WIP Project Sulaco

[tobyak]

Thankyou guys, more coming very soon. i have just sealed a deal with EK and ASUS so this baby is going ROG watercooled

And much much more work to come, currently fitting the Sentry lxe in to my top panel

[Keywork]

That NZXT PSU sure is perttyyyy. Looking forward to the end product!

[Insomnia9669]

Wow!
I cant wait to see the final product.

[tobyak]

@ Keywork, I will be painting the PSU black and maybe covering in Carbon Film (Di-NOC) and accenting it with 1.2mm EL wire

@ Insomnia9669 much more to come


@ALL......

I am happy to announce 3 Further sponsors for my build

ASUS, crosshair V formula
EK, complete WC system (board and core)
ELwirecraft, alectroluminestent wire and panels (tron stuff lol)

Propper rundown on parts coming soon

[tobyak]

Finaly got time for an update, here goes....

Time I started work modifying the NZXT Sentry LXE to modify it for the front of my case top

Cutting is going to take a while, love or hate NZXT most will say there products are sturdy and the LXE is no different, the front bezel is 5mm anodized brushed alu


let the cutting begin, for this i will be using the trusty Dremel with MNPCtech.com reinforced cutting discs but even with good discs this will take a while... i will spare you a million shots of cutting


2 hours.... YES 2 HOURS later......


ok now I have got the bottom off time to make it fit the shape of the case top...... time for this to go on a diet





ok now its the correct size

On to the next problem, this is black anodized and brushed so i have 2 problems... i need bare metal..... AND the brushing is in the wrong orientation

SANDING TIME


Flat sanding using 400grit wet and dry paper, very similar principal to lapping a CPU, but with the larger surface area this will take longer

After 30mins


After an hour


After 3 hours and 30 seconds under a mouse sander to rough the surface


Next up... rebrushing to match the direction of the metal i am using on the case, 800grit wet and dry until silky in apperance (you must sand only in one direction or your just sanding not brushing) after a uniform finish is attained its on to 180gritsand paper untill you end p with...

There fixed.... coming up in next post New supply drop

[tobyak]

What's on the menu today???...... Filling... mmmmmm my favourite... *Runs ff to cry in the corner*

I hate filling but these things must me done, the first plan for the side had 2 vents on the side of the window using the old window shape as a guide, but on reflection it just looks like I missed a bit so time to bring out the filler

Spot the missing bits??

Ok here we go, first up, making plates to fill the gad befor I fill. I have cut off a lot of metal to make the window shape and i need metal of exactly the same thickness to bridge the gap in the panels.......


TADAAAAAAAA use offcuts for spare material


OH look a perfect fit.... LLLLIKE A GLOVAAAA!!!!




Time for the filler, i wont be giving a tutorial on this as most brands differ by huge amounts on the part to part ratios, this one is a 1-50 mix with a working time of 5mins, sandable in 20mins and complete cure in 2 hours



FYI... love the smell of the stuff...... from the yelling i am going to assume my wife does not

Worked with it a little to long but made sure i applied thick enough to get away with it....


Now on to the sanding....... there did you like that.. me too

After a full cure it is ready to prime but first.....

NURSE???????? BRING IN THE PATIENT!!!!!!!

It is time to operate on the NZXT HALE 90 PSU

I need to get it apart to mask off for priming


A naked PSU.... shield the children's eyes

Primed. And i found out a matter of note.... spraying in a room with zero ventilation that is only 40cubic feet is not good for you......... but it sure is fun

[Pabz0r545]

I like what i see so far! I can't wait to see the finished product.

[tobyak]

One of my fave activities today..... Chassis cutting

The NZXT Tempest Evo can accomodate a 240 this rad in the roof although you wouldnt know until you take the 140mm fans out.

So i was about to make some templates for some rad holders when as i took the 2 140mm fans out of the roof i found a set of mounting holes, now if these are for a rad im not sure but they match up to the middle set of mounting holes perfectly with 120x15mm spacing and apart from mounting i can see no reason for them to be there. The airflow is very restricted though due to the centre plate so without further ado.... LET THE CUTTING BEGIN

First up, marking out the areas to remove with extreme prejudice and a dremel....... HINT... dynamite is not accurate enough do not use.. although i doubt it would scratch this case, rugged is not the word



All marked up, now for the fun.... erm i mean "now to cut out the areas with supreme precision"





ok thats the top cut out, now for the side.. when making the side wondow i completly forgot to make sure that the fan would fit next to the drive bays..... whoops it didnt.... and so..... MORE DREMEL

By a massive stroke of luck the removed bays make a great area to install my PSU hood and new drive holders..... and now if you will excuise me i have work to do and i plan to pretend i intended to remove the bays all along......

coming up..... Cereal boxes and there many uses

[tobyak]

Fear not Guys and Gals i have not abandoned you all, i am waiting on a ton of deliveried for supplies and several sponsors including

Enermax
ASUS
SpecialTech

Lots of updates on the way as soon as i get my shipments

[tobyak]

Supply Drop

It is that time again and another supply drop has arrived, this time it is my much anticipated EK Watercooling

So lets see what we have on the box........

Fittings, Res, CPU waterblock, MB waterblock, Pump, and Some EK UV blue coolant



First up for a closer look, the MB waterblock for the ASUS Crosshair V formula



The Crosshair V only has space fo a small MB waterblock but it looks great non the less

I am happy to report this comes with all the fixtures you will need and the thermal pads too


Next up... CPU waterblock (Supreme LTX AMD)


Ahhhh a thing of beauty, chunky and very heavy for its size, always reasuring

This also comes with all fixing you will need, and the AMD LTX blocks do not require a dedicated backplate


Next... EK multioption res 250basic


I am mystified as to why this res is called the basic, the options are just great, whilst it lacks the 2 front facing ports of the advanced model it gains a top port ideal for filling

Inclided... 2 port caps, bolts for mounting, mounts and threaded internal tube


Fixings, not a lot needs to be said here exept they are all of great quality. In a break from the norm i will be using barbs as i like the look. Same goes for the UC blue fluid, i simply cannot resist UV blue and EK has some of the best UV dye around




Last up, from EK, the pump, as i am using a cross flow rad that will be roof mounted i wont need a hugely powerful pump to move the head of fluid so i went with the nice compact DCP 2.2


Again there is plenty supplied including 3 to 4 pin converter and mounting brackets


And my radiator the Hardwarelabs GT Gen2, this is a cross flow with ports on either end rather then the traditional PC watercooling of a twin layer return flow, and perfect for my requirements, great flowrate and perfect for clearing board architecture that may get in the way of a more conventional rad



A MASSIVE THANKS TO EK FOR TAKING A CHANCE ON SPONSORING THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK