Project: Fush Zero - Pictoral Journal of a Complete System Mod (56k beware)

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-13-03 08:51 PM

I got some more parts for the actual computer. My ram and hard drive. Still waiting on my new CPU (Barton 2500+).

So, today I recieved my Newegg order. Which contained this guy:

Yummy.

512mb Dual Channel
Golden Emperor International Ltd
PC3500
Golden Dragon 433mhz DDR
CAS2/6-3-3 1T
With a lifetime warranty.

Ive been wanting to play with some of this stuff for a while. Costs $129 @ Newegg.

Heres some more pics of this stuff. I have to say, I was taken by how amazing these modules look. They use a WLCSP packaging for the ram chips, very tiny, dissipates heat extremely well. The PCB has a metalic gold coating, and oriental dragons adorning it. Sweet.

Front, tiny chips !

Back, soo purdy.

See that dragon design? See the eye? Its a high output Red LED. Should look kinda cool.

Backside sweetness. Oh soo cool.

These are by far the best modules aesthetically, I have ever seen. GEIL outdid themselves, hardcore.

Though, if theyre all show, no go, I will be mad (na Ill just be dissapointed). Id love to hit at least 220mhz fsb with those timmings. If I do, I will be happy. From what I can tell, the 3700 modules, are just overclocked 3500 modules. So these should have some overhead.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-13-03 08:56 PM

I also got my new hard drive for this beast:

Mean.

Its a Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA drive.

$138 @ Newegg.

Should get rid of a bottleneck that is the HD speed.

This thing is wicked fast short of SCSI drives.

Heatsinks?

Are those what I think they are? Heatsinks? On a Harddrive? Nice!

Should get toasty if they built heatsinks into the side. Also, I should mention, this thing is HEAVY! One big hunk of aluminum.

I reiterate, NICE!

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-13-03 09:07 PM

Sorry about the lack of mods tonight. Kinda busy, and I need brazing rods, schrader valves, cap tubing, ect. Its comming.

So, on the agenda:

This week I will finish the topcase. The watercooler has been leaktested for over 3 days. All the wiring and painting is done (except for the CC lights) and its primed and ready to rock. So I will be putting all of the parts in and booting her up to get some software on the machine, do any hardware debbuging that needs to be done.

Next I will be constructing the frame to the vapochill case. Cutting, scraping, flames and brazing will insue. Then I will cut apart my brand new cooling system to make it work upside down (ie- evap above compressor). Then I will design the acrylic panels for the vapo case, as well as the aluminum panels and custom fan grills.

Once that is all done, Vapo will be recharged, computer "should" be done, and overclocking will begin deep into the sunset...


One last thing, Charlie over at Liquid Thunder Creations, shot me an email, the panels are comming along well. Programming is done, hopefully the panels should be cut within a week or so. I cant wait. Soo excited.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-13-03 10:21 PM

Man those memory modules are sexy. This is going to look incredibly sweet when it is all done. I cannot wait to see the finished product, abd see how that Barton is going to overclock. Keep it up man.

Yeah, most def. Im hoping that my old 2100+ AIUHB is still good also. That one did 2.73 max and 2.61 stable at 1.85volts on an ok watercooler. If its still good I should get good results from that guy as well (cross fingers).

EDIT: I know Im overreacting, but I think these things look sweet. Somebody must have gotten a promotion over these modules over at GEIL. Id love to see every manufacturer make this kind of effort.

They even look sweet just sitting in my mobo:

Who wants yum yums?!

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-14-03 06:59 PM

I got my new CPU,

2500+ Barton Core from SVC.com.

Spent less than $100 for it. Hopefully it overclocks well.

Heres some pics of the chips I will be trying out in this system. They will both be fighting to be my final choice:

On the left, we have old trusty. My 2100+ TBredB AIUHB Week 48. Ive hit 2.73ghz max with her, so I expect good things (as long as she wasnt fried in my last system).

On the right we have the new contender, a Barton core, 2500+. Looking big and bad in his new packaging with faint tracings underneath its green skin. Also sports smaller bridges.

Has anyone ever seen this stepping before on a 2500+? Am I reading this right?

AQZEA <<---Z?, 0327TPBW.

Is this a newer or older version of this core? Dpes anyone have a AQZEA? Lemme know anything you know about this guy.

EDIT: I just did a quick Google search. Luckily I took german way back in High school, because it was mentioned on 2 german sites recently. Its a new stepping, and some mentioned it should have some potential. Yay me. Let me know if you know anything else.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-15-03 11:10 PM

I want to start doing some hardware mods to my mobo and other parts, so I figured I should pop in some hardware and test it out.

So I put in my mobo, my old cpu (which still works! dunno if it can still overclock though), my graphics card and my new ram.

Botted into bios all nice and fine.

Good. Great. Wonderfull. Mobo works, time to mod it. Though not before throwing in a CC light and taking some purdy pictures for yawls.

Initialize Purdiness();

Oh Lordy. Its like the 4th of July.

Isnt that a sweet idea? LED's on the dimms.

Also, I think those red lights look kinds cool. Through the green water it looks orange. When the system is off, the dark case looks on fire. I may have to do something to the Vapo to match the effect.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-18-03 10:50 PM

Mcmaster order never came in, so I finished the top case instead (aside the watercut panels).

Heres a little progression:

Tame that fan.

I took a 1 watt, 250ohm trimmer and soldered it inline with my 120mm radiator fan. That 1 watt is just enough to take the edge off of any noise that would come from that low noise aluminum fan.

Goop... Spotless.

I next tackled the mobo. I took off the northbridge heatsink by popping the spring clips and twisting it off. Im happy to find that Abit put quite a bit of quality thermal goop on this guy. Props to Abit.
Is that the latest revision of the northbridge chip? Anyone?

Barton gets some new threads.

Next I preped my cpu, the odd AQZEA 2500+ Barton, with some brand new Ceramique compound from Arctic Silver. This stuff is cheap, not silicone based and cleans up way better than AS3. It also performs a tad better from what I hear.

Cabley Cables.

Next I sleaved my Serial ATA cables. I plan pn using SATA for my HD and CDROM/Burner. Cleans up the wires, clean is good. Plus, Abit gave me that handy PATA - SATA converter.

Ohhh sookie.

Now shes ready to rock.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-18-03 10:56 PM

Heres the comp, all together in a sub-finished state. Good enough to boot into the BIOS and poke around. Strangely, I can get the board to recognize my SATA devices. Anybody know why? If youve got a NF7S and serial ata device, lemme know what you did.

Now for the pics:

Look at that Purdy Wiring. Almost perfect.

Wiring is pretty clean, to the point that everything will be covered nicely when the sides are on.

Yeah, I already know, a hose is kinked.
Ill be draining the system again, replacing the section, hopefully its just too short. Then Ill try out some of that orange U dye that youve all been screaming for.

Lastly, glamour shot:

Drool... and its only half done.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-19-03 10:27 PM

BTW: I was quite unsucessfull tonight, for once. Damn my arrongance. My mcmaster order came in, which conatined some very special aluminum brazing rods and flux. I was planning on brazing the aluminum for the bottom vapo case with these reather specialty expensive items. Lemme tell ya, Aluminum is still hard to bond/braze with specialty tools. I killed quite a few pieces of scrap aluminum as well as wasted alot of Mapp gas.

So, like always I have a fallback plan. Ill just use aluminum rivets to joint the bottom frame. Theyll be covered by acrylic/aluminum anyways and should be just as strong.

Props to metal workers people, aluminum is an artform.

Also, heres some pics of my naked Vapochill just after I voided my warranty. Ive got a post over at XS nailing down all the specifics of my mod before I cut into her.

Any questions? Ill be happy to oblige.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:25 AM

one word: caffine.

oh, and could you explain a little more about the vapo mod? why do you need to mod something thats going to give you temps below freezing? i know nothing of phase changing, or vapo chilling, so sue me

I just finished and im FTP'ing a load of pics, so ill answer a question while im waiting.

Well To start off with, the vapochill is manufactured to run above the computer, if youve ever seen a vapochill case, youd know how theyre oriented.

The reason for this, or because it is mounted above, there is not low spot in the return loop to the compressor. So when the evaporator (the "cold" part) is above the compressor, and the system turns off, then vapor condenses and flows back into the compressor causing starting problems (like 45 minutes to start your computer). Also, becuase I am mounting the vapochill below the computer, the flexhose needs to be lengthened to reach the cpu socket.

Lastly I am adding access valves tso I can switch refridgerants whenever I want to. Therefore I can experiment and get it colder than and running better than stock.

Also, all of these mods make me the only one with a Prommie mounted Vapochill.

Hopefully that answers your question, now to a massive post...

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:36 AM

Well to let you guys know, I have a running computer... without sides... and -- not, overclocked... . Yet!

I burned it in at stock speed with prime 95 torture and folding @ 2.06 volts for 15hours. Should be all ready for me to push the crap out of her.

OK. Now onto what I did All Day. Seriously. I thought this next part was gonna take me a couple hours. But Lo-and-Behold, I started at 4pm, ended at 2am.

Okie, I started off the vapo case frame today with some 3/4" L bars from the local Homie Depot. These will be used to create a box to enclose my phase change unit, and to give my comp case a solid support (all acrylic would not be cool with lots of weight sitting up on it, I just wouldnt trust it).

So I cut it all up into different sized section, completely random sizes!

No, not really. Kinda planned, but not.

Next I took my buddy metal file an smoothened (I think its a word) the rough ends out.

Then I fillet the ends of some of the bars. Just wait youll see...

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:41 AM

Then I carefully marked out any and all holes to be drilled or tapped. I use a center punch to mark the points. This keeps the drill point from creeping when you make your first cut.

Good tool.

Mmm Mmm, holes.

Next I used a 6-32 tap, and it came with its own drill bit (which I quickly broke in two, damn...). I tapped the holes and filled them with lovely 6-32 aluminum machine screws with panheads. Kinda industrial looking.

Frame up to now:

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:48 AM

To finish off the frame, for stability and solidity (a real word!), Ill be using my new favorite tool in the toolbox: my pop-rivet gun with 1/8" aluminum pop rivets.

Heres how they work (if you dont know). Its basiclly a rivet on a nail. You drill a hole, stick the rivet through. Then you hook the gun up to the exposed nail. When you squeeze the gun, it pulls the nail back, subsequently bringing the naill head back which speads the backend of the rivet out. After about 3 squeezes, the nail pops off at the head and your left with a tight riveted joint.

Now to assure a perfect fit, I put together, marked, took apart, drilled, sized up, put together again, checked alignment and level, took apart and re-drilled if necissary, then put back together and riveted. Time consuming.

Now heres the best way to mark metal, ever! Oh and it washes off with WD40.

Now to the riveting:

Those were perfectly squared too. Im good!

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:52 AM

Heres the finished product. Im very happy with the frame. Its homely. But like I say, "built it first, then make it pretty."

Well, I dont really say that. Though it applies. Theres alot more in store for this plain aluminum box.

Now heres the box with the Vapor cooler in it, see if you can guess why the top crossmembers are screwed in.

Its a fun game.
I won, first try.

Its a pocket sized Prommie!

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 02:55 AM

Now heres a little preview of what the final computers size/look will be, and guess why I chose this guy over a prommie. It looks slick, even half complete. Enjoy!

Final shot, folding away like usual. Ive taken a big hit this summer in folding. How do you like my background? Haha, I have a computator in my kitchen.

Im so tired. Gnite kids, well maybe in a little while Ill crash. Need to relax a bit and revel.

Questions? Comments? Donations (I would be so lucky)?

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-24-03 06:54 PM

Some shots of me starting todays work on the case.

Puff of smoke, red hot metal.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-25-03 12:21 AM

K, quick update.

I started today by adding a bottom to the vapo case. I used thin guage plate steel. The Depot was out of aluminum. So I measure thrice, cut once:

Now because its steel, it can rust. So a quick layer a clearcoat will take care of that. No oxygen, no oxydation.

Next I drilled holes, marked the frame, and drilled again.

Lastly I used my new favorite tool, and riveted the bottom to the frame.

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-25-03 12:25 AM

Im gonna be working on the vapo alot, so I seperated the vapo from its mounting plate. Started with these pain in the arse clips that hold the compressor on.

Then I popped out the push pins that hold in the condensor.

Presto chango! Sweetness...

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 08-25-03 12:30 AM

Now I need to mount the chillcontrol somewhere. This is where Id like it to go, back of the case next to the exhuast fan. Which is also near the evap opening. Easy access to power connectors.

So I was between making a bracket or just modding the stock one.

I ended up modding the origional one. Probably will skeletonize it a bit more. Make it look sweeter. Lemme know what you think. Its also riveted to the back post.

This orientation puts the computer connector in a great place to have access to the outside. Just need a passthrough in the outer panel.

More to come...

 

[Fushyuguru]

Posted on: 09-19-03 03:53 PM

Hey guys. Im back. Not with pictures yet, expect those tommorrow, . I just wanted to say, thanks for hangin on the edge of your seats all this time. School is not an easy thing, but Im all settled in and I think I have my horrible time management skills under control.

Updates:

- I havent done much since the last Post. School has eaten me alive.
- Transport Phenomena in Semiconductor Devices is an easy class.
- So is Materials.
- Calculus 3, again, is my worst subject.
- I pay ~$800 a credit hour and get a TA who just stepped off the plane from China to teach Microprocessors...
- Son of a...
- AFROTC is a **** and a half. Good thing they pick up my tab, otherwise...
- Digital Camera is Toast.
- Money is Tight.
- More funds should be arriving shortly.
- Homework is like a kick in the balls every night.
- Roomate has a badass DigiCam which I will be snagging.
- Hard-drive on my server BigFush crashed in a Raid-0 setup.
- Has taken some time to grieve and recover "some" data.
- I cry whenever someone on campus asks, "Dude, is your server back up?"
- I follow that up with a punch in the face.

So That should bring you up to speed on whats been going on and why I havent posted in a while. Kinda busy.

Also, some rules for new postings. I know we hate rules but for those following the thread know theres been alot of junk in this already "HUGE" thread. I had asked one of the awesome mods here to clean the thread up, and he took the time to do it. Lets keep the thread clean.

Please:

- Post on Releveant Topics
- Specific questions that wont benefit the entire thread, please PM me.
- No Tangents! Stay focused.

This would help out alot. I know if I had just found this thread and had to read through close to a hundred hijacks, I would lose intrest. This thread is big. Thanks for making it popular.

Expect an update (with pics!) this weekend!