SFF Build for Wife

[VanGoghComplex]

Hey all! The build is finished, for now, but I gotta tell ya, it was hard working inside an ITX case with my foot so firmly lodged in my mouth...

The specs are:
Raijintek Metis
EVGA 400w PSU ("modularized" with custom short ATX cable)
BioStar X370GTN AM4 MITX
Ryzen 3 1300X (stock cooler)
8gb Kingston HyperX 2133 DDR4
Corsair Force GT 240gb SSD
WD 1tb Enterprise Storage HDD
Gigabyte GTX 750ti Low Profile 2gb

It's not a beast, but it's a start. It's on a new platform, so there's an upgrade path. It'll run circles around her 2012 Mac Mini, and that 750ti will even handle some gaming if she wants it to.

I'm still considering an EK fluid gaming CPU loop before I give her the machine, but I may settle for a big air cooler (as you guys suggested from the start.)

Thanks for all the advice, you kinda pulled my head out of the clouds.

 

[Private_Ops]

Nice. For a rig like that, a standard air cooler would work fine and be a lot cheaper with less maintenance.

 

[rfarmer]

Looks good, I have the same case that I am using as a small media server. One thing I will say is a SFX PSU makes building one of these so much easier.

 

[Chapeau]

Air? ASIF....

The rational thing to do would be upgrade own rig, transplant old WC parts into wife's PC.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Air? ASIF....

The rational thing to do would be upgrade own rig, transplant old WC parts into wife's PC.

Literally none of the parts from my machine would fit. XD

...well, I guess maybe the pump would. Without a top. =p

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Haha j/k on the aircooling

I'm not a reasonable person

IT BEGINS

 

[VanGoghComplex]

IT CONTINUES

Good lord that's gonna be a tight fit... Good thing I've got the watercooler's secret weapon:

MILES OF CHEAP PETG I CAN AFFORD TO RUIN

 

[rfarmer]

I was thinking of watercooling my Metis. I have a Swiftech Apogee Drive II and a HWLabs 120mm radiator that I am not using. I looked at that exact reservoir and realized I would not have enough room to put it between my SFX PSU and the side panel, I did not even think of putting it next to the PSU.

Do you think you will have any trouble with the tubing run between the radiator and the reservoir?

 

[Master_shake_]

i have the same board.

it's pretty good.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

I was thinking of watercooling my Metis. I have a Swiftech Apogee Drive II and a HWLabs 120mm radiator that I am not using. I looked at that exact reservoir and realized I would not have enough room to put it between my SFX PSU and the side panel, I did not even think of putting it next to the PSU.

Do you think you will have any trouble with the tubing run between the radiator and the reservoir?

I'm positive I will, but I'm banking on having enough fittings and little widgets to figure it out. More photos to come tonight, stay tuned!

 

[rfarmer]

I'm positive I will, but I'm banking on having enough fittings and little widgets to figure it out. More photos to come tonight, stay tuned!

Looking forward to it, I may go back and watercool mine after seeing what you come up with.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Alright guys, things are getting a little cramped. See the thumbscrews on the AM4 bracket? I bet you can guess what they're gonna interfere with...

So, rad on the inside is out. However, if I get a bit... "persuasive" with the 120mm fan...

Alright. With the ears clipped, it fits. Kinda.

Nothing's touching, so that's a win. Some sacrifices were made to get there though. I went all XSPC for this build. Had the block already, and the Ion looked neat. Shoulda researched a smaller rad though. The XSPC one's end terminal tank collides with the edge of the case in one direction and the GPU in the other. So, I had to intentionally miss the holes.

The hole for the bottom left screw is new. I didn't drill for the one close to the I/O shield. I might before I'm done, but three is probably enough.

My last act of beauty tonight was this, the first of three very tight bends:

Not my best looking bend, but far from my worst. This is gonna be one of those form-follows-function builds, I can tell already...

Off to bed for the night. More tomorrow night, if time permits. =)

 

[Chapeau]

Reasonable... Hahahaha

Edit: Question

How is the Barrow PETG? I'll be doing my first hard tube soon and the Barrow stuff is a good price.

 

[rfarmer]

Damn that is snug, good luck.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Reasonable... Hahahaha

Edit: Question

How is the Barrow PETG? I'll be doing my first hard tube soon and the Barrow stuff is a good price.

I've found no issue with it, but bear in mind that I've never used anything else.

Edit: I take that back. I've used some Thermaltake 12/10. I wouldn't recommend it, though that may be more the 12/10's fault than the Thermaltake brand. That thin wall stuff gets wavy in the bends and twists easily. Plus it's tough to deburr to a clean chamfer.

The build in this thread is using 12/8.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

It's a tight one, but lines up about right...

And to think in the last post I was trashing the thin wall stuff. I needed it to do this:

I call that little maneuver the "".

Don't judge. I was in a dark place when I bent that.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Alright! The loop is commissioned! Bleeding and leak testing:

That 90 on the left is a QDC. Didn't have a valve, but wanted something to function as a drain line. May revisit that later, of course.

 

[rfarmer]

Well you did a nice job in a tight space. You also made me realize there is no way I am doing a loop in mine, I will be happy admiring yours.

Let us know how temps are.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Update on this project:

That Corsair fan was too loud. I this it may have had a bearing that was beginning to go. I wanted to put a GT in there, but I wouldn't be able to clip the corners on a GT like I did with the Corsair to get it to clear the CPU block thumbscrews.

So...

First thing's first. Make the rad pretty! This turned out to be a lot more painless than I thought it would be. Got me thinking about painting the rads in Hephaestus, too. JayzTwoCents has a video on doing this.

All done! Went with the aluminum metallic Krylon. It matches pretty closely.

I didn't snag pictures of it when I did it, but I would up putting two holes in the bottom of the back panel so that the rad fittings could pass through from the outside of the case, and so that the rad could be mounted through the stock 120mm fan mount points.

The tubing bends from this location were much easier in some ways, but...

I broke at least six fingers tightening this fitting.

Not a bad looking rear end, though! It's pulling through the rad so a dust filter was deemed necessary.

I was thinking of doing a glass panel for the side, but honestly this looks pretty cool. The reservoir window is so close to the side panel that you can see the fluid level even through The "grille," and the other lights in the case make a nice, understated light show behind it... without revealing the awful cable management. XD

Hope you guys enjoy! I did!

 

[Nanook]

This is amazing. Nice work and thank you for documenting and sharing!

 

[rfarmer]

That came out looking really good, gave you some more room to play in there. Sorry about your fingers.

 

[Nebulous]

Holy shit, how'd I miss this? Nicely freakin' done! I'll bet wifey is happy!

You make us proud, broken fingers an all!