Coolermaster Upgrade Worklog (NO 56k!!)

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Scroatdog

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
Messages
1,432
Ok, here's my current setup:

H20 Upgrade 036.jpg


And I just got some birthday presents.......so all of that^ ^ is going into this:

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Note the crude cardboard shroud on the Bonneville core. I may try to get some plexiglass and cut it with the new dremel.....but I am not "arts & crafts" inclined, so I may mess it all up. I might just end up building a better cardboard shroud and slappng it on there.

So far I've removed the top fan and put the Vantec fan vibration dampener kit on it, removed the grill for the rear exhaust. I'm waiting until I order some PAX MATE to line the inside of the case with, until I do any more work on it. Fry's doesn't carry PAX MATE so I've gotta order online and wait for it :(
 
diredesire said:
What're you doing with your older case? They're both very nice :\
Click to expand...

Probably sell the older one on Ebay, or save it for another build. Haven't decided yet.

Build a "sturdier" cardboard shroud:

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Made from a DELL box no less...lol :p

Gonna spray paint the shroud to match the rad. It's a SNUG fit in the case with the shroud...

Resized images on the camera....
 
Is that a rad from 2fresh or did you set it up yourself? I'm trying to get one from him cuz I'm lazy. =)

I like the rad shroud. I wouldn't call it ghetto because I know quite a few people that live in ghettos and none of them have anything to do with computers, so that doesn't make sense to me... heh.

I love the way the older Swiftech water blocks look. Nice setup.
 
Thanks..

Yeah, it's a 2Fresh rad. I'm going to Target to pick up some Metallic Blue spraypaint for the rad.

Also, replace ghetto with homebrew or low-rent lol :D

Hopefully I'll get the pax mate later this week and line the case up nice.

Spray painting done. Will post pic of completed shroud later. Pax Mate alternateive (Spire) ordered, as well as PSU vibration gasket, two 120mm gaskets (should make good seal against shroud), and another fan guard ordered from Newegg.
 
Shroud looking a little better:

Stacker 007.jpg


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The paint isn't a dead-on match, but the whole thing is essentially going to be concealed by the drive bays anyway :rolleyes:

I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount my CCFL's. Well, I had two that came in a package, but I didn't notice that one was broken, and I LOST the receipt so I'm kinda stuck. I was thinking about on the bottom, like you can sort of see in the pic above.

Any other ideas on CCFL placement??? Also, since I'm down to one, will that be good enough, or will I need two??? The one is pretty thin...
 
Ok. Pax Mate and some other little odds and ends from Newegg should be here tomorrow. Then I can tear down my current rig and start dry-fitting everything before a leak check.
I was thinking about placement of my parts and came up with this idea for where to put the 3 to 4 hard drive bay. I've got three hard drives, so there's no way I can mount the Stacker control panel, DVD burner, fan controller, and 3 hard drives... I've only got four bays available after the rad....

Stacker.jpg


Here's a visualization of how I'm thinking of setting up the loop. Please critique away!

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Obviously NOT drawn to scale (or drawn very good for that matter :p )
 
Yay for using a res! :D

That setup looks good, but what's up with that hard drive cage? It looks like a little oven.
 
thewhiteguy said:
Yay for using a res! :D

That setup looks good, but what's up with that hard drive cage? It looks like a little oven.
Click to expand...


LOL!!! An easybake???? That's the "3 to 4" drive cage that comes with the stacker. It comes with a 120mm fan mounted where that perforated side is. If I mount it there, I'll get 120mm air hitting it from the bottom rad fan in front (where the back of the drives will be) and there will be a 120mm exhaust where that perforated section is.....PLENTY of airflow for those three little beauties...

Also, if I have enough PAX MATE left over I'm going to cover it in PAX, to keep in theme with the inside of the case when it's lined...... or... I can use that metallic blue spraypaint on it...... Or PAX the top, spray paint the sides......

Thoughts??
 
so that HD cage has an open side where the lower rad fan blows out?

Good the see that Bonneville core fits in there without any mods.. Stacker.. hmmm... (Gotta remember that for the next case...
 
elcheapopc said:
so that HD cage has an open side where the lower rad fan blows out?

Good the see that Bonneville core fits in there without any mods.. Stacker.. hmmm... (Gotta remember that for the next case...
Click to expand...

To help you visualize better:

Here's a side view of the HDD bay with the fan reattached. The fan goes over that "perforated" area you saw earlier. Note the two black strips on the side. These allow it to mount in the 5 1/4 bay
Stacker010.jpg


Here's the back view (well in my case it will be the front). This is where you can stuff four hard drives. On normal stacker mounting, this would be the back, and the fan would be in front, right in front of the bay. Since I'm mounting it differently, I am setting the fan to exhaust, while the bottom rad fan will serve as the intake for the HDD bay.
Stacker011.jpg


Here's a shot at the bottom of the HDD bay, and a shot of one of those modular metal pieces with the two black strips that hold it in a 5 1/4 bay.... As you can see, this thing is well-ventillated to begin with.

Hope this helps!
Stacker012.jpg
 
Cut the back off that cage and just let the radiator 120 blow right through it, that will be enough cooling for your drives. Then you won't have the noise of an extra fan (especially one trying to move air through that very restrictive holed side)
 
I can cut that side off (actually you can just punch it out) and still be able to use the 120mm fan.

I don't think noise will be an issue, as I will have all fans on a fan controller. But I'll consider not using it, though.............
 
Dunno. I'll ask my girlfriend. It was a birthday present. Hopefully I'll get some time in the future to sit down and read the manual......

Also,

SelRac is doing TWO Stackers. I think he's waiting for his watercooling stuff to come in.
You can see his thread >HERE<

Got my last odds and ends from Newegg today. Putting the "Spire" noise dampening stuff in. Was cheaper than PAX mate and its the same stuff. Smells like ass.....

Will post pics later.
 
Got my vibration dampening stuff in from Newgg today....

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Spent the last couple hours fitting......
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Got one of the side panels covered for the most part too..... And the other is obviously the window, so I left it alone.
 
Filling done..... Bleeding continues....


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Think I'll get a little better cooling now???? :D :D


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Awesome! What additive r u using?

An idea just popped in my head after looking at the difference in size between the BI and the 77 B'ville...you could put together a forward shroud that would ensure the air the fans are drawing come from outside of the filtered bay covers. I'd think just a top and bottom piece would do it?

Look forward to seeing it all put together with the lights on.
 
Using Zerex.

However. I've got a BIG problem. The circuit has been running for 10 hours now and I've STILL got bubbles!!!

Check these pictures out:

Pump running:

Picture625.jpg


Pump off:

Picture626.jpg


Closeup of res:

Picture626.jpg



I don't understand it. No leaks. Using a res. Benn rotaing the case on its side and front.... Added two drops of blue food coloring to get rid of that pink look. When I set up my first H20 rig, it didn't take anywhere NEAR this long. It's extremely frustrating, and it would be near impossible to remove the loop from the case without having to unhook any of the tubing, which would be quite messy.

What can I do?????
 
That looks like you've got something in your water that's making it take on a lot of air very easily. There's tons of foam when you turn off the pump, it almost looks like there's soap in the loop.
 
quicksilverXP said:
So how did you get it to stop foaming?
Click to expand...
It looks like he replaced the fluid and didn't use so much additive.

It just realized that his previous mix looked like Pepto-Bismol :eek:
 
thewhiteguy said:
It looks like he replaced the fluid and didn't use so much additive.

It just realized that his previous mix looked like Pepto-Bismol :eek:
Click to expand...


Nah. I got it to stop foaming by doing the following: 1) re-tightening all of my clamps and 2) going to bed hoping it would look better when I woke up.... and it did.

So, I must have had a small air leak somewhere in one of the connections. Actually, that "pepto bismol" look is what happens with Zerex. Anyway, I added two drops of blue food coloring to get the color blue. It actually came out a little darker than you see in the pics, so one small drop of yellow food coloring was used to lighten it up a bit.

I plan on putting some blue highlighter fluid in there too so the fluid becomes more UV reactive....
 
Scroatdog, i have some food colors and egg dye crap, and i was wondering, will it a) stain my tubing, and b) will it contradict with my UV dye?

nice setup, btw...its looking nice
 
Alex41290 said:
Scroatdog, i have some food colors and egg dye crap, and i was wondering, will it a) stain my tubing, and b) will it contradict with my UV dye?

nice setup, btw...its looking nice
Click to expand...

Yeah, it'll stain the tubing a bit. But my logic is, if I'm never going to change from the blue color, who cares??? And I don't know about contradicting with UV dye, as I've not yet used any.
 
haha, good point...blue is my savior...i need a new case though, mine is fugly and small (NZXT Guardian...)

*runs and hides from people throwing shit at case*
 
Wow, that is really nice looking. You've done alot of improving over that dinky little rad you used to have...
 
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