Watercooled RC-1000 Cosmos Case

[BigDK]

The Barbs I am using are what I’ve always used so far, standard ½” barbs.

I like these as I always use 7/16” tube and by heating the ends in hot water get a water-tight fit well before applying any clips.

[BigDK]

I have now finished the 6 x HDD Bay tray handles and re-fitted these, will post picture later.

Have also started work on the front door again.

Firstly marking out the position of the fan grill, I ended up opting for re-using a fan grill from the inside fan tray on a Stacker 830 that I have lying around.


Here’s the first rough cut done with a standard metal drill and Ali blade in the jigsaw.

This was then filed off and sanded on the edges, and then the grill was checked for size fit, all okay so far!


Then replaced the Perspex on the front of door and traced around the cut out to give guide for cutting the Perspex.



This hole was cut with Dremal disc and then filed and sanded to make smooth.
The door, Perspex and grill where then checked for fit, which again seems fine.



Lastly just to get idea of end result, I align the CoolerMaster badge to see how that will look



Now I need to do a proper fit and finish of the Perspex and grill, and then do the paint work.

[TedShred]

I really like what you're doing with the door. That CM badge fits in perfectly with your mods! Really ties it all together.

Silly question about putting in that mesh: did you cut it pretty much to size and then just dab a bit of glue on a few spots? (Maybe double-sided tape?)

Thanks

[BigDK]

So far the grill isn't glued into the door, this was just a trial fit to test everything looks ok.

I'll probably glue the grill in with a glue gun.

[BigDK]

At last I’ve been able to get on and do some more work on the case.

It’s been slow going as I’ve been in too much pain to concentrate on anything for too long.

Here the door is now finished and re-fitted to the case.


Same shot with the door closed.



Front view with the door shut.


The RHS panel is now finished ‘in black’ and re-fitted as seen here.


I’ve opted for a twin radiator mounted in the top of the case, with 2 x 12cm fans pulling air out through the top grill and a new fan exhaust I’ve cut into the top ‘as seen here’


My main problem was where to mount the second radiator, as what I could have done with it, should have been worked in from the start, and I’ve done too much painting etc… to start cutting and re-working again.
So I’ve opted for a rear mounted triple radiator hanging off the back.

It won’t be the most refined solution but will work fine and when the case gets sold on; the user can opt for the same type of solution or just keep the internal twin radiator.


I’m now working on the top reservoir with is a XSPC passive reservoir, this is currently drying after painting, it will mount on the top and feed the top radiator and that loop which will have the chipset blocks and Mosfet block on it.
The triple radiator will cool the CPU/GPU and will be using a reservoir mount in a front drive bay.

[ultimeus]

always amazing Bigdk

[coolmiester]

The contrasting orange and black is stunning - good job BigDK

[TedShred]

Gorgeous!

Amazing effort BigDK, my hat's off to ya man.

[[XC] NetburstXE]

Amazing work. I especially like the door on the Cosmos!

[gmod]

Looks more yellow to me..Dont really see any orange

[disruptfam]

black and orange is the best color combo imo!!!!

[ultimeus]

Looks more yellow to me..Dont really see any orange

I think you need to calibrate your screen if you don't see orange

[BigDK]

Thanks for the feedback
Its been a slow process to get this far, especially the last few weeks, but its now getting near the end.

Its definately orange BTW, VW classic.

Just waiting for some final bits to come into stock and then when they arrive, I'll be getting the motherboard fitted and rig up the loops.
I've now decided to go for clear fluid with UV orange coils, rather than the orange UV dyed liquid, I've had too much tubing go opaque with dyes.

Currently the mobo is in use in my other RC-1000, along with the triple rad and gpu/cpu blocks, so I don't want to take it apart until as close to the end as possible.

I serioulsy thought of binning the whole project on Sunday, as my office got too hot and 2 of my raptor HDDs died from overheating.
RMA's on the way, but the standard HDD area in the Cosmos is a seriously bad design for heat. I just hope that the modded area will keep them cooler than the stock case.

My next case re-work will be a Stacker 830, which I originally changed from as the psu area was too small for my Galaxy, but will re-work that area to allow it to fit. @but thats for another day'

[CyberDruid]

Looking Good Man! Like the front panel treatment.

[biftek.]

That front panel looks hawt.
reat work as usual! keep it up!

[Crazypinoy9]

really lovin the color scheme! looks sick!

[ultimeus]

any updates ??

[BigDK]

Unfortunately I'm now just awaiting parts to turn up before I can do any more.

All have been ordered but nothing has been sent yet.

The side panel is away getting the Perspex window put in, when that gets back, I'll paint that black.

I've also got 2x Micro-reservoirs on order, but the fill holes are being re-tapped to G1/4" thread, so I can get a standard barb going up to the fill ports connected, I was planning on using top mounted cylinder reservoirs, but it seems that cyclone effect is almost guaranteed with those, so binned that idea.

I'm also waiting for 3 bottles of clear Feser fluid which is currently out of stock; I'm keeping away from dyes from now on, as it just makes the tubing go opaque over time.

I'm also waiting for 2 x in-line temperature probes and 2 x temperature LCD displays which are going to be mounted either on a drive bay cover at the front, or on the top of the case (see what looks better when they arrive)

Loads of different sized cable braids and heat shrink is also on order along with some extra clips.

I'm not taking the X38 motherboard out of commission from my current setup until all the other bits turn up, that way my system down time is kept to a minimum.
That system currently has the triple radiator fitted keeping the CPU/GPU cool, so I can't even mount that.

I've also opted for only using 4 of the 6 HDD bays inside the case, that way 2 x Raptors in RAID0 will have the newly fitted fans directly cooling them (as they run hottest) and 2 x Seagate’s in RAID1 will just sit in the back 2 slots, leaving a 1 bay air gap between them.
These 4 HDD’s will run on a dedicated RAID card which turned up yesterday and will then free up the ports for the 4x external HDD’s, 2x optical drives and 1x case mounted ESATA port.

This case is seriously flawed in the HDD storage area; it is just a heat trap with very poor capacity to dissipate the heat (IMO).
I've now opted for a 4 bay ESATA caddy outside the case, giving me less heat in the case as well as the extra storage.

Hopefully all or at least most of parts should turn up within a week or so, and then I can get on and finish it up.

Plenty of pictures to come!

Meanwhile I’ve now started work on re-modding my Mountain Mods cube case, that will have to keep me busy until the Cosmos parts get here.

[Goreg]

cant wait to see the end result it might even persuade me into getting one if these lol

[BigDK]

At last my bits turned up today in a very large box.

Work starts again tomorrow morning, so will start to post some more pictures showing the progress.

Tonight I did start mounting the 2 x orange LCD temperature displays in one of the 5.25" bay covers.

I also need to now order a sheet of clear acrylic for the door, as it came back with solid coloured UV orange acrylic instead of the see-through UV orange, so instead of being a window, its now just an orange insert, a mixture of crossed wires and lack of thought on that one, otherwise the aluminium cut out is very good, so I'll at least get on with spraying it black.

[pvtdonuts]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but the color scheme reminds me of a McLaren F1 GTR everytime I see it; in case you need a visual:

[monza1412]

I love the color scheme, nice work

[BigDK]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but the color scheme reminds me of a McLaren F1 GTR everytime I see it; in case you need a visual:

I'd swap the case for the car without any regrets

[dingdong555]

I'd swap the case for the car without any regrets

*Buys Toy McLaren F1 GTR for free case*

[YMAA]

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EDIT: Yay, 100th post!