Project: MATX Water Cooling

[SEBAR]

UPDATE:
I finally got everything together for the time being and tested the system out. everything works good as far as the motherboard is concerned. Here are some pics of build.

I decided to mount the rad to the roof of the case to make it easier for me to add the second 240 rad to the front when I get it. I have almost exactly 10 inches of space for the graphics card with this configuaration. There is no way I can get the 670FTW into the case like this so I will have to wait until I am able to get the shorter PCB 670 so I can put a water block on it and have plenty of room for the rad and tube res. I also installed black plexi cover over the PSU to hide the cable clutter.

To mount the rad in the roof I had to cut an opening to exhaust the air. I depated on how to do this for a while and finally came to the conclusion to cut out a semi circle and used some of the mesh from the side panel as a grill. It looks okay but I am not 100% happy with it.

The fans that are attached to the rad are the Scythe Slipstream slim fans. They are very quite but do not perform very well. With a prime 95 run I did last night the temps where in the high 50's and never went above 60. The front of the case I modified to accept two 120mm fans wich gives me the option to add another 240 rad.
The specs for this build are as follows:
Case- In Win Dragon Slayer mATX case
CPU-i5-3570K
Motherboard- Asus Maximus IV GENE Z/GEN 3
GPU- EVGA GTX 460
Memory- Mushkin 8GB (2x4GB DDR3 PC3-16000 9-11-9-27 Ridgeback
PSU- Corsair AX-650
SSD-Corsair Force 3 90 GB
HDD- Seagate Barracuda 360 GB 7200rpm
Cooling- XSPC RayStorm, XSPC EX240 radiator, Bitspower Water Tank Z -Multi Option 150 Reservoir, Swiftech MCP35B Pump.
Fans- 2 Scythe Slipstream Slim fans & 2 Enermax T.B. Silence

Future plans include adding another 240 radiator, adding a EVGA GTX 670 SC with a RayStorm 670 water block, Bitfenix Alchemy White LED, Mayhems Pastel Grape Red coolant and PrimoFlex Pro LRT Black Tubing -3/8in. ID X 1/2in. OD.

 

[CPMFW]

looking really good mate...
very tidy i like it

 

[giannakos23]

nice build !! not bad at all !!

 

[SEBAR]

looking really good mate...
very tidy i like it

nice build !! not bad at all !!

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am happy with the way that it turned out but I will probably be making more changes soon. I have been in contact with In Win to try and get some components from them to modify the front panel but they said they are short of covers ATM. I think the case would look good with the drive bay covers going the full length of the front panel. Here is a mockup of what I had in mind.

I will try again next month and see if they can provide some extra covers.

 

[CPMFW]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am happy with the way that it turned out but I will probably be making more changes soon. I have been in contact with In Win to try and get some components from them to modify the front panel but they said they are short of covers ATM. I think the case would look good with the drive bay covers going the full length of the front panel. Here is a mockup of what I had in mind.

I will try again next month and see if they can provide some extra covers.

really good idea mate...

 

[yassarikhan786]

Looks really nice dude, a job well done

 

[ruairi.C]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am happy with the way that it turned out but I will probably be making more changes soon. I have been in contact with In Win to try and get some components from them to modify the front panel but they said they are short of covers ATM. I think the case would look good with the drive bay covers going the full length of the front panel. Here is a mockup of what I had in mind.

I will try again next month and see if they can provide some extra covers.

yea that would look sick

 

[SEBAR]

really good idea mate...

Looks really nice dude, a job well done

yea that would look sick

Thanks guys. I hope In Win comes thru with some extra 5.25 bay covers So I can finish.

I got it up and folding again. Has been SMP folding all night and getting around 17K PPD with stock clocks. The temps are not bad at all. Whn I checked this morning the max temp on two of the cores was 55c the other two cores where like 52c. Not too bad considering I am using 12 mm slim fans. The enermax in the front of the case were also set on the lowest speed setting using a fan controller. The only thing I hear out of the system is a slight hum from the pump.

I am thinking that I may be able to get an Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 240mm RAD in the roof with 25mm thick fans. Anyone have experience with these rads? How well will they perform compared with an EX240?
N

 

[G-Dubs]

Agree the front fuly covered would look nice. you also really need to do something about that roof though. Perhaps a similar theme up top would hold the aesthetics together?

 

[SEBAR]

Agree the front fuly covered would look nice. you also really need to do something about that roof though. Perhaps a similar theme up top would hold the aesthetics together?

Thanks for the input. I agree with you, my plan is to have the entire roof section be hex mesh. I have started fabricating mounts for the Rad. The entire roof panel will be cut away leaving only a small steel frame around the outside to attach the rad mount and the Mesh panel. Here is a mockup of my idea, It is similar to the roof of the Fractal Design Arc Midi case:

 

[SEBAR]

Update 9/18/2012

I have stripped down the system again to work on moding the front panel and top panel. After cutting away a good portion of the top panel and having the top 5.25 drive cage removed the case has lost a lot of its structural integrity. I expected that this would happen but do not think it would be too bad. Right now the case is sitting on only 3 feet because the case has warped so badly. I am sure that this will not be as bad with hardware installed and the side panels in place.

I do not think I will be getting the additional drive bay covers for a while so I will have to think of something different.

Because of the delays in getting the mods I want done I purchased a Silverstone PS07B. The case is very nice and will allow me to have my system up and running instead of sitting around while I mod. I will get some pics of the new case up when I get home this evening. I chose this case because of the review TTL did on the white version of this case. It will allow me to put an EX240 in the front with push/pull and still have room for a long graphics card.

I have not given up on the Dragon Slayer yet, it is just taking longer then I wanted and the warped frame may be an issue if I cannot find a way to stiffen it up. N

 

[SEBAR]

Updated Pics:
Here is a picture of the opening I cut into the top panel.

And here are some shots of the PS07B

 

[yassarikhan786]

Nice job on the cutting

 

[SEBAR]

Nice job on the cutting

Thanks, I tried to take my time and get the lines as strait as possible. When everything is done you should not even see the cut.

 

[airdeano]

my jigsaw can not cut a straight-line to save its cord.. always have to fudge +.100"
under line cut, even with a fence.. (me thinks to order 40tpi 10" saw blade for table saw)
looks like awesome progress.. keep it up!

airdeano

 

[SEBAR]

my jigsaw can not cut a straight-line to save its cord.. always have to fudge +.100"
under line cut, even with a fence.. (me thinks to order 40tpi 10" saw blade for table saw)
looks like awesome progress.. keep it up!

airdeano

Thanks, I wanted to use a jigsaw to cut top panel but the top panel was not flat. The fan section sat up above the rest of the panel a little. This cut cost me about $20 to do. had to buy a dremel EZlock attachment and I went through 4 disks, plus I bought a new straight file.

 

[airdeano]

i bought 100 EZ-LOC cutting disks from the fleebay @ $30 shipping. knew i was
gunna burn a few up... next is to locate bulk EZ-LOC grinding discs.. my 4" is too
clumbsy to use for thin gauge sheetmetal.
awww yes... straight, small/large radius files and snips. plus i gotta get another
blade for my nibbler.. that nibbler is so frickin handy... would almost consider straight
cuts 10" (using a guide or fence) but my hand cramps after 2" of cutting...

airdeano

 

[SEBAR]

i bought 100 EZ-LOC cutting disks from the fleebay @ $30 shipping. knew i was
gunna burn a few up... next is to locate bulk EZ-LOC grinding discs.. my 4" is too
clumbsy to use for thin gauge sheetmetal.
awww yes... straight, small/large radius files and snips. plus i gotta get another
blade for my nibbler.. that nibbler is so frickin handy... would almost consider straight
cuts 10" (using a guide or fence) but my hand cramps after 2" of cutting...

airdeano

Great deal on the EZ-LOC disks, I will need to look into that.

Have not used a nibbler in a long time. My next tool will be a scroll saw and a band saw. Craftsman have some good deals on both right now.

 

[airdeano]

i saw the neatest "attachment" for a jigsaw. it was german and mounted on a bench-side.
the jigsaw was inverted (up-side down). and now you use it as a damn scroll saw.
just frickin nuts.. by the time i could buy one, it was $400 shipped across the pond.
uhhh i'll pass for that today..
if i can stop buyin PC parts long enough, i'd build my own CNC.. that'd be the schitzzel
zero-out a vise and vex out some PC bobbles..build fixtures for production run parts...
an ez 24x36 table and you got a mine of gold.

airdeano

ps.. i was not buying a german to mount on a bench... LOL

 

[SEBAR]

i saw the neatest "attachment" for a jigsaw. it was german and mounted on a bench-side.
the jigsaw was inverted (up-side down). and now you use it as a damn scroll saw.
just frickin nuts.. by the time i could buy one, it was $400 shipped across the pond.
uhhh i'll pass for that today..
if i can stop buyin PC parts long enough, i'd build my own CNC.. that'd be the schitzzel
zero-out a vise and vex out some PC bobbles..build fixtures for production run parts...
an ez 24x36 table and you got a mine of gold.

airdeano

ps.. i was not buying a german to mount on a bench... LOL

Ha Ha,If you have kids you could just get Jr. to sit under the table holding the jigsaw upsidedown, I dont think that would be considered child abuse.

airdeano, have you seen this: http://www.mydiycnc.com/complete_kit