stargate125645

Component Installation

For various reasons it's (obviously) been a while since I've updated this. It's been in the back of my mind and I don't like things in the back of my mind so I'm making the last several updates this weekend...

My new build did "recycle" the graphics card, sound card, hard drives, and power supply from my previous build so those items will not be featured below.

The motherboard, CPU, and RAM all arrived in working order, and looked exactly as I expected them to with the exception of the RAM.

The Newegg photograph for the RAM made it difficult to determine if the RAM had a black PCB or just black heat spreaders. It arrived with a green PCB, but as it turned out I had to RMA them because the heat spreaders were loose on one of the DIMMs and the replacement from Newegg had different packaging and black PCB so it all worked out!

The motherboard itself looks amazing as is typical from ASUS these days (at least in my opinion).

I would have preferred black or chrome heat sinks to go with the black PCB and my overall theme but deep blue is definitely not the worst color. I have not noticed the motherboard temperatures getting too hot, but I did manage to retrofit a fan to the outside of the case side panel despite the use of a TRUE as my CPU heat sink (more on that later).

I thought the Vantec Nexus fan controller I used on my previous rig had too much writing on the front for this build theme so I needed a new fan controller. Unfortunately, the only fan controllers out there that actually have enough capacity on a single channel for the Panaflos I'll be using are the fugly Rheobus and it's fuglier cousin the Rheobus Extreme. No thanks.

I managed to find this fan controller from Ultra that had just enough capacity per channel, but it was for a 3.5" bay so I needed a classy bay converter. The Silverstone converter pictured above fit the bill in style and allowed me to place the fan controller in the top bay while having it stick out far enough to be easily reachable and visible from above without the case molding blocking it (more on that later as well).

The Panaflo U1Cs that are sandwiching my TRUE Black:

These were already shown in a cable sleeving entry, but here they are again (not yet sleeved). I decided not to show the one that attacked me and now only has 6-1/4 blades while I still have all 10 fingers.

As I said, the Silverstone bay converter is quite snazzy!


The fan cables for the Ultra fan controller are already black, so no modification necessary.

I just used a black zip tie to keep them together until they were routed behind the motherboard.

The two items put together...

Again, this is going into the top bay.

In the following photo you can see that the RAM and CPU have been installed, and TIM has been applied to the CPU.

I kept the base of the heat sink in Saran Wrap until I was ready to install everything, and as you can see the base did not become oxidized. On a side note, I had to reapply the TIM several times due to high temperatures until I realized that I had the Panaflo fans facing each other...

Once the heat sink was securely attached, I placed everything into the motherboard. The following picture has everything installed except for Panaflos and the Ultra fan controller.

I kept the Panaflos out of the build until the very end so as to give myself the most room inside the case to maneuver. Now to figure out the cable management...but I'll save that for the next installment.

__________________
Links:
[ Project Nighthawk (NEW!) | Project Ablative Armor | G15 LCD Program Archive ]
[ Intel Core i7 Voltage Limits | Overclocking Effects on Benchmark Scores | Explanation of LCD Terminology ]

stargate125645

Cable Management

5 hard drives, 1 optical drive, 7 case fans, 2 CPU heat sink fans, 1 fan controller, and a graphics card all equate to a mess of cables. Things are further complicated by the inherently huge 24-pin motherboard cable and the fact that the power supply is located in the bottom of the case in the Antec 1200 necessitating extension cables. As shown in my cable sleeving entry, I did purchase extension cables for both motherboard power cables and sleeved them so as to keep the case interior looking nice, but this also means I'll have to fit giant connectors behind my motherboard tray...

After several hours of fidgeting I managed to get the back side of the motherboard tray in order:

Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that I am able to close the rear side panel without a bulge forming! (Holy Molex chain, Batman!)

Separating the 24-pin power cable into 4 separately sleeved cables allowed me to maneuver it better within the case. Ostensibly I did not need the extension cable, but I thought the default ForceFlex cables from my power supply looked out of place with the other cables that were in that area of the case.

You can see that I've also routed the front panel connection cables behind the motherboard. I am not using the audio headers because I am using the Logitech Z-2300 speaker set which has a headphone jack more conveniently located at the front of the cabled controller. Those cables are therefore not sleeved like the USB, LED indicator, and power switch cables.

I also grouped the SATA data cables together off of the motherboard header. I kept the 4 Raptors on the ICH9R controller whist placing the spare drive on the Drive Xpert-enabled controller so as to keep the data rates as separate as possible. At some point I will probably switch to a NAS solution that involves RAID-1 for my data drive, at which point I may update this build log again. (On a side note: why the hell do SATA II cables have latches on them if the sideways motherboard headers are never spaced properly for the use of said latched cables?!)

As the Antec 1200 users amongst you know, the side panel fan is poorly placed in that a large heat sink will often interfere with using a fan in the side panel slot. One solution to this problem is simply to chop off a corner of the fan one wishes to mount. For those of us without the tools to accomplish this, the next best thing is to mount the fan on the exterior of the side panel.

The mounting apparatus for the side panel fan still fits, but I wanted a cleaner look within the case and I thought the plastic fan clip would ruin that if it were empty. Removing it is simple, but it also means the use of the fan filter is no longer possible. I tried it both ways (with and without the empty fan clip and fan filter), but the fan I wanted to use (Aerocool XtremeTurbine because of its liquid metal look when running) does not have a lot of static pressure so the airflow through the side panel with the fan filter installed was significantly reduced. Also note that keeping the fan filter and empty clip in place forces you to place the fan on the outside of the side panel in a specific spot which also means only 3 of the 4 fan mounting holes will be accessible.

Not using the fan clip allowed me to place the fan such that all 4 mounting holes could be utilized for better stability and better aesthetics as the fan can now be placed in the middle of the metal mesh opening on the side panel (see below).


My initial plan was to route the fan wire around the side panel and into the case through the water cooling hose hole. Because the fan cable was sleeved this did not actually look bad, but it also left very little slack in the fan cable for moving it around within the case and thus removal of the case door without unplugging the fan is also difficult.

As can be seen above, my solution was to route the cable through the metal mesh. I now have plenty of extra fan cable. The only downside is that the fan plug has to be removed to thread the cable.

Removing the plastic fan clip also created problems with metal mesh because the fan clip has spacers that keep the mesh tight to the side panel when screwed in, so I had to rig a solution:

I used rubber washers as spacers on the two screws that actually go through the mesh and clipped off the little plastic tabs from the fan clip to mount the acrylic window properly to the side panel. Masking tape was used to shore up the remaining two sides of the metal mesh that were not secure. It's a bit "ghetto," but it can't be seen, it works well, and is easy to install and uninstall.

The rear side of the case had 6 fans, the rear fan controller hub cables, and the 8-pin ATX12V power cable to route. All of these cables were small, however, and so little work was needed to make it look clean.

The fan cables for the side panel fan and the bottom rear fan are routed between the two rear fans so as to conceal them until they are passed through the cable management hole shown.

For easy access, much like with the fan controller, I placed the optical drive at the top of the case. In order to eliminate the need for another cable plugged into the power supply and routed behind the motherboard tray near the bottom of the case, I purchased a Molex-to-SATA power cable and simply added it to the epic Molex chain pictured at the beginning of this entry.

As you can see, this cable also looked out of place so I sleeved it. You can also see that I replaced the white twist mount at the top of the case with a black one. My 24-pin power cable "artwork" is also visible in the above picture.

This image is a close-up of the 24-pin power cables and the cables for the 4870X2.

The 4870X2 power cables are routed to the side of the airflow "channel" for the 4870X2 fan and then zip tied together for routing behind the motherboard tray (a black zip tie, of course).

Easily the most difficult area of cable management, the power supply and hard drive cables provided a huge obstacle for a clean case.

It looks excellent, if I do say so myself. The front panel cables that are actually used are routed behind the power supply to help reduce clutter.

And finally, an overall view of the cable management for your viewing pleasure...


The next - and potentially final - update will feature the outside of the case and how it looks in both light and dark. You can then judge if I've achieved my goal of a stealthy theme.

__________________
Links:
[ Project Nighthawk (NEW!) | Project Ablative Armor | G15 LCD Program Archive ]
[ Intel Core i7 Voltage Limits | Overclocking Effects on Benchmark Scores | Explanation of LCD Terminology ]

stargate125645

The Final Product?

In one of my previous entries I mentioned that I mounted the fan controller such that it sticks out a little bit. The following picture illustrates this effect:

Note that the Silverstone bay converter is actually not flat but juts out of the bay a bit. This allows the fan controller to stick out without looking out of place.

From the front, you cannot tell that the fan controller actually sticks out from the rest of the bays.


Simply an overall view from the front...


A perspective view from the top, also showing the side panel fan's placement.

The knob on the front of the side panel fan which adds to the fan effect is visible here as well. This knob is would probably have to be removed if the fan were placed inside the case.

This side view shows the liquid metal effect I mentioned in a previous build log entry.

This also adds a turbine or jet engine-style effect, which goes along with my build theme. Just don't stick your fingers near the side of the case.

The following two pictures show the case as viewed in the dark. First, a view from the front:

The three LEDs in the Antec Tricool fans are clearly visible in this shot. The fan controller has black knobs with a clear molding around the outside where the fan controller LEDs show through. My only complaint about this fan controller is the lack of a marker showing the position of the knob with respect to the max. and min. markers.

And a view from the side:
The liquid metal effect is especially nice when viewed in the dark. The red and green LEDs seen in the image are from the ASUS P6T motherboard.

Overall I am pleased with this build. There are minor things I'd like to have been able to avoid, such as the rigged side panel fan, but with a 4.4GHz overclock on my processor and a stylish case, I really can't complain.

__________________
Links:
[ Project Nighthawk (NEW!) | Project Ablative Armor | G15 LCD Program Archive ]
[ Intel Core i7 Voltage Limits | Overclocking Effects on Benchmark Scores | Explanation of LCD Terminology ]

Thar

Nice job mate!! The sleeving looks amazing!!

No need to have a go @ murdermod sleeving kits though

Have you thought about using one of these really handy iBoxs?

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=2819

I do have one but cant fit it in my system anymore so it just sits in my other rig. When i had it installed it was very cool to keep all your cd's really easily accessible yet out of the way!

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stargate125645

Yes, I have. My old system was an Armor so I'm well aware of the iBox's uses. It would definitely be handy for USB cables and CDs, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet as I am not certain if I want something else in the bay such as an optical disc drive.

__________________
Links:
[ Project Nighthawk (NEW!) | Project Ablative Armor | G15 LCD Program Archive ]
[ Intel Core i7 Voltage Limits | Overclocking Effects on Benchmark Scores | Explanation of LCD Terminology ]

SniperXX

Nice build, I really like how it came out.

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stargate125645

Thank you! I may have to update the build when I get a new GPU and/or my NAS, but I'd like to believe for now that it's done. I'm always open to suggestions, though!

__________________
Links:
[ Project Nighthawk (NEW!) | Project Ablative Armor | G15 LCD Program Archive ]
[ Intel Core i7 Voltage Limits | Overclocking Effects on Benchmark Scores | Explanation of LCD Terminology ]