Sprocket Redux

She's back.
Mostly.

This version of Sprocket was an exercise in restraint...well, for me anyway.
The goal was to fit a maximized cooling loop into a CM Stacker without
major modifications.

Define "major", please.
Fine.

In the context of this project, "major" means permanently visible holes, cuts, etc.
With the exception of the top blowhole (which Coolermaster really should have changed anyway), I wanted the case to be returnable to stock appearance/functionality.

So far, so good.

If you have never seen a Stacker case in person, trust me, it's big.
Even so I managed to cram it so full of stuff that I had to get creative with some of my component mounting in order to shoehorn everything in.
Life would be so much simpler if Windows didn't require a floppy drive to load RAID drivers....

The RAID array has finally reached it's full size...4x36GB Raptors.
A Seagate 120 GB SATA drive is for storage.
Here is a shot of the front bay of the case with all the drives in place...

...and a bench of the drives...

Frankly, I have more storage than I know what to do with, but it is very fast and snappy.

Cooling the drives is a new front bezel.
I made this from black 1/8" Plexi and it mounts 3x120mm fans which blow over the drives and into the case. The bezel also holds two Bulgin switches (reset/power) and overlays the Sunbeam fan controller so only the knobs are visible.
I'd like to replace the standard black knobs for some nice knurled silver ones, but haven't found ones I like yet.
The bezel is mounted to two pieces of angled aluminum (visible in the HDD pic) whose mounting holes are completely invisible should the case return to stock.
This is a shot of the test fit (actually, the ten millionth test fit...)...

The button head allen screws have all since been painted black to lessen the visual clutter.

I upgraded my northbridge motherboard fan from an 80mm to a 120mm. The DFI (like most nForce4 boards) suffers from terrible placement of the northbridge and can use all the help it can get. Also visible here is the access hole for the CPU socket- heatsinks/waterblocks can be swapped without motherboard removal.

The reservoir has moved to the case roof (the tophat looking thingie) and is the only permanent,visible mod to the case exterior. Should the rez be removed the leftover mounting holes accomodate a 120mm fan or grill- which Coolermaster should have incorporated to begin with.

Sprocket is up and running right now and initial results look good...mostly.
CPU temps are slightly better than the Big Typhoon HSF, but this chip has always run very cool anyway, so I didn't expect much difference.
The GPU temp has dropped a lot...the Swiftech MCW50 and the copper ramsinks are really outperforming the DangerDen NV-68 block I used before.

Sadly, the northbridge temp has remained the same.
How come?
I have replaced my previous passive sink/active mobotray fan with a Vantec Iceberg4 (all copper) and upped the backboard fan to 120mm, so why the crap results?
Turns out, the 120mm fan is dead.
I should have tested it, but I didn't.
The motherboard has to come out to replace it.
Which means just about everything else has to come out first.

*sigh*

Looking on the bright side, this will allow me to make some much needed improvements to my wiring, but it's still a royal pain.


More to come...


Edit:
Mini-stress test- Prime 95 for one hour...

Well, Sprocket and I got tired of waiting for Richard Avedon to arrive so I took the pictures.
As usual, they are crap, but we'll have to make do.

The front bezel...

From the top we have:
-four black knobs from the Sunbeam fan controller (the only unit worth a tinker's damn, IMO)
-Two Bulgin anti-vandal switches (red is power /on and blue is reset/ HDD activity)
-three 120mm Aerocool "turbine" fans (mediocre fans in fact, but silent and exactly the look I wanted...actually they inspired this whole endevour)
-Plextor 716SA DVD-RW (with an alloy Coolermaster faceplate)

Next, a side view...

Here you see the beauty (i.e., "coverup") panels in place.
Personally I find the motherboard area to be the only visually interesting part of a PC's guts, everything else being boxey and strewn with wires, so I made up some plexi panels and bolted them into the chassis (Coolermaster has literally riddled the Stacker with very nice threaded inserts- if you want to screw something in, chances are CM put an insert right where you need it).
The main reason for the panels is to cover up the unsightly wiring.
The Seasonic S12-600w is an excellent PSU but has the absolute worst rat's nest wiring I've ever encountered. The lines are either too short (ATX) or too long and the connector spacing is weird. Definitely a candidate for major surgery of the harness.
Which I shall do as the chassis gets powdercoated.

Now the waterloop...

Many new components this go-round...
-CPU block is a Swiftech Storm G5.

-Radiator/shroud/fans are a Weapon 342 kit which lays on the casefloor over the good sized vent hole Coolermaster thoughtfully provided. The plexi floor plate to which the radiator is affixed rests on 1/2" rubber weatherseal to raise the face of the rad off the intake opening for better flow (the floor hole is about 1" too narrow along each side of the radiator length but I didn't want to cut it open). This rad is single pass which places the barbs at opposite ends of the unit which cuts down on the amount of tubing used a good bit. Shorter, oddly enough, in this case is better....

-GPU is now covered with a Swiftech MCW50 which seems to work very well.
The odd "press fit" barbs give me the creeps, but no leaks yet.

-Pump is the same Polarflow unit I had before and is mounted directly to the radiator inlet..out of sight, unfortunately.

A slightly different shot...

Depending on how she looks with the interior black, most of the plexi panels will probably disappear (not the main bay mount panel though..I quite like that one), but I'll see when I get there.
I'm hoping to time the powdercoating process (@ one week turnaround) with the arrival of the new DFI Expert motherboard...I may add the nothbridge into the waterloop and that way I can keep downtime to a minimum (teardown on Sprocket is a *****...).

As per usual she's a work in progress.

Edit: A bit of performance data...

awsome. The front reminds me of the ThermalRock case. eh he.

That's cruel.
But I do see the resemblance.

Fortunately my front bezel is functional...the drives are running near room ambient.

Dude, I got to tell ya. That is one awesome job. Very, Very impressive!

nice looking build, I am thinking about getting me a stacker over break and was wondering how many bays the 2-302 takes up if put upright into the drive-bays. starting at the bottom-most bay, is it 6 or 7 with the tanks ? Thing is, I want to keep the original power / reset switch with the case, add one DVD drive, a fan controller and the 4-3 HDD module that comes with the case.
I would really appreciate it of you could see of the single pass core you have will fit into 6 bays up front, and if you have one laying around see if a double pass could fit in 6 bays.

SenC.

Senator,
When I get home tonight I can take a shot of the latest layout (Weapon 302 in front bays...which will be different by this weekend- got a BIX3 on the way for Sprocket) and you can see.
I doubt you'll be able to get all those components in there, almost certainly the CM HDD cage will not fit.

My single pass Weaopn 342 core is too wide to fit in the bays. The 302 is a close fit but do-able.

I'll let you know.

that is absolutely awesome clocker mate - wev come a long way since our xaser days aint we buddy? seeing what youve done with her really makes me wish id gone with the stacker instead of the v2000 im in now.....i need to take pics of my new WC setup to show you

i love the beauty panels hiding wiring is good!

Thanks Vry...we certainly have progressed a bit.
Sprocket doesn't even look like this any more and is scheduled for another upgrade this weekend.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

That looks great. How do these fans perform? I'm also interested in case airflow this case allows.

any updates clocker?

The BIX3 that I was planning on putting in this weekend has arrived damaged and I am trying to resolve the matter with the seller (from our Classifieds).
Not sure what is going to happen now.
Without the rad, there is no point in stripping down the loop (I also have two new D-tek blocks to try), so I'm at an impasse for now....

Ouch, sorry to hear about the rad Clocker.

clocker2 said:

The Seasonic S12-600w is an excellent PSU but has the absolute worst rat's nest wiring I've ever encountered. The lines are either too short (ATX) or too long and the connector spacing is weird. Definitely a candidate for major surgery of the harness.

Click to expand...

Amen to that! Though I dont really want to go hacking up my PSU wires, despite really wanting to. I hate wires mess, you dont mind if I go use your plexipanel idea do you? lolm (but seriously)

How did you mount your drives like that, I really want to with my Stacker. Could you see a way of mounting the fans at the front before modding the bezel? (ie if I continue to use the origianl bezel, which i like the look off)

Sorry if this doesnt directly concern your project.

Hey clocker how about that shot of the weapon shroud/core in there. it would really help me out as I had to eye everything so far (no access to any stackers locally)
So far, I have eyed the core to take up 6 full bays from the very bottom up. which theoretically should leave 3 for the HDD module, 1 for the DVD-RW and one for my Rheo ( I am ounting the USB/PWR module as an extra). Am I incorrect? please help me out. If it dont fit, I wont upgrade.
thanks,

SenC

whitebloodcell said:

Amen to that! Though I dont really want to go hacking up my PSU wires, despite really wanting to. I hate wires mess, you dont mind if I go use your plexipanel idea do you? lolm (but seriously)
Of course not.
I would be flattered if I considered the concept mine, but of course it isn't.

How did you mount your drives like that, I really want to with my Stacker. Could you see a way of mounting the fans at the front before modding the bezel? (ie if I continue to use the origianl bezel, which i like the look off)
The drive mounts are just adaptors purchased from CompUSA. In order to move them back far enough to clear the fans I simply redrilled the holes in the bay-sides.
Now the fan(s) are just held in place with foam strips and I'm using the stock mesh bay covers also.

Sorry if this doesnt directly concern your project.

Click to expand...

Alchemy1 said:

Ouch, sorry to hear about the rad Clocker.

Click to expand...

We're in communication and I'm sure it will all work out.
In semi-despair early this AM I just went ahead and ordered a new Thermochill PA-120.3 which will be here early next week anyway.
One way or the other Sprocket gets a face lift soon.

@Senator:
I'll try, really, to get home early enough to take some pictures for you.
You just need shots of the front with the bezel/baycovers removed?

that will, and maybe a side shot. But key here is that the Weapon core ha to be in it.
thanks mate.

Terrible shot, but there you have it.
The Weapon 302 takes seven bays.

thanks mate, really appreciated