Project [Evolution] - 2011 Case Mod Competition

[mav2000]

PROJECT [EVOLUTION]

Hi guys and welcome to my case mod thread.

Just a quick background. I restarted my love for computers after a fairly long time around 2008 and since then have finished a couple of projects. I am based in India and as most of you will know, getting parts down here is not an easy task. Most of the stuff has to be imported and even basic things like tubing needs to be bought either from the US or the UK and that adds quite a bit to the overall cost of things.

This is going to be my most ambitious ever and I hope you guys will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy case modding and water cooling. I hope to get suggestions from you guys on how to make things better as well.

So starting of with a list of what is going into this project. Pics will follow in the next post:

1. CM HAF X

2. CM 700W Silent Power PSU

3. Asus Crosshair IV Formula

4. AMD 1090T BE

5. Asus 5850 reference version

6. 2x2 GBTeam Xtreem 2000 Mhz CL9 LV Ram

7. Seagate 1TB 7200.12 HDD

8. OCZ vertex 2 120 GB SSD

On the water cooling side:

1. EK Supreme HF CPU

2. EK 5850 Ref Block GPU

3. Black Ice GTX 360

4. XSPC RS 120

5. Swiftech MCP 355 with EK Black Top

6. EK 150 Multi option Res

7. Mix of EK and itspower 7/16" 5/8" Compression fittings and G 1/4" angle fittings

8. Primochill Black or Red tubing

Modding:

1. HDD Bay removal

2. LED lighting

3. Carbon Fiber finish for some part of the insides

4. MDPC Sleeving for the PSu and all other cables

The mod is going to be a fairly simple one as compared to some of the others here, but I hope to get a fully working daily driver at the end of this. I may add to the list of mods as we go ahead, depending on the time and budget I can put out for it.

Thanks for reading and hope to get some pics up soon. Cheers.

[mav2000]

So lets start with some of the small stuff.

Now getting back to the work at hand. I am sure a lot of you would have read about the NB/PWM area heating issues that Asus had with the CH IV when it first came out. Now, we being in India, the newer batches never landed here and I thought I would take a quick look beneath the heatsinks to make sure that all was fine.

A quick look at the heatsink contact areas told me that it was not and I could have had a potential problem somewhere down the line.

So off came the old thermal pad and I replaced it with some stuff that I had got from EK earlier. I also shaved down the contact nuts a bit, to make sure that it fit like it was supposed to. Also changed the stuff on the NB and SB and added some MX2.

And screwed the heatsink back in.

Then got on to removing a few stickers.

[PaPang]

Hola Mav!

Don't get to see many modders from India so hurray for entering! I hope to see a great project from you and I like what little I have seen. Best of luck and wishes.

Cheers and Saludos

[mav2000]

Thank PaPang. Now going ahead.

So, couple of packs landed in the last few days, but most of the main build stuff is still to come. But here are a few updates...I will put up some pics of the sleeving tools that I am using sometime soon.

I am sure you all know what this is.

And finished the first set of cables...both the 6 pin GPU connectors

Oh and the background is a couple of sq ft of carbon fiber film...This is going to be an integral part of the build.

[mav2000]

Heres the 8 Pin...DONE:

This is hopefully much better. And a pic of the tools:

The pliers are side cutting pliers and help to cut the sleeve very cleanly. And my trusty staples and flat head screwdriver for those pins that wont come out with the tool. This works very smoothly as well.

[mav2000]

Started work on the cabinet as well. As you know by now, its an HAF X.

First removed all the extra plastic parts. To basically see how this is going to work. Removed each and every thing that could be done with a screw driver and also attached the wheels. This makes it much more convenient when modding. Though it does not fit under my desk...will have to see about that. I also removed all the extra wiring that I will not be using.

Then a quick look at one sleeved wire on the top panel:

Quite a few wires to sleeve, but since we dont have to remove any pins, it went quite fast.

So heres the finished job:

[mav2000]

First off a fan filter that I got made for the bottom area. Now this build is going to be a negative pressure build, so all areas where air can enter need to be properly covered. This is DEMC Filters made by and can be directly ordered from them in South Africa. One of the best filters that I have used till date.

And for the main update of the day.

Heres a roll of what was used. This is some nice Carbon Fiber Vinyl. As you can see its some good quality stuff with a 3D effect.

And it was a real PITA to get it all in:

I have done the bar near the ODD's and the main mobo tray.

Now to wait for the rest of the stuff to come. My package from PPCS has reached India, but is still stuck with customs....hopefully this weekend we should be able to finish most of it.

[mav2000]

SO a quick update. Like I said some of the stuff arrievd a few days back. Here it is:

GT Extreme 360. Beautifully made and finished. Probably the best I have seen.

This in conjunction with the 120 will run the whole system.

Sleeved the 24 pin:

Then decided to test fit things and this is when I ran into a whole lot of trouble:

Rad in.....and then I realise that to fit the top fans is going to be a pain. Basically, there are 4 rad support holes on the top. I was planning to keep the fans outside the metal part of the case and under the plastic. But unluckily, there seems to be an issue with doing this. The rad holes are a bit raised from the rest of the case frame, so the screws will not got through. And when the screws go through, the fans are not level as half of the fan is on the rad bar and the rest is directly on the rad. So had to put the fans inside and then faced another problem:

With the fans and barbs mounted, the rear 120 cannot be mounted....crap.....anyway thats all for today. More updates tomorrow as I am now running at full speed to finish this off.

[mav2000]

Update for the day. First off I was a little bit tired with fighting with the rad, so I thought, why not leave it for a while. SO I decided to work on the lighting. I got a strip of this from NZXT and started on routing the stuff. Let me say that this is very good quality stuff, other than the sleeving. The PCIE bracket controller is very well made and does not stand out with funny colors. It integrates into the whole look of what I am trying to get done.

The bracket has an On/Off button as well as a switch to change between three levels of brightness.

You can just about see the LED's all around the board.

Got the PSU mounted with the same screws as well. This screws are awesome.

Anyway after this I went back to the rad work and decided to turn the rad around to put the barbs in front. Since the Res has to come on the front as well, I had to get rid of my DVD rom drive and get an external one. But this way I could fit both the rads, with their fans and not have an issue. The only fall out of this is that the 8 Pin which I had sleeved with so much attention is barely seen.

I also used some rubber grommets along with the screws to fit the rad as it would damp any vibrations.

Then tested out the lights to give you guys an idea, as well as the fans. I also got the thermal probe stuck into the res and the reading for it will be from the Scythe up front. I will show a pic of that later. SO here are the rads fit and also one length of tubing.

Then got the HDD installed in the Hot Swap Bracket. I must say that this is a brilliant feature and one I never much cared about in the past. It has helped me with moving the HDD in and out easily during the build process.

Again I have used the same screws as earlier. And this is the state of my study as of now.....

[mav2000]

Testing out the entire system to see if everything works.:

Tubing and wiring done. Ready for leak testing. The bottom near the pump has a Koolance 5 way fitting to which is attached the drain port. This also reduces one 90 degree fitting that I would have to otherwise buy. I have already used the drain once as I found both the EK fittings on the rad to leak. Have changed these out to BP Black 1/2" barbs and they are fine now. This is really convenient way to drain the water, compared to emptying the res that I was doing earlier.

On to leak testing:

I also felt that the PT Nuke was frothing too much, so maybe I put as bit too much in there, so anyway had to drain, since the compression fittings were leaking and this time put in only 2 drops for the approx half liter of water I was using. I will put up final build pics, including the wire management and front a bit later. ANyway this is only half way through the project and still some way to go before the final state.