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Project: parallel HEX (completed!)
- Thread starter Mysterae
- Start date
Everfalling
Gawd
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- Jul 12, 2005
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- 676
complete madness man. all those cables. i think it'll look better with all those things going every which-a-way than all organized and shifted out of sight. It's amazing how well everything fits like that in a non-cubical space, even if the case is already big.
My thoughts exactly. I thought the HEX motherboard holder was hot... now it's just awesome. Can't wait to see it all wired up.
Hopefully soon?
It's turning out far from what I initially envisioned too! I didn't think it would get so elaborate, but it just seemed to go on. It would be finished by now if I stopped thinking of new things. But no more additions, I'm on the final straight!
Everfalling, that's the problem with clear cases, it's near impossible to hide the cables. I was going to use flexible chrome tubing (think shower head flex) for the cables. The mod Orac3 made it look awesome, but I decided not to for a few reasons.
themark, it should be wired soon! Any spare time I have I'm making the cables. The gutting thing is once I'm at the stage to fit the water cooling tubing, I really should take it all apart first. The case panels need a good polish because of finger prints, and that would be the best time to do it. The good news is it all comes apart really easily.
Arcygenical
Fully [H]
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- Jun 10, 2005
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- 25,066
Every time I see you post more pics, I hate you more and more 
.
Just kidding of course
Anyways, I LOVE it, keep up the amazing work.
.Just kidding of course
Anyways, I LOVE it, keep up the amazing work.
Well, work continues on the wiring, getting the lengths and pin-outs right. It's starting to get there. It's going to be very busy in here with the cables and tubing!
I'm not all that happy with the colour of the radiator. I've been thinking about having it chrome coated and called a few companies and it's cheaper than I thought it would be. I'm going to post a thread in the water cooling sub forum to see what the folk over there think of it; is it a bad idea etc.
To think this has to be taken apart again...the finger prints and slight residue from the masking tape really show up, especially in the image below.
Above you can see the video cards in place, with a little subtle naming . Forgot to mention that the smaller knobs have been fitted to the pots, much better looking imo.
Back to making up more connectors...
I'm not all that happy with the colour of the radiator. I've been thinking about having it chrome coated and called a few companies and it's cheaper than I thought it would be. I'm going to post a thread in the water cooling sub forum to see what the folk over there think of it; is it a bad idea etc.
To think this has to be taken apart again...the finger prints and slight residue from the masking tape really show up, especially in the image below.
Above you can see the video cards in place, with a little subtle naming
. Forgot to mention that the smaller knobs have been fitted to the pots, much better looking imo.Back to making up more connectors...
Everfalling
Gawd
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- Jul 12, 2005
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- 676
oh man. i shuddered when i saw that first picture. this is arguably one of the best mods on this board right now.
DeathByBowtie
n00b
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- Feb 5, 2007
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- 12
Ho. Ly. Crap. Let me have your babies.
Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Jan 17, 2007
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- 6,940
I'd use microfiber cloths to get the fingerprints/smudges out... and use rubber gloves when you're finally assembling it
looks awesome
looks awesome
omegatotal
Gawd
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- Mar 15, 2002
- Messages
- 672
man, like OMG really like OMG
the only thing that could have made the power distribution center better, is if you used the clear insulated chrome/silver colored wiring instead of the black/red/yellow... but its still awesome! i love the idea completely!
the only thing that could have made the power distribution center better, is if you used the clear insulated chrome/silver colored wiring instead of the black/red/yellow... but its still awesome! i love the idea completely!
Okay, where do I start?
The wiring for the case is done, thankfully. So is the other crossflow fan, but more on that later. First off, here's a progress shot with the case lighting off.
I I decided to completely change the lighting of the case. Gone are the red, green and blue leds of the fans controllers that illustrate their speed. It was a real pain to mount them and didn't fit in with the scheme of the case. So I replaced them with UV leds, but still connected to the fan controller - certain ones come on depending on the speed of the fans. They are placed randomly to activate the UV additive that will be in the water lines.
Best of all, the 3 UV leds are mounted at the bottom of the Collector (reservoir). The pic below gives the illusion there's 4 of them though! The light from the UV leds is more purple than the blue the camera captures. I need to work out a way to get the settings just right. This is going to light up the coolant very nicely! The cable sleeving is UV reactive too.
The buttons and dual-gang pots are all wired and working. This picture makes the Collector look radioactive! The UV from the leds really freaks the camera out...
Here's all the connectors complete, the ones not connected are the pumps and the pots for them, don't want to run them dry.
A low lighting shot from afar. Again it looks more blue than the purple in person.
Hmm, there's something missing...ah yeah, the laser!
The camera plays tricks with the laser as well, added with the UV mixing with the red of the laser. The close up below is a little bit more accurate. It's going to look sweet with coolant in there (hopefully soon!).
It's not all good news. The crossflow fans I modded are real screamers in the case, and with filter material to stop bugs and dust getting in, they are just unbearable. It could be the smaller diameter tubing I used to make them or the smaller intake. Whatever, they must go! So I need to get two more panels to mount the replacement fans. I'm going with the Cooler Master aluminium ones I have on the rad, nice and quiet with good air flow. Here's where they will be fitted.
I think that is a premium location for them, as they will help cool the video cards, chipset and v-regs of the motherboard. Hopefully the ram will get some cooling too.
Still need to decide if the rad is going to be chromed or not, more sure it is than not. Once that's done and I have the replacement panels, I can finally (finally!) complete the water cooling side of things.
The wiring for the case is done, thankfully. So is the other crossflow fan, but more on that later. First off, here's a progress shot with the case lighting off.
I I decided to completely change the lighting of the case. Gone are the red, green and blue leds of the fans controllers that illustrate their speed. It was a real pain to mount them and didn't fit in with the scheme of the case. So I replaced them with UV leds, but still connected to the fan controller - certain ones come on depending on the speed of the fans. They are placed randomly to activate the UV additive that will be in the water lines.
Best of all, the 3 UV leds are mounted at the bottom of the Collector (reservoir). The pic below gives the illusion there's 4 of them though! The light from the UV leds is more purple than the blue the camera captures. I need to work out a way to get the settings just right. This is going to light up the coolant very nicely! The cable sleeving is UV reactive too.
The buttons and dual-gang pots are all wired and working. This picture makes the Collector look radioactive! The UV from the leds really freaks the camera out...
Here's all the connectors complete, the ones not connected are the pumps and the pots for them, don't want to run them dry.
A low lighting shot from afar. Again it looks more blue than the purple in person.
Hmm, there's something missing...ah yeah, the laser!
The camera plays tricks with the laser as well, added with the UV mixing with the red of the laser. The close up below is a little bit more accurate. It's going to look sweet with coolant in there (hopefully soon!).
It's not all good news. The crossflow fans I modded are real screamers in the case, and with filter material to stop bugs and dust getting in, they are just unbearable. It could be the smaller diameter tubing I used to make them or the smaller intake. Whatever, they must go! So I need to get two more panels to mount the replacement fans. I'm going with the Cooler Master aluminium ones I have on the rad, nice and quiet with good air flow. Here's where they will be fitted.
I think that is a premium location for them, as they will help cool the video cards, chipset and v-regs of the motherboard. Hopefully the ram will get some cooling too.
Still need to decide if the rad is going to be chromed or not, more sure it is than not. Once that's done and I have the replacement panels, I can finally (finally!) complete the water cooling side of things.
digital_exhaust
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - May 2008
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- Aug 14, 2006
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- 6,903
Really cool.. I think the choice to stick with uv lighting was a good one... Looks awesome.
jonathonball
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Sep 23, 2005
- Messages
- 1,427
starting to look a little crowded in there. still looks good though, can't wait to see it finished. you do great work.
michaLcoughliN
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Jan 13, 2007
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- 1,163
nice
Everfalling
Gawd
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- Jul 12, 2005
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- 676
anything new to report?
WarMace
Gawd
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- Aug 25, 2004
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- 963
I have this fan as well, I have found that the slightest restriction in air flow causes these centrifugal fans to recirculate air within and over-spin(more so than with a normal propeller fan).
The only thing I can think of would be to bow-out the fan filters to increase surface area and reduce air pressure on the inlet side of the fan. But if it is the smaller diameter, then I guess theres nothing you can do about that.
It really is a shame, because the crossflow fan mod is my favorite part about your whole case.
Oh, well, theres still plenty to love about your project without them.
cipher_nemo
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 153
Wow. Amazing amount of detail and complexity in this custom case. It looks almost like a mad scientist device, lol. Did you enjoy torturing yourself in creating this entity? My goodness, that's a lot of work! I hope you never have to upgrade the mobo in that thing, or you may have to disassemble the entire case again, lol.
At any rate, I applaud you just on the amount of planning and work that went into this mod... errr... correction, prototype.
My goodness, that's a lot of work! I hope you never have to upgrade the mobo in that thing, or you may have to disassemble the entire case again, lol.At any rate, I applaud you just on the amount of planning and work that went into this mod... errr... correction, prototype.
Hmmm, where was I?
You know what it's like; your faced with a decision. When a game like STALKER comes out and your mod/pc is not quite finished, do you:
a. hastily put it together, all rough and coated in finger prints
or
b. take it apart and build it on the bench and use it for a while
Well I opted for b, and never quite got round to putting it together again! I was doing things to the case in the meanwhile, but not amounting to much so there was no reason to post an update.
Until now! I'll share my progress first then reply to comments at the end.
Stripped and laid bare:
Arty shot for you. I don't think I will need all that tubing.
Another arty shot..
The construction blocks look like little hexagonal ice cubes.....with brass inserts in them!
I used white spirit to removed the black paint of the ThermoChill radiator, then sanded and polished it with Brasso. If the ends had came up nicer I would have left it, but I painted it silver to match the CoolerMaster alu fans. I opted not to have it chromed because of time.
The Collector and Distributor all polished up and waiting.
Fast-forward a bit and here's where I'm at. I cut some stainless steel hex grill to protect little fingers and occasional insect from the rad fans. No need for filter material here.
The colour of the rad matches the fans pretty well (chroming would have been better).
The springs you see on the connectors are to stop the tubing from kinking when bended. I'll need to run a few bends in this case.
Just above the lower video card you can see the northbridge cooler, the reason why that card has lower heatsinks fitted.
The 3-port-modded cuplex xt below the video cards, with the nb cooler again:
The final shot for today...
Blazesstorm, you tip on using a microfibre cloth was sweet, thanks man. Using that and some Brasso wadding makes the acrylic sparkle, smudge free! Gloves are a necessity...
omegatotal, I would have loved to have used insulated chrome/silver wire and did look into it. I didn't find any with the number of cores I needed unfortunately. Thought about making my own, for a few seconds anyway!
lozaning, I'm going with light blue, with some blue uv additive for sure.
n00btard, you're not the only one that asked about doing a production run on the reservoir. I would if I though it would sell and I could do more than breakeven financially. But with the way things are the few would be expensive, but doable.
Bbq, I should have done something with the mounting plate for the connections. Unfortunately I'd have to undo everyone of them to do that, and I'm not going there again! Should have thought about it at the begining...
warmace, yeah it's a shame about the crossflow fans, I liked them too. Aw well...
cipher_nemo, I must enjoy torturing myself with this! I didn't set out to be so complex at the start, it just gained momentum. You are right about having to strip the case down to removed the motherboard come upgrade time. I'm thinking when that will be, probably not for a while anyway. Depends on Crysis and DX10 .
Thanks for everyones comments, appreciated as always. I wasn't ignoring the worklog, just hiding in the background, playing STALKER.....
You know what it's like; your faced with a decision. When a game like STALKER comes out and your mod/pc is not quite finished, do you:
a. hastily put it together, all rough and coated in finger prints
or
b. take it apart and build it on the bench and use it for a while
Well I opted for b, and never quite got round to putting it together again! I was doing things to the case in the meanwhile, but not amounting to much so there was no reason to post an update.
Until now! I'll share my progress first then reply to comments at the end.
Stripped and laid bare:
Arty shot for you. I don't think I will need all that tubing.
Another arty shot..
The construction blocks look like little hexagonal ice cubes.....with brass inserts in them!
I used white spirit to removed the black paint of the ThermoChill radiator, then sanded and polished it with Brasso. If the ends had came up nicer I would have left it, but I painted it silver to match the CoolerMaster alu fans. I opted not to have it chromed because of time.
The Collector and Distributor all polished up and waiting.
Fast-forward a bit and here's where I'm at. I cut some stainless steel hex grill to protect little fingers and occasional insect from the rad fans. No need for filter material here.
The colour of the rad matches the fans pretty well (chroming would have been better).
The springs you see on the connectors are to stop the tubing from kinking when bended. I'll need to run a few bends in this case.
Just above the lower video card you can see the northbridge cooler, the reason why that card has lower heatsinks fitted.
The 3-port-modded cuplex xt below the video cards, with the nb cooler again:
The final shot for today...
Blazesstorm, you tip on using a microfibre cloth was sweet, thanks man. Using that and some Brasso wadding makes the acrylic sparkle, smudge free! Gloves are a necessity...
omegatotal, I would have loved to have used insulated chrome/silver wire and did look into it. I didn't find any with the number of cores I needed unfortunately. Thought about making my own, for a few seconds anyway!
lozaning, I'm going with light blue, with some blue uv additive for sure.
n00btard, you're not the only one that asked about doing a production run on the reservoir. I would if I though it would sell and I could do more than breakeven financially. But with the way things are the few would be expensive, but doable.
Bbq, I should have done something with the mounting plate for the connections. Unfortunately I'd have to undo everyone of them to do that, and I'm not going there again! Should have thought about it at the begining...
warmace, yeah it's a shame about the crossflow fans, I liked them too. Aw well...
cipher_nemo, I must enjoy torturing myself with this! I didn't set out to be so complex at the start, it just gained momentum. You are right about having to strip the case down to removed the motherboard come upgrade time. I'm thinking when that will be, probably not for a while anyway. Depends on Crysis and DX10
.Thanks for everyones comments, appreciated as always. I wasn't ignoring the worklog, just hiding in the background, playing STALKER.....
I'm still salivating over this awesome project, and hope that Mysterae can hold off on the gaming long enough to get the whole thing plumbed and pumping in all it's glory. You'll definitely need to get some professional shots of this baby once it's done. All that effort deserves to be recorded well.
Everfalling
Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2005
- Messages
- 676
i'd love to see this baby on the cover of CPU magazine in the future. some pro shots are a must for this thing.
Fud
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 276
WoW....
Ah bollocks!
I cracked the corner of the distributor because of over tightening it. Luckily I have another one, it just needs sanding and polishing. It'll have to wait though as I'm away on business. Just when I was getting into the stride of this thing!
I cracked the corner of the distributor because of over tightening it. Luckily I have another one, it just needs sanding and polishing. It'll have to wait though as I'm away on business. Just when I was getting into the stride of this thing!
digital_exhaust
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - May 2008
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2006
- Messages
- 6,903
Bummer about the bad luck.. I suppose it could be worse though..
Really, really good job so far, it's beautiful.
Really, really good job so far, it's beautiful.
Arcygenical
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2005
- Messages
- 25,066
My TDX shattered today because of overtightening... I feel your pain!!!!!
This is really starting to look incredible... I've been following it ever since you started.
I bet that wasn't the only thing you said when it happened...
Good thing you have a backup.
WarMace
Gawd
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
- 963
Looking good, thanks for the tip on polishing acrylics. The pain of being down a computer while your rebuilding it is tuff, I know.
To themark and Everfalling, I'd love to have some pro-shots taken of this case. If any magazines are reading .
Yes Arcygenical, I saw your plexi cracking in your thread, it does suck! Plexi is an awesome material, but needs some care. As yes themark, bollocks wasn't the only thing I said !
Here's the offending damaged Distributor. If you look closely you can see the chipped piece and corner (not the best background I know).
The spare one I had was unpolished and completely sealed with silicone - it was my make-shift one while I was bench-running the machine. It just wouldn't come apart! So an overnight soak in iso'-alcohol dissolved the silicone and it separated nicely. It still needed a damn good sanding and polish. I opted to sand and polish rather than flame polish it...
...and here it is in position! The six marks you can see on the Distributor are for 3mm LEDs. I changed the positioning of the lighting to give the uv coolant maximum illumination.
Yes, that's right, I'm almost finished! I just need to add water...
All the tubing runs are installed and tightened. The spring-clamps give it an odd look, but I like it! Most of them do nothing really, but others are required for tight bends.
Now, just to avoid any confusion to those entering mid-thread, here's the water cooling schematic, the reason why there's so much tubing. Some of the tubing connections are wrong in the image, I need to update it I guess.
Some more pics before I add the water..
In the pics above and below you can see the drain point below the motherboard I/O plate.
Obligatory modded cuplex XT shot:
So now the only thing left to do is add the blue UV coolant, leak test it for a good few hours, then connect the power to the hardware.
Almost there!
.Yes Arcygenical, I saw your plexi cracking in your thread, it does suck! Plexi is an awesome material, but needs some care. As yes themark, bollocks wasn't the only thing I said
! Here's the offending damaged Distributor. If you look closely you can see the chipped piece and corner (not the best background I know).
The spare one I had was unpolished and completely sealed with silicone - it was my make-shift one while I was bench-running the machine. It just wouldn't come apart! So an overnight soak in iso'-alcohol dissolved the silicone and it separated nicely. It still needed a damn good sanding and polish. I opted to sand and polish rather than flame polish it...
...and here it is in position! The six marks you can see on the Distributor are for 3mm LEDs. I changed the positioning of the lighting to give the uv coolant maximum illumination.
Yes, that's right, I'm almost finished! I just need to add water...
All the tubing runs are installed and tightened. The spring-clamps give it an odd look, but I like it! Most of them do nothing really, but others are required for tight bends.
Now, just to avoid any confusion to those entering mid-thread, here's the water cooling schematic, the reason why there's so much tubing. Some of the tubing connections are wrong in the image, I need to update it I guess.
Some more pics before I add the water..
In the pics above and below you can see the drain point below the motherboard I/O plate.
Obligatory modded cuplex XT shot:
So now the only thing left to do is add the blue UV coolant, leak test it for a good few hours, then connect the power to the hardware.
Almost there!
