OC3D Forums - BackDraft Evo (a Nanoxia DS1 Build)

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- - BackDraft Evo (a Nanoxia DS1 Build) (https://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=53395)

Hey all :)

I'm new to the forum and have a build ongoing that I'd like to share with you.

First things first to bring you up to date on the current state of play, please bare with me as the build is already under-way; it's been subject to change thus far and likely will be changed further still lol...

http://i.imgur.com/nTFHBvsl.png

BackDraft Evo...

BackDraft is a concept I’ve been toying with for some time (12 months plus), the basic brief is for a high air flow water/hybrid cooled rig for general use, video encoding, gaming and to satisfy my passion for overclocking and benchmarking; as both the CPU and GPU will be overclocked a heavy emphasis will be on cooling but I also want for it to be nigh on silent and energy efficient.

As the name suggests it will be a project that evolves in stages.

2 of the principle components -

An EVGA Z68 FTW Motherboard 8D

http://i.imgur.com/i2bxm0Hl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aa0oyh6l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Hy5AG0ll.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IJLDXH1l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3NItmIWl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/58X95FMl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fbw3nHSl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1jwOetxl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/opMuVyll.jpg

My performance lapped 2600K :D

http://i.imgur.com/FKr9Hyal.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/27Xfcljl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/maFgWStl.jpg

And here is some more of the pre build stockpile just after Christmas

http://i.imgur.com/ZcvsICZl.jpg

The case I’ve opted to use is the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1

Very R4 I think you’ll agree

(it wouldn't surprise me if they are manufactured at the same facility lol)

http://i.imgur.com/Z0Rp4zgl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aRVgaqDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HxL3jtDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/my56YBEl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vmtKRpxl.jpg

The first nice touch is the pop up I/O panel

http://i.imgur.com/enoEDFAl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IBjgsKGl.jpg

Next up we have in the rear area of the top cover a sliding mechanism called "Air Chimney" by Nanoxia, raising this panel up gives any underlying fans the breathing room needed while still offering some sound encapsulation.

http://i.imgur.com/XTD7dqAl.jpg

Pop open the front and you have two slider variety fan controllers (three channels apiece).

http://i.imgur.com/WjTbiEWl.jpg

Three 5.25" drive bays and below those there are two 120mm fan mounting points behind the bottom door with removable mesh dust filters.

http://i.imgur.com/BPK9QNHl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/a8dgYpul.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YO1OIuJl.jpg

Here are a couple of features I'd like to mention -

http://i.imgur.com/3pwGE7Rl.jpg

Another well thought out touch.

http://i.imgur.com/wcGU9J7l.jpg

The eight hard drive bays are divided into three cages, two for three and one for two drives;thanks to the two modular bays and the secondary placement possibility, you can pretty much mix an match to suit your requirements.

And now to strip it down...

http://i.imgur.com/HBKoNtJl.jpg

Front panel PCB

From left to right you - reset button, power button, two three channel fan connections and a power connection for the fan controller.

http://i.imgur.com/1DokO49l.jpg

The associated connections

From left to right - power switch IO, power LED IO, reset button IO, two groups of three male (3 pin) fan connections and a 4 pin molex connection which powers the fan controller.

http://i.imgur.com/9NJRSyql.jpg

Roof mounted IO panel PCB

From left to right - two USB 2, two USB 3 and HD/AC97 audio.

http://i.imgur.com/suMe0vcl.jpg

The associated motherboard connections

From left to right - USB 3, USB 2 and HD/AC97 audio.

And now finally the chassis in it's naked form.

http://i.imgur.com/WaeybDWl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ckV9lwRl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vjiuVGVl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bJ98jicl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/S61xDLDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PsmV8Sel.jpg

I've replaced the standard tubing grommets with the solid rubber grommets provided (another nice touch), I'd rather they weren't there in the first instance but hey that's me lol.

http://i.imgur.com/vfjP9phl.jpg

You have around 20 mm of space behind the motherboard tray to route cables.

http://i.imgur.com/AXXVbIwl.jpg

Right impressions on the chassis so far...

Nice build quality
Some well thought out features
You can mount 240 radiators in the roof and horizontally in the front of the case out of the box

The bloody cheap case feet have to go!!!

I love the Nanoxia! I nearly bought one myself. I'm going to watch this with interest.

Looks interesting - I like loads of piccies.:)

Yes, this is a nice case and it's looking like an interesting build.

Question: How much better temps do you get with the lapped CPU?

Quote:

Originally Posted by barnsley (Post 645030)

I love the Nanoxia! I nearly bought one myself. I'm going to watch this with interest.

More on the way ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheroo (Post 645270)

Looks interesting - I like loads of piccies.:)

Plenty of those to follow :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpenwasser (Post 645581)

Yes, this is a nice case and it's looking like an interesting build.

Question: How much better temps do you get with the lapped CPU?

I knocked 5-6°C off my load temps :cool:

I finished stripping down my former rig this morning and couldn't resist doing a size comparison (the smaller chassis is that of a Silverstone PS07).

http://i.imgur.com/2XmB4XDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CfDCBLVl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IORIZEpl.jpg

And now on to the subject of case feet...

The standard case feet on the DS1 are just nasty and cheap for lack of a better word, my only gripe of the entire case.

Now spot the difference

http://i.imgur.com/U9LfNZFl.jpg

Before

http://i.imgur.com/JNvgzaVl.jpg

After

Some of MNPCTech's finest Silver Diamond Knurl Case Feet :D

Pure quality and I love em!!!

http://i.imgur.com/z5fMTagl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kcEzQC4l.jpg

I've used the washers that come with the feet as spacers on the underside of the chassis and 4 x 6-32 25mm long screws to mount them, end result = PERFECTION :cool:

The DS1 has provision to mout fans as follows -

Front: 120 mm x 2 (included)
Rear: 140 mm fan x 1 (included)
Side: 120/140 mm x1 (optional)
Top: 120/140 mm x2 (optional)
Floor: 120/140 mm x1 (optional)

These are the fans that come with the case (2 x 120mm mounted in the front and 1 x 140 mounted as the rear extract)

http://i.imgur.com/81P6PWCl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/sMC4e5hl.jpg

For obvious reasons I won't be using these.

My choice in weapon so to speak will be these...

http://i.imgur.com/b3bD30Ql.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gc0il3rl.jpg

They are Xilence 2CF's (the 2CF prefix stands for 2 Component Fan)

Yes I've gone for German yet again lol

Other than being aesthetically pleasing and well built (they use a semi rubberised cable braid) they are designed so that the vibration of the fan is effectively damped due to the rubber compound frame; the rubber frame in turn serves as a stable and vibration retardant base for the fan motor.

Further more they tie in to perfection with the colouration of the motherboard :D

http://i.imgur.com/lIzWK2dl.jpg

Time to do some testing of the components and some mocking up -

First up the Installation of the motherboard

http://i.imgur.com/pqsGKt7l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FQkMIPZl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0pUH0ODl.jpg

Looking at that I couldn't of placed the holes for cable routing any better if I designed the case myself :)

Now you only have to do a web review search or pick up a recent publication and you'll see how highly regarded the new Corsair H100i is; so how do you improve it's already excellent performance?

Well you could use fans that produce a higher static pressure than the standard Corsair fans, you could front and back the H100i with two pairs of fans in a push/pull config, you can even use a shroud to eliminate the deadspot of the push config fans...

Me, I've done all three of the above

The H100i will be mounted vertically at the front of the case hence the name of the build - BackDraft

First up is the high static pressure push fan element of the build

http://i.imgur.com/hNSMczjl.jpg

Two AP15's, a personal favourite, tried, tested and in my opinion the best radiator fans money can buy.

Another component of the build is the BitFenix Recon

http://i.imgur.com/1iwTlSkl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/K4T9OzWl.jpg

I'm not a fan of the fixed (glued in place spaghetti) but this is one very very impressive bit of kit especially when used with the third party Phoebetria software; despite it still being an evolving Beta application it functions far better than BitFenix's own Recon control software (please note it doesn't yet support the mobile phone app).

Download Link

And here we have the H100i unit with two pre installed Xilence 2CF's (the pull element) and a 30mm Pulse Modding 240 shroud.

http://i.imgur.com/KwPxBoJl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/hpr3W3El.jpg

The installation of that H100i looks excellent. Its quite dramatic how different the blade design of those fans are when you compare them with the standard Corsair fans or the SP120's. I found the stock grey Corsair fans to be utter crap - noisy and ugly - they really should bundle a proper pair of pmw SP120's with it.