Project CheckMate by E.E.L. Ambiense

[prodigee]

Ok that tears it.

This is the sickest mod EVARRRR!

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Ok that tears it.

This is the sickest mod EVARRRR!

LOL! Nah, there's plenty of awesome stuff out there... I'm not done just yet though.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Alright, yet another update. I figured I should keep the momentum rolling. Actually, I just want to finish this thing because I'm tired of looking at it!

Let's get to the update now, shall we?

Block-time....GPU block-time, that is. To match the same style and look of the CPU block, I decided I didn't want to keep the stock GPU block the same either. The block is an EK-8800GTS on my old 'vintage' XFX-brand G80 8800GTS card. Yeah, I know... I'm broke, though. That's why there's no new card here. It's fine for what I'd need it for; at least for now.

Anyways... the block. Yes, the block. The stock block was the acetal version, which would've been fine as it was. But again, I wanted things to match! Can you blame me?

We start out with the results of my work...

Just like the CPU block, I need to tap the two openings for g1/4 fittings.

...Tap-tap-tappy.....tap-tap-tap-a-roo...

Quick little threading in of the fittings... Good enough.

Here's the GPU with (what's left of) the block already on it, where it's been sitting for...well...quite a while. It was the GPU in a previous Noire build.

Quick lining up on the block to make sure everything's going to clear and it lines up fine. Golden!

And removing the paper backing and installing on the card. Well, mostly, anyways. I kinda ran out of M4 socket-cap screws... I'll get some more and take care of it. So, right now I can't test the block for leaks, but it's probably going to be just fine.

I also threaded in the fittings to make sure everything clears the fitting area. As with the CPU block, I went for a 'recessed' look to the fittings dropping in the lower area of the layered acrylic to give it a cool look. Also like the CPU block, I drilled a hole for a 5mm white LED; the only other LED inside the chassis. Should have a subdued cool look.

...And lights out again!

-------------
Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

 

[ekuest]

Alright, yet another update. I figured I should keep the momentum rolling. Actually, I just want to finish this thing because I'm tired of looking at it!

ill take it off your hands!

but seriously, what do you do with your old cases? i assume theyre not all being used at once. do you sell them or what?

gpu block also looking good.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

ill take it off your hands!

but seriously, what do you do with your old cases? i assume theyre not all being used at once. do you sell them or what?

gpu block also looking good.

Hahaha, thanks man!

Actually, I do sell the occasional project. Just depends on what it is. Most recently, my CMC Field Server case has been spoken-for. I really only started logging my own projects online, but I also handle commissioned builds that I don't photograph or anything. Granted, I do tend to go overboard on my personal stuff though. Noire is my main rig at home (used daily). BluBawx is my HTPC (used almost daily). And CheckMate here is replacing my "Building Better Worlds" rig as my LAN system.

 

[ekuest]

thats really cool man. im glad you can get some profit out of your hours and hours of work, although im sure it doesnt even come close to being profitable since you put so much time and care into your builds. most importantly, its good that they find a good home. not much good having 10 beautiful custom cases gutted nd in your closet collecting dust.

and just out of curiosity, are we gonna get any hints about your next build soon or do we have to wait til you start it? i believe you mentioned it earlier...

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

thats really cool man. im glad you can get some profit out of your hours and hours of work, although im sure it doesnt even come close to being profitable since you put so much time and care into your builds. most importantly, its good that they find a good home. not much good having 10 beautiful custom cases gutted nd in your closet collecting dust.

and just out of curiosity, are we gonna get any hints about your next build soon or do we have to wait til you start it? i believe you mentioned it earlier...

Not much in the way of profit, nor am I in it for that. I don't consider myself a ''professional modder' either, although I'm on Bit-Tech's 'elite modder list' (whatever that means) for clearance in acquiring sponsorship from companies, but I'm not into that. Bill Owen of MNPCTech and I have had numerous Skype conversations about it too, lol. He enjoys what he does, and he's lucky enough to get paid for it and make a living at it. He's arguably the greatest in the world as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not stating that as a biased point of view, and even he struggles occasionally. It's a real pleasure to work for the man too (I design all his acrylic grills and some of the newer aluminum grills). I guess he saw a reflection of himself (albeit a bit tainted, lol) in my own insanity and work-ethic. It's all about the art and advancement of said art for me. In all honesty, I'm a 'junkie' and it's my 'fix' to be able to mod and have an outlet of some sort. If I didn't, I'd be more crazy than I currently already am! And I take it as an absolute complement when someone approaches me about acquiring one my pieces.

Hahaha, about the next project...there's always a next project. I can't mention a thing about it because it's never been touched on before in the modding world and I like getting a 'first' in, lol.

Man, I ramble too much, don't I?

 

[SuperTroye]

Lol... just tap it in. I'm a huge Happy Gilmore fan myself. Man that GPU block is over the top. I need to get me one of those frickin "lasers". Immaculate work... oh, and where does the name E.E.L Ambiense come from?

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Lol... just tap it in. I'm a huge Happy Gilmore fan myself. Man that GPU block is over the top. I need to get me one of those frickin "lasers". Immaculate work... oh, and where does the name E.E.L Ambiense come from?

Hahaha...figured it was a bit obscure for easy pickup on the reference used, lol. Thanks!

"E.E.L. Ambiense" is the name of the recording 'umbrella' I use(d) (i.e. label) for electro-musical endeavors. It stands for Experimental Electronic Linear Ambiense. I use it interchangeably with my real name without much thought, until I notice others looking at me funny.

 

[ekuest]

well at least you can find time for what you love, even if you cant make it a full time job.

Hahaha, about the next project...there's always a next project. I can't mention a thing about it because it's never been touched on before in the modding world and I like getting a 'first' in, lol.

my prediction: youre biologically engineering a living case, like the ship in farscape. youll just have to feed it oats and water every day and itll power itself. it will also have legs, so you can just put a leash on it and it will walk itself to lan parties.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

well at least you can find time for what you love, even if you cant make it a full time job.

my prediction: youre biologically engineering a living case, like the ship in farscape. youll just have to feed it oats and water every day and itll power itself. it will also have legs, so you can just put a leash on it and it will walk itself to lan parties.

LOL! Funny you mention that.... I happen to be a 'Scaper too.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Well well well. Here we are again. I guess it's not your lucky day, eh? Let's get right to it, so I can get to my grocery shopping.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to do much of anything lately, since we're in season at work and I'm swamped. School's back in, so I'm handling a majority of the local public and private school's apparel. Ugh.

Oh, I apologize in advance for the bad pics; i.e. heavenly glowing crap. My camera doesn't handle contrasty dynamic stuff like white. LOL.

First off, I needed to snag some more m4 x 12 screws for the GPU block. I did that, and took her apart again for cleaning and finally finished her up. She's ready to go now.

I spent some time doing some more sleeving to finish up the stragglers/etc. that needed to be done. I may actually have to build some more wires and sleeve them as well, but I won't be positive until I go to finish up cable-management.

I put together the pump, snipped off the tac wire (annoying to me) and sleeved her as well.

Previously, I was going to coat all the screws in white, which I did actually do on the top rad, but to be honest I wasn't happy with it. It looks great, until you actually go to....you know....use the screws, and they get scratched up a bit inside the screw's head. Just didn't work for me. So I decided to use snap-caps instead. Easy to use and looks great to me.

I'm putting together the side panel again with the snap-caps.

They look good to me.

I put together the front panel as well.

Cut a piece of white acrylic for the rear fillport and installed it.

And an inside shot of it...

I also installed the CPU block in it's final place. Here's where I'm at so far. Not much to go!

-------------
Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

 

[FrEaKy]

looks smeeeeexy

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

looks smeeeeexy

LOL, thanks!

 

[Elledan]

Can I have it when you're done with it? Pwetty please?

*does her best impression of puppy dog eyes*

*fails and resorts to using kitten eyes instead*



(nice work, by the way )

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Can I have it when you're done with it? Pwetty please?

*does her best impression of puppy dog eyes*

*fails and resorts to using kitten eyes instead*



(nice work, by the way )

LOL, actually the puppy works the best because cats are the spawn of the Devil.

Thanks!

 

[Elledan]

LOL, actually the puppy works the best because cats are the spawn of the Devil.

Thanks!

*looks up from her housemate's dogs as she sacrifices them to her dark god*

Hm... you were saying something?


You're welcome!

 

[Concentric]

Where are you getting the little black hex bolts from?

 

[SuperTroye]

E.E.L, those water block tops are immaculate and defy all odds. Do you plan (or how long do you plan) to leak test the assembled pieces? Is the loop the next phase of the build? At any rate, it is coming together marvelously and looks fantastic.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

*looks up from her housemate's dogs as she sacrifices them to her dark god*

Hm... you were saying something?


You're welcome!

Hehehe...

Where are you getting the little black hex bolts from?

Any hardware store that's worth a damn. I tend to order in bulk from McMaster Carr personally, since I use them with practically every project I do.

E.E.L, those water block tops are immaculate and defy all odds. Do you plan (or how long do you plan) to leak test the assembled pieces? Is the loop the next phase of the build? At any rate, it is coming together marvelously and looks fantastic.

Thanks, bro! Honestly, I've been watercooling so many years that I don't leak-test anymore. I pretty much know what's going to happen. But please, anyone out there that's new to water....don't do what I do! Always leak-test.

There are a few minor things I need to tackle first; namely cable-management. Once I have all the power-routing configured, I'll move to the actual loop last. I'm about done either way, which is good because I'm secretly working on the next project already and I really want to devote time to it fully.

 

[nightfawn]

Give me some of your skill please.

 

[SuperTroye]

*fails and resorts to using kitten eyes instead*

@Elledan, I think this is what you need:

 

[Elledan]

@Elledan, I think this is what you need:

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/153/999243~Shrek-2-Puss-N-Boots-Posters.jpg

I think that's the effect I was going for, yeah ^_^

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Give me some of your skill please.

Hahah, thanks!

@Elledan, I think this is what you need:

I think that's the effect I was going for, yeah ^_^

LOL.

 

[Concentric]

Any hardware store that's worth a damn. I tend to order in bulk from McMaster Carr personally, since I use them with practically every project I do.

Thanks. I'm in the UK and our hardware stores don't stock stuff like this. Looks like I can order from their website Wish the measurements weren't in inches though! What does 6-32, 10-24 etc mean?!

 

[Elledan]

It really warms my heart to see someone from the UK who doesn't know imperial measurements Welcome to the EU, I guess

 

[ekuest]

@ Concentric: look here. hopefully that helps a bit. basically, the number in front is the diameter, and the second number is the thread count. our system doesnt always make a whole lot of sense.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Thanks. I'm in the UK and our hardware stores don't stock stuff like this. Looks like I can order from their website Wish the measurements weren't in inches though! What does 6-32, 10-24 etc mean?!

There are plenty of places that have socket cap screws in your neck of the woods. I'm sure of it, because I've seen plenty of rigs from the UK with them present! In fact, I seem to recall a UK PC modding supply retailer that sells them direct as well, but can't, for the life of me, recall who it was exactly.

It really warms my heart to see someone from the UK who doesn't know imperial measurements Welcome to the EU, I guess

LOL!

@ Concentric: look here. hopefully that helps a bit. basically, the number in front is the diameter, and the second number is the thread count. our system doesnt always make a whole lot of sense.

Thanks for that! That should help some, with our weird illogical system of measurements.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Alright, sorry for the double-post...again. I'm going to go ahead and drop this in here. I've been diligent in assembling this rig with the spare time I actually do have. Although, I've spent plenty of it catching up on sleep. This is a good thing for me, because I haven't been getting a whole lot of it at all.

This will be a tease-post. Let's get to the titillation, shall we? :naughty:

Hard drive of choice...

DDR2 of choice...

Ooh, E.E.L.'s been plumbing the system...

Uh-oh, fluids are present now too!

I promise to have a real update coming soon.

-------------
Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

 

[Concentric]

There are plenty of places that have socket cap screws in your neck of the woods. I'm sure of it, because I've seen plenty of rigs from the UK with them present! In fact, I seem to recall a UK PC modding supply retailer that sells them direct as well, but can't, for the life of me, recall who it was exactly.

Well, some places online e.g. KustomPCs sell some hex bolts, but they're not quite what i'm looking for (http://kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Kustom_PCs_Shop_Screws_52.html).
I would recommend them as a shop though, great customer service.

I've built an order full of nuts n bolts and things like sleeving/heatshrink on McMaster so should be sending off for them soon. On a side rant, I wish their whole order page was encrypted, not just the pop-up payment window.

 

[SoAndSo]

i think i just shat my pants

this is seriously awesome

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

i think i just shat my pants

this is seriously awesome

LOL. Thanks!

 

[M0rph3us]

You give moar? I am very intrigued to see see what this beast will look like finished, I am loving the black and white theme though. It's also very well balanced on the colors, fantastic work.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

You give moar? I am very intrigued to see see what this beast will look like finished, I am loving the black and white theme though. It's also very well balanced on the colors, fantastic work.

Thanks, man! I should have a new update coming soon.

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Alrighty, here's another small update. I've been swamped, as usual. But I've been finishing up on her. I just want to get her done and off the block so I can start work on the next TWO. Yes, two projects in the works for the next insanity, lol. Anyways, here's where I'm at.

After spending some time running all the tubing and filling her up with fluids, she seems to be fine. Oh, decided to ditch the Feser One in favor of my tried-and-true distilled with some pentosin only. Just can't help it, you know? No leaks, no anything. Although, admittedly I really miss a res. I haven't put together a t-line type loop in probably 3-4 years at this point, and I really remember why I prefer res systems. LOL. Anyways, she's slowly working her bubbles out with a little help from E.E.L. twisting her in mid-air as she's running.

I decided to install Win 7 Home Premium x64 RTM on this rig, since I have Technet access. Quick little 15 min. OS install off USB drive, and she's purring like a kitten (minus the aforementioned bubbly gurgles inherent of a new water-cooling loop). After some minor driver issues, I've been tweaking the system to how I want it. Hell, I OCed her right off the bat before I even got the OS installed. :hehe: Nothing major, but stable is all I care about. It's just a LAN system.

Here's some shots of her as she's priming to check temps and stability...

I'll have more when I clean her and wrap up her like a neat little present.


-------------
Until the next update, I got nuthin'. :thumb:

 

[SC385]

That is just flat out amazing looking. Nice work.

 

[Crispy002]

That acrylic piece (I'm guessing part of the graphics card watercooling?) really sets off the look, I hope your next 2 projects are just as neat as this one.

 

[haadij404]

very very nice! looks great. i cant wait to see it at 100%.

 

[ekuest]

that looks amazing. except one thing. that swiftech sticker really bugs me. idk if you have a sponsorship or something making you want to keep it, but id say if possible you should put a CM logo there or else just remove it. otherwise, lovelovelove it!

 

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

That is just flat out amazing looking. Nice work.

Thanks!

That acrylic piece (I'm guessing part of the graphics card watercooling?) really sets off the look, I hope your next 2 projects are just as neat as this one.

Thank you. They'll be waaay more crazy.

very very nice! looks great. i cant wait to see it at 100%.

Thanks!

that looks amazing. except one thing. that swiftech sticker really bugs me. idk if you have a sponsorship or something making you want to keep it, but id say if possible you should put a CM logo there or else just remove it. otherwise, lovelovelove it!

Way ahead of you already. Was waiting on some vinyl. Thanks for the kind words!