[Build Log] Accent

Hello people of OC.net!!

I finally got the time and money (yay summer internship) to do a watercooling build. I've always enjoyed watching the builds here at OC.net and now I get do do my own. On the the build itself!

The Theme
I always like all the small highlights people put in their builds (sleeved cables, backlit blocks, neat tubing runs, etc., but it always irks me when they just drown it out with light, light everywhere. So for this build I wanted to try to 'Accent' the interesting parts of the build with selective lighting schema (more on that later) and in the end, have a badass look, without blasting it.

The Parts

Main
Case: NZXT Switch 810D
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K Ivy Bridge
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2x4G
Video Card: EVGA Reference GTX 680
SSD: SanDisk Extreme 120GB
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W (I'm looking for a 850W PSU to go on sale, maybe the NZXT Hale82. Any thoughts or suggestions?)

Water Cooling
Top Radiator: Alphacool NeXXos UT60 420
Bottom Radiator: Alphacool NeXXos UT60 280
CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm
GPU Block: XSPC Razor 680
GPU Backplate: EVGA 680 Backplate
Pump: Swiftech MCP355 / Laing DDC 3.x
Reservoir: XSPC DDC Reservior top
Tubing: Duralene - Clear - 7/16 ID
Fittings: Assorted Bitspower Matte Black Compression fittings
140mm fans: Akasa Apache Black

Update 10/7/12

My case came in today!


I was a little scared it might be damaged because the box was beat up, but everything was fine


Holy crap! This thing is freaking huge! It makes my HAF 922 look like a midget.


Being me, the first thing I did is take the entire thing apart.




So I don't lose everything.



Planned case mods so far:
I need to cut out a portion of the 5.25 cage in order to let the bottom fan on my top rad breathe


I want to have the top mesh strips on the top panel backlit in red.


The top part of the top panel screws off with 15 or so small screws.



Then the mesh can be removed by lifting the tabs with a flathead screwdriver



My initial thought was to put EL wire in that space under the mesh but then I did research into how long they lasted and trashed that idea. Next I thought of led strips, which would've worked, except all the factory ones are either wider than the space I have or the individual leds are very far apart. So my current idea it to create my own led strip. I will drill holes in the bottom part of the top panel and insert standard leds at about 1 inch spacing. The resistors and wiring will be hidden on the underside of the top panel. I'll add a molex quick disconnect to allow the top panel to be removed after everything is wired.

I want a similar effect around the front panel dust filter


For this I will use flat leds instead of standard ones and glue them to the recessed plastic frame holding the filter mesh.


Again, another molex quick disconnect to allow easy dust cleaning.

Update 10/8/12

So this evening I cut the hole in the plate that goes across the 5.25 cage. I ran into a couple bumps along the way, but I think it turned out very well. Onward!!!

My new toy.



So first I took off the top of the case so I could get better access to that plate. It's not too difficult, just unscrewing 20 some-odd screws. Well that is, until I found out I had to remove the front IO because one of those screws was behind it.... *le sigh*


Fortunately, that was only two more screws and then I carefully pulled all the wires through.



Top off!!


I removed the one side of the top optical bay for easier access.


Marked out where I wanted to cut


Practice


So I finished one side and was about halfway through the other side when I realized that the cutting disc was awfully small...



Good thing it comes in a pack of 20 for $4. Heavy duty my ass....


And it's cut!


I filed all the rough edges and corners, then blew off all the metal dust with shop air. Finally I wiped everything down with a rag and Hexane.


When I was putting it back together I realized there is a mesh strip at the bottom of each side of the case. Maybe more lights? It might look weird down there though and I don't think there is any room for leds since that's where the dust filters run. Thoughts?


Anyways, also while putting it back together I managed to misalign one corner of the case. And of course, I only realized it when the screw threads were stripped and the head wasn't flush..... Needless to say, I dremeled the head of the screw off and left it. For any others planning to take the roof off, in the corners there are little tabs that the screw goes through. The roof tab goes BEHIND the wall tab.

Anyways, despite that frustration, I got the case all back together and everything looks good.




I'm rather happy with how the hole turned out. The lines are rather straight and after the filing they're smooth. I left the strip at the front for extra stability; that plate helps to stiffen the case. I may decide to cut that part out later, but for now I think it's fine.

Huge Update


By Thursday I recieved enough of my parts that I could start building, and that's exactly what I did.

As I said before my radiators came all the way from Germany in 3 days (and only $6 shipping)







The best part of it all: They threw in a package of Phobya gummy bears.


Now, I know they advertise full copper, but I didn't realize that this meant the plugs and the screws as well. Lol


On Thursday I got a box from AllElectronics and a box from Performance-PC.





Cleaning the parts with distilled water. I cleaned the rads as well, I just didn't get a picture of them.


Mounting the push fans. (The rad is upside down in the pic)


When I went to mount the rad/pull fans to the roof, I realized the roof holes are 20mm spacing, but the rads have 15 mm spacing. *le sigh* Oh well, making good use of the dremel.


As a note for anyone else watercooling the Switch, the easiest way (and the only way for people with 60mm thick rads) to install the rads is to unscrew the top of the case, pop it off, screw the fans/rad to it, then drop the whole thing back on top of the case. Props to TinyTom for the idea.

Success!



Well, not quite. When I dremeled out that big hole earlier, I had forgotten about the fittings, so I had to extend the hole.




On the top of the case, NZXT gives you an awesome hole to route your top fan cables through, but fails to put a hole through the plastic cover that goes over it... Nothing some quick dremeling couldn't fix though.





Now for the bottom rad. Holy crap this one was a pain in the ass. First, the bottom mount for the front 140mm fan didn't allow the rad to slide back far enough. Ok, easy fix with a dremel. But then the side runners got in the way. More dremeling. Then the rivet at the bottom got in the way. Grrrrr. More dremeling. Finally, it fit.



The actual mounting was also a bit of a pain. I ended up using a bit of scotch tape to hold the fans in place, then held the rad up with one hand, while guiding the screw in with the other. The screws that came with the Alphacool rads had pretty small heads and the case holes were kinda big, so I used a thin nylon washer from the hardware store to make sure they wouldn't pop through the case holes.



Whew! Both rads on and ready to move forward.


Well, maybe a break and some cleanup first. 10 fan boxes can make quite a mess.


Pump/res all assembled


Raystorm mounted on the motherboard.


Motherboard mounted in the case.


This is where I panicked a little when I noticed just how close the top fan was to the CPU 4+4 power plug. But after I sanded down some of the plug, everything fit.



Tube fitting


This is where I realized my huge derp with fittings. I bought all straight fittings with some 45 and 90 adapters due to it being cheaper and the fact that it gave me more options to interchange. But what I didn't realize was that the threads were single threads, meaning, when you screwed them in, they ended up one orientation every time. And 9 times of out 10 it was the complete opposite direction I wanted. So I've ordered some swivel fittings and that should make tube routing a tad easier.

I had just finished tubing and was about to start filling, but I couldn't get the fill cap out. The compression fitting was sticking out too much. I actually had to take the fitting out to get the fill cap out. Later I ground down the outer edge of the fill cap so it could fit.



Filling and leak test!


Yes I realize the pump and tubing the pump is gross. It's only temporary. My pump mount should be here Monday.

Device to help remove air bubbles


And that's it for now. The pump mount along with some fan splitters will be here Monday and the fittings should be here Wednesday. I probably won't do anything until then just so I don't have to keep purging, trimming tubing, and refilling.

Feel free to leave comments!

--RichieSams

I'm waiting on lighting until I get the main WC stuff done. So hopefully in about a week. As for sleeving, all the cabling should be hidden since only the LED's will be poking through holes.


The rest will be glued to the bottom of the top cover, though I may sleeve the quick disconnects. Good point though on testing before everything is assembled.

Where would you use the tubes?

My pump mount came in yesteday and it looks great except it's defintely not the red color in the pictures. It's more of a maroon color. (I'll post pictures later) I'm kind of annoyed at that, but nothing I can do about it now. Anyways, I'm planning on painting it myself. It's powder coated so I'll be cleaning, sanding, cleaning, priming, painting. Any suggestions on paint/primer brands/types? I've heard good things about Rustoleum.