Legit Reviews

So about that radiator mount I attempted before, it didn't work. I couldn't find a hole saw the right size and didn't trust my freehand circle cutting ability (though I still might end up doing some later ;) ), so I decided to get it done properly (laser cut) out of steel.

Here's the design I made...



And here's what that got me...



:D

While I was doing things properly, I picked up some nice hex-head screws to fix it to the radiator, and used some acousti fan mounting things to deaden the fan vibrations.



I've said before that the tolerances in this phase of the mod will be tight, you'll get an idea of that in a second, but I need to make sure my drill holes are spot on in this part of the case, and not owning a centre-punch, I ghetto'd one up...



Some nice drill guides later...



Then's time to start assembling things.

Except I didn't have a spanner for the bolt size I'd bought. >_<

So I dremmeled an old one to fit.



I hadn't really thought through how I was going to assemble the parts together for this part of the case, I think I assumed I could fix the mount to the case, then attach the radiator and fans to it afterwards.

Well I couldn't, due to the bottom case lip covering up the bottom set of mounting holes. So, I had to screw the radiator and fans to the mount first, then go through this fiddly process to secure that whole lot to the case at once. >_<



It's a hassle, but I'll not be taking the radiator off very often, so it should hopefully be fine.

Though I've realised that this radiator is so big, I'm going to have to build my case around it. >_<






Here's a quick visual on some of those tolerances for fitting this thing in the case...





And the ghetto-aligned pump mount from before?



It's bang on...

:D

From the last set of photos, it looked like the radiator might actually fit completely internal to the case. I'd already measured it by this point, and knew it wouldn't quite.

I was prepared for this though as the P182 has a drive bay door, and behind that, space is allocated for dust filters. Without those, this actually gives me enough clearance to have the radiator protruding slightly out of the case frame (and then end caps additional to that ;) ).

So, lets make it fit.

First off, time to adjust the front panel...



And then the some more cut outs at the back for the PSU..



Then putting the case parts around the radiator, we can get a good idea of what it's going to look like...





Pretty snug, eh?

And how close was it to fitting completely inside the case?



It was almost perfect!





I've said it before, but I think it's worth saying again. I wasn't kidding about having barely millimetres of tolerance in this build!

The case mid-plate is at the exact height to rest on the radiator and PSU when installed, and with the 120mm fans centred on the 140mm radiator, I get this much clearance below them to the bottom of the case...



Snug as a bug in a rug.

I'm about 2 holes away from being able to powder coat this rig, but I need a stepped drill bit to make them, and the only place I can find one is at a Maplins that's an hours round trip away. Which I don't have time to go to yet.

Anyway, thought you'd get a kick out of how I'm currently running my rig.

Step 1. Cut a hole in the box.

Step 2. Put your di..., erm, PC in the box.



With external PSU mounting for heat isolation. :grin1:



Oh yeah, and that blue carrier bag next to the box?

Rain-protection during transport.

I've been able to get away without having a fill port on my reservoir by using the quick disconnects just before it on the graphics card, but it's a really awkward way of filling it. A res without a fill port is a very sorry res indeed, so I had to find somewhere to connect up one of the unused res ports without making a massive obvious hole somewhere.



Round the back of the case should fit nicely, but I didn't have the right sized hole saw for my fill port. So off to Maplin's I went and picked up a set of titanium coated step drill bits.



Oh my gosh, these are awesome, I can't believe I didn't have some before. They cut like butter in steel and the edge is really clean!



I mean, look at these!





Before I started cutting, I must have spent half an hour measuring the right place to drill, and it paid off. The ports will match up perfectly.





Job's a good 'un.



(Yes, I did scuff the powder coating on the back of the res >_>
But it's ok, as I'm getting it re-done with the rest of the stuff that needs powder coating)

Got a pretty good ebay deal on a graphics card this weekend.

Will be nice to finally retire my beloved GTX 480.



MSI R9 290 - £215 shipped... :D

It's blatantly been used for mining, but I have a copy of the original invoice should it ever require RMA'ing. By the way, that original invoice, was for a set of 12 of these for a cool total of £3600+ >_<



I dare say I've got me the fastest cardboard rig this side of recompute.

Not much of an update, other than to say my case is off being powder coated, and the last little thing I did to it before I sent it was to cover a couple of holes on the back plate and epoxy on a little structural support for a corner that I'd weakened a little more than I was comfortable with.





Should have the parts back next week, and then can hopefully make some decent progress for a change!

Still waiting on getting my case back from powder coating, but I was toying around with a couple of things and ended up pondering if this would work...



Compressing it as hard as I can with my hands to simulate it being mounted doesn't seem to budge it, so I'm seriously considering doing it.


One thing's for sure it'd be worth it for the super clean look when lit up...

Spent a bit of time measuring/positioning the LED strips, only to realise that I can't solder them while it's resting on my water block as it'll more than likely melt the plastic underneath. >_<



Now to find an alternative way to position them while still being able to solder.

My initial reaction was to just put something insulating underneath, but then knowing my luck I'd slip past it and still melt the block. :-/

Ok, was actually able to steal some time this evening and have a proper go at it.



This was a royal pain in the arse to solder, the smallest gaps were a nightmare.



So it's a bit of a mess, but it works, and it'll be hidden away nicely by the mount hardware anyway, so I can get away with it.

And for a little sneak peak at what's now possible, here's my first ever project video!



:D

Got my powder coated case parts back!!!!!one!!!! :D:D:D:D:D



It's going to be nice having a computer case again.

Here's the assembled structure, with the PSU and Radiator now built into the case.





Suddenly there are a lot of things that need doing again, and I'm not sure what to focus on first! >_<

Had to use some of the perspex I was saving for the side panel window on a second attempt, so I hope there's enough left now, else I'll have to get anther whole sheet! >_<



Lots of careful filing/cutting later, and it is a pretty decent fit...



I'm going to clean up the edges with some wet & dry, but from a test fit of the whole Aquaero, I think this is going to look pretty damn nice. :D

More updates, yay!

Next on my agenda was to cut out an acrylic rectangle..



Just what I need.

But what's it for?!



Spent a good half hour attacking it with some P400 sandpaper to give it a frosted look, which when combined with these...



Will light up pretty nicely...



:D

Now to just have another go at soldering these LED strips. >_<

Hopefully I can do a bit cleaner job this time, but I'm going to have to make a few adjustments to the cutouts before I can do that, I didn't realise I was covering my cable cutouts at the bottom when I measured up!

...and now we're up to date.

Until next time folks! ;)

Got the soldering done :-D

Think this one deserves another video, photos don't do it justice!

Holly cow - lots of work! Can't wait to see it finished!

this is coming along nicely. time for me to send you my current rig for you to custom for me ;)

Awesome build

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

sbohdan wrote:Holly cow - lots of work! Can't wait to see it finished!

Me too man, it's far enough along now that I can see the ending, and I'm actually getting pretty excited. :D

DJ Tucker wrote:this is coming along nicely. time for me to send you my current rig for you to custom for me ;)

Haha, if you can do without it for 2-3 years, I'm sure I could bring it up to this level too.

kenc51 wrote:Awesome build

Thanks man! :D

---

Small update, painted my GA-Z87X-UD3H's I/O and heatsinks from silver/blue...


Sorry for the potato picture, didn't have a proper one and had to boost the exposure on an old one too much >_<

to black...

2-3 years is a long time, but worth it in my opinion. really looking forward to the final put together and see how it looks and performs