[PROJECT] "The blank.box"

[Parker]

Hey guys!
I've decided it's time to upgrade from my old 1000Mhz PIII
This'll be my 6th PC that I've built, only difference is that this one will be watercooled ;)

My plans:

* It will be a single loop.
* Once I get all of the main components I will probably run it on air for a little bit, record the temps, see how high I can clock things, then I will run it on water and compare the temps and clocks etc...
* This will probably be a long project, so sit back and relax. Patience is a virtue ;)

[NOTE]:
If I have a component I will put "(Have)" next to it.
If I'm waiting for a component to come I will put "(Ordered)" next to it.
If a component listed doesn't have anything next to it that means I don't have it and have not ordered it yet.

Basic Hardware:

* Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 ES (Have)
* ASUS 680i Striker Extreme Green Edition (Have)
* 2GB Corsair Dominator 800Mhz CAS-4 (Have)
* EVGA 8800GT 512MB (Have)
* Corsair 650w Single 12v Rail PSU (Have)
* 2x Seagate SATA 500GB 32MB Cache HD's (Have)
* Samsung SATA DVD Burner (Have)

Water cooling Components:

* D-Tek FuZion V2 and V1 CPU Block (Have, testing both blocks)
* Swiftech MCW60 GPU Block
* Swiftech MCR320 Rad(Have)
* Laing D5 Vario Pump (Have) ~THANKS breezyjr!!
* Swiftech MircoRes (Have) ~THANKS yellowhello!!
* 7/16" Masterkleer Tubing w/1/2" D-Tec High Flow Barbs (Have)

Case, Fans and Grillz:

* N-Spire R2 Case (I've had this for a while)
* 8 Thermaltake "Silent Wheel" 130mm Fans (Have)
* A.C. Ryan RadGrillz Stripes 1x120 Aluminum Black (Have)
* A.C. Ryan RadGrillz Stripes 3x120 Aluminum Black (Have)

12-28-07
Now, onto some pictures :)


Case, "The blank.box"


Inside of the case


Back side of the case

Ok, so I'm going to put the MCR320 up on the top panel of the case (still inside of the case though). But doing that won't allow me to put my power supply up there...
So heres the first mod:

I took out the 3.5" bays, I had to drill out the rivets to do that.
I'm going to put the PSU down in the front of the case, I'll have to mod a couple more things though :)

I'm waiting for the rad, grills and the fans to come. More updates soon!
_____________________________________________
UPDATE!!!
12-28-07
Apparently I won't be getting my rad or fans untill the 1st or 2nd of Jan.
So I'll update with pics of the rad when it gets here :)

But for now, heres a pic of some dremel work I did tonight:


I'll be getting some of that rubber edging stuff from petra's soon to put around those sharp edge's.

It will be a while till I order some more components (gotta make some more $$), but I'll post pics and update ya'll whenever I do something new :)
_____________________________________________
UPDATE!!!!
01-03-08
Ok, so I got my shipment from newegg and petra's today.

8 Tt 130mm Silent Wheel fans:

_


And my MCR320 wOOt!! :D


Going to mount six of the fans in push and pull config on the rad and the other two inside the case.
I'm going to do some more cutting in a little bit too, I'll keep you updated :)
________________________________________________
01-03-08

Originally Posted by pvtdonuts

Are those fans gonna fit? It looks like the mounting on those thigns are meant for 120mm fans but yours are 130mm and protrude out a bit more. I know on my MCR320 the fan spacing is really tight, with my PA120.3 you have alil more space between each fan.

Already thought about that, and I've got a plan hehe... I'll post pics of the fans after I'm done modding them ;D
________________________________________________
Alright, as promised heres another UPDATE!!!!!!!
01-03-08

Since those fans won't fit close enough to line up with the holes on the rad (and I knew they wouldn't) I had to mod them.

I screwed one of the new fans to an old square fan.


So now I have to sand it down until both fans are level with each other.


I used 80 grid.


There we go :D


I sanded down the sides that I needed to on all the fans.


Heres one up close.


Mounted them on the rad, they look pretty good!


The under side of the rad with the fans on.


I'm doing push and pull. I tested the fans out while they were on the rad and it pulls air through likes nuts! It's super quiet too, I can feel air coming out 10" away from the rad when the fans are on.
Now I've just got to do a little wiring and soldering on the fan wires.


Tomorrow I'm going to be doing some more cutting.
I should be getting the rad grills in the morning.
I also plan on cutting a window into that ugly ol' side panel ;):

Yuk.


Put some blue tape on the front.


And a little on the back.

Well, it's late and I'm tired, I'll UPDATE ya'll tomorrow.
_________________________________________

I'll leave you HL guys with that for now. I've got more updates when you want them.

So what you guys think so far??

[polobunny]

Isn't that somewhat overkill, push and pull on the rad? I don't know what "pretty silent" is for you, but that doesn't seem like a pretty silent setup to me. :P
Good job so far though!

[Yellowhello]

Great build Parker. Honestly, why would you use OSX? If you like that look, just go with Vista...

[Parker]

Another UPDATE :D

I've done alot of things in the past 48 hours, But I'll start with some wire management :)

I did some soldering on the rad fan wiring:

(yes, very messy table)


I tested them and they all work great :D
Now I don't have 6 nasty wires hangin' around on the rad :ROTF:

Heres the rad grillz I got yesterday:



Outta da box... they look sweet ;)

Here's what I did with the small grill:





Cut out a squarish circle in the black thing that use to have the power button in it.


Put it together




Put it on the front plastic piece.
BTW, I put a longer wire on this fan because it needs to reach behind the mobo.


different view


On the case


Looks pretty good! :D
This mod took me about 10 minutes... record time

More mods in next post!

[Parker]

More mods!!

I finished cutting out the side window, I did it with my good ol' dremel and some reinforced cutting disc's.

It took a while, but was well worth it :D


Fits very nicely, now I just have to go get some plexiglass.
And, BTW, the rad is not mounted on the bottom of the case, it's just sitting there for now.

Next mod:
The other day my mom and I went to Target... I was looking through the isles when I came across these:

And I thought, oh, I could use those!
They cost like 7 bucks each, I bought them :D

This morning, I cut one of them up a little,

I cut a little piece out...


Then I folded the edges over and fit it to size. Then screwed it on the case.


Close up


Full picture.

Now i've just got to cut the top of the case and mount the rad to the case and rad grill.


I might do that tonight, not sure yet.

Tell me how you like it all, comments and ideas are welcome! :D
~Parker :woot:

[Yellowhello]

Nice idea with the PSU screen Parker, and I can tell the rad grill will look great!

[Parker]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Nice idea with the PSU screen Parker, and I can tell the rad grill will look great!

Yea, I didn't want to leave it open....

I've actually already mount the rad with the grill and everything.... I just have to upload pics... :tounge:

[gvblake22]

WOW, that is a lot of fans! Nice job on the front mounting one though, looks great!
One question though, why bother putting the mesh over the PSU exhaust? There's already mesh on the units anyway...

p.s. I moved this thread to the "Mods & Ends" section...

[Parker]

Thanks Blake!

And now I understand about you moving it! Thanks!

Originally Posted by gvblake22

One question though, why bother putting the mesh over the PSU exhaust? There's already mesh on the units anyway...

I just saw this.
The reason is because I'm not going to be mounting my power supply up there. I'm putting the radiator up at the top of the case, and doing that makes it so that i can't put the PSU up there, so I'm going to mount it at the bottom of the case.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Parker

The reason is because I'm not going to be mounting my power supply up there. I'm putting the radiator up at the top of the case, and doing that makes it so that i can't put the PSU up there, so I'm going to mount it at the bottom of the case.

OOHH, I see. I'll be interested to see how you fit the PSU in at the bottom of the case. Where are you going to put your three HDD's?