[BuildLog] Project "RedHell" (DeskCase)

[nikon87]

Hello guys and welcome to my BuildLog!
Project "RedHell"

At first I want to thank Aquatuning for supporting me in this project.


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Second I want to introduce myself. My name is Jan, i am 28 years old and i'm a IT specialist from Bamberg, Germany. I am modding my rigs now for many years, in the beginning with just simple things like illumation or some coloring. It went on to "the real thing" with sleeving cables by myself and "modding" my cases.

My last project was a "Lian Li PC-V359WX" (Caution: German Forum! ) but shortly after starting the project i realised that pre-built cases are not to my satisfaction anymore i decided to build my own case. And that is what i want to introduce in this thread.

Since the work on the homebuild case has already made some progress i will start the thread with a short summary of what has happened until now. I will then update the thread while the work progresses...

In the beginning there was the "masterplan", created with SketchUp. Really a nice tool for such things.

Then i bought some material and did some woodworking. I have also created some videos of the woodworks that can be viewed on my YouTube-Channel!

After assembling the case the chamber in the front has been laminated with chrome red foil.

Then the hardware was moved into the case for the first time to test the current progress.

I then ordered the acrylic glass for the illuminated base and back. After it arrived I fitted it in the build.

So that's how the project looks today. Like already mentioned I will update the thread with every step that will follow in the next days and weeks.

Constructive criticism or suggestions always welcome!

Stay tuned...

Regards, Jan

P.S.: Original BuildLog with bigger pics and complete history can be viewed here (Caution #2: German Forum! ).

 

[hazexban]

Looks amazing! Great craftsmanship!

Keep up the good work, looking forward to more.

 

[nikon87]

Looks amazing! Great craftsmanship!
Keep up the good work, looking forward to more.

Thanks for the commendation...and of course there will be more. To tell you the truth...the next steps have already been taken!


Today I reassemled the whole thing to again check the "grade" of my work. And it fits like a glove.

After pressing the start-button the door to hell opened a for the first time...just a bit for now.

Next step is to do some bits and bobs on the case and planning the water cooling. I think that will be kind of a big project itself since it is my first ever entirely self build water loop. But everything is going very well until now so I take that as an omen.

I'll be back...

 

[nikon87]

Hey guys!

Next step for the build will be to build a "control center" which will also serve as a monitor stand. For scale: It's a 32" monitor.

And to get a better image of the full setup:

I'm planning to start the work on this next weekend. The front is not final since I'm not sure yet what will go in there. But one thing is sure: There won't be any optical drive...that's just a placeholder for an USB/Audio-Frontpanel.

See you later...

 

[nikon87]

Today I received a package from Aquatuning. Looks like christmas is coming some weeks early for me this year.

I will post some more detailed pictures of the different parts, especially the smaller ones, when I put them together. We will see how far I will get during the weekend.

Until then...have a good one!

 

[hazexban]

So cool Keep it coming!!

 

[nikon87]

So cool Keep it coming!!

Thanks! I will...

Today I assembled some parts for the water cooling. Some 90°-adapters for the hardtubes:

Also some connectors from soft- to hardtube:

After that I assembled the monitor stand. Just a raw model for now but it will improve soon.

Then I dissasembled the whole thing to finally mount the LED-stripes. For that I used some aluminium profiles which have been fixed with double-faced adhensive tape.

Then I put the hardware back in and tested again:

Since I "twisted" the power cable at my first try I had to redo it:

After that was finished the plexi plate went back in place. Looks really nice.

Only thing missing now is the water loop. I hope to start working on that next weekend.

We'll see again...

 

[nikon87]

Hello again!

Yesterday I received another parcel from Aquatuning.

This one included 2 sets of fans for the radiator. I will decide later which set I will use finally. First set consits of 9 x "Phobya Nano-G12 Silent Waterproof 1500rpm Multioption".

Second one consits of 9 x "Phobya NB-eLoop 1600rpm Bionic".

In addition to that I also ordered some extra adapters for the water loop. 4 x "Alphacool Double Nipple G1/4" and 4 x "Alphacool L-Connector 90° G1/4 revolvable".

Since I now have all needed parts to build the loop I can continue working on the project this weekend. So watch out for more!

 

[nikon87]

Sorry for the long waiting but I have been ill for about 1 1/2 weeks and couldn't continue working on the project. I just did some little things.

First I assembled the Phobya Nova 1080 which now is ready to use:

Next thing, which is a very interesting part I think, was the riser card for the GPU. Since I read some reviews and all of them came to the conclusion that there is no big difference between "high priced" and "low budget" riser cards I chose a cheaper one: "Delock Riser Card PCI Express x16 with flexible cable - left directed"

After installing the riser I wasn't able to trace any difference to the in-slot performance of my XFX R9 290X 8G.

The performance has been tested with Furmark to get a comparison. These are the results (excerpt):

In Slot:
========
FurMark 1080p Preset:
1: 4494 points, 69°, FPS: min:74 max:77 avg:74
2: 4497 points, 71°, FPS: min:75 max:77 avg:74
3: 4494 points, 69°, FPS: min:75 max:77 avg:75
FurMark 1080p, 4x MSAA:
1: 2260 points, 73°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37
2: 2255 points, 73°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37
3: 2254 points, 73°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37

Riser:
======
FurMark 1080p Preset:
1: 4487 points, 70°, FPS: min:75 max:77 avg:74
2: 4475 points, 73°, FPS: min:75 max:77 avg:74
3: 4473 points, 76°, FPS: min:74 max:77 avg:74
FurMark 1080p, 4x MSAA:
1: 2251 points, 76°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37
2: 2250 points, 77°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37
3: 2257 points, 77°, FPS: min:38 max:39 avg:37

Since that part is working well I then switched the cooler of the GPU back to watercooling. I have no pictures for that but I uploaded a video on my YouTube-Channel.

Also the cooling block for the CPU has been mounted on the board:

Last things I worked on have been: Attachment for the PSU, support for the GPU, laminated the USB-frontpanel in carbon style.

Next steps: Finshing the monitor stand with included frontpanel and piping the whole thing.

 

[nikon87]

Today I continued working on the monitor stand. The components are not fixed yet but that will be done tomorrow.

The Aquaero (control for fans/temperature/etc.) will get a black front cover tomorrow. Also the mic and the headphone are missing on the left panel.

Also I cutted out the opening for the GPU into the diving wall.

So hopefully tomorrow the monitor stand will be put together finally. More about that in the next days.

Until then...have a good one!

 

[nikon87]

The work on my build has progressed quite a bit in the last 2 weeks. I finished the monitor stand (except the foiling) and added the tubing.

First let me show you some impressions of the work on the monitor stand and the final look:

Second I present you the tubing:

Finally the pump:

So I hope I will be able to fill the loop in the next days and do a first test.

See you...

 

[hazexban]

Still amazing!