Maju's Cosmos

[Maju]

Now onto the fun stuff. Fitting the radiator.

I've been thinking about this for quite a while and eventually have come up with this.

As seen earlier i'd made up some perspex mounting plates as the existing fan mount holes arn't suitable for what I needed to do, plus I needed to cut some of the case away so as not to block the rad.

So some measuring and masking later i'm good to go

and I only hope that this works coz it's too late now

One of the downsides of using such a thick piece of acrylic is that i'd need long screws to attach the radiator - 46mm to be exact and after searching in all the home hardware stores locally realised I was buggered as they didn't have them and I couldn't find them on the net either. So a bit of improvisation was called for.

Have ended up using 50mm electrical socket screws which I have cut down to size.

Also found that I needed to brace the heads when I was cutting them as even though most of it was in the wood it still bent.

Of course, rarely in life is anything so easy. The electrical screw are 3.5mm width so I had to drill out the fan holes on the radiator with a 3.2mm drill and then thread the holes.

Worthwhile though as it works.

Next up, because of the way that the mounting holes in the cosmos are set into indented recesses in the top panel it meant that there would be a 2.5mm gap around the top of the inner mounting plate. Fortunately I'd kept the soundproofing from the side panel and it's perfect for making a gasket to maintain an airtight (ish) seal. So the order of assembly

To make fitting everything together easier I stuck the gasket onto the panel using doublesided tape and then stuck that panel to the rad using only a couple of small bits of tape - as it's all got to be disassembled agian before final fitting. I may also cut another gasket to fit between the rad and the mounting plate.

I found it easiest to fix the middle fan first. This way you aren't putting excessive starain on the fan mounts on the rad whilst you're screwing it all together.

And a little while later I have this.

And although premature I couldn't resist just to get an idea of what it would look like

I reckon it looks pretty good. It was also just as well that I did try the shroud as with the fan grills on it was catching in a couple of places so I need to trim the shroud. This can be avoided if you use a thinner piece of mounting material - say 3mm acrylic.

I also had a nice surprise. Instead of a boring technical sticker on the back of the fans the is a simple sticker with a triangle. I kind of like this as it matches my tat

Not that i'm vain at all.

Anyway for all of you other cosmos owners that might be thinking of doing the same I hope that this might be of some use. I know I found very little when looking for relavant how to's on the net.

Lets see what tomorrow brings

 

[Silentsnake]

Excellent mate really likeing it is this your first case mod? if so your brave to do it on your cosmos

 

[Maju]

Second mod, althougth first one that I have done anything to the case.

First one was just prettying the comp up a bit and can be seen here

http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/589

 

[Diablo13]

Saying your first mod was just a clean up job I like that as well. Maybe a little bright for my taste but very cool looking.

You obviously have a very good eye as far as the basic case is concerned and know what you are going to do wih it when you get it.

I look forward to the next Cosmos installment.

 

[Kerotan]

Cracking job so far mate, you could probably make a packet selling custom cases like that- cos you're handy at the old DIY. Good to see someone being generous with the pics as well! Look forward to more

 

[Maju]

Thanks Kerotan.

Yeah, a fair few pics and takes a little while to sort it out, but I know from my own forum browsing I find it interesting how people get from A-B

As for making money from it, if I was to charge a realistic price for the time taken to even get to where it is now i'd be looking at a case closer yo £600 and by the time its finished I would expext that to be closer to 4 figures..

maybe I am just a slow worker or maybe I am just expensive. Al I know is that i've pur a lot of hours into getting where it is now. Have enjoyed pretty much every minuite of it though

 

[Maju]

Well have spent a fair bit of time seeming to go not very far.

First up was painting the CPU block....possibly a bit of a mistake as the finish isn't as marvelous as i'd have perhaps liked but too late now. - I haven't cleaned up the in/out holes yet. Was waiting for the paint to cure properly

Have still got several more days before I can start assembling the water loop so I shall see if I can live with this as it is or whether i'll clean it up and start again.

NOW, IF YOU ARE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION AND/OR AFRAID OF VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY LOOK AWAY NOW !!



Because I am held up due to parts not being here I've started playing with the wiring.

First things first - Reference pictures in case it all goes pear shaped.





If I hadn't have swapped out my psu fan already then at this point I can definitely kiss my warrant goodbye

Again, perhaps overkill but I really didn't like having the last bit of the ATX wires showing so decided to do something about it.

I did try removing the pins from the connector but only managed to remove 2. The others steadfastly refused to pull out even with the use of an atx pin remover. - worked fine on other atx sockets but this one wasn't having any of it.

Only left with one option then - wire cutters.

IMPORTANT - Label all wires both sides of the cut ! you really don't want to get this one wrong.

Several hours later all the sheathing is loose fitted and ready to be fixed in place

And after some deft work with the flame torch this is what I have at the moment

Still have a lot of soldering and reattaching to do but I think the end result will be worth it.

I bloody hope so anyway coz i've spent about 5 hours getting to this point.

Other than that haven't got much further.

I did apply another coat of transparent UV coating to the edge of the perspex panel.

Bit of a bummer, the coating shows up the very fine stress fractures (I think) from cutting it with the circular saw.

As I say - bit of a bummer but will have to stay like that for the moment as I have seriously overspent on the build so far. If it looks too bad when installed then it will be replaced but I am hoping that it will actually help accent the uv edge.

Still waiting for the second GFX card to arrive. Starting to get a little worried now as the seller hasn't responded to my email yet.

Thats all for now, more pics for you guys as and when.

Cheers

 

[nepas]

WOW!!:worship::worship::worship:

Well so far i have changed my underwear TWICE while reading your log(sounds a bit twisted that.....)

that is simply STUNNING mate,"well done" just does not seem to do it justice

 

[Maju]

Thanks nepas, glad your enjoying yourself

I am enjoying seeing this come together to. Frustrating having to wait for the other parts to arrive. still patience is a virtue and all that

 

[nepas]

you have FAR more patience than me mate

EDIT:You derserve rep for making me change my underwear!!!!

 

[Maju]

Next up

Getting the fans wired up. Was wondering how best to do this and think this solution is ok.

I wanted to leave it so that I can change the fans if need be without too much hassle so needed to use fan connectors. I could have butchered all of my spare cables but then had a brainwave. So a trip to the local computer repair shop and I walked away with three dead motherboard for nothing.

Some deft plier work and use of the soldering iron later and voila

Followed by lots of soldering later. I got the extra hands thing at the start of this mod and I must say it has been really useful. Has made this task a lot easier.

Half way there and it's looking good so far

After wiring the male connectors up I then tested it out with the fan controller only to find that it wasn't working. Thankfully it was only the potentiometer that had failed and not my wiring and fortunately I had another one the same lying around so it was a straight swap over.

Then had to shorten the fan wires. Fiddly job but it looks ok. Not marvelous but seeing as for the most part it's not going to be seen it'll do.

It all works and thankfully the kamameter registers the fan speed even though the fans aren't powered by it.

It isn't quite finished yet as I have to attach the power connector but alas I am held up because I don't have the rest of the watercooling kit yet and I want to get that in place before I cut all the wires to length and stick the fan connectors to there mounting plate.

Also still haven't recieved the second 8800gtx yet. :shadedshu

Several emails later and the seller finally deigned to reply only to tell me he hasn't sent it yet. Not best pleased to say the least but at least I am now less worried that I have been scammed. Time will tell.

The other minor annoyance was getting outbid on a danger den 8800gtx waterblock so I will now have to get a new block from somewhere unless anyone here has one going spare and wants to do me a good deal ?

Still debating whether to add a 120 rad into the loop between the cpu block and the gfx cards. I think the DDC ultra should manage but don't know if it's necessary. Shall have to think on this one.

Hopefully I should get the rest of the kit towards the end of the week and then I can get cracking with the watercooling. In the meantime I shall see what else I can do.

 

[Socks]

This is one pretty intense mod, for your second mod, your putting most of us to shame. XD

Im loving the colours and the amount of detail going into this. cant wait to see it finished.

As for the block for the GTX's, go over to www.watercoolinguk.co.uk . If you have more than 25 posts you get free shipping too which help if your looking after the pennys.

 

[Maju]

Cheers stock58. I am enjoying doing it and also look forward to getting it finished.Not half as much as my girlfriend coz the living room has been a workshop for the last 2 weeks.

Have now passed the 25 post mark and shall be in touch with rob soon. Very soon if they don't get the parts i'm waiting for to mr by the end of the week.

 

[Maju]

Well, took the plunge last night and decided to finish wiring the fans up to the fan controller. Have connected the power for the rad fans to the power connector of the fan controller - splicing the +'ve feed into my modded potentiometer and the fan speed wire to the no.1 channel of the kama meter.

I know it doesn't look so pretty but it is better than lots of bare wires running all over the place - plus it isn't going to be seen really as the kama meter is going to be in the top 5-1/2" bay.

And best of all it works !

 

[Maju]

YIPEE ! PARTS HAVE ARRIVED

well after waiting for what seems like an age the final parts have arrived

Those compression fittings are bigger than I expected but at the same time I do like them. There is something that appeals to me about well engineered parts and these fit the bill.

I also decided to get some tygon tubing instead of the other stuff i had bought. Glad that I have as the tygon is completely clear and puts the other stuff to shame. A costly but worthwhile buy.

Plus thankfully the 8800GTX arrived - all be it a week late due to the chap selling it forgetting to post it but it is new, works and cost me £80 less than my other one so i'm happy.

I also plumbed for the EK gpu full block as opposed to going for a secong DeFuzion GPU as this way I will hopefully not loose the expansion shot beneath the card.

Not sure what I was expecting but the EK block is quite large. Looks well made though and will I am sure perform adequately.

Whilst waiting for this lot to arrive I've also been busy making a cover for the ATX cables. Although it won't really be seen it should tidy the back of the case nicely

And so now that everything is here it is time to rip the computer apart and get busy assembling it all again.

Now that I am at this point I am suddenly a little daunted by it all. Still I shall have a go and with luck it'll all work first time when I plug it back in.

Although I think that that'll be a job for tomorrow as i'm a couple of glasses of shirraz into the evening and prudence says don't do it now.

So unless it all goes pearshaped up the next post will have some completed pics with it.

Yipee!

 

[Maju]

Not finished by a long way.

After thinking about the psu problem and not having enough pci-e connectors have gone down the road of haveing two psu. Fortunately I had my old OCZ 520w spare so I have ended up using that.

Unfortunately the sheething that they use for the motherboard cable is rather thick and very stiff so after trying to bend it and failing I came up with this idea.

Chop the bugger off and cover the ends. I have left the 4th and a ground wire free to connect up with the same wires of the other psu. Have tried it and it works ok.

Whilst I was at it I also replaced the fan with a Noctura NP-12 and made up a suitable mounting plate.

Next up was soring out the powersupply. After a little though, searching through my parts box and a trip to the computer shop for a dead psu (free plus got a 120mm Yate Loon and wire fan grill for free) came up with the idea of using an old cathode inverter and a mounting box for the power plug.

Fits perfectly - all be it with a bit of trimming with a stanley blade.

Then making up some wire clamps from the blanking plates from the drive bays, some drilling, cutting and rewiring and .... Ta-Da.

Quite pleased with how it's turned out and best of all it worked first time when I tested it. Always a good feeling.

Next up getting the cards and motherboard waterblocks fitted.

No hassles for the first card but the second card is using an EK Block and with the compression fittings I ran into a problem with the board preventing the fitting screwing in all the way.

My solution has hopefully not knackered the card.

I did check that I wasn't going to cut through any circuit lines completely although it has nibbled into some of the copper on the card. Here's hoping.

I have now started to assemble the bits in order to get the tubing cut and fitted. Alas I think I am going to have to get a couple of 90* elbows to connect the 2nd gfx card to the first and the res. Shall have to do a bit more testing first. Be a bit of a shame as I didn't really want to use them if I could help it.

So thats were i'm up to at the moment. Have a full weeks work this week so limited time, plus need to wait for the elbows to arrive before cracking on with this one.

I think it's going to be worth it though

 

[Bungral]

You laugh in the face of your warranty... Or lack there of.

 

[WinMXer]

You must have some big 'ol kahunas to hack up ur gfx card like that! Please tell me that it still works.

Also, where you've connected up three fans to a single channel on the Kama-Meter - I have this same controller & found out the hard way that they can't handle much amperage through each channel. I too had three D12SL fans on one channel & after a week the Kama-Meter nearly caught fire . I had to return it to Scythe for a new one.

 

[PP Mguire]

Holy sheet this is one insane mod!! You should enter this in something.

But cutting your card!!?? Wow.

 

[Diablo13]

I think this has gone way further than just being a mod. It is a complete redesign from the ground up of every component! I wish actual case manufacturers would look at some of these designs and incorporate them in stock cases. I suppose it would be too expensive as an off the shelf case, but it would be great for cack handed people like me who can just about jam a loose cupboard door with paper so it doesn't swing open!