The BumblBuild-[Scratch Build]

[GiraffePencils]

Hello all

Here I am with my first build log!!

Now before I go into this I warn you;

I'm not the best photographer

I'm not the best with render settings

So bare with some of it, and I'm open to any and all advice.


This build will be a '2 part' build:

Firstly I will be building my case, and transporting my current PC into this case.

Secondly I will be adding all the pretty new hardware and polishing the whole build up.

Depending on money availability (damn you Christmas!!!) these parts may blend into one


The Case:

Here are a few renders of the case, I'm really not an artist so the settings are all fairly default

The case is an aluminium frame which holds the components and an acrylic shell that keeps it all looking pretty


The Hardware:
Current hardware that'll be moved in stage one is:
i7 920
XFX 290x
6Gb corsair Ram

The Stage 2 Hardware will be:
i7-4790K
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK
XFX 290x
Avexir Golden Blitz 16GB
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular- Black


The Cooling:
The watercooling I will be putting into this build is:

Fittings: Monsoon hardline and soft tubing (spattering of other fittings for drain port etc)
Pump: EK PWM D5, With EK top.
CPU: EK Supremacy Clear
GPU: EK original CQC 290x block (Which I will polish clear)
Rads: EK 240 PE
Res: Bitspower 170mm tube
Controller: Was going to be an EK Acendancy but email from EK today says it's shelved so Aquacomputer aquearo
Temp sensor: XSPC G1/4" Plug
Fans: currently have 4 Piranha's in their boxes. But I've bought EK Vardars instead

Now This project started for me a while ago and I've been motivating myself through it.
I thought I should share my progress as I'm starting to lose track of what I've done for writing up later

Progress So Far:
Metal arrived:

Tools too:

Case will be constructed of Aluminium angle screwed into 25mm square bar.

Cut all the angle down to size(Thanks Dremel):

Drill and Tap all the Square Bar:

DISASTER!!!
3 holes to go and I get a little too excited and:

Snap my tap......
So annoying, that tap end is in there tight, nothing I can do is getting that out with the tools I have. It gouged a chunk out of my pliers

Lucky the bar could be turned around and I drilled the other side and it went together fine. A bit of filing flattened out the tap bit.


Countersink the Angle so the acrylic can sit flush on top of it, I didn't have a drill slow enough, so I had to do these by hand turning the chuck

It FITS!!

Sides together:

Finish the rest up:

Work going well

I am currently in the position of having incorrectly drilled 12 holes (measure twice, always measure twice) so I have filled the holes and tonight am going to get them in the right place.
These holes will be for mounting the internal components and motherboard tray etc.

To Tide everyone over I will finish with my first attempt at taking component pictures (photographers should look away now! )

 

[Innocent159]

First picture got me subbb. The render looks good for an amateur. Can't wait to see it get together.
Good luck

 

[Wraith]

It's a very interesting start to a scratch build, kudos for doing a scratch build detail is everything.

 

[Highlander89]

Wow, what a cool looking project you got going on dude! Always been a fan of black and yellow themes. Although I have to say I'm not liking all the pipes in the sketch, looks too crowded imo. But very brave doing it from scratch.

The pictures look great. Best of luck to you mate. subbed!

 

[GiraffePencils]

First picture got me subbb. The render looks good for an amateur. Can't wait to see it get together.
Good luck

Thanks, you can owe the render from 2-3 months solid in blender and sketchup learning as I go.
This must be the 4th PC design I did. and the one I settled on

It's a very interesting start to a scratch build, kudos for doing a scratch build detail is everything.

Thanks, I've already had a couple of points I've had to mark out for further filing due to some too snug fitting pieces. Hopefully when I paint it at the end it'll cover my failings

Wow, what a cool looking project you got going on dude! Always been a fan of black and yellow themes. Although I have to say I'm not liking all the pipes in the sketch, looks too crowded imo. But very brave doing it from scratch.

The pictures look great. Best of luck to you mate. subbed!

I'm glad it's not just me, the colour scheme sort of came together as I was playing with colours.
It does seem crowded, but it was far worse as I started the design with 16mm tubing in mind
I can pull the window out a wee bit, I'll have a better Idea once the mobo's in and a couple of prototype panels.


If people want more renders/angles for a better Idea I can, I'm limited to only a couple days a week in the workshop, so metal work has to wait. I'm going to document my Polishing of the frosted block, so we have that coming

 

[Tripp]

Well I am subbed, looking forward to seeing how the case comes together

 

[GiraffePencils]

Well I am subbed, looking forward to seeing how the case comes together

Thanks, you and me both

It's Time for a Mini-Update, It's a:

At the weekend I wore out my last cutting disk for the dremel
I have other not Ideal ones, but they're slow going

I was trimming the metal that holds the Rads in place, allowing more airflow. I was also measuring up the holes to mount the Rads.

I am going to have another bash at getting this laser cutting done on my MoBo Tray. I have saved this DXF in just about every blooming way I can and if it doesn't work I'm at a loss really.
I'll have to bring my laptop down and plug myself INTO the cutter and make it while plugged in, and that's gonna eat into the cost of the rental

Also I will try and get some feet made for the case. cutting them out of a spare piece of Bar. I might try for some step by step shots, but it'll be on the phone not taking the dslr to the workshop

FINALLY (In this update with no fancy new pics)
I am debating with myself weather I should move my current PC or bite the bullet and just buy the new hardware sooner. What do people think?

Thanks

 

[GiraffePencils]

So I'm here for an update
Sorry for the photos, potato phone

I've been to the workshop tonight, I got my files right on the laser cutter (yay!)
LASER(trust me, it's in there)

so now I have my first pass mobo tray:

It fits in:

I also drilled my rad mounting holes:

Now it's hard to see there, but I'm well happy with those holes, they line up freaking perfect

Last but not least I cut up some bar that will be filed down to make feet:

I will file these into hexagons to follow the 'bee' theme and either polish them up or paint them

 

[GiraffePencils]

Update Time.

I have to say my enthusiasm is a bit dead today as the bank froze my Credit card and a bunch of payments didn't go through....
Silly bank, like I don't have a history of buying expensive electrical components online

Anyhoo, on-wards!

I drilled the rest of my Rad brackets, still need trimmed for increased airflow.
Need to file some bits down for neatness and evenness.

Speaking of filing:

FEET!!

3 hours of filing and they are all the same size and flat.

Need to get the corner's off, drill and polish and they'll be done

With regards to the Motherboard being purchased early....this is going to be tightly linked to funds:
I'll buy my son and partner their Christmas presents and then my family will have to wait and see if I love PC more than them

Until next time

 

[GiraffePencils]

Right all,
I'm here to give you all a wee update and to throw what's going on with me, and what I'm thinking about right now.

So first things first, I'm a games dev by passion. I'm currently doing a game jam to 'make a game in a month'.
This jam ends on Saturday so I might have to park updates till I'm done, but we'll see

This weekend I got far less than I wished to get done, Christmas shopping etc. so the feet aren't done

Also some of the screw holes need a few 'adjustments' with a file :/


On the hardware front (the fun stuff) it's looking like I'll grab the CPU, Mobo and PSU this month (Don't tell my other half and I'll hide the credit card bill )
I'll try and take some decent pictures this time, any advice? I'm thinking higher f (f20?) more light.

Also I may add a 'to do list' to the OP, score off as we go, for your and my benefit

ANYHOO!

Here's some pics from the weekend, not the most Ideal location in the spare room so pics pretty meh:

First of the Feet:

 

[GiraffePencils]

Hey all, As I said, kinda slow on updates but It'll come in drips

I am thinking about the mobo tray and humming and haaing about it.
Something about plastic makes me fear for the mobo etc..... considering making a metal one?
Anyone with more experience who can instil confidence in it?

Also I talked about a to-do list, so Here goes:
-Adjust feet holes so the feet attach.
-cut and file the rad mounts for airflow
-file the pillars to make the rads less 'snug'
-cut and file the PSU hole.
-sand case
-Paint case
-Polish feet

That SHOULD be the case frame done after that..... I hope

final wee bit, my feet need polished etc, but baby steps

 

[RadeonHDx]

The concept looks very interesting , Can't wait to see more progress.

 

[GiraffePencils]

The concept looks very interesting , Can't wait to see more progress.

Thanks,
Wee update, I bought the mobo, cpu and psu in black friday deals

 

[GiraffePencils]

Hey all,

Game jam over, If you want a link to my pretty low attempt at a game just ask, I'm not forcing it on you
Here's a quick update, BLACK FRIDAY!!!

PSU, CPU and MoBo

Also my new phone in the pics, because why not

 

[GiraffePencils]

Right,
So, I got the feet holes all lined up and feet on.
measured up some of my cuts to allow the PSU to fit and measured my metal for a Mobo tray.
Here's a wee Idea of what I might do:

Paint the metal mobo part yellow, to give a nice wee accent, and have the black plastic behind that. Opinions?

 

[Warchild]

Hopefully the tubes going into the CPU wont sag.

 

[GiraffePencils]

Hopefully the tubes going into the CPU wont sag.

That is a concern,
But given their length I'm hoping it'll be fine, that and using monsoon fittings over the 'push-in' type fittings

 

[Warchild]

That is a concern,
But given their length I'm hoping it'll be fine, that and using monsoon fittings over the 'push-in' type fittings

Well your GPUs should be ok since the ports from the left side of your case are on the same axis to the ports of the GPU. However your CPU is on a different axis to the other ports coming from the right side of your case so I have a suspicion they will drop slightly. Although im not 100% familiar with the monsoon fittings. I do know that the EK HD would drop about 5-10degrees speaking from personal experience.

 

[GiraffePencils]

Well your GPUs should be ok since the ports from the left side of your case are on the same axis to the ports of the GPU. However your CPU is on a different axis to the other ports coming from the right side of your case so I have a suspicion they will drop slightly. Although im not 100% familiar with the monsoon fittings. I do know that the EK HD would drop about 5-10degrees speaking from personal experience.

I'll just have to 'suck it and see'
It'd be a shame if it dropped, some thin wire might need to be employed

Monsoon fitting's work by having a collar which is glued to the end of the tubing, and that collar clamped down by the compression fitting, it's very secure (in the product video they support a 25Kg weight from it) and I've talked with monsoon about my build and they never mentioned anything, so fingers crossed

 

[Warchild]

I'll just have to 'suck it and see'
It'd be a shame if it dropped, some thin wire might need to be employed

Monsoon fitting's work by having a collar which is glued to the end of the tubing, and that collar clamped down by the compression fitting, it's very secure (in the product video they support a 25Kg weight from it) and I've talked with monsoon about my build and they never mentioned anything, so fingers crossed

I think you will be fine then. That Collar will most certainly help keep its form much better than the EK HD. In fact if you "wiggle" all tubes inserted into the EK HD fittings you will notice that there is a little play there meaning support isnt that great