PROJECT LOG GREEN MOLECULE (modded Fractal Design ACR Mini R2)

alexciobanu · Jan 3, 2015

Case: Modded Fractal Design ARC Mini R2
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus V Gene
CPU: Intel i7 3770K
GPU: nVidia GTX 970 SLI (still need to acquire)
RAM: 4 x 4GB Corsair Dominator GTs 2133Mhz
SSD: undecided
HDD: undecided
PSU: Corsair AX860

Cables: Icemodz custom sleeved white and green cables

Radiators: Alphacool NexXxoS Full Copper Monsta 240mm, Alphacool NexXxoS Full Copper ST30 360mm
Fans: 7 x Gelid Wing Green
Pump: Swiftech MCP35X with Koolance casing and heatsink
Reservoir: Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 150 Full Acrylic
Fittings: Primochill Rigid Ghost Green fittings, various Bitspower matte black extensions and angle fittings
Tubing: Primochill Rigid Clear
CPU Block: EK-Supremacy CSQ Polished Nickel Plexi
GPU Block: 2 x EK-FC670 CSQ Nickel Acetal (reusing old blocks that will fit on some GTX 970 reference cards)
RAM Block: EK-RAM Monarch X4 CSQ Polished Nickel Plexi
Motherboard Block: EK-MOSFET ASUS M5G Acetal
SLI Bridge: EK-FC Bridge CSQ Polished Dual Parallel
Coolant: Mayhems UV Emerald Green

Lighting: DarkSide UV LED strips

Other: nVidia Claw SLI Bridge, Aquaero 5LT USB fan controller

SPONSOR

Hey guys! My name is Alex, I'm from Gold Coast, Australia and I just joined the forum.

I would like to welcome you to my new build log and what will be my second mod project.

Hope you guys enjoy the project and pop by and say hi

This build is more of an upgrade of my system in a Fractal Design ARC Mini R2 in which I will be keeping most of the components as well as adding new ones and a lot of modding work to the case and other bits

Here is the build before disassembly and before a pretty major event happened ...

Now back to the pretty major event that went down with the build. One Saturday morning a few weeks back now, while I was still enjoying my sleep my partner wakes me up telling me there is a burning smell coming from the system, me thinking she's just making fun of me as she sometimes does, I choose to ignore her :hehe: . However as she kept insisting and telling me that it's no joke I got up and went to the other room where the system was just to be greeted by this awful smell of burnt plastic and a couple of seconds later realising that the DDC pump had burned out.

The CPU was rocking 105C according to Real Temp but was still running fine. Not sure how long it's been like that, it was running the whole night as we stream movies to our bedroom from it and before I went to sleep it was fine. I immediately turned it off by just a normal shut down and there went my day as I decided to just dismantle the thing there and then.

The aftermath is shown in the following pics as I went ahead and took everything apart, cleaned it and installed the system on my desk to test everything. Fortunately everything was fine minus a burned out DDC pump . The little guy has been pumping my liquid pretty much 24 hours straight for the past two years and a bit and it decided it's had enough of the Queensland heat. Just when I was about to mount a heat sink on it along with the upgrade of the system .

And let's start straight with the dirty stuff

As you can see the little guys burned out pretty good, I doubt I can salvage it with a new PCB from that DIYINHK site that still sell them

If I'm guessing right the fluid must have been boiling around the CPU area that caused the tube to fog up as well as deform a little bit to the touch. My partner may have woken me up just in time to save it. Not sure if the system would have shut itself off after a while or if the acrylic tube would of just melted but I think I'm lucky nothing further happened.

Here's the empty case and by the looks of things something funny happened to the label on that Corsair Force GT SSD.

And everything out on the table to be cleaned and inspected

You may also spot the new side panel that I have been working on the few days prior, finished it the night before.

Here's a better look at the side panel

The plan was to have more molecules but I managed to mess up the left side of it so decided to just make the window bigger. Still think it came out pretty good in the end, minus a few painting mess ups due to an unexpected storm that occurred as the paint was drying.

These are the molecule shapes I used as I am not good at drawing things

A better look at the finished side panel as well as the very last pic of the system running

The side panel was fully crafted by me using a Dremel rotary tool, a jig saw and lots of filing

I was also playing around with this new Aquaero 5LT controller the night before. Installed the optional heatsink but didn't get to test it out.

The modding begins !!!

First I cut a small hole in the floor which I will use as a drain from the bottom outlet of the Alphacool Monsta 240mm rad that will be going in the front of the case.

Did a cut on the MB tray as well. I will be making a shroud for the bottom so I cut the bottom right corner of the MB tray as to better help with cable management at the back.

I made a small mistake here and started cutting higher that I wanted to. However it doesn't make a difference as I will be putting some white acrylic around the MB that will cover everything.

I then got the case ready for painting

In this last pic you can see how the brushed aluminum aspect of the front panel looks after painting.

Some parts will be going green while other will stay white.

The plan is to have the inside of the case white and the outside shell green like the side panel. Hopefully it will look good like I'm imagining it.

Here is the frame of the case assembled once the paint dried.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more.

Cheers,

Alex

EarthDog · Jan 3, 2015

Nice work again...I see dye still! Maybe that is what clogged the block and pump up and caused this to happen? Use colored tubing!!!

alexciobanu · Jan 3, 2015

EarthDog said:
Nice work again...I see dye still! Maybe that is what clogged the block and pump up and caused this to happen? Use colored tubing!!!

Thanks

. I have no doubt that the fluid wasn't the problem in this case. The problem was running that pump pretty much 24/7 for the past 2 years sometimes in ambient room temps of over 37C. I think it just had enough

. I will be adding a heatsink on the new one I will be using in the system. Like I said to you before in my other thread, I never had any problems with Mayhems fluids in any build, never clogged or stained anything

. I usually rebuild my systems every year so that's when I check and clean everything. Any residue that has been left on the waterblocks has easily come off with some toothpaste and brush as well as some metal polish cleaner like Brasso

EarthDog · Jan 3, 2015

You are lucky if it never clogged. General wagercooling knowledge tells one to stay away from dyes. Perhaps meyhams is different, but there are horror stories a Google away about dyes in loops.

Glad you found the magic unicorn of dyes.

alexciobanu · Jan 3, 2015

EarthDog said:
You are lucky if it never clogged. General wagercooling knowledge tells one to stay away from dyes. Perhaps meyhams is different, but there are horror stories a Google away about dyes in loops.

Glad you found the magic unicorn of dyes.

Yup I did tons of research on dyes when I first got into watercooling a few years ago and Mayhems has been the only one I've used, recommended by veterans such as TinyTomLogan and SingularityComputers, as well as most other modders using it. I did see the horror stories on Google too haha but just wanted to try it for myself and yea never had any problems

Blaylock · Jan 3, 2015

Sub'd. Look great so far.

Silver_Pharaoh · Jan 3, 2015

Sub'd This is looking gooood! :thup:

diaz · Jan 3, 2015

Subd, looking into modding my own case as well..

alexciobanu · Jan 3, 2015

Blaylock said:
Sub'd. Look great so far.

Thanks

Silver_Pharaoh said:
Sub'd This is looking gooood!

Thanks

diaz said:
Subd, looking into modding my own case as well..

Thanks

. What case are you looking to mod?

diaz · Jan 3, 2015

alexciobanu said:
Thanks . What case are you looking to mod?

Silverstone tj08-e.. have a few ideas.

alexciobanu · Jan 4, 2015

diaz said:
Silverstone tj08-e.. have a few ideas.

Pretty nice case dude. Any project log in mind? I'm keen on getting my hands on a Silverstone case for a project in the future

- - - Updated - - -

Hey guys. Here's a small update of what I've been working on for the front and top panel grills of the case

I previously painted them white, I then cut some molecule shapes out of white vinyl, though any colour could have worked. I then painted green over them and after drying I took off the vinyl stickers. Very simple do to and I'm very happy with the result.

Cheers,

Alex

mimart7 · Jan 4, 2015

Nice build :thup:

Going with team green for the gpu's is appropriate given the green theme.

Nebulous · Jan 4, 2015

Very nice indeed! :thup:

bob4933 · Jan 4, 2015

Thats pretty cool man!

Mr.DLucey · Jan 4, 2015

The vinyl stickers sure left nice sharp edges!

alexciobanu · Jan 4, 2015

mimart7 said:
Nice build Going with team green for the gpu's is appropriate given the green theme.

Thanks. Yup it is and also the fact that I have the GTX 670 waterblocks that fit on some reference 970s, going with nvidia is the obvious choice for this one. I don't mind either tho. I have an R9 290 in my other build, the Vault Boy, and I think it's an amazing card

Nebulous said:
Very nice indeed!

bob4933 said:
Thats pretty cool man!

Thanks guys

Mr.DLucey said:
The vinyl stickers sure left nice sharp edges!

Yup I was surprised it didn't leave any jaggies

. Came out pretty good

alexciobanu · Jan 8, 2015

Hey guys. I've been getting quite a few things done to the case in the past few days.

Firstly here's the case with the top and front panels finished. Pretty happy with the way they turned out.

I ended up fully stripping both side panels, including the windowed one as I was not happy with the finish. I will be painting them in the next couple of days

I also did some work on the acrylic panels that will be covering up the inside of the case in some places. It is a nice glossy white acrylic so hopefully it will show some cool reflections once the build is complete.

Here's the front bit

This will be the shroud for the bottom of the case. Hiding the PSU and also I will mount the Aquaero to the inside of it.

Cut and ready for bending, though it was getting quite late that night so I haven't bent it yet. Finger crossed it will turn out good. It will be the first time I'm bending an acrylic panel.

This is the panel for the back

Here it is cut and in place inside the case. The top right corner bit will be covered by the radiator and fans.

I decided to make two small windows to show off the SSDs on the back of the motherboard tray.

Haven't filled the cuts as again, it was getting quite late that night

Here it is on the case though

That's all for now guys.

Stay tuned for the next update.

Cheers,

Alex

alexciobanu · Jan 16, 2015

Hey guys! Here's a small update on the build.

I bent the acrylic piece for the shroud. I think it came out pretty good for my first acrylic panel bend.

Firstly here's a look at the painted rads. You'll notice on the 240 Monsta I stuck some molecule vinyl shapes and painted over to have an even look. Didn't come out as I expected thought I still like the look of it.

Here is how I paint the rads. Cover up all the fins with some painters tape and use some long screws to give me something to grab on to and flip it over so that I can do both sides at once. Another option would be to hang them, though I don't have the space for that.

Here's the case with the shroud in, although it's not secured yet, just sitting in place. Also the front rad is just sitting there so I can visualize the look of things.

I hope I won't have clearance issues with the EK-FC Bridge for the two GPU water blocks with the shroud. Might be pretty tight once the GPUs are in.

I might have something special going in the 5.25" bays. We'll have to wait and see

A look from the back and underneath the shroud. Plenty of room for cable management and I hope that once the PSU is in place the Aquaero will have some room left in there

Side panels are still not painted. It's been way to hot and humid here in Queensland to paint these past few days. I did clean them up and prepped them nicely so they are ready to paint on the next cool .. er day

A close look at the SSD windows

I think the windowed side panel will look sweet once the build is completed

That's about it. Now I need to get the motherboard in and take some measurements for the MB tray acrylic piece. Secure everything properly inside the case, get those side panels done and the case will be near completed.

Stay tuned for more.

Cheers,

Alex

Blaylock · Jan 16, 2015

I'm really liking where this build is going. That shroud look fantastic! I'll need to try this on my next build. One request, can you show how you fasten the shroud to the case? I'm curious to see how that will work out.

Keep up the great work!

alexciobanu · Jan 16, 2015

Blaylock said:
I'm really liking where this build is going. That shroud look fantastic! I'll need to try this on my next build. One request, can you show how you fasten the shroud to the case? I'm curious to see how that will work out.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks a lot mate. I will definitely show how I mount the shroud once it's done

PROJECT LOG GREEN MOLECULE (modded Fractal Design ACR Mini R2)

Member

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Member

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Member

"That Backfired" Senior Member

Likes the big ones n00b Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Dreadnought Class Senior

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

"That Backfired" Senior Member

Member

Similar threads