Project "Gettin' out of the Ghetto"

[biff]

Here's the ghetto:




It doesn't look like much but it does well (comp in sig).
I'm not planning on anything flashy or fancy, just something clean and a little more attractive. I'm using a Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 as a base. I liked the Antec P18x line as well but like the internal layout a bit better with the CM. I'm also not big on bling so the CM Cosmos is a little stretch for me.

I'm going back to water cooling and am using the same rads that were at one point in this case. They are dual '86 Chevette heater cores. They're big 'n' ugly but work very well. I am going to run two individual loops for GPU and CPU. Each loop will have one HC with a CPX-1 pump and a Swiftech Micro Res. The CPU is getting a Fuzion block and a Maze5 on the GPU.

It's not going to be a particularly fast moving project as life is busy. Feel free to offer any suggestions along the way or even point an laugh.

The pics so far of the case stripped down and the HDD cages removed as I don't need them since I only really ever run one HDD it can go up in the 5.25" bays. Also shown is the bottom cut out where the rads are going to go and the plate to hold the rads. It's a tight fit but just makes it.









Ryan

[biff]

Just got the rads/fans mounted. I still need to solder on some barbs and maybe a little paint to clean it up.




Incase you're not familiar with the Cosmos there are rails that it sits on to keep the bottom off the ground and with the bottom shroud removed there is actually 2" of clearance so the rads will get air no problem. I know it looks wrong now though.

[Prof. Dr. Silver]

That looks sweet already! Keep up the good work!

[chibi_man]

Those are sweet heater cores... by any chance are they complete copper?
The 2 heater cores I use for my systems are both aluminum... and both ALOT bigger.

good looking so far.

[MpG]

I must say, that Cosmos has a really clean looking frame underneath everything... and you've done a dead sexy job on installing those heater cores. But are you going to have enough clearance for the PSU cables?

[biff]

Originally Posted by chibi_man

Those are sweet heater cores... by any chance are they complete copper?

They are a lovely medley of copper, brass and aluminum... I think. The core is copper with what I believe is Al fins between them though it could be tinned Cu or brass. The end caps are brass. Even if the fins are Al they don't contact the water. I ran it for about a year or so in another loop and had no corrosion issues any way.

Originally Posted by MpG

I must say, that Cosmos has a really clean looking frame underneath everything... and you've done a dead sexy job on installing those heater cores. But are you going to have enough clearance for the PSU cables?

I have a 600W OCZ PSU that's going in here. The psu will leave about 15mm to 20mm from its back to the rad. The cables exit the PSU in the back corner right next to the mobo tray where they will scoot through the slot just visible behind the rads and can be hidden behind the mobo tray so they should be almost not visible at all in the final build, at least there. Maybe the only instance where a non-modular PSU will make thing neater.

Thanks for the positive comments so far everyone!
Ryan

[bobletman]

wow looks pretty cool so far.

[biff]

Just showing the airgap under the case incase anyone was curious.

[biff]

Chibi_man,

Just thought I'd let you know before I forgot... I was soldering up some barbs on the HC's and noticed that the fins appear to be Cu as well so it appears to be all Cu and brass construction. They are tinned on the outer edges with something really dull looking (high Pb solder maybe??) which what threw me off but look to be bare in the inner portions.

Cheers,
Ryan

[edit]
LOL I just noticed in the last pic that I had a barb on the rads for a trial fit. That's a D-Tek 1/2" highflow barb. Really looks teensy compared to everything else. Ahh well just a stupid little observation.
[/edit]

[biff]

Just a couple pics. Got a few things done, tha plate actually attached, barbs soldered in, res' mounted, etc.. Now I think the hardest part of the project, trying to hold the pumps in place.