[kennymester]

For my new rig I decided to go all out and mod a server case. I choose a Chenming 901a for my case. I plan to put in a 790fx board with a 9600 phenom quad and for the graphics, my current 2900xt. I'm going to water cool both my graphics card and my cpu. I have the 480gtx as my rad, laing d5 for my pump, and I'm going to make my own waterfall reservoir for the case as well. Hope you enjoy!

Here's one of the early mock ups I did with the 901b case.

Update: Due to failing hardware I'm updating this build with an Intel processor, X38 motherboard, and a new waterfall res. See my re-do thread.

 

[kennymester]

Here are some pics of my water cooling gear:

 

[kennymester]

I just got my case tonight! Wow is it huge, so much space! Lots to think about.

What a monster.

What I'm going to do with the front panel is take out the plastic grill and replace it with some nice mesh.

I'm still stuck on what the window should look like for the side panel. If you have a suggestion I'm all ears.

Test fitted an old mobo and my pump to see where to put it.

Back side, I have to figure out how I'm going to hang my rad off of it.

Need to drill some cable management holes here.

Front shot. I;m thinking about getting some uv green fans for the front and of course a four bay res will be put in.

I really like the hard drive bays they gave me. They slide out all the way so putting in hdd's will be really easy.

Perfect size holes for 3/4od tubing.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[xtascox]

I'm in the same boat with the window. I'm actually considering one huge one on the non mobo side. I like how your power supply mount is. Mine came with a weird sideways one but I'll have to deal haha. I do have a nice sized sheet of aluminum from my dead monitor that I may make a psu mount like yours though. I dunno yet.

 

[kennymester]

I wouldn't use the metal from the monitor. Go to the harware store and pickup some fresh sheet metal. Make a psu stencil and cut it out.

 

[ice_owl]

Lookin good, lovin that rad! Build on man.

 

[kennymester]

Since it's close to Christmas I've been booted out of the basement. I may spend a day in the garage, but its so damn cold out. This may not happen until after Christmas. I may however still cutout the window and paint a little. I'll update whenever I do something.

 

[kennymester]

Even though I can't build right now I managed to get some cool stuff at work. I got some industrial 1/4in mesh and some galvanized metal strips to make my rad mount. I still have to get some people xmas presents so thats where my money is all going right now. I'll post up some pics tomorrow.

 

[kennymester]

Alright so I'm stuck right now on my rad configuration. I'm going to hang it off the back, but which way should it face? If I mount it with the barbs at the top all the air will bleed out, but then I have to make longer tubes. If I mount it with the barbs on the bottom it will have shorter tubes, but it will be harder to bleed the air. Which way should I mount it?

Here's a pic so you can see how it would fit:

 

[ice_owl]

How would the rad attach to the case? do you have a special bracket or something? If I knew that I might be able to help.

 

[kennymester]

I'm going to make my own bracket out of some anodized steel. My main question is whether to mount it up or down.

 

[ice_owl]

If you mounted it down and had the bottom mounts pivot then you could lay down the rad to bleed it and put it back up and secure the top mounts.

 

[SpeedySurfer]

This looks like one to watch. Subscribed.

Also i agree with ^^

 

[CyberDruid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennymester I'm going to make my own bracket out of some anodized steel. My main question is whether to mount it up or down.

You will want to mount it ports up to facilitate bleeding.

I know you have a waterfall in the front of the top compartment but that is such a large compartment can you possibly mount the rad internally with venting?

 

[OmegaNemesis28]

Holy smokes Batman! That's a TALL case!

 

[kennymester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberDruid You will want to mount it ports up to facilitate bleeding. I know you have a waterfall in the front of the top compartment but that is such a large compartment can you possibly mount the rad internally with venting?

The rad is longer than the case so it doesn't really fit. I think I'm going to mount it with the barbs up because then I don't have to worry about trapped air at all.

 

[xtascox]

just wait till you start painting, its a good time :swearing:
It took one whole day to prime all the removable stuff minus the fan clips. Then again I did many coats and it was cold in the garage so I had to keep warming the can and the stuff being painted. I'm dreading painting the inside of the case itself but the final outcome is whats keeping me going!

 

[kennymester]

Just because this case is so massive I don't know if I'm going to paint the inside. I think I might just go with satin black on the outside. I'm also going to paint those fan clips too.

 

[xtascox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennymester Just because this case is so massive I don't know if I'm going to paint the inside. I think I might just go with satin black on the outside. I'm also going to paint those fan clips too.

One big helper for me was I found a tutorial on the forums on painting and it said to put the can in a container of hot tap water for a few minutes before painting. That made a huge difference in how well the paint went on. I wish I did it with the primer. Definitely make sure you do this. Just get the water as hot as you can from the faucet and let the can float around for roughly 5 minutes.

 

[kennymester]

Wow I just spent 300 on modding supplies! I got lights, switches, fan controllers, a wc block for my gpu, uv sata cables, uv fans, and much much more!

I'll be cutting out the side panel tomorrow so look forward to some pic updates!