Extreme Mhz

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 4:54 pm Post subject: Flagship Case Worklog

We at Extreme Mhz wanted to officially launch this site by designing a flagship case that would blend functionality, style, and aesthetics. To this end we embarked on a three month project to create a custom case that would incorporate the latest modding and water cooling techniques to the best of our abilities.

Some of what you will see is tried and true. Some of what you will see is new and innovative. Hopefully everything you see will be thought provoking. You are encouraged to freely comment, make suggestions, offer criticism, and share ideas as we all learn together.

This is our work log. When the project is finally completed there will be a complete article on the home page.

The best of luck to all on your unique journeys.

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 5:12 pm Post subject:

In order to incorporate a great storage subsystem, multimedia, water cooling, and dual CPU’s we knew that we needed a large case. There was nothing available that met our exact needs so we turned to a custom case fabricator. To showcase our efforts we decided on an acrylic case design.

Some of the key specs are as follows:
• Interior dimensions: 14”x18”x36” (WxLxH)
• 10 - 5.25” exposed drive bays
• 3/8” cast cell acrylic
• 2 – 120mm fan intakes on front panel/1 – 120mm exhaust on top panel (blow hole)/2 – 120mm fan holes on back panel for radiator cooling
• ATX form factor; capable of accommodating the largest motherboards
• Removable motherboard tray
• Removable front and side panels

Here are some pictures of the case:

Front View

Back View

Close up of Front Panel Intake Holes

Close up of back panel I/O and PCI slot openings

Top View

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 5:36 pm Post subject: Water Cooling Subsystem

The water cooling subsystem would be comprised of a pump, radiator (with acrylic shroud), air trap, 2 CPU water blocks, and a chipset water block-all ½”.

The radiator:
• Originally manufactured as a motor sport “competition cooler coil”
• Designed to cool a 600 HP vehicle
• Provides high BTU transfer with minimal amount of resistance to high volume flow
• Provides maximum cooling in low air flow environments
• Headered style cooler featuring 5/8" copper tubes with turbulators, copper headers and cooling fins
• ½” fittings
• Overall dimensions: 20”x10”x1.5”

The shroud:

Here we see the shroud fitted over the radiator

The pump:

• Manufactured with noryl housings and impeller, titanium rotor and separating wall, ceramic bearing ball, carbon graphite bearing cap and EPDM o-ring.
• Energy efficient (rated at 1.3 amps) and ultra-quiet (less than 30 db).
• Features “Dry Run Cutout” with thermal switch for added safety.
• Rated for temperatures to 140° F and line pressures to 50 psi
• Back pressure management:
o 1000 GPH @ 0’ head
o 800 GPH @ 3’ head
o 240 GPH @24’ head
• Dimensions: 5”x6”x3.5”

Fill and discharge assembly:

Pump with fill/discharge assemble:

The air trap:

• The acrylic tube used is 1.5” OD/1.25” ID
• The overall height (with fittings) is 22”

Here we see the completed air trap with mounting clips

The blocks:

• Manufactured by Danger Den
• CPU water blocks are the Maze 1
• The CPU blocks and the Chipset block use ½” fittings

These can be viewed at www.dangerden.com

Miscellaneous:

Tygon Tubing: Formulation 3603

Assorted fittings, screws, and cement used:

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 5:50 pm Post subject: Components used

Here we wanted to start showing some of the components that will be used in this project:

The motherboard is an Iwill MPX2 which will host 2 AMD 2100+ MPs

The package contents...a bit on the sparse side

The Northbridge heatsink was removed

A view of the motherboard with the water blocks attached

Different angle

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 5:56 pm Post subject:

The CPUs that will be used are 2100+ MPs coupled with Corsair 3200 memory. I will post pictures when they are received (any day now).

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 6:10 pm Post subject: Storage

The storage subsystem is driven by an LSI Logic SCSI Raid dual channel controller. The Megaraid Elite 1600 Ultra160 SCSI RAID card with 64-bit/66MHz performance. The card has been upgraded to its maximum of 128 MB of ram.

A small lasagna cooling fan was installed to assist in cooling the card’s chip.

The drives being used are Seagate Cheetah X15’s. The specs are as follows:
• Seagate Model ST318452LW, 15,000 RPM, 68 pin Ultra 160 SCSI 18Gb Hard Disk
• Seek Time 3.6 ms average
• Interfact Ultra 160

These drives get very hot so the Coolermaster drive bay cooler was used to assist in cooling. The bay cooler’s design also dampens noise to the point where sound emanating from the hard drives is imperceptible.

For file storage; video, music etc. A Western Digital 7200 rpm (20G) drive was used. This drive has a cool but utterly useless (as far as functionality is concerned) mod.

Oh the things I have to do for you people

Of course the obligatory LED was added

Testing the drive in a Noblesse case (we will be scheduling a review on this case shortly)

Working great...so far...LOL

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 7:04 pm Post subject: Components..continued

It was decided early on that the theme we were going to employ was that of a custom acrylic case with polished (mirror finish) black components. Some red accents were going to be used for contrast. The case lighting was also going to be red. Lighting for monitoring and control would be blue.

• Other drives: Plextor CD-RW, a Kenwood Truex 72X CD, and a Pioneer DVD player.

Here is an example of how we modded the drives. Shown is the Kenwood Truex 72X CD rom drive.

This is what we started with

We started by painting the tray

Then we moved on to some dremel bebauchery

Subsequently (over the course of 2 weeks) the drive plates were primed, sanded, painted, sanded, painted again, wet sanded, painted and wet sanded 3 more times, clear coated 3 times, wet sanded (my hands are raw), polished, and waxed.
Then we added some molding

Can't forget the LED...there's a 540 ohm resistor in there somewhere

The LED is installed in the drive

Completed product with glass window installed

Do the same thing again for the other drives...sigh

43 year old men should not be doing this...Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 7:10 pm Post subject: components...continued

• Rheobus

We opted for knobs that would be in keeping with the overall theme-black with a high gloss finish

Here we see the rheobus mounted in the case (this is still in the dry fit stage)

• Matrix Orbital VFD

As you can tell by the picture above, we have mounted a VFD (similar to an LCD except it is able to perform within a wider range of temperatures, but more importantly it is considerable brighter than a LCD).

The model we chose was a 4 line VFD

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 8:34 pm Post subject: Dry fitting the components

The pictures below show the case being dry fitted with different components. In this phase we tested the following:
• Component placement
• Cabling requirements
• Water cooling equipment placement
• Tubing requirements etc…

In this picture you will notice that the PSU's casing has been removed. It will be featured this way in the case.
Please...I am an electrical engineer by profession...no comments on accidentally discharging the capacitor...no comments on
EMI shielding for that matter

Here comes the big picture...

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2002 8:46 pm Post subject: Recap

OK guys here is where we are at:

I will be updating this worklog daily (except weekends) until the project is completed...approximately within the next 2 weeks.

At that time we will post an article on the home page with pictures of the completed project (I promise they will not have finger prints or smudges). More importantly, we will analyze and discuss performance data, share benchmarks, and discuss some how to's, tips, as well as reach some overall conclusions.

I invite and challenge all of you to freely exchange ideas with us and each other. Critiques (even criticism) are welcome...despite my intemperate comments from the previous post. Let's all have fun and learn somethings along the way...

Cheers!

hmale · Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2002 8:44 pm Post subject: Temperature monitoring

Today I would like to show how it is we are going to be monitoring temperatures.

The cooling circuit is designed as follows:
pump-->CPU1-->CPU2-->chipset block-->radiator-->airtrap-->pump

The critical water temperatures we would like to capture are:
1. The temperature of the water at the pump outlet which equals the temperature of the water entering CPU1.
2. The temperature of the water exiting CPU1 and entering CPU2.
3. The temperature of the water exiting CPU2 and entering the chipset block.
4. The temperature of the water exiting the chip set block and entering the radiator.
5. The temperature of the water exiting the radiator and entering the air trap.

In addition we would like to moitor temperatures at the bottom of the case, the top of the case, as well as the temperature between the radiator and it's shroud.

We also need to capture and monitor temperatures aof each CPU.

A compunurse with 2 LED displays will monitor the temperatures of each CPU respectively.

What we want to focus on today is the use of a Digi-Doc to montitor the other temperatures.

Due to the size of the case the Digi-Doc's leads had to be lengthened considerably

In order to read the temperature of the water the Digi-Doc's thermisters were replaced with a smaller glass bulb encapsulated ones. The new thermisters were then inserted into holes that were drilled into the fittings that were going to be used. The holes were then sealed with multiple layers of marine goop to ensure a good seal.

Here is an example of a thermister inserted into an elbow fitting

In these pictures you can see a thermister inserted into the pump outlet fitting

In these pictures you can see a thermister inserted in an end cap fitting

Besides extending the leads and changing the thermisters, the Digi-Doc was painted to a mirror finish just as the other drives were.

hmale · Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2002 6:44 pm Post subject:

Here is an excellent picture of a thermister inserted in one of the elbow fittings...

Cheers!

Viva · Guppy Joined: 02 Aug 2002 Posts: 1 Location: Coventry, UK

That is simply stunning

hassi · Guppy Joined: 04 Aug 2002 Posts: 1

I have two questions.

first, why did you chose to not use a water container? Obviously it's not because of lack of space, and even just a gallon of water would take many hours to heat up.

second, how loud is this thing? 120mm fans and a "ultra quiet" 30 db pump will probably be rather loud.

If you included a water container that I didn't see (or added after the photo was taken) or have some method to silent the fans and pump please ignore this post.

pookieguy · Extreme Member! Joined: 24 Jul 2002 Posts: 11

hassi,
regarding noise.
120mm fans are less noisy than smaller fans like an 80mm or even a 92mm fan. They spin at a lower rpm thus producing less noise then smaller fans.

I'm not sure if your familiar with the noise levels of PC fans?
The pump is rated 30db. To give you an idea of just how quiet the pump is, the pump will generate noise equivalent to that of a medium-speed 80mm fan. This is unbelievably low considering the size and specs of this pump.

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