[Build Log] Project: Cosmos Sv2 my dream build

[NotSoEpicMods]

Hey all I'm working on my personal rig and well you've probably seen in on my website or on another forum. Well I just ordered a bunch of water cooling parts from Daz and thought I might as well share the build here though I will have to split up the 8 major updates into separate posts. While this is my dream build it still falls short of many people's expectations I'm sure especially hardware wise. The first few posts will be very cut and paste.

Hi:
Hi I'm NotSoEpicMods you can also call me Josh. Long time ago back in 2008 I made one of my largest(literally) most expensive PC purchases and that was the $300 Cooler Master Cosmos S case. To this day I still see it as one of the most beautiful off the shelf cases out there hence the build/project. While I still see it as an amazing case it does lack in a lot of areas that modern cases strive in and almost make it easy to build a nice looking average pc in(no offence but it's true with all the cable management stuff built into higher end cases). Where this case really falls short in is: Low amount of cable management, restrictive meshes, unpainted interior, no side window, I'm sure there's more.
So here I am today 6 years later trying to make the Cosmos S relevant again, or at least make my system look better, hoping that CM will come out with a Cosmos S v2 or a Cosmos T or something.




This build is not sponsored by anyone so I have no due dates for anything however I have set personal goals but some upgrades may be a long way off due to budgeting.



Here's some of the earliest pictures I could find of what the system used to look like in chronological order.(warning some of these may make you cringe)


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/T5oEhJZ.jpg

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The Current Setup:
Currently this is my main rig and what it houses isn't amazing and only contains these parts:
-CM Cosmos S
-Phenom II x6 1090T @ 4Ghz
-Corsair H100 push pull
-Asus Sabertooth 990FX
-16GB Patriot Memory
-XFX R7950 DD @ 1Ghz core, 1.35Ghz memory
-D-Link Wireless pci-e card
-AVerMedia TV pci card
-TP-Link Gigabit LAN pci-e card
-1x DVD RW, 1x Blu-Ray reader/DVD RW
-1x 300GB WD Caviar Black (main OS drive), 1x 1.5TB WD Caviar Green(game capture storage/scratch disk), 2x 2TB WD Red drives(main storage in raid 1 for redundancy)
-Corsair HX850
-Various fans

http://valid.x86.fr/hvspzq



Full res: http://i.imgur.com/MMMuHTI.jpg

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What has been done before the log:
-cut out the restrictive plastic supports from the top cover(can be seen in above pictures)
-removed internal optical drives and changed to external usb drive
-had plexiglass side panel insert made(story on this below)
- replaced some of the fans with cougar fans

So like I said I am terrible at doing in progress shots of doing stuff because I get so deeply focused on doing the build itself. So I am trying to catch this bad habit early and start doing it now rather than when it's all done(which isn't really a build log and would be more of a showcase).
It wasn't much I did to it but unfortunately I don't have before, during and after pics.
Here's a pic of the top which is now more open and only has the mesh.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/MDrzyXI.jpg

Those cougar fans:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/ny69O5s.jpg


My most recent endeavor has been to replace the mesh of my side panel with a glass insert. Well not being able to find a place that does custom flat sheet glass that was in my area I decided to settle with plexiglass (eww I know). So I took my side panel and headed down to my hardware store and bought a piece of plexi. Since I just needed a simple square piece cut I asked them if they would cut it and they said sure but the guy who knows how to operate their fancy saw wasn't in yet. So they said if you leave the side panel and your number with us we can cut a piece of plexi to fit and call me when it's done so I said sure since the cuts were free. As some of you who may have owned a Cosmos S in the past there are stand offs on the inside of the side panel to screw a plastic insert that held a 200mm fan and the modders mesh.
Well when they put the plexi panel in(which wasn't even cut square) they decided to use the screws also even though there are clips that hold the plexi. So what happened is that the screws pushed against the aluminum of the side panel and caused a raised bump to show on the exterior of the side panel *facepalm*.
I talked with the manager to replace my side panel since they damaged it and they refused to since they can't order via their in store system or something. So I asked to at least get a full sheet of plexi for free so I can do it properly myself, which I got.
It's been about a week and I still haven't replaced that badly cut piece of plexi since it is serving its purpose and won't be seen once the case is closed. I added extra washers onto the screws so they no longer press against the aluminum.
The problem is that I still had those horrid bumps visible on the beautiful brushed aluminum. I found some matt black screws and cut the heads off with a hacksaw and contoured them with a dremel.
It turned out not too bad.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/wDwXidh.jpg
The screw heads are just held on with some very very thin "permanent" scotch double sided tape. Also the Cosmos S logo that was on the mesh was just too nice to not have on the side panel. Getting the logo off was a breeze since you can soak it in alcohol and just push on it through the mesh.

For the logo I used some reusable scotch double sided strips so that I could more easily relocate the badge somewhere if I needed.

All in all it turned out alright considering the mess ups. The screw heads match the raised badge and don't look as out of place.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/qfi4ila.jpg


Well that's all I got done for now I get off work early Wednesday so we'll see what I can do then.

Edit fo my bad spelling.

[Hooded]

Nice job so far.
The hardware doesn't matter as much as the modding and the enjoyment in building and using the rig.
And to the forum

[gdesmo]

And Hooded is totally right !

[NotSoEpicMods]

Nice job so far.
The hardware doesn't matter as much as the modding and the enjoyment in building and using the rig.
And to the forum

And Hooded is totally right !

Thanks for the welcome guys. Took a bit for my thread to show up I guess that's because I'm new. Here's the next update. I'm not sure if I'd get in trouble for spamming update posts(since these have been posted somewhere else already) so here's a 2 in one since one of them is short.


Update 2
So got a bit of an update. After work I stopped by my local Canada Computers and picked up a new 24-pin extension. As some of you may know the Cosmos S has a touch sensitive power button which mine surprisingly(knock on wood) still works perfectly. However as you can see in my previous pics that the 24-pin extension looks horrid. Well here's what I picked up:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/aDxq8Jw.jpg

So I'll be splicing in the case power connector into this extension tomorrow.

Also since I work with cars for my job I have easy access to Plasti Dip which is amazing. So I pulled my D-Link PCI wireless card to test out painting the back of it because I don't really care if I kill it since I rarely use it. Plasti Dip says to let it dry for 4 hours before use so I'm gonna let it dry overnight.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/R1bPOyB.jpg

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So I'll be painting this card tonight and if the Plasti Dip doesn't kill it somehow which it shouldn't I'll be doing the same to my other green backed cards.

__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Update 3

Alright so I managed to get a bit of work done today on this and I'm pretty happy with what I was able to get done.

So I picked these up at work and I'm gonna try and use them for mounting my hard drives differently in the system. If you don't know what they are they're plastic concrete anchors which these are #14x1-1/2" which work great as spacers/anchors for stuff in computers. Here I cut them down to the approx size I wanted to avoid the drive's board shorting out on something. Also I got these really nice looking black 6-32 screws for mounting the hard drives, they use a hex head instead of the usual philips you see.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/8mlf44w.jpg

I slapped together that wireless card and tested it to make sure I didn't mess it up and it works and looks way better than before. Oh also as note to anyone using plasti dip and masking areas off always have a super sharp knife with you. I tried to peel the tape off but it was pulling the plasti dip off the card too so I had to cut the plasti dip as I pulled the tape off.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/Lhnl2Ty.jpg

Turned out pretty darn good looking for an experiment:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/V39x17Y.jpg

Since I was on a roll for painting with plsati dip let's find some more victims! Front panel connectors, a few more pci cards and a power supply should do.

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So I planned on flipping my PSU back to bottom intake style and well found it a bit scratched up. <_< So I decided to add that to the plasti dip victim list.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/oJJCidG.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/yVjXS1f.jpg

I managed to source some vented PCI slot covers and well I'm not sure about them in the end the case is going to be neutral/slightly negative air pressure so I may have to find another solution for slot covers maybe plain Jane black non vented ones? idk thoughts?

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/y4uGNwc.jpg

Also remember that 24 pin extension that looked horrid? Here's a close up of it:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/XAPzZSV.jpg


So if you ever wondered what Bitfenix alchemy cables look like underneath all that sleeving well it's just plain black wire.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/TG8jbJT.jpg

Splicing the case button power connector to the new extension was easy and taped down with lots of electrical tape to avoid the soldered splice from being damaged in any way and to hold the sleeving that I cut in place(that stuff frays like crazy after being cut and even after melting with a lighter) . Besides no one is ever gonna see this part of the extension in the finished build.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/rR1L04S.jpg

So for the final bit of this update is a roadblock I've hit in my plans. Originally I was going to mount the Hard drives vertically on the inside of the 5.25" bays. Here's a pic with a test fit drive to show how I was going to orient them but on the inside instead of where I'm holing it.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/PpWUCxA.jpg


So a few problems with this: the cable management will still be horrible if you look through the side of the case from the rear. Also it seems less space efficient because I have to use spacers to avoid the tabs that usually hold the 5.25" devices up. Also the holes that are already in the case for the 5.25" bays don't line up at all with the HDD holes and I wasn't in the mood for drilling holes at the time. So those screws and plastic risers in my first pic will have their uses found somewhere else. I have an idea already for a new way of mounting the drives but that's going to have to wait until at least the weekend because it requires a little more work than just slapping spacers on some screws. Also see if you can tell what other change is going to be included in the next update from that picture just above I know some of you have eagle eyes out there.

Edit: Maybe I should start doing this more often.

Next steps for the build:
-find a new way to mount HDDs
-work on cable management options
-start prepping for water cooling!(this means taking measurements and shopping)
-get those parts plasti dipped
-work on a logo
-try not to spoil too much

[Hooded]

Sorry about the slow moderation. Your first 6 posts will fall to moderation if they have any images or links in them. After that your all clear.
This is some serious modding.
Keep at it.

Plasti Dip tip. Remove tape after second coat while the dip is still wet. You won't need the knife.

[NotSoEpicMods]

Sorry about the slow moderation. Your first 6 posts will fall to moderation if they have any images or links in them. After that your all clear.
This is some serious modding.
Keep at it.

Plasti Dip tip. Remove tape after second coat while the dip is still wet. You won't need the knife.

Ah no worries I can understand the limitations for new members. Also thanks I've been dreaming of doing something like this to this case for a while now and I finally am able to. I'll also keep your tip in mind next time I plasti-dip. Here's another 2 for 1 update.

Update 4
Ok since the internet is being all crappy tonight it gives me a good excuse to work on my desktop so I will just leave this spoiler right here:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/qD0b7Tm.jpg

Update 5
Alright finally managed to get my pc up and running again no thanks to my terrible internet dc'ing all day when I just wanted my drivers . Anyways I did get quite a bit of progress(at least I think it's a lot of progress) and upgraded some hardware so here we go.


First off I apologize but I forgot to take pictures of the completed plasti dipped cables and pci cards but here's what the cards look like in the system. As you can see..or not see they blend in really well with PSU.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/ldErG3j.jpg

I did however remember to take pictures of the sata cables I did since I didn't like the white on them.

Before:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/mAJCNn3.jpg

And here's the after(sweet):

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/BbwfPdM.jpg


So first off I thought that the pci-e extensions looked pretty horrid going all the way down and across to behind the mobo tray. I figured it looked much better going straight across to the 5.25" area so I grouped them up and tied it off then cut a hole in the back of the 5.25" bays for the cables to pass into the cable management area of the case.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/rdWeYpc.jpg

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Alright next to address the issue of my hard drives. Since my previous plan failed I spent a good 30 mins while eating my pulled pork sammich thinking of how to mount these bulky hard drives. Well here's something I thought of and learned why not mount them like all other case manufactures do with cables at the back of the mobo tray. While trying to fit the drive in sideways I learned a hard drive is approximately the same length as a 5.25" bay is wide, bonus! So I marked things out and had 1 drive per 5.25" bay allowing for better cooling for the drives and I doubt I will ever need more than 4 hard drives. So first off is cut some slots for the sata data and power cables:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/yTWQK74.jpg


Next I needed something to hold the hard drives firmly in place so a short trip to my local Canadian Tire for some aluminum angle stock.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/GplIRH0.jpg

So foolish me tried to precisely drill holes with a dremel *facepalm* that failed and I wasted about 6" of the stock. So I visited my mom's(<3 you mom) where my drill press was and did a better job of making a bracket oh and I found something to address my front panel audio situation(more on that in another update).


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/NdV7eaq.jpg

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I only had a piece of plexi for the visible bracket since I have plans for a custom bracket once I plan out my WC upgrade. Also the non connector side of the hard drives is resting on the 5.25" drive bay tabs. So yes they are secure enough since this system isn't being shipped anywhere.

Now that the drives have been cleaned up it's time to hide those case badges that yes look horrible but at the time I didn't have a windowed side panel so they were mostly hidden. I do have some sentimental value to them for some reason so time to hide them. Grabbed some plexi and cut to fit then remember those blue plastic risers from my older post? Well found a use for them and those screws.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/i6pPMAN.jpg

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If you're wondering what I used to glue those risers to the plexi it was trusty old J-B Kwik Weld.
[IMG]http://www.jbweld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KwikWeld.jpg]

This was before I went out and bought the SSDs but here's how I planned to mount them(logo is far off in the future of the build)

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/X8FNtVc.jpg


Used up the last of my plasti dip painting that stealth cover the result you may also notice I only have 4 mounting holes. Reason being if I ever plan to go back to a single SSD I won't have unsightly holes in the stealth cover(points for thinking ahead right?).

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/wl5NmaQ.jpg

In the mean time waiting for that stealth cover to dry I unboxed those SSDs, those sexy sexy SSDs. I would've gone with Samsung's but I've heard horror stories of their RMA process for Canadians and I've dealt with Kingston once before and it was a fairly easy RMA process if something did happen.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/F512xMJ.jpg

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So no one makes the specific extensions I needed so I make my own from some molex adapters and some wire.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/vAdYLpB.jpg

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Everything done and mounted.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/cPD0SWJ.jpg?1

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Well that's all I got for now the next week or 2 is gonna be a little busy for me so I might not have any updates for a bit. Thanks for checking out my build.

[Hooded]

Well that's looking a whole lot better than when you got started. Cleaned up very nicely.
Cool drive mounting and SSD mount

[DazMode]

SSD mount is really nice!

[nass]

welcome, and I second the cool way ya did the ssd mounting...

[NotSoEpicMods]

Well that's looking a whole lot better than when you got started. Cleaned up very nicely.
Cool drive mounting and SSD mount

Oh there's still work to be done, I'm glad you like it. My OCD wouldn't let me mount the drives normally and have that horrid mess of cables sticking into the visible part of the case.

SSD mount is really nice!

Ooo cool, Daz replies to my build! I feel all special inside Thanks I really like the look of these SSDs and how they match my case so I'm really glad you and others like how I've mounted them this next update shows how they look behind my side panel which I think looks even better since the wires are hidden. Edit: just learned that the Cosmos S was your favorite case in 2009 I'll try and make you proud Daz.

welcome, and I second the cool way ya did the ssd mounting...

Thanks for the warm welcome, glad you like my SSD mounting.

Ok next update. I'm really trying to get caught up in this forum so I can share the water cooling part of the build when I'm doing it since I bought the majority of the parts from DazMode. This update was actually done the weekend before Sept 9th. Oh and I have to split this one into 2 since it's a long one.


Update 5 Part 1
My b-day is coming up on Tuesday(tues sept 9th) and I decided to give myself a present this weekend which was spending 16 hours tearing apart my computer and rebuilding it again. Best b-day present ever.......I think. I literally just finished putting it together 20 mins ago and I'm currently writing this while on it and I hope it doesn't mysteriously crash. Though the curing paint smell makes me wary.

So the challenges to overcome this time around:

1: I plan on watercooling and I plan on mounting items on the bottom of the case I run into this issue:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/JAKiMp6.jpg
As you can see the PSU filter is accessed from the inside of the case. While this is pretty convenient I wouldn't be able to access it once the bottom of the case has something which makes me wonder why there was a fan mount there.

2: This is a kill 2 birds with one stone dealio. I almost never use my front panel I/O other than the power button and my headphone jack for splitting the game audio away from my music audio when I record game footage. So many of the cables from the I/O are unused and take up a ton of my cable management space. So I found this from an old comp I had:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/CG3oWyH.jpg
It's a separate front I/O of just the audio ports I truly lucked out that I had this and you can see what else I was planning by the aluminum angle stock I had cut that's in the pic.

3: The terrible green on the motherboard heatsinks. You can see pictures of this in my previous post and yes they def don't match the system and while I do plan on upgrading my cpu/mobo it's not going to be until I get a custom water loop going.

4: Another 2 for 1! Tidy up the cables going to the motherboard even more and fix the terrible reinforcement bends in the mobo tray. As you may have seen in my previous pics my cables have to travel faaaaaaar from the cable management holes to reach my standard ATX motherboard.

5: Start planning for custom watercooling loop to replace 3yr old H100.

The Solutions:

1: So somehow I still have to make my PSU filter accessible when I install watercooling items. Why not copy what current cases do and make is accessible from under the case!

First stop Canadian Tire, ahh the store you love to hate or at least I love to hate. I picked up 4ft of U channel aluminum stock for about $6 so not too bad and I'm gonna have a ton extra for other stuff. I also bought a $4 can of flat black spray paint for things.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/lxwQ59t.jpg

The PSU filter had some thin risers on it which I trimmed down with a box cutter knife so it would nicely fit in the U channel.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/9gfIrEk.jpg

Sweet it fits nicely now to cut the aluminum to length.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/YsBEEoe.jpg

With some double sided tape magic I got those rails stuck to the bottom of the case.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/0R2ZZw9.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/ZhwtJLG.jpg
You'll notice that it's not coming out the back of the case and you're probably thinking "You idiot! You're just as bad as the guy who put it inside the case!" Well unfortunately the feet attachments are in the way of me being able to slide out the filter from the back which is probably why they put the filter inside the case in the first place. But I'll take tipping over the case every once in a while to slide out that filter rather than no filter.


2: Oh those front panel cables I took it off which was easy only 2 screws. Turns out there's 4 other screws underneath to access everything.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/mMsodfW.jpg

After popping that open I was pleasantly surprised turns out all those thick cables I wanted to get rid of are just extension cables and the PCB of the I/O is separate from the power button PCB. I promptly took those items out and was left with only 3 thin wires coming from the front panel, awesome more cable management room!

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/OX4rJYa.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/M4hOjAq.jpg

I will have to find something to fill this area with though >

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/dWOL2BE.jpg

Now for moving my headphone jack I used JB Kwik weld to stick those brackets I made to the small unit and cut a spot in the rear of the case. You can see I had a bit of an issue with drilling the holes to mount it. I blame my lack of a drill and drill bits.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/9qdVw1a.jpg

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That should work.

3: So before I got too far into the case I thought I should deal with the mobo heatsinks first since they will need time to dry.
The ugly:

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/hi49fdW.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/EyetUzC.jpg

The less ugly(unfortunately you can still see some green on the MOSFET heatsink since I didn't want to apply too many coats and missed it):

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/qBgXCeT.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/RQpagiP.jpg

But wait that rear I/O still looks kinda ugly.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/zGvbHVn.jpg
Glad I had the scotch tape there from the other pics. I guess that'll do.

4: Yup obviously had to cut some holes so i marked up my case and started cutting.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/DHtAkTV.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/fhuf76S.jpg

Woah what the heck happened in that last pic? Well I went out and spent a whole $1 on a giant 22"x28" bristol board sheet what was dark dark grey. Staples calls it black but it isn't as you can see by the bottom piece which isn't painted that I cut for a template to make a plexi insert. Anyways I measured my case internals and cut out a mobo tray cover spray painted it and put it in. I like it what do you guys think?

Part 2 incoming below!

[NotSoEpicMods]

Update 5 Part 2!

So nothing to do now other than throw everything together!

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/QbIDqOy.jpg
Yea my cable management but hey this time I didn't have to almost stand on my sidepanel to get the thing to close.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/kKy75Hu.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/RkiCxpO.jpg

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Yea yea I need to clean that plexi on my side panel.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/by97dgP.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/Qdfi2rZ.jpg



Darn is it getting sexier and sexier or what lol. Please please tell me what you guys think even if it's bad or suggestions.


5: Alright I'm planning for water cooling(CPU only, GPU block not available) and have come up with a parts list. I'm hoping to be able to afford these items by the end of the year. I'm am new to custom water cooling so I would love suggestions on what you think of my parts selection but please remember I'm planning ahead so I'm wanting this WC loop ready to be able to have 1 maybe 2 GPUs pluged in when I upgrade my cpu, mobo, and gpu someday. Also are there any good places in Canada that sells these parts or something equivalent?

There was a list from another store here when I originally posted this but then remembered Daz is in Canada. So guess it's not relevant to post links to a competitor here plus I will have a full WC part list in a later update.

I've already test fit the part sizes in my case and they will fit with some kajigering. Mainly moving my bottom 2 hard drives up so my pump can fit underneath(I'm not going to have a fitting on top of the pump like my model shows). I also have about 1" of space between the top rad and the top of the res if frozencpu's installation height measurement of 400mm is correct.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/K7PPHWH.jpg

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Phew that was a long one thanks for checking out my build log. There's some things I need to fix like that black motherboard tray cover Flat looks horrible and is super super easy to mark. Maybe I'll go with a satin finish when I paint the whole internals of the case.

[NotSoEpicMods]

Update 6

Ok so I got some good and bad news then some more bad news then a little more bad news and then some good news.*

Good news is I received my parts from CMstore today(not sure why USPS and Canada Post decided to keep it at one of the furthest postal offices from me, I live closer to work than the post office it was at) got my trusty knife out and everything to get it opened.


Full res:http://i.imgur.com/NA5g4cr.jpg

Well I was kind of expecting my products to be somewhere in the middle of the box well apparently that's not the case and this is how I opened it.

Full res:http://i.imgur.com/q0KOG57.jpg

Well ok I thought they should be pretty sturdy products it's not like they're some delicate HDD or anything. Then here's teh bad news I realized that one of the case drive bay covers I ordered isn't a solid cover but an adapter instead *facepalm* that's what I was trying to get rid of. Not to mention CMstore's site shows the picture of a solid cover not an adapter.

Full res:http://i.imgur.com/fVvhTLN.jpg

It doesn't end there if you notice and pay attention really close you''s see that the tabs on solid cover doesn't look right. Well you'd be right they're actually all broken. For those of you who don't know the Cosmos S case these tabs on the cover help hold it straight against the case.


Full res:http://i.imgur.com/fFlvNId.jpg

Full res:http://i.imgur.com/LEr0kHl.jpg

Full res:http://i.imgur.com/NzS7b25.jpg


So yea that sucks I'll have to wait until Monday to contact CMstore and see what they can do. I would basically need them to send me another cover that isn't broken since I can make one proper cover out of the two I got. That one cover looks like it was kicked through a case breaking the tabs off so i don't know how it got past quality control.

Alright the next amount of bad news remember that rear front I/O port I made? Well I don't think anyone noticed but it was actually AC'97 but I knew that and my motherboard supports both AC'97 and HD Audio. Well it worked, the only problem is with AC'97 the ground goes to the case and well I guess I'm picking up some interference through mine which sucks. So when I ordered those covers I got a front I/O for another case that is HD audio. So that's what you see in the 2nd and 3rd pics in this post.

Good news is that this product so far seems to work perfectly no more interference. I will have to desolder the USb ports off the pcb so I can mount my brackets to the same spots. Well I will update when I hear more from CMstore or if I take pictures of my current whole setup if you guys would like that let me know.

Update 7

It's... Just... So... Beautiful...

Hey guys what's up so I got a bit of an update, of course I'm now posting these updates first on my website. Anyways I have started ordering my water cooling parts! First to arrive is the res and wow is it one beauty. Oddly enough it's actually a little short even at 400mm I wish EK made a 450 res but a man can dream I'll probably get a thicker rad for the top anyways so 400mm will do. Gallery for that below.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/3T3EaeD.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/hH0HfL9.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/KLXTCAI.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/fg0ovQz.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/YFI0gq9.jpg


Mmm so nice. I absolutely can't wait to get this upgrade started. Here it is in the case.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/ppIlTAY.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/NZYsjUo.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/1QuJm7G.jpg


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/D2m3W9l.jpg

Ok and I finally got my new bay cover and well it's damaged too so I guess that's what I get for trying to get parts for a case so old.


Full res: http://i.imgur.com/hcFt18cl.jpg

Well I should be ordering more stuff soon so I'll post an update then.

[NotSoEpicMods]

Ok so this update contains updates 9 and 10 that I have on my website and now we're all caught up!

All my parts have been ordered. I know I could've made better choices but oh well water cooling is a learning process I guess too bad it costs a bit.

Here's the list:

• EK-Supremacy – Acetal Nickel (Model 2012) x1 (shipped)
• DazMode STORM D5 VARIO 8-24V Pump w/TACH cable x1 (shipped)
• Triple DarkSide Radiator – DS360-P x1 (shipped)
• Triple LP360 Extra Slim Radiator x1 (shipped)
• DazMode Protector x2 (shipped)
• 3/8″ID – 5/8″OD Straight Low Compression Fitting – Black Chrome x6 (shipped)
• 90-degree Swivel Angled for 10mm x 16mm (3/8in x 5/8in) Black x7 (shipped)
• Clear G1/4″ Crystal Stop Fitting III V2 x1 (shipped)
• 1/2″ (12mm) DarkSide High Density Cable Sleeving – Jet Black 1Ft x10 (shipped)
• 4+4 EPS 12″ (30cm) HSL DarkSide Single Braid Cable – Red UV x1 (shipped)
• Compact Fill Port / Drain Port Valve – Nickel x1 (shipped)
• G1/4″ Crystal Lighting Stop Fitting Module W/ 3PIN Wired LED -WHITE x2 (shipped)
• G1/4″ 90 Degree G1/4″ Adapter – Black x2 (shipped)
• Fill/Drain Port Sealing Plug w/ 3/8″ID Tubing Barb – Black Spark x1 (shipped)
• 8mm Spacer Extender Adapter – G1/4 Male/Female – Matt Black x2 (shipped)
• 8mm Spacer Extender Adapter – G1/4 Female/Female – Matt Black x1 (shipped)
• 3/8″ ID Tubing – 90 Degree, Rotary Barb w/ Clamp – BLACK x1 (shipped)
• Feser Tube UV Hose – 3/8″ ID – 1/2″ OD – BLACK / UV Blue (1′) x1 (shipped)
• 3/8″” ID Tubing – Barb – Black Chrome x1 (shipped)
• Replacement O-ring for Standard G1/4. Fittings – BLACK x10 (shipped)
• PrimoChill PRIMOFLEX™ Advanced LRT™ Onyx Black 3/8 ID 5/8 OD Tubing (10FT) x2 (shipped)
• Ek Water Blocks EK-RES x3 400 820ML Water Cooling Tube Reservoir X2 G1/4 Extenders X4 G1/4 Plugs x1 (Arrived)
• EK D5 X-Top Acetal Pump Top CSQ – Laing D5 & Swiftech MCP-650/655 (EK-D5 X-TOP CSQ – Acetal) x1 (Arrived)

Current total for parts including shipping and taxes is $838.39cad

I'll probably post the pump top I got today later tonight or tomorrow. Also the ETA on the rest of my parts is for Monday So I would probably expect them Tuesday.


Update 10

As promised an update with the pump top. I also made a quick build vlog which is currently still uploading and you will have to do some searching for it.



Full res: http://i.imgur.com/iGZqG0M.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/W5Stbuj.jpg

This is one super pink internal box which oddly I really like the look of.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/A6PH7zf.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/ZGc7YHH.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/mWDg9bb.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/IeVosVt.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/RqmnKRR.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/WjlFEGP.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/N8aEheJ.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/xuLhaQ1.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/E2rlhTH.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/gXEvTM1.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/c2mcRWg.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/Dsi8yov.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/cmbRxyj.jpg
Gah! Already got a fingerprint on it.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/s3eTjaH.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/hFU4VAD.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/uRRYUSd.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/JkS1xoO.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/pI3Ydyd.jpg

I originally planned to put the pump in the 5.25" bays by moving my bottom 2 hard drives up but I think it looks great right here. Also I was planning on painting a piece of plexi to replace the thin bristol board but after placing a clear piece under the pump and res I think it would look great if I kept the part I will eventually cut out clear and just plasti-dipped the bristol board under the plexi. I would love opinions on doing this vs just painting the plexi itself.

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/QMXntD7.jpg

Full res: http://i.imgur.com/bCpzQX2.jpg

I'll update whenever I get more parts and work done. I'm just glad I'm finally caught up on here

[Hooded]

Wow that's some major progress.
Really great work so far.

[Grinder]

I enjoyed this, reminded me of my old Thermaltake Armor case inside.

I think of these as MacGyver builds, and actually prefer them to the cutting edge, money is no object variety.

Nice job of refreshing and cleaning up that case!