Guess what?

[clocker]

K then.
Full waterloop installed.
Same shot, one with flash and one without...)

I must admit that I'm conflicted. Although technically it's fine (ignoring for the moment the question of watercooling the HDDs), the install lacks the elegance I was trying to achieve. The tubing seems to drape all over the place and looks randomly routed.
I am also apprehensive about the utility of the tiny reservoir...it seems little more than a glorified t-line. I actually built another full size tube rez (much like the old one) and refined the construction details, but it ended up not fitting.
Imagine that, a case as large as the Stacker and I ran out of room!

Furthermore, this loop used almost the entire 10' of Tygon I had on hand (that stuff is wonderful tubing but brutally expensive), which is nearly double the length of the old system. Of course, this install has a taller rad and the HDD blocks, but even so, it seems excessive.
I could eliminate nearly 4' of tube by flipping the rad over and placing the barbs at the bottom (which I considered), but I was concerned about trapping air in the upper plenum and having difficulty bleeding it out. I may reconsider this decision...at the very least, try it out and see.
There is also no easy way to drain this loop, a feature I really wanted to incorporate.

My next day off is Sunday and I'm going to move on to the front bezel, an area that has it's own set of construction details to conquer.
I know what I want to achieve, I'm just not sure how to do it and I can't really afford to waste materials experimenting. Plexi doesn't bother me so much- it's cheap and available locally, but the mesh I'll be using was ordered in and cost $50 for two 19"x19" sheets. I've already used 1/4 of that doing the roofpanel and have plans for all of the rest, so screwing up is not an option.

Meanwhile I'll ponder how to alter the waterloop.

This is getting frustrating...I could just accept it the way it stands, fill her up with coolant and call it good. Sprocket would be up and running tonight if I did but I'm sure I'd end up regretting my haste and redoing it later anyway (like I've never done that before...).

*sigh*

[sArA]

Do it properly...you know you want to.

[tesco]

Is it just me, or does it look like the video card is flexing under the weight of the water block in the pic without the flash?

[clocker]

It's just you.

There is a stiffening brace that come stock with the XFX card but I had to remove it when the full coverage DangerDen waterblock was first installed.
I meant to dig it up and reinstall it...guess I'll do that before this is all finalized.
I'm pretty sure the card is not flexing but better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Edit:
You are definitely right, sArA...in fact, shortly after this morning's post I ripped most of the loop out and started afresh.
The rad is now flipped and fits better than ever (no real surprise there...it's been remounted three times already so I had a plethora of mounting holes to choose from), but of course a whole new set of little issues arise from the change. The fans will all have to be reinstalled to bring the wires over to the correct side (no real biggie, just tedious) and the inlet is about 3/4" too low to line up properly with the pump.
Not sure yet how this will be solved- the easy fix is a 90degree fitting, which I've so far managed to avoid but may end up being the lesser of many evils.
It also appears that adding a second radiator (A chrome BIX from a very early waterloop) might actually make things easier. Or neater, at any rate. I have it mounted but ran out of time before work (where I am now) to fully conceptualize how the routing might work. I'll fool around with it tonight.

[tesco]

Well, it looks like it's flexing a LOT...guess it must just be the angle/light/shadows playing tricks on me.

[clocker]

It has to be, Ross.
The flash shot was taken 2 seconds after the other and the card appears straight in that one.

[lynx]

I used a straight edge on the flash photo, the edge of the graphics card is a fair way from straight. I tried the same on the non-flash photo, and as far as I can tell that's the same (as I would have expected). I would have suggested lens distortion, but everything else (such as the edge of the PSU) seems right.

My opinion though is that the curvature is upwards in the area left of the support provided by the pci-e slot. If so, it is probably simply natural warping of the pcb and nothing to worry about.

[clocker]

Jeebus, I thought I was the anal compulsive one but it never occured to me to put a straight edge to the bloody pic.

I'll definitely put the edge support back on.

BTW Ross...it's not the weight of the block that warps the card, it's the mounting. The block weighs less than the copper Zalman GPU cooler I used at first.
There is a real balancing act to installing a waterblock....tight enough to resist tube torque and remain seated squarely on the chip(s), yet loose enough not to flex the PCB. It's not too bad on motherboards cause they are thicker- vid cards can be a bear.

[clocker]

Today's pr0n shots...
The new layout with the second (almost certainly unnecessary) rad in place and slightly rerouted tubing.


And the obligatory incomprehensible night shot with LEDs...

You'll note that the vid card stiffener is now in place and the motherboard fan has been moved a bit to better cover the PWM area.
Although the tubing has not been substantially redone, for some reason I like it better. Believe me, I tried every combination I could think of, but the bend radius is a very limiting factor and this ended up being the most acceptable solution.
Now to fit the pump and reservoir...

[suprafreak6]

lookin great man