[Build Log] Sean's BlackIce Build

This is a little after the fact, since I just finished up the build - kind of like watching a movie where they show you the conclusion first, and then walk you through the protagonist's journey after... Hangover style .

Case: 1/2" copper tubing frame which was hand polished and clear coated to prevent oxidation, I CAD designed the acrylic and had it laser cut. Assembled with WAY too many black ox metric bolts, compression springs, silicon sealant, solder, weld-on #16, chewing gum...
Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth
CPU: i5-3570k
Power: Corsair AX850
CPU Waterblock: XSPC Raystorm
Memory: Corsair Dominator CMP16GX3M4X1866C9
Memory Waterblock: XSPC Dominator
Video card: Powercolor LCS 6970
Pump: Dual Laing DDC 355 with XSPC Acrylic dual pump cover and blue leds
Radiators: 360 x2
Drives: MKNSSDCR120GB ATA Device (x2 in raid 0)
Hitachi HTS541010A9E680 ATA Device (for storage)
KINGSTON SVP200S3120G ATA Device (for Linux)
Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH08LS20 ATA Device
Fittings: Koolance (many, many fittings)
Tubing: Feser Tube UV Hose - 3/8" ID - 1/2" OD - BLACK / UV Blue
Coolant: Feser One - CLEAR /UV Blue
Reservoir: FrozenQ Fusion Reservoir Rev.6 UV Blue
Lighting: lots of custom leds and cold cathodes... more soldering that I care to discus.
Temperature monitor: Bitspower coolant temperature sensor soldered to a XSPC mini temperature display

Props to Dazmode, XSPC, Umake Montreal for laser cutting, and of course, ASUS for making the sabertooth board – with out which, this build would not be possible.

ps... somethings I would do differently, like a pair of EVGA GeForce GTX 690 Hydro Copper Signature cards, and larger ssd drives... but, I live on a disability income and don't have 'sponsors' ... so, not going to happen.


On with the show!









http://www.overclock.net/g/a/796383/seans-blackice-build/
Edited by Epimetheus - 10/25/12 at 12:24pm

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW, OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN PHILOSOPHY (or, "the importance of not just slapping shiny crap together")

The goal of the BlackIce build was to showcase a well designed water cooled system. I did not like that I had put significant effort into designing and building water-cooled systems in the past, only to hide it away in a traditional case. Windowed cases were nice, and I've built my fair share in the past - but still, it seemed far to 'constrained' and hidden. Instead, I wanted to build something that put the water cooling front and center. I also wanted to minimized the space that a traditional case took up. Cases are far too bulky in my opinion... and too 'appliance' like – no matter how much time and effort I spent dressing them up.

My first version resulted in using an Ikea IVAR cabinet with glass paneled doors as the housing, with the radiators situated on the outside. It looked 'ok', but had issues. The cabling was complicated and showed far too much of the 'ugly bits'; and, heat accumulation was abysmal. Even with cabinet fans, it was a convection oven! This build was a short lived build from the onset as I quickly realized that I had to ditch the cabinet.

The present concept started off by looking at benching tables. I've built tables in past, but they looked, well... like borg vomit – and they took up too much real-estate on my desk. So, I played with the idea of mounting a bench table on the wall. This is where things started to take shape. I built my second version with the motherboard mounted on a copper framed acrylic wall plate with shelves below for drives and power supply. It successfully removed most of the heat issues, but still looked like crap with the exposed drives, cables and power supply – dress them up all I wanted... those elements still looked too busy.

For the current version, I decided to throw away all pre-conceived ideas of what a computer should look like. Until now, I was still placing the components in a traditional configuration – power supply above or below the motherboard, drives to the right, cooling above or to the back... these ideas had to go. Also, I have a tendency of taking all the cool ideas I see on other builds and mash them together within a traditional design scheme. The result was a jumbled mess of shiny things. Yes, the wires were all sleeved nicely – but it was still a rats nest... just a well dressed rats nest. Yes, it had all the bells an whistles, but there was no overall design involved – too many colors and lights and crap... it was just too 'busy' and cramped. I wasn't looking at the computer as a whole – only as a collection of what looked good individually.

To start fresh, I borrowed my fundamental design philosophy from a line in Civilization V that resonated with me. Specifically, "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". - Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I also decided early on to stick to a LIMITED color scheme – one primary color, and two accent colors max (something I learned by reading a design text book borrowed from a friend). Black and UV blue made the most sense to me, with some copper and stainless steel accents for mounting screws.

To cut down on clutter, I first sat down and made a list of ALL the parts I wanted to include, and then strike off everything that I could off that list (second optical drive, fan controller, card reader). I then separated the short-list into two – the things that I wanted to showcase, and the things I wanted to hide – which proved to be an evolving list. Things like ssd drives and sleeved cables started off in the 'show' side, but ended up in the hide – reservoir started off in the hide, but made it's way to the show. I also had to ensure that the things that needed to be accessed could be - like the optical drive face. Finally, I had to stop trying to look for parts online like drive housings that weren't intended for what I had in mind – and start designing them myself.

Once I had my list of 'parts to show', I made a scale model of those parts out of cardboard, and shuffled them around until I had a configuration that worked. The one problem I ran into was that with the two 360mm radiators; in order to make it look good as a whole, I had to place them on opposing sides – effectively framing the computer... unfortunately, this required running lengths of tubing from the far left to the far right, which didn't work for me – the tubing 'drooped' and looked too messy. At first, I decided to hide the tubing behind the back-plate, but later came up with the idea of creating an acrylic 'channel' to feed the coolant from one end to the other... While the most interesting aspect of the build, it also proved to be the most challenging – making the water channel aesthetically pleasing AND functional (water proofing laminated acrylic plates under pressure was more than I bargained for– to be covered in the 'structure' chapter).

Once I had the placement down and was happy with how it looked, I considered how to ensure that the board was properly cooled. This was a problem for me in the past – especially with an open, water cooled computer, the board would not benefit from traditional air movement inside a case to cool the mosfets. My options at the time were either water blocks or fans placed in front of the board.... both had problems I didn't like – water blocks limited my board selection, and fans got in the way of the aesthetics. Two things changed this frustration – the sabertooth board which creates a means of cooling the board by directing airflow on the board itself – and placing a 120mm fan BEHIND the board rather than in front (to be covered in the 'cooling' chapter).

With that done, I worked on how to place the uv lights in front, with out obstructing the view, and not looking like they were just 'slapped on'. I also wanted to make sure that the lighting was balanced in terms of both placement and intensity (more on that on the lighting chapter).

Once I had the 'to be seen' stuff sorted out, I worked on the placement of the 'behind the scene' stuff, like the power supply and wiring. I'll cover this in more detail in the 'structure' chapter.
Edited by Epimetheus - 10/26/12 at 12:34pm

Anthony and T S D... many thanks

TSD - I'm livin' in O-Town myself... feel free to msg me if you want to come over for a tour (Glebe area, near the university). I'd be more than happy to walk you through it and maybe help develop some ideas for your next build. Also, this build took me about 5 months to build - largely due to cost, but also because of much trial-and-error.
Edited by Epimetheus - 10/26/12 at 12:48pm