--- r e f l e X i o n ---

[Xion X2]

Wow! They look amazing, I'm actually liking the matt look too! Pretty unique. More BLING please

Thanks, ding! Yeah, one of the reasons I like them is because I feel that they are unique. Haven't seen this done before.

very nice

Thanks, GK!

Excellent work Xion, I am glad the whole plating process work out for you, I like the matt look.
I do agree with you about the aggressive design of their blocks, in particular the inside of the 5970s really look sweet the way they have been cut.

Come on mate, put some elbow grease into that wax-on, wax-off.
I'm really looking forward to some sweet photos real soon!
Even better would be some photos of all the cards and blocks all mounted on the mobo, hell yeah now were talk'n.

Hey, I started out with a lot of elbow grease on these but then got smart and broke out the dremel and polishing wheels.

Yeah, I know. I'm lazy.

They worked wonders, though.

The mobo's not quite ready for photos yet. I'm doing some cosmetic enhancements to it to help it fit my color scheme a little better. I just can't do with all the ugly blue/orange/red/whatever that's on the PCI-e or RAM slots, so I'm scouting out ways to blacken out all of that. May do the same thing with the caps.

Well as promised, here are some more shots of the DangerDen "Nickel" versions of the CPU and 5970 blocks. Hope you enjoy!

[dingdong555]

oh ma gawd. They're freaking AWESOME!

[martensch]

awesome, just awesome!

[Xion X2]

Thanks, guys.

I tried to get a few more of the GPUs with the acrylic tops on, but my lighting setup was playing havok with me last night. I'd forgotten that I had a mirror placed somewhere in the background of my studio, and it caused a lot of shots to overexpose.

Anyway, I should have some shots soon of these installed on the 5970s. The reason I don't is that I had no distilled H20 to rinse the blocks out with after I polished them, and I'm snowed in this weekend, so it'll have to wait until early this week when I can make it to the store.

[kgtiger]

Braking out the dremel and polishing wheels an excellent idea mate.
I had a boss once who ofen would say.
Give the hardest job the the laziest man and he will find the easiest way to do it.

Excellent work mate.

[Bill Owen]

Wow, they're sure purty

[Wezly]

This just keeps getting better and better.

Good work, sir.

[Xion X2]

Braking out the dremel and polishing wheels an excellent idea mate.
I had a boss once who ofen would say.
Give the hardest job the the laziest man and he will find the easiest way to do it.
Excellent work mate.

Yo, KG, you sayin I'm lazy?

Just kidding, bud.

I haven't had this dremel for long and am so used to hand polishing things. My last time out watercooling, I polished an entire Lian Li Server Tower by hand with some Mother's polish. Thank god for dremels is all I can say. It turned a 3-4 hour job into a 15 minute job.

Wow, they're sure purty

Thanks, Bill! Great to see you around.

This just keeps getting better and better.

Good work, sir.

Thanks, Wezly! Glad you like.

So right now I'm working on getting the blocks on the 5970s. I'm pleased with how easy it is to get these DangerDen blocks on. And it's also nice to see the stock backplate coming of use as it offers some opposing force and keeps the PCB from bowing from the pressure of the waterblock. That's been a concern of mine in the past in using full cover blocks, but the backplate keeps the PCB relatively straight.

I don't have both blocks on yet but thought I would share some of the progress thus far.

The workshop (if you can call it that. More like a studio/kitchen/workbench):




Yes, that IS tubing. I am actually going to watercool this thing.. for you guys who have been waiting around forever waiting on some H20 shots.

Removing all the screws to undo the backplate..



Luckily, there weren't too many of them. I've taken some HSFs off that had a screw for every day of the month. The 5900, besides the two GPU brackets, had fewer than most cards I've seen. And the new aluminum heat sink is extremely light compared to the copper slabs of the past.

Backplate is off.



One piece off, one to go. Time to remove the heatsink and fan.

This can't be done without removing the two GPU brackets (I call them GPU brackets.. I don't know what the technical terminology is for them) on the back of the PCB:



Those come off pretty easily. Each bracket is held in by four small screws, so eight in total.

Aaaannnnndddd... she's off!



Let's get that big, bulky, archaic air cooler out of the way and make room for something that's a little more efficient and a lot better looking.

But.. wait. The ever-annoying stage of having to remove all the old, mashed-up thermal paste before applying the waterblock. Ugh.

Luckily, I have Arctic remover and purifier to do the job.



And a box of professional, hi-grade Q-tips. No, I'm not joking.. I'm dead serious as they do make them.

*snicker*



Ahhhh. Much better. I love a nice, clean, sexy graphics chip (or two .)

And now, the best part. After applying the thermal paste and pads and popping a few screws in we get to see our new baby all dressed to impress.




Isn't she a beaut? I'm really loving the nickel plating.



Reflection.



We'll throw our little MC-TDX buddy in to join the tube party.









That's all for now! Tomorrow, I hope to have some shots of the motherboard with both cards fitted and maybe some other blocks to begin experimenting with tube routing.

Thanks for reading!

[aka_GK]

Danger Den makes stunning GPU blocks
great pics Xion!

[callen_1]

Danger Den makes stunning GPU blocks
great pics Xion!

I think it'd be more accurate to say Xion makes Danger Den blocks stunning. The nickel plating and pics are top notch

[aka_GK]

I think it'd be more accurate to say Xion makes Danger Den blocks stunning. The nickel plating and pics are top notch

well.. yeah, Xion definitely made them much better

[dingdong555]

AMAZING GPU's! I'd love DD to make their blocks in Nickel, it's the only thing that scares me away....argh, bare copper!

[ipuoL]

awesome ... can not say something else! Great work!

[Weevil]

I'm thinking a black back drop would show off the nickle plating on the front of that GPU block, better. It's hard to see with the white one. Would love to see more detail, as I would like to do this to mine.

[Kibbler]

That's looking sick man

[kgtiger]

Lazy, you come on, The Man of Detail, lazy I think not, however a man who can find the faster, better easier way, yes, well most of the time if he doesn't change is mind again.

Excellent work Xion, as per the norm with you, nicely done.

[kwscore]

oh my goodness Looks Awesome

[Xion X2]

Danger Den makes stunning GPU blocks
great pics Xion!

Thanks, GK, and, I agree.

I think it'd be more accurate to say Xion makes Danger Den blocks stunning. The nickel plating and pics are top notch

Have to give props to my man here above for first making the suggestion to look into nickel plating. It didn't occur to me at first because I've never had anything plated before, and I wasn't sure how involving it was. But, without a doubt, this soon surfaced as the best solution to modifying the blocks to fit my colors better.

Thanks, callen!

well.. yeah, Xion definitely made them much better

DangerDen provided the palette first, though.

The blocks are well designed; they just need an option for nickel, in my opinion, since it's becoming more and more popular. I believe that they are looking into this possibility and are aware of the feedback that these are getting thus far.

AMAZING GPU's! I'd love DD to make their blocks in Nickel, it's the only thing that scares me away....argh, bare copper!

Thanks, James!

I feel that the nickel balances the block well as it blends in nicely with the naming etched on the smoked acrylic, along with the screws.

awesome ... can not say something else! Great work!

Thanks, ipuoL! I appreciate the feedback.

I'm thinking a black back drop would show off the nickle plating on the front of that GPU block, better. It's hard to see with the white one. Would love to see more detail, as I would like to do this to mine.

Weevil, did you miss this post? I took all of the initial pictures with a black canvas:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=580

That's looking sick man

Thanks, Kibbler! Nice job on that radiator. That's something that you're easily better than me at as I just can't paint much of anything.

Lazy, you come on, The Man of Detail, lazy I think not, however a man who can find the faster, better easier way, yes, well most of the time if he doesn't change is mind again.

Excellent work Xion, as per the norm with you, nicely done.

Graeme, you are one funny dude.

Ok, I have no real comeback to that as most of it is accurate.

Thanks for the props.

oh my goodness Looks Awesome

Thanks, kwscore! Stay tuned as there is a lot more to come.

I should have the second block installed tonight, and then I'll do some test fitting with all components mounted inside the case to try and finalize tubing and wire routing.

[InCredible]

DD should def make the blocks like that stock..theyd probably sell more beautiful stuff.

[Red-5]

Those Danger Den blocks do look good but they look oh so much better Nickel plated. Some great shots you have there with the MC-TDX and tubing.
All I can say is fantastic as usual.

[dreamaxx]

I have to say, I saw you when you first joined the forum and posted all your grand ideas and thought it wouldn't come to fruition, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to the final product, take your time and hurry up!

[Xion X2]

DD should def make the blocks like that stock..theyd probably sell more beautiful stuff.

They do look good, and I am glad that you guys like them. They really seem to have appealed to most.

I had a feeling these blocks would look superb with this build as long as I nailed the color scheme.

Those Danger Den blocks do look good but they look oh so much better Nickel plated. Some great shots you have there with the MC-TDX and tubing.
All I can say is fantastic as usual.

Thanks, Red! Much appreciated.

I have to say, I saw you when you first joined the forum and posted all your grand ideas and thought it wouldn't come to fruition, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to the final product, take your time and hurry up!

Thank you, dreamaxx.

I guess I can understand the hesitancy as I know that the renders were ambitious. I have a difficult time avoiding that, because ambition has been known to be my middle name. I just love originality. I like things that are different and tend to stray from the norm much of the time.

I'm a big fan of "Pegasus" and think that you did an excellent job with it. Your attention for detail is something that I truly admire, and I'm glad to see you stopping in to pay a visit to refleXion.

[Xion X2]

Teaser.

[.:R32]

Teaser.

Oh my.

[Wezly]

That's just rude...