Project: Defiant

Thank you. After working with granite for so long I have started to design and build desks. This is my first attempt, but I have one on paper that I really want to build. One thing at a time. That will have to wait until I get this computer done.
 
Yay! An Update!!

Gotta admit.... has been a very slow couple of weeks for my poor little project. I think the Raven is starting to feel neglected. I did finally get a couple of deliveries recently to liven up the mood.

After my first attempt with some white sleeve I was left less that impressed with my results. After a bit of research I concluded that there was no other choice that to go with MDPC-X sleeve. When my little package arrived from Germany I was quite excited.

Definitely the correct choice for sleeve.

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Much, much better
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Unfortunately though I am waiting on the power supply and a few other items before I can get started on the sleeving, but it sure feels nice to get something new. Oh, and speaking of something new. How about that little surprise I have been holding out on?

My newest sponsor for Project: Defiant.... EK Water Blocks!!

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First up the CPU block
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Shiny
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For the motherboard

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And finally for the GPU
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So there it is. That should give you an idea of what is to come. I'm hoping to get at least the power supply by Friday so I can use the long weekend to get it sleeved up. It's scheduled for delivery on the 6th, but come on!!! I want it NOW! I really want to get some work done on this thing, but its hard when I have to wait to acquire funds. There's still some painting and some design work to be done. Anyone know where I could get some white acrylic? I... Have.... an idea... or 2.
 
Quick update. Got my Power supply yesterday, and today has been so nice that I cant help but... go outside. I will be working on this for a few days, but when it gets done... should look pretty sweeeet.

Anyway, One NZXT HALE90-1000-M PSU

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Main reason I got this PSU... It's white.

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Only reason I didn't want to get this PSU... So many wires attached

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Going to be doing a bit of sleeve work, there are two 8 pin CPU connections on this power supply, one GPU connection that is spliced to make two ends, one set of 4 SATA connectorions, and of course the 24 pin for the motherboard. More hard lines than expected, and not sure why they doubled up on the 8 pin for the cpu. Everything seems to be in working order, but have not got to test it under a large load for an extended period of time, so I hope that it doesn't crap out on me cause I'm going to have to void the warranty to do a proper sleeve and mod job.

I will be working on it as much as I can this weekend, but that doesn't look to be too promising. Independence Day weekend and all sorts of fun stuff to do, and its really, really, really nice out to. Half neked girls here I come
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PS: If you need me, I'll probably be at the lake
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I'm sure you'll eventually find somewhere to plug all of those cables in, I have the 850W version and hasn't conked out on me so far although it does mean my next build will have to be black and white.. but that's OK with me
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Lake's are always a great option for picking up girls
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lol.

P.S don't forget your beers
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Sleeving = Gigantic PITA.... but sexy time.

Holy moly.

Gonna be a big week around here. Pretty much everything is on the way except for the GPU, gonna be a bit before I can get that, but I also have a ton of work to do. Will try to get an update in by Sunday.

Till then
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OK, well I will write this update for the second time today. Tried to do it on my lunch break earlier, unfortunately I pulled a dumb move and somehow.... well you get the idea.

So I worked on Defiant for many hours over the weekend. Most of those hours have been spent on the PSU sleeve. Well, not most. Many though. Anyway.

The sleeve is looking quite nice.

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The amount of wires that come out of this PSU are.... many. So much so that I have used up my sleeve and still have wires to finish. Worst problem is that it takes about two weeks to get here. So that will be on pause for now. Good news though
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I got parts!

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With a little bit of bartering I was able to get most of the parts, but the video card is still on the waiting list. It feels good to get new parts
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So I took everything out of the boxes and and did a bit of bench testing to make sure it all works.

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Grabbed a few random parts and set up little test setup.

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After playing with a little overclocking, some bench tests and general toying around I was having some fun. After making sure everything worked at idle and under load I proceeded to tear it all back down and get some water blocks on the motherboard.

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The blocks are nice, perfect fit and general ease to install.

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After mounting the board in the case I set up a loop so that I could play with my new toy a bit.

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Without the GPU in place it looks kind of odd, but once it is in, there will be a few changes made.

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I made sure to leak test for 24+ hours with some extra coolant to make sure I didn't have any drips. The reservoir was a little drippy at first, but I had extra o-rings EK had sent me. fixxed the problem right up.

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I will probably be changing the fluid to a different color, and might change the tube to white. not sure yet, going to debate on that for a bit. Speaking of the reservoir, my buddy is a machinist and made me some sweet little mounting blocks.

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I'm going to finish up a little bit of work on the power supply tonight and get it mounted in the case. I still have the lines for the video card to sleeve, but it will be about two weeks before I can start on that. It's quite surprising how much sleeve I have used so far. only a few lines left to sleeve though, need two for the video card and one with molex ends. I got the SATA connections finished and they look very exceptional. That will be for a later day though. I need to have a few things to hold onto
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I did have a few new ideas now that I have a few parts, and have some ideas for new parts
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Back to work I go
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Edit: Just one more cause it turned out to be decent
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dude awesome so far I'm jelly. Might have to contract ya to sleeve my psu when I upgrade to a bigger one.
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Thanks guys
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been doing a bit of playing around

5.1ghz

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5.2

Yeah, now I know why they charge so much. It takes a lot of time and patience... and practice.

aye that it does I have done one before but not the single wire way which looks awesome I did all wires per connector in a single sleeve. This was way way back before they even started sleeving them from the manufacturer. didnt look to bad but by todays standards it was shite. And my patients gets used up by my 3 and 5 y.o's lol But I am considering some changes to my rig to go along with my nVIVIA mods. Which include some changes inside as well. Got my high res artwork from them on sunday now to find some time to PS them and see what I like and submit to nVIDIA for approval.
 
Nice chip !

5.3 GHz is very good, mine only does about 4.5 GHz but then again my motherboard is pretty bad when it comes to overclocking !
 
Yeah, was fun to play with for sure. Cant wait to get the video card, really want to see what the temps are going to be like then. right now they are pretty good, but the video card might change that. best part is that the rig is pretty much silent. loving that.
 
Well, dont have the good camera right now... it's currently, ummm, indisposed.

I had to remove a few wires to fit the sleeved ones back inside, its ok though. There are plenty of extras. They need sleeved still, but still waiting on sleeve.

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Had to mod the case a bit, had some molding to clean it up. Doing cable sleeve is a pain, but well worth it.
 
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