"Fire & Ice" - Case Labs M8 WC'd - 12/28 - It's Alive!!

Greetings OCN! Long time lurker here, and this will be my first posted build log. Be warned, I can get a bit "wordy" at times. heh! Thank you to anyone coming by to look. Thoughts / comments are welcomed. I have a pretty clear idea that I'm building towards, but only a fool turns away free advice. Let the adventure begin!

** For update history please see the ToC in post 2. **

About me and some other fluff! Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Current Pics - build still in progress







The Plan:
I'll be using a Case Labs M8 case combined with my sig rig and a full custom water loop. The single loop will use a new Tri-Spiral res from FrozenQ and 2 360 rads to cool the cpu and Xfire 5870s. In a couple months when they are released, I will be upgrading the PC gear to AMD's new Bulldozer line CPU and board.

The theme is Fire & Ice. The PC side will be the fire side and the PSU side will be the Ice side. The pedestal will be done in a green theme to accent lower power usage parts inside it.

I do have a few mods planned for the case as well. A window cut into the front cover, and two windows in either side of the pedestal. There will also be mods to allow top mounted rads and wire/tubing pass thru's. I'm contemplating drilling grill holes in the acrylic panel on the PSU side to allow venting for the 2nd PSU.

Most of the current holes in the center divider won't be used. I will be partially sealing them with modders mesh - including a mesh patch for the gap between the mobo tray and center divider.

I will be building a mesh "wire cage" in the front center behind the switch panel to help carry the mesh theme throughout. I will also be building mesh covers for the optic drive and both PSU's.

Paracord sleeving and custom wire lengths will be used on both PSU's, fans, etc/

*** Built in NAS ***
I will also be using the pedestal for the M8 and will build a home NAS inside. I am planning to undervolt the gear, and will be adding 6TB - 8TB storage on WD Green drives. The mobo will be mounted to the bottom of the pedestal which will be dropped down a bit for clearance. Acrylic walls will join the mobo tray and the bottom of the pedestal.

Each section will also be painted and lit per it's theme. I also have my cousin working on some artwork to be etched into each window.

The Gear
Case Labs M8 + pedestal Link - I can't say enough good things about the case itself and the customer service. Great group to deal with!
Motherboard - ASUS Crosshair V
8GB Ram
x2 Sapphire 2gb 5870s in Xfire
Corsair AX1200
ASUS Blu-Ray / DVD player/burner
Rheosmart 6 Fan Controller
LED lighting - windows and internal case sections lit seperately

The Loop
x2 XSPC RX360 rads
x1 EK Supreme HF - Main CPU block
x1 EK Supreme LT - NAS CPU block
x2 EK 5870 GPU blocks and backplates
x15 GT AP-15's - painted
Frozen Q reservoir Link- Tri-Spiral blue/purple/white
x2 Swiftech MCP 35x pumps
compression fittings - including a few pass thru's
x2 Koolance V3LN QDC's
Primochill tubing - white and red
Silver coil


The Pedestal NAS
Mobo / CPU TBD
Silverstone Strider Plus 550w
x4 WD Green 2 TB HDDs
CPU will be watercooled and part of the main loop - HDD's will be aircooled
Edited by Bear907 - 12/28/11 at 12:34pm

Table of Contents

~ Current sig rig daily driver - 3/19/11 - Soon to be my wife's new PC

~ Update 1 - 03/19/11 - Case arrival and unboxing

~ Update 1.1 - 03/27/11 - The Man-Knook w/ wall mounted monitors, and new GPUs and fan controller

~ Update 2 - 04/16/11 - New toys arrive

~ Update 2.1 - 04/16/11 - First sketches of art to be etched into window panels

~ Update 3 - 04/17/11 - Fans are painted

~ Update 4 - 05/08/11 - Surgery begins

~ Update 5 - 06/08/11 - Case prep continues

~ Update 6 - 06/12/11 - Pedestal and accessories get some color at last

~ Update 7 - 06/26/11 - Case painting is finally finished

~ Update 8 - 06/28/11 - Pumps and water blocks

~ Update 9 - 07/07/11 - The Pedestal NAS is done - almost

~ Update 10 - 07/10/11 - GPUs under water

~ Update 11 - 07/13/11 - Fan assembly

~ Update 12 - 07/31/11 - Wiring begins

~ Update 13 - 08-07-11 - Wiring, & Radiators, & Vinyl ... OH MY!!

~ Update 14 - 08-14-11 - Stealth DVD Drive

~ Update 15 - 08-17-11 - 2 halves become one

~ Update 16 - 08/20/11 - Electronics installed

~ Update 17 - 08/29/11 - Let the sleeving commence!!

~ Update 18 - 09/01/2011 - Window etching mock up

~ Update 19 - 09/02/2011 - NAS wiring continues

~ Update 20 - 09/11/2011 - Wiring completed . . . almost

~ Update 21 - 09/19/2011 - Pump installed & tubing install begins

~ Update 22 - 09/29/2011 - Plumbing completed
Edited by Bear907 - 9/29/11 at 8:20pm

Current Rig

My sig rig is a bit dusty right now. It's currently living inside a Gigabyte 3DAurora Chassis. This case is heavy as sin, but it has seen 3 different builds for my daily PC. Full tower, tons of space for airflow and working inside. It's just a PITA when I have to move it and for the few LANS I've gone to with it.

This gear will be going in the new case along with a GPU upgrade until the new AMD line launches this summer. Depending on price and benches, I will probably upgrade then. At which point, my wife will inherit this one.

Hiding under the desk


DUSTY! Amazing how the flash highlights the dust. Doesn't look that bad in the dim light under my desk. /shrug


Nothing fancy. Everything is stock - wires are a bit of a mess, but pulled and tied to the back for airflow. It's been a good solid daily rig for gaming and web surfing.

Edited by Bear907 - 3/19/11 at 3:59pm

Thank guys!

Case arrived today. Working on uploading the initial shots as well as pics of my current daily driver. Stay tuned

First update - Case arrives

M8 Review

As a few other's have noted with these cases, the packaging is amazing! Seems silly to say, but makes it no less true. I've bought a lot of gear and numerous cases over the years, but this was the best. Foam inserts, all surfaces plastic wrapped, bagged and sealed . . . well done Case Labs, well done!

Once you get beyond the initial Wow factor, you realize that for it's size it is in fact quite light. After poking around a bit, I figured out how to "break into" it. The front panel simply pops off. No complicated latches or tabs to deal with. The two side panel hinges just life up and the door is off. It made doing mock ups so much easier as putting the panels on and off a few times is super quick.

The finish is great and very clean. I didn't find any defects anywhere. The only issue I found on mine was a couple places had chipped slightly where screws were put in after the finish was applied right at the screw hole . . . no big deal at all. Whomever built the case was very careful as I found no tool marks or scratches. The acrylic panels where also in perfect condition. Quality control was great.

There was also a good bag of misc screws, mounting brackets, extra rubber grommits for the pass thru holes, zip ties, and few other misc items.

The only potential issue I foresee is with the extended top I purchased. It will allow me to have the top rads in push/pull config. The issue is the top fans will not be flush against the top mesh of the case. This is presumably to allow space to mount rads on top of the frame. My concern is that I'll have to find a way to attach filters to the top mesh without being able to screw them in . . . or I'm going to be collecting a lot of dust inside the top around the fans (which will have filters on them. Not a huge issue, but will be added maintanence.

Overall, I am very excited to use this case in this build. I have a few challenges to overcome, but I believe that is due to my design ideas and not the case's fault at all. Kudos to Jim and the rest at Case Labs for making a superior product. Well designed and beautifully crafted. Huzzah!

*** Please forgive the photos. I'm using an older camera, and am very unskilled in photography. I spent the morning playing with different settings on the camera. Bear with me, I'll do the best I can!

UPS left this on my front porch behind my garbage cans so I didn't see it until this morning. It spent the night getting frozen in the Alaska winter . . . what's left of it.


Popped the top


Packaging was great


Extended top removed - the blue plastic wrap covers every inch of the outside finish


Goodie bag of misc pieces


PSU side


Mobo side with mobo tray pulled out


Front


Wings spread wide


Mobo side


Mobo tray removed - loving this feature!


Contents of goodie bag - and a flying squirrel??

Thanks for the sub. I'm very excited about the case.


Updated the OP - I was able to finish planning the "bonus" mod I had planned for this build. I will be using the pedestal for the M8 and building a home NAS with a "Green" theme. I will be underclocking and shooting for low power consumption 24/7 network storage for backups, digital media storage, etc. It to will get the paint, led, window case mod attention.

Ambitious?? Yes!

Also this week I am working on fixing up my office space. I'm currently pushed into a closet . . . literally due to space issues and my wife working from home. I'm turning it into a "Mini - Man Cave" Pics this week.

Thanks for stopping by!