LC n00b Help!!!

VulturEMaN

Gawd
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
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I'm currently working on a parts list for a mod that I've started to work on. After figuring out that air cooling would be completely idiotic in my semi-SFF case, I've started to look into watercooling. Spacewise, I have 3x 5.25 drive bays and about 100mm of space below them before you hit the case bottom. I've got a list of parts below:

Pump: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=201&products_id=4508
Rad: EDIT: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=200&products_id=4536
Res: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=318&products_id=3542
CPU WB: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=199&products_id=4526

1. I heard the pump was good :p
2. That radiator would work perfect in my case if I could rig it up to suck air out the top (having it in the top 5.25 bay)
3. Might as well match the res to the rad...would look nicer I'd think :cool:
4. Cause of the mobo that I'm grabbing, I need a block that doesn't have any extra space to take up on the board. I figured that the small 'arms' on this one would be perfect.

Now, I have no idea if anything is wrong with that setup. Alas, I am a n00b :p

I do know that I will be going with 3/8 ID tubing because that Res is essential to my plan, and it can only go up to 3/8. But I don't know which tubing is better than other kinds, if there is a difference.

I'm also unsure of what to fill it with, and what chipset block to throw on it.

I plan on hooking the CPU, chipset, and video card (hopefully 8 series by the time this project is done).

Help please!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm going with most of the stuff being UV Green, and the inside of the case will be black. So...umm....I wasn't sure if clear tubing w/ green UV 'water' or green UV tubing would be better....
 
I know you really like the TT radiator, but if you're willing to do some modding, I would go with a Black Ice GTS 240. You could mount it so it would take up the top 5.25" bay, mounted to the top of the case. I could post a bicture of my BIP 2.120 mounted that way if you want.

The Nexxos is a pretty capable block from what I've heard, so everything looks good. You might want to drop that reservoir for a T-line, as it would be quite cheaper and that TT res doesn't really do much to help your loop.
 
@rjblanke:
I love that rad you posted. I think I'll change it to that one :D
But ugh at that block...I don't like it very much...lol sry...I forgot to mention that I'm a big asthetics person, and the clear one I put up just looks nicer imo :p

@penguin
My case is 13'' deep, and having a full size PSU (that's why I said semi-SFF) in there also just wouldn't work. I think that I could either do a 160 or a 120 setup, and I believe that 120mm fans are more quiet, so thats how I was gonna roll.
And btw...forgive the n00b question, but what's a t-line?

btw, if any of you know the answer to this other question of mine, please answer it :p
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1029991817#post1029991817

EDIT: I also think that I might throw one of these on top, no matter what rad I use:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=290&products_id=3695
 
A T line is where you take a T fitting and put it right before the intake of your pump. A tube coming off the T is used to fill the system, and then capped. A poly T fitting is only about $2, and Dangerden sells a special T-line cap for another $2. Add in a scrap of tubing, and $4 is way cheaper than a $20 res.

If the 2.120 isn't an option, you can always mount a 1.120 above the drive bays. It would take up the same amount of room as the TT, and it would probably cool much better.
 
I'm gonna think about it for a bit, but I might be able to mount a 2*120 at the bottom of the case, but I'm not sure how well that would work out...

I was looking at DD's pic of a t-line, and I like the idea. If I go with the 1*120 on the top, would it be a good idea to use the fillport reservior?
 
VulturEMaN said:
I'm gonna think about it for a bit, but I might be able to mount a 2*120 at the bottom of the case, but I'm not sure how well that would work out...

I was looking at DD's pic of a t-line, and I like the idea. If I go with the 1*120 on the top, would it be a good idea to use the fillport reservior?
I never quite figured out the point of the fillport reservoir. Since it isn't actually part of the loop, it doesn't really do anything for bleeding, so I guess it's just to hold extra coolant, which seems pointless to me. I would say it's a waste of money, but there might be someone here who could prove me wrong.
 
I was kinda thinking that. It seemed to be cool to have, just for that look, but didn't seem useful.

Rest of my questions (don't make penguin and rjblanke answer everything!):

1. Would there be a disadvantage at mounting a radiator on the bottom of the case?
2. Is there a type of tubing that is known to be the 'best'? I'd think no, but asking just in case...
3. What type of water/additives/dyes should I add? I just want to make it UV green, whether or not that means dye or uv green tubing...

btw, if any of you know the answer to this other question of mine, please answer it :p
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1029991817#post1029991817
 
VulturEMaN said:
1. Would there be a disadvantage at mounting a radiator on the bottom of the case?
2. Is there a type of tubing that is known to be the 'best'? I'd think no, but asking just in case...
3. What type of water/additives/dyes should I add? I just want to make it UV green, whether or not that means dye or uv green tubing...
4. Just wondering what effect clear-drying UV paint would have on the inside of a case that was already painted black. It just sounded like a good idea 5 mins ago :pQUOTE]

1. None that I can see.
2. Masterkleer works well, is cheap, and flexable. Tygon is also good, but really fucking expensive. Like 3 bucks a foot.
3. a little bit of antifreeze to prevent the yucky's from building up, and a small bit of uv green dye.
4. It should look black, and uv green when lit up. Make sure you coat the entire area too.


As for the nexxxxxos block, it's pretty good. Well worth the money. It's the same one as posted by the person right under you, excepti t has a clear top and is a lot cheaper.
 
Bbq said:
VulturEMaN said:
1. Would there be a disadvantage at mounting a radiator on the bottom of the case?
2. Is there a type of tubing that is known to be the 'best'? I'd think no, but asking just in case...
3. What type of water/additives/dyes should I add? I just want to make it UV green, whether or not that means dye or uv green tubing...
4. Just wondering what effect clear-drying UV paint would have on the inside of a case that was already painted black. It just sounded like a good idea 5 mins ago :pQUOTE]

1. None that I can see.
2. Masterkleer works well, is cheap, and flexable. Tygon is also good, but really fucking expensive. Like 3 bucks a foot.
3. a little bit of antifreeze to prevent the yucky's from building up, and a small bit of uv green dye.
4. It should look black, and uv green when lit up. Make sure you coat the entire area too.


As for the nexxxxxos block, it's pretty good. Well worth the money. It's the same one as posted by the person right under you, excepti t has a clear top and is a lot cheaper.
Darnit, I was hoping to get all the glory in this thread :p
All those answers are what I would say. if you can get green antifreeze and some green UV dye, it would probably be pretty sweet. Look around in watercooling worklogs and find someone who has the water color you want, then PM them (or post in the worklog) and ask what coolant mixture they used.
MasterKleer tubing can be bought from http://www.mcmaster.com - I just bought 10 feet of 1/2" by 3/4", but you'll probably want to go with 7/16" ID tubing, as it seals better on 1/2" barbs (I went with 1/2" ID purely for looks - I wanted big fat tubing as compared to my current 3/8" x 1/2" setup). Mounting the radiator at the bottom of the case will work fine, and can also make it easier to bleed, as air gets stuck in the radiator and doesn't like to come out when the radiator is the highest point in the loop.
 
i dont like the CPU block but everything else looks fine, the laing dcc with alphacool top is a great pump
 
With a t-line, do you need to have the dual fillport thing goin on? (i'm guessing one is for filling and one is for draining). With how tight some of the lines are going to be, it would be easier to just have one.

I made a mock-up of what I want the case to look like at the end with cardboard (lolz). It has all of the components with proper dimensions. I'll show it to you guys after I spraypaint it black to get that "look" that I wanted.

I've decided on a bottom mounted rad (of course elevated by legs) with the fans inside the case blowing out. The legs will be encorporated into the front and back of the case and will be all black with green plexi infront of them.

I've also realized that the current front of the case has a WONDERFUL layout for lights/switches, except for the power switch. It was moved to the right cause of the 3.5 bays before, but I'll center it. The current setup just uses basic LEDs glued into these very fun little plastic thingies, so I'll just buy some green activity LEDs to put in there.

I'm also looking into 5.25 solutions for harddrives. I've been looking for a long time, and I've only found a few that I like.

Pics to be up soon. Mobo tray has all of the extra nonsense grinded off of it + rounded edges (dead sexy for a first time dremeler). I'm figuring out how to reattach the bottom of the case when I cut it off. I could either:
1. Rivet it back on.
2. Get my friend who is a professional welder to TIG weld it back together. Shit, I've seen him weld full pop cans together with his eyes closed :D

Still alot of questions for this setup. Commell is coming out with a Core 2 Duo mobo before the end of the year, and they've told me that they're considering doing mobos built especially for quad core setups, including AMD and Intel processors. So we'll see what happens in the coming months.
 
You don't need the drain line for a t-port setup - in fact, very few systems actually hav one.
I would rivet it, or better yet, use nuts and bolts. Welding is a wee bit permanent, and if you ever want to go back and change something, you're screwed. Though it sounds like your friend is a dang good welder :eek:
 
I was just thinking of this:

My dad works for an airline company, and we have some of their 'expired' metal-to-metal airplane glue. It'll hold for a good while, unless its heated (like with a heat gun). I'll probably use that initally and then, once everything is all set up and perfect, I'll have my friend weld it.
 
my photoshop case layout/design:

CaseOutsideandInsideScetch-ups.jpg


Also, the pre-spraypaint cardboard mock-up pics and other stuff can be found here:

http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m169/VulturEMaN/

Nothing is very pretty yet, but alot of background work is being done to make this case beautiful.
 
MUCH modding has been going on. Unfortunately, the case that I was working on received a small dent in it (was run over and flattened by my dad's truck when the paint was drying outside). lol...sorry no pics...my dad threw it into the recycling bin that night, and it was gone before I woke up the next morning.

I'm now exploring options with my welding buddy for a completely custom case. I'm doing some real-size tech drawings in photoshop now (I know nothing of CAD, and I don't have it atm).

I'm considering moving the PSU down on its side (like how a normal mobo and PSU sit in a case), except the case will still be designed to have the mobo lay flat on the bottom. So, in other words, it's a normal case layout, but just 2 expansion card slots (so that I can have a dual slot video card....like that pretty 8800GTX :D)

When I was sitting down and thinking of making it look just like a normal case on its side (and the window where the bottom would normally be), I realized how lame that is. I was also told by a few of my friends that they thought my initial design looked more like a microwave.

So, to combat both views, I'm gonna build the comp to be a pretty cube :D

it'll be 1 foot wide, 1 foot deep, and 11inches tall (with 1inch feet that are literally uncut extensions of the front and back panels, making it 1foot in total height).

I'll also put some sort of USEABLE curved metal handle (also custom cut and bent) on the top.

I guess you could say that it might resemble a mATX case, except for the fact that it has a full metal front. I'm going to probably stealth the front drive with a solid piece of the metal , too. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna do power buttons, though. Thats the only part that has me confused.

Because the back would look so ghetto without something on those extra 5 inches of space, I'm also planning on having VulturEMaN cut into the back as a vent. Hopefully (cause I know that I've seen others on the forum do it before), I can get it cut out to match my own font that I made a while back (pic is in the Sigs section of my PhotoBucket site).

Still alot of work todo. I did find a great black paint when working on the old case. I'm not sure if I'll use it on the new one, however. It'll depend on the type of metal i pick out. 1inch thick aluminum anyone? :D lol j/k

I'm also exploring options of NOT indenting the back for the mobo and expansion cards. I'm thinking of a way to secure the video card without screws (omfg...homemade screwless design? vulture is friggin nuts). I've also figured out a way to secure the dvd burner and hard drives without having a normal drive cage. I'll have pics of that soon, too.

Lots of time will be spent making this case as near perfect as possible. Just be patient. :p

Oh, and btw, because of the increased height and whatnot, I'm also gonna look into going towards a big raid setup. I might just get 2 drives in the beginning, but the final product will be 4 or 5 drives.
 
T-Look.jpg


The base design so far. I just gotta pick me out a metal, my friend will order it for free through school, and weld me this case. I'm friggin pumped :D
 
I got a google SketchUp of the basic outside of the case (the actual cuts in the program are being worked on now) and we're fairly sure that we're going with 1/4in thick aluminum...to make it easy for him to weld, yet light. But not super easy to dent. But yet bulletproof (well, atleast lan party fight proof >.<)

http://n.1asphost.com/VulturE2/2nd%20Try.skp
(http://sketchup.google.com/ for the viewing prog..and turn on 4x AA in the preferences :rolleyes: )

If you're too lazy to look at the nice 3D model of it with that great prog, then here's a ss:

http://n.1asphost.com/VulturE2/3DModel.png
 
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