lowfat's Big Lian Li

Some of the pics were posted in a previous worklog. But I changed hardware enough I think to start up a new one.

Forgot to take a pic of the case before I started to butcher it. But it is a Lian Li PC-A77F.
http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upload/image/pc-a77f/a77f-05.jpg

Originally I was going to do a 2p AMD G34 system. But decided to move to Intel before ever actually using the board. Pic of the old board.


The blocks I bought specifically for it. Won't be using these either now.


Coolgate 420 w/ some BGears adapters. I love those adapters.


The nasty stuff out of the radiator. This is from the 4th or 5th flush. Never saved the gunk from the first 3 or so flushes.


Big pile of sleeving.



Recrimped the Gentle Typhoons for the radiator.


Here is my 'floating' reservoir.




Various radiator/fans/reservoir pics.










Finally reorganized all my modding supplies. Can't believe I used individual baggies for the past few years.




Wanted something unique for my tubing, MDPC-X Grand Bleu it is!




Now to add the coolant I mixed up. Added it to the radiator just for some pics.






This is the colour scheme I was planning on going w/ to match the AMD board. A friend was doing a very similar build so these cables didn't get wasted thankfully.




Checks out a-o-k on my trusty PSU checker.


About here is where I realized I wanted to go w/ Intel and convert this thing in to a gaming machine, not just a server. Going to need more radiators! But space was an issue so I needed something very slim up top. I had a Magicool 2x140mm slim laying around but unfortunately it is the wrong spacing.




So I took out the drill and drilled in to the radiator for new mounts. I slipped up a few times and drilled in to the rad, but thankfully I missed all the important stuff. :gasp:

It fits! Need to find some good black counter sunk screws methinks.


Well I guess it don't fit after all. :sad:


Got my EK blocks and backplates in. No real pics of the blocks yet.








One of Supremes.


And playing around w/ the coolant again.




One of the nekkid GTX680s. This is the Galaxy card. Nice black PCB. My other card, MSI Twin Frozr is a nasty brown. It definitely will be my bottom card.




Only pic I have of the block installed. :haha:


Backplate mounted on one of the cards.


Finally was able to afford the new board. Asus Z9PE-D8 WS.








Cleaned up my older Supreme HF. I guess Ice Dragon Cooling nanofluid leaves a residue on the blocks. Was able to polish it clean though.




Upon further comparision. This made me rather angry. Having to spend another $50 after shipping to get matching screws. :facepalm:


Mmmmm. Shade 19, where have you been my entire life?




Crimped the new 24-pin. DSLR battery had died so I used my iPhone to take the pic. :blush:


Shade 19 + Grand Bleu.






Cut off all the tabs off the sides of the 5.25" bays. They looked awful. I plan get some panels cut to cover up the sides of the bays.


Using my trusty nibbler to make it more cable management friendly. Also tapped a few new holes for cable management clips. Still have a bit to do here as you can see.


Did a few cuts in order to get the radiator to fit.


Yes! xD


Barely fits. Already putting a lot of pressure on the connector.


Test fitting one of the cards.


That is all for now.
Edited by lowfat - 7/31/12 at 6:34am

Did a bit more work on it so far today.

Brought out the trusty Plasti-Dip to do my slot covers. I love this stuff so much. Shame it is so expensive in Canada.


The two videocards w/ blocks installed.


Back side of the CPU almost looks like a tiny city.


The pumps. Swiftech MCP35X w/ EK top and Koolance bottoms.


My headphone card. Creative Titanium HD. I want to buy another soundcard for analog 5.1 but last one I tried had compatibly issues w/ the Titanium HD.


My main SSD, ioXtreme. Probably should have cleaned it off first. Didn't realize it was so dirty.




Test fitting the front radiator. Drilled the drain line. Unfortunately it is exactly where the front case feet are positioned. Going to have to move them up a bit. Hopefully it won't look goofy afterwards.






I wasn't planning on installing the pump like this, but it worked out fantastically. Using the square to make sure it is straight before marking the holes to drill. Ended up using my videocard SLI fitting, going to have to buy another one ASAP now. Didn't realize the second pic was out of focus before taking.




Some cable management holes drilled.


That is all for now.

I was thinking about this the other night. But I don't think I have the skills to pull it off and still look good. I'd rather not do something than do it half a$$'d .

Nibbled the rest of the edges off the motherboard tray so fit cables back there more easily.




Tapped some holes for the pump wire cable management.


Then cut and crimped them down to length.




Made an extension for one of the pump pwm/rpm cables. I wasn't able to find actual 4-pin female connectors but this works well enough.


Crimped and sleeved one of the 8-pin EPS cables.




Weekend is over so won't likely get much done for a few days.