Down the path to the Dark Side...my first ever WC build!

[zlojack]

Small update. After 3 coats of grey primer, here's the first coat of black.

I'm going to use matte black as the "black primer" then sand and finish with glossy black and a clear coat for a nice deep gloss look.

Hopefully it works. I wasn't too impressed with the black paint today... seemed to go on sort of "bumpy". Hopefully I can sand it into submission. I guess that's the danger of painting in the cold.

Anyway...here are the pics of today's progress:

[llama_egg]

Lookin' pretty good so far. Can't way to see how the paint looks when finished!

[zlojack]

Got some ok painting weather today...so here's the last coat of the gloss black.

There are two spots where the damn paint dripped... I'm going to see if sanding and polishing gets it out, or I might have to re-coat the side panels.

Anyway... after this comes clear coating and then (finally!) the build!

[zlojack]

Ok... I got a box from NCIX today with "loop 2" and some other odds and ends.

Also got my tax return!

I just ordered a QX9650... I feel sort of strange and giddy!

Second 3870 X2 on the way as well

If all goes well, I could be building this by next week!

In the mean time, I still have some work to do on the paint finishing. I put a couple of coats of clear coat on, but it's not looking too great. I am going to sand it smooth and do another coat.

What grit should I use for this step?

[Cptn Vortex]

Ouuuuuu nice!!!

[zlojack]

Ok... so made some good progress today. Cleaned the loop components and flushed the rads. Installing all the fittings now with teflon tape.

Once I get everything set up, I'll get some pics of all the components before they go together into the loop.

[zlojack]

So..here's my next challenge:

I've found I won't be able to fit a shroud on the internal rad in the front drive bays so now I need to decide which loop to hook up to the exterior rad (dual shroud push/pull) and which loop to hook up to the internal rad (push/pull no shrouds)

I figure, the CPU and NB will be hot, but the GPUs run much hotter under load...

I know the shroud usually only makes a couple degrees difference either way, but should that go to the CPU/NB or the GPU loop?

[sswilson]

I would go with the CPU/NB.

GPUs might run hotter, but there's normally more headroom on CPUs which is only limited by heat.

You'll also get a bit of a cooling boost by being outside of the case due to lower ambient temps.

[zlojack]

So GPUs on internal, shroudless and CPU/NB on external?

I think it'll work... I'm getting close to the point of actually mounting stuff (hopefully tonight). I need to buy some screws since my Thermochill is causing some mounting headaches... hopefully Crappy Tire will sort that and then I should have some stuff mounted in the case tonight and maybe even have the loop sussed out by then.

That's after hitting the pub for a St. Paddy's day pint of course

I charged up the camera last night, so hopefully pics to come this evening!

[Babrbarossa]

Just be very careful not to poke holes in the fins with extra long screws- that would be tragic ;-) Sometimes washers can help for slight adjustments to length. I've had good luck just cutting long bolts off with a dremmel- doesn't mess up the threading like I thought it would- just screw a nut onto them after cutting the ends off to straighten the threading if it looks a little ragged on the end. Works best when the metal is still warm.