Project: dislexicllama (STC-T01+PAINT+WATER)

oneil

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 12, 2006
Messages
451
About time I post a damn worklog of this build... :)

Specs are as follow:
C2D E6600 2.4Ghz
XFX 8800GTS 640MB
P5B Deluxe
2x 1024MB OCZ Performance Platinum 800Mhz
650W Enermax Infinity
Asus CDR/CDRW/DVDR/DVDRW/CDDVDROM
2x 250GB + 1x 320GB HDDs
Coolermaster Stacker Original (custom interior paint)
water loop: icefloe CPU, EK 8800, MCP655, BIPII, Tygon Black

The goal here was to maximize the black in the case. Black paint, black tube, black mobo, black everything. Only things not black are GPU (only non-black XFX 8800 :() and RAM (platinum.. whoppdeedoo)

On to the pics.. captions are below the pics. Not really a worklog per se, just explaining pics/guiding you along. :D

Enjoy!

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My workbench: Ikea desk, bed (wool blankets not recommended!)

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My screwdriver wouldnt fit in here and was seriously stripping the screws, so I had to find something smaller to use...

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Twice the time and a few layers of skin later, this itsy bitsy tool got all the screws out :)

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Found this factory damage hidden under the front top piece

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All done! Ready to be taped up.. after some cleaning

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I thought these would work well for removing grease and gunk, I was all hyped and everything!....

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...Till I saw the bloody mess they left behind after drying :mad:

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Handy little trick Arcy gave me, takes off most of the glue so it dosent damage any paint on removal...

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Taped up and ready for paint

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Paint and painting accesories

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I scared the little asian neighbours with my darth vader-like breathing lol

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First/second coats of self-etching primer are on..

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Chilling outside while primer dries.

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Primer is all done, with some weird [powdery] texture left behind at some spots

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While the primer cures, taking apart the old rig and removing watercooling components.

I knew there would be a cake of dust in the rad, but this is ridiculous... The screws were wrapped in dust that would act as a bolt - stopping me from unscrewing them :mad:
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Let's prove to the cynics that tubing does fog..

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Underside of the pump, paint peeled off (it used to sit on double-sided tape) and allowed rust to form. I shouldve sanded and painted it but didnt get around to.

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Alright, so I dropped my rad and Maze4 block and the corner of the block did the above damage :(
Notice how there appears to be rust on the fins of the rad? Weird, I dunno what happened there

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Hotwiring trash PSU for cleaning purposes.. 2.5L of white vinegar, 2x 4L of distilled water

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Primer is all dry, first coat of flat black on. Boy is this stuff ever hard to put on evenly..

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Few more coats later. While that dries I prepped the parts for assembly

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I swear by this stuff to take AS5 off, works much better than anything else. (It's lighter fluid, for you non-french ppl :p)

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Core(s) of the rig ;)

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Saw this after installing the cpu block. mobo and everything was rebuilt and too much of a hassle to take apart so I left it there.. *crosses fingers*

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The stock nVidia cooler was damn near impossible to remove, I was sweating profusely while gently twisting it off. Had to keep this $500 card alive :eek:

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Nice EK block.. this thing weighs as much as my cat. I was worried it would damage/bend/warp the card.

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While trying to install the block, instructions said to use these thermal pads. First of all, there werent enough in the box to cover everything, they were bent/ripped/squished due to shipping and were bloody impossible to put on. So I took the executive decision to replace them with AS5

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Here's the block on the card

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Case all assembled and ready for hardware.

Installation went smoothly, tubing was remarkably easy to route/mount on metal high flow barbs, incredibly difficult on plastic perfect seal barbs..

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Bleeding this thing is a nightmare with just the T-line :(

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Rad was mounted in the front, taking 7 of the 12 bays. Notice the lack of clearance with the front I/O panel.. That's [H]ard :D :rolleyes:

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I only painted the case+mobo tray, I'll do this little stuff later on.

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4-in-3 disk drive enclosure, with a missing front grille piece (cant find it for the life of me.. anyone got a spare? :()

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With the black tubing, I wanted to be able to see coolant/bubble level so I used some of my remaining clear tubing from my previous build.

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All done, missing some serious cable management though. That'll come after the black SATA cables are purchased <3

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My 2 aliases :)

Finally, throughout the build you gotta have something to keep you going..... I had these racked up above me the whole time :D:D


And my guardian-angel-hula-girl looked over my hardware while the case was being painted:
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That's it for pics, the following are macro shots I took throughout. If you want the full size/high res pics lemme know and I'll up them.

Peace!






Thanks Arcygenical for all your help throughout the build. I'm sure I would've somehow fkcued up the painting without you :D

Still to do:
- Wire management
- 2x white cathodes
- CM Stacker window panel (dammmnnn these are expensive :()

Update 02/08/2007

So I thought the coolant sitting at the bottom of my case (looks good when glowing green) was runoff from accidental runoff from filling the T-Line. I took off my side panel to check on the fan power connections (one of my rad fans wasent plugged in right) and saw coolant dripping down the side of my case... That would explain why my loop wasent bled after 30+ hours. Anyways ended up being one of the rad barbs wasent completely covered in tubing. My rad is held up at the barbs by two zip ties and the width of the tie was enough to push the tubing/screw-tie.

All fixed now, will add some pics later this week..

 
Nice work.
I suggest painting the top black as well, the top cover piece thingy. I took mine off, but yeah, I think it would look better black with only the front rails stock.

Contact Coolermaster about spares, I had to do it and they are very reasonable in their pricing.

Going to think about a window or anything?
 
I have that same CPU block, can you post temps when you are done?

You mean when I get around to plugging in the second fan on my rad? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I'm idling at 52C on the GPU right now with 1 fan :(
 
AS5 is bad for RAM chips, replace it with ceramique or silicon goop,

Well shit, brb while I go cry.... then find a retailer that sells ceramique around here. Is it just Arctic Ceramique?


As5 is NOT bad for the ram chips, provided you apply it correctly. Using LOTS of it causes it to drip over the edge of the chip, and run into the contact pins... Using the correct amount is totally safe.
 
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