Projekt Passiv-Agressiv, 100% custom. updated not too long ago?

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

Hey guys, im back, after nearly a year...ive been living, and now im moddding again. I forgot to post this on [H]ard|Forums, after i started back in february, but here goes...

So, I have begun another project, you may remember my first works, ATi:Ressurected, and Old Skool Silence, also, the Motherboard Cube, and other assorted projects found here, my next case, which is entitled Projekt Passiv, for the reason that it will incorporate 2 custom passive radiators, custom built waterblocks/resivor, plus some other surprises.

i dislike the usual case mod. ill try to stay away from the vanilla mods i see alot of, so here is some of my work so far, there will be more to come as the project progresses.

These are the 2 radiators which will be mounted to the machined aluminum blocks, they were $5 each on ebay. 4.5" by 7 3/8", fairly large...

Overview of the aluminum base, attached to the heatsink

This is a corner, of the aluminum radiator block, milling is being done with a 1/2" carbide tipped router bit and a 25 year old, brand new, practically unused sears/roebuck router. nice piece of machinery. almunim cuts very nicely as well.

Overview of the base, the channels are 1/2" wide, and will be 1/4" deep. the holes will be tapped with a 1/4"PT tap, for 1/2"ID tubing, i might use fuel hose, or sink connectors, since they come in a variety of sizes, and everyone uses tygon, so its kinda bland these days.

My shop:
9" Delta Band saw
10" Delta Drill Press
Both were christmas gifts from my father, thanks Dad.

of course, cant have a worklog without adriana lima

Some copper bar, which will be used for the bases of all the waterblocks:

1/2" thick aluminum plate, cut with a bandsaw, used for the radiator bases, and a 1/4" thick aluminum plate, which will be cut for the retention plates on the waterblocks.

Plans for the base, i was bored in history..

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

Hello again,
I recieved the case today, and it is amazing, this is my second lian li, and I must say, they make great cases, I like the upside down motherboard idea of some newer cases, but i like the look of the old PC65s, so I think Im going to drill out the rivets and flip over the tray and backpanel. I also ordered some sleeving and heatshrink and got that all put together.

Here are Pictures of the case, and some progress of the radiators.

I ordered the case without the window, but they sent me the windowed version. oh well, i have a spare PC60 sidepanel i can use anyways. it worked out nicely.

Here is the spare panel I stuck on. I had originally planned to do some crazy flames but never finished it. Now I have a reason to finish :dremel:

And the design for the panel.

The fans and cathodes, sleeved with red sleeving, and white heatshrink. The overall scheme will end up with white lighting and accents and mainly black with red metal flake. maybe some red bits here and there. i.e. sleeving. But be aware everything will not be sleeved. Im going to use fuel hose or sink lines for the molexes. but thats not until later on.

Rear exhaust fan. Yes friends this is a 120mm fan in a Lian-Li, i had an old junker case I was going to use, but when I saw this I had to get one. Plus Lian-Lis are absolutely a dream to work on. My last case was an old dumpster mutt and its a ***** to open and work on.

Theres one in the front too:

Front panel

Ok, moving on to the water portion, these are rough ideas, and since I took this picture, there have already been heavy modifications to this design. So thats an idea of where the blocks are going.

Updated radiator progress. Its slow, but I have this week off and I hope to finish both rads and start cutting on the case.

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

March 14, 2005

Well, after much thought and pondering, i have decided to add a heatercore in the intake, and as much of a passive project this started out as, it will still remain passive, but the heatercore, will just serve as a fail-safe for during the hot summer months. the case will have some airflow, so it is simply not practical to make waterblocks for the mosfets and northbridge, as a.) the passive system cannot handle the extra heat, and b.) the blocks will only restrict flow in the system. So, I still have some other tricks to add, I found a cool-looking 3 neck flask on ebay I might purchase for a resivior, but I am asking for some INPUT AND SUGGESTIONS as to a res. The res will not be the highest point in the system, and since the water will not be moving very fast, I understand there is a high potential for air bubbles to get caught up in the radiators. Any thoughts on this concept or how to get around it?

Ok on to the real update:
I got some work done yesterday on mounting the radiators, but I do not like how the screws look just, "out there", so Im going to rig up a plexi/aluminum(or steel since I have some lying around) mounting plate to fit around the edge of the radiators and dress it up a bit. they will be lighted by LEDs, most likely white, or maybe white with a touch of red.

Getting ready to cut, after measuring and remeasuring 3 times...ugh:

All cut out, ignore the little bit in the middle, that will be covered up anyways.

Im not liking the look of these screws just sitting there in the open.

Test fit of how the top panel will look:

Now, since the case will be glossy black with red metal flake, what goes best with everything else? Any opinions?
Black:

Chrome:

Got to Ace hardware today, picked up some screws etc for the fans, i found some rubber bushings as opposed to actual grommets, bushings have only one side of the grommet, with a smaller portion to fit inside the hole, that way the fan is still isolated but there is no rubber thing sitcking out around the screws on the exterior of the case.

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

Hello again, another update.

Today I messed around with some copper and aluminum and I must say it was a delight. :hip: So, I worked up a prototype of the VGA waterblock, which is ugly on the inside, but its JUST A PROTOTYPE not the real thing. So, I will use the top, but remake the base now that I have more experience with copper. The pieces were cut on a band saw, which was absolutely amazing to watch a blade cut through 1/2" aluminum like BUTTER!!! and the hole were 10-32 for the 4 bolts and 1/4"NPT for the barbs. So, thats about it, the waterblock design isnt final, infact its disgusting and I am ashamed at my work. So it will be remade, and it was just a test since I do not have sufficient experience in copper machining. Anyways, the doodlings on the case will be cut out, with red powdercoated mesh for the backing on the front panel, and milk plexi with red/white LEDs on the chassis cutouts. Nothing fantastic, just reinventing the wheel. :thumb:

Picture:

Base after drilling retention holes:

1/2" aluminum plate for the top. fresh cut!

This was jsut a cool shot, I used the base as a template to drill the aluminum holes and there was aluminum shavings coming up out of the copper. looked out of place

Base after some preliminary drilling. I dont like it so I will make another tomorow.

Tapping the top plate 1/4" NPT, this was a bitch to tap...quarter turn in, half turn out, oil, repeat, ugh.

More tapping action:

Nothing like perfect ridges in a hole.

Halfway assembled waterblock.

Front panel of case, with some swank added. :eeek:

Front panel funk.

Cutout above the motherboard tray on the opposite side of the "service side"

Cutout between the drive holes, will probably be covered with some sort of panel, I hate those little slots for the screws that just sit empty.

An example bay cover.

Well, thats all I have today, but I will have more tomorow, I have been on break all week, I'm normally not this productive!! :hehe: :hehe:

Later

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

Ok, mini update, got the pyrex glass resivoir, and it is perfect for the project. one line will run to the "to be decided on" filling apparatus at the top of the case, and the other two will be connections to the system, one leading directly to the pump.

Next, these feet which were cut on my bandsaw out of the 1/2" leftover aluminum from the radiators. They will also have some plexi lit with white LEDs or something mounted on the top of the foot between the case, there are also some rubber grommets not seen in the pictures, that will insulate some vibrations. I like how they look like modern industrial server feet...sortof..

Here is 2 feet, one before sanding, and one after. The feet were sanded with a random orbital sander, and 220 grit paper, to create tiny circle-like patterns. The effect under the right light is really awesome. Better than I had expected by a long shot, this was actually a mistake, and I didnt plan for the effect produced!!!

Front feet:

Rear feet:

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 14, 2005

Ok, Update time finally!

I have been busy and I didnt feel like taking pictures until now, so here goes,

First off, I redid the waterblock, both the top and the base, due to problems with mounting solutions. so here is the base, I used a hexagonal fin-pin design, with a bunch of tiny hols drilled in a grid pattern, then connected.

Here is the whole block, minus the mounting screws, notice the countersunken cap screws

Here is the finished radiator base, one more to go....

Heres the good part, the flange for the dual passive radiators, its 1/16" aluminum panels, free from capitol metals. Note the plexiglass spacer, which will be lit with white LEDs.

Here is the blank PSU plate, which will have an IEC power jack, switch, and relay mounted on it, which will power the PSU(Mounted in the front of the case, probably passive) and the pump, I havent decided where that will go yet.

Here are the feet, with plexi squares, which will be cut down to the edge of the case, I dont like them like this, but they will be lit white as well.

Some progress on the front panel.

Here are the dual washers with bonded neoprene washers, with an acorn nut, for the mounting solution for the case feet.

Thats all I have today, but stay tuned for custom powdercoating, custom auto paint, and more custom machining, all done IN HOUSE! Thanks for reading!

altec · Apr 14, 2005

This is not really "100% custom" Your using a allready made case to do this

. Any way looks cool.

pcnerdguy · Apr 14, 2005

That is awsome work you are doing! I love it keep your progress posted may have to copy some of your ideas myself! outstanding!!

OldMX · Apr 14, 2005

Awesome job man, cant wait to see it finished

PretendR · Apr 15, 2005

great flames! keep up the good work!

Drucifer · Apr 15, 2005

Awesome stuff. I may have to have you make my H2O-cooling stuff when the time comes...

Love the custom work!

Qtip42 · Apr 15, 2005

That aluminum was free? where the heck do you get free 1/2" aluminum. The best I could ever get was 3/8" and that cost an arm and a leg.

UT-Jackal · Apr 15, 2005

Wow! very very nice! That is some crazy thick aluminum!

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 15, 2005

First off, thanks a bunch for your replies and praises, suggestions are always welcome!

Heres the story on the metal supplies, we bought a ton of metal, what i showed here was roughly 20% of everything me and a couple freinds bought, there is a local metal supplier/wholesaler, and my father has ties because he does alot of business with them, so we got a tour of the warehouse/shop, and great prices on stuff as well. total $ spent on aluminum for me, about $15. i bought a 1/2" tooling plate, and a slightly larger, 3/4" tooling plate, the thinner plate, and some 22 gauge aluminum sheeting. also, a 4"x4"x1" aluminum block, that will be drilled out to make a flow indicator. so, we really made out. they sell mesh and perforated steel as well, so we picked up a big sheet of that, the guy gave that to us free as well since we bought so much. pays to live in a big west coast city.

Qtip42 · Apr 15, 2005

Where......is........this.......place, in Portland?

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 16, 2005

Nope. Phoenix

I forgot to mention Im flying up from Phoenix to go to PDX, I dont live in Portland

DryFire · Apr 16, 2005

looks good. Better have some good anti corrosive.

nice to see someone from spcr here aswell.

ATi_Loyalist · Apr 16, 2005

Thanks, heres my little bit on corrosion, I have researched different solutions to this problem, being that I enjoy chemistry myself, and I talked to some friends of mine who are chemists, and we came to the conclusion that using certain chemicals such as non ethlyene-glycol based coolants will provide the best corrosion resistance, and even with 2 very dissimilar metals in contact, the molybdate solution that I will be adding, which was whipped up by my buddy, will form a protective layer against the corrosion of the aluminum, and another factor to consider is the huge amount of aluminum and very small concentrations of copper that are present in the system as a whole, so the copper wont be able to do a whole lot of damage to any aluminum parts because there is so little of it contacting the system. I still might get the aluminum block powdercoated to match the case though, heh

zapperfish · Apr 16, 2005

keep it coming, that GPU WB looks so good

jayjaya29 · Apr 16, 2005

Wow nice work, keep us updated.

ATi_Loyalist · Jul 8, 2005

Ok, so long time to see, well Im not dead, and I certainly havent put this on hold, I have just been very busy juggling modding/school/life. So, I have a TON of updates and new pics, etc etc.

Here goes.

First, I finished the front bezel with all the craziness, about 2-3 months ago

With mesh insert

Next, I made this fancy HDD enclosure, 100% custom from aluminum stock.

and added mounting rails

Finally finished the flame cutout after over 2 years i think?

I needed a design for the motherboard side, this too just under 1 hour with a jigsaw.

Finished the GPU waterblock

PSU hard mounted to a jumbo heatsink, with the ATX and P4 lines all pretty

PSU assembly, side view:

PSU intake vents

also finished the chassis cutout, DONT WORRY about the scrathes, everything is getting powdercoating.

this is the flow indicator/resivoir that consists of an aluminum block and a fan, the block was bored out on a lathe, by dan the man over on [H] forums. Unfortuantely I had to scrap the 3 neck glass flask, it just wasnt going to work out. this fits the theme better anyways.

This is the fan after painting it:

And as for right now, everything is at the powdercoater, and I should get it all back next friday, Ill update then, but it.will still take another 2-3 weeks before the final build and all.

by the way, heres a couple pics of the shifter I made for my buddy this week.

Thanks for reading! Comments/suggestions/criticism welcomed

!

sdat1333 · Jul 8, 2005

ah
im in shock
I LOVE IT DUDE

MrJohnson · Jul 9, 2005

I really like your flow indicator idea.

Majin · Jul 9, 2005

That is very nice work.
I love how you give so many pics.
Make the progress show!

ikellensbro · Jul 9, 2005

Sweet job you've done so far, I'm digging the flames and custom rad. For your anti-corrosion issue, I'd say a 75% distilled h2o and 25% antifreeze mixture should work well enough. What pump are you planning on using for your loop? Also, what are designyou thinking of for your cpu block, the same cool design as the gpu? I'd suggest a center impingement design, wih a 3mm thick base between the copper and the cpu die, like the WhiteWater. Keep up the good work, once again awesome milling

SpangeMonkee · Jul 9, 2005

kickass work.

uzor · Jul 9, 2005

ATi_Loyalist said:
Nope. Phoenix I forgot to mention Im flying up from Phoenix to go to PDX, I dont live in Portland

Ok....so where in Phoenix?

ATi_Loyalist · Jul 10, 2005

Im up in Scottsdale, up towards frank lloyd wright blvd. You?

Thanks for your comments, always appreciated,

ikellensbro, i considered an impingement style design, but in my system, the main design goals were high performance, low flow, minimal resistance, with the flow/resistance being more important due to the noise issue with pumps. I ended up going with the C-Systems CSP-Mag pump, because it looks pretty damn sweet, it is extremely small, and has good performance for its size(~160gph), but best of all, its silent, there is nothing but a tiny vibrational hum during operation, and it has a 3 pin fan header+RPM sensing, because it consumes 5-8w typ.

AMD[H]unter · Jul 10, 2005

Dude, this is one of the greatest looking cases I have seen in a looong while. Great job so far! Keep it up, man.

KrakenGuy · Jul 11, 2005

That flow indicator, is damn sexy.

uzor · Jul 11, 2005

ATi_Loyalist said:
Im up in Scottsdale, up towards frank lloyd wright blvd. You?

Just north of Sky Harbor. What I was actually referring to, though, was the metal shop you use. When I finally get around to starting one of my custon projects, I am going to need some metal supplies, and a recommendation usually works out better than a phone book.

br0k3nman · Jul 11, 2005

The flames with the corrugated mesh behind it is amazing. Beautiful work.

ATi_Loyalist · Jul 11, 2005

Thanks

Well, your in a good spot, take the 143 south, until it ends, then go about a mile further south, and on the right side ofthe street, across from diablo stadium i believe, there is a place called Capitol Metals, they have tons of small parts and bits and they have surplus bins!! $1.50/lb of aluminum, and if you go to the guy named dan i think, on the far left side of the checkout, he will treat you well. for all the metal i have used on this project, i would guess the total to be around $15-20 for just metal stock.

MakubexGB · Jul 11, 2005

Dang man, amazing mod! Can't wait to see more!

ATi_Loyalist · Jul 11, 2005

Well, more is on the way!!

The powdercoater said the parts will be finished this friday, the exterior is black, with red flake clear, and the interior and chassis will be a crisp white. I also got some red plexi from tap plastics, which will become accent pieces all around. More to come!

uzor · Jul 11, 2005

ATi_Loyalist said:
Thanks

Well, your in a good spot, take the 143 south, until it ends, then go about a mile further south, and on the right side ofthe street, across from diablo stadium i believe, there is a place called Capitol Metals, they have tons of small parts and bits and they have surplus bins!! $1.50/lb of aluminum, and if you go to the guy named dan i think, on the far left side of the checkout, he will treat you well. for all the metal i have used on this project, i would guess the total to be around $15-20 for just metal stock.

Nice....thanks.

ATi_Loyalist · Aug 3, 2005

Ok, so. Here goes, it has taken a longggg longgg time to get everything together, much longer than i had planned, the powdercoater was late with parts, and there were several complications with certain parts of the system.

I finally got the parts back though, and here are some pics over the last couple of weeks, as the case progressed:

These are the rear PCI covers done in a beautiful kandy red, the little etched markings show through very well.

This is the chassis, done in a crisp white powder, also came out very nicely.

Here is the top panel, with the super gloss black and red flake clear:

Shot of the edge of the front bezel, the flake turned out really sick.

This is the front bezel, after installing the red mesh, and the silver power button.

Next, the PCI covers installed with M3 Socket head hex screws

The new resivior/flow indicator with the outer piece also done in the black+red flake.

In the process of installing all the new parts:

Interior/wires, finished with some brass fittings and clear tubing

The first of the final pictures of the finished product, this is a preview of the new PSU plate, with only a IEC jack, since the PSU is in the front area of the case now.

More Pictures to come, Currently I am finished with the case, all that remains is to take some quality pictures. Thats a whole new challenge. Check back in a couple of days. Thanks for reading!!!

uzor · Aug 3, 2005

damn....not bad.

Qtip42 · Aug 3, 2005

Nice work man.

I'd like to see it at pdxlan but something tells me I'm not going to be done in time on my case

ATi_Loyalist · Aug 3, 2005

Oh, thats a shame, I cut it close, but not as close as last year, we were modding in the hotel room, haha!

Well Qtip I do hope to see you at PDXLAN even if your case isnt done

Projekt Passiv-Agressiv, 100% custom. *updated not too long ago?*

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Projekt Passiv-Agressiv, 100% custom. updated not too long ago?