yassarikhan786
New member
I love what you did with the motherboard, looks absolutely amazing in all black.
[Staff Project] NZXSPC
- Thread starter G-Dubs
- Start date
wotevajjjj
New member
I think sofar all you did was great, but the gpu block just isn't right tbh 
but than again, the only wc block I like are the komodo's, no point in a full cover if it doesn't fully cover imo.. Maybe just spray the block and leave the letters nzxspc in the brushed ally
but than again, the only wc block I like are the komodo's, no point in a full cover if it doesn't fully cover imo.. Maybe just spray the block and leave the letters nzxspc in the brushed ally
Lollipop
New member
Personally I actually like the bit of copper in there as it breaks things up a bit. But perhaps will look better black.
Only one way to find out I guess
Guess what i'm going to be doing next week?
Make a detailed video guide as to how you painted your mobo.
ExplosiveToaster
New member
How did you get your mechanical drive fixed to the back side of your drive bays? I think It's genius and would never thought about doing that...
G-Dubs
New member
ExplosiveToaster
New member
It would be more apt if I said the entire build was genius! I love what you've done with it! My only comment, and this is an entirely personal thing but from the pictures I saw from the build article (the one that went up recently) I see touches of copper in the rig and it looks like copper accents on the motherboard, but that could Just be the lighting. So I was thinking, if it is the case, then copper barbs would've looked the dogs danglers. But I know you did what you thought was best 
But again, great work Mr Dubs!
But again, great work Mr Dubs!
The Orange One
New member
That Mobo.....
.....IS Beastly!!!!!
.....IS Beastly!!!!!
G-Dubs
New member
It would be more apt if I said the entire build was genius! I love what you've done with it! My only comment, and this is an entirely personal thing but from the pictures I saw from the build article (the one that went up recently) I see touches of copper in the rig and it looks like copper accents on the motherboard, but that could Just be the lighting. So I was thinking, if it is the case, then copper barbs would've looked the dogs danglers. But I know you did what you thought was best
But again, great work Mr Dubs!
Many thanks for the comments. There's no copper on the mobo what-so-ever, however there is copper visible on the GPU waterblock. This we've decided has to go as although it's not a great deal, it does detract from the overall effect. Facing surface is going to be black, with the underside painted gunmetal.
As promised matey
I wanted to stealth mount all the drives behind the mobo area so they couldn't be seen. The SSD was easy enough, as it can just be attached in a convenient area with some decent double sided tape.
The HDD being thicker than the SSD required a little more thought. I eventually worked out that there was just enough room behind the 5.25" bay area but I would have to find a more substantial way of attaching it, and one that would enable it to be removed easily should I need to.
I took one of the 3.5" drive holders out of the now no longer required bays and cut it down to remove any plastic that was not required (the two big fins that stick out the front.
Using the holes that were already in it I drilled corresponding holes in the side of the 5.25" bay and attached it with screws.
It was then just a matter of slipping the HDD into it and checking all was secure. There's not much clearance, but there's enough. As this is an Eco drive and not for boot etc then it's not going to be getting too hot anyway.
I'm currently working on repainting the GPU water block, and possibly working on a custom back plate. depends whether it looks any good when it's done.
Last edited:
G-Dubs
New member
Having decided to change the colour of the GPU waterblock it was of course necessary to remove it from the case and the GPU itself.
Draining down was easy enough, with the blanks on the underside of the GPU acting as near perfect drain ports.
With the coolant removed its time to severe the arteries so the card can be removed from the case
Time to split the card and block
As we don't need to colour the whole of the copper part, and especially don't want to paint the parts where the heatsinks make contact some careful masking is required. First to get the treatment are the ports. they have actually got planking plugs in them for extra protection from paint.
Then the rest of the copper surface. a small margin is left around the outside rim as much as possible as the card does not actually make complete contact with most of the card and we don't want any copper peeking out do we.
In case you're wondering, this is what the set up looks like right now. Reminds me a bit of an engine bay after you've taken the engine out, but have all the cooling pipes still pointing towards their old connections.
back to the backplate then and a bit of a key to the metal with 1200 grit paper. Something like scotchbrite pad would also do the trick. It looks like I've really given it the good news here, but to be honest it's just the camera picking it up. To the eye the key is hardly noticeable.
As we're painting bare metal here we're using an etch primer, just to make sure we get that extra bit of grip before we put the top coat on. 2 coats front and back with a rub down of any imperfections in between.
After a day and a bit drying it's time for the top coats to go on.
Draining down was easy enough, with the blanks on the underside of the GPU acting as near perfect drain ports.
With the coolant removed its time to severe the arteries so the card can be removed from the case
Time to split the card and block
As we don't need to colour the whole of the copper part, and especially don't want to paint the parts where the heatsinks make contact some careful masking is required. First to get the treatment are the ports. they have actually got planking plugs in them for extra protection from paint.
Then the rest of the copper surface. a small margin is left around the outside rim as much as possible as the card does not actually make complete contact with most of the card and we don't want any copper peeking out do we.
In case you're wondering, this is what the set up looks like right now. Reminds me a bit of an engine bay after you've taken the engine out, but have all the cooling pipes still pointing towards their old connections.
back to the backplate then and a bit of a key to the metal with 1200 grit paper. Something like scotchbrite pad would also do the trick. It looks like I've really given it the good news here, but to be honest it's just the camera picking it up. To the eye the key is hardly noticeable.
As we're painting bare metal here we're using an etch primer, just to make sure we get that extra bit of grip before we put the top coat on. 2 coats front and back with a rub down of any imperfections in between.
After a day and a bit drying it's time for the top coats to go on.
wotevajjjj
New member
looking good
yassarikhan786
New member
Paint looks awesome on the blocks
G-Dubs
New member
looking good
Cheers matey
Paint looks awesome on the blocks
Does look good doesn't it, looks better than the copper IMHO
Keep up the brilliant work m8
Cheers
Paint should be dry enough tomorrow to fit back onto the GPU. Mean time I've got the lighting into the rig, so I haven't been resting on my laurels.
I went with a NZXT braided 200mm length of white LEDs for the light. clean and crisp and simple. The kit comes with plenty of little self adhesive clips, but as I wanted mine very well hidden I only really used them in the corners and the roof, supplementing with double sided tape for the section in between. I chose this kit as it's exactly the right length to go round the inside of most midi tower cases, and because you can vary the intensity of the light and actually turn it off should you so desire. If you've go a light hard wired into the molex then you're kinda stuck with it unless you add a switch in yourself.
the light switching is enabled via a small PCB which attaches to a PCI bracket. The position i've chosen will have it under the GPU so it won't be seen.
The only real shortcoming in this kit is that the lead that connects off to the power (4 pin molex) is only about 4 inches long, which is no where near long enough. No problemo though as a cables easy enough to change and re braid.
Still waiting for a few bits to come through the post and we move closer to completion and some serious benchmark fun.
TheG33kWorldTech
New member
Oh my GOD that motherboard looks awesome. Makes me want to paint my R4E now. What kind of paint did you use and how did you paint the PCIe slots?
G-Dubs
New member
Thanks, I cover the type of paint used etc a few pages back. with regards to how I painted the PCI slots, exactly the same way as I painted the rest, Bloody carefully
drunkenvalley
New member
While this is really cool stuff, I rather feel saddened that you've gone ahead and removed virtually all color by what I can tell.
