x86: Blue Water

[dknourek]

For your drive space problem, I recently picked up a small single M.2 drive PCIE adapter for about $20 and it works great and is not much bigger than the M.2 drive its self. Ill attach a pic of the one I picked up. I also got an ASUS Hyper M.2 PCIE card that supports 4 drives but not sure if you would have the room for it.

Anyway I love where you are going with this build!

Cheers,
-dave

[Grinder]

Wow its tight. 2 x M.2 drives is perfect for storage so thatsone less thing to think about
What GPU are you going to put in there? Given the thickness of that radiator, you are going to need some high CFM fans..however you might be able to get away with just the one radiator if you dontmind the fans running a bit louder?
The Rad under the PSU...I would be concerned about the PSU not getting enough cooling because fo that placement? Again it depends on the GPU, if its a 2070 or under, you will be fine as the PSU will never really go out of idle.

Your easiest fitment option, would infactbe a mATX motherboard, as then you 120mm rad will be able to find a better home as well as a bit of space between everything.
Also be aware of the length of the GPU, given that with a riser (Please make sure you get the Thermaltake ones, that are 30cm or greater. The 20cm one is junk as are all the ripoffs) the GPU will be on its side you could rotate it 90* and get alot more length that way.

Very cool build though and eager to see what plans you have in getting everything in there.

Tight is right! Yes, the m.2's should be sufficient thankfully.

Usually the cases that I build in are in the Goldilocks zone (the first one was too small, the second one was too big...). I don't like totally huge, I don't want to go ITX, so this is the smallest case that I have ever used. You have put your finger on the biggest space issue, the GPU. It will be either an MSI GTX 1080 Sea Hawk (factory EK waterblock), or a GTX 1080TI (Heatkiller full cover block). I think both are too high to plug right into the mobo slot and still clear the top of the case (the 1080 is for sure, need to check the heatkiller block for alternative water connections), plus even if they did the length would intrude on the rad/fans at the front. So yeah, the tentative plan was to do what you suggested, using a riser with the GPU rotated 90 degrees.

The thick 2x120mm rad has low FPI (~10 ish), so despite the 60mm thickness it shouldn't be too bad. I have an assortment of fans here including from XSPC 2000 rpm Xinruillian to Corsair SP120 to some Delta screamers (don't really want to crank the latter!). I am concerned about airflow in the case though. There would be room above the mobo i/o for a couple of 60mm fan (maybe 80's, would have to see once I mod the back of the case). Or perhaps I can add a couple of fans to the left side. Another possibility would be to have the front rad EXHAUST air out the front, since if the fans were on the interior side of the rad it might help with the noise. I usually like to go with positive pressure setups though.

I will take another look at the mATX option, however it would only save me 2.4 inches on the left side. That is about the width of the EX240 - if I looked at placing on the left side there still wouldn't be room for the fans (although I like the idea of trying to run the GPU front to back). As for the other rad, that wouldn't free up enough space to lay it flat, and the case is too low to fit it vertically. I don't think I'll have to worry about it under the PSU. It is a 140mm rad (not 120, if this is the one you meant) with low FPI (~12 ish), so probably only a few degrees difference from ambient temp for intake versus exhaust. Using outside air will help, plus they test these PSUs in a hotbox. I don't think I will be pushing it too much (and this is Canada after all) but I will put a temp probe in it if I can and see.



Thanks for the detailed reply, it helps to think things through!

*EDIT* Here is a better look at the FPI on those rads. The EX240 (60mm thick, 2x120mm fans) is on the left, the MCR140-QP(34mm thick, 140mm fan) is on the right.

[Grinder]

Great stuff, I love builds like this! Go Grinder go!

Thanks for the encouragement Bart. I haven't even modded anything yet! Makes me want to get started

[Grinder]

For your drive space problem, I recently picked up a small single M.2 drive PCIE adapter for about $20 and it works great and is not much bigger than the M.2 drive its self. Ill attach a pic of the one I picked up. I also got an ASUS Hyper M.2 PCIE card that supports 4 drives but not sure if you would have the room for it.

Anyway I love where you are going with this build!

Cheers,
-dave

Great tip Dave, I'll keep it in mind if I need more than the two m.2 nvme drives mounted on the motherboard. I'm glad you like the direction, thanks for the support!

[Grinder]

The more I look at this, the more I think that SystemTech is right about using mATX. The problem is that while I could probably shoehorn an ATX into the case, bending down the edge in order to slide it as far left as possible would leave me with no easy way to install standoffs/support the left edge of the mobo And if I go that route and find that mATX boards don't accommodate two m.2 drives, I may need Dave's suggestion as well. Feel free to hit me up if you have a nice mATX mobo for sale...

On a more positive note, my BNIB i7-8086k arrived today I actually saw this on kijiji in Ontario (I'm in NS) but reached out and the guy was nice enough to put it on eBay at our agreed upon price and let me know when it was about to be listed (safer this way for both of us!).

[SystemTech]

Ohh thats wesome. CPU In hand, which is key for your build

With regards tot he Radiators and FPI, wow yes they are not high FPIs at all. Thatspretty cool. For the PSU and Radiator, given that its a 140mm, agreed that that should not be a problem. I though it was a high FPI 120mm

For mATX Motherboards, here are some that all have Dual M.2 slots :
MSI Z370 MORTAR : Looks great, used on amazon for $120 : https://www.amazon.ca/Intel-Micro-Mo...0194881&sr=8-1

ASUS ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming : $290 used on amazon : https://www.amazon.ca/Strix-Z370-G-G...p?ie=UTF8&th=1
Canada computers has 2 open-box boards for $180, but no way of buying them
Maybe go into a store if you have one close by and ask?

This is what i was suggesting for the GPU arrangement (Might be tight heightwise with regards to RAM and the CPU tubing:

[Grinder]

Nice find on the mortar, my only issue with it is the red accents and LED as I am going with black/blue/white and maybe silver. I could paint the red accents, maybe then the LED wouldn't be too overpowering, or could be turned off. I like the Strix but that's too pricey! We only have a couple of local stores with very limited selection (there is a Canada Computer coming but not open yet) and BestBuy. I will post on some forums and see if I can find anything that way. Was also looking at this one but it just supports the one m.2 (although it seems like it would be a better overclocker):

https://www.amazon.ca/EVGA-Micro-Int.../dp/B077P42J3N

And yes, that is the GPU arrangement that I had in mind, thanks for the visual aid lol. I plan on hooking it in to the metal between the bays for support, and also using the rad to attach supports to. I think that'll be ok for ram and CPU spacing. I do have one of these riser kits which comes with a short cable and expansion slot bracket so I can connect the GPU to the monitor at the back. Need to check the riser cable length though, as it will be twisted as well as extended to the rad area.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07MMMDTNQ/...394800_TE_dp_1

[Grinder]

Canada computers has 2 open-box boards for $180, but no way of buying them

Grrr... I called CC customer support but was led on a wild goose chase. The person gave me a list of stores that supposedly had an open box Z370-G. I called 6 stores with no luck, and the last one said they showed 2 open box at the online store and to call customer support...

So what should have been one phone call ended up being eight! But I finally tracked down and ordered an open box Asus Strix Z370-G, and it is being shipped (free) to the Halifax store (just had their soft open yesterday) for me to pick up. The open box mobo was $180 + tax, less 10 percent for open box.

The MSI one was a great value, but the colours, lights, and reputedly less than stellar OC ability plus no thermal sensor made it a no go. Similarly, the EVGA board wasn't exactly what I was looking for (mostly no thermal sensor connector).

Now I need to find a donor case to harvest back panel sheet metal and a control panel from (similar to what I did last year). This old PC is built like a tank, hard to do fine cuts and bends on it... I'll have to drill out a bunch of spot welds to strip the interior of the case.

[Grinder]

Sorry for the lack of pics lately, I have been searching in vain for a donor case for the mobo i/o and expansion slot portion of a back panel, and a control panel. Also had hoped to buy some billet aluminum case feet from Father Fuzzy, but I haven't been able to reach him in months.

So I've gone ahead and done something that is against my religion. I much prefer to recycle old parts and create something new with them, but I'm running out of time. So I've ordered a micro ATX case that I plan to sacrifice to the modding gods! There will be chanting! Coolant will be spilled! Then I'll harvest the organs: the back panel, the control panel, the feet! And you know I'll eventually find a use for the rest lol.

[Grinder]

Last year, when I tackled a 2007 Dell XPS 720 case, Daz remarked that modding old cases was no joke. They were built to last, and this IBM PC case even more so. Aside from using hefty material, where most cases are riveted together, it was spot welded. This was a pain in the ass to take apart. I tried just popping them, but the metal deformed too much for the one that did let go - the others were stubborn. I ended up drilling and then using an old wood chisel to get the pieces to separate.

Here you can see the one that was popped, next to a drilled one.



Here are the pieces that I removed. I'll be cutting the shelf that supported the bays in half, and adjusting some of the mounting points before reinstalling it.



And finally a shot of the stripped case. Space is quite tight vertically, I'll end up installing standoffs directly to the base. Cable management should be fun!

[Grinder]

I won't have the mATX mobo for another week or so, but here is a mockup using the full size board which is the same depth (just ignore the bit hanging over the edge!). This will allow me to rotate the 140mm rad so that the fittings can go up, and not block the PSU connectors. It should also give me a little room to organize some cables in the area behind the PSU/under the res.

[Grinder]

And here is a proposed loop:

[Grinder]

I used a hacksaw to cut the drive bay shelf in half, probably easier to get a straight cut than using a dremel or jigsaw in that tight, irregular area.



The tab on the front left of the bay that I'm keeping (may be able to repurpose the other half as a GPU support) needs to be folded over to the other side to provide clearance for the front rad.



I cut out a small reinforcement and first flattened the tab with my vise before bending it back the other way.



I could feel the metal weaken, will have to reinforce it but I got the shape that I wanted.

[Kaidis86]

Looking good! Cant wait to see the old girl with new life! I love retro builds!

[Grinder]

Thanks K! Long way to go yet! Maybe next year I should OC and watercool an abacus