Project: PrometheusCu

[Langer]

Greetings and Hello fellow modders and enthusiasts.

First I'd like to start off by stating that I'm very sorry for the long wait! I apologize for the hold-up.

Life threw a few curveballs my way, and the Digital Design program at Vancouver Film School is intense; I can count on 1-hand the number of times I was able to go out and have fun this year. The course demands the completion of 81post secondary credits in just 1 year (as a comparison, many of my friends attending University here in Canada are required to complete only about 20credits a year).

Now it's all done and over with, if you'd like some info on where it's taken me check out the about page on my, still developing, website. I don't have much of my latest work on there but the about page should do a good job of summing me up. http://jesselang.ca/about-me


LETS GET TO IT SHALL WE?

I am proud to present, for your viewing pleasure, update number 53 in project PrometheusCU
==================================================================

When we last left off I was rushing to get parts cut in the week before I had to pack-up and move west to Vancouver. At that time I moved into a Hotel for the first 3months, and had 0access to any kind of shop. For the most part, the project has been packed and boxed awaiting completion.

I took it upon myself to take another jab at modding full force back in January/Febuary - however my final project took precedent.

Last firday afternoon I grabbed my files, the rough-cut copper parts, and a comfy spot on the couch and spent the day filing.

Since friday, I've spent every day morning-night filing copper... my inexperience with the CNC router cutting process combined with the increased cutting speed I needed to get the parts done in time yielded very very shitty edges. Just about each piece has needed between 5-10hrs+ of filing to get perfect, and even then I'm only just finishing the first pass of filing on most parts.

(In trying to land a gig working at Google they gave me a NexusOne to play with - and being that it's the only camera I have at home at the moment: Pictures presented by Google )

I'll start with some detail images of the edges left by the CNC router:
It looks like a dog breakfast for now, but thankfully they all clean up REALLY nicely.

Here I've placed the carbon behind the copper as it will be in the end:

A quick preview of where I'm at with the first pass of filing:

Here's another mock-up with the carbon:

I'm just about finished pass 1 on these parts:

I couldn't leave you without some previews of how the case stands at the moment:

Here's a head-on shot of the drive-bay area showing how the PICO and Pump are to be mounted:

Note the clearance... of 0:

The addition of the reservoirs required the pump be oriented differently, which of-course means cutting something:

Some of you who have been following this project for (how long has it been now?) may recall my former shop and working facilities: PHOTO GALLERY LINK.

Well gone are those days, I'd like to introduce to you my current workshop - from soldering to grinding, drilling to filing this is my home:

Here's my view of today's gloomy Vancouver weather - it may rain alot here but the sunny days make it more than worthwhile:

Not being one to shy away from a good pun; I want to share with you the location where PrometheusCU has been living for the past year.

This is the wall above the bed in my bedroom - this project has quite literally been looming over my head for the past 9months. It's the last thing I see at night (on the slow nights anyway ) and the first thing I see in the morning. I even had visions of being crushed by faulty Ikea shelving overweighted with copper, which I must admit would have been a pretty good irony.

Sorry again for making you all wait, but I'm pretty sure that most of you will agree with me when I say it was worth it.

That's all I have for you for now.
Life is pretty lax for me now. I am doing a lot of consulting for usability and interaction design projects attempting to harness social media - most of which I do from home. In short: I have lots of time for modding now, and I plan on taking advantage of it.

The next update with be accompanied by a number of surprises - thanks for reading.
Tune in soon.

*j

 

[W.Feather]

dam, that looks great

the water cooling is coming along nice it seems, though from the pictures it looks like you have some very tight bends in it, are they sever enough to restrict your flow? specifically coming out of your north bridge and over the GFX, and going from the memory to the CPU


as for picture quality, these put my iPhone to shame especially the one of the Vancouver city

 

[Langer]

Thanks a lot.

On the topic of kinky tubes:
This is a quick mock-up, and the tubing will sport stainless steel anti kink coils and a layer of nylon multifilament sleeving over top. In the end that will not be an issue.

Here are some very early mock-ups showing a rough result:

*j

 

[PixelsGC]

Holy Crap an update!!!! THAT IS LOOKING SICK!

 

[W.Feather]

cool, figured you had something else planned for them, everything else is meticulously planned

 

[Langer]

PrometheusCU Video Teaser


A logo bumper created by a friend of mine - www.joshuamichie.com - in anticipation of the completion of project PrometheusCU

 

[ZMTToxics]

Ah! Nice!!

You are well on your way to playing some Fallout 3!

 

[Crispy002]

Please hold while I change my pants.

 

[Jesse B]

This case is looking great. I've been following your build for quite some time, and it's nice to see that things are back on track.

Your place is right downtown Van is it not? I haven't been there in awhile, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it's in around Stanley Park there? I feel like that's where it is, just can't seem to recall.

Anyways, as I said, case is looking great. Can't wait to see more progress.

 

[Silverghost]

Nice to see a local guy do some great work. I'm in Surrey/White Rock

 

[Langer]

Thanks again for the kind words and the keen support!

I am located in Vancouver, currently in the Coal Harbour area but moving to a funky loft in Gastown in August. If anyone want's to grab a coffee or a meal and shoot the proverbial shit I'd love to meet some fellow modders. - throw me an email (it's listed at www.jesselang.ca/about-me)!


I guess I'm due for something here, aren't I?

======
ON 'PROMETHEUSCU':
It's all just more of the same until I'll get all this copper looking perfect.
As a point of reference: it takes ~2-3days of morning-night filing to finish each piece (and I still haven't started buffing and polishing).

======
ON OTHER PROJECTS IN LIFE:
I've been working on a couple other projects at the moment...
most of my work is all digital, but sometimes I get to get dirty. Currently I'm volumteering my time and skills to build an interactive museum exhibit for school-children.

A project funded by Environment Canada (although I decided to use the entire meager budget on materials and fabrication instead of taking home a paycheck) - the table will be reproduced and set-up across Canada in various museums to communicate point-source and non-point source pollution.

Here's how it stands (the surface is being CNC machined ATM from ABS plastic sheets):

Still need to wire up all the lights, the water-pumps and all the fun interactive arduino stuff.
I know it's not exactly topical, but it's for the children so I feel it to be appropriate for posting.

======
ON 'HELIOS' (MY NEXT MOD):
On another note. The fabrication for my next-mod (a super rapid production) called Helios will be going down next week. July 5th-15th
Here's the planning thread

======
ON 'JLI1' (MY NEXT COMPUTER BUILD):
On another, another note: I'm also building an EVGA SR-2 system featuring 24GB of ram, 7xwatercooled GTX480 GPUs, and 2xXeon x5680s under phase-change. This will just be an assembly project and won't be featuring any 'real modding'.
Here's the planning thread

======
ON LIFE:
This week as also seen the debut of my company - I'm very happy to say that JLI (Jesse Lang Innovation) is now incorporated, has offices open for business, and comes to the table armed with some new heavy financial investors.

Doing consultation and development for large-scale social algorithms, system frameworks, information architecture and other cool sh*t for improving online/offline/and mobile experiences.
Were in the process of SEC filing, so look out for us soon in a stock market near you.

I'm also very excited to say that the office is located at the plush Park Place building at 666 Burrard here in downtown Vancouver's financial district.

======
ON CONCLUSIONS
Therein lies the reason for my lack-of updates... everything is planned to take me closer and closer to what I love to do most - modding. In the next year I hope to be spending the vast majority of my time grinding and filing my way to modding bliss.

Despite the seeming lack of updates progress continues steadily these days - my new career path grants me a lot more freedom than I've known in the past (I've finally learned how to hire others to do my work for me, lol). Expect great things.

I'm well on my way to participating in this whole modding game on a whole new level - and I'm excited to say that it's coming together faster and better than I ever could have planned.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this mess.
Take Care, and see you all shortly.

*j

 

[matrix563]

langer dont' blow up the universe!

http://www.+++++.com/news/17574-nvidia-geforce-gtx-480-3-way-sli-review.html

 

[EndersShadow]

Man Langer...your making some pretty major waves! Glad to see things going in the right direction for you!

 

[formula409]

Man. Project Helios looks pretty awesome in the planing.

 

[Wahoomcdaniel]

Looking back at the CNC'd copper pieces that are demanding all your time sanding and sanding and sanding ... I was wondering how you would repair the part of the copper that was torn away. I'm referring to the slots of copper that appear to be a grill cover. Is it possible to solder another piece of copper or would the repaired piece look too offensive?

 

[Langer]

@matrix563 - I can't make any guarantees.... 7 x 450W = 3150W

@EndersShadow - Thanks a lot man, hopefully everything goes to plan.

@formula409 - Thank you very much, it'll be a fun project. Construction will only take a couple day and will be going down sometime between July 5th and 15th.

@Wahoomcdaniel - I altered the design to accommodate that cutting error. I got very fortunate at the fin that broke happened to be exactly where I wanted a small PrometheusCU plaque.

*j

 

[Crispy002]

I got very fortunate at the fin that broke happened to be exactly where I wanted a small PrometheusCU plaque.

It's a sign!

Pun intended.

 

[Jesse B]

If anyone want's to grab a coffee or a meal and shoot the proverbial shit I'd love to meet some fellow modders. - throw me an email (it's listed at www.jesselang.ca/about-me)!

I might take you up on that offer I'm moving down to the coast in September, Ladner to be precise. I'll get back to you once I move down there, I'd love to meet the genius behind all these great works of art.

 

[cipher_nemo]

Excellent, professionally-done mod. Very attractive so far and very clean. Top-notch work for sure. I gave up spending this much time with my mods, but I know the feeling when you really get into one and all of the details involved. Very meticulous, but also quite beautiful so far!

On another note, as W.Feather mentioned, I'm concerned about the tight water cooling bends as well. Specifically the northbridge to southbridge hose looks like it would restrict waterflow. I assume you'll make that connection longer to reduce the bend?

Otherwise, nice look with the copper, carbon-fiber, and black. Tons of work invested on this mod for sure (which you have to do if you want to keep the sponserships rolling). The teaser video is a little crass for my tastes since it's just all for show and no content yet. But keep up the amazing work on the mod! Kudos.

 

[formula409]

Excellent, professionally-done mod. Very attractive so far and very clean. Top-notch work for sure. I gave up spending this much time with my mods, but I know the feeling when you really get into one and all of the details involved. Very meticulous, but also quite beautiful so far!

On another note, as W.Feather mentioned, I'm concerned about the tight water cooling bends as well. Specifically the northbridge to southbridge hose looks like it would restrict waterflow. I assume you'll make that connection longer to reduce the bend?

Otherwise, nice look with the copper, carbon-fiber, and black. Tons of work invested on this mod for sure (which you have to do if you want to keep the sponserships rolling). The teaser video is a little crass for my tastes since it's just all for show and no content yet. But keep up the amazing work on the mod! Kudos.

The tubing that is shown in the pictures is not the final tubing. Thats more of a mock up. Langer posted what he was going to do here at post 844. http://goo.gl/wcWJ

 

[cipher_nemo]

The tubing that is shown in the pictures is not the final tubing. Thats more of a mock up. Langer posted what he was going to do here at post 844. http://goo.gl/wcWJ

Ah, thanks. I missed that then.

 

[Susquehannock]

Looking good Langer. Appreciate the update on this ambitious project.

Having said that, I see a fair amount of oxidation already. As well all know, Copper is a very reactive metal. Which leads one to wonder how this issue will be addressed.

 

[Crispy002]

Looking good Langer. Appreciate the update on this ambitious project.

Having said that, I see a fair amount of oxidation already. As well all know, Copper is a very reactive metal. Which leads one to wonder how this issue will be addressed.

My guess is Langer is going to bust out the copper cleaner he so dearly loved in the early pages of this mod thread.

Edit: I want to say he might have sealed some pieces with something.

 

[master noran]

Just remembered this mod when I saw your other worklog, awesome work and hope you find some time to complete this mod.

 

[SaibotC]

I finally got a chance to take an inventory of all the parts. Save for 2 copper panels and 1 CF, which I am in the process of scanning into digital format, here is PROMETHEUSCU as it stands:

What is missing:
-PSU
-Feser XChanger Triple 120mm
-Secondary system: Pico-ITX motherboard to be attached to the 7” LCD on the front
-Tertiary system: AMD Geode based system running pfSence (for router, firewall, wifi card)
-Arduino board that controls all LEDs
-Second GTX 260(first one is being tested for stability)
-Hard disk/solid state disk drives
-Matrix Orbital GX Typhoon

To be done:
I plan to CNC the front panel out of copper, the original panel was damaged and I also plan to make a couple of revisions to it (add space for onboard audio amplifier, IR receiver, thunderbolt port, etc). Furthermore, as a tech is a little dated, I have plans to throw some newer components in it, but that will be arranged at a later date.
Jesse had access to quite a number of unique workshops with tools that are not exactly common. In light of this, progress will be a little slower than in the past, simply because I will have to seek out a machinist in order to begin any tangible work. Recently, I have started an internship at a local interactive design agency, they are working with materials and technology that lives on the bleeding edge of the industry. They have offered to introduce me to a couple of machinists they have worked with in the past, and hopefully that will be a good place to start.


Thanks for reading, more to come in the near future.

 

[Emission]

I am located in Vancouver, currently in the Coal Harbour area but moving to a funky loft in Gastown in August. If anyone want's to grab a coffee or a meal and shoot the proverbial shit I'd love to meet some fellow modders. - throw me an email (it's listed at www.jesselang.ca/about-me)!

If I lived anywhere near you I'd totally take you up on it. I have an interesting project idea that I half-ass initiated but am planning on making a second attempt on soon. A couple people tell me it might turn over some commercial interest as well.

That and I'd love to hear about your new company.

EDIT: Just went back and re-read through the posts, can't believe the news .

Rest in peace.

 

[bsoltan]

RIP Langer. Your mods will be missed.

I guess it goes to show that modding and this project meant a lot to him, for him to pass it on to be completed.

Best of luck in completing this task SaibotC, shame the bump to this thread had to come with bad news.

 

[ekuest]

ive been reading jesse's logs for years, just like many other users on this and other forums. i cant believe he's gone just like that. jesse really was a one-of-a-kind modder. some people are talented, but jesse was more than that, a modder who dreamed way bigger than was realistic, and then made it realistic. RIP man, you will be missed.

saibot, thanks for taking this over. while jesse is obviously irreplaceable, im glad he had someone who really cared about him and his work who could take this project over. best of luck to you as you pull this thing out of storage and bring it back to life.

 

[centurion]

Not to be an ass, but do you have any way of providing verification? I mean, this is the Internet after all, and while it doesn't make a world of sense that someone would just pick this up it would still be nice to know.

 

[Clubber_Lang]

I am new to the modding community and just trying to learn. Seems Jesse was a legend at this stuff and his creations will go down in history. Very sad deal what happened to Jesse.

SaibotC......is your goal to finish Jesse's project? I hope so from reading your post. I think it would be a great tribute. Looking forward to seeing the end results.

 

[RedRaider]

Not to be an ass, but do you have any way of providing verification? I mean, this is the Internet after all, and while it doesn't make a world of sense that someone would just pick this up it would still be nice to know.

For what it's worth, I will personally vouch for SaibotC.

 

[W.Feather]

Very sad to see this news, atleast the project lives on - was a great project from when i was watching it, time to re-subscribe

 

[RazorWind]

Not to be an ass, but do you have any way of providing verification? I mean, this is the Internet after all, and while it doesn't make a world of sense that someone would just pick this up it would still be nice to know.

Verification of what? He appears to have physical possession of the guy's custom PC case...

 

[wagoo]

The message on http://www.jesselang.ca which we know is/was Langer's domain is all the verification needed, really..

SaibotC: good luck on completing a fantastic and challenging project! I'm sure it'll be both an emotional and wonderful experience.

 

[SaibotC]

If anyone has any concerns feel free to PM me.

Fixed the pictures btw.

Current progress: I'm in talks with a local precision machining shop to nail down a price to get some of the cutting and bending work done.

Hopefully I will have a real update in the coming weeks.

 

[Beriphent]

SaibotC, thanks a lot for continuing this. Like with a lot of people, PrometheusCu was one of the first worklogs that I really followed. I can't believe Jesse is gone: he was quite a inspirational and a talented modder, and even wrote some nice modding guides. I have a feeling you will do just a good job as he would have to finish this build.

 

[smiley22432]

Loved the movie. love the mod

 

[SaibotC]

Greetings to one and all!

My apologies for the infrequency of updates. I have prior engagements that I shall be rid of by the end of the coming week. Very excited for this, and other projects to come.

Since my last update, I have worked out an arrangement with a local sheet metal shop. Bill Lawson and his boys from Metallica Mfg came highly recommended to me from various friends.

Without further adieu, here are some glory shots of the copper monstrosity:


Filing all the pieces. Rotary cutting, unsurprisingly, does not give as clean of an edge as waterjet.

Panels, ready to transport

Some printouts I made for the machinist to better understand the folds I am looking to achieve.

Picture of part of the shop. They sure have many goodies in here!

"What a machine!"

Clean bends, very little marks on the metal.

The metal itself clearly still needs a bit of work. Sanding, polishing, eventually laser engraving followed by a clear coat.

Front panel is still very much unfinished in terms of filing.

Some teaser pictures of the underbelly

Hope you enjoyed,

Stay tuned for more!

 

[voklskier4452]

Im glad to see this project moving forwards again. Sad news about langer. I hope seeing someone finish this build will make him smile. This was the build that really inspired me to try any of my pc mods. RIP Langer.

 

[ccityinstaller]

It makes me sick to my stomach to have read this entire thread (every post) over the last 4 hours only to find that SaibotC just disappeared after being entrusted with the completion of a $20K+ project that was handed to him!

It makes me so sad to see such a talented young person taken away too early, and his work left unfinished when he clearly trusted SaibotC to finish in honor of Jesse. I hope he comes back sometime and didn't sell this case off to someone..