watercooling my lexa blackline

[985323]

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/worklogbanners/waterlexa2.png

hello this is my first mod, during the course of this mod i will paint my case black and install a custom dangerden watercooling loop. so far i have stripped my case

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2672.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2674.jpg

tonight i will hopefully paint it and get some pics of that up.

[985323]

well that was quicker than expected,:banana:
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2675.jpg
yea i know its not the best job ever
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2678.jpg
heres where im working from, thats my dad bending over

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2679.jpg
now all i have to do is get paid,get a motherboard and order my watercooling parts, so thats going to take a while

[jdbnsn]

do you want this moved to the "works in progress" forum?

[Spawn-Inc]

nice work, i never realized this but thats exactly the same style (front fan, hdd, dvd mounting style) as my old enermax case.

+rep for so.

[985323]

yea it might be better in that part of the forums, so if you could move it please

Edit: thanks for moving it

[FuzzyPlushroom]

nice work, i never realized this but thats exactly the same style (front fan, hdd, dvd mounting style) as my old enermax case.

+rep for so.

Yep, another "Chenming"-style case, identifiable by its circular holes in the drive bay sides, toolless installation, and (usually) side-mounted HDDs. (These are great, as you can hide the ribbon cables behind the drive, where they'll be practically invisible.)

In black, this'll be particularly fine. My backup PC is a silver Ultra Aluminus, basically the 5x5.25", aluminum-bodied version of this. I love these things.

[985323]

tomarow after work there is a slight possobilty i might be able to cut out the hole for a 120mm fan in the top of the case to blow some air through the rad

[The boy 4rm oz]

YAY another LEXA mod lol. Looks good so far.

I noticed something different about my LEXA. The alu used was raw not treated like yours.

Can't wait for more.

+rep for being another brave LEXA modder lol

EDIT:
Just warning you that you may have trouble fitting a 120mm radiator on the roof of the case. I have an 80mm rad up there on mine and it finishes less than 1 inch from my PSU (Antec Neo) and pretty close to the disk drives. Perhaps a rear mount would be better, like my config.

[985323]

Yay for update,
first thing i did was marked it off and drilled holes
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2687.jpg
then used a jigsaw to cut it out
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2692.jpg
and finally smoothed it out with my knock off dremel (thats me) and drilled the holes for the fans screws
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2689.jpg
Afterwards i gave it a fresh coat of black paint.
I will hopefully be getting paid this friday so i might be able to order a good chunk of my stuff. Till then all feedback is welcome.:devious:...By the way my dad thinks im Nuts!

[985323]

in response to tb4o: yes i know that room is goin to be tight, im installing a dual 120mm rad on top of the case not a single.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Then it will be even harder for you. If you are mounting it on the inside you may get away with not using the top drive bays, otherwise it will have to be mounted externally.

[985323]

yes it was my plan from the beggining to externally mount the rad and have the nozzels poke through into the case

Edit: i problably wont get paid and order my stuff till july 18th so im going to try and get as much done without my wc supplies as i can

[The boy 4rm oz]

Mounting the Rad on the bottom of the case also works, like I have done. I would have mounted the rad on the top of the case but I didn't like the idea of seeing it and didn't want to make a cover for it lol.

[Acey]

Brief me on this; Lexa is the case's brand, not just a name The boy 4rm oz pluck from the air for his worklog?

[The boy 4rm oz]

The case is an NZXT LEXA. NZXT is the brand, LEXA is the model. Like a Thermaltake Armor (Thermaltake is the brand, Armor is the model).

*EDIT*
Here are links.
Mine (the Original LEXA)
http://www.nzxt.com/products/lexa/
and the Blackline (985323's LEXA):
http://www.nzxt.com/products/lexa_blackline/

[Acey]

damn.. it just made a noob out of me lol XD

[The boy 4rm oz]

Haha na a good question. I always refer to it as a LEXA and my mates say the same thing lol.

[Acey]

unless if you wanna pronounce NZXT all the time.. or.. nezixet... bahhhhhhhh

[DonT-FeaR]

lol im his mate and i talk to him and say stuff like hows lexa and we treat it like a person lol

acey got owned lol (just kidding)

[The boy 4rm oz]

Lol not you, my other mates who aren't computer savvy lol. But yes we do refer to her as a person lol.

[Acey]

DF: how's lexa?

TB4O: oh fine, i'm rubbing her every nite before going off to the world youth day thing

Stranger: *wtf*

[The boy 4rm oz]

Basically lol.

At least I refer to her as a girl. DF refers to Moditor as a boy :eek:. Jokes

[DonT-FeaR]

lol

but i dont rub him... yet... lol rofl

thats cuz mines manly and urs is girlish lol

just kidding have fun at world youth day

*laughs under breath sucker*

[985323]

yea My LEXA is is a she, although "she" wont be getting any new parts until i get paid and the idiots at XFX finally give in and send me a new motherboard, lol

[985323]

Just a tiny update for the moment being, i waited for the fresh paint to dry
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2695.jpg
then i installed the fan with four nuts
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2694.jpg i test fitted the psu and it fit in perfectly, i think the fan looks nice but then again in the end you wont see it due to the fact it will be covered by the radiator. thats all for now

[The boy 4rm oz]

Good to hear you were able to fit a 120mm fan in there.

[985323]

yea, on a sadder note though yesterday my 700watt powersupply quit on me so looks like i need to add anouther thing to my list of parts i need for this build, was able to save the blue led fan and grill though so i put them in the top.

[985323]

heres a pic of the red led fan in place with the grill from my ex psu
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2698.jpg
and a pic from the side that shows the fan being powered by my old spare computer
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2702.jpg
Oh and when i looked at this pic i realized the door was still grey so i quickly went out and painted it, unfortunately i didnt have any black so i used a dark grey, sorry forgot to take pics

[SXRguyinMA]

lookin good!

[985323]

Thank you very much! sorry I havent updated in a while I just turned 18 on monday so ive been a bit busy, cant wait till I get paid on friday so I can finally order my parts and get this mod goin again. On a small side note I have been collecting plexiglass from work (its amazing what they throw away) and have enough to build a midsize tower so I might have a second worklog for that popping up soon.
As always leave a comment I love to see your points of view.

[985323]

Update: my paypal account just came through and i have money expect parts list

Edit: trurns out some sights namely tigerdirect,jab-tech,xoxide, and frozen cpu dont like my paylpal so the only thing ive bought so far is the dangerden res

[985323]

ok i realized i could buy most of my stuff from dangerden.com, so thats where i bought the rad, coolant, chipset, cpu, pump, tubing, fillport, basically everything except mcw60 vga blocks

[The boy 4rm oz]

Great, can't wait to see the stuff.

[985323]

Yea i vant wait to see them either... still waiting for them to ship the parts out, Damn you E-checks, but after the payment is cleared the parts will be here in 1-3 days

[985323]

Good News everybody, all the parts have been ordered and should be here by the end of the week, the only thing missing is the motherboard witch i am still waiting to replace

[The boy 4rm oz]

Great news. Can't wait for the pics.

[jdbnsn]

What do you want the title of your mod to be in your header? I don't think "Watercooling my lexa" makes for a title, and the banner may look a little weird. But if that is what you want, I'll use it.

Jon

[985323]

umm...good point, lets go with watercooled Lexa

[jdbnsn]

okay

[985323]

ok so three parts came yesterday, the power supply yay and the two Swiftech mcw60 waterblocks, problem is i cant get the waterblocks to fit my XFX 8600 Gt xxx cards can anyone help me Please

[The boy 4rm oz]

They should fit as stock. Otherwise you may need the G80 adapter plate but I am pretty sure you only needed it for the 8800GTX. Perhaps the XFX XXX card doesn't use a reference design.

[985323]

yea it came with the g80 adapter plate but ugh...if im going to just take a picture i might as well update heres some pics ill update my other worklog aswell if anyone checks that one
heres one of thecard with the g80 plate on
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2754.jpg
heres one still has the plate on but you can see the holes for the block
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2756.jpg
heres all the parts on the floor
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2751.jpg
heres one of my Beautiful 700watt modular Kingwin powersupply
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2758.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

OK so the G80 plate is too big, by the looks of things. Can we get a pic without any plate on the GPU, just the naked card. The holes should line up with the stock plate. Nice PSU BTW.

[985323]

yea i know its a wicked psu, anyways heres the pic
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2760.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

I would have thought the stock plate would have fit. How far out is it? You may just have to drill the holes out a bit.

[985323]

pretty far but i think i might have figured something out hopefully it works

[985323]

ok my hunch was right and i got the block on the card
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2766.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Do you think that is wise though? Those 4 holes hold the block together, you may not get a perfect seal now. And you mounted the block backwards lol.

[985323]

yea i know, thats why im mounting it tight and also D'oh, doesnt matter anyways as i am putting themal paste on right now

[DonT-FeaR]

rofl i saw it and was like "is that upside down or am i retarded"

lol oh well you were testing us hey *wink wink*

[jdbnsn]

I added your header, there is an alternative posted in the "Custom Headers Request" thread if you like the diff colors.

[985323]

Thank you looks Great!

[985323]

big update tomarrow as mystuff is finally coming, was shipped out today, she upgraded it to fedex priority then gave me a shipping refund

[DonT-FeaR]

nice overnight ...FREE???... shipping

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice mate, can't wait to see what you got.

[985323]

Well wait no longer its here individual photos
My dual bay res
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2779.jpg
my 16 feet of tubing...oops
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2780.jpg
2 liters of black feser one
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2781.jpg
a fillport
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2782.jpg
my cpu and northbridge waterblocks
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2783.jpg
pump
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2784.jpg
and rad
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2785.jpg

[985323]

so i drilled the fillport hole, that came out nicely then i went to drill the holes for the rad and wore the teeth on the hole saw bit down to nothing, it heated up so much that it peeled the paint around the hole, need to get another bit before i can continue

[mofo]

You might want to be careful with the black feser one. From reading at some w/c sites it is really thick and can cause problems. google it and double check but it think most people run 50% feser, 50% distilled and <5% biocide.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice new gear.

[DonT-FeaR]

kool new stuff this will be good once completed

[985323]

Small update: i have done what i can without my motherboard, speaking of i just got n email saying the folks at xfx have recieved it and is being tested .
top of the case
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040627.jpg
front with res
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040628.jpg
side with unfinished tubing and installed pump
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040629.jpg
Please comment

[The boy 4rm oz]

By the looks of things your loop is going:
res-pump-rad correct?

It would be more efficient for the loop to go:
res-pump-cpu-gpu/s-rad-res

[985323]

true but ive read that the pump can create friction which creates heat so i want the liquid to be as cool as possible

[The boy 4rm oz]

With that pump the coolant will be flowing fast enough not to pick up the excess heat created by the pump. Even if the pump creates heat it would be so minute that you wouldn't see much change in the temps anyway. Having the rad before the res means the res will be getting cooled liquid, you don't want to add un-cooled liquid to the res because that would be worse for the temps anyway.

[985323]

hmmm...you have a good point i shall see what i can do after i get my motherboard back

[DonT-FeaR]

listen to him mate he lives watercooling :)

looks sweet

[The boy 4rm oz]

Spawn inc would be able to shed some light on this situation also.

[985323]

Finally, xfx has sent me a new motherboard that should be here next thursday, on that day i will install everything and complete my first worklog :devious::banana:

[The boy 4rm oz]

Awesome news.

[985323]

I know,finally ill get to game again, the comp im using right now is my backups backup, it is the basic model and it is SLOW. I cant wait

[985323]

I decided not to spend any money on the rad grill so i got creative
some nice mesh
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040758.jpg
cut to fit
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040761.jpg
with some tubing so i dont scrape myself on it and painted black
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1040764.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice work on the grill.

[DonT-FeaR]

looks cool nice work

[985323]

Thanks! I just cant wait for my motherboard to come in

[985323]

Its DONE...
the motherboard arrived today as planned
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2786.jpg
so i put the blocks on
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2787.jpg
heres a pic of it assemled
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2789.jpg
heres one of the nice black back
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2794.jpg
another with the rad and fillport
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2792.jpg
and finally of the front (crappy camera wouldnt turn off flash so you cant see it but the blue of the power supply shines through the res, its really nice)
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/DSCF2793.jpg
thank you for following along hope to see you again next mod

[Indybird]

Looks great, the black paint is look great! Aren't you going to do some cable management though? Also, how about some temps on the watercooling setup?

-Indybird

[The boy 4rm oz]

The mobo finally gets there lol. Yeah some cable management is a must. I cut some holes in my LEXA's mobo tray for some extra flexibility.

[985323]

Yea im going to work on some cable managment today, im unsure about my temps however as i still need to hook up the sensors

[Spawn-Inc]

nice work on it, though cable management is a bitch. can you take some pics with the fuild in the loops and res, curious to see it.

[985323]

yea, i would love to take some pics but the unfortunate truth is the computer doesnt like me, it never started up fully and when i went to restart it wouldnt start up, plus it turns out i had a small drip in between the rad and the res the rads tube wasnt on tight. So ill take some pics when i get the comp up and running its goin to get fixed by professionals as i am fed up with it right now

[DonT-FeaR]

wow looks sweet keep it upppp

[985323]

Yes i know its been a long time since i actually finished this mod on the forums but it really wasnt finished, since than i have replaced the motherboard twice and changed the loop, so i bring to you at last the final picture shoot

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050025.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050022.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050029.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050033.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050034.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050035.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050036.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050040.jpg
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050042.jpg
also does that look clear to you?
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/comp/P1050044.jpg
that was by the way my first ever photo shoot so please comment

[The boy 4rm oz]

It turned out very nicely. Perhaps some well lit shots of the system powered down?

Also try to hide a few more of those cables. Cables will fit down in between the mobo tray and the drive rack (left non window side).

[DonT-FeaR]

wow looks sweet from what i can see.

[985323]

yea i plan on taking more pics,

Edit: lol well i was planning on taking more pics, but i kinda ended up getting a new case and other stuff so lexa is now just an empty case sitting in my garage...but dont worry i have plans for it in the future, look out world for you may see Lexa 2.0

heres she lies http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/895232/DSCF2933.jpg