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Good idea on the PCI-E cables - I'll figure something out. I just tried running Far Cry 2 with all the detail settings up all the way (although FSAA was only at 2X rather than 8X), and my Core temp didn't really change, while the GPU temp topped out at ~58C. Not bad at all, considering for both that's still a bit cooler than their air-cooled idle temps. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by x88x
Got the top back on last night! It took some doing, but now all that’s left is to build the model part of the interior. I’ve got a few cool things planned, so stay tuned :)
I had to solder in 2 new smaller red LEDs in place of a large broken one. I somehow managed to kill it in my attempts to solder it in, spacing in there was really tight and awkward. The new lights work great, and I kept the old one hanging down into the lower room as I figured it would look interesting. I also screwed in the original top of one of the pumps to the upper floor in the same spot as the new lights, it’s the beginnings of “machinery” up there and at least sort of matches the pump on the other side.
I had to cut out the upper floor in the back right of this photo, to make room for the pump.
View from the floor into the interior. I had it on TV trays so I could lay on the floor and work on the underside.
This is blurry, but it’s the upper front roof. I took this to show the couple of lights there.
This week I received 3 more slim fans in the mail. I got them installed, and at least with the top off the case they seem to have lowered the idle temp about 10C for the CPU and about 15-20C for the GPU. I have another location to add a fan to pull air into the case; with the top on the CPU seems to idle around 40C even with the new fans (before it was 45-48C), but with the top off its idle is more like 30-35C. The GPU is down to 45C from 60C, so that's a big improvement. Sadly that nifty hinge mechanism I came up with to lift the reservoirs had to go for there to be enough vertical space for the new fans.
Back to the temps – with the top on the CPU got up to 50C on idle after 2 or 3 hours, but I strongly began suspecting that much of the hot air from the radiator wasn’t making it out the top of the case. Instead, I think it was being deflected back down, where it was getting sucked back into the fans via cutouts I’d done to either side of the radiator long before I even thought about getting a radiator. To try and solve this issue, and a highly irritating loud rattle from the res’s sitting on one of the new fans and pushing its grille into the blades, I did the following:
I have a whole pad of Bristol board and some extra 1/8” foam rubber sheet, so I sliced them up and glued them to the underside of the radiator mounting arms:
As you can see in the last couple photos, the foam rubber effectively stops up the holes on each side of the rad, mostly preventing (I hope) hot air from getting back down under the fans, but because I attached it to the rad mounting arms, there’s no weight at all from the top resting on the foam parts. I’m in the process of leaving it running for awhile to see what the temps do.
*EDIT* - idle seems stable at 40C for the CPU and 48C for the GPU. Not ideal, so I may stick one more fan in there to pull air in which should help somewhat. Water cooling system with 10 fans :facepalm: seems excessive but unfortunately necessary...
Now I had to solve the problem of the res’s weight resting on one of the fan grilles. After several abortive attempts this is what I came up with:
And with the top back on:
Finally, proof that I really did run out of vertical space:
The res’s are pushing up that bit of roof…not sure how I’m going to solve that little issue yet but I’ll think of something. It’ll probably involve sanding down the wood support block pictured earlier, so its angled slightly or just shorter. I could also possibly pull off a small piece of fiberboard glued on the underside of that part of the roof…we’ll see.
man, this thing is a behemoth. lol I wish my monitor at work wasn't so dark so I could make out all the details in these new images. stupid old CRT monitors. lol
so I realized I forgot to hang one additional fan (I just KNEW i'd find a use for at least one of the ones from outoftheboxmods if I tried hard enough LOL) - this one is hanging from a couple extra brackets I had under the front of the radiator, and is intended to force air from outside the case directly under the radiator. We'll see if it actually makes a difference, it could just be that because of where everything is in the case, and what I have room for, 40C idle is the best CPU temp I'll get....but hey. At least the GPU is running 15C cooler than before (46C now instead of between 50 and 60).
oooh....blue glow.... :) well...I don't *really* want it glowing blue in there, but I'll probably make some sort of opening for the fan to make it look like some piece of machinery that droids would fear (melt down chamber perhaps)
I played Far Cry 2 for a couple hours yesterday as sort of a stress test - CPU got to 50C and the GPU ran at 60C. They pretty much didn't budge from those temps the entire time I was playing, and it was a pretty warm day. So I guess my temps are a tad high, but I've done everything I can do and they *are* lower than they were at first by about 10C on average.
In the next few days, I'll be adding one more goodie to the computer area for added coolness (this kind 8) not temperature), adding a couple 100 ohm resistors to my external fans to slow them way down (decided that's easier and gets them slower than trying to run a line up from a 3.3V connection), and then it's on to the design of the interior! I'll need advice from y'all on parts, more on that when I get some things measured and can post concept drawings...
ok guys...final step (I think/hope) as far as adding or changing stuff to the computer portion of this build - I added resistors on the two external cosmetic fans to slow them down (took the voltage from 12V down to about 4V...they still make a little noise but WAY quieter than before; they don't look any different so no pics of them), and I added....UV LEDs! 4 of them. I had high hopes, but unfortunately they're a little more directional than I'd hoped. I suppose I can always get a UV cold cathode if I really want to. But not at the moment...
soldering is SUCH fun, especially when you have all that wonderful smoke blowing back in your face. Eh well...it'll just make me more interesting to be around in the future :D
2 of the LED's went into the pumps acrylic top, so those were easy. It took me awhile to figure out a way to mount the other 2 where I wanted them, and angled how I wanted them. I used a couple of metal brackets that had previously held a fan in place. they work quite well holding the LEDs. I did glue the LEDs a bit, but it’s not holding very well. I think now that the wires are soldered in those will actually hold the LEDs in place.
There’s a fair bit more purplish glow than what shows up in the photos, so all in all I’m happy with it for now. The pump especially looks cool, I just wish I could have put it on the side that faces my desk instead of the far side, where I can’t really see it. Oh well. Someday I’ll have the space to have it pulled out from the wall so people can walk all the way around it.
Looks good. I see what you mean about the LEDs being too directional though...
I've found that a case fan with a scotchbrite pad zip-tied onto the exhaust side works wonders for that. I have an 80mm fan secured to a block of wood that I use; just hook it up to a 12V (or whatever) power source, and it pulls the smoke right away, and catches it in the scotchbrite pad.Quote:
Originally Posted by artoodeeto
To reduce the directionality of leds lightly sand them to diffuse the light. It works kind of like etching plexi. I've done it to some fan leds before to get the light more spred out on the blades. Other than that looking awesome. :up:
That, sir, is an outstanding idea! I even have a bunch of extra fans lying around.Quote:
Originally Posted by x88x
Another good idea! I remember seeing something to that effect once, but I'd entirely forgotten about it. Although what I remember reading recommended cutting the end of the LED so its end is flat instead of rounded; what you're suggesting sounds like I'm just lightly sanding the whole thing with fine grit?Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
Man...hard for me to believe that the outside of the model and the computer itself are basically done now. It's been in a constant state of change for 3 years (almost to the day, I started April 30, 2007). And of the first two I built, I had the original for 2 years before starting the 2nd, and I kept the 2nd for about 8 months before starting this one. :) This one's gonna last though...and soon, it'll be on to the inside of the model.
I want to run a few conveyor belts in there, and am thinking of three 10rpm DC motors (one per belt) so they move nice and slow. But...I need the wheels their shafts will attach to and actually run the belts to be small, like under 1cm diameter. Anyone know of a good source for that kind of stuff? and a good wheel/belt combination? I have yet to get over to the local hobby store, so they might have something. I also want to do a hanging conveyor with trays dangling down...I *think* I know how I'm going to do that but any suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
Maybe tonight or this weekend, I'll take some pics of this thing from the same angles as I did my previous cases, and post some comparison shots for y'all :)
