RedChrome gets updated..

Finally Done...

I figured it has been a couple of months now and I figured it was time to rebuild my comp. Using a budget of $1200,,
Here is the before http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/221

So its compleatly gutted and getting the Water Cooling thing as well as Hidden wiring(most of it)

I am going to try to make it very quiet and at the same time VERY OC friendly. I was going to use TECs but I figured they waste a LOT of power so I am using a Hydor Seltz L35 pump, Swiftech Apogee for cpu and Swiftech MCW30 on the chipset too (NForce4 chipsets are pretty warm).I have a Coolrad 22T for a Rad (its a 1/2" thicker than the Swiftech) and using 1/2 Tygon tubing.

Since im using a X850XT with AC silencer5 to help move air in the case and I am not a major gamer I didnt need WC for the GPU.

For now I will be using my 3700+(minus the IHS) that has been running up to 2910mhz so far. Il be trying Liquid Pro instead of AS-5 as well, EDIT:Liquid Pro sucks! gone back to AS-5

Now the funny part, I am using a Jetway GT4 mobo, Jetway?? well I gave Poge my DFI and I read the Jetway OCs Very good. It better, it cost $50. Yep $50 refurbished at Newegg. It has 4 Sata2, Skt 939, and has 3 PCI 16 slots. 3? The middle one is if you use 1 VC (like me) and the outer 2 are for SLI, no jumpers no nothing just plug the cards in and go. And its red like the case...

I am going to be using 4 Hitachi Sata2 HDDs in a Raid0 array and a Gig of insane memory Geil ONE.

Did I mention im using a 400 watt PS, many will say get a 520 or 600.. But you just watch I bet it works fine..

Well Im waiting for UPS and tomorrow the rest of the stuff will show up and I get some picts showing the wiring and case mods if ur interested..

the rest of my parts will be here Fri (damn thats today) and i will start taking picts. I spent most of today cutting up the case to hide the Waterpump and trying to figure the best place for the RAD.

Here is the Before wiring. 4 HDDs is 4X the wires.

I have shortened the 2-4pin power connectors to the mobo (thet were about 2' long each)
Next I will cut the holes to hide the wires...
(where is the water pump gonna fit?)

Ok had a day off (kind of) so I thought I would mess around with wires.

I bought a couple of terminal blocks (only $2.50 ea). I like this european style because its all plastic (less chance of a short) and you dont need to put terminals on the ends of the wires.

Make sure if you pass wires through sheet metal you use rubber grommets to protect the wires from shorts.

I solder the end 3/16" of each wire (because it gives the screw something more solid to grab). This will be so cool as I am constantly changing stuff. All I have to do is loosen the screws and change the wiring.

Basically the Yellow wires are 12V, the Red wires are 5V, the Orange wires are 3.3V and the Black wires are grounds. I lucked out with this Silverstone Strider 400 PS because it comes with 4 Sata Connectors (usually you have to get 550 or 600 watt PS to get 4 connections)

The top 5 are for Sata 1,2 the next 5 are sata 3,4.

The bottom block is top 4 are CDRW, Floppy, Fans etc. And the bottom 4 are the same.

It sure cleans up the mobo.

Wait till you see whats next...
(n thanks for the kind words)

Ok now on to the HDDs.

I am putting them on top because I want to put the water pump where the HDDs usually go. I also painted the inside (and outside) Black as I think when I put on the Red Chrome panels it will look real nice.

I only use 1 CDRW so I have the space. I found this really nice fan that replaces 3 of the CD slots. (Scythe Kama Bay) It has a filter (lol, a filter. More like a piece of porus foam) and a 120mm fan that will blow across the HDDs. Notice the HDDs are backwards (so the wires are hidden)

I made a couple of brackets out of simple alum.

So far I have only used the basic hand tools, Screwdriver, file, tinsnips and a cordless drill. To make the holes for the wires I just drilled a hole and cut the rest out with the tin snips. Its not perfect but hole saws are about $20 each and I will probably only use it once or twice.

One thing, make sure you tape cardboard around where you are going to cut to protect the finish, (I messed up once before I covered it with cardboard)

Also you can see the Danger Den fill port reservoir, I will use this to fill the comp (there is a plug in the top) so i dont have to open the comp to fill and because it will be the highest point it will be easier to fill the system and the bubbles should rise there.

Tomorrow I will fix the X850 XT because it hits on the chipset cooler, and the heatsink is not too good (compared to the AC silencer5) The only prob is the silencer wont fit with the chipset cooler (it will if I go SLI) so I will have to modify a AC silencer5 if the stock cooler sucks.

One other thing I have done is to use http://www.svc.com/coolab.html instead of AS-5. Its supposed to be better but its a pain to use. Its very liquid and the surface has to be PERFECT clean with alcohol or it just runs off. (It looks like mercury). We will see if it works. EDIT: ITS A MESS!
Speaking about working I also have taken off the IHS so I hope this thing fires up....(note to self "dont hit the CPU with a hammer")

In my first post there is the link to the case. It comes in Red, Black and Blue Chrome. I got it from Tigerdirect. (its a Diablotek)

The power supply is a Silverstone Strider 400. Its very well built (heavy) and uses a 120mm Silverstone fan. Now Newegg says it has 1 12V rail but its website says 2 12V rails. I didnt care because it came with 4 Sata power connectors. (thats hard to find) Silverstone makes a really nice 500 watt PS ($97)but I wanted to keep the money down on this comp (my PS was only $44)

Update

I have been trying to use a new heat transfer paste.. DONT! use the Coollaboratory Liquid pro.

What a mess, you have to be so careful and even then it gets on everything. I dont know how but its on my desk, shirt, floor, ears dam this is hard to use. AS-5 im sorry for ever doubting you please forgive me, lol.

I am messing around with my VC today and noticed it hit my chipset cooler. There is NO WAY the AC silencer would fit unless I cut the fan and angled it away from the card. Than it hit me, "just get a swiftech MCW60B" no more problems with hitting chipset and its only $14 more than a ACsilencer.

Here is the heatsink on the X850XT. They must have been drunk when they made it. It has a burr around the whole edge so it NEVER would have seated correctly on the GPU. Look at the milling marks. My camera is not that good but it looks terrable in person. No wonder they run so much hotter than the ACsilencers.

drade said:

thats terrible that, that can happen, damn LOL look at those marks ahaha

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Thats not the worst. If you look close you can see where they milled around the part that sits on the GPU. It raised a burr (wall) all around the edge that would not sit flat. Its one of the worst jobs I have ever seen on a heatsink.

I am just lucky I took it apart and saw that.

I am not trying to talk bad about China but I miss when electronics were made in Japan.

I like getting stuff cheap (WalMart, China, ETC) but they take no pride in their work. Just "hurry up we have to ship a million more this week". I guess its up to all of us to find the mistakes and correct them.

Its kind of funny but I remember when you had to fix your stuff. We didnt just replace things we actually had to fix them ourselves. VCR's used to be $1200, and you would take it to a tech who would fix it up. But now stuff is so cheap that we just throw it away and get another.

wtf8269 said:

Man, you're getting me in the modding mood now. Keep up the good work.

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Oh happy day!!!

I thought I was gonna be real cool and remove the IHS on my 3700+. It must have been when I hit the CPU with the hammer but now it dosent work

That 3700+ was like a good friend and I killed him... Thank god Newegg has 3000+ for $113.

Moral of the story, DONT HIT THE CPU WITH A HAMMER...lol

Almost all my stuff is refurbished. My mobo was only $50. They still have a guarantee (but its 15 days). Just remember if you get a mobo sometimes it comes with everything and sometimes its just the bare mobo.

One time I bought a Soltek mobo(what a great mobo) from Newegg for $50 and it came with everything just like new. My last mobo was a DFI LP Ultra and it came with not one piece, no back plate no nothing. The mobo worked perfect (till POGE killed it). This Jetway GT4 mobo came with everything and looks pretty nice.

I only had 1 prob with Newegg and a refurbished mobo but they gave me a credit right away. Its pretty hard to beat Newegg.

zekrahminator said:

And why did we flame Bikr for using a razor to remove his IHS?

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I deserve to be nuked...