wait until the case is painted!

[DShankar]

You're painting the insides as well? I was about to do that over Christmas break on one of my CM690s (how ironic). Any tips? What are your plans in terms of colors/layers?

[karl_eller]

You're painting the insides as well? I was about to do that over Christmas break on one of my CM690s (how ironic). Any tips? What are your plans in terms of colors/layers?

Yeah, I'm spray painting the internals Satin Black. Probably will do two layers, just to make sure everything is nice and covered. The main reason is so that the cables don't stand out as much, since I'm also going to be cutting a side window, to show off my "bling"

Eller

[DShankar]

Yeah, I'm spray painting the internals Satin Black. Probably will do two layers, just to make sure everything is nice and covered. The main reason is so that the cables don't stand out as much, since I'm also going to be cutting a side window, to show off my "bling"

Eller

Will you sand the insides first?

[karl_eller]

I did a test spray on the inside of one of my door panels (which won't be seen from the outside), and the paint looks like it's sticking fairly well. I've given most of the insides a quick once over with some 800 grit sandpaper to roughen them up a shade, but it looks like I won't need to go overboard.

Edit: Oh, random question about the Swiftech MCW60. The base plate has diamond pins, which are longer along one axis compared to the other. When it's put together, are the pins supposed to be parrallel (along the longest axis) to the water flow, or perpendicular?

Eller

[Nate P.]

Parallel to the water flow. Not as restrictive that way.

[DShankar]

How are you covering the screws, nuts, rubber etc. inside the case? Are you using tape or painting over them? Are you dismantling the inside before you paint or just spraying right in?

[NaeKuh]

The problem there ends up being the thickness of the rads+fan and the top of the motherboard.. I've measured it out as well, cuts it close, but doable.

3/8ID tubing FTW!


Im plan on using push compression barbs, instead of standard, and placing them on a 3/8ID tubing. If worse comes to worse, i have martin's famous right angle copper bends.


My initial design would use the DD direct barb to mount a DDC3.2 directly on to the radiator. I am however in debate if i should use the swiftech MCR120 /w res, for the added cooling + res.

[karl_eller]

Update

W00t! Finally finished spraying the case black. I'm quite happy with the way it's turned out, although I might need to do the odd touch up tomorrow or on monday. The paint has turned out really well. I should point out in some of the pics, it might look like the paint is a bit thin, but it's just a combination of the odd reflection, flash, and the fact that my camera hates taking pictures of black objects.


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5616.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5617.jpg

In this pic, it looks like the paint is really splotchy, especially along the 5.25" drive bays, but it's actually very even. I went and double checked after I saw it in this pic

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5620.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5626.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5633.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5636.jpg

I couldn't be happier with the colour of the black, as well. It couldn't have been closer to the black the rest of the case is painted in unless I went over to the Cooler Master factories and stole the exact paint they use
To give you an idea as to how close the two paints are, when looking at the following pictures, keep in mind the top panel of the case hasn't been painted, that's the black the case is painted with at the factory:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5642.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/IMG_5645.jpg

I have made one very slight boo-boo. I forgot to drill out two holes above the rear 120mm fan mount to route the tubing to my radiator. However this won't be too big a setback, as if I do it once my Petra's order gets here, it means I'll be able to line up the holes properly (instead of just guesstimating as I'd be doing now), plus any mess will be hidden by grommets.

My order from Petra's Tech Shop has passed Customs (took all of 1 hour) and was with AustPost as of Friday afternoon, so looks like I should be getting myself a nice package on Monday.
However my order from PC Case Gear has been delayed, since they don't have the Thermalright HR-05 IFX heatsink in stock (looks like it'll come back mid-January), and they chose to discontinue the window kit I wanted to buy. So I'm going to have to ring them on Monday to change my order and get a refund on the HR-05 IFX (order from somewhere else instead) and change the window kit.

How are you covering the screws, nuts, rubber etc. inside the case? Are you using tape or painting over them? Are you dismantling the inside before you paint or just spraying right in?

All screws, mobo spacers, tool-free mounting hardware, etc was removed from the case before painting. The motherboard spacer holes are fine (I've checked them since the case has been painted). As for the foam around the PSU mount, I removed all of that, since I have my own anti-vibration stuff to use instead.

Eller

[Nate P.]

Wow, looks great for spray paint!

[MotF Bane]

Nicely done Karl.

[rehpyc]

Nicely done - after seeing some people's setups with black painted interiors, I have thought about doing it myself.

One question I have in terms of painting the inside black - will it affect case temperatures much given that black absorbs heat more than the typical metal shine?

[Fush]

Very nice mate

[disruptfam]

looks very nice

awesome work !!!

[NaeKuh]

WOW i love that black finish.

what spray paint did you use?

[DShankar]

Looking good! I believe he used satin black paint.

You mean to say you didn't remove the hdd bay or anything when you painted? You just gutted it (lightly sand, clean) and sprayed? Wow!