frozensnail Posted November 21, 2009 Posted November 21, 2009 Thought it time I posted this project up, been a while now since the i37 LAN event & two + months since the first part of this project hit the shelves in PC Format. Following the huge feedback from the Coolermaster ATCs840 (Carbon Overclock) mod that traveled to CeBIT in March of this year, I was more than happy to receive a commission to build a new mod for the Coolermaster / CPU3D stand for the i37 multiplay event. I’ve also been given the opportunity by PC Format to detail this new mod to the readers over the next 5-6 months. So here goes, Being kinda involved with the Cosmos 1000 & S chassis, I’ve got a soft spot for the case even two years down the road, hence why I chosen the Cosmos S to modify. I have a few ideas already for this mod, water cooled goes without saying, and most likely a dual loop system. Fitting a 7†touch screen into the front of case would be a nice idea and really draws the crowds in at shows playing the right kind of video / movie. As always with a water-cooled PC I’m starting off by planning the water cooling system within the chassis. Looking around the Cosmos S for pump & radiator mounting areas, there’s plenty of options & enough space to have two or more different water cooling loops. I’ve settled for a dual loop and it’s by no means necessary for the cooling requirements of the Rig, but is now becoming more widely used in Water cooled PC’s & adds a little more complexity or niche factor to the PC mod?. I’ve quickly removed the side panels from the Cosmos S so we can take a closer look. At the top of the Cosmos S the 360mm radiator mounting points are already in place, it must be the first time I’ve not had to cut the chassis or make a radiator mounting plate to fit a large radiator! The first of our dual loop system is going to use the top mounted 360mm radiator to cool the CPU & Chipset. I’ve opted to use a 240mm radiator mounted in the base of the chassis this will hopefully keep cool the 2x ATI Sapphire 4850x2 graphics cards that Sapphire kindly supplied for this mod. Using the 240mm radiator will mean that a little chassis cutting will be required so I’ve stripped the Cosmos S down to the bare chassis. I have used a template downloaded from mnpctech to mark out the area to be cut out. To cut the hole required to mount the radiator I’ve drilled a series of 5mm holes to allow the hacksaw to be inserted. I’m using an air hacksaw which will tear through the aluminum with ease but has a habit of going off course like a patriot missile over Bagdad, so take heed if using a power tool like thisïŠ. The 240mm radiator now fits nicely in position in the base of the chassis & I’ve used a 240mm radiator grill to hopefully protect the radiator from the underside of the chassis.
frozensnail Posted November 21, 2009 Author Posted November 21, 2009 Now the cutting of the chassis is complete its time for disassembly, the Cosmos S is held together by flush fit aluminum rivets. These are very easy to remove using a 3mm drill. With little effort the Cosmos S soon looks like a flat pack purchased from Ikea! A full list of the water cooling components used in this project are detailed below & I’ve been very lucky with sponsorship managing to secure pretty much all the water cooling components from XSPC http://www.xspc.biz/ . Water cooling kit. Water Blocks – XSPC Delta V3 CPU & North Bridge 2x XSPC Full coverage 4850x2 blocks Pumps – 2x Laing DDC- 1 Ultra 10watt fitted in a new XSPC DDC Bayer Radiators – XSPC RX360 XSPC RX240 Hose / Tube – XSPC solid white ½ hose Many thanks for looking & hope to have more posted soon
frozensnail Posted November 21, 2009 Author Posted November 21, 2009 The project has gathered speed at an almost frightening pace and it really needed too with the Multiplay event only weeks away. Spending a valuable few minutes thinking of colours / finishes for the new project I decided on something a little different?. The XSPC solid white tube gave me an idea for the chassis colour, so I loaded up the car with the Ikea Cosmos and screamed off to the local powder coater. One day later the bare & boring aluminium chassis is turn from “Berlin wall Grey†to a shiny gloss white that rivals any Hollywood film stars teeth!. I must thank my buddy Steve the local powder coater for such a quick turn around with this chassis. The very same evening I was itching to crack on with the reassembly of the Cosmos. I had to wait so patiently for the misses to go to bed or at least pass out on the sofa before starting work. 10.30pm soon came around, the chassis parts were laid out on my living room floor ready for the trusty rivet gun. Referring to the photographs taken at the time of disassembly, the reassembly of the Cosmos S took only a matter of minutes using 3mm black rivets.
frozensnail Posted November 21, 2009 Author Posted November 21, 2009 By 11.30pm the Cosmos S was standing on its own feet or rails again, great to see it back together after looking like a pile of scrap the day before. Fitting huge XSPC RX 360mm & 240mm radiators went very smoothly. The time taken in correctly marking/cutting the 240mm radiator hole paid off and the underside was finished off using a Coolercases 240mm radiator grill, compliments from Mr. Edwards. As you can now see I’m going for a Black & White / Ying Yang theme with this Cosmos S, using XSPC solid white tubing with XSPC Black Acetal water blocks. With the theme in mind the chrome clamping brackets supplied with the water blocks looked really out of place against the white chassis. I soon rubbed down the chrome mounting clamps or plates using 400 grade wet n dry paper, then applied primer and finished them off with some satin black to match the water blocks. Carrying on with the water cooling, I’ve used an XSPC dual DDC bay reservoir fitted with 2x Laing DDC-1T Pro 10w pumps. I must say that this is a top notch and very well thought through reservoir, the best part being able to mount the 2x Laing DDC pumps. The unit I have is Mk1 where both pumps use the fluid from the reservoir, Mk2 version has the reservoir split or independent to each pump allowing you to run two different coloured fluids. With the water cooling of this mod coming together well, time I started sorting out some hardware for the project?. A Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard & Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 CPU along with 4GB of OCZ DDR2 8500 memory were purchased. Next installment / post, I’m going to concentrate getting the water cooling loops assembled. Once the fundamentals are in place I’ve got a couple of niche mods for this project including a 7†touch screen and two spy cameras.
PaPang Posted November 21, 2009 Posted November 21, 2009 Great worklog, fit for a contest! Keep up the good work and great mod! Cheers and Saludos
CraigPeel Posted February 25, 2010 Posted February 25, 2010 I'd like to follow along with this but none of the pics are working. Could you give us an update. Thanks. There are lots of Essex Escorts on the bunnies site.
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