Water cooled dually project COMPLETED! (pics)

[hmale]

Hello to all that have been following this project.

I am glad to say that after 3 months of work, it is finally completed.

Below are some pictures of the finished product...

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1365-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1329-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1279-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1292-edt.jpg

More information is available here (http://www.extrememhz.com)

Thanks and cheers!

[Spector_306]

That is wicked, did you make the case out of plexi, and what kind of temps are you getting?

[Huckleberry]

Whoa!

This needs to be put on display, its way too cool to stay hidden in some backroom.

Hey mister, do you have a license for that thing?

Two thumbs way up!

[NoKtEm]

that thing's awesome.. wish it were mine =P *drool*

[Lusankya]

that thing is frelling sweet.. GIMMIE!! :D

[OSUmaxx]

That is sweet! The last pic looks really good.

[Nico3k]

when i saw your un finished project i was already amazed... but this is just f***ing amazing! you did a very very nice job and i am proud of you.
take some detailed pics lol... i cant get enough of this :D


once again, THAT IS AWESOME!

[hpotter]

that was friggin awesome!

[Rezman5]

start making them cases and selling em in the classifieds....THAT WAY I CAN HAVE ONE OF THEM BEAUTIES!!! amazing job!

[[EG]~NaTz~]

that is sooooooo nicceeeee and its friggn huge i love oversized computers. makes them look beastly.

[GreenmanWD-40]

Originally posted by hmale
Hello to all that have been following this project.

I am glad to say that after 3 months of work, it is finally completed.

Below are some pictures of the finished product...

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1365-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1329-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1279-edt.jpg

http://www.extrememhz.com/images/Final/IMG_1292-edt.jpg

More information is available here (http://www.extrememhz.com)

Thanks and cheers!


How long did it take to make???

[madsam]

that sure is purrrrty. nice job dude.

[Lord_of_Decay]

Very nice work indeed.:D Plexi casses if done properly are great for cooling and look friggin sweet. :burn:

[kev82]

Greenman, he already said that; 3 months...

[Liss]

lol.. its kinda hard for me to even see wut i'm looking at..

[Lusankya]

Originally posted by Liss
lol.. its kinda hard for me to even see wut i'm looking at..

Why is that?

[Illah]

Man, a custom 3' acrylic case? What'd that cost?

It is real nice though! I'm normally not a fan of clear cases, they look cheap, but all those MD mods, tons of lighting, the watercooling, etc... It's really tight.

--Illah

[juliendogg]

very nice!

[gas-man]

I suppose it's personal taste, but I don't like it really...it's nothing personal, I guess I'm not big on clear cases.

Regardless, looks like a lot of work and effort. I'm happy you are pleased. It is nice to see something different!

[Skiing Squirrel]

*glares* So....Shiny...Mmmmmm.

Very good work. You should also post this in modded case forum too.

[TheGhengisKhan]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[hmale]

Hello,

I have written an article on this project. For those of you that have been following this, it will be part 2 of a series. The article can be found at www.extrememhz.com

Thanks and cheers!

[skinart]

Best looking rig i have ever seen what an awesome job great work!

[nikhsub1]

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:

[Bobby_Mac]

:drool: http://bobbymac.jeeran.com/worship.gif http://bobbymac.jeeran.com/worship.gif http://bobbymac.jeeran.com/worship.gif

sweet case

[brodo]

I am not a huge fan of all clear cases either ... but I must say, great job and hats off for the good work!
:clap: :clap: and I know for sure my one friend would say something like:
:drool: please :drool: maybe :bday: soon :bday:

[Frodo Baggins]

WHOA! amazing job bud. Yo man, all you need is a twister bong and u'll haeva sweet sweet setup ;)

[hmale]

Originally posted by Frodo Baggins
WHOA! amazing job bud. Yo man, all you need is a twister bong and u'll haeva sweet sweet setup ;)

I'm not sure about that Frodo...I thought bongs were made for smoking...LOL

Cheers!

[[EG]~NaTz~]

hella cool!

[safemode]

I dont really dig projects like this. The box is way too big, maybe not too big for the components you used to water cool the thing but that is a design problem in itself. The box is multicolored with no real pattern or color matching. Red and blue and green just thrown about. The case is clear. This is something you have to be careful about. You can make the case look really cool and techie or you can make it look gaudy as all hell. Making it look techie means almost all of what you see is somthing techie. What you get with a tower of this size is a lot of empty space where you can see right through to the other side of the case. You can justify the entire case being clear because of all the water cooling components and stuff you get to see and the complete picture of everything inside... i just think it doesn't succeed in the purpose of making something have a clear case. Also, the clear case gives direct exposure to your internal lights that are supposed to make effects on the tubes. That's wasted light. My last issue with the case is the front fans blowing on nothing. What is their purpose? They have blue leds in them which serve no purpose whatsoever as you have a clear case and no color coordination with other lights and they create pointless noise directly in front of the box. You'd have better placement of the fans over the hdds or in push/pull over the radiator. Give them some sort of purpose. The blue leds are annoying. Plus, some more design issues with having a computer this big as a desktop tower. Unless you have your chair sitting in front of that huge thing (in which case it's entire noise is at ear level) you cant read the displays on the front. Unlike other computers which might line up with the desk's monitor if they were side by side, that thing looks like it goes to the very edge. So do the lcds serve any purpose whatsoever ? I know, "where would i put them?" would be the obvious question and i'd put them on the front, but i also would have shaved 3-4 inches off the depth of that case assuming i'd make one like that. Also, i take it the black cdroms (why so many I cant guess) are carry overs from a previous black case. And no hdd expansion area. Guess you'd remove a cdrom or two if you get more hdds since you can spare them.

All in all i'd say it's a show of effort and well constructed but i think its inpractical in its dimensions and material for that size and seems to have been focused on looking impressive and flashy and achieves only half of that. Its design doesn't seem to have been thought through completely or perhaps was unable to be completed and the implementation of some "modding" gear seems to be misused to a lesser extent. Other than that it looks fine.

[SemiCycle]

Do you always have to play devils advocate safemode? He put alot of work into getting the system the way HE WANTS IT, and you have to put it down. I'm not trying to be mean, but recently over the past 3-4 weeks when someone has posted their system or new waterblock, you will normally go straight to what you think is negative. Lighten up man.

I don't want to turn this into a flame match and ruin his thread so I won't say anything else. You can PM me if you want to respond

[Pla]

Awesome!!!

If you like contests you can send pics to Maximum PC magazine. They have Rig of the month article and you are a sure winner!
Your case will get printed in the magazine!

Please send them the pics so I can enjoy them on paper!

See the last page of the magazine...
Or email them at input@maximumpc.com with pics and a brief write-up....

This should be winner of the year!

Btw, how do you drill holes in the plexi?

[safemode]

Well i will post in the thread since it does people little good in a private message.

Yes, when something is soooo one sided when it doesn't deserve to be, i guess that looks like devils advocate when i go against them. And it's so much more stimulating to make people think. And i dont oppose or as you put it be "negative" about something just for the sake of being negative and evil.

First off.
It's put up on the forum for critical review. There's plenty of people who's said this is great or that's great but they don't say why they think this or that is great. That's really only good to a certain length and then it's useless. I didn't flame the design, i gave specific reasons why i thought this or that was bad. It's the same with art because that's partly what it is meant to be. If he can defend why having the things i thought were bad there then fine. If not then fine. Anyone posting something either from an engineering standpoint or an artistic one should be prepared to defend it or not bothing putting it up for public scrutiny. You post for this reason, to get other people's opinions about it and decide which are valid or not. It's not my job to be his self esteem "yes" man. As someone reviewing his case it is my job if i care enough to post to !review! his case as was his implied intention by making a thread on a public forum. It's not my fault all of you aren't doing a good enough job at saying what you like about the case and giving some reasons to back up "great case" and such. If you did maybe i'd have been convinced by the time i got to the end. As there is no explanation or any obvious reasons to me, what i posted is what i'm left with after looking at the pictures and the posts and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That's how art is critiqued . Now the artist comes back with either reasons why this or that was a good idea or conceeds that my points are valid.

It's extremely pointless to just have a bunch of "yes" men who dont say anything interesting or insightful about why they think it's cool and if you are someone who depends on that kind of response then you really shouldn't be giving people the chance to respond. The bar for case modding has risen a lot since it started and I do take it seriously as both a form of expression and function and i dont see any point in caring about someone's case if you dont. Maybe i'm giving other modders more credit than they deserve by asking them to be critical of the work before just blindly going "great job" or more likely we have different types. It's not about discouraging it's about cutting the BS and being serious about an art form and getting out of a catagory of car modders called Ricers who throw lots of money and time at someting and end up with a car that looks like frankenstein made it and has less functionality than before but get patted on the back anyway because they did all the latest mods to their honda civic. If you're serious enough about your case to actually read my post then it's nothing but encouraging because you either are forced to defend the principles behind and give depth to design or you realize mistakes and think of something better for the next time.

[MajinSSJVegetto]

Thats a sweet case.

Safemode, you are pretty rude.

[SemiCycle]

I never said you had to say yes yes yes to everything. I never said you had to agree with everyone, but there is a correct way to give criticisim. You can reply to this if you'd like, but I really have said my peace.

Since hmale isn't complaining about your comments, I'll let it be.
BACK TO THE THREAD!!!!

[hmale]

Hello to everyone,

As far as safemode's philosophy is concerned...I agree. When someone (in this case me) puts something forth he/she must be willing to subject themselves to public scrutiny. The purpose of the forums is to have a free exchange of ideas...critiques and crticisms are fair.

I just want to address some specific points that safemode has commented on:

1. There are 3 optical drives that I use. One is a Kenwood Truex 72X CD player which find very efficient when dubbing CDs in conjunction with my Plextor CDRW. The speed of the Truex prevents buffer overruns and expedites the recording process. The third drive is a DVD player. Each drive serves a specific purpose and I do not consider this number to be excessive for what I do.

2. The two top components in the case are not optical drives, but SCSI drives which are contained within Coolermaster HDD coolers which fit into 5-1/4 bays.

3. Located directly below the 2 SCSI drives is a Creative Live Drive, which again should not be confused with an optical drive.

4. Located directly below the Creative Live Drive are 2 empty 5-1/4 bays which I can use if I decide to add additional components in the future.

5. Located behind the Compunurse (which is at the center of the drive cage) is an IDE HDD. The case's drive cage has the capacity to accommodate an additional 7 drives. I could conceiveably add an additional 9 HDD to the 3 I currently have.

6. As far as the 2 front intake fans are concerned, the bottom intake fan is located directly in front of an internally located PSU and aids in cooling that component.

7. The 2 intake fans in conjunction with the top exhaust fan aid in cooling the entire case which I believe we can all agree is extremely important. Well ventilated cases assist in overall cooling and do serve a purpose.

8. The case itself is positioned directly to my right when I sit at my desk. From this vantage point I can easily see the components I use for information and monitoring (the digi-doc, compunurse, rheobus, and the LCD screen. I can also easily access the optical drives which I use.

9. The choice of color and lighting is an individual choice and I respect your preferences with regards to this matter.

I hope this information shed some light as to my thinking and choices I made.

BTW, I hope that this does not turn into a flame war. Everyone has an opinion and we all have the right to express them.

Be well...

Cheers!

[Penguin4x4]

Originally posted by safemode
First off.
It's put up on the forum for critical review.

:eh?::eh?:

Me Likes, though 3' tall's a wee to big for me, :D:D:D

[chuckerants]

How much was the case?

[Penguin4x4]

Oh, and also, you should try and get an MSI KD7 series dually board. They OC better than that Iwill. :)

[DodgeViper]

hmale, don't let others try to bring you down. Although it's not what I would build, but I and others can only imagine the amount of time and effort to follow through and finish a project of this size. Just working with the Plexiglas alone and keeping the plastic free of scratches is tough. Your efforts should be praised and not trashed by a few. You had a concept and you follow through with it. Good job…..

[Kill Control]

the only problem i have with plexiglass cases is that i have NEVER seen one that was properly grounded..

doesn't this bother anybody else?
am i that anal?

it does look impressive.. if not overwhelming to the senses.

[hmale]

Hi there Kill,

The case (regardless of the material) does not have to be "grounded". The connection to ground is established through the PSU and the supply line.

Cheers!

[mata2974]

:burn: :D :o good job!!!!!!!!!!

[Kill Control]

well, i realize that must be true.. but the overwhelming fact is that every component in that computer was designed with an additional ground via the mounting screws. i refuse to believe the engineers were just bored and trying to justify a R&D budget.

[masitti]

That is a f---in awesome job you did. This is one of the best clear cases I've ever seen - everything has consistency - very nice!!! I really dig the clear cases... not sure I would do a 3 feet tall one, but none the less, nice job! And, maybe get some clear-top waterblocks would be awesome looking as well. :)

[hmale]

Sorry Kill,

That is simply not correct. Each component is grounded through its power connector to the PSU.

Cheers!

[Kill Control]

hmale,

i didn't really want to get this far into it, and im not disputing that its grounded through the psu, it's just that there are addition grounds. i've used them in modding my ultra66 into a fasttrak, and the ground connected to both the case and the psu. i just felt that it was most likely a good idea to follow along with such old standards, for simple fail-safe reasons and piece of mind that all my parts are gauranteed to be grounded. back to my original post, i prolly am just to anal about my computer. =) i may one day build my own, and i certianly applaud your example. all i'll add is a line of thin copper wire in some fashion.

good article on it too, btw

[ziah]

holy crap! that thing is amazing!!!

your nuts! good work.

~z

[hmale]

Thanks for the nice comments kill :)

you are a gentleman..Cheers!

[wildfrogman]

How do you move it around if you LAN? I think somthing like handles or somthing would help or you just never really move it around much? Also the lower front fan area, if you added a piece of plexy horizontal going from top lower intake fan to the upper right corner of the motherboard you should lower your temps a bit more. Just a thought, and could maybe help temps also. What type of flowrate do you get with the tubing runs up and down the way its set up?

[Liss]

@safemode:

damn..
i agree with most of the stuff you said.... but damn..
i bet each aspect of your comp is thought out very carefully.. :)

[hmale]

Originally posted by wildfrogman
How do you move it around if you LAN? I think somthing like handles or somthing would help or you just never really move it around much? Also the lower front fan area, if you added a piece of plexy horizontal going from top lower intake fan to the upper right corner of the motherboard you should lower your temps a bit more. Just a thought, and could maybe help temps also. What type of flowrate do you get with the tubing runs up and down the way its set up?

Engineers don't lan! 43 year old engineers like me even less! LOL

Good suggestion for improving/redirecting air flow.

I am not so concerned with flow rates as I am with regulating velocity. Flow is a constant for any given system design, whereas fluid velocity can be controlled and regulated.

To this point I was interested in maximum velocity through the water blocks and back pressure management.

you can get more insight by reading the article at www.extrememhz.com

Cheers!

[EgeWorks]

Man, that rig must weigh an absolute ton! Do you need two people to lift it? Also, I couldn't see from the pics, is the side panel hinged or is it sort of slotted/slid in?

Pro work BTW.

[jhbball]

f'ing rediculous!!!!! :) You have far to much money/time on your hands!:)

[Cheesy Peas]

1 word... SWEET:D.... nice work.. you should patent the esign and start sellin em or somethin LOL

[Ct. Strangelove]

hello, first thought... wow.

I have also built a custom acrylic pc case. I have problems with dust. With 3 months running straight, i have had massive dust bunnie take over. I don't see filters. It appears that the side panel opens easly, so when you show the case off you will proberly find the ol' vacum cleaner handy.
It is a towering beast. I made mine smaller and more compact. You could really save much room, but it is nice to have expanding possibilities. I just don't care for the overwhelming size.
There is enough room to add an other mobo. You can have a seperate file, web, game, etc server running. Or a linux router.
YOur pump is huge! you have alot of back pressure to push through, but i am sure ur pump can hadle it. It would be even more impressive if your PSU and HDs were water cooled. I am sure the sys can handle it.
A visual flow indicator would add effect.
The color scheme is fine.

Are you going to into TEC cooling? YOu have the space for the PSU and what not. O, and the cooling capibility. Boxes like that win you a tour around AMerica. The "coolness" factor is in the range of Yoshis box. I can see these two beasting side by side. All they need is a third. It could be a phase change sys. Congrats on the successful conclusion of your project.

When you get a second check mine out, swapping of ideals keep the would going round...

http://members.cox.net/countstrangelove/comp4.htm

[KathodeFuZion]

Damn, that mother is effin HUGE. Looks insane too.

Nice Job

[hmale]

Originally posted by Ct. Strangelove
hello, first thought... wow.

I have also built a custom acrylic pc case. I have problems with dust. With 3 months running straight, i have had massive dust bunnie take over. I don't see filters. It appears that the side panel opens easly, so when you show the case off you will proberly find the ol' vacum cleaner handy.
It is a towering beast. I made mine smaller and more compact. You could really save much room, but it is nice to have expanding possibilities. I just don't care for the overwhelming size.
There is enough room to add an other mobo. You can have a seperate file, web, game, etc server running. Or a linux router.
YOur pump is huge! you have alot of back pressure to push through, but i am sure ur pump can hadle it. It would be even more impressive if your PSU and HDs were water cooled. I am sure the sys can handle it.
A visual flow indicator would add effect.
The color scheme is fine.

Are you going to into TEC cooling? YOu have the space for the PSU and what not. O, and the cooling capibility. Boxes like that win you a tour around AMerica. The "coolness" factor is in the range of Yoshis box. I can see these two beasting side by side. All they need is a third. It could be a phase change sys. Congrats on the successful conclusion of your project.

When you get a second check mine out, swapping of ideals keep the would going round...

http://members.cox.net/countstrangelove/comp4.htm

Hello Ct.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I will not be using TECS on this project. I am working on another project that will involve extreme cooling. You can check that project out by viewing the worklog I started here http://extrememhz.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=93&sid=790988eae90a4b1a5c3091ec7a004622

I took a look at your box and i am impressed! Very fine work. You should be proud.

Cheers!

[Big_Baller]

Do I have to read all that? :D man that is one....huge....computer case. I personnaly wouldnt have it cause my mom would just kick my outa the house but if I had the time and money and my own place....geez U better show that thing off to some people and then start mass producing them...then I'll have one :D

[hmale]

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Cheers!

[Frodo Baggins]

it's weird how i haven't seen safemode really dig someone's rig...ah well, must be my bad memory :D

[Frodo Baggins]

Originally posted by safemode
Well i will post in the thread since it does people little good in a private message.

Yes, when something is soooo one sided when it doesn't deserve to be, i guess that looks like devils advocate when i go against them. And it's so much more stimulating to make people think. And i dont oppose or as you put it be "negative" about something just for the sake of being negative and evil.

First off.
It's put up on the forum for critical review. There's plenty of people who's said this is great or that's great but they don't say why they think this or that is great. That's really only good to a certain length and then it's useless. I didn't flame the design, i gave specific reasons why i thought this or that was bad. It's the same with art because that's partly what it is meant to be. If he can defend why having the things i thought were bad there then fine. If not then fine. Anyone posting something either from an engineering standpoint or an artistic one should be prepared to defend it or not bothing putting it up for public scrutiny. You post for this reason, to get other people's opinions about it and decide which are valid or not. It's not my job to be his self esteem "yes" man. As someone reviewing his case it is my job if i care enough to post to !review! his case as was his implied intention by making a thread on a public forum. It's not my fault all of you aren't doing a good enough job at saying what you like about the case and giving some reasons to back up "great case" and such. If you did maybe i'd have been convinced by the time i got to the end. As there is no explanation or any obvious reasons to me, what i posted is what i'm left with after looking at the pictures and the posts and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That's how art is critiqued . Now the artist comes back with either reasons why this or that was a good idea or conceeds that my points are valid.

It's extremely pointless to just have a bunch of "yes" men who dont say anything interesting or insightful about why they think it's cool and if you are someone who depends on that kind of response then you really shouldn't be giving people the chance to respond. The bar for case modding has risen a lot since it started and I do take it seriously as both a form of expression and function and i dont see any point in caring about someone's case if you dont. Maybe i'm giving other modders more credit than they deserve by asking them to be critical of the work before just blindly going "great job" or more likely we have different types. It's not about discouraging it's about cutting the BS and being serious about an art form and getting out of a catagory of car modders called Ricers who throw lots of money and time at someting and end up with a car that looks like frankenstein made it and has less functionality than before but get patted on the back anyway because they did all the latest mods to their honda civic. If you're serious enough about your case to actually read my post then it's nothing but encouraging because you either are forced to defend the principles behind and give depth to design or you realize mistakes and think of something better for the next time.

backup...our proof? Is this a crime or an art gallery. We say it looks good because it looks good!

You say it looks bad, and it's a bad case because it wastes light...uh okie