Julie's Pants

[AlienALX]

Oddly enough you can. When Aura Sync crapped itself the other day (too much on one header, even on a powered hub) I had no other choice than to choose a light pattern from the hub. It has mode buttons etc. Well, it stays red for about 5 seconds, then a flash of white spins around it. Which makes it glisten like a Christmas tree

BTW I found another foible with the case's design. So that's -

1. Terribly placed tiny power button you can not see until it's lit (but that doesn't happen until the rig is on pmsl) that you stab around for with your fingers shatting up the glass. If you connect a charger USB cable or what not? it covers it.

2. The large cylindrical posts are not extended out enough to cover a modestly sized pump top. It didn't just happen to me either, I have seen numerous cases of people having to improvise. Usually with aesthetics coming in last, so it looks awful.

3. With a rad in the right side (the finished side) and a fan on the bottom position the metal cover (painted bit) hits the fan and it won't go on fully. There's a poo joke in there somewhere.

Now the first two? OK. The third one? where do I even begin? how the F can you make and market a "water cooling case" that you haven't fitted with F-ing water cooling gear to make sure it all fits?

Other than that it's fine. Would have liked some way of controlling the wire flow in the middle, but given you can't access it you just have to blindly keep stuffing in it. Meaning when you look over the top of the rig it looks like hell. Which is why I have been picking my camera shots very carefully. Nothing I can't fix, but yeah yet another oversight.

Why they even bothered to put a pump mount in the other side though? where I made that cover? god only would know the answer to that. My Barrow top I had was tiny. Literally as tiny as you could make a DDC pump top and it would have been about 10mm too large.

I would cut the final panels today but when I came over I forgot my meds and I am starting to go into withdrawal. Not wanting to spend £40 in taxis to go back and get them I've done 3 days cold turkey and now I gots the brain zaps. Getting a free ride tomorrow morning. Then I can cut the three small panels I want. Which will also need edge polishing and etc because they will be highly visible.

Oh, and Antec. Smoked glass FTW. You got that part spot on.

 

[AlienALX]

OK well she's about as done as she needs to be in order to get decent pics. All of the other stuff is mainly just for my OCD.

Light on case off. Ignore the stupid RGB on the board I have turned that off in standby so many times and it just ignores that and farts rainbows.

Light on LED on.

Night mode. AKA full evil.

Videos incoming shortly.

 

[Pugsport]

looking good buddy

are the power and rest buttons stock or did you buy them?

 

[AlienALX]

I bought them years ago for another project. The small one, IIRC, was for a project that never happened and I don't even remember buying the larger one.

They're momentary anti vandal switches.

 

[Pugsport]

I bought them years ago for another project. The small one, IIRC, was for a project that never happened and I don't even remember buying the larger one.

They're momentary anti vandal switches.

ah that colour looks a pretty good match to the burnt orange ive used on the desk, i can only find them in silver and black although ive not looked to hard yet so here is to hoping

 

[AlienALX]

I had to order them from China. In the before time lol.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231567169967?hash=item35ea7a99af:g:jE0AAOSwZd1VW1wC

That's the larger of the two.

 

[Pugsport]

i just took a look and seems they dont do the orange anymore or have sold out but cheers for the link. i may spend the evening have a look online see what i can find

 

[AlienALX]

Mine are red. They did do them in orange though. I think the lighting from the GPU block makes them look more orange.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181035462861?hash=item2a268df0cd:g:mm0AAOSw~OdVXbYU

Some of those are cool.

Oh and don't forget you can use arcade buttons too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393051205924?var=661959356812&hash=item5b83ad7124:g:pfAAAOSwgjFf0k5A

 

[AlienALX]

OK so this is about to enter its third iteration lol.

The 2080Ti needs to go. The latest PUBG update artefacts no matter what settings I run the VRAM at. This is because it has had a massive update that totally revamps the textures, lighting and so on.

I was going to buy a card and a block, but I am sick of all that nonsense. It would only be worth it if I spent far too much on a GPU, as spending on a block is only worthwhile if you plan to keep it for years.

So, I first grabbed this from Ebay.

Like I said, I did consider blocking it. Sadly that would cost me around £150 all in and for a £350 GPU you would kick all of the value out of it. I also can't fit it to the existing rig without taking off the front glass, and I would need to run two lines all the way around the front to take out the GPU block. Again, CBA.

The main reason I did the water cooling was because of the 2080Ti. Had it ran on air it would have stayed as it was originally built.

So, for the same £150 I got a couple of B grade bargains on OCUK. First up a Lian Li Q58X4. IE, the expensive one with the PCIE gen 4 ribbon.

And this. Also B grade, but has never been used because it still has the spider paper seals on everything that split when you open them and won't ever go back.

You may be wondering why a 120mm. Well, the answer is simple. PSU. If you don't use a SFX PSU you can only run a 120mm AIO. And again I am not spending £130+ on a suitable PSU when I have a killer one already. The Supernova isn't that big, so I can still run an intake which is fine. I did a lot of research and it seems the 3950x will run happily on a Wraith or 120mm cooler. So this should be more than enough, given 120mm AIOs have advanced a great deal over the years. More than you would think, TBH.

The rest I have. 3950x, 16gb Dom Plats, X570-i Strix etc.

So the first job was giving the case a wipe down and etc because it was dusty. At first I thought it was ex display, but then I realised what had happened. The GPU I bought doesn't fit. And the more I dug into the case the more I realised the last guy had had the same issue. Only he had given up, bodged it all back together and put the wrong screws in the wrong holes using the wrong sized phillips head and rounded loads of screws out. Thankfully I managed to get them all free, and had some of the correct ones. After lots of rubiks cubeness I got the GPU in. Believe me it is close. 1mm, and you have to press the back plate into the foam on the IO board to get it in.

Needless to say it is now staying there. Thankfully I don't have to take it out, as it is happily nestled in the slot and bolted in. But you can see how tight it is here.

Like I said, this GPU should work fine on air unlike the Aorus I have now. So the rig will be staying as it is.

There is one intake in the bottom (a 120) that is in this really nifty pan thing that brings it out of the case by about 10mm. IDK if I can get a full thickness fan in there with an ATX PSU, but we will see. I have some slim Arctic fans any way, so it's a non issue. What I did need was this.

Because it sits below the modular cable sockets on the PSU. And we all know how madly irritating it is when you bolt your rig down and turn it on and hear that ultra f*****g annoying sound of a cable going into a fan blade.

There is one last issue. The board, when I bought it, was half price. Because it was a return. It had no box (not a problem) no manual (also not a problem) no wifi antenna (again not a problem I have a tri Asus one) but no IO shield either. Which at the time was not a problem because you don't use it in the Stryker. However, you do use it in here.

So my mate has found a 3d file and is printing one for me

Forgot one thing. This. This is the best thing EVER.

It is the one thing I loathe about ITX. Right at the end you cut your hands to crap because you have to connect up the fans and RGB. It seems Lian Li knew this.

Oh and BTW this rig will be the true mini me I wanted to build in the first place.

I am 99% sure I have chrome foil left. So I drew up the Lian Li logo the big one has and will cut that on the plotter.

If any one has one of those ROG eyes please LMK. Would like one for this too

 

[AlienALX]

Bought a set of custom cables. They were on sale on OCUK. Not the ideal colour, but right now it's completely neutral. I just didn't want the nightmare of the big fat single wrapped cables.

Will certainly make life easier. They were listed as Super Flower cables, so I had an inkling they would be the same. When I checked EVGA support to the G3 was listed. Mine is a G5, which uses the same pinouts. I would imagine they are just an older set, and my PSU was not released yet at the time.

 

[AlienALX]

Picked up a neon RGB. These just get better all the time.

 

[AlienALX]

Forgot. IO shield is coming.

 

[AlienALX]

BTW I am calling the rig "The Antichrist"

I got some of the stuff in today. I was more focussed though on the front. I want to make it look as much like my big PC as possible.

After putting the word out a fellow forum pal offered up this.

And I just got done cutting the Lian Li logo in various sizes. I think the smallest one will work best.

The fan grille has arrived, as well as the cable ties and RGB neon. The PSU cables and intake fan arrive tomorrow.

 

[AlienALX]

 

[AlienALX]

I'm seriously, this is hands down the best ITX case ever. Don't get me wrong it has been a pain in the ass, but most of that was my fault for not spending £140 on a SFX PSU I just did not need. I took my old rig apart last night, and was amazed to see that the PSU did not have one spec of dust in it. I just didn't get it, until today. The "Eco" button runs it totally fanless. Meaning it did not pick up one grain of dust. So I have left it that way. I mean, it has done a year with a overclocked 2080Ti and 3950x on, so what is the point in just making more noise and circulating more dust?

So by the time I hit the sack last night my back was done. I had spent 8 hours on the floor ffs. I hate this room for that. Just no space. Any way, when I got up today these were waiting for me.

I got the cables, IMO, dirt cheap. £58. I had a look last night and Cablemod wanted £140. Now sure, the colour is not the best.

But beggars can't be choosers. And besides, it gave me a really funny idea. It was at this point I remembered my PSU was actually green any way. God knows why, but it's kinda nice. The reason I needed custom cables was not because of the length or braiding. The cables that came with the PSU are braided once, and are thick AF. Meaning I already knew all of the cable places yesterday, and I had an inkling this was going to be the case, hence the custom cables. Otherwise I would have had to cut the stock ones free, and be confronted with lots of ketchup and mustard for my troubles.

I will cut out the hours and hours this took me. What I will say is it is not only the best ITX case ever because of the looks. It's stunning. It is for two reasons. Firstly the flip down RGB and fan hub. This allows you to work outside of the rig. Which in a tiny case is a god send. The second reason? is the offset fan "pan". Again, this comes out completely and allows you full access to the bottom of the PSU where all of the cables connect. Again, this allows you to put them in when you want, instead of having them all getting in the way whilst you are trying to work out the best places for them to go. Not an option on the Jonsbo I did, so it looked gash at the end because you can't do it any other way. Any way, pics.

I did have to make one minor mod. It seems that the EK AIO's hoses hit the mid plate. I had this issue with my 012. The fix? insert some rubber grommets to give you another 3mm space. This allows the AIO to go in in a wedgie, but without squashing the hose in the GPU side as it passes into the CPU chamber.

Sadly because of the large sound card and NVME stack one hose was not long enough to wrap like I wanted it to. Oh well, couldn't give a F.

The "Strix Game on" thing is a magnet that came with my Strix PSU. It hides the junction where the cables were the most messy. It also allows the intake fan to push air into the CPU area too, instead of it all ing out the side. So that was good.

There you can see the "fan pan". Bear in mind you do need a slim fan, and even then you will be stuffing it all in at the end. Hence why I used a grille on the fan. Dust filters in situ.

These were taken earlier during testing.

You can see I had an issue there. See, I managed to keep the 2.5" hot swap bay intact. The only downsides? I had to cut off the USBC cable at the IO because my case didn't use it, and tucking it was not an option. This is also why I hacked off the FP audio cable. Because I am not using them, and stuffing them in was not an option. They pushed the PSU into the mobo part and the board would not fit. More testing.

BTW going back to the GPU side? I had to depin the SATA run and chop off all but one. It was just too cramped in there, and that connector kept popping out under the GPU which would have stopped me from getting the panels back on.

Eventually... Seriously it is so gorgeous I could actually cry right now.

Now I have done a lot of testing. Mostly because the GPU was new to me and ex mining. So I have had it benching for hours. Even overclocked using AMD Adrenaline it did not pass 62c. The cooler is the same one they used on the 3080 FFS. It's absolutely wonderful.

Now onto the elephant in the room. How does the 3950x cope on the 120mm AIO?

That was after a 10 minute Cinebench run. You know? the one that runs over and over and over. It was stuck solid at 3.9ghz. That said, I do not have PBO on, but I am amazed at how bloody good the AIO is. More than good enough !

Of all of the upgrades I have ever made I think I am most pleased with this one. Mostly because it was not a nightmare, I had to mod very little, and it all worked first push of the button.

After this I ran TSX again. This was the hottest the GPU got.

And I would surmise it because of this. This is the "fan pan" with the fan loaded. I put a grille on it also, to stop the cable bzzzp.

If you look into that opening though? this is what you see.

The hot end of the GPU, basically. That said, it is the same cooler they used on the 3080Ti Strix, so I am not surprised it doesn't even shrug cooling a puny 230w core.

 

[AlienALX]

OK so it's all done now. Had to update the BIOS to enable SAM, Rebar and PCIE4.

Max temp in PUBG OC was 52c. This card is friggin epic.

 

[AlienALX]

Finished. First thing to do was to fit this.

Important info. If you have one of these cases don't push the drive in. It is incredibly difficult to get it out, as it is held captive by a sprung body. The trick is to put some tape on it, like this. Which gives you a pull tab to get it out.

You can then fold it over and tuck it in.

IO shield V1. Obviously I didnt fit it inside. So I had to make it smaller to slot in. It might have got a bit warm (belt sander) and turned into a bit of a banana lol. Ah well, V2 may come one day but the antenna hold it down and with everything plugged in now it's doing its job.

The badge came today. What I did not realise was it's tiny ! in the photo it looked the same as the one I had. But oh god, it's just PERFECT.

VS the rig I have at home....

I'm actually scared to leave it on, might try and take over the world or something

I really don't think I have ever been so happy with a build before. It just totally fills me with joy.