Project Log: Just another Lian-Li...

With the dawn of another summer comes another watercooling project.

Parts salvaged from old rig:

WD Raptor 74GB HD
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
NEC 3500 DVDRW
Card Reader & Floppy drive

New parts:

CASE: Lian-Li PC-75
MOBO: DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D
RAM: OCZ VX PC4000 1GB (OCZ5001024ELDCGEVX-K)
VIDEO: ATI X800XL PCI-E
CPU: AMD Venice 3200+
PSU: PC Power & Cooling TurbCool 510 *SLI*
SPEAKERS: Logitech Z-5500 speakers
DISPLAY: Sony SDM-P234 23" LCD monitor

CPU BLOCK: Storm G4
RAD: ThemoChill HE120.3
GPU BLOCK: DD Maze4 Acetal
PUMPS: 2x MCP655's
7/16" Masterkleer tubing (Mcmaster #5233K44)
DD FillPort

Misc items: 2x Dual CCFLs, PWM fan controller, 80mm case fans, grills, PET sleeving...

All the stuff is just chillin on the floor for now, and my P234 is on loan to my mom for the time being. Not sure when I'll start workin, just got home from college and need to unpack and clear some more space to work in. Had to take some pictures though.

Pictures [~40-70K ea.]
004: Closeup of WC gear
005: Mobo, Ram, CPU, Video
006: CCFls, fans/controller, grills -- Also visible is the corner of my U2-UFO cube. Sorry to all the cube lovers, I was unhappy with it
007: Overhead shot
008: 23" LCD

wow, very nice setup, looking forward to seeing more pic's

btw that screen is amazing

nice - can't wait to see some true build pics


and i must not be outdone! this is the last straw for me! i'm buying one more MCP-655 so that i have a total of THREE... muahahaha

very nice setup, should perform very well. ANd man, that is one kick *** LCD.

looking real good... like to see how those pumps perform.

looks like its going to be a great setup, im so jealous. only advice would be to get that stuff off the floor, accidents happen.

Sneaky said:

i'm buying one more MCP-655 so that i have a total of THREE... muahahaha

Click to expand...

lol Sneaky, why not 4?

lithker said:

only advice would be to get that stuff off the floor, accidents happen.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I decided to put it all safely back in boxes for now, until I have more room.

well you need more cooling surface to go with all that pumping power

damn, how much was that screen, should turn out very nice

I'm waiting for this build should be very nice.

Very nice man, Cant wait to see it all put together!!

Acurax said:

...Also visible is the corner of my U2-UFO cube. Sorry to all the cube lovers, I was unhappy with it.

Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what don't you like about the U2-UFO case? I used a Lian-Li in my last build and was thinking of using another for my next one, but these cubes look interesting and I've always heard good things about them so I would like to hear about where they didn't meet expectations.

thegreek said:

looking real good... like to see how those pumps perform.

Click to expand...

here's a link to my thread with a short review about running 2 of them in series, along with the D4 (650) vs D5 (655)

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=387786




edit: also, may i ask why you got the PC P&C 510 Deluxe when it doesn't have native 24-pin (required for DFI NF4 boards)?

I'm so jealous, thats an Awesome setup. Especially the WC kit.

Sneaky said:

edit: also, may i ask why you got the PC P&C 510 Deluxe when it doesn't have native 24-pin (required for DFI NF4 boards)?

Click to expand...

Just a typo, my bad. I have the 510 SLI w/ the native 24-pin.

MVC said:

Out of curiosity, what don't you like about the U2-UFO case?

Click to expand...

*Some are technical reasons, some are personal issues*

The UFO looks pretty sweet, but it is a PITA to work with. Since the cover is a 'shell' (left side, top, right side) all connected together, you have to remove the entire enclosure to get inside of it, which means 14 thumbscrews. 14 'thumbscrews' that don't fit nicely where they are supposed to go, I would've rather had regular screws that threaded easily. I have the original top (w/ 2 fans and rectangular window), and when I took the top off, the fan cords were always in the way still attached to the shell (minor inconvenience, but after 14 painful thumbscrews I didn't want any more ).

Also, the mobo tray had some issues near the PCI card section. I could never get my PCI cards fully in their slots and screwed in the backplate. I could bend the tray slightly to make them fit, but it never failed to stay and I risked cards coming out of their PCI slots.

I have an early revision of the case (before the 120.3 rad version, although its easily modded to fit) and maybe these things have been addressed by now, but with a price tag of ~$350, I had little tolerance for inconveniences.

Besides that, it took up a large footprint in my dorm room, and was kinda a pain to lug around (and takes up lots of car space). You should see the looks I got when I rolled that thing through the dorm on its casters I had also added case handles to the top for easing transportation, but its still pretty unwieldly at 18"x18"x18". I couldn't bear the thought of parting with it, but 2 semesters of college change my mind.

For $350, I'd take a Lian-Li 75, 7077, or V2100 series and ~$100 any day over the cube.

EDIT: Sorry for lack of updates, been busy taking care of stuff at home. I've ordered a few more things: Matrix Orbital MX431 LCD Display, some black 3-pin fan connectors and sleeving tools from performance-pcs.

I also saw an external 320GB WD hard drive on sale for ~$200 at newegg which I had to have. I'll sell my external 250GB to my sister, she needs it Reason being, the current drive I have has lights and no power button (have to cut power to turn it off). The new one has a power button and no lights, and 70GB more space--not that I'll ever use it all but hey, my sister needed mine...

Anyway, major construction should happen next week. My girlfriend is visiting this weekend from Indiana.

Well... it's been quite awhile. Turned out to be a busy month unexpectedly with LOTS of visiting/visits from family and a trip to the wisconsin dells. I also did some wallpaper stripping/painting in the house. Today I finally blew the dust off this project this afternoon and got down to business.

On to the project: I decided I wanted an Airplex Evo 360 grill for this beast. And of course it took 2 weeks to get it since it was backordered. I also decided to get a Swiftech Storm (should be here Friday), even though I just got my Storm G4. I'll put the G4 to use elsewhere...

I masked/measured/marked where I wanted the radiator grill and fillport and busted out the Dremel. The result:



I used a Router attachement and Multipurpose cutting bit #561 for most of the straight cutting. Ditched the router attachment during the curves and sanding. Also used my Makita cordless drill and a 1" holesaw for the fillport hole. Turned out pretty well, might be a little rough around the edges in some spots, but hey, it doesn't cut me and wont show



In the above pic, you can see that I cut out the built-in exhaust fan grills as well. They were a bit too restrictive for my taste.

One of the things I wanted was to keep the top of the case useful in case somewhere down the line I decide to remove the Evo 360 grill. Cutting a rectangle in the top of the case would've proven effective for this project, but would eliminate many fan mounting options later on. So instead of the easy rectangular cut, I cut the Evo 360 design into the top of the case. Doing this leaves mounting options for fans. Some square mesh filters and Aluminum duct tape will cover the rest neatly.



Tomorrow I'll get some goodies from McMaster and I'll try to get the rad mounted. I also need to get some Silicon for the EZ inline temp probe I want.




**Mods: If these pics are too big, PM me**

Oh, man I have that exact lian li case and I'm ordering another storm for it. I'm going to blow the brains out on that lian li like you did! Awesome, that looks so freakin clean playboy. See I was afraid to chop my lian li, but damn.....that's clean!

WOW..... ..... wow....... That is the best dremeling job iv ever seen... How much do you charge to fly to chicago, and do my rig? If the answer is free, then we have a deal. BTW, I forgot where to get that grill, whats the link again?

Wwing49 said:

... BTW, I forgot where to get that grill, whats the link again?

Click to expand...

They're at SNT Systems here.

gracias