This worklog was originally started on XS a few weeks back, I thought my friends at the [H] would like to see it as well...I've edited out a few pieces that are no longer relevant
Each January for the past three years I've started a new mod project. The past two, I've hacked and chopped my trusty old Lian-Li PC-6000, and beefed up the liquid cooling loop. This year's cooling upgrades would have pushed the space in the Lian-Li to the limit, so I've decided to move on to something new. I've dubbed this one "Project Zero Eight" as in '08 (I know, it's not very creative).
The new victim is a Cooler Master Cosmos...here's the parts list:
abit IP35 Pro
E8400
8800GTS (G80)
2GB Patriot LL 6400
Corsair HX520
Cooled by:
Swiftech MCR320 + Coolingworks Coolrad 22T
Dtek Fuzion (washered and nozzled)
EK FC-8800
Swiftech MCW30
Laing D5
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So let's get started with the worklog...
First order of business was to strip the case down and remove all the fans:
Lots of plastic crap on this case...
First mods:
Lower drive tray plate removed (drilled out rivets):
First cuts complete:
Radiator test installation...
I lined the vertical support panel I cut with door edge moulding, and re-riveted it down to the lower panel of the case towards the outside. Adding the rivets brought the rigidity of the case back to where it was before the panel was cut.
Just enough space between the MCR320 and the power supply:
The front most fan will blow air up into the upper hard drive bay, which is one flaw of this case in stock form. By the way, I run 1 drive right now, so three trays is plenty (will probably add another drive though).
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01/09/2008 - Minor Update
Tonight I made a mount for the upper radiator and fans. Initially I was going to go all out and fabricate a sheet metal plenum/adapter so that I could use the case's stock "spread bore" mounts for the fans and reduce it down for the radiator. However, due to height constraints inside the case, I didn't want to deal with potential clearance issues afterwards. So, I just did something simple instead...
The material is .22" (5.58mm) thick acrylic.
Here's the plate with the fan and case mounting holes drilled:
Drawing intersecting lines to find the fan hole centers:
First hole cut...
Cuts complete and coating removed. Still need to sand all the edges smooth and grind out screw reliefs on the sides for two of the case's side bezel screws.
Test placement on top. All the holes line up! The lines drawn on the case represent the area that will be removed so the fans will fit in. I might be able to get away with leaving it in, but I'll probably just cut it out...
This is something I changed a bit later - the plate is mounted from underneath so I wouldn't have to cut open the top of the case. It also made for more clearance with the side and top bezels.
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01/23/2008 - Update
It has been a while since I've been able to make any real progress on the project. Work is kicking my butt.
Over the weekend I went out and picked up a new board and proc - a brand new E8400 and an abit IP35 Pro. You better believe I am itching to get this thing built and overclocked to see what she can do.
Also switched out the NB block for an MCW30, so a few pieces have changed.
Some pics of the CPU:
That heatsink is wimpy...guess these are supposed to run cool...
The first thing I did to the board was pull the stock cooling off...
Prep for the NB block...
NB block installed.
I have a SB heatsink coming as well as another that I'll be carving up for use on the power regulation mosfets.
Making a mounting bracket for the EK res...cut to length and marked the bend points.
First bracket - came out perfect, but too deep by 1".
Second try...just right - the res will be centered and in line with the fillport and pump...see below.
Test placement...sweet.
Top radiator plate has been clearanced for a couple panel screws and the fillport, all corners rounded and edges lightly chamfered with a Dremel.
Pump placement, marked mounting location to drill holes for pump mount. This may eventually be soft mounted with Petra's gel stuff, but I'll save that for later.
Fillport, Reservoir and Pump all centered and inline...
Pump holes drilled, pump mounted. Upper rad mounted. Of course I broke the freaking upper res mounting bracket during this mock-up, so now I have to order a replacement. Yay.
Fillport clearance. The fill tube to the reservoir clears the radiator to the left by about 1/4" or so, just right.
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01/27/2008 - Update
Made a good bit of progress today...
- Hacked and installed a heatsink for the mosfets
- Installed SB heatsink
- Installed a backplate for the CPU
- Mounted the FuZion
- Blended the pump outlet transition
- Sleeved three of the fans, the pump and the 8-pin extension
- Final mount of the radiators
- Mounted the prepped board in the chassis
- Installed PSU, optical drive and HDD
- Installed loop tubing
Enzotech copper SB heatsink. Attached with 4-40 screws with flat washers, rubber washers and Ceramique.
I didn't take pictures of the process in making the mosfet 'sink, sorry. What I did was take a generic aluminum heatsink for a PIII and cut it to size, then drilled and tapped holes to bolt it to the board. The rough dimensions are 25mm X 60mm. I used a #43 drill bit and a 4-40 tap. It's attached to the board with 4-40 x 1/2" machine screws with a flat washer and rubber washer on the backside. Ceramique is the TIM.
Test fit of the tube from the FuZion to the MCW30. Later in the build I ended up shortening it by 2" to reduce the flat spot in the bend a bit.
Thermalright backplate from their 775 "bolt-through" kit. Mosfet heatsink bolts to the right.
SB heatsink bolts...
Stock D5 outlet transition as molded.
Outlet transition blended with a little Dremel action.
The rest of the shots from today's update are from the final build in the case. As you can see, the rads, motherboard (w/ CPU & RAM) and video card were installed at this point. The remaining pics show progress through to where I am now...
Obviously, I have to finish wiring everything up, then I'll be reattaching all the plastic trim pieces, bezels, etc. Once all that's done, I'll fill the loop and leak test. Most likely I won't get to that until later in the week or next weekend, due to work and some other stuff. Let's hope I have enough pump for this loop.
Using Martin's (XS) Flow Rate Estimator, my D5 should flow 1.08GPM @ 4.50PSI. I think this will still work fine, and with the minor mod to the outlet, I should get a bit better flow out of the pump. Testing will determine if I need another pump in series or not...