go4life

thats why I asked him why he bought koolance...
but no answer on that.

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=GzR=SmokeyDevil

Because it works and was the best bang for your buck.

=GzR=SmokeyDevil

So I've been doing some more research into what I'll need to finish this project without breaking my wallet and found a few things.

First, the Zahlman fan connector that I initially thought would work just fine really won't. It has only two 12volt connectors and the other two are 5volt, which completely defeats my purpose of buying fans that will run at full anyways.

Instead, I've decided to go with this:

Sunbeam MFPP Multi Fan Power Port
http://www.svc.com/mfpp.html


Here it is half the price than whatPerformance-PC's is selling it for.

I also decided to scrap the Rosewill 120mm Blue LED Fans for the Coolermaster 120mm Blue LED fans that are sold at SVC at $3 a piece.

They run at 43CFM and 22dB, which is perfect for what I needed....quiet.
http://www.svc.com/200007680.html


I also mounted the radiator using the supplied screws without any problem. Hopefully, I will be able to mount the hard drive in the top slot, where nothing else would really fit because of the radiator.

Right now, I'm holding off on any purchases due to a lack of money to spare, which has effectively put this project on hold for the time being.

Overall, I'm looking at around $300-$400 until things are fully finished.

Now that I think of it, I might end up creating my own multi-fan connector since I'll have a total of 6 fans on the top, 4 in the front, and a few others elsewhere.

For anyone who can answer this: will I be able to keep all of the connections at 12volts if I were to solder together a molex to 3 or 6 fan connectors?

Since I'm looking at having 3 fans pushing air through the top 3x120mm radiator, I will also have to figure out how to stealth the tubing from the radiator to the XSPC Drive Bay Pump/Reservoir combo without using the Bitspower Angled Fittings that I ordered.
I might be able to get away with snaking the tubing around the fans while still using the initial fitting, but I'm not sure.

More measurements and fitting to come.

If I'm not successful, I always have plenty of straight 1/2" barbed fittings, so that's not an issue fortunately.
I might actually be able to get away with using the stubby fittings elsewhere.

go4life

very well.

I like that!

__________________

=GzR=SmokeyDevil

I am curious how this would work in the Cosmos S case, as many know, the side panel is very finicky about any excess poking out.

If anything, I'm considering saying to hell with buying the component I just posted, and using TJHarlow's solution of a terminal block to power the fans.

The problem with cutting off the three-pin fan connectors is obviously the reusing of them in future builds, but I honestly am at that point where I would most likely just do a completely new build after 3-5 years with this one.

This essentially means that all of the wiring should be custom and that there is no problem with cutting holes in the case for wire management of the components that I plan to use, instead of worrying about future upgrades.

The cutting of the wire management holes should take place when I decide to do the rebuild. I'm not concerned about whether or not I have c-channel to use or not, as I can always just use some electrical tape and grind down the edges to not be as sharp/rigid.

Any wire management should be right along the motherboard, as opposed to wiring directly behind the motherboard, which usually leads to wires just poking out even more than necessary.

The idea I had for installing a clear acrylic window is still plausible. With just simply removing the hardware currently holding the mesh to the panel and mounting the acrylic using 3M Mounting Tape.

Right now, I'm just short on cash for buying what I need. Once I get the money, I am going full steam on this project to get it all finished up.

I currently have everything I need, besides the thermal paste, to go ahead with installing everything.

I was also going to wait until I have all of the fans I need, as there is no point in watercooling everything if I don't have any way of dissipating the heat generated by everything.

I also am still waiting until I get the northbridge/southbridge waterblock and mosfet coolers before I do anything, as it's just a pain in the ass to hook everything up and redo everything again once I get those certain items.

Right now, I am running on the stock aircoolers for the 8800GTX's and the watercooling for the CPU, so I'm not too rushed, but I'd still like to see a completed project as I'm sure everyone else is.

Finally, I'm planning on sleeving every wire with black, nylon sleeving...so it's really redundant to put everything together only to take it all apart again for the sleeving process. I'll probably invest in the 200ft roll of black nylon sleeving from the one website I posted in my items post. That way, I won't have to worry too much about how much sleeving I need. I might also look at a roll of heatshrink and a heatgun too, as I'm not looking at an insignificant amount of sleeving to be done.

Overall, there's a ton of stuff to be done, so be ready when I get some dineros, because there's no stopping what I can do to this build.

The thought of powder coating this case is also not out of the question for future. I just don't know how I would ship everything considering that I don't have the box that the case came in.

=GzR=SmokeyDevil

So I went ahead and ordered some new fans and thermal paste.

6 x Coolermaster 120mm Blue LED Fan OEM 43CFM 22dBA

http://www.svc.com/200007680.html

2 x Evercool Sidewinder High Performance Thermal Compound 4PC Set

http://www.svc.com/stc-01.html

Should be here hopefully by Wednesday, so I'll be able to put everything together.

I'll probably also pick up some 3M Double-Sided Mounting Tape from Ace Hardware to mount the pump, which will be mounted sideways on the right side of the drive bay cage. This will allow it to be visible from the future window I'll be putting in.

Unfortunately, I was cheaped out $50 from my tax return because of damn bank and processing fees. If you use Turbo Tax's online system, make sure to choose just receiving a check instead of direct deposit, as they use a third-party bank to receive the deposit from the IRS, which charges multiple $25 against you return. P.O.S., but I learned my lesson and have already emailed Intuit about this, considering that their online Federal tax return system was supposed to be completely free.

At least I'll be able to get show on the road though, with the addition of fans and thermal paste.

Otherwise, I'm trying out Windows XP Pro 64-bit edition. Unfortunately, the multi-monitor SLI isn't working, so I'm thinking of going back to Vista.
I just don't like how long it takes to transfer large amounts of files/large folders, which significantly slows down the transfer process.

I also only got a enough fans to put on one side of each radiator, but since I have the two radiators and the fans at 43cfm, I'm not too worried as I can always add the spare fans that I have right now until I get more of the Coolermaster ones. The problem with having the fans on each side is the risk of having fittings that are too short.

The 3x120mm radiator will also need to be mounted a bit more towards the back to allow me to use the XSPC 5.25" Bay Pump/Reservoir Combo in the top drive bay slot.

When I go to update the cooling, I will also be cutting out the mesh for the top and rear 120mm fans slots. This will definitely help to improve airflow and should help the dispersion of heat a little better. I will also possibly cut some holes in the side of the drive bay cage to help route cables a bit easier.
The cable management holes on the motherboard tray are also going to be done too, which should really improve the cable management.

=GzR=SmokeyDevil

Well...I was having issues with the video cards and turned out one was gone. Fortunately, I had the third card layout around, but the one in the top slot had a bad area or corrosion that ate away from a transistor. Bottom line, I'm probably not going to end up doing tri-sli unless I find a decent price on another 8800GTX. This is extremely frustrating, considering that I had another dead 8800GTX not too long ago.

Either way, I'll still be hooking up the watercooling setup when I get the fans, thermal paste, and mounting tape.

go4life

ouch! Again?
thats sad man!

Good luck btw

__________________

Shiryu_Libra

Oh man

yeah, good luck

__________________
"Are You Part of the problem, Part Solution or part of the background"
Hi from Altar Desert, Sonora, MX.
Shiryu_libra

=GzR=SmokeyDevil

Well, the thermal paste and fans should be here tomorrow. I'll probably work on getting things dismantled tonight and running on a spare table, so I can still do some schoolwork and general nonsense.

I wasn't able to find any the mounting tape I was looking for at Ace Hardware, but did find some stuff that should work just fine for mounting the pump and a window eventually.

The bs with the graphics card does kind of set me back on my tri-sli idea, but hopefully, I'll be able to have the card in place until I get a new one, just so that I can simply take the block off the old card and put in the new one without having to take things apart.
We'll see, maybe the card will work just fine, but that's just me being optimistic.

As far as getting things put in, I'll most likely be doing the cutting tomorrow, then plumbing the cooling system, with the final installation coming last.

Like anything, all I hope for is that things go smoothly tomorrow, as I am dead broke from this project. *tear ha