HELIOS (Caselabs SMH10 | black/copper | EVGA SR-2 | Geforce Titan) - by alpenwasser

[alpenwasser]

looks well nice mate
I'd have been worried about the paint holding the weight off the O ring but looks like it may actually help seal them
good luck if you have to strip them for cleaning

Nah, the O ring seal is not a problem, it sticks out far enough to be compressed very nicely
into its groove.

As for cleaning, since the blocks don't have any fine and delicate structures I doubt I'll ever need
to take them apart again unless something goes really horribly wrong. And then the paint will
probably be the least of my worries.

And thanks!

 

[Mark3Max]

Haha, it wasn't so much a switch as a very slow-moving trigger squeeze (OK, that's a really
bad metaphor, I will admit :lol: ).

But thanks!



Thanks! It's actually improved over night. You can see in the very last picture there are some
dark and some not-so-dark areas under the plexi. The dark areas are where the plexi is pressing
directly onto the paint finish, the not-so-dark areas are where there is no direct contact between
the paint and the plexi. Over night the paint has been further compressed and now there is almost
complete contact between the paint and the plexi, giving it a very nice uniformly dark look (only in
the corners do they not touch, but it's really negligible and might still improve with time). I'm guessing
it's going to be impossible to ever get it off again without ripping off the paint, too, but it does look
nice.

You should have let the paint dry a day or 2 before assembling.

 

[alpenwasser]

You should have let the paint dry a day or 2 before assembling.

I actually gave it four days in the apartment (so, nice, warm and dry).

Before mounting the plexi I compared the coat hardness with my fans (which I clear coated
with the same spray), and the difference was very, very slight (the fans have had a few weeks
to harden). But no matter how long I will let it dry, the plexi will always press directly onto the
paint. I did test if it was sticking to the plexi when I mounted it, and it didn't, but I'm pretty
sure it will start to stick over time no matter what simply due to the pressure.

EDIT:
On another note, I will be trying out how copper screws look now with the black. But I need to
order some first, the ones that came with the RAM blocks have been repurposed for other things
(the res and the GPU block) and have mostly been shortened.

 

[Mark3Max]

Sorry , I didn't know you let them dry that long , It should be fine then.
But as you said , with the heat and pressure over time , they will probably stick.

 

[alpenwasser]

Sorry , I didn't know you let them dry that long , It should be fine then.
But as you said , with the heat and pressure over time , they will probably stick.

No problem mate. Considering I stated that I was inexperienced with painting it was not an
unreasonable assumption. Luckily, I doubt I'll ever need to take these apart, unlike, say, the
CPU blocks.

I'd say the minimum drying time for the clear coat I'm using is at least three days under current
conditions. Even after two it was still very soft and fragile. In summer it might be shorter.

 

[Conchubair]

i must say im seriously impressed by this build. the amount of work that has gone into this has become evident from teh time it took to even read through from the first post to here which had taken me all my spare time in 2 days.

only disadvantage is its making me regret the 750d Im getting. its my dream case tbh and i now kinda want to get get some thing with some more modding potential. :wub: :wub:

 

[alpenwasser]

i must say im seriously impressed by this build. the amount of work that has gone into this has become evident from teh time it took to even read through from the first post to here which had taken me all my spare time in 2 days.

Thanks for the compliments mate, I highly appreciate it. And yes, it has indeed
been quite a bit of work (still is).

only disadvantage is its making me regret the 750d Im getting. its my dream case tbh and i now kinda want to get get some thing with some more modding potential. :wub: :wub:

Oh, there is modding potential in almost everything, you just have to find it.

 

[JayCobs]

Dude, if you keep up this marvelous work, my case will NEVER be done!!!!

 

[alpenwasser]

Dude, if you keep up this marvelous work, my case will NEVER be done!!!!

Haha, thanks mate, I appreciate that. Then we will both have builds that never
get done, although yours at least seems to be running in a provisional state IIRC.

 

[Conchubair]

Any news alpenwasser, or have you just been to busy with more pressing things?

 

[alpenwasser]

Any news alpenwasser, or have you just been to busy with more pressing things?

That (college), and I need to save up more money for buying the next round of components.
It will be January at the earliest when I can continue.

But thanks for asking.

 

[Conchubair]

need to save up more money for buying the next round of components.
It will be January at the earliest when I can continue.

Ah yeah, the perpetual need for money, suppose the wait makes it better in the end..

 

[alpenwasser]

Ah yeah, the perpetual need for money, suppose the wait makes it better in the end..

I certainly hope so. Since it's already been more than two years in the making a few more
months won't make that much of a difference.

 

[SeraNoxa]

omg first seen this thread now, but those fans... im afraid a little nerdgasm happened... but you should start a donation fund ! cant wait for more updates..

 

[alpenwasser]

omg first seen this thread now, but those fans... im afraid a little nerdgasm happened... but you should start a donation fund ! cant wait for more updates..

Haha, thanks, I appreciate it. But I'd rather pay for this with my own money. Takes longer,
but feels like a bigger accomplishment when done.

 

[RoboChimp]

I'd love to see some benchmarks from this rig, when it's completed and see how it compares to my Xeon rig.

 

[alpenwasser]

I'd love to see some benchmarks from this rig, when it's completed and see how it compares to my Xeon rig.

What Xeons are you running? If I get a good overclock out of this, it might possibly give
the newer Xeons a good run for its money, at least in benches where clock speed is of
benefit.

Sure I could do some benching, though I'll be running Linux or BSD on it (haven't decided
yet), so the usual Windows benchmarks aren't really available AFAIK.

 

[RoboChimp]

What Xeons are you running? If I get a good overclock out of this, it might possibly give
the newer Xeons a good run for its money, at least in benches where clock speed is of
benefit.

Sure I could do some benching, though I'll be running Linux or BSD on it (haven't decided
yet), so the usual Windows benchmarks aren't really available AFAIK.

Mine are E5 2650 v1's, they can't overclock...much, but they can get 18.10 on cinebench.

 

[alpenwasser]

Mine are E5 2650 v1's, they can't overclock...much, but they can get 18.10 on cinebench.

Yeah it's a real shame they killed that nice OC horse with LGA2011, but such is life.
Just imagine getting one of those new 12cores and overclocking it. :wub:

Hm, I don't have any experience with Cinebench (since, sadly, no Linux version), but back
in 2010 bit-tech got about a 20 score in CPU rendering (release 11). Not sure how valid
or comparable these numbers are to today's R15.

So it might be that, depending on the overclock I can get out of my system, it could
be somewhat comparable to yours, at least in some applications.

I must admit though that I'm probably not going to install Windows just for benching,
not really worth the hassle for me.

If you find any benches that are available on both Win and Linux or BSD feel free to let
me know though, I'd be happy to give you some numbers (I must admit that I'm somewhat
curious myself TBH).

 

[RoboChimp]

There is always Geekbench http://www.primatelabs.com/geekbench/