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NavyChief

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Posts posted by NavyChief

  1. After examining the interior of the case more thoroughly, I decided that the stock memory heatsink covers were too dull compared to all the shiny chrome around them.

     

    Here is a shot of all 8 Corsair Dominator Platinum memory sticks with the light bar upgrades in their stock finish.

     

    uNh2aEE.jpg

     

    That dull silver textured finish just couldn't do. After hours of sanding and prepping, it was time for chroming. Here is a shot of the stock and shined versions.

     

    frLp9f1.jpg

     

    Another shot contrasting the differences.

     

    eN9Zbq3.jpg

     

    All 8 finished pieces lined up and ready for installation.

     

    f8g1jO8.jpg

     

    The first one is reassembled with the blue light bar insert.

     

    HKBXWwA.jpg

     

    All complete and ready.

     

    5JNYBw5.jpg

     

    Nd48xvs.jpg
  2. Received some Gosumodz Alliance Combs from MAINframe Customs. The items were shipped promptly and delivered on-time.

     

    These are some truly beautiful cable combs made out of a special aluminum alloy! I ordered the 24-pin, 12-pin, 8-pin and 4-pin versions in the natural color. I removed the clear plastic cable combs and these new combs will really complement the build more.

     

    They also have anodized versions in red and black. The sizes available are 4-pin, 6-pin, 8-pin, 12-pin, 14-pin, 16-pin and 24-pin.

     

    2GJT63u.jpg
  3. I now have the interior components mostly reassembled and mounted.

     

    As you can see, the reservoirs really stand out now with the white interior.

     

    I also mounted a BAWLS bottle into the interior. The hardest part was drilling a clean 1" diameter hole in the bottom of the bottle without breaking it. I found a nice 1" diamond tipped hole saw at Home Depot and cut cleanly through without too much problem. Now the chrome pipe runs through the bottle. That area was kind of empty previously. Also, it would not have been too noticeable with the original black background.

     

    The leak testing finished with not a single drop showing on any fitting.

     

    Now to work on the wiring.

     

    NnZNB08.jpg
  4. I was able to re-assemble the case with pretty much no effort at all. Here you can see all the panels have been installed and the motherboard mounted on the tray again.

     

    QXXTbls.jpg

     

    Definitely like the contrast that the white provides.

     

    Have replaced all the black mounting screws with chrome screws. You can see some of the screws on the bottom shelf on the left side and above the motherboard. Black screws would have broken up the white too much and the chrome actually complements the chrome tubing.

     

    One of the hardest things to reinstall was the rubber grommets on the backplate and shelves. Those things fit extremely snugly! It took some effort to get them back inside and lined up smoothly again.
  5. After listening to the Modders Inc video after QuakeCon, I am in agreement that my case interior did not match my theme of BAWLS. The exterior was good with the Candy Cobalt Blue and BAWLS logo, but the interior was lacking and too stock (i.e. flat black).

     

    I decided to disassemble the case and paint all the interior panels (except the back panel) a Pearl White color. The pearl color is a softer white and the sheen will emphasize the chrome nicely.

     

    After about 5 hours of draining both loops and disassembling all the components, the case is finally apart.

     

    VnG9e5Y.jpg
  6. I kept the exterior panels in the original box for protection.

     

    Zholueo.jpg

     

    The Candy Cobalt Blue came out beautifully.

     

    bh6jBrv.jpg

     

    The finish is as smooth as silk and the reflection is like a mirror.

     

    IVlboTd.jpg

     

    The top 120mm Riing fans are still perfectly visible through the panels.

     

    ind4hv4.jpg

     

    This is a shot of the BAWLS logo on the side panel.

     

    dLjrHIp.jpg

     

    Here is the back panel with the logo.

     

    CSH6uBx.jpg
  7. Here are the two pump covers mounted in the system.

     

    CEXBMJU.jpg

     

    The chromed tubing all lined up and ready. These are a fingerprint magnet and you can see some of mine on them.

     

    cG9HMsV.jpg

     

    Here is a before and after of the tubing. Left is bare copper and right is chromed copper.

     

    xlqyQzu.jpg

     

    First up is to install the small sections between the two video cards.

     

    DwxsXwW.jpg

     

    rFmAYof.jpg
  8. The chrome plating process went fairly smoothly and I decided to chrome the two D5 pump covers, the two front grills and all the copper tubing.

     

    Here you can see the two chromed pump covers.

     

    BslWioE.jpg

     

    This shot shows a little more of the chrome.

     

    UyXWnNK.jpg

     

    There are two grills on the front of this beast, a 4x120mm and a 1x120mm. You can also see the recently mounted switch plate cover with the chrome vandal switches.

     

    JIkc7vj.jpg

     

    Close-up of grills.

     

    dDnKi2h.jpg

     

    Another shot.

     

    2bChmnC.jpg

     

    The switch plate is painted Candy Cobalt Blue. This is the color that all of the exterior panels are painted.
  9. Like to give a big 'THANKS' to Thermaltake for sending me some of their new Riing fans for this build!

     

    This box left Taiwan Friday morning and arrived this morning at 8:30am.

     

    XMHO9V0.jpg

     

    Fourteen 120mm blue LED fans and six 140mm blue LED fans.

     

    F9uQ9um.jpg

     

    xvXYa9v.jpg

     

    These fans are absolutely amazing!! They run almost silent and the blue ring is spectacular!

     

    In this shot are two 120mm Riing fans (left is default, middle is with the low-noise cable) and on the right is a Cougar 120mm blue LED fan.

     

    o6i1qGe.jpg

     

    The Riing fan lighting is subtle yet highly effective. The cougar fan are too obvious with where the LED lights are while the Riing fans have a more even distribution of lighting.
  10. I originally was going to use an EVGA SLI bridge as shown below...

     

    2CR6vfy.jpg

     

    This was nice in that the silver and black matched the interior case theme.

     

    That all changed when I saw the new EVGA SLI V2 bridge..

     

    dTNjLRN.jpg

     

    This new bridge is even more sexy than the original. Now to see what can be done with it.
  11. Alright, I will post just a few photos of the upper tubing.

     

    This is the upper radiator area with two 480 radiators. Plenty of room to work with and everything is fully functional.

     

    KW4EwuM.jpg

     

    Towards the front of the case is where the two reservoirs are located. In this shot you can see the two fill ports and the tubing feeding into each reservoir.

     

    4B7ifbO.jpg
  12. With each build I try to do something new. The first build used vinyl tubing and the second utilized acrylic tubing. For this build I thought I would try the next step ... copper tubing.

     

    Did a lot of research and it does not sound too difficult.

     

    The 1/2" copper tubing sold in the U.S. does not bend easily, so I went with copper coils that are readily sold in most home improvement stores.

     

    FD4znC2.jpg

     

    The tubing comes in 3/8" ID and 1/2" OD. This is the exact size requirement for the Primochill Revolver fittings. I decided to start with the 10' roll since I know that there will be mistakes due to the learning curve of working with copper. The copper material is pliable and has a nice clean look straight out of the box.

     

    ZEKhx5J.jpg

     

    Since the tubing is coiled, I had to find a way to straighten it to my needs. I found a tool that is made in the UK by a company called Kwix UK. Their tube straightening tool is easy to use and does the job perfectly!

     

    hzwKVNM.jpg

     

    I ordered the 1/2" OD tool. It uses 4 sets of rollers (16 in all) that straighten and align the tubing as it is passed over the length.

     

    kUKyHMr.jpg

     

    In this shot you can see some of the tubing that has been straightened. The tools shown are the Kwix UK tool and a Rigid 36132 1/2" OD tube bender.

     

    c0NC61n.jpg

     

    This is a shot of the first section fitted in place. This is probably the longest section and the most obvious.

     

    dQXzC9e.jpg

     

    Qsc1Ebw.jpg
  13. With most of the components in place, now to figure out a routing scheme.

     

    Here is my first draft....

     

    MaPs4OM.jpg

     

    The blue loop is for the video cards and the yellow loop is for the CPU.

     

    The upper two 460mm radiators are for the video loop and the lower 560mm radiator is for the CPU.
  14. Now to complete that motherboard...

     

    All 32GB of the Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 2666Mhz (8x4GB) memory, with the light bar upgrade kits, have been mounted onto the motherboard.

     

    dxvCEp8.jpg

     

    Overall shot of the entire motherboard tray with everything mounted.

     

    3oLLJ0N.jpg

     

    Here is the back of the tray with all those connections!

     

    sJGBmZR.jpg

     

    Close-up of what connectors are offered on the R5E backplate.

     

    ExjVq8r.jpg
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