[MNPCTech] Project: Rebel Alliance CMII

[Andrew_K]

Hello everybody!

As some of you may know, I have been working closely with Bill Owen at MNPCTech over the past year learning and soaking up as much as I can as his intern. We have done several case reviews and mod guides together, and it is time for me to step it up a notch and take on a big themed build.



- Theme -

This is going to be influenced by oldschool Star Wars, and specifically Rebel Alliance equipment. I love the look of their gear, machinery, technology, and spacecraft, so this will take many ideas from that. We're starting with the Cosmos II, and will end up with something that looks dramatically different in the end.


I first must thank CoolerMaster for the sponsorship of the Cosmos II and Silent Pro Hybrid 1300w powersupply, EK for sponsoring the watercooling components, Lutro0 for sponsoring their beautiful sleeving work, Mayhems for supplying their world class coolants and dyes, Cheapskate for dedicating his time into designing custom waterblocks for the 680s, Brian Garrity for his time as the camera man for the upcoming video of this project, and of course Bill and MNPCTech for everything he has taught me and given me during my time working with him.

- Components -

Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Intel 3930k
Quad SLI GTX 680 Classified's
32gb of Corsair Dominator 2133mhz
CoolerMaster Silent Pro Hybrid 1300w
512gb Vertex 4 SSD
3x 3tb Seagate 7,200rpm storage drives
Cosmos II
Full dual loop EK watercooling setup with custom GPU waterblocks designed by our very own Cheapskate

• Supremacy Elite socket 2011 Nickel CPU block
• R4E Nickel CSQ mobo block
• 2x Ram Dominator X4 blocks
• 2x 480 XT radiators
• 2x DDC-3.2TP pumps
• 2x X3 150mm res
• Black Nickel fittings
• Custom Classified blocks by munkeybutt

Time for the pics to do the talking!

The Cosmos II

It's a bird. It's a plane...

Cosmos II opened up - I hate that mess of useless crap dangling there.

The build will feature MNPCTech's new Cosmos II Full Acrylic window side panel! Available soon for order. This is a serious chunk of acrylic!

A few components going into the system

Classified unboxing

These cards are bigger than 690's...

Shiny!

Why is quad sli not overkill? 6000x1080-across-three-monitors-gaming is why. Even the Rebel Alliance has to game from time to time!

Stripping down the CMII for some modding.

Taping off the top to cut room for a 480mm rad.

Lining up the top rad

Cages removed to make room for a 480mm rad in the front

Creating the mounting system for the 480 in the front bezel

Rad mounted into front bezel. I will be doing more in between the rad and the edges to make it more connected.

Front rad mounted in the case

I wanted to do something special with the edge frame work, so I decided on cutting out slots and putting some modders mesh behind it

Clamping down the mesh for some epoxying

This stuff is the best for all kinds of modding. Epoxy of the gods I say!

Removing the stock top panel mesh

Mounting a hinge on the top panel for some flap movement

Watercooling time! Supremacy 2011 block and black nickel fittings

I love the frosty tops on these blocks!

DDC's and tops

An army of black nickel fittings! So prettttttty!


-- Updates 1/1/13 --


Thanks for following guys! Here are some updates on what is in the works...

Measuring out pieces to make dual res holder from 1/4" thick Black Opaque acrylic sheet

Custom Dual Res tube holder for the EK Res X3s

EK Res X3s, ready for mounting

What remains of the factory front I/O, this was part of the CM II's top panel. This will flip open.

Modified "Laurey" style cabinet hinge, this spring loaded, and found at WoodCraft, http://www.woodcraft....ount-Pair.aspx

Spacer for hinge made from 1/8" acrylic, this will be painted later

Dual EK Res X3s mounted. This location will be ideal when it's time to fill the two loops.

The flip cover, creates easy access for inspecting the loops, if ever needed in the future.

The rear cover flips open now too!

I wanted to use an ipod touch for monitoring and fan control. This will be mounted in the front top panel and running through the Bitfenix Recon phone app.

Making the front phone mount

Initial looks of the front phone fan control module. Think Luke Skywalker's targeting computer

Custom shroud for the reservoirs


More to come soon! We'll have a video worklog as well, so make sure you subscribe to MNPCTech's Youtube Channel!

 

[VampireVendetta]

amazing work as always!

 

[Jesse B]

This is looking fantastic already. Love the theme of this project as well, can't wait to see some more progress made!

 

[mnpctech]

no doubt .....watched andrew develop his "modding mojo" over past year

in addition to the CMII panel, we also created c70 replacement window, http://www.mnpctech.com/Corsair_c70_vengeance_clear_window_replacement.html

 

[mannyman]

Very nice... Im still waiting for the Khaos... I mean... *cough*

 

[Andrew_K]

Update time! I appreciate the comments and follows guys! I'm very dedicated to making this a very clean build internally, which is why shrouding everything is a must. I also want to keep the interior of the case very open and uncluttered, so there will be next to nothing inside the main compartment other than the mobo and what's attached to it. No drives, pumps, anything located here. It's all about the aesthetics!

Cutting 1/4" thick cast acrylic to use as a shroud for the lower portion of the chassis

1/4" acrylic over lower portion which will be easily removable with thumbscrews, 1/8" acrylic shroud on back wall will hide liquid tubing

The mid section has 1/2" thick acrylic floor so it's flush with the outter edge of the chassis

Using weld-on to attach lip to the tubing shroud for the back wall of the chassis, this will be painted later to match the exterior of the case.

Temporarily installing Mnpctech's CM II clear panel to determine the two 120mm fan hole openings in the removable lower chassis shroud

The two 120mm fan hole openings are aligned with opening in the clear panel

The epoxy on the side bezels has dried and I really like how they look with the mesh

Now it's time to do the same thing with the non-window'ed side panel. Cutting the double layered panel was a bit of a challenge, but it's cleaned up and time for more epoxy. I plan to mount an acrylic Rebel Alliance logo on the mesh and illuminate it.


As far as the custom classified waterblocks are concerned, Cheapskate has made great progress (though he has reminded me how complex these little buggers are going to be /> This is current design phase with an "X Wing" style backplate that will have the Rebel Alliance logo in the red circle. The layers in the pic are backplate, full copper block, acrylic top, and stainless top cover.

More coming soon! Thanks for watching.

 

[phnguyen90]

amazing ...

 

[hazexban]

SUBBED! Look's so awesome already!

 

[rokar]

slick looking, can't wait to see more.

 

[mnpctech]

love the "red 5" reference

 

[dimazz]

Pretty cool! Subbed!

 

[mannyman]

Right now i think it could take on the whole empire by its self.

 

[cnealjr]

Man, it's like Bill turned someone loose in the candy store! Looking great so far.

 

[mnpctech]

pretty much, @ cnealjr...hehe

 

[Andrew_K]

Time for another update!

Taping off a section of the side panel to cut an opening that will be backed with mesh and a Rebel Alliance logo

Mmmmmm hot plastic spray

Cleaning up the back side of the opening - not an easy task with the over engineered cosmos II side panels

The triple layer madness has been dominated.

Time to clean up the cut with a hand file

The side panels just feel really bland from the factory, so a few more additions will help to add some character to the Starwars tech feel

To mount two of the three 3.5" drives, I'll be using 1/8" cast acrylic for a mounting plate

The drives will be hidden behind the PSU and attached with thumb screws

The stock support was removed and a custom beam was created with 1" thick acrylic which the hard drive mounting plate attaches to

For the rear case fan, the stock grill was removed with a jigsaw and 18 TPI bi-metal cutting blade

I'll be using a combination of a custom one-off grill and Mnpctech 120mm Overkill ring. I have yet to decide on exactly what combination, as a few options look good.

Dropping in the EK waterblocks for a preliminary test fitting.

Spacing things out in the case. Subsequently Bill finds out I'm OCD about watercooling tubing and fittings

Getting up close and personal with the preliminary fitting

Everything is coming together nicely. The front will be covered by a huge 480mm machined grill and shrouding around the edges up to the fans. Materials TBD

Cable management will be super clean as we have created a custom acrylic plate that the mobo is mounting on, and this allows for slots to be cut behind the mobo instead of next to it avoiding a visual mess.


More coming soon! Thanks for watching.

 

[Andrew_K]

Time for another small update. Making some serious progress on the internals now! In addition to the iphone control up front, I also wanted something to make the inside shrouding a bit more interesting... so I went with an Aquaero. This will be used for some fan control, flow senors, inline water temp readings, etc. I like their graphs.

A few of the LED strips I'll be using around the case to give a little glow.

I made a Rebel Alliance logo by hand which will likely be used on the side panel, and I may need to bust out a few more for placement among the build. A little time consuming, but worth it.

The interior is just about ready to head in for paint. The acrylic will all be painted the same color as the exterior (a metallic gray). The side shroud with fan holes is removable via thumb screws if I should ever need to access the lower compartment which will house the pumps.

Here you can see the placement of the Aquaero. The acrylic will be cut to fit it in perfectly and will be used for reading water temps, flow, and controlling some fans.

Holes are in place for tubing pass through to the quad GPU setup. The acrylic is flush with the case.

A sneaky view of the lower compartment that will house the PSU and pumps. The custom support brackets are made from 1" acrylic and also support the hidden hard drive mounting bracket behind the PSU.

 

[She loved E]

So much win. I'd say you're at risk of those GPU blocks stealing the show but clearly that's impossible.

Nice work.

 

[Andrew_K]

Thank you ^_^

Just dropped off the parts for paint! Mixing a custom House of Kolor metallic gray for the interior and exterior, with airbrushed paneling design and detailing inspired by the wing panel of an Xwing. Can't wait to see it all painted!

 

[Ph.D]

That Cosmos is such a beast of an enclosure.
I'm particularly interested in how you are customizing the whole thing. Very impressive work so far!

 

[Inches]

Very interesting work.. In reference to the custom fan grille, I think it looks pretty sweet with them flipped opposite of each other (first pic on case). Just getting an actual fan in there and functioning would require some precise modding, but looks like you can handle it from the amount of work you've put in so far.

 

[P4B]

I have been a fan at Youtube. Now i'm a fan here!

 

[JokerCPoC]

Nice work there Andrew K and nice pics. One question though, what are You going to do about drives, like HDDs and Optical Drives? As all of Your drive bays are now ancient history....

 

[Andrew_K]

Two of the 3.5" drives will be mounted on this plate next to the PSU, one laying flat in the bottom of that area, and the ssd either on top of that, or on the ceiling of the bottom compartment.

 

[JokerCPoC]

Nice, but an optical drive is a DVD type drive in a 5.25" bay normally, to Me an external DVD drive on usb 2.0/3.0 seems like some extra desktop clutter, as that seems like Your only route left, but whatever, I'll still watch this thread.

 

[Andrew_K]

Yes, forgot to mention. I use an optical drive so infrequently that I figure having an external is okay.

 

[p.i.m.p]

nice work AK, keep us posted

me likes

 

[Andrew_K]

Pick a color they said. Even though I'm colorblind they said.

(going with the far right shade, semi gloss custom House of Kolor with a bit bigger metallic)

 

[wra18th]

sub'd!!

 

[mnpctech]

I look forward to seeing the painted parts and sleeving in person.

 

[Andrew_K]

The first batch of parts have been painted. I really like how the color and finish turned out!

 

[Jesse B]

Love the colors!

 

[JokerCPoC]

Oh, the pics are great, I like Your progress.

 

[Andrew_K]

Thank you guys. The colors do look great in person. Now I'm just playing around with getting the shade of red I want for the liquid, which will be matched for the airbrushing artwork and fan color.

 

[xyexz]

As a star wars fan I approve this build - it should be done by the 26th so people can see it in person right?

I kid I kid.... would be nice though

Are you concerned at all with the EK block corrosion and mayhems dye clogging staining issues?

Keep up the excellent work!

 

[Andrew_K]

Thanks for the kind words. Brad spent time mixing up the custom House of Kolor red to match the liquid. This will be used for the fans and custom airbrushing around and inside the case. More paint pictures should be up tomorrow..

 

[mnpctech]

ooohhhh, perfect color match

 

[Andrew_K]

Just a small update with a few current progress pics from our Midwest Modder's meet up last weekend.

 

[Jesse B]

Holy shit. This is awesome beyond words.

 

[JokerCPoC]

Progress is being made...

 

[CaptNumbNutz]

Have you considered doing the fan intakes like the front of the engines on the X-Wings?

Just a thought... the project is looking amazing so far.