TJ Maxx

[clocker]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
So begins the build log of Sprocket's new home.

The case finally arrived.
In the most ginormous box I've ever seen for a PC case.
Which is odd as the case itself is actually slightly smaller than the Stacker, but it was actually a good thing- UPS had done it's best to destroy the contents- the excessive airspace around the TJ saved it from damage though.

Did I mention it is heavy?
It is.

Despite the late hour (it showed up near 10PM) I had to rip it open and see what I had gotten- I'd never beheld one in person.

I was not disappointed...I think it's beautiful.
The main structure of the case is the thick u-shaped panel that forms the roof, front and floor- all in one continuous piece. It has a matte black finish that is satiny to the touch.
The interior panels are all bare aluminum.
Everything is screwed together, there are only four rivets in the entire unit (I'll get to those later), which makes this a case modder's dream.

Prior to purchasing the case I had PMed owners on various fora to inquire about the possibility of converting the layout to pseudo BTX. This is my preferred arrangement and studying the pictures at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811163060) lead me to think it was easily possible.
No one responded so it was with some bit of trepidation that I examined the TJ to see how difficult it was going to be.

To my amazement it looked like Silverstone had already done most of the work for me.
The removable motherboard tray/backplane slides into runners- one on the subfloor (held by four rivets...the only rivets in the case) and the upper screwed into the thick roof panel. There were corresponding (unused) holes already in place on the opposite side.
I immediately started to pull things apart to test my theory.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/tj1.jpg

Naturally, it wasn't as simple as it first appeared.
Flipping the tray assembly and trying to place it the case (sans runners) uncovered the first issue...the case roof fans fouled the support bracket in the corner of the tray/backplane assembly.
In fact, the roof fans were going to get in the way of the PCI slots (now located at the top rather than the bottom of the motherboard).
So out they came (this presents another issue that I'll detail later) and the motherboard tray was temporarily screwed in. All the (eight) mounting holes lined up perfectly on the back and the unit was acceptably rigid despite the lack of the locating runners.
But I kind of wanted to use the runners if possible.
At least the bottom one (which was originally the top one as delivered).
So I mocked it into place and test assembled again.
All it needed was to be spaced up off the subfloor by 3/16" to fit perfectly.
This was actually a blessing as I had planned on skinning the subfloor with plexi anyway, so I cut and fitted a piece and drilled two holes to mount the floorskin and runner. These two holes are the only modification to the case necessary so far...the whole process could be reversed and the case returned to stock with minimal visual evidence.

*Rereading this section I can see how it would be confusing to someone who doesn't have the case in front of them...it's difficult to explain some of the issues/procedures without extensive photo support.
Which I'm not providing, so tough.
This is not a "how-to" manual with step-by-step instructions- I simply don't have the time (nor the inclination) to write such a thing up- rather, I'll just be showing the end results and highlighting the major issues.
I've already spent more time writing this post than it took to accomplish the described tasks...*

So now we are here...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mini-tj2.jpg
The motherboard flipped and totally installed into the case.

Phase One- the only part I had major concerns about- finished.

There will be four major phases to this assembly.
I think.
I have a pretty good general idea of where I want to end up but it's difficult to plan ahead without the physical components at hand and anyway I've always preferred to let serendipity lead me as it will.
Sometimes the best ideas are the result of sheer chance or the accidental juxtaposition of apparently unrelated objects.

Phase Two takes us into the case's nether regions, home of the PSU (which should arrive today), the radiator and the pump.

Three deals with the 5 1/4" bay area and Four is paint/cosmetics.

Welcome to the journey.

[clocker]

Note: I had attempted to post the original entry yesterday but was foiled by the weirdness besetting the forum...thanks to the mods for cleaning that away BTW.
This second post brings us up to speed...
Today I started to layout some of the major components that will go into the build.
Especially when watercooling pre-planning is critical, and it's important to remember that there will be tubes running all over the place so what appears as empty space might not be so empty later on.

I don't really have many options where the PSU and radiator will go so the real design option is the reservoir...and even that is somewhat constrained.
First I need to mock in a big space eater on the motherboard- the Fragtek mosfet/RAM cooling bracket. (http://www.fragtek.com/sxram_expert.html) .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/teaser1.jpg
This is being customized further by swapping out the supplied 40mm fans for a triad of dual-blade, counter-rotating AVC's.
Overkill is the name of the game here.

Now I can play with the reservoir (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-res-86.html) location...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/TJ5.jpg
...without worrying about hitting the Fragtek setup.
The rez is going to be slightly modified but that will happen later.

Also visible in this pic are the Hiper 580w modular PSU (http://www.frozencpu.com/psu-163.html) and the Cooling Works triple radiator. (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-rad-75.html)
Not shown is the waterpump- a MCP350 (18w) with a modified Alphacool top- mainly because it's in use in my current rig and won't be needed for a while yet.

On my next days off- Sunday and Monday- I plan on mounting the radiator and beginning the modifications to the PSU wiring.
I also have a set of these Lian-li custom black casters (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4407) that will be mounted at some point, whenever the case is stripped out and it's convenient to drill and tap the holes.

More to come...

[fkdup74]

You just couldn't wait, could you? :dry: :P

That's cool, anxious to see this project in the works.
Pics, pics, and more pics, if you don't mind.

My plans on the TJ got held back.
Been socking money away for an upcoming move.
Commuting back and forth to work is getting old. :no:

[suprafreak6]

looks like this one is going to be nice...

[Darth Sushi]

Wow, those pics look better than pr0n!

[Seedler]

Wow, those pics look better than pr0n!

:lol: Agreed.

Waiting for more clocker.

[ApacNTS]

i manage to build one and youve done 3. thing is, it just gets better everytime u have another project! cant wait for more.

[clocker]

Thanks guys.

It's going to seem like nothing is happening for a few days now as there is a lot of test fitting/measuring that has has to take place before the next fabrication steps can occur.
Like most of my recent cases I plan on painting the interior panels satin black but want to get all of the drilling/cutting done first.
This build is also going to feature the most extensive use of plexi skinning panels yet.
You can't see it cause of the protective cover, but that floor panel is mirrored plexi and the effect is very cool. There will be three more plexi skins- a mix of black and mirror to highlight/disguise different areas.
There should be minimal exposed wiring when I'm done.

It's weird how one component can be the keystone on which everything else hangs...in this case it's the reservoir. Once that part is in position the rest will fall into place. You may be wondering what the big deal is...it will become apparent soon what is going on.
I hope.

[mr. nails]

what's the advantage of BTX? or maybe something just new? also, can u fit an ATX mb in one? obviously u did, but was it an ATX board? (understood u've modded, but it's basically BTX now, no?)

[clocker]

This is actually "pseudo-BTX" - as you note, my motherboard is a standard ATX flipped over.

I think there are several advantages to this layout:

a). If you were aircooled, the vid card would be flipped "hot side" up.

b). In this particular case, the cable run for the 24 pin connector is shortened and the SATA ports are raised closer to the level of the drives they connect.

c). It will make the tubing run for the waterloop a bit shorter and more logical.

d). It's weird and requires fabrication which, quite frankly, is the main reason I enjoy building PCs. If I were to just pull the case out of the box and assemble it as delivered I'd be done in a hour...hardly much bang for the buck. I toss together standard PCs at work, when I get home and deal with mine I want it to be special.

[clocker]

Progress has been made.
Not that you'll be able to tell...It's weird how several hours of tedius work can make such a small visual impact.
Kinda depressing actually.

Anyway, much of the drudgework is finished.
All of the drilling/tapping/holesawing etc. that needed to be done before paint was begun is completed and the interior panels are done as well.
The necessary "pass through holes"- motherboard wiring, reservoir outlet and CPU inlet tube- were laid out and cut.

The reservoir needed a bit of customization.
Originally, both the inlet and outlet barbs were perpendicular to the rez body itself.
This is fine for the return from the GPU but not so good for the outlet to the pump.
That outlet barb needed to go straight down, through the floor and right into the pump top.
I also needed to drill two mounting holes to fasten the rez to the subfloor- I wanted the unit to appear free standing.
Some drilling and tapping produces this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/rezmod.jpg
The intake (with the internal seperator tube) is original while the old outlet now sports a fashionable plug and the new outlet is the barb on the bottom.

A word about the paint...
The TJ's exterior finish is a velvety matte black- very striking but easy to overdo.
I wanted a finish that would compliment the matte but add a bit of pizazz so I went with Hammertone "hammered" black.
This finish has a bit more sheen and also some texture, not to mention it's far more durable than my other favorite color, straight satin black.

Here is the painted case assembled with the mirrored subfloor panel and rez installed...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/TJ08.jpg
While the case was stripped I also installed the black Lian-li caster set and replaced the power switch with a Bulgin ring lit switch (the LED will indicate HDD activity).
Neither of those show up well in this pic but they will be featured when I get to the relevant areas of the case.
Now that the rez has been mounted I can locate the pump mount and also install the radiator and PSU.
The new DD NV-78 GPU block arrived today so the loop is all on hand.

Also in the mail was my much anticipated Nixie clock (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1043652).
I'm kinda wondering if I can incorporate into this build somehow...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Nixie1.jpg

[lynx]

While the case was stripped I also installed the black Lian-li caster set and replaced the power switch with a Bulgin ring lit switch (the LED will indicate HDD activity).
Neither of those show up well in this picOr indeed at all. Perhaps you could get worldpease to call round with his camera, he seems to have a grasp for these things. :)

[suprafreak6]

hows the progress clocker

(Also i was wondering when do i get my 5th star)

[Virtualbody1234]

(Also i was wondering when do i get my 5th star)

Check at the bottom of this page:
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showgroups.php?

[clocker]

hows the progress clocker
The rad has been drilled and tapped to accept 6-32 screws for the fan mounting.
Why the manufacturers don't do this for you is a mystery...I absolutely hate "self-tapping" screws (which they fail to provide anyway) and the procedure is tedious and fraught with peril- one slip and your matrix is toast.

Fortunately, I didn't screw up.

Now I can begin to mount the parts in the lower compartment.

[suprafreak6]

man sounds like its moving along...how do you find time to do this stuff...
i barely have time to come on this site...but i stick it in everytime i possibly can...
also another friggin 1k of posts until my 5th star...that stinks..hopefully ill be upgraded to mod or something...dought it...im not cool enough

[clocker]

...how do you find time to do this stuff...

At night I think about the next steps and the sequence necessary to complete them.
I usually get up around 3:30/4 AM and work for a few hours before leaving for the shop.
On my way I stop and get any needed hardware or plexi or whatever so I'm ready for the next morning.
Big stuff (like painting) has to wait for my weekend.

The lower compartment has had it's mirrored floorpanel cut and installed so the PSU and rad can be test fitted.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/casters.jpg
**pic specifically composed to include the black LL casters thus satisfying Lynx's unnatural craving to see them ahead of time. Sorry but the Bulgin switch will remain a mystery for now...
As more components are added it gets increasingly difficult to avoid conflicts/interference and sure enough, I've run into two issues.
The first, and easiest to deal with, concerns the rad.
*gratuitous shot of rad with Sythe S-Flex fans installed*
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/sytherad.jpg
I had hoped to center it between the casefloor and the subfloor, unfortunately this almost completely obscures the passthrough hole in the subfloor where the motherboard wiring will go.
So far I've resisted the urge to drill holes in the original case structure...the entire case could be restored to stock condition (even the paint could be removed, I suppose) without visible evidence of my alterations.
This means working within the holes that Silverstone provides in the subfloor and that inconveniently leads to this conflict.
I've decided to mount the rad directly on the floor which leaves about 1" clearance for the cabling and (hopefully) will have minimal impact on airflow.

The second issue is similar but I'm responsible for the screw up.
When I transferred the location of the passthrough hole that the rad>CPU tube needs I made two errors...the first was not accounting for the width of my t-square base.
This rookie mistake offset the tube 3/8" from the actual center of the CPU socket...a visual boo-boo and probably only noticable to me.
I could live with this but it gets worse.

When I originally mocked the PSU into place to check clearances, I did not have the modular cables screwed in.
The Hiper's "stereo plug" type connectors are quite long and not flexible so the effective length of the PSU is considerably longer than just the casing itself, a fact I did not take into account at the time.

Well, I have to deal with it now because the tube will not clear the thicket of PSU connectors.
Either this tube run will have to be routed differently or possibly I can make a custom bulkhead fitting to solve the issue.
I'm pondering options now.

[suprafreak6]

sounding good..but then how can you fix a screw up on a case...say you cut in the wrong place...nothing you can do right?

[Gripper]

Also in the mail was my much anticipated Nixie clock (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1043652).
I'm kinda wondering if I can incorporate into this build somehow...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Nixie1.jpg[/QUOTE]

P'raps you could use this to measure the clock speed of the CPU

(I'll fetch mr coat)

[clocker]

Why is everyone wearing coats in the summer?

[Virtualbody1234]

Why is everyone wearing coats in the summer?
:unsure: Must be chilly.

[suprafreak6]

they must live in the polar regions

[clocker]

Hard drive mounts and cooling:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/HDD3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/HDD2-1.jpg

Since the stock Silverstone HDD racks had to be removed to accomodate the rad and pump I needed a way to mount the drives in upper bay area.
I've found these finned 3.5 to 5.25" adaptors to be very effective isolating/mounting the Raptors so I'm using them in this build.

In the past I've cooled the drives by mounting fans in front of them in the bezel but I have other plans for the front this time, so different arrangements needed to be made. Fortunately, I just happened to have a pair of adaptors from some Aerocool 140mm fans and they were perfect for this application. Intended to mount the 140mm fans to a standard 120mm hole, the adaptors work perfectly to affix a 120mm fan to the drive mounts- no modifications necessary. My casual and decidedly unscientific testing with a laser thermometer tells me that the hottest areas on a hard drive are the spindle/motor area and the controller PCB (definitely not the sides of the casing as commonly held) and this bottom mounted fan addresses both areas.

Serendipity is a wonderful thing.

[Chewie]

Serendipity is a wonderful thing.
Laser themometers are, too.

[suprafreak6]

how the crap is that going to be quiet? and if you have water cooling on there why not just got a heatsink for your harddrives and water cool them? because wont that be defeating the purpose of water cooling by using fans?

[Seedler]

looks orgasmic.

[Virtualbody1234]

how the crap is that going to be quiet? and if you have water cooling on there why not just got a heatsink for your harddrives and water cool them? because wont that be defeating the purpose of water cooling by using fans?
It'll be quiet. The fans will spin very slowly.

[clocker]

how the crap is that going to be quiet? and if you have water cooling on there why not just got a heatsink for your harddrives and water cool them? because wont that be defeating the purpose of water cooling by using fans?
Where on the HDD would you apply the waterblocks?

All of the fans (especially those dual 40mm screamers) will be controlled by a rheobus.
Although silence is not the primary objective, I expect this PC will be fairly quiet.

[j2k4]

how the crap is that going to be quiet? and if you have water cooling on there why not just got a heatsink for your harddrives and water cool them? because wont that be defeating the purpose of water cooling by using fans?
Where on the HDD would you apply the waterblocks?

All of the fans (especially those dual 40mm screamers) will be controlled by a rheobus.
Although silence is not the primary objective, I expect this PC will be fairly quiet.

I can't hear it at all.

Nice-looking project, sir; and a vicarious thrill to watch.

I must make do with MAXIMUMPC. :)

[clocker]

Hey j2, how's it hangin?

Sprocket has just been outfitted with 32-bit Vista.
Comin at ya from it right now.

Painless (albeit slow) install.
Was fully functional from the git-go save for audio drivers.

Just beginning to bumble around and get my feet wet.

[Virtualbody1234]

Both the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista versions work fine for me. No driver needed but I did get the "better" Nvidia video drivers.

[j2k4]

That's good, 'cuz you guys are gonna provide my lead when I make my next-gen purchase.

How do you like Vista so far?

Are you gonna go with XP or Vista to start on TJ Maxx?

[clocker]

I'm going to triple boot The TJ.
Vista, both 32 and 64 bit, plus regular XP Pro 64 bit.

Just preparing to install the 64 bit Vista now.....

[j2k4]

I'm going to triple boot The TJ.
Vista, both 32 and 64 bit, plus regular XP Pro 64 bit.

Just preparing to install the 64 bit Vista now.....

Ah.

'Bated breath, and all that. :)

[suprafreak6]

so clock...whats new? show me your progress...

[lynx]

so clock...whats new? show me your progress...
Please ?

[clocker]

Triple boot accomplished.
Total- and I mean total- pain in the ass.

Vista does not use the old-style boot.ini- after doing a "boot from CD" type install it did not realize that there was an old "legacy" OS present so I could not access my XP Pro.
Nor did it recognize the other Vista (64 bit) OS.

So here's the trick...
You must install Vista from within your XP Windows environment.
While running your standard Windows, insert the Vista DVD and begin the install.
It takes a while...Vista seems to copy the full DVD to disk and then run the install from there, which is probably why the "free disc space" requirements are so high (20GB!).
If you want to run both versions, lather, rinse, repeat.

Ultimately you end up with an option screen at bootup similar (but actually cruder looking) to what we're used to.
Which you can't edit, of course.
The days of opening the boot.ini, renaming and reording the options is over.
Until I found VistaBootPRO (http://www.pro-networks.org/vistabootpro/), that is.
This little sweetie is what you be wantin.

After the long install time, Vista is quite a pleasant surprise.
I was on the desktop and connected to the internet without having to load a single driver.
Sound being the exception- the Creative 32bit Vista drivers seem to work but the 64 bit ones DO NOT.
Like VB, I upgraded to the newer nVidia video drivers.
Everything is just a bit different and I'm still just wandering around bumping into walls, but overall I like it so far.
I have no idea how MS figures this but here is my Vista Rating...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mini-Rating1.jpg
Note that this rating was taken in the 64bit Vista.
What's odd is that I had just finished the installs and like normal, when installing I dial back the CPU to stock settings (i.e. 2.2GHz).
Just now, in the 32bit Vista, I retook the rating test with the CPU clocked up to 2.75GHz and the CPU score was only 4.0...an oddity I'll look into later.

Although I've spent most of this weekend working with software I did manage to get some work done on the case as well. Pics of that later.

[suprafreak6]

You know why the score is so low? because it doesnt like that your computer is better than the computer it was made on :lol:
haha looking nice...got any pics of the case with everything? or is it in one of the other pages...

[clocker]

...got any pics of the case with everything? or is it in one of the other pages...
No, it's right here.

First up is visual evidence of what I spent most of my weekend doing...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/bootscreen.jpg
Getting my current Sprocket set up to triple boot.
I'm operating out of XP 64 bit now (mainly because I have everything installed that I need to manipulate photos- although it's hard to tell given the crappy pics I take...:shutup: ) and I already miss the visual gloss of Vista.
I guess I'm just a sucker for the eye candy.

The major project on the TJ was to get the radiator installed.
I could think of several ways to do it but I'm trying not to make any permanent changes to the case itself and that is becoming increasingly constraining.
After wandering around my favorite hardware store I finally came up with a plan.
The main attachment is going to be Velcro- two patches applied to the bottom edge of the rad and affixed to the mirrored floorskin.
Then, as a safety measure, two springs, sandwiched between shouldered rubber washers which apply tension from the middle case floor.
Like so...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/radspring.jpg
Surprisingly (and gratifyingly) sturdy, the rad is in position seems quite stable.
No holes were drilled and no animals harmed during the install- what more could you ask for?

Next I got sidetracked a bit.
Every time I look at the Fragtek fan bracket I think "It sure would be nice if that extended to the floor and to left as well...cover up some wiring it would"

Apparently I was channeling Yoda for a while.

So I remade the bracket to do just that.
It was tits...just what I wanted.
Except it was black.
Now black is elegant and all, but too much gets boring and I was losing the cool reflections from the mirrored floor.
So I made another one, this time out of a medium smoked grey piece I had laying around.
While I was at it I decided to replace the two 60mm fans over the DIMM slots with a single 120mm.
Oh yeah baby, now we're talkin.

I also decided it was a good time to make the beauty panel for the front bay area...cover up all those messy holes and slots.
I have a Lian-li v-series sidepanel that I've been planning on using as external filler panels (primarily the front bezel where all the bay covers are) and it is large enough to make this piece as well.
The color and graining of the LL anodised finish is a nice compiment to the Silverstone exterior and I was even able to incorporate the nice scalloped edge on the two visible sides.
Which brings us to here...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/skins1.jpg
The panel screws into some motherboard standoffs that in turn are screwed through stock bay holes and retained with nuts. Remove four screws and the panel lifts away for access to the opticals and HDD mounting screws.
Another (this time with flash) shot...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mirror.jpg
Now I can begin the wiring.

[suprafreak6]

its looking nice...one question..why are your computers so organized but your rooms arent...whats up with that my friend? anyways its looking like progress has occured and its great that velcro solved your problem...i like how many fans are in this computer but what will the noise level be??

[clocker]

its looking nice...one question..why are your computers so organized but your rooms arent...whats up with that my friend?
Sprocket's home is also the spare/guest bedroom which, over the years has also evolved into the dumping ground for stuff that I can't seem to get rid of yet.
I'm contemplating a total renovation of this space soon.
The rest of my place is much neater, trust me.

[suprafreak6]

i trust you alright, dont worry about that...well...have fun with sprocket..tell me how much she overclocks

[clocker]

The only real difference to Sprocket's core hardware will be the new Expert motherboard which is reputed to be a better OCing board...we'll see.
Once she's settled in and running I'm contemplating a dual core chip to play with.

[clocker]

Whew.
What a hectic weekend.

I've been teetering on the verge of stripping Sprocket down for the final buildup...trying to get as much done as possible beforehand but the fateful moment finally arrived and she was put to sleep, hopefully to awaken in her cozy new home.
About half of the wiring had already been done, the remainder needed the components in place to get the correct lengths.
All of the waterloop was in place (rez, pump and rad) but hose routing was only theoretical till the blocks could be mounted.
The front bay/bezel mesh was ready for the DVD-RW and the twin Raptors.

So down she went...long live the Queen.

The only new electronic component in this tranformation is the DFI Expert motherboard which I purchased used from the classifieds.
Although I've had it for nearly a month I had no way to test it so that became my highest priority.
With my CPU, RAM and vid card finally freed from the running PC, I was able to POST successfully...a major hurdle overcome.
Also new to this build are the chipset waterblock (Swiftech) and the vid card block (DD NV-78) so I set about mounting them to the motherboard.
Having a completely removable motherboard/backplane sure made this easy...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mobo1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mobo2.jpg
The loop ends up going like so:
reservoir>pump>radiator>CPU>chipset>video>reservoir.
Since I'm assuming that the sensor readings from the Expert board will differ from those on the SLI-DR, none of my old data will be directly comparable...it'll be interesting to see how this loop is reported to work.

With the motherboard prepped it was time to begin what I hope will be the final case assembly.
Here is a shot of the front of the case showing the new switchgear and mesh bay cover...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mesh1.jpg
Depending on how the Raptor cooling works there may be a phase 2 to the front panel but I'm waiting to see.
If I decide it's possible, the second step can be installed without disassembly (thank Jeebus!) so it's not a major hassle.

Now we're here...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/fullside.jpg
Although it doesn't look it, she's about 90% finished at this point.
There is one more bit of fabrication to finish before the PSU is installed and then it'll go quite quickly.
I hope to have her leak testing by Wednesday night.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

[suprafreak6]

YAY! looking good clock..lookin good

[j2k4]

Awesome, possum. :)

[lynx]

You'd get this finished much quicker if you didn't insist on doing things in a dark tunnel. :rolleyes:

[clocker]

You'd get this finished much quicker if you didn't insist on doing things in a dark tunnel. :rolleyes:
And what would be the challenge in that?
I'm practising for the Ray Charles Invitational.

[suprafreak6]

:lol:

[clocker]

She runs!
Finally.

This build was fraught with problems- never have I had so much trouble with leaks (in fact, I don't recall ever having any leaks before).

Naturally, these couldn't be the easy-to-find, easy-to-fix leaks...oh no.
There was actually but one problem area and it was a bitch to get to...the tube run from the bottom of the rez to the pump intake.
Turned out to be the new hose barbs I was using, the ones with an o-ring seal.
The difference between the barb sealing and the barb leaking is about a sixteenth of a turn and, if you're not careful, installing the tube can loosen the barb just enough to dribble.

Since this tube runs through the subfloor I couldn't tell if the tube/barb joint was at fault or the barb/rez (where the o-ring is) interface.
Took me almost two hours to fix that little glitch.

Proceeded on to loading Windows which crapped out upon restart when "the video driver failed to initialize".
WTF?
Opened up the case (being a true optimist I had installed the sidepanels) and felt the fittings on the DD waterblock...burning hot!
HUH?
No water circulating, no fans spinning on the rad.
Molex pin had pushed out when connected.
Jeebus bloody Christ on a stick, what next?

Fortunately, nothing.
All went smoothly after that.
Mostly.

Vista has eaten the ntldr for XP64 bit and I haven't been able to repair it yet...dunno what that's about, didn't happen last time.
*sigh*

Anyway, all is now good on the hardware front, just need to straighten out the software.

Initial readings seem quite excellent temp-wise.
Sprocket Primed overnight at 2750 MHz (250x11) and the CPU maxxed out at 31C (room ambient around 65-67F, so about 20C).
The Raptors are running in the mid-twenties (slightly over ambient) so that setup is working as hoped.
Oddly, I'm getting intermittant SMART readings from the iRAM...sometimes Everest shows it and sometimes not...haven't a clue what that's all about.
Motherboard and PWM are showing as a few degrees cooler than the CPU...the new cooling setup there is better than before (you haven't seen that yet...I changed it at the last moment for a more elegant (and quieter!) arrangement.

I had hoped to get away with no fan controller- just run all the 120's (seven of 'em) at 12v, but there is a low pitched thrumming that I can't track down (I suspect the HDD fans) so the controller goes in so I can eliminate that.
Otherwise, this rig is the quietest I've yet assembled.

The Hiper PSU is a sweetie...lines seem rock solid under load and it's dead silent. A nice touch is the auxiliary 80mm fan which runs for about five minutes after the machine is powered down to dissipate internal PSU heat build up.

After the fanbus (and the associated wiring changes) is in place I'll shoot some final pics.

Oh yeah, one more thing...got a new CPU on the way.
Lucked into a 4400 x2 in the Classifieds at [H] for a very reasonable price and decided I couldn't let the last of the 2x1mb cache chips pass me by, so I snapped it up.
Should be here by Saturday I hope.

Have a good Fourth ya'll.;)

[suprafreak6]

you have a good one too clock

[clocker]

Just testing the cam before going to the festivities....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/July4Desk.jpg
Damn flash not working, sure hope it's just batteries.

Still getting used to the dual monitor setup.
Works fine in Pro 64 but in Vista only the primary monitor will display the backround pic...the other is just baby blue.

Display properties are spread all over hell and gone in Vista, the all-in-one "Display" icon is gone from the Control Panel and the various functions have been distributed amonst other applets.
Seems like a giant step in the wrong direction to me.

Anyway, barbeque beckons....

[Seedler]

Awesome setup, but Vista is only in its leaked beta stage, so yah:)

[tesco]

Awesome setup, but Vista is only in its leaked beta stage, so yah:)There's also the public beta (beta 2).

Clocker which version of vista are you running?
The next version after beta 2, beta 3 (leaked), is supposed to be a LOT less buggy than beta 2, maybe you should give it a shot if you're using beta 2 still...

[clocker]

I'm running the 32 bit Beta2 direct from MS.
My understanding is that buying the disk (rather than downloading) puts me in line to receive the RC1 when it's available.

I've read that the Beta3 is faster and better than what I have but I'm slowly coming to grips with the version I've got.
I really like the GUI and the way that windows subtly transition in and out...XP looks flat and static to me even after just this little bit of time.

[tesco]

I'm running the 32 bit Beta2 direct from MS.
My understanding is that buying the disk (rather than downloading) puts me in line to receive the RC1 when it's available.

I've read that the Beta3 is faster and better than what I have but I'm slowly coming to grips with the version I've got.
I really like the GUI and the way that windows subtly transition in and out...XP looks flat and static to me even after just this little bit of time.That is true but there's way too many annoyances with beta 2.
How do you deal with the constant permission popup things that you get, or did you disable that?

[clocker]

I disabled those right away. It's easy.
The bitching about driver signing, too.

I could probably live with Vista as my primary OS right now were it not for the damn indexing, which grinds on my Raptors constantly.
I got so spoiled by the i-Ram's dead silence that regular HDDs make a real racket to my newly tuned ear.

[Duffman]

my god, clocker you have easily in the past 2 months spent more on computer components then I have in the past 5 years...

[clocker]

my god, clocker you have easily in the past 2 months spent more on computer components then I have in the past 5 years...
That says a lot about both of us, I suppose.

At work I have to resist the urge to tell customers that I just spent more on a friggin case than they want to spend on their entire PC.:shutup:

You gots to pay to play, as the saying goes.

My x2 4400 arrived, BTW.
I might swap it out tomorrow or wait a week for the rest of the new stuff to arrive and do it all at once.

[suprafreak6]

can you withstand the urge? :lol:

[clocker]

No.
It's in already.

Now I just have to figure out how to exploit it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/x2pcps.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/x2clean.jpg

[clocker]

Round two of the TJ Maxx project has been completed.
There were a few loose ends that I had left from last time and a few changes that grew out of my last week's usage, so I just bit the bullit and dove in again.

From the top (actually, the bottom)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mirror1.jpg
The mirrored Plexi bottom floor skin with the radiator in place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/back6.jpg
PSU and Sunbeam rheobus installed.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/sunbeam.jpg
A side view with a better shot of the fan conroller in position.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/fillports.jpg
The roof vent with twin fillports installed (one for filling and the second is an airbleed).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/rez3.jpg
Fillports connected to the new nikhsub1 Delrin reservoir ( a custom made all-Delrin copy of the AC rez).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/roof2.jpg
Beauty shot of the exterior upper quadrant showing the fillports and the new rez. Reservoir is mounted in a new bezel panel cut from a Lian-li v-2000 sidepanel whose color and graining is a nice match for the Silverstone TJ finish.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/back2.jpg
The entire backplane with mobo tray installed. The red switch in the fan hole mesh is a "Clear CMOS" switch...very handy when you screw up as often as I.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/side4.jpg
A side shot of the entire loop.
It's the same spec as before, only the tubing has been changed to Tygon R-3400 ( basically the black version of R-3603).

The biggest hardware change concerns the HDDs.
Gone are the twin Raptors, replaced by a 250GB WD SATA3 drive (Newegg had 'em on a one day sale for $75) enclosed in a Nexus Drive-A-Way (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=3707)
caddy.
There were two reasons for this change.
The primary cause was a quest for a quieter PC (the secondary reason was cash...someone wanted the Raptors more than I and had the money to prove it:naughty: ). Playing with Vista and it's "always on" indexing feature made me realize how noisy the Raptors really were. Small and irrational as my i-RAM might be, one has to admire the dead silence it provides. This Nexus caddy was well reviewed at SPCR so I decided to try it out.
Sumbitch...the drive is completely inaudible although it does run hotter than an open air mounting would allow. With a room ambient right around 30C the drive reports a temp of 42C...not great, but not worrisome either.
A fair tradeoff for the silence, methinks.
Here's a (crap) shot of it in place...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/caddy.jpg

Since the i-RAM was unpowered for nearly two days it lost all it's data...I'm just now back up and running.
Everything seems fine so far, now to configure the new Crystalfontz display.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/newbez.jpg

But first, some RnR...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/Serenity.jpg

Toodles.

[Chewie]

Cabaret?
I hope that's Mrs Clocker's.

[lynx]

Cabaret?
I hope that's Mrs Clocker's.I bet clocker was wondering who was going to comment on his strategically placed videos.

Meanwhile, I was trying to work out the significance of Camel, Daytona and the Crew pass.

Btw, clocker, is the bios clear switch DPDT? Just thought it might be useful to prevent accidental boot attempts by having the power signal routed through that too.

[Virtualbody1234]

...
Btw, clocker, is the bios clear switch DPDT? Just thought it might be useful to prevent accidental boot attempts by having the power signal routed through that too.
Wouldn't SPDT work?

[lynx]

...
Btw, clocker, is the bios clear switch DPDT? Just thought it might be useful to prevent accidental boot attempts by having the power signal routed through that too.
Wouldn't SPDT work?
Nope. The clear cmos jumper has a common (cmos) pin in the centre, a power pin and a ground pin, so you need double throw.

You'd only need single throw for the power signal though, but that still makes it double pole.

[Virtualbody1234]

Wouldn't SPDT work?
Nope. The clear cmos jumper has a common (cmos) pin in the centre, a power pin and a ground pin, so you need double throw.

You'd only need single throw for the power signal though, but that still makes it double pole.
You're right. I wasn't thinking about the clear CMOS as SPDT by itself. I only thought as far as connecting the two pins to clear CMOS and forgot about the default postion. :frusty:

I must be tired.

[Chewie]

Cabaret?
I hope that's Mrs Clocker's.I bet clocker was wondering who was going to comment on his strategically placed videos.

I find it a disconcerting that a man with such wonderfully cutting-edge toys should have movies on VHS rather than DVD.


Btw, clocker, is the bios clear switch DPDT? Just thought it might be useful to prevent accidental boot attempts by having the power signal routed through that too.
It's a great idea that frankly should have been thought of by manufacturers of cases in the power-tweaker market.
Isn't there a momentary pushbutton changeover switch on the market then? That would look more discreet and probably fit right in one of the existing ventilation holes.

[Duffman]

Man, someone should just rig up a switch, that has 3 wires, ran to the cmos jumpers, slap that on, and on the other end a button and a pci slot thingy you can attach and use in the back, or just the button for case modders. Seems like something people would buy...

*homer simpsons voice, while pointing at everyone* Patent Pending!

[clocker]

Meanwhile, I was trying to work out the significance of Camel, Daytona and the Crew pass.
Those are pit passes from my last year as a race bike mechanic.

Btw, clocker, is the bios clear switch DPDT? Just thought it might be useful to prevent accidental boot attempts by having the power signal routed through that too.
In fact the switch is DPDT and that's an excellent idea.
Too late to implement now, but I'll keep it tucked away for future use.

Cabaret?
I hope that's Mrs Clocker's.
Actually, no, neither of the Mrs. Clockers was a big fan.
What can I say?
I guess it's time to 86 all the tapes- haven't even seen my VHS in years.