Project <<| Black3D |>> *56k nono**

[kempez815]

This project has been updated and will continue to do so, but I will post it from the beginning

Time for a new project all.

Why Black3d??

Well first off the case is quite obviously back so we can get that right out of the way! But I want to combine this with a decent gaming rig that looks professional but with the full intention of being a gaming rig

I've got myself:

Lian Li PC75b

I knew that this case needed some special treatment!

Current hardware:

AMD Opteron 175
DFI LANPARTY SLI-D
Club3d 7900GTX 512mb
2 x Mushkin Redline PC4000
SB Audigy 2 ZS
1 x 160gb Hitachi Deskstar
2 x 40gb Hitachi Deskstars in RAID 0
Sony DVD/CDRW
Crystalfontz CFA635 USB LCD
PCP&C 510 SLi

Watercooling:

Aquacomputer Evo 360 Radiator
Aquacomputer Evo 360 Silver Grill
Zen PC CPU Block
Aplhacool NexXxoS NVXP-3 Nvidia GPU block
D5 Pump
DD Floppy Drive Reservoir
1/2" Clearflex tubing
Jubilee Clamps
Blue UV Water Dye

Lighting:

Dual 12" UV Cold Cathode Kit
Dual 4" UV Cold Cathode Kit

Project has been helped enormously by SpecialTech and will hopefully continue to be



Crystalfontz gave me the LCD for review and its going to be coming to the new project

[kempez815]

Right first up is the case.

I have got it and cut out the top part ready for cutting. I was going to cut this myself but I bought the Rad and Rad grill from Kustom so I decided to get them to cut it at the same time

drilled out the pop-rivets that hold the case top onto the case. Easy job

Unwrapping!



Sexy front



Inside the case



Inside Front



Rear



Inside Rear



Side



Inside Top



And the case top off



Looking good. Very nice case. Very light. Just the "professional" look I want

[kempez815]

My php thumbs with links won't work EDIT: Should do now

Anyway ordered:


Aquacomputer Evo 360 Radiator - Ordered
Aquacomputer Evo 360 Silver Grill - Ordered
Aplhacool NexXxoS NVXP-3 Nvidia GPU block - Ordered

EDIT: My tools

[n00b 0f l337]

Awesome kemp, keep it up.

[kempez815]

I currently have Blue UV Dye and UV Cold Cathodes. I am thinking of trying this Orange UV dye that I have but I think its a bit pink!

The LANPARTY motherboard is mainly yellow and orange so if I can get an orange UV dye that is ACTUALLY orange then I like orange as a main colour for the water with maybe blue highlights elsewhere. What dya think?

Deffo going to get some black and silver action going on inside the case. Unsure if I want to paint the indide though so maybe some black and silver highlights (like polished perforated aluminium). There's definately going to be a window in the case and I may try my hand at some etching into it. I like drawing so I'll come up with some ideas on paper and show you guys

I'm also trying to think how I can incorpoarte the spare CM Crossflow I have fan into the case as that is awesome for cooling the entire motherboard

EDIT: Just thought I'd show you just how sexy the Crystalfontz LCD really is

[kempez815]

I had to sell the stacker to raise some funds meaning that I had to move to the Lian Li today. I haven't done much modding really. But I did manage to get a couple of things done:

1: Install Rad + Grill + Fans
2: Decide to put a window in front of the 3 1/4" bays where my HDD's are. Looks pretty nice.
3: Install everything back into case minus watercooling. Still waiting on some integral stuff from Watercooling Shop

Soz for the bad pics but I had to use my phone as the missus has gone away for the night and taken our digi-cam

Still waiting on some stuff for watercooling so thats why there is a stock HSF on there

Top Screws done. This is for the benefit of whoever wants to know where to drill out the rivets. If you look at the top there are two bolts holding on the case top. Before I started they were rivets. This is about the same at the back of the case. Just drill em out



Grill and fans installed:



Getting the LCD in



Getting all the drive bays in place:



Dinner break - 10pm!!



For the drive bay I cut off a piece of perspex to size of the hole. I then drilled 4 holes equidistant from each corner of the drive bay. I drilled the perspex with matching holes and use some nice bolts and nuts to hold it in place. I think this looks nice



Eventually got the hardware installed



Front view of the case:



Top view showing that sexy grill and fans. I found that silenX fans come with a kind of black dust covering them. Maybe this is for protection but either way I got out some surgical spirit and got it off. Now they're nice and shiny



A money shot of the LCD in action as well as the HDD drive bay window. I may mod the drive bay itself to accept a small fan blowing over the HDD's from the side. We will see.



Planned:

* Figure out window mod

* Figure out lighting

* Mod the HDD bay to accept a fan

* Clean up and perhaps polish HDD's so no stickers show

* Etch window bay acrylic

* Get the rest of my watercooling to actually turn up at my house then install it.

* Braid all unbraided wires in black

* Find some wheels for the case.

I'm thinking white lighting with UV cathodes. What dya think?

EDIT: And do something about the power and reset switch....damn they're boring

[kempez815]

Reason its going through the rad first is to cool down the air before it goes into the CPU block. Also takes out the small amount of Heat that the pump adds.

More pics:

Here's the pics of my etch








I don't think its too bad for my first etch

Here's some pics of the alphacool block cleaned up and the changed internals

[kempez815]

Dodgy as hell dry test loop. Doesn't look too bad and at least it all fit in



Decided against the elbow in the pumps/res



Put some plumbers tape on the barbs



Then fitted them





Hope you like this update

Masked up:



Cut it out



Sanded the window from the back and added a trim



Don't think its too bad for my first go

[kempez815]

Hey guys thanks

Last night I decided to cut some additional holes in the case side. This was really out of necessity rather than anything else in all honesty - the setup just wasn't getting enough air in. I was going with one hole but decided on two for effect

This hole will be filled with 2 x 120mm silenX fans and a grill. Please ignore the orange fan that was a test fit. Also some rubber surround is going to be added.



Caution: dodgy phone image

Also managed to sleeve up a whole lot of cables too

Also decided that seeing I haven't seen hide-nor-hair of my replacement GPU water block I'm going with a CPU loop on its own for the moment. Another reason for this is due to the fact I am constantly switching out my cards for reviews etc.

EDIT: All dremel work

[kempez815]

Water loop for CPU installed. No leaks as usual and looks ok





More pics when I'm not on a lappy and I get another SilenX fan through along with some edging and bits

Well had a bit of a productive evening.

Got my SilenX fan through

Don't like the "gunmetal". But I know you can clean it off. A bit of surgical spirit and a use found for those cotton swabs women (the missus) use to clean their face and tadaa!!

Before



After



Trimmed the fan holes too. One day I'll get the hang of it. But not right now. At least it'll be covered with a grill!





Cut the mobo tray and the side of the mobo to get some wire management going on. Twas hard work but looks ok. Trim has been changed a bit and smartened up a lot but I also have plans to cover it a bit





What dya think then??

[kempez815]

Well: I had a day off and played a round of golf just before a nice bite + pint at the pub :p

But I did manage to get the rig installed into the case as both myself and the fiancee (well: mainly the fiancee :p) are getting annoyed at the mess

Had to cut a hole to allow the fan to get past the PSU holder but thats another story...needless to say I now have a dremel minus about 5 cutting wheels Pics another day

Internals are ok. Wiring is a bit of a nightmare and I may have to hack around some more we'll see





Haven't put the lighting in yet. Thats for another week (maybe next week) when I'm not quite so tired and hot.

I haven't cleaned up the case yet so the pics are ok..ish





Got one fan grill through today. put it on with the bare fan for a comparison. I would like to know people's thoughts on this as I quite like the fan without the grill...but I also like the grill..



As usual thoughts and comments welcome!

Back to 2.8GHz now and temps are pretty good although the PWM IC is pretty high. Maybe I will get some replacement sinks.

Its a drop of about 7-8*C from my last setup...but remember that there's no GPU loop in there until I complete another bench PC.

[kempez815]

Going with no grill mefinks



OK so I just had to get some UV in there. Turned out well





And the front:





Haven't made the switch box yet but the switch I have works well

Also going to add a couple of white LED's to the front plexi...if it looks good

[kempez815]

Been a little busy with reviewing and deciding what to do with the project. Am moving soon so modding is on hold but I'm going to do a parts refresh

Just got my replacement Alphacool NexXxos GPU block. The first one was lost in transit But Alphacool sorted it

Looks friggin sweet



I will certainly be making a GPU loop somewhen soon. It's either the Alphacool or the Eddie EK block - I'm getting one for testing this week tuesday (08/08/2006)

I have a cardkeeper which I will probably be spraying to match the waterloop

New Parts for a refresh:

Asus P5W DH Deluxe ordered
Conroe E6600: Have
RAM 2gb GSkill PC2 6400 (CAS 5)

Just to prove that conroe is REAL and we do actually have some in the UK





Just got to wait for a board and RAM now

I will also be adding a cathode switch and some LED's to one of the drive bays to brighten it up and allow me to turn the UV on/off

Also I think I will be turning the waterloop green

[el rolio]

nice work, keep it up!

[kempez815]

nice work, keep it up!

Thanks man

It's green so my loops going to be green to match





And here goes the Abit AT8 32x to our lucky competition winner

[kempez815]

Cut away part of the USB Holder in the front of the Lian Li with my dremel to put in my cathode switch. Trimmed with blowhole trim. Looks pretty sweet IMO



Tomorrow's the Big Intel Day...plus I'll be "going green" in my loop

[kempez815]

Too tired to do a detailed post...but it's going well. Redone Water loop and installed Conroe

No problems so far at stock. Mobo ran fine with the 2gig of GSkill

One quick pic before bed...stock speeds remember and RAM running on Auto - muchas throttled

[kempez815]

Pics quickly More pics and detailed comments to follow tonight or tomorrow





The loop sticks out a bit unfortunately But I'm getting the eddie EK block soon so hopefully that would be better for routing. I can just put the case side on without one of the fans

We'll see...

[BigDov]

That looks really REALLY nice kempez..... good work!

[Sparky]

dang looking at this makes my project look whimpy in comparison

Nice work!

[kempez815]

Thanks guys...now to do some clocking

[kempez815]

Thanks man

Max Stable OC 3.6GHz (400 x 9)



http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=111144



What I may run it t 24/7 is 3.375GHz (375 x 9)





http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=111180

Not bad

Here's t3h sex:

[bigKr33]

That rig is clean. Nice foot by the way.

[INJViper]

Nice job. Very clean.

[kempez815]

That rig is clean. Nice foot by the way.

Thank you both

And ye - gotta have a foot picture in any good worklog