PROJECT LOG The Powerful Pretty Pink Processor (aka, "The PPPP")

[cpachris]

Radiator cabling work last night. This finishes up all the fans!


I start with doing a rough layout of how the wires should connect. Then I strip insulation at each "join" point, and open up the middle of the wire and wrap the joining wire around it.....









Then each join gets some solder. I'm notoriously bad with the solder iron....but have improved somewhat from my last build....












Then each solder join needs protection so it won't be touching the other wires underneath the sleeve. I use this tiny little heatshrink from Bitspower that barely goes over the cable. Very tight fit. I forget exactly what size this was....









But here it is compared with some normal heatshrink. You can see it's much smaller.









Here's what it looks like once it's shrunk on the wire....









Couldn't resist a shot of a perfectly crimped Lutro0 male fan pin on the Lutro0 wire with the Lutro0 crimper. His tools really work well together.









Skipped a few picture opportunities along the way....but here is the finished radiator cabling. This is the front flex bay area 240. Minimal wiring. Nice and clean.


















Ready to move on to the pumps!

 

[cpachris]

Time to finish up showing the Aquaero's in the build. I already showed the back of the Aquaero 6 in the build, and the black waterblock, and all the wiring work I've done, but I haven't shown the 2nd Aquaero 5 LT that I'm running....









I'm going to use these in master/slave mode, instead of running them independently like I did in the BBBB. Mounting this second one became more of a challenge, since I'm completely out of flex bay slots already. It was going to require a little creativity. So....I got my drill....









....and some more of my FAB-U-LOUS tape, and stuck this controller right above the PSU on the back panel of the case. It tucks away pretty nicely there....









BOOM!












This is what the front of the case looks like, without the panel, but with all of the faceplates (Lamptron, Aquaero and card reader) powder coated in the same pink as the rest of the case. BOOM!












....and with the panel on. BOOM!









In this shot of the back of the case, you can see the 4 screws above the PSU that are holding the Aquaero to the back panel. Some standoffs on the other side of the back panel create plenty of space between the AQ and the panel.









I'm not usually a fan of pass through cables....but I actually really like the way these came out. The cables are clean and sleeved, and the pass through bracket itself blends right in with the powder coat treatment that CaseLabs gave it for me. This build will not be in a spot where it will be handy to access the back panel, so it was important to me to bring as many USB ports to the front as I could....









Just got another nice size package from ASUS also! Can't wait to get it out and play with it. More soon!

 

[Moonters]

I am in awe of your wire skills. I'm paying close attention and might actually make an attempt myself. The pass through cable did come out nice, but I still wish they plugged in to a motherboard usb header. I'm not a fan of usb hubs and that takes up space I could be plugging in rudder pedals and plasma balls

 

[Hanoverfist]

I know I have seen this somewhere Before? Good stuff Chris!

 

[cpachris]

I'm not a fan of usb hubs and that takes up space I could be plugging in rudder pedals and plasma balls

Um...I....ah.....er....... what?

I know I have seen this somewhere Before? Good stuff Chris!

A man with many forums is a man indeed.

 

[cpachris]

Last night I parked myself in front of the TV with Game of Thrones playing, lots of sandpaper close by, all my waterblocks and pump tops, and some water and towels. Just a normal Sunday night, right?


The kind folks at EK have equipped me well. But I'm itching to polish up these blocks before I put them on. So I gathered them all together....









Started with some 320 grit. Wet sanding....









The pump tops are such large and thick pieces of acrylic, that I really wanted to start with them first. Out of the box they were pretty clear and smooth on top.....but were still kind of frosted on the sides, and had lots of machining marks on the underside. I used a heat gun to warm up the glue under the EK badge, and lifted that off.


After the first pass with 320, they looked frosted all over...









Next....600....









Frosted......but smoother.









Then 1200.....









Even smoother....









Then 2000....









Even smoother....









Then comes the plastic polish....









BOOM! After you get to this step....the blocks just gleam. Like a solid chunk of highly polished glass. These pictures don't' even really do them justice, since I have such poor lighting down here. I'll get them up in the studio with some pink coolant next.....but I'm pumped with how they came out.
















These are going to look amazing stacked on top of each other in the 3d printed pump stand. More soon!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

.....but I'm pumped with how they came out.

Pun intended?

 

[cpachris]

Pun intended?

If only I were that clever....



- - - Updated - - -

Couple of quick pics on polishing progress before I head to the Pearl Jam concert tonight. Looking forward to it. With Eddie Vedder, ....you're never quite sure exactly what he's saying....but you know it must be important.


Worked on the GPU's and CPU yesterday. And yes....that means more GoT. Not enough of the dragon girl in the last episode. She's my favorite. Anyway....here is what the block looked like to start...









Disassembled it....









This is a before polish picture. The face of the block was already very smooth. But you see all those machining marks in the water channel? Those have to go....









....and.....they're gone.









The CPU block came out like glass. Crystal clear. The Supremacy EVO is an amazing looking block. The design of it is really nice also. I polished up the plastic innards also.












These are going to look AMAZING with the pink coolant. Soon. Very soon.


Now....I'm off to hear Eddie mumble.....

 

[cpachris]

Got the board blocked up. BOOM!









She's a pretty lil' lthing. Pretty and powerful. And Pink. And it processes. Yeah.









I wanted to keep the I/O cover....cuz it looks boss. So I dremelled off the pipe that led to it from the VRM Heatsink.









Man....EK blocks really dress up a board.....









Love this shot.....









The EK Supremacy EVO. This block is what had the black van outside my house for days while it was still under NDA.









Mmmmmm....the southbridge block for the RIVE BE is sexy.....












Sponsor shot! ASUS, EK and Corsair all well represented in this shot. Thanks for the support guys!












Got some more pictures coming soon......having some fun with the EK Nickel.

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Damn that looks good. Wish I could get me some sponsors lol

 

[cpachris]

Damn that looks good. Wish I could get me some sponsors lol

Glad to offer tips for a fellow Okie.

Do a build yourself first, and make a build-log. Include as much nice photography as you can. Then when you're ready for your next build, start emailing sponsors with your ideas for the upcoming build, and asking for support. Point them to the prior build log to show your skills off. Some sponsorships are tougher to get than others....but there are companies out there that are just looking for the next cool build to sponsor. I ended up with more than $8k retail worth of stuff sponsored for this build.

Now....go celebrate with a burger in Meers.

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Glad to offer tips for a fellow Okie.

Do a build yourself first, and make a build-log. Include as much nice photography as you can. Then when you're ready for your next build, start emailing sponsors with your ideas for the upcoming build, and asking for support. Point them to the prior build log to show your skills off. Some sponsorships are tougher to get than others....but there are companies out there that are just looking for the next cool build to sponsor. I ended up with more than $8k retail worth of stuff sponsored for this build.

Now....go celebrate with a burger in Meers.

lol didn't notice you were in Edmond. Thats awesome. I may have to go and change up my little build thread a little bit and see if I can get anything.

 

[cpachris]

EK Clean CSQ waterblocks look great in nickel......

 

[ATMINSIDE]

 

[cpachris]

Got the EK blocks on the ASUS DirectCUII 780Ti's!









ASUS + EK = <3












The EK backplates are also sexy as hell....and fit my theme perfectly....









Again I say......ASUS + EK = <3









The board is starting to take shape. It will be processing the latest Pinterest pins before you know it....





















I swapped out the black terminals for some of the new'ish clear terminals. They look amazing and I can't wait to see some pink fluid flowing through here....














Still lovin' my custom black and pink Dominator Plats....












With the cards in slots #1 and #5 positions, you can still get a great view of the southbridge block right between the GPU's.















More soon!

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Love this build already man. Would love to do one of this caliber.

 

[bamato]

"MMmmmmmmmmm, polished acrylic water blocks...."

 

[cpachris]

Fitting shots are almost obligatory these days.....so here goes....









Probably a good time to thank EK again for being such a fantastic supporter of this build. Blocks, rads, pumps, pumptops, tubing, fittings, backplates......EK has been a great partner. Thanks!









Crazy kitty.....









I fell in love with these EK fittings back when PCModderMike used these in his last build. I just think they are fantastic looking fittings...and a refreshing change from the usual.....









B-Neg's latest photo set inspired me to see if I could put a little color of my own in the fittings. On my first couple of attempts (the 45 degree fittings) I was using an exacto knife to scrape paint remants off the fitting. You can see the scratches this left. My last attempt was the 90 degree fitting shown below....and it was virtually scratch free. For this one, I just painted a glob of paint into the recessed logo....and then used a straight block of wood to scrape across the top of the fittings....leaving a pool of the paint inside the fittings. I let this dry and then q-tipped the paint that was left on the face of the fitting with some acetone.


I think I could do the remainder of them, if I choose, with this method and no scratches.


















What do you guys think? Make the logos pink? Or leave them black? Or randomly do just some of them for a touch of pink....

 

[rayraysfunhouse]

Makes them stick out a little bit with them pink. Goes with the build

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Definitely go pink on the fittings