HeretEK-An EK Vulture build

[B NEGATIVE]

Welcome one and all to a project I have running concurrently with IDORU,a build for the EK mod off event using their not to be released EK Vulture enclosure!

The event!

The case in all its glory!

Word dont do justice,its 3mm construction is overkill but damn its lovely!

Lots of room internally for ITX.

360 mount and the slim slotloader optical bay.

Behind the tray lies the SSD/HDD area and cable management,plenty of room to hide the 'uglies' if extensions are your thing.

The EK PE 360 rad that i will be using...

...and the 1850 Vardars that will be mounted on them

Since this is a mod-off....maybe this will indicate what kind of mod im doing.....

I hope the 360 is enough........​

 

[Nobu]

That case looks great already, wish they were selling it--I'd buy it. D:

Can't wait to see what you do to it. ^_^

 

[Jorona]

Is it me or is the front of the case covered in mill marks?

 

[Nobu]

I feel like that was a design element of the case (i.e. someone decided it looked good). I'd have to see it in person to decide one way or the other, but imho it doesn't look bad in pictures.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

That case looks great already, wish they were selling it--I'd buy it. D:

Can't wait to see what you do to it. ^_^

Cutting has begun......

Is it me or is the front of the case covered in mill marks?

Because it is,I quite like the texture it gives.

I feel like that was a design element of the case (i.e. someone decided it looked good). I'd have to see it in person to decide one way or the other, but imho it doesn't look bad in pictures.

More irritating for me is the ODD slot....

 

[deff]

Another B NEGATIVE build... subscribed!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

BLOCKS FOR THE BLOCK GOD!

The GPU blocks that will be used,a pair of 290's will be going into this one....

I bet you are looking at this now thinking...."Not a lot of rad for those...." Well,this is also an experiment after seeing a few Sli rigs with OC'ed CPU's with minimal rad face.
The cards wont be OC'd but the CPU most definitely will be!

Dont worry,modding and paint start very soon for those with the itch.​

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Another B NEGATIVE build... subscribed!

Thanks! Welcome to the log.

 

[spugm1r3]

Always look forward to your builds... plenty of new ideas to steal

 

[K-Mac]

great work so far! cant wait to see the progress

 

[B NEGATIVE]

The main hardware is all sorted which left me wondering what PSU to use,I asked Be Quiet again as their PSU's have always been solid performers for me,I like them so much that im on my 6th one.
To my joy they said yes!
So its my pleasure to say the BeQuiet will be sponsoring the PSU for this build and the PSU and fans for IDORU!

I went with PowerZone 1000w,that will be plenty for a x99 sli rig and watercooling.

http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/384

Thanks Be Quiet UK!

The all important spec sticker.

After the happiness of that,some modding broke out.

I have chopped the side panel with an EK logo,this will be meshed over and lit from behind.

And I started on the back panel..

still needs the screw holes drilled and the cutout for the removable tray done but....

The removable tray,a spare part from Lian Li.

Next up is mount the tray and clear out all the unused parts in the case.

3mm Alu......the jigsaw loves it!​

 

[B NEGATIVE]

I gots me some new hardware!

Wait a minute.....this is not a 2011.....

Ah...wait....there it is....

Its not about the size they say.....how can this be? I haz proof this is not so....

And the board in all it glory!

The DDR4 kindly provided by Crucial!

Suited and booted and ready to paaaaaartaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!

Those DIMMs and this board=WIN.

In other news,the case structure is painted and just needs a clear,the sides and front need other stuff doing. Its coming together well but painting takes time that has been swallowed up on other projects. Still,the deadline is a way off yet!​

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Good news!
Noob? @ Bittech had a pair of 290's for sale and I try not to turn a good deal down,especially GPU's..

The hardware needs to be blacked out before getting that all buttoned up but the block suits in shape,although i may swap the top out for an acetal one.

As for the kit....

See? Nothing special......​

 

[jamsomito]

Genius lighting source lol

 

[B NEGATIVE]

The slim EK 290 blocks,very nice indeed, I will have to use them more often I think.

A fully parallel loop this time...because,you know....I can....

I will mention those EK AF fittings,If you are in the market for a matt finished,simple and clean looking fitting then these are for you.

The tray is finished in a dark gunmetal,a nice counterpoint to the frame panel inside which is a red marble effect (pics up later)......

​

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Gunmetal and roiling blood,what a combo!

Its tight in there,very tight.
Challenge accepted!


Chaos in Ceramite.....

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!​

 

[B NEGATIVE]

The fans have been finished,brass inside with blades the colour of clotted blood, a red/black mix.......

The EK Vardars come apart so easily,so very,very handy!!!
If EK ever sell the bearing sets then these fans will live as long as the electronics allow,easily swappable sealed bearings inside.

Hopefully I have not unbalanced them.....

 

[B NEGATIVE]

So,the loop layout is done,just need to bolt everything in place.

A fully parallel loop,nice clean and efficient runs should keep this tidy inside. The tubing and res need to be airbrushed in a candy brass/gold colour along with the pump cover which will be a deep red like the tray.
I need to get a handful of E22 Ultraclear in the post Monday.......:wheee:
Then its sleeve time.......




I hate sleeving but it needs to be done!

Still need to do the back panel paint work but I really need to give them another few coats of base first.....which I ran out of......:doh:

 

[B NEGATIVE]

A little update to keep things ticking over...

How about a shot of the finished front panel paintwork?

I carried the tray theme over to the front and back panels to give more detail to the otherwise featureless externals.

Paint is black metallic with a marble effect,finished with a deep red candy and clear coat.

 

[Nobu]

Looks delicious...can I have?

 

[B NEGATIVE]

A quick preview of more paint?

Red candy over orange candy over bare metal.....

You can blame Cheapskate for this....

Looks mental tho,really pops in sunlight!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Loop cut and in,need to pull them all and bench polish the tubing,airbrush with a red candy finish and tweak a couple of the lines for perfect alignment before final fitting.
Nice and clean,simple and gives a perfect view of the hardware inside.Very happy with the layout!

And yes,I lost one of the o-rings for the 290x block,this is why the cover for the VRM bridge is off....

Now the perfectionist comes out in me,I cant stand hardlines that are not in line with points of reference,they have to be bang on! The rear tube from the GPU needs about 3mm lopped off the end where it meets the reservoir to bring it in line.

Sleeve is on its way too!

All in all a very clean loop indeed!

 

[Nobu]

I like the tubes just like they are, all copper...y. D:

I'm sure it'll look great candied, though, especially after seeing what was done to the GPU blocks and MB tray--just my personal preference.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

I like the tubes just like they are, all copper...y. D:

I'm sure it'll look great candied, though, especially after seeing what was done to the GPU blocks and MB tray--just my personal preference.

And an hour on the bench polisher later.....

CPU block has been rotated for the correct flow path and the tube has had all the cutting back and tweaking done. I wont need to do any more polishing because of the candy coat,if this was a full bore polish job then I would still be at it till the small hours.....

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Well,the candy coating of the tube went to pot,it looked so bad....the thinners rag was got out immediately and it was removed.....

You know that cheap chrome plated plastic for kids toys? Yeah..just like that. So..polished copper it is.

Sleeving this weekend and I cant wait to take finished pics of it.!

In the meantime...

 

[Nobu]

Bummer...so it looked like this? Have you thought about anodizing them? Might turn out better, don't know how expensive it might be, though.

Also, I've never seen USB/Audio ports so flush and perfectly aligned...it's a thing of beauty.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

And done...just in time for the deadline. All wired and working,need to black vinyl the HDD tho and generally tidy up and dust out....

Final pics tomorrow!

In the meantime...have some fresh from the bench shots!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

So.....final pics?

Many thanks to EK for giving me this chassis to work with,Crucial UK for providing the DDR4 kit and BeQuiet for the PSU.

Now for some fine weather for outdoor pics!

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Also!

Voting is open!


https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VultureVoting

 

[thesecond]

How does it perform temperature wise? I have a similar setup in a dangerden case with a single 290, 5649, and a single alphacool 360mm rad. I'm just probing whether or not a second card would be accessible to me with my rad.

Also, love the 40k chaos theme. Your paint skills and colour selection are spot on.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

The competition may be over but the modding never stops...

Some final touches and the lighting,outdoor shots tomorrow!

Temps are good,Stock is 48c max on the CPU on OCCT and the GPU's dont go past 44c, not bad for a parallel full loop. Ambient is 24c

What is good is that the GPU temps dont have a knock on effect on the CPU other than equilibrium changes.

 

[thesecond]

I like the machine cult flair

Also, those temps are great. Looks like we're right in the same range, except you have a ton more power haha. Love it

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Ok,got my 24/7 OC finished,not a screamer but more than enough for the hot summer ambients and limited rad space.

Just settling in for some Eliteangerous...

And core temps from a 1h OCCT run.

Amazingly,the Corsair Link has caused no problems.....doesnt give full control over speeds but knowing what Corsair specs their fans with PWM wise,im not surprised.

Lots of BIOS and in OS tinkering to get the USB working as it should tho.