Project: PrometheusCu

[madaba]

Both projects are lookin good!

 

[jackofalltrades]

You must be rich! Anyway looks good!

 

[PeteLightning]

awesome job, i cant wait to see this finished

 

[TooBooKoo]

I can't wait for the final product... black and copper is just too clean.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to submit your photos to Million Dollar PC when you get finished

 

[Langer]

@edinator - Thanks man, it took a lot of saving to undertake my dream project.

@madaba - Thank you!

@jackofalltrades - I work hard to get the things I love - time and patience.

@PeteLightning - Thank you - I hope to have it done shortly; a few more weeks - a month at most.

@TooBooKoo - Thanks mate... MDPC is already on my list of things to conquer with this mod. Some DAMN fine rigs on that site - it'd be an honor to join them.


Update time.

Today I decided to finally fabricate the mount for the Pico-ITX waterblock/pump.

First I made a prototype from cardstock at 1:1 scale.

The I busted out the dremel and attacked a scrap piece of aluminum - left over from an old Lian-Li mod.

After an hour or so of hand filing, a couple quick bends, and a few holes drilled we get this:

It's then mounted to the pump/waterblock:

If you'll recall I did some modification to the stock Pico heatsink. I've now finished off these mods with a few counterbored holes:

The waterblock is installed onto the stock heatsink

Finally this entire assembly is mounted to the Pico-ITX board - which is already mounted onto a bracket holding its PSU/IO/HDD. The entire thing can now be mounted into a standard 5 1/4" drive bay.

The whole thing still needs some final edge cleaning and most likely a coat of black paint - other than that she's all done.

Thanks for reading - more to come soon.

 

[-(Xyphox)-]

wow, looking great... cant wait to see more

 

[Langer]

DOUBLE POST.

 

[edinator]

That is some serious skill with a dremel and i love that carbon fibre!

 

[Elledan]

I agree, that looks totally professional

 

[unhappy_mage]

It looks pretty. Does the ITX system really need watercooling, though? Purely as an aesthetic thing, I think you're right to WC it anyways, but I'm curious from a necessity point of view. What's TDP on the chip and/or northbridge, for example?

 

[Elledan]

I believe it's around 25 Watt TDP or so, depending on the specific solution. Intel/AMD mini-ITX boards (non-Atom) have a higher TDP, obviously

 

[Langer]

Actually I watercooled the Pico for pimp value. It's totally unnecessary and over-the-top... but since this project is one big over-the-top experiment it seemed fitting.

The Pico can actually run with no cooling whatsoever - The Naked Pico Challenge

 

[Markistehnamezor]

Thats sick. Can't wait to see till you mount that pico board onto the case.

 

[Langer]

A simple question to Corsair has led to a some new developments which I will elaborate upon once the parcel arrives. This mystery parcel will be shipped tomorrow (hopefully).

I have to give a HUGE shout out to Robert from Corsair... who has been a massive help - even after that time I accidentally called his cell and woke him up (time zones are a pain). THANKS ROB!

Also some news from Mips

That RAM Freezer 4 has been reengineered and now supports Dominator class RAM. This new trinket was shipped out yesterday and is on it's way here from Germany as we speak. As an added bonus this item will soon be available from Mips if anyone else is interested.

 

[Shellac]

Wow oh wowee wow. This is a stunning build in the works. Hell, I thought I was doing good to sleeve my exposed wires on the build I have working. Very impressive!

 

[Aku12]

Was thinking of using that aquagate in a project i have coming up. What size barbs do the radiator/blocks use?

 

[Langer]

@Shellac - Thank you very much sir.

@Aku12 - 7mm OD on the barbs


Updates...many updates.

I have more to share but I'll save it for this evening.

My NAKED RAM courtesy of Corsair - 8GB of 1066mhz Dominator.

My Dominator compatible Mips RAM Freezer 4 has arrived as well. This this is BEAUTIFUL, a fantastic peice of engineering. The build quality is top notch.

Here they are installed:

I have several more updates to share, but I've been really busy the past week and I've not had a chance to take pictures. I'll post more stuff this evening - with that will be pics of some more Corsair goodies.

Thanks for reading.

 

[goodgod]

that is some sexy looking ram

and the water block is awesome!

 

[TooBooKoo]

Even Corsair's naked ram looks good
Then you went off and added that water kit beautiful!
This is going to be a smoking hot build... we actually, freezing cold
You have a really good eye for industrial style... keep it up.
I'll be watching this thing all the way and I'll buy whatever magazines you get in

 

[Langer]

@goodgod - Thank you very much, but the kudos go to MIPS for manufacturing this beautiful item.

@TooBooKoo - Thank you very much sir - I really appreciate that. I was very pleased to see how nicely the Mips block matched up to the AquaComputer blocks beside it. All that's left is to scrap the ugly D-Dek Fuzion and thow in some sexy Watercool Heatkiller blocks:

I had asked Corsair if they could at all provide me with the wires that go with their HX series PSUs.


They responded over and above to my request:

More to come tonight still, solong for now.

 

[edinator]

Wow that will look nice when it is all sleeved! Those are some killer waterblocks. I wish they were more available...

 

[JDM_WAAAAT]

Damnit Langer, now I have to follow your shitty work on 2 forums. =p

- se7enfears

 

[Langer]

@edinator - Thanks a lot man. No sleeving here though, the cables are part of the aesthetic (much much to be revealed in that department soon enough). eMail Watercool and ask them if they'll ship to your location.

@JDM_WAAAAT - Haha, Welcome to [h] mate.

 

[edinator]

Oh, no sleeving? I thought I saw some copper sleeves. Maybe it was a different thread?
I'm more interested in teh aqua computer waterblocks though and I checked their site for shipping to Canada and its a no go. I just spent the money on a DD waterblock so no money anyways

 

[ZMTToxics]

So I am confused now. Corsair just up and gave you 8gigs of ram and a 1KW PSU? For Free?? I need to start building things that require special order parts so I can get them for free to. :\

 

[chronic9]

i think its because his work is so kick ass that they gave him all those parts.....

they dont hand out free swag like that to any joe shmoe..... you need to show them that you're work is awesome.....

i bet this PC will end up being featured in magazines and such, so it'll look as good publicity for corsair, AC, etc etc

 

[Langer]

@edinator The copper sleeves (which have been replaced with newer sexier -more expensive- copper sleeves) are for the coolant tubes. I plan on using the wires - the few wires that can be seen that is - as part of the overall aesthetic.

@ZMTToxics - Corsair is one of my sponsors and supporters on this project. They are doing this for mutual benefit, I use their hardware and they get publicity and credibility. If you have the build quality to back it up, sponsorship will be fairly simple to get.

@chronic9 - Thanks man, that's exactly it.

Small update. I wanted to upload these pics last night but Photobucket had other ideas.

I've started ordering my hardware for this project. In the form of Brighton Socket Cap Allen Bolts, and Coutersunk Allen Bolts.
I still havent got my hands on the smaller bolts as they were special order, but here's the big stuff.
The below sizing ranges from 4-40, to 1/4-20 - I've ordered a couple hundred in each size.

I got 100 carbide rods, the purpose of these will be revealed much later.

With those come six 36"x1/2"x1/16" copper flat bars. I will be bending these to fabricate cable ties and wire harness brackets.

Also, 15' of 3/8" split loom tubing - this will be used on the Pico watercooling tubes, and on a couple wires that wont be seen.

I also started bending my prototypes, and as expected I don't have the tools to do this to the level that I desire.

In light of this I've taken the liberty of sending the whole fabrication of these parts to China.
I will have a Chinese company fabricate these things to perfection from copper plate in the near future.
The parts that I have will work perfectly for what I intended them to do - these aluminum bits will be installed to allow me to continue fabrication of other parts. Also I've already made a couple of design changes that will be applied to the final copper bits.

Thanks for reading, more to come very soon.

 

[chronic9]

lol to china... thats cool.

how much will it cost in end for fabrication, shipping, etc....

what sort of a time line are they giving you?

sounds interesting....

 

[best [486]]

I got 100 carbide rods, the purpose of these will be revealed much later.
MG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v60/Langer/PrometheusCu/prometheus-hardware-04.jpg[/IMG]
.

Why carbide? It's brittle, and wear resistance is just about it's only good property...

Looks really cool so far!

 

[formula409]

Why carbide? It's brittle, and wear resistance is just about it's only good property...

Looks really cool so far!

the answer to carbide rods has not been answered by Langer as to his use but they could be Tungsten carbide which is used in many things including armor piercing rounds and even the tips of ski or hiking poles. which as you know would have to stand up to alot of abuse and impact.

 

[Langer]

Thanks guys, still working on my revisions - outsourcing and the details that go with it will come soon.

Minor Update:
I've decided to add another loop to the mix for the motherboard - and it had to be fairly small to fit, so I've made a little order from Performance-PCs.

Products
3 x Chomerics Thermattach® T412 Conductive Tape
1 x Enzotech Forged Low Profile Copper Northbridge Heatsink
1 x Thermaltake CL-O0027 TG1 Extreme High Grade Thermal Grease
2 x Bitspower Rotary Fitting "T" - 180 Degree Water Cooling Accessory - Black Sparkle Finish
2 x Bitspower Case Top Water Fill/ Through Hole Fitting Set
2 x Bitspower Dual G1/4" High Flow Fitting - Male to Male Thread
2 x Koolance Tubing Spring Wrap, Black [10mm, 3/8"]
10 x PrimoFlex Pro LRT Black Tubing -3/8in. ID X 1/2in. OD
1 x Black Ice® GT Stealth 120 Highest Performance Radiator
10 x Bitspower Premium G1/4" High Flow 3/8" Fitting - Black Sparkle Finish
4 x Enzotech Pure Forged Copper Ramsinks
4 x Koolance Tubing Spring Wrap, Black [13mm, 1/2" ID; 19mm, 3/4" OD]
1 x Sunbeamtech Notebook Memory Heat Spreader
1 x Yate Loon 120x20mm Medium Speed Thin Silent Case Fan - D12SM-12C

I have a somewhat vague vision of cramming in another 120mm rad and Aquastream pump along with Mosfet/NB/SB coolers.
If I can make it work it will add yet another level of difficulty, and fun.

I'm revising my part drawings as well to accommodate the new parts + some minor errors I hadn't seen early on.
More to come as soon.

 

[filthysanchez]

2 x Koolance Tubing Spring Wrap, Black [10mm, 3/8"]

That's for 8/10mm tubing, and I don't believe you're using any?

 

[best [486]]

the answer to carbide rods has not been answered by Langer as to his use but they could be Tungsten carbide which is used in many things including armor piercing rounds and even the tips of ski or hiking poles. which as you know would have to stand up to alot of abuse and impact.

the only reason it is used in those applications is that it is very hard, I can't think of anything that something that hard would be used for in a computer, without it's brittleness detracting from the function. I guess I'll have to wait, just like everybody else.

 

[Langer]

@filthysanchez the loop im adding will be 3/8" id tube. Doesn't matter really because eventually all the tube will be replaced with copper pipes bent to fit. I'm holding out on that because the cost of the bender + 12mm copper pipe + G1/4 fittings will be about $600us.

@best [486] - The fact that the rods are carbide has nothing to do their intended purpose, they will be -almost- totally aesthetic. My use for the rods is still just a theory anyways - it's to be seen if I'll be using them.

 

[best [486]]

@best [486] - The fact that the rods are carbide has nothing to do their intended purpose, they will be -almost- totally aesthetic. My use for the rods is still just a theory anyways - it's to be seen if I'll be using them.

Thanks for clarifying, my brain has form, way after function, maybe even after how cool something would look while on fire . [If you saw some of my earliest mods you would understand the fire part [I used a cutting torch to cut a window, and a radiator hole]]

 

[Langer]

Since I want to minimize the airflow resistance on the main radiator mounted on the bottom of the unit I'll need to construct some feet that are 2.5-3" tall.

Aesthetically this is no easy task, and not something that I've addressed to date.

I've spent the past few hours in Illustrator trying to solve this large dilemma.

I've come up with the image below.
The intent here is to use a bunch of carbon fiber panels spaced ~0.5" apart to make a sort of skeletal base structure.


*click for big*
I've come up with a few extra surprises to go with this base design.
However...I'd like to ask what you all think of the concept first.

Note:
I've already devised a way of incorporating the PROMETHEUSCU logo into the mix - it was simply too complicated for me to be bothered drawing in perspective (at this time).
My intent is to put and LED in between every layer to allow crazy lighting effects
The flat part seen at the very bottom of the illustration acting as a flat base will be the uber carbon panel, shown earlier.

I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions on how to add feet to this rig.

Thanks for helping and reading!

 

[formula409]

Its cool...adda n organic shape to the boxy industrial look of things.

 

[Langer]

***i forgot to add:
I don't feel that it totally fits into the theme of the whole thing - that's why I'm asking for your aid.

I'd like to fabricate something along these lines - and I had planned on incorporating carbon throughout the case so I know the material will blend. It's the design that doesn't blend for me.

The carbon panels used would be fairly thick so I know the structure is there. There is also a fair bit of engineering that would go into these fins that you don't see in my rough concept illustration (I'll do another sketch to show this area - I'll post it later). So I'm certain that structural integrity wont be an issue.

I need the case elevated off the ground to maximize airflow to the rad, the case needs to be ~6CM off the ground.
My worst nightmare is to have the feet ruin the whole aesthetic - having the case sit on 4black aluminum popcan style feet is not an option for me.

Trying to develop a foot that holds the system ~2.5"-3" in the air is proving very very tricky.

What I don't want to happen is something like this:

Because I'll be making a stealthing plate/cable management system for the back end I have another concept that would give me a look something like this:

What I can do for this look is, extend the back stealthing plate and the front of the rad tray - there is very little extra work needed for this design.

 

[crazyjeeper]

I like your idea too. Its very unique.

You could also add mac pro style loops to the bottom.
http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/news/apple/macpro_front_c.jpg

 

[Elledan]

Definitely the second look. It's plain, attractive, modern and sexy