Rooster; the work log.

[Vinas]

This build was completed in November 2009. If you would like to skip to the end photos, click here.






Hi folks,

This is a work log for the rig hereby known as "Rooster". Work began on Rooster last Friday, 9-18-2009.

There are several design goals with this machine.

1. Must be small (tiny?)
2. Must be water cooled
3. Must accommodate full length video cards
4. Should be LAN ready and extremely mobile
5. Cooling should be comparable in quality to a great air cooler (such as a TRUE)
6. All work must be performed by me; (eg: no CNC shops, sponsors, or outside help)
7. The color theme is black and red, think: Rooster
8. Strive for work quality that is on a level with MDPC

Hardware Build out:

• Intel i7 860 golden batch (original build had a retail Intel Core i5 750)
• Asus Maximus III GENE (uATX)
• 2x2 (4GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 7-7-7-20 @ 1.65v
• Kingston/Intel X25-Mainstream, 80GB
• Koolance 340 WB, (currently the only low profile socket 1156 WB)
• Danger Den GTS 240 radiator (red)
• XSPC Bay Res Pump Combo
• 3x Delta 60mm fans
• 1x Vantec 92mm "Tornado" fan
• 2x 120mm Scythe "Slipstream" 110cfm (for rad)
• PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200w (existing equipment)
• Thermaltake LANbox uATX case
• Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme (don't want to go deaf w/ those deltas)

I choose a combination of parts that would get me closest to my design goals. The most obvious challenge for me was the cooling. How could I attain high end cooling with about 3.5 inches of clearance? I had to find a low profile block which is why I ended up with the 340 by Koolance. I know that some people despise Koolance, just know that I would have slapped my EK supreme in there if it would fit. Luckily the innards of this block is not ALU so no worries there folks

The next major problem was my non modular PSU. I've got some creative ideas about that; so without further delay I'll post some pictures of the progress I made over the weekend in a little bit. Thanks for reading!


First things first, here's the parts that have arrived so far:






Poor vanilla case... time to dismantle






Looking a little tight... for now






About Radiator placement... The rad will be mounted under the mainboard. There is roughly a 1/4" clearance for air to escape up from around the MB. This is really why I needed the 110 cfm slipstream fans so that they can "cram" as much cooling as possible into the rad.







Applying some paint...

I've realized I'm not a very good painter. There are a few spots where the spray ran so I'll have to sand it and fix. That's what I get for rushing...




The MB tray isn't looking too good. yet. I'll take another photo once it's closer to being finished. (need to cut more and clean up the rough edges. I experimented with the holes but I don't like them at all)




PCI blanks (red on the inside and black on the outside)




finally a sneak preview of Rooster with the air/electrical box attached:

[Vinas]

Somehow this beast of a PSU needs to fit. Yup that's a PPC 1200w TurboCool. Wish me luck.

[Vinas]

Somehow I fit the PSU in the case after mutilating the 5.25" bay. I cut the bay right down the center and repainted. TT is using some really thick metal these days. I was both impressed and annoyed at its thickness!





and back to the makeshift paint booth for this part... it's chipping really easily



The build is getting closer... I fit the PSU in with the modded 5.25 bay to see how everything would line up. The PSU wireloom is a little tight, I might remove it. I'm not even sure it looks very good TBH.

[Asylum1]

Looking good so far...Hope all that fits in there when you start building.

[apt403]

Looking good so far. I've always liked the LanBox, but no one really seems to use them.

[W34513]

i believe this is the first i5 build here on the forum??? if so, kudos to you my friend. maybe i'm wrong, but i don't think i am... idk. lol

[NaMcO]

Wow i love case modding, subscribed!

[Vinas]

Thanks all... Today I'm trying to decide if I should murder that PSU or not.

Edit: I decided _not_ to murder mod that PSU... Mainly because of the costs associated with the mod and also the original cost of the PSU. I'd hate to void the warranty just for some bling effect. Unfortunately I don't think there's a chance in hell this rig will make MDPC without the murder mod. (shrug)

On the plus side, that's money saved I can put toward the graphics card!

[Vinas]

Good news, I decided to do a "hybrid" murder mod! I'm running regular cables into the air/electrical box and using extensions from there! I figure this is better than modding a $600 PSU.

Also, I was lucky enough to purchase an ATi 5870 and it's on the way! Newegg sold out almost as fast as they came up for sale... (lets hope the darn thing fits)

Ok ok, one more update before I gota get some sleep...






The bottom fans are being used as a shroud. I just cut the fan posts out and removed the fan blades. A lot better value to use some dead 120mm fans compared to the cost of a shroud ($20 or so?).




This trick was pretty easy. I just used the included short rad screws with a skinny screw driver to install the shrouds. Then I just used regular self tapping fan screws to affix the shroud and the fans together.






I have more pics I'll post up tomorrow. Gnight all.

[Vinas]

Newegg just got the Asus Maximus III Gene in stock so I ordered it right away. First the 5870, and now the Gene; what a coincidence?

Either way ETA is Friday for the video carfd and motherboard. Also, my LEDs for the fan controller should be here today. Did I mention I'm changing the blue LEDs (on the sunbeam rheobus extreme) out for red?

Also trying to decide which LEDs to use in the front of the case. There is a red LED for HDD and blue for power. I'm thinking a white LED for power would look better. Either white or red for sure.

Here's an update on what I accomplished last night... Basically cutting down the 7" bays to 5.25" standards. I was disappointed that I had to cut these down. I was expecting them to be standard sizes. TT support couldn't supply the parts either unfortunately, but they were good about responding and trying to help.
















This wiring needs to be cleaned up!!!

[paul_]

Oh, do I look forward to seeing this one! Subscribed

[Vinas]

Thanks for staying tuned guys. I gotta say I'm desperately trying to improve my camera situation and photo taking skills for all of you. So far I'm stuck with an extremely mediocre Kodak EasyShare C633 and well. It is what it is (my nice way of saying it's kinda crappy). My parents do have a better camera so once I can make it over to their house I'll have some better shots for you. Lets hope my old man doesn't force me to have a drink because I have a strict policy of no drinking and modding! </cheese>


***Update!*** Equipment that's on order (ETA early next week)
Matrix Orbital LK202-24-USB-R LCD readout
Asus Maximus III Gene (should be here today)
HIS ATi 5870
Murdermod cable sleeving, connectors, and heatshrink
Misc extension cables for the PSU sleeving



*** Photo Update *** The Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme LED Mod
I took out the basic blue LEDs and replaced them with some high quality frozen CPU LEDs. I was so excited to start work on this that I forgot to take photos of the blue LEDs! Lets start with the fans!

delta 60mm = 39.5 cfm
delta 60mm = 39.5 cfm
sunon 60mm (8000 rpm) = 56 cfm
vantec "tornado" 92mm = 110 cfm
scythe "slipstream" 120mm = 110cfm
scythe "slipstream" 120mm = 110cfm

Total CFM for all fans (including rad fans) = 465
Will Rooster fly?





Make no mistake, these are noise makers! (the little green bugger on the end is the loudest @ 56dBA)



on to the rheobus mod









All I can say about this mod is you're better off cutting the leads and re-soldering to the existing LED posts. I failed to make sure which side of each LED was positive and negative, so when I tested it only half of the LEDs were lighting up. Forgive me, it was late.

So after a few choice words I desoldered everything again and matched up the polarity on the LEDs correctly. It took about two hours to do this twice.





lights out! ooooo nice ....r e d



(notice they are faded from weak to bright -- the LEDs increase intensity as the fan power is turned up)




oooh red rheobus extreme and bearskin, does it get any better?!







That's all for now... With luck I'll have a brand new motherboard to show you tonight~! thanks again guys, keep the comments coming!


Edit: how could I forget to include a photo of my dedicated little helpers (Max and Lucy)

[paul_]

Awwwwww, dogs!

[shazza]

Great project and photos, Vinas Love to see people fit liquid cooling in those small cases.

Max and Lucy look to be doing more napping than helping

[Vinas]

Bad news people... This of the worst possible news when building up a rig and that's what happened to me!~!!!!!!!1 I blew up my PC power & cooling 1200w turbo cool... a SIX HUNDRED dollar psu.. gone

Here's what happened: I got the initial plumbing and wiring done (minus the murder mod) and wanted to fire it up just to check out the new Maximus III bios screen... Everything ran fine for about 5 minutes and "boom" a huge ass explosion like a mothering car bomb went off in my case... tons of smoke poured out of this PSU like it was a smoke machine. I literally stood there stunned before I pulled the plug.

So, _very_ dead PSU. It was only 1.5 years old so I HOPE PPC desides to do the right thing and honor their warranty. I checked on it and the Turbo Cool series has a 7 year...

TBH I don't know wht caused the explosion... I'm on my backup PPC 500w silencer and it's running like breeze with that. So the good news is that everything is fine - board, cpu, ram, ssd... Just the PSU is toast.

The project isn't over but this will be a big delay depending on what PC Power & Cooling say.

[Vinas]

Great project and photos, Vinas Love to see people fit liquid cooling in those small cases.

Max and Lucy look to be doing more napping than helping

Thanks a lot Shaz! Ya I though it would be cool with a small case. Imagine walking into a LAN with this thing... ppl will be like "wtf is that?"

The build is alive now. I'm actually typing this message from Rooster. Once the video card and front LCD comes in I'll post pics. (UPS says they'll be here tomorrow)

[Vinas]

Hi guys, just a small update. The system is up and running but I've got some wire management to do, and I need to wait for the new PSU to do it. PPC issued an RMA for the blown PSU, luckily.

The system is up and running at 4GHz! Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the Matrix Orbital LCD put in and I get my murdermod sleeving done. Right now it's looking ugly but I needed to make sure everything ran.

Oh and the 5870 came in yesterday! What a beauty eh?

[Vinas]

Started some sleeving last night. A single 24pin atx connector took me about 4 hours! I'll just say it right now; those pins are a pain in the ass to remove. It didn't turn out as good as I wanted, but I'm not going to be doing this again (that's for sure).

[paul_]

Commendable shot at the sleeving. Get a few clips to hold them in place and it'll be all good

also, SMEXY vid card

[W34513]

drools at 5870...

how were you able to get one so fast???

[Vinas]

drools at 5870...

how were you able to get one so fast???

Waited up on release day and ordered at 11:59pm

[W34513]

LOL! thats friggin awesome.

[alphadog009]

wow nice............. 5870.... talk about a card that goes with your color scheme! looks awesome and nice job getting all that lc gear into that box!

[millertime359]

Nice build log Vina.

I'm thinking about putting my E8400 out to pasture and stepping up to a Core I5 750 with an EVGA P55 FTW board. How you liking your I5 so far? You have any regrets not going for the Core I7 socket 1366s?

[W34513]

I've got two of those 38mm fans but they're so friggin loud, are you planning on having them on the fan controller?