cool copper

[frogrod]

since i was in high school i had the urge to build a case from copper. i thought i would make a kick ass water cooled case. the road block i reached was monetary and since i graduated and found a job that isn't a problem. i have started to gather materials for the project and did some odds and ends. I’m waiting on Saturday to check out the plumbing supply store and Friday to order the copper panels I need.

the copper plate i'll be using will be 14gauge and 2'x2'
the copper pipe is 1/2 inch

Here are some picks of the materials I bought as samples

the textured copper plate is very thin i won't be usable for the case other than maybe decoration.
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0173.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0175.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0176.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0178.jpg

i made the handles and the feet for the case. i have to wait till Saturday to go to the plumbing store to see if they have a particular fitting. until then i'm stuck.
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0186.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0188.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0189.jpg

and the tools used so far
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part1/IMG_0192.jpg

any questions email frogrod@gmail.com or post

[SgtM]

Welcome to TBCS! Sounds like a fun project. Have some rep on me.

[frogrod]

Welcome to TBCS! Sounds like a fun project. Have some rep on me.

the welcome mat was out, i couldn't resist and I'll take that rep on the rocks.

[Luke122]

I think a copper case would look hella cool... just gotta watch those fingerprints!

+rep from me too!

[Mach]

:banana: Suh-weet, what are those? Wall tiles? I can't wait to see where you go with this. +Rep

[Zephik]

Very cool, I've thought about building a case made completely out of copper before. Never had the plans to do it though, just a couple dreams and plenty of ideas, mostly unrealistic of course lol. But thats pretty cool that your going for it!

Might be kind of unique to run the water cooling loop through those handles, maybe not practical, but its what I thought when I first looked at them. Is your water cooling going to be all copper too or are you going to go with the standard water cooling method with pvc tubing? Obviously, the blocks with be copper, at least partially anyways. Plan to make those or buy them? I'd rather see some professional blocks, they just seem to always end up looking nicer and performing better in my opinion.

What are you going to use that patterned copper for? Side panels and whatnots? That would look crazy! ...in a good way!

Good luck on this project! Looks like it will be pretty "cool". -_^

-Zephik

I'll +rep you later, seems like your getting quite a bit at the moment. Show me something cool and I'll give you a good, steaming pile of +rep. :)

[frogrod]

I think a copper case would look hella cool... just gotta watch those fingerprints!

+rep from me too!

the final case would be sanded and clear coated.


their will be more copper appearing soon i need about 20 more feet. i'm gonna try and use all the copper tubing to circulate water, including the handles.

the patterned copper cant' be used for side panels because it's too soft. the copper panels are .062'' while patterned stuff is .02'', i can easily bend it with my hands.

[Zephik]

the patterned copper cant' be used for side panels because it's too soft. the copper panels are .062'' while patterned stuff is .02'', i can easily bend it with my hands.

True, that wouldn't be very good for making side panels out of at all. But, if you were to use it as a layer I think it would work nicely. It's too thin as it is, but it should be fine if you bolt it onto a thicker piece of whatever material you want to use for your side panels. Maybe copper, but aluminum would be cheaper and it would be still good for heat transfer.

It would look pretty sick if you were to use it for layering on drive bay covers for stealthed drives.

Well enough of me talking, I'm sure you know what you want and what your gonna do, just thought I'd throw in some of my ideas and opinions and whatnots, just in case it somehow sparked an idea for you. ^_^

-Zephik

oh yea, I was going to ask, where did you get the patterned copper and how much was it? I can think of tons of applications to use that on! Like on a HDD or something like that. Hmmm, that might trap in heat more than release it though. Worth looking into at least, if only for the cool look it would give things.

[frogrod]

oh yea, I was going to ask, where did you get the patterned copper and how much was it? I can think of tons of applications to use that on! Like on a HDD or something like that. Hmmm, that might trap in heat more than release it though. Worth looking into at least, if only for the cool look it would give things.

i got the first samples from storm copper store. they have more patterns but it's really expensive. a 1'x1' panel it is 45. their regular copper is just as expensive.
storm copper (http://store.electrical-insulators-and-copper-ground-bars.com/)

i have found a local supplier for plate copper for half the price.


:banana: Suh-weet, what are those? Wall tiles? I can't wait to see where you go with this. +Rep
don't think they have any particular use they look snazy on pretty much anything.

[The boy 4rm oz]

This looks interesting, you could make the whole case act as a heatsink like those hell expensive Zalman cases.

[xRyokenx]

I actually saw a quote on Bash about a copper case, I'd recommend just painting it copper and being quite careful with where you put metallic things. The quote on Bash was basically about how the kid got this case and had his dad coat it in copper, and he went to turn it on and it blew out the fusebox in the house and damaged a few things, lol. Just wanting to avoid disaster, lol... the problem is, you don't know how true that quote is, ah well. Excellent idea though, copper looks kickass.

EDIT: Mistook this for another thread, mmdurr! Sorry about that. But yeah, make sure you ahve everything to where it won't short out, lol. I'm such a genius, lol, not.

[scar~face]

that copper stuff is beautiful, hope this turns out!

[XcOM]

think about it, a standard case is made of steel or ali, so in theory there shouldn't be any diffrence regarding it shorting out,

I would get a moter buffer if you haven't already gotten one.

[xRyokenx]

That quote must've been bogus then, after thinking for a little bit two and two didn't make four, it made like -3.582... which makes no sense at all.

[b4i7]

and think...those nice little standoffs you tye your mobo to are made of copper :)

if that was a true story..he musta been grounding it out some weird way..

[xRyokenx]

He must've done something wrong, or dipped the whole computer, mobo, CPU, etc. in the copper, lol. I'm betting that's what it was. :D

[frogrod]

hardware for the case nothing has been purchased but i thinking this



Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Kentsfield 2.66GHz LGA 775

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 -2

XFX MB-N680-ISH LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s -2

COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-A00-EMBA ATX12V / EPS12V 1000W

PNY VCG8800UXPB-OC GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported OVERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - 2

[The boy 4rm oz]

Specs look good, a really good gaming rig. Mine is about the same apart from CPU and GPU (E6600 and 8800GTX)

[p0Pe]

ive heard a thing or 2 about direct X 10.1 is on the way, and the 8800 wont be supporting this :/... maybe tjek if there is a newer gfx card on the way befor putting alot of money into the 8800... even though its a NICE card :D

and why only 1 gig of ram :S:S:S:S:S... many new games need more, and if you are going to run vista to get dx 10 support then you would deffinetly need it! (and of you meen 2 by "-2" then you might as well get 4 if you are going for vista and dx10)

[.Maleficus.]

ive heard a thing or 2 about direct X 10.1 is on the way, and the 8800 wont be supporting this :/... maybe tjek if there is a newer gfx card on the way befor putting alot of money into the 8800... even though its a NICE card :D

and why only 1 gig of ram :S:S:S:S:S... many new games need more, and if you are going to run vista to get dx 10 support then you would deffinetly need it! (and of you meen 2 by "-2" then you might as well get 4 if you are going for vista and dx10)
If that's true, it won't be a problem. I just read that most updates won't add much of anything to DX10, and all it's really making is optional features (that for the most part aren't implemented) standard.

And he's getting 2 x 1GB sticks. At the end of the line it says "-2". Same with the HDDs.


Edit: Also at the end of the graphics card line. Which brings me to my question, how the hell did you come up with that much money!? Christ, that's like a $4000 computer! More than that even!

[p0Pe]

yeee... its 2 8800 ultras :S:S:S.... thats like... alot xD planning to rob a bank? :p

[Ap1thy]

lol wut.. only 2 gigs of ram and your dropping over a thousand for two graphics cards, added on to the fact that they wont even be the latest technology in a few months.

My advice.. get another 2 sticks of corsair ram and get 2 gtx's. Or, just get 1 gtx and then buy two new 9800 series cards from nvidia when they debut. also, the q6700 is a huge ripoff, go with the q6600 and oc it .26 ghz and you have the q6700 for 240 less

now that im done with my cheap rant.. cool idea, lolz very "cool" idea hopefully if it works like it should

[The boy 4rm oz]

I agree, get more RAM, the cheaper CPU and two GTX's, Ultra's are over kill at the moment but probably so are the GTX's.

[Scotty]

Looks like a great idea, hope it turns out well. +rep.

As boy said, you could try to use the case as additional cooling. I like those Zalman cases no idea how well they would really perform though.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I found a review a while back on those Zalman cases and from what they said it performed quite well, If there is good airflow around the case it works better so that limits where you can store it though.

[frogrod]

i'll be getting the hardware when the case is done. nothing is set in stone. i will have to wait another week to continue building the case because the plumbing hardware store was out of the parts i needed and home depot doesn't carry them. i ordered the parts they should be in Tuesday but i can't pick them up on anything but Saturday, they close when I'm still at work. with all these delays i reckon some new video cards will come out before the case is done.

i'll see what other updates i can do.

[Mach]

Found this at Lowes this afternoon. It will find it's way into my Zenith mod for cable management.

http://lh6.google.com/MachModAlbum/Rtxtka8IoVI/AAAAAAAAApo/uNC-4bYlwu4/s800/HR43.jpg

A quick browse of their website shows several copper clad and copper tubing hanger configurations that you could use for a tubing or wire manifold.

Holdrite Tubing Hangers (http://www.holdrite.com/product_results.asp?family_id=2)

[The boy 4rm oz]

That looks interesting, could be quite useful.

[frogrod]

finally an update. 9/15/2007

i spent a week waiting for parts and i sat on them for a week. i have been thinking more and more about how and where i would get the water to the cpu north bridge and the graphics card/s. i don't think i will need any cooling for the hard drives because i can just place them right next to one of the copper plates and hopefully the heat would radiate.

i had to wait a long as time to get some straight 90's
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part12.jpg

finish later out of time

here are some pictures of the frame. it doesn't stand yet because it hasn't been soldered. still thinking of adding more to the frame
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part11.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part1.jpg

the top and the bottom are the same. not sure if i want legs or no
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part3.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part4.jpg

close up shoot
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part6.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part7.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part8.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part.jpg

more full shoots
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part15.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part16.jpg

i also got some ball valves and some of this coil copper tubing. still don't know how i'm going to use the coil but i have some ideas and i don't know where i would put the ball valves
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part14.jpg
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part13.jpg

pretty much the same tools but i'm getting closer to using the torch. i'll probably mess with it today because i just got some welding goggles and i have an old bike frame i can mess with
http://www.team-hydra.com/img/part2/part5.jpg

[Jim Beam]

ooo ahhh use silver solder for more strength takes a bit more heat but it will be worth it if you solder it that is

[The boy 4rm oz]

Frame looks great mate, great job. +rep

[xRyokenx]

Cool looking frame dude. Oh, and nice rug btw, lol.

[frogrod]

update done. 9/16/2007 update 1 on page 3

[frogrod]

once i solder everything it will be hard to undo anything so i'm looking for a good pump and i'm thinking of using 2 or 3 loops to cool the components.
thinking of DD12V-D5 Pump Variable Speed or something with a lot more power of no one thinks it will suffice.

cpu+chipset loop
graphics cards
hard drives - maybe -

i'm going to try and route the water is such a way that the heated water from one loop wont go right into the next loop. i don't for see any problems but i was wondering if anyone out their has any suggestions.

the reason for 2/3 loops is because i don't want to have tubing going across the case.

[Mach]

I was searching for DVD mods the other day over on bit-tech and ran across a reference to FCT Coolers. A little googling resulted in:

http://enlightenmentendeavors.com/FCT%20Xeon%20603.htm
http://enlightenmentendeavors.com/FCT%20Xeon%20603_files/image001.jpg

Although no longer for sale on ebay, you could try contacting the guy at his website if interested.

[XcOM]

man they look cool!

[Spawn-Inc]

^indeed!


if your still building this system come jan i would wait for the new quad cores.

[frogrod]

i bought some copper tubing of the same diameter. i might try and create something like that. they would so sweet buffed

i will most likely still be messing with the frame i'm just trying to finalize all the frame and have it looking and have all the functionality it will have before i go about soldering anything.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Those water blocks look awesome, you should try to get your hands on some lol.

[Mach]

If you have a mill, I don't think they'd be that hard to make. Not sure its the faster/cheaper path though. :rolleyes:

[Spawn-Inc]

if you can get a cylinder of steal (2-3" diameter) or maybe even a thick steel pipe you could flatten one part and wrap the soft copper around it tight. then get teo plates of copper and clamp them together and drill the proper sized (maybe even a little bit smaller) and then you can solder the coil with the flat side in between the two block and BAM, you got a water block!