[Shadow_Foxx]

Special thanks to N1ko for the banner!

I chose the name Polaris, because it is the name of the north star, a tiny but very prominent element of the night sky. A star that stands out among the others. On top of that, the theme of this build will be lack with white accents. Anyway, enough talk:

This is what my case looks like except with a mesh front rad mount

Components:
AsRock Z77E ITX Motherboard
Intel 3570k CPU
Fractal Design Array R2 Case Caselabs S3
Corsair Vengeance LP White Low voltage Ram Gskill Trident 2400 C10
Silverstone 450w SFF PSU CM Silent Pro Hybrid 1050 watt
XFX Reference 2GB 6950
Samsung 830 128GB SSD
250 GB Hitachi notebook drive
Go to first post with new case!

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Spoiler: Picture of Old case

Hello OCN,

I am embarking on a new mod project, in a much smaller form factor. My previous mod, Red Alert, was my first foray into building and watercooling. All those parts have been sold to fund this build that will be easier to carry back and forth to college. Now that I actually know whats going on (sort of

) I am going to try to do even better this time around. I got my hands on a decent (although still point and shoot) camera, so I will be attempting to take better pics. If you loved the quality of pics of that were taken with my droid incredible in my last log, I apologize

I will also be moving to the intel camp, which is another new direction for me. The case will be a NAS case, a fractal design array R2, which is not really available anymore now available at Newegg for around $200, but a microcenter sort of near me had 2 in stock for $170. Some of you may know that Hannes, Laine, and even Bill Owen have already had a crack at modding this case, but I assure you my design will be alot different. I will do my best to give my thoughts on products, as well as share any knowledge that I gain. Its more fun to read a log if you learn something

Pitchuhs:









Initial Testing





She boots!

Be sure to comment and subscribe, the more the merrier

How she looks beside me at the moment:

 

[Scorpion49]

Nice! Subbed for sure, I'm embarking on a similar project with a slightly different case. This will be interesting to watch.

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpion49

Nice! Subbed for sure, I'm embarking on a similar project with a slightly different case. This will be interesting to watch.

Ah yes, I saw you over in the SFF thread, ITX builds are everywhere lately! And thanks for the sub

 

[cheewah0]

Subbed as well - would love to nick a few ideas from you ^_^ (converting a dead shuttle xpc to be watercooled too)

 

[shadowhero18]

sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub'd

that enough sub spamming? too bad its not subway

 

[nuusk1s]

Subbed. Althought I fancy bigger cases more, this seems interesting

 

[AlderonnX]

Subbed as well. I love how the ITX boards have gotten so good lately

 

[csm725]

Subbed...

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheewah0

Subbed as well - would love to nick a few ideas from you ^_^ (converting a dead shuttle xpc to be watercooled too)

Nick away mate, thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowhero18

sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub sub'd
that enough sub spamming? too bad its not subway

I worked at Subway for 3 years of my high school career, can barely go there anymore

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuusk1s

Subbed. Althought I fancy bigger cases more, this seems interesting

Yea, there are some sacrifices to be made, but Im hoping the gains will make it worth it for what I need!
Quote:

Originally Posted by AlderonnX

Subbed as well. I love how the ITX boards have gotten so good lately

I know, even the Z68 ITX boards had a ton of problems. This seems like the first gen where they are actually close to being as fully featured as they larger brethren, and I love it

Quote:

Originally Posted by csm725

Subbed...

Thanks mate

Thanks for the subs, some parts have been ordered and should be arriving within the week, this bad boy is starting to come together

Also, its good to have some modders here that I have seen around already, some with stellar projects already. Lovin the OCN community

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

First off, this thread is now the proud owner of a sick banner, thanks to the likes of N1ko, who graciously created it for me, thanks N1ko! It bears the logos of the manufacturers from which I will be using more than one part for this build. On top of this, mnpctech and EK are companies I highly recommend. I cant comment on Aquacomputer yet, as I have never used them before.
.
.

.
.

• mnpctech - run by the famous Bill Owen, who has been a top tier modder for many years, and who has been an inspiration to many other modders, including me. He still currently mods, but also sells some awesome aluminum parts, including case handles, fan grills, and other modding supplies. His products can be found at many retailers now, but also at mnpctech.com. I will be picking up some materials that are of the black anondized variety for this build, and the finish is a nice black satin, which matches the finish of lian li cases, which is perfect for this build as lian li is the OEM of this case. Also, he is a fellow minnesotan, who has his shop in the twin cities where I work. I wish I could go there and see all his toys in action
  He is also a nice guy, and has answered some questions I had asked him through his facebook page. Plus he has a sweet youtube series modmen!
• EK - Although they have had some problems with nickel plating, the copper CPU and GPU blocks I have have been great to me. They look good, especially with the backplate, and have performed very well. I would highly recommend them. Their white delrin parts will hopefully serve me well for this build
• Aquacomputer - as many of you may have seen is a german company who makes some awesome and unique products. I have always viewed them as high quality, as many famous modders use their electronics and parts in many world class builds. I have decided to try them out with this build, and im sure I wont be disappointed.

and no, I am not sponsored in any way by these companies

Second off, I received the first shipment of parts. I am at work now, and will not have access to a camera for a while, so I will post stock shots.

First off, the res is an aquacomputer aquatube, in white delrin. I nicked the last one from frozencpu, and they seem to out of stock everywhere else but aquatuning.us:


It looks great in person and will fit the white them nicely!

Second item is a white EK pump top for my D5. This is also in white delrin and more or less matches the color of the aquatube.:


Other items I received include the silverstone 450 watt small form factor PSU, which is pretty much the only option for this build. It is in many SFF builds, and is bronze certified, and qualified to run my 6950. I also got a tripod for my cam, which should give me the ability to take even better pics.



Like I say, I will update this log with pics when I have a chance. Thanks for following!

 

[Rae2108]

Subbed! Excited to see this one come together.

 

[Bill Owen]

Hey Adam, Thanks for the good word

This looks to be shaping up as killer project. I love modding the Array. Such a great lil case

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rae2108

Subbed! Excited to see this one come together.

Thanks, so am I

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Owen

Hey Adam, Thanks for the good word

This looks to be shaping up as killer project. I love modding the Array. Such a great lil case

Hey thanks for stopping in Bill, nice to see people like you still active in the community!

But...whos adam

 

[AlderonnX]

The finish on this case looks great. Are you planning to leave it fairly stock outside? Its going to be fun to see how you cram the Rads and WC parts all in there.

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlderonnX

The finish on this case looks great. Are you planning to leave it fairly stock outside? Its going to be fun to see how you cram the Rads and WC parts all in there.

I am in love with the finish as well, and I plan to not paint it or anything crazy like that. Unfortunately, due to the relatively high end system that will be inside, some holes will need to be cut for airflow. I figure I paid a pretty penny to get a case that looked this nice, might as well keep it that way.

As for stuffing everything in there, it will definitely be tight, but I am hoping it will not be the mess of cables and everything that many other itx builds I have seen are. It is going to be a ton of work, but the results will be worth it I hope

 

[DMT94]

Challenge accepted ! haha subbed looking good

 

[Shadow_Foxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMT94

Challenge accepted ! haha subbed looking good

Yea, thats what Im thinking, good thing it will be a labor of love

. I will also have to labor pretty hard otherwise to afford all the stuff I will need for this case. I am still a college student so I need to save some money, cant use it all for this.

I will have to spread out spending over a few months in order to not go broke. It kills me having everything saved in a shopping cart but not being able to order

Also, thanks for the compliment mate, this log should get a lot more interesting shortly!

 

[DMT94]

Haha I'm in the same boat (Apprentice - low wage)

saving up and spreading the cash out alongside having all of the wish lists in the favorites on internet explorer kills lol, I'm looking forward to it because i'm thinking of an ITX build for a family member so it should inspire me

 

[Foregasm]

MOAR PLEASE