Bogdan Pomoja Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Hi folks! I'm bugslunchbox, I live in Germany and this is my first time participating in the CoolerMaster Case Mod World Series. I'll be doing a SFF aluminum scratch build with watercooling. The name will make sense towards the end, in the painting phase, I hope. Before starting the design I set some targets for myself: - smallest dimensions possible (I ended up at 410x204x203mm, so that is just under 17l) - easy to build, without complicated tools (so no CNC) - both motherboard and GPU should be visible from one side - cool and quiet (there are 2 x 360 slim rads and a d5 pump) - easy loop maintenance (fill and bleed ports) - minimize dust (positive pressure and dust filters on all intakes) This is what I came up with: The corners are 15x15mm aluminum L profile, top and bottom are 3mm alu sheet, the sides and back plate are 2mm alu sheet, al connected with modding cubes and M3 screws. The front panel will be glass. Loop order: pump -> rad -> CPU -> GPU-> rad -> pump Please ignore the HW in the images, this is what I could find on 3dwarehouse. The HW I have now is: Asrock z390 itx + i7 8086k + 32 GB DDR43600 and a R9 Nano. But I am hoping for an upgrade to a Z490 + 10700k (or maybe x570 + Zen3) and a RTX 3070, maybe I'll find a sponsor BTW, GPUs up to 190mm long could fit in this design, so that could also mean a RTX 3080 FE with a waterblock. Also I've been trying to find a Coolermaster V850 SFX GOLD, but it is not available in Germany (yet?), maybe Coolermaster could help me with that Watercooling parts are: - 2x Magicool G2 360 rads - D5 pump and reservoir - Watercool Heatkiller CPU block - AquaComputer GPU block - probably gold fittings - probably satin hard tubing That's about it for now, next update will have some actual work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Hey! I received the aluminum pieces yesterday, so I started to do some work. First cleaning and deburring the aluminum pieces. And then drilling some holes. I'm using this Bosch drilling press. It works ok, the only problem is the drill bit has a play of about 1mm, not ideal. And finally, tapping some M3 threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 Things are moving along. First what will be the motherboard tray. And then, after struggling to grind down parts of the mod cubes, finally the first assembly. Sorry for the bad photos btw, next time I will do them in natural light, hopefully they will be better. Next is fixing the motherboard and the rads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 Update time! I've made the mount for the radiators, PSU and motherboard. Currently doing some fit tests. As you can see I've got a new Z490 motherboard and a 10700KF (I found a good deal). The CPU is delided. I've had it running at 5.2GHz in a short test with an air cooler, so pretty optimistic about that. Next I have to do the GPU and pump mount, then I hope to be able do a first waterloop test before X-mas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 Small update. New addition that I wanted to share. GPU, pump and the display are installed. First leak test coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 The last part of fabrication proved to be the most difficult. Doing the side cut-outs for the fans. The cuts are done by hand and with the Dremel motosaw. Btw, the motosaw is really struggling with 2 mm aluminum, I really wish I had bought another scroll saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Finally did the leak test... aaaand it failed (notice the paper towels). Luckily it was just one fitting that needed tightening, so easy fix. This is my first hard line loop, so for my first PETG bends I would rate these as "not bad" So, with the test done and everything working, finally I can start painting tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 26, 2021 Author Share Posted January 26, 2021 Update time... First is the "poor man's" painting booth. and the result: I decided to use some gold leaf for the accents: Some partial results: Now to start with the final assembly. Just the cables left to do before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 Last update before the final photos. Finished the painting and the cables. And started the final assembly. some Cooler Master fans Hope to finish tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Pomoja Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 Soooo, finally done. Just before the deadline of coarse. Some specs: Hardware specs: - Intel i7 10700KF CPU - Gigabyte Z490i Aorus Ultra MB - G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3866 32GB RAM - Radeon R9 Nano GPU (hope to upgrade to a RTX 3070 FE when they are in stock) - Adata SX8200 M.2 512GB SSD - FSP Dagger Pro 650W PSU Watercooling: - 2 x Magicool G2 slim 360 Radiators (yes, two 360 rads in less then 17l ) - Watercool Heatkiller IV CPU Water Block - AquaComputer R9 Nano Water Block - D5 pump and reservoir - mostly Borrow fittings - combination of soft and hard tubing - Syscooling temp and flow meter - AquaComputer quadro fan controller (for controlling the fans based on water temp) - AquaComputer Double Protect Ultra Orange coolant - COOLER MASTER MASTERFAN SF360R and SF240R ARGB fans Additional features: - final dimensions: 410x204x203mm, so just under 17l - all air intakes are filtered by Demciflex air filters(right now all fans are pulling air in through the rads and pushing it out the back) - fill and drain ports for easy service - glass front panel - 6,86 Inch 1280x480 Screen to display system specs - USB C hub used as front I/O panel - RGB leds for MB and GPU lighting ang ARGB leds on the fans - custom copper cables, done by me - no CNC, all fabrication and painting done by hand - gold accents on the exterior are real 24K gold leaf - 2 additional 70x15mm fans can be added for cooling the VRM and RAM And now the photos: Of course a project would not be complete without a "lessons learned" section: - the Dremel Motosaw is really not suitable for cutting metal - painting at home is VERY very very messy and even with proper preparation it still does not produce the best results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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