[Project] - Oh You'll Make it Fit! - ATX SFF - FINISHED 6/14/08 - Overclock.net

Whodie · 05-14-08

Well...here I am...starting another project....lol

Project Can U see ME was fun and turned out better than I'd hoped..but it was a PITA to work on. Not to mention that it measured just about 38" high...and top heavy. I'd always loved my DD Torture rack for it's ease of access but being a tech station it left a bit to be desired in organizational ability. The task was to find a happy medium.

I wanted to keep this case relatively small in terms of footprint, so I needed a decent base to start from AND it had to be acrylic. I toyed with the idea of making one from scratch if I had to but in the end I decided to give the Sunbeam UFO a try. Worst case it's only ~$70 so not a huge loss if it's an utter failure.

Here's a pic of the stock UFO, just barely enough space for a full ATX board

Not much room to work in...especially given all the WC gear I need to find room for...but I was up to the challenge!

Case and some new parts arrived today so I quickly got to work cutting and assembling the case. I won't give the plans away just yet, but here's a few pics of the progress I made tonight.

Had to get most of the components installed so I knew what I had to work around later.

Next a few of the panels had to go under the blade. Any guesses what this may be for? (PS that's tape on the panel...it's not really blue lol)

I'm working on the other side panel at the moment and should have it pretty much finished by the end of the night but the rest of the parts I need won't arrive until Monday...

Till then, I have some sleeving to do!

Whodie · 05-22-08

Whew....it's been a minute since I've posted an update on this build....but I was waiting for parts to arrive.

Most of the parts arrived today so I quickly got back to work!

I finished the top panel a few days ago, hopefully this will keep the motherboard cool

Fuzion v2 arrived with the quad nozzle, so I could finally mount the motherboard. Can't wait to see what temps this produces, especially since I got a new Q6700 to replace my Q6600.

I also got the side panel cut for the radiators

Next it was time to mount the rads, shrouds and fans. I changed fans (again...) to some high speed Yate Loon's. With the fan controller, I'm hoping this will be a rather quiet setup.

After that I mounted the side panel with the radiators, couldn't ask for a better fit!

Just waiting for Iandh ramsink for for the 8800GT and then I can finish up the tubing and button this one up!

whe3ls · 05-22-08

i like how you mounted the rads

BLKKROW · 05-22-08

looks wonderful, i have always wanted that case. but never had to "balls" to work on it

onlycodered · 05-29-08

I can't stand acrylic cases. There's nowhere to hide the cables. Either way, can't wait to see how this one turns out.

*repo_man* · 05-29-08

Looks promising, it looks like it would just topple over with the water weight in the rad's though. I'm hoping not, LOL.

How much did that ceiling fan with the molex plug set you back? (

)

Whodie · 06-14-08

Well...this project got a bit sidetracked. I got all the components installed and realized there was a serious leak. The OC Labs top on the DDC had cracked at the threads. So minor I didn't notice it at first. After that I had to tear the loop down and pull the pump so I could put a new top on.

While the rig was disassembled I snagged a Q6700 and replaced the Ballistix with 4GB 1066 Dominators

Bonus they are blue and black to match the rest of the build (I may be limited to Abit motherboards from here on out lol)

I was finally about to put the rig back together again when I saw a deal on San Ace fans...and I just had to get them to replace the YL high speeds on the rads. There is just no equal to these bad boys when it comes to rad fans...but that meant I had to disassemble the whole case again

Alas...I was done and now I could finally wrap this one up!

Here are the final pics! Still need to add the dye to the loop but I haven't decided on color just yet. So I guess there may be one or two more final final pics lol

Dominators and Fuzion v2

GFX and Iandh ramsinks

Final rad shot, forgot to get a good pic of the San Ace's.....

Finished front panel with BlueGears temp display fan

best I could get to show the fan...my camera sucks....

Left side panel where I modded the door to hold an 80mm fan to cool the DDC

Finished top panel - this ought to keep the NB and RAM cool lol

Still testing the OC on the Q6700, but I'm sitting at 10 x 400 at the moment. Still need to 8 hour prime it though.

Seems I have one hot core....

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the build and I managed to reduce the size of my rig while keeping all of the WC gear!

Thanks for the encouragement along the way!