My Fractal Arc Mini

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Kaneda13

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Joined
Nov 1, 2011
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i've just finished ordering that last bits of my new water loop, so the Coolit Vantage will be going away and being replaced with an XSPC 750 Bay res/pump, RS240, ray storm and white hoses, but here's where i'm at for now...

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Older pic, before the front fan mods
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System Stats:
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Very nice! Me likey! :D

2 questions!
Can you tell me how you did the front and top panel to block out everything around the fans? I love that look and really want to replicate it on my Arc Mini...

Also did you mount filters on the rear of the intake fans?
 
Yes, that's the pump/display of the Coolit Vantage on my cpu.

i used a piece of thin cardboard cut to the shape of the front grill, cut holes for the fans and painted it flat black. as for filters, i took them out, but you could easily get some 120mm filter and put them on the back if you wanted to keep the filters.
 
Kaneda13 said:
i used a piece of thin cardboard cut to the shape of the front grill, cut holes for the fans and painted it flat black. as for filters, i took them out, but you could easily get some 120mm filter and put them on the back if you wanted to keep the filters.
Click to expand...

Yup that was my plan on the filters just to put them on the back

It looks nice, can't wait to see the picks with the WC loop in there! :D
 
Hmm another quick question... that looks like a burly 120mm fan on the bottom, looks thick, what is that?
 
Looks nice, haven't seen one of these cases with stuff in them, only on newegg.
 
the fan at the bottom is a 120X38mm. have since moved it (and a new twin) to the top rad, and will be putting another white Fractal Design fan at the bottom, visible through the window. also, i finally got my loop in, here's a teaser...

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Kaneda13 said:
the fan at the bottom is a 120X38mm. have since moved it (and a new twin) to the top rad, and will be putting another white Fractal Design fan at the bottom, visible through the window. also, i finally got my loop in, here's a teaser...

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Click to expand...

Awesome moar of that please!!
 
ok, just finished redoing my water loop, i had cut one hose too long and my pump/res won't fit properly. so, here we go:

From the Front:
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Side with the panel removed:
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Detail of the hoses:
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Side with the panel installed:
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Night time....
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finally got a chance to do one of the projects i've had waiting. i got a used GTX470 back plate from EK used off the forums, and wanted to install it on my air cooled card. after some research and trial and error, i found the screws shipped with the plate are M3 screws, however the air cooler uses M2 screws. i was able to get some M2 x 8mm screws with counter sunk heads (had to buy 50, so if anyone else wants to try this, let me know and i'll cut you a great deal on some screws). this also meant i need new washer to fit the M2 screws, finally found ones that are 0.032" thick (only had to buy 25 of these, again, see earlier if your trying this). i'm really happy with the way this turned out.

before:
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after:
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installed:
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i know the pics are a bit blurry (wife left the memory card reader at her school, so i'll get better ones later)
 
Where were you able to buy an arc mini? I've been looking all over but no luck.
 
Hey that worked out really well! SO many neh' say'ers on cooling a decent CPU and GPU on just a 240, but that's mostly said on assumption. You've proven it works pretty well! Nice!
 
thanks. my GPU temps drop by 1/2 (compared to the stock cooler), and my CPU temps only went up 4 to 5*C, i consider that a worth while trade off.
 
Been working on some mods all week, got the last fan painted last night, and finished soldering the new lights up, whata ya think?

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i'll try to get some pics tonight when it's dark :D
 
Very very clean. I like this setup. What are your case feet? They looks like roller chain gears!
 
cmadki4 said:
Very very clean. I like this setup. What are your case feet? They looks like roller chain gears!
Click to expand...

you are correct, they are the crankshaft timing gear off '07 and newer Mini Cooper S engines (i'm a mechanic and there's a campaign to replaced the timing components).
 
why didnt you remove the hdd cage when you are not using it? it looks better without it.
 
turned sideways, it works like a funnel for the fan right behind it, and i'm using it to hide some of the wiring for the HDDs.
 
was really liking the way my UV lighting was looking in my Raystorm, but I wanted it to be a little brighter, so I pulled out the 2000mcd LEDs and replaced them with some 3000mcd ones:

BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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Got my new Rad up and in, leak checked and (hopefully) fully bled. i'll post some temp runs once everything gets seated in. My current flow order is:

Res/Pump -> CPU -> GPU -> EX120 -> RS240

Not much air going through the EX120 though, since it only has a case fan scythe on it, so i'll be upgrading that one first. Still scouring the web for review on the new corsair high static pressure fans.

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Looks sharp. Wanted to get the Arc Mini, even got a non ventilated sidepanel for it to replace the awful vented side panel, but it's impossible to find in Canada :(.
 
Well, after getting paid for 15.4 hours at double time today (boss offered me double time if i would come in and help us get caught up), I was in such a great mood, i decided to go ahead and put my new bits in place, what think?

Before:
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After:
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No Flash:
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Detail of the new eVGA backplate:
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New fans on my custom shroud (lights not wired up yet):
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New Fan on lower radiator:
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Oh, and the all important before and after:
Before:
Before.jpg

After:
After.jpg
 
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Awesome setup Kaneda.

One question, how is the tubing from the Radiator to/from the pump-reservoir connected? Are you using an elbow, or just bending the tube 90 degrees? I know it's hard to get a picture of it, since it's way in the back, and the it looks like a very short connection between the two. I actually have that same exact pump/reservoir and radiator and was thinking of getting the fractal case.
 
laozx said:
Awesome setup Kaneda.

One question, how is the tubing from the Radiator to/from the pump-reservoir connected? Are you using an elbow, or just bending the tube 90 degrees? I know it's hard to get a picture of it, since it's way in the back, and the it looks like a very short connection between the two. I actually have that same exact pump/reservoir and radiator and was thinking of getting the fractal case.
Click to expand...

yes, there's a 90* koolance swivel barb on the radiator, and about 3" of tubing from there to the barb on the back of the res/pump.
 
Are those load or idle temps in the screenie? I'm building something very similar, except I also need it to be very quiet, so I'm debating the 240 vs 240 + 120 (on the bottom like yourself).

The plan right now is to use a single RX 240 at the top (pull to outside of case), with 1 intake in the front and 1 intake on the bottom to move some air inside the case. Using GT-AP14s, and cooling a i7 3770k + GTX670. Since I don't plan on overclocking and these have lower TDP than the chips you used, I'm hoping for ~50-60C load temps on both.

So once again, it'd be really nice to know if those temps are load/idle :)
 
peezda said:
Are those load or idle temps in the screenie? I'm building something very similar, except I also need it to be very quiet, so I'm debating the 240 vs 240 + 120 (on the bottom like yourself).

The plan right now is to use a single RX 240 at the top (pull to outside of case), with 1 intake in the front and 1 intake on the bottom to move some air inside the case. Using GT-AP14s, and cooling a i7 3770k + GTX670. Since I don't plan on overclocking and these have lower TDP than the chips you used, I'm hoping for ~50-60C load temps on both.

So once again, it'd be really nice to know if those temps are load/idle :)
Click to expand...

those temps where taken after 1 hour at 100% GPU and 98% CPU using BOINC to max them out. right now, my idle temps on the CPUs are 32C, and around 46C on the GPU (GPU is running 2 monitors, with 1 unplugged, GPU temps drop to about 37C).
 
Kaneda13 said:
those temps where taken after 1 hour at 100% GPU and 98% CPU using BOINC to max them out. right now, my idle temps on the CPUs are 32C, and around 46C on the GPU (GPU is running 2 monitors, with 1 unplugged, GPU temps drop to about 37C).
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks! I will start out with a single 240 then and see how it goes :) Very nice rig!
 
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