[Foreword]
So this project came as a surprise to me a few weeks ago. My Girlfriend bought me a Hex Gear T shirt some months back (Awesome right?) and it turns out she also won the recent giveaway raffle for an R40 too! She kept as it as a surprise and told me some random eBay delivery was coming one day. The aim of the build is to demo what the case can achieve with no major modifications. For this build I will be using my preferred choice of angled fittings rather than bending tubes. I've done a fair few builds, both styles and this is what I feel is the right choice this time.
As the build came as a surprise I didn't have as much time as I normally do to prepare. I began searching for a mATX motherboard to complement the R40. Having recently finished two Red, Black and white systems I opted for something different. I stumbled across the Gigabyte M5 and knew that was the board I needed, sadly due to it's age I had no luck sourcing one. Thankfully a good friend of mine had one sat idle, and sent it over to me (Thanks Mike!)
In the future I may revisit this case as I have some other mods planned, such as ATX motherboard support. So the name project Yoshi, I must confess the names of my builds either mean something of significance or not, in this case not really. So why Yoshi? heh, my son recently took a liking to all things Mario, and I just happened to see Yoshi in the corner of my eye.
[FAQ]
What case is it?
It's the HEX Gear R40, a recently released mATX flat packed unique case, now retailing from the UK
Why use angled fittings rather than bending PETG?
A few reasons.. First I had many spares from past projects, second I like the look they give rather than bent tubes, and finally they help to control the amount of liquid visible. Im going for a simple black, white and hint of green scheme.
What Colour is the Liquid
Is a custom made batch. Started with Mayhems Pastel White, added UV green and Laser Green. I wanted something as close as I could to match the green around the PCIe and DIMM slots, but added some uv to produce something with more eye candy.
Why Slim rads?
Just a personal choice for this build, not a limit of the case. The top and bottom plates of the R40 are interchangeable. So you can have either a 240mm and PSU or 360mm in the roof. The top and bottom of the case has chambers for either fans or rads on the outside too, depending on how you set it up. The 240mm slim in the roof allows me to use push/pull or grants me extra viewing room around the components. You can use thicker rads in the R40
[Current Progress]
Before we jump into the log I want to share the current progress shot - 28/07/15.
- Case: HEX GEAR R40
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Sniper M5 (mATX)
- CPU: TBA
- GPU: MSI R9 270X
- RAM: 2x 4GB Kingston HyperX Beast 2400Mhz
- SSD: TBA
- HDD: TBC
- PSU:Bitfenix Fury 750G with custom sleeved cables
- Radiator 1: DarkSide - Dual LP240 Extra Slim Radiator
- Radiator 2: DarkSide - Dual LP360 Extra Slim Radiator
- Fans: NoiseBlocker 120mm
- Pump: XSPC D5
- Reservoir: EK-XRES D5
- Fittings: Bitspower Multi Links + few misc for fill/drain
- Tubing: PETG tubing clear
- CPU Block: XSPC RayStorm
- RAM Block: XSPC
- GPU Block: Alphacool GPX M05 270 MSI 270X
- Lighting: TBA
- Sleeving: Telios Self Sleeved
- Other: E22 FG01 Fan grilles 1x240, 1x 360. C
Right then, we'll start with a quick look at the actual build process of the R40, as it comes flat packed and takes little to time assemble
[
]
The whole process is extremely easy and takes no time at all. An interesting aspect of the case is the ability to swap to the top and floor plates around. The reason being is that one supports a 360mm radiator and the other a 240mm radiator and the PSU. it really is child plays, hence my 4 year old son helping out
The board is stunning, let's hope we see more like it soon from Gigabyte!
]
Now I had some XSPC parts spare for this build, and I was delighted to see that XSPC also produced a motherboard block too, so I ordered it from OverclockersUK
image upload no compression
[Test fitting the parts ]
[Tubing MOCK UP]
The real challenge was to pipe up every block but keep a sleek a minimal look. I've tried a few different combinations and it's still work in progress at the moment
I was a few fittings short and looked at my options, sadly the BP fittings I have here are not so easy to locate in the UK and could not find any stock , so picked up some similar style ones.
I was then able to link all the blocks and experiment with the tube run, this is where I am at currently
I still need to tweak and re-align the pump, so the tube from the res to 240mm rad will straighten out
Sleeving and liquid to follow
Thanks for reading
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