Arcygenical 02 - Silverstone Edition

[Arcygenical]

Arcygenical 02 - Silverstone Edition
Arcygenical - January 22nd 2009

Upon cramming yet another piece of hardware into my cramped PC-V1000B, I realized that I really, really, needed a larger case. I can barely fit a single drive in my current case - let alone the 3 I'm planning on adding. The water cooling system uses too many old and misfit pieces that need to be retrofitted... And finally, some odd rattling noises cropped up over the last few months. Definitely not something I want to have sitting 1 foot beside me.

So, started searching for a new case. The thing needs to be able to accommodate a triple radiator, a DVD-rom drive, 3 hard drives and a much more complex water cooling system. I eventually settled on the Silverstone TJ09, as I was able to get one for a good price (Although, it took a ton of screwing around with the vendor to actually get the case...). Alas, the case has no water cooling accommodation, other than it's extraordinarily large inside space, and will require extensive modding to accomplish what I want. A win win for everyone!

Now, I was going to save this for a bit later in the worklog (I intended to post the introduction a few weeks ago, but got caught up in the whole Christmas thing...) but I just want to give a proper shout out to all of the guys over at Koolance USA. Their products have become increasingly interesting to myself, as they fill many niches to which alternatives are unavailable. When I received my first KL part since 2003, the VID-487 waterblock, my expectations were surpassed in every conceivable way. Since then, all of Koolance's new products have caught my eye, either for their ingenuity, implementation or simply the "How did I live without this" factor. Fast forward a few weeks, I applied to be sponsored for this mod, and was very lucky to receive a bunch of awesome products courtesy of the fine folks over at Koolance. Thanks again guys!

So, like all my proper worklogs, I like to outline the goals of this project:
1. The build has to fit everything I need without compromise.
2. The build must be as, or more, silent as my 28dba PC-V1000B
3. The build must encorporate MORE cooling power than the previous build
4. For once, ease of filling and bleeding is a top priority
5. The damn thing has to look really good, using a bunch of custom ideas and unorthodox uses for common WC fittings.

Let's see what I can come up with

 

[Arcygenical]

Update 1

Let's introduce the case. Here it is, open and ready to go.

Now some major deconstruction... The entire 3.5 and 5.5 expansion bay structure is removed. It seems like a huge waste, I agree, but they just don't do what I want them to... They'll be replaced

However, since the front of the case is held on completely by the metal support structure, I had to do something to keep it attached... I'll be adding some metal re-enforcement at a later date, but for now, this will have to do.

I want to introduce you all to this BAMF right here, a double XSPC stacked radiator, with 2000rpm 38mm Scythe Kaze fans between them. I intend to, eventually, add 3 yate loons to both sides of the radiator complex, all 6 of which will run at 5v. The Scythe fans will be controlled, between 5 and 7v, depending on heat load. I have yet to determine whether I will be writing software (over the parallel port) to control these fans, or whether I'll splurge for a Big NG fan controller.

Now, here's a use of some strange fittings that some people might recognize. They're the Koolance Ram waterblock nozzes - similar to the new "hard line" SLI fitting craze. As you can see, the ports on the radiator are at the bottom.

But, if the ports are at the bottom, and the radiator is up against the front of the case like that, I'll obviously need to control the flow of water somehow. I came up with the following idea... 4 1" acrylic cubes.

Make the proper G1/4" sized hole in them...

And thread the bastards...

I also made 2 elbow fittings.

So, you see here, a T fitting and an elbow fitting. Water will flow between the two radiators in a parallel fashion, and due to the rotatable SLI-type fittings, I can change this to series at a later date if so required!

Lets start painting. The mobo tray, among other things, has to be painted flat black.

We wash the mobo tray...

Prime it...

And, import it back to school with me in the USA! (I already miss the workshop...) I can only imagine what the TSA thought, my checked luggage filled to the brim with metal parts, drill bits, screw drivers amongst other things. Note, the paint doesn't appear to be flat in this picture. I dunno why... The paint job just looks bad in photos, but it's flawless in person

Speaking of my workshop, I got this baby for Christmas

Stay tuned, lots more to come after the break!

 

[Arcygenical]

Update 2

So, all the pictures previous to this post were taken before, or around the Christmas holidays. Everything hereafter has been taken since the 20th of January, and will be posted in semi-real time. When I'm finished a section of the case, pictures go up the very same night.

Here's the radiator complex, with the acrylic cubes attached, standing up to the front of the case. Yes, I realize that the front plate (Armor? it's like, 5mm thick...) of the case will obstruct airflow, so I will be cutting it (by hand, with a hacksaw, in my dorm room) to accommodate the radiator and a radgrill.

I checked my mail this morning... Look what I got!

Let's see what's inside...

Two compression fittings, their wicked MCP655 pump nozzle, a bunch of wicked hose clamps and a really, really nice flow meter. Thanks guys!

Check out these clamps. They're gorgeous. I'm almost contemplating ditching the whole compression fitting idea, and just going with these clamps... I think I will in a few areas.

Here's the front of the pump attachment...

The ass-end

And the flow meter...

All in all, great stuff that I can't wait to use...

I'll be posting a few more updates when I get my custom cut metal subfloor in (it's not as interesting as I'm making it sound, it's simply a 15x7" aluminum plate that I'll be using to cover up that annoying vent area right under the radiator.

Stay chooned.

 

[dystopic]

chooning in

 

[cnealjr]

Awesome! Always like to see your worklogs Arcy. I too, am chooning in.

 

[Elledan]

Chooned in as well

 

[Pzych0]

Chooned in Looks like it could be a nice result

 

[silent-circuit]

Here.

 

[Arcygenical]

Wicked. Hope I don't disappoint!

My Jab-Tech order was delivered today (it's nothing special, trust me) so I'm one step closer to finishing up.

 

[LibertySyclone]

Arcy you are a mad man now we must have a build-off!

love the way this is going, i had to send it to my buddy who also has a TJ10

 

[0ptional]

I'm in the same boat as you, constantly adding new things, with the cramped space of my V1100 (V1000 with a door...), and I want something bigger and more WC friendly as that's something I want to get back into (WC'd my AXP 2000+, 2500+, P4 2.4C, and lastly the A64 4800+) especially because I'm all about silent operation now, it didn't used to bug me having a ton of fans on, but things change, and so do my sleep habits.

I really want a TJ10-BW...

 

[Arcygenical]

Arcy you are a mad man now we must have a build-off!

love the way this is going, i had to send it to my buddy who also has a TJ10

Hehe, You're on .

I'm in the same boat as you, constantly adding new things, with the cramped space of my V1100 (V1000 with a door...), and I want something bigger and more WC friendly as that's something I want to get back into (WC'd my AXP 2000+, 2500+, P4 2.4C, and lastly the A64 4800+) especially because I'm all about silent operation now, it didn't used to bug me having a ton of fans on, but things change, and so do my sleep habits.

I really want a TJ10-BW...

Well, I got mine at a great price open box .

But, I would stay away from any of the silverstone cases, except for the TJ07 maybe...

The 1mm thick doors rattle and buzz like crazy. I'm spending about 30$ to deaden the noise that the goddamned side doors make on this case .

The good news, though, is that the case will be totally silent because of this

 

[0ptional]

Wow, I wasn't aware it was that thin around... hmm.

Well either way, as it turns out my desk is restricting where I can put my computer (underneath anyway), so I need to either get a smaller and deeper case, or really quiet the thing down, and put it back on top of the desk. I got my low-speed Yate's from Petra's Tech a few days ago, and they're 9V'd with a resistor, and I have to check the lights to see if it's even on... but I'd still like to watercool to keep temps lower while maintaining the same level of silence.

 

[magoo]

Those clamps are really purdy.

I saw another company somewhere that was planning something as nice, but I lost the thread.

That set up should look pretty keen when it's all done.

What's going inside it?? besides the giant radiator and WC gear??

 

[Arcygenical]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I'm using the same parts as my current build to go inside it, but I'll finally have enough radiative power to keep my CPU at around 3.8ghz without needing the fans to go above 5v .

However, I ran into a big snag... The koolance RAM sliders contain steel - and they rusted completely. It seems the early versions of this particular product were made with plated steel. Koolance replaced the majority of the vendor's stock with the newer brass ones - but apparently I'm unlucky.

Time will tell - this mod cannot progress until this issue is solved.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Aw, man... I'm sorry to hear you got hit with that. I had read they got it under control, but apparently not 100% when in the wild. Shame, really.

This build is looking to come out awesome, Arcy! Good luck with it, and we're all watching.

 

[johnnynj]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I'm using the same parts as my current build to go inside it, but I'll finally have enough radiative power to keep my CPU at around 3.8ghz without needing the fans to go above 5v .

However, I ran into a big snag... The koolance RAM sliders contain steel - and they rusted completely. It seems the early versions of this particular product were made with plated steel. Koolance replaced the majority of the vendor's stock with the newer brass ones - but apparently I'm unlucky.

Time will tell - this mod cannot progress until this issue is solved.

Boo

Subscribed

 

[Elledan]

You mean you got a new product which has already rusted to the point where it is useless?

Do you have some pictures of it?

 

[Arcygenical]

You mean you got a new product which has already rusted to the point where it is useless?

Do you have some pictures of it?

The earlier fittings were made with a bit of steel - Most of the stock has since been swapped or replaced for 100% brass fittings - but these are made as replacements for blocks that probably would never *need* replacing. Thus, the fittings I purchased never got cycled to the newer version, as I can only assume they're not huge sellers.

They came flawless - but about 3 days after a wet mount test, they rusted up pretty badly, to the point of where I had a leak through the threads...

And, yeah, I'll post some pics with the next update.

Koolance is very busy making this right - I commend them for their effort

 

[Elledan]

Yeah, that's something at least Still, it's kind of sloppy that they ever released a product which is this flawed..

 

[saedrin]

Loving it, custom WC parts ftw.

 

[BMF]

Loving the radiator setup.

Subbed.

 

[lcpleel]

looking good. cant wait to see more updates

 

[mjb]

subbed

 

[sduneman3]

I liked your first gpu folding machine, and can't wait for this one to be done!

 

[WarMace]

I always love your electrical work, Subscribed.

 

[Arcygenical]

I liked your first gpu folding machine, and can't wait for this one to be done!

Yeah... I still need to finish that one. There's 1 last plexiglass piece I need to bend into shape, and paint pearlescent white... But for the life of me, my heat gun doesn't work in a single electrical socket here! It just keeps popping our breakers

I always love your electrical work, Subscribed.

Thanks The wiring is my favorite part of the build, really.

I'm thinking of adding in another 4870 to go CF - but, I know my 16x/4x p5b-deluxe wouldn't be up to the task... If only I could sell something to make some extra cash for a board. Hmm.

 

[Arcygenical]

Update 3

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last update. Never fear though, after contacting Koolance about the rusty fittings, and was re-assured brass replacements - I forged on and purchased some more supplies.

First off, I want to show you guys how the directional cubes will look. I'll be sleeving most of the tubing black again, so the middle part, here, will be sleeve:

First thing ordered, a panel of aluminum. 15" x 7" x 3mm (this is thick stuff, really high quality). I opted for the thick panel since this piece of metal will be in charge of 3 very important areas: Noise control, major weight bearer, subfloor:

I cut out a few square grooves to make it fit in place:

Flip the floor over, and put on some temporary foam. I've got some sticky, audio isolating, conical foam coming, but I needed to get the dimensions right:

Install the radiator directional cubes. Each cube is screwed in with 2 6-32 screws in opposing corners:

Mocking up where some of the other pieces are going to mount. You can see the sock I use to polish metal in the background...

Got an order in from the guys at PPC's:

Some Koolance fittings, bitspower fittings (a 90' elbow and some male/male adapters), some sleeving, and most importantly, the HD bay!

Here's the reservoir/flow meter/pump direct routing. Water flows from the pump, into the flow meter then into the reservoir to be transported to the top of the case. I'm using the EK250 tube res that I purchased a while ago:

Final piece mockup. The HD cage doesn't screw into the main subfloor, but a second removable panel that seals out case airflow to the PSU - which comes later:

Ready to get painting...

And the pre-cut wire routing hole! How convenient:

That's it for now. Painting pics and such come later. More developments should happen this week, when I get the new Koolance fittings in. Keep it locked.

 

[Arcygenical]

Update 4

Bit of a smaller update today, as the majority of the work was done "behind the scenes" planning and whatnot.

First we have a shot of the subfloor, painted. I need to do another coat of paint on it still. The white cardboard piece represents the PSU. I will be routing many of the wires under this subfloor.

Here's one of the water distribution cubes sleeved and ready to go.It's not yet mounted to the floor, but it's most definitely in place.

Here's the water exiting the radiator complex, passing through a Bitspower 90' fitting, and one of their rotary extenders.

Here's how the loop will get filled. A G1/4 sized hole will be cut in the top of the case. Water enters the reservoir by way of 2 elbows. A bitspower female/female coupler will be used to attach whatever threaded cap I'll be using, to one of the elbows.

And finally, for today, a mockup of where the radiator core will go. The build is really starting to come along

I've got to wait for Koolance to ship me the new brass fittings before I can proceed any further though... The old ones are so rusted now that they don't even fit together properly anymore, and I need to start measuring where to cut the front of the case up to allow for airflow.

I'm so excited to cut a triple radiator sized space out of 5mm aluminum with a goddamned hand-coping saw. This will take me about 4 hours of work, at least. But it will be worth it

Stay tuned!

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Gorgeous. This is coming together well, man.

 

[Arcygenical]

Gorgeous. This is coming together well, man.

Thanks!

I just got word that the replacement fittings have been shipped to me today - I expect to make some major progress soon!

 

[OofC_S7v7N]

You beat me to it! i have still not finished my mod on my tj-09

 

[soundguy]

great job going on here, i can't wait to see the end result...

 

[Arcygenical]

Update 5

Alright, well, the last month or so has been difficult for myself. Health hasn't been too great and I had to deal with midterms and an awesome spring break vacation...

However, I haven't totally been slacking. I've got a small update right now (only 3 pics... sorry), and a larger one in the coming days.

First off, a (relatively uninteresting) shot of the rad mounted in it's final location. The fans are screwed into the front.

Here you can see the radgrill in position. Now, my old POS digicam has a warped lens, but that grill is damn straight, it's level to a 0.2mm pitch. I'll borrow a much nicer camera for final pictures and prove it later.

And now you can see the backside of the case so far... 6 fans are going to be annoying, but shouldn't be too bad. You can see the flowmeter controller mounted behind on the mobo tray. The meter's output goes through the precut hole in the tray to the controller. I couldn't have asked for a better placement.

As I said, small update... I get the challenge of cutting that radgrill hole through 5mm of aluminum plate... With a hand coping saw. Shoot me.

 

[WarMace]

Looking Hot! Now I need to revisit the grill on my case just to keep up with the style. =-)

 

[soulesschild]

Nice Looking forward to it Arcy

 

[lkiller1231]

Did you do the paintjob yourself?

 

[nightwalker]

Did you do the paintjob yourself?

yeah he does his own paintjobs, when i get my next case i think i might have to bribe him with something to do mine.

 

[lkiller1231]

Did he spray paint them

 

[0ptional]

Looking good as usual Arcy, very excited to see how this turns out, as my plans are very similar, Silverstone + WC.