Saturday, 22 June 2013

psu cover 50% completed

As promised, more updates today :) Had to draw circles for making hole to fit the fill port.




It worked out great, perfectly aligned but I have a new problem.



So my main objective was to get the pump directly under the reservoir but its super tight. As you can see there is no gap at all between the pump top & the luminous panel.


Another problem was the pump inlet fitting & the fillport is not aligned. The pump is a little too thick so it offsets outwards a little bit. And also the 45deg rotary isnt straight. I can solve it by rising the pump higher but I dont have space though to rise the pump so had to use 20mm extender at the radiator :P




As for the pump offset problem, I had to use a dremel to grind the pump cover or whatever you call that round circle thing that secures the pump top & the pump. Basically I trim the gripping material a little bit so that the pump can enter inwards a little more. Sorry for not taking a lot of pictures, when it comes to modding, taking pictures is my less priority since I spend too much time doing the actual work :P


Made the 2nd fillport yay! My initial plan was to put this flowsensor at the reservoir inlet at the top & use extenders from the fillport to the bottom of the gpu inlet. So that I can run a straight tubing from the bottom to the gpu inlet. This will give the straight tubing that we usually see in acrylic tubing builds but then I thought why not replace the extenders with my flowsensor? Plus it will be easier to see on the luminous panel instead of the top & also save me from using extenders therefore less cost! That long extenders is just for aligning, will replace that with compression fitting & tubing.

I tell you, this is probably the hardest part in my build so far! First I need to attach the pump to the fillport at such a tight space, then from the fillport I need to connect to the reservoir at such a tight space to work with. Once everything is set, I had to connect this small piece of tubing to the radiator & oh boy...it was so hard! Because I cant move the pump or have enough space to work with. Took me more than 1 hour to get the lower portion done. I had to remove to rivets at the back of the casing to fit this luminous panel properly below the pci bracket & I also drilled 2 big holes at the bottom acrylic panel to route the pump wire from below the casing & also allow me to adjust the pump speed. Not convenient to adjust the speed from under the casing but at least I have the option if needed. I plan to connect this pump on a lamptron cw611 though so it will allow me to adjust the speed through the fan controller instead.


This is what you get when you dont have motherboard. Had to hang the gpu with strings to get the accurate measurement for the fillport locations.


So far everything is looking good, will work on the psu side cover & at the front. Took me more than half a day to get the lower portion routing done. It looks simple but I did a lot of small modding here & there to get it in such a tight space.


The luminous panel is just a prototype though, but I dont plan to change it since is amount of work I need to remove the fittings & put it back is such a pain. If the led 1 day failed then only I will decide to create a new luminous panel with laser engraved instead of hand sanded for better light distribution. I also have an idea to make a aluminum bracket to fit the led inside whenever it fails, this will make the whole replacing led process easier. Basically what I mean is instead of using black tape to hold the led strip to the side of the acrylic, I will create a thin spacing with aluminum instead.

Not sure if you understand what I am trying to say but for now I think I will just use the current luminous panel.

Friday, 21 June 2013

Installing gpu waterblock

I know its been sometime since the last update & I apologize for that. Was busy so had to put the work log on hold. Don't worry though, I am free now for a month or so. You will be seeing more updates now. I just finished installing the gpu waterblock, ek bridge & the backplate (I forgot to take picture of the final product). Anyways I plan to start making fill ports tomorrow on the luminous panel.






Friday, 31 May 2013

Few more stuff is here & more on the way...

Tiny update:
Before you guys say anything, I would like to remind you that I already mention before I start this worklog that this will be a very slow build which explains why there isnt much yet. So I just finished installing the gaskets in my rig, I am the very paranoid type of person when it comes to sound. I am planning to go for the ultra silent rig yet performs well in cooling which explains why I keep changing fans from SGT to SP120 high performance to quiet editions and its pretty obvious why I am installing gaskets all over the places haha. Anywhere there is fans contacts, there will be gasket! Also my supplier only had the 360mm size so I had to cut it to fit at the front radiator.




Flowsensor is here! I had to make a special order for this since cant get it locally!


And some 'rare' fitting sizes & g1/4 rotary's since local retailer only carry 1 size :(


Best part of unpacking is to find suprised goodies! Its not that it very expensive or what but its just the surprise that you get free stuff makes the whole experience happier. The packaging is superb too, wrapped in bitspower own bubble wrap!

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Corsair SP120 vs Gentle Typhoon

Doing some tests to find the prefect fans for my needs. This is the ambient sound noise at night...



Gentle typhoon at full speed:


 Ambient sound noise during corsair sp120 tests (done in the daytime):





































SP120 Quiet Edition at full speed (12v):



SP120 Quiet Edition (7v - using the included adapter): 



































SP120 High Performance at full speed (12v):





SP120 High Performance (7v - using the included adapter): 



All this tests are not accurate & do not serve as a guide or comparison on which fans are noisy/silent. Its purely for my own usage, to finding the fans that will suit me well. I decided to use the corsair SP120 quiet edition in my build since I am going with a push + pull setup. Gentle typhoon is a good fan no doubt but its not pleasant to my eyes :P

Oh and I also got my top panel replacement from nzxt already :D


Friday, 17 May 2013

Luminous panel Beta

 Tested the acrylic panel this time with 5mm sanded + super bright led strip, still getting uneven brightness...


Went back to the drawing board & made changes, manage to mount the led at the side & cover with wire tape. I am not sure how long these china leds are going to last before failing plus its covered directly to the acrylic with no gap & wire tape so the heat is going to be trapped. Lets just hope it does not get too hot & burn the leds otherwise I need to rethink how to do it...

Luminous panel in action, replaced the led strip with a dimmer one. Looks much better now but still uneven brightness. Its not very noticeable in real life though. I think laser engraved acrylic will give a better result. Will try making one with laser engraved instead of sanded...





Lego for adults...