Project F1 Dream - Another level 10

Project F1 Dream

Well having just finished a mod that I won’t be seeing for a long while (traveling around shows and such). It was time to build another, this one I had been planning for years to do (those that know me would know this as I have been talking about it for quite a while).

I had originally planned back then to do F1 themed rig based around Jenson and Lewis, but with the team mates split up I put it off for a while (and due to illness, but that’s another very long story).

To cut it short I spotted Thermaltake were doing a new run of the level 10 and having been one of only two that I could find that had modded the original Level 10, II thought let us go down the Lewis Hamilton route and contacted Thermaltake and managed to secure Number 44 for the Thermaltake Level 10 Ltd edition, funny thing is all this was done before he became world champion, so him winning it means I could add a few things.

This time I wanted to be a bit bolder with the build, and do something different to last time and so it begins.

First off let me start off with a big thanks to the sponsors that jumped on board.

Website/Facebook/YouTube

Thanks to Thermaltake for stepping up and supplying me with the Thermaltake Level 10 Titanium LTD edition number 44 for this build and the PSU.

Website/Facebook/Twitter

Thanks to Nvidia for stepping up as a sponsor for me, hugely amazing with support thanks guys.

Website/Facebook/YouTube

A Big thank you goes out to MSI who are supplying the motherboard for this project.

Website/Facebook/YouTube

A big thank you to the Kingston team for supplying the HyperX SSD’s and Memory kit for this project

Web / Facebook

A big thank you to Swiftech who will be supplying the Apogee XL CPU block that I will be customizing.

Web / Facebook / Youtube

Massive thanks to Primochill who are supplying the hardline kit for this build which will be hardline from out to in.

Website EU/Website US/Twitter

Thanks to GT Omega racing for stepping up with a couple of new chairs for our mod/pc room, ties in with the whole racing theme completely.

Website/Facebook/Youtube

Thanks to Razer for stepping up with the complete Chroma set, Keyboard, Mouse and Headset for the build.

Website/Facebook/Twitter

A Big Big thankyou to OnPole for insuring I have first dibs on the 1:18 scale model I will be using in the build.

Website/Facebook/Twitter

Big thanks to Western Digital for supplying a 2tb WD Black HDD's for the build.

Website/Facebook

Also a thank you for the guys over at Bitspower for supplying me with the GPU blocks and fittings as well as pump heatsink.

Website/Facebook

Also a massive thank you to Leo Bodnar electronics for supplying the Sim display that not only will work with sim racing games, it will also be the CPU usage and temp indicator.

Website/Facebook

A massive thanks to the guys over at AIDA64 who worked with me to get Leo Bodnar displays displaying temps and CPU usage.

Web / Facebook / Twitter

Big thanks to gunnar optics for supplying a set of eyewear to be tied into the whole F1 theme

Website/Facebook/YouTube

Thanks to Dremel who seem to step up on every build and supply me with accessories and tools.

Website/Facebook/YouTube

Thanks to MAX Keyboard who helped out with a custom keys for the build.

This is going to be one hell of a ride for me and for this case, there are some issues I need to still work out but that’s what modding is all about so let the madness begin.

Good luck. Can't wait to see more.

will have some things to add this week ( f1 wheel display working for cpu usage ect).

Great idea and I will follow along. I was introduced to the Simraceway at an Audi racing event at Sanoma Raceway. Have my steering wheel, but not played that much yet.

Looking forward to the updates!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

Great idea and I will follow along. I was introduced to the Simraceway at an Audi racing event at Sanoma Raceway. Have my steering wheel, but not played that much yet.

Looking forward to the updates!

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Got a SimraceWay wheel, but just dont know if I am going to fab it to the case (blend it in or chop it up to look like merc one) not to sure really)... decisions decisions Always the way when modding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Richie123

Got a SimraceWay wheel, but just dont know if I am going to fab it to the case (blend it in or chop it up to look like merc one) not to sure really)... decisions decisions Always the way when modding.

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What is funny is that right after I replied to this post yesterday, I got an email from one of our distributors (synnex) for their Linked To Success tour, held at Sonoma Raceway. Same event I picked up my wheel at last year. They have an Audi driving school there and in the lower garage they have half a dozen of the fixed base simulators there, using the Simraceway.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ing-school.jpg

We did not use the simulators though. After the morning product session, they took us out to do a rally course using the TTS and then 10 laps on the track driving an S5. I also got to ride with the instructor in an R8. Too bad I cannot go this year since I already have plans...

I think it may interrupt the lines of that chassis to mod the wheel into it. I know there is a mount that you might be able to mod in without making it look funky.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Airbozo

I think it may interrupt the lines of that chassis to mod the wheel into it. I know there is a mount that you might be able to mod in without making it look funky.

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if i did use it it would be on the backside of the case (removable panel)

So why waiting for a few bits to turn up one thing that did was the Swiftech Apogee XL block, that is now a personal favorite of mine, it does its job, but thanks to a nifty little lighting system can make some nice touches to a build.. especially if you have a vinyl plotter.

There are a variety of colour choices to be had, as seen above to light the rig, I could have gone simple really and just done the red 44 from Hamilton’s car, but not being someone that likes to take the simple route I decided I would do a mock-up of what I was thinking and basing it on his crash helmet as I wanted to have the case more themed around the Mercedes F1 car.

My first attempt was using a regular font to create Lewis’s moto Still I Rise, although the mock up is just that I was not happy really and I wanted it to be more authentic than this so it was time to try and make a version of his font that would work. I knew I would not be able to get it bang on as the font is curved slightly on his race helmet.

Now that’s a lot better, let us see how it looks with the lighting behind it

Now this I like, I will have to make a few slight adjustments to the cut, to make the finer lines not as thin and remake the 44 so it is easier to lay down, but the second mock up is in the right direction I believe.

I think getting the still I rise just right will take a few attempts as getting a vinyl plotter to cut stuff small enough to fit on one of these blocks is no easy task. Also actually picking the design out after cutting is a embarrassing moment as you soon realise why you working on something so small you look up and your misses starts laughing at you because you gone a bit screw eyes lol.

Just a small little update on the block, took the white back out and spent a while adjusting the still I rise stencil, and then placed it on the white backing for the Swiftech apogee XL block.

Now the still I rise looks a lot better without the missing parts of the script, I thickened the lines that were not cutting right due to the thin nature of them. Just got to redo the 44 now.

So now that was done time to put the replacement 44 on and put it into the block, here is the end result of final block design.

Well happy with how it came out in the end, time to move onto the next item on the agenda the 5.25 bay F1/racing style info display.

Back again with another update with one of the extras for the build, this time the info screen, ill throw out a few pics first then give you some info on it.

I was lucky enough to be able to get Leo Bodnar involved in my project and grab a racing, rpm gear and info display, (this one is called the SLIF1). For those of you not familiar with Leo Bodnar products, head over their website here to have a look. Here is a bit of info.

“Leo Bodnar is a designer and developer of universal joystick/game controller PCBs, simulator force feedback steering systems and supplier of components such as push buttons, rotary encoders and switches.

Being based at Silverstone UK - the home of British Motorsport has given us the opportunity to work closely with and meet the needs of race teams, drivers and simulator manufacturers.”

Basically if you have a simwheel of any kind it is highly likely that you will have some Leo Bodnar electronics inside it some were, be it a controller board, a toggle switch, buttons, info display to rotary dials. They even supply their SimSteering FFB System many teams participating in race series including F1, GP2, F3, LMP1, LMP2 and WTCC. So not a company to be sniffed at and experts in what they do.

Why some of you may be asking that display is all very good, but it would only be useful for when playing sim games or racing titles, Step up both Leo Bodnar Electronics, AIDA64 (and myself (although I done the easiest part and was just the middle man) passing USB protocols between Leo Bodnar and AIDA64 and thus the outcome was that AIDA64 who are known for producing a good piece of software to do small benchmarks, give full system status and pretty much everything there would be to know about a system its running on was able to get the display working as an info display, from CPU temps, usage, gpu ect ect… they were able to offer support for these devices (Newest version of AIDA64 now has support for these type of displays). To take a look at AIDA64 and what it can do for you visit the website here.

Anyway back to the SLIF1 display, here are quite a few pictures of what is possible, you are limited to the 4 characters on each side of the info display, but here are some examples.

This will be getting mounted to one of the 5.25 drive bay covers and will be hidden behind a tinted screen, so it’s only visible once the pc is on.

Also I don’t want to leave you hanging with just a few pictures, here are a few videos of it going through the motions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZwCDC0VCcY

This video is going through the options i have to display on the device and info it can pull

If this is not showing click here for this video


The next video is more featured around CPU usage (loaded up a few things to get the rpm LED's and gear info in action). click here for this video


I have to say a big thanks to Leo Bodnar electronics and AIDA64 for making this extra possible.

Update, here is one of the goodies that turned up for the project, the MSI X Power X99 AC motherboard.

Of course that’s enough of box shots, time to move over to the motherboard itself.

Rear panel connectors, the gapped area on the left is for the optional Wi-Fi module (which is included in box)

Plenty of connections down at the bottom of the board, also the all-important m2 turbo slot that I will be utilising.

Love the internal USB port for this build as it gives me an internal port to wire the USB – powered and operated F1 style display.

Sata ports and USB 3 port on 90 degrees on the right hand side (which is great about time these chunky USB 3 ports were like this, also you may have noticed there is also a sata express port in there (far left).

This is for the WI-Fi module that I was mentioning earlier, before I show that connected let us take a look at the accessories bundle included with the motherboard.

Ill list these off for you – with the specs after

Included in the box is

· M-connectors
· OC fan stand
· Delid Die Guard
· OC plate
· LN2 bracket
· SLI bridges
· Wi-Fi module
· Wi-Fi antennas
· Driver discs
· USB flash drive with drivers
· USB/SATA I/O bracket
· SATA cables
· Cable labels
· V-check cables
· Case badge
· i/O shield

As well as the manuals too, here is the Wi-Fi module and I/O shield installed

Here are the specs of the motherboard itself


CPU

• Supports New Intel® Core™ i7 Processors Extreme Edition for LGA 2011-3 Socket


Chipset


• Intel® X99 Express Chipset


Main Memory


• Support eight DDR4 DIMMs 2133/2200(OC)/2400(OC)/2600(OC)/2666(OC)/2750(OC)/3000(OC)/3110(OC)/3333(OC)DRAM (128GB Max)

- Supports Quad-Channel mode

- Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory

- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)


Slots


• 5 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (PCI_E1~E4, PCI_E6), support up to 4-way mode

- 1-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x0/ x0

- 2-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x16/ x0*, 16/ x0/ x0/ x8/ x0**

- 3-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x16/ x8*, x8/ x8/ x0/ x8/ x0**

- 4-way mode: x8/ x8/ x0/ x16/ x8*, x8/ x8/ x0/ x8/ x4**


• 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slot (PCI_E5)

* For the CPU that supports 40 PCIe lanes

** For the CPU that supports 28 PCIe lanes


Storage


• Intel X99 Express Chipset

•10x SATA 6Gb/s ports (2x ports reserved for SATA Express port)*

- SATA1~6 support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10

- SATA7~10 ports only support IDE mode and AHCI mode.

- Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology (Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1)

• 1 x SATA Express port*

• 1 x M.2 port, supports M.2 SATA 6Gb/s module* or M.2 PCIe module up to 32Gb/s speed**

- M.2 port supports 4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length module

- M.2 PCIe module does not support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10.

* The SATA Express port/ SATA5~6 ports will be unavailable when installing the M.2 SATA interface module in the M.2 port.

** Intel RST does not support PCIe M.2 SSD with Legacy ROM.


USB


• Intel X99 Express Chipset

- 4 x USB 3.0 ports available through the internal USB connectors*


• 2 x ASMedia ASM1074 Chipset

- 8x USB 3.0 ports on the back panel


• ASMedia ASM1042 Chipset

- 2x USB 3.0 ports on the back panel

* Internal JUSB1 connector supports MSI Super Charger.


Audio


• Realtek® ALC1150 Codec

- 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio

- Supports S/PDIF output


LAN


• 1 x Intel I218-V Gigabit LAN - Dual interconnect between the integrated Media Access Controller (MAC) and physical layer (PHY)

• 1 x Intel I210-AT Gigabit LAN controller


WIreless LAN


• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth expansion module with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 chip.

- Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual band (2.4GHz, 5GHz) up to 867 Mbps speed.



Bluetooth


• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth expansion module with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 chip.

- Supports Bluetooth v4.0 (includes BLE* and Bluetooth 3.0+HS)

* BLE: Bluetooth Low Energy


Internal I/O Connectors

- 1 x 24-pin AT x main power connector

- 1 x 8-pin AT x 12V power connector

- 1 x 4-pin AT x 12V power connector

- 1 x 4-pin flat AT x 12V power connector*

- 10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

- 3 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 5 USB 2.0 ports)

- 2 x USB 3.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.0 ports)

- 2 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors

- 5 x 4-pin system fan connectors

- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper

- 1 x Front panel audio connector

- 2 x System panel connectors

- 1 x TPM module connector

- 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector

- 9 x V-Check connectors

- 1 x GO2BIOS button

- 1 x Power button

- 1 x Reset button

- 2 x Base Clock control buttons

- 2 x CPU Ratio control buttons

- 1 x OC Genie button

- 1 x Discharge button

- 1 x Multi-BIOS switch

- 1 x OC Genie mode switch

- 1 x Slow mode switch

- 1 x Base Clock step swtich

- 1 x PCIe CeaseFire switch

- 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED

- 1 x Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module connector

* Provides additional power to PCIe x16 slots



Back Panel I/O Ports

- 1 x PS/2 port

- 2 x USB 2.0 ports

- 1 x Clear CMOS button

- 10 x USB 3.0 ports

- 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector

- 2 x LAN (RJ45) ports

- 5 x OFC audio jacks

Thanks to MSI for sending this as a sponsor, matches my plans and happens to be the perfect board for this build. ;)

Another small update, decided to etch the radiator side as I received it in raw format (uncoated).

I changed the template style to something else, this is what I decided to go with

So time to wait for misses to go out, into the kitchen and get the tattoo power supply out and start working.

Now how I do this is dip some lady face cotton pads in salt water squeeze them out a bit (so they are damp not saturated) and then place them over stencil, then connect the negative to the rad and positive to copper plate and leave resting on pads (used bottle to keep it pressed slightly) left for 10 minutes on each side then swapped the negative and positive over to push some particles back into the etch.

Enough done into the metal with the 2014 world champions being deeper than the rest.

A Little rub down with a brillo pad to get rid of the surface stuff.

The Thermaltake’s upside down I know, but there will be a plaque placed over it, or filled in, not sure yet.

Leaving the particles on place in the etches, the reason for this is once I have painted the radiator as there not really solid in there I can scrape out the etched parts easier, then fill with black.

Rough example of what I am going for, that’s all for now will be back with more updates soon.

doing a few more small bits today, but I thought i would share a rough render of the plan I have, there will be some differences in the final build (extras added) and the internals is not final.

Just wanted to wet your appetite with what i am trying to achieve.

So back again with a small update, Bloody model is still delayed and only ships from factory on April 4th, so why I am still waiting let’s take a look at what I could do why waiting first of a lovely donation from my sponsor Nvidia here is what arrived.

I got really lucky with this build and nvidia kindly sent me 2 x 980 GTX’s for the build, for more information on this card click here.

Here are the specs of each of the cards if you have not seen them

Specifications

Note: The below specifications represent this GPU as incorporated into NVIDIA's reference graphics card design. Graphics card specifications may vary by Add-in-card manufacturer. Please refer to the Add-in-card manufacturers' website for actual shipping specifications.

GTX 980 Engine Specs:

· 2048CUDA Cores
· 1126Base Clock (MHz)
· 1216Boost Clock (MHz)
· 144Texture Fill Rate (GigaTexels/sec)
· GTX 980 Memory Specs:
· 7.0 GbpsMemory Clock
· 4 GBStandard Memory Config
· GDDR5Memory Interface
· 256-bitMemory Interface Width
· 224Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)

GTX 980 Technology Support:

· Yes (4-way)NVIDIA SLI® Ready
· YesNVIDIA G-Sync™-Ready
· YesNVIDIA GameStream™-Ready
· YesGeForce ShadowPlay™
· 2.0NVIDIA GPU Boost™
· YesDynamic Super Resolution
· YesMFAA
· YesNVIDIA GameWorks™
· 12 APIMicrosoft DirectX
· 4.4OpenGL
· YesCUDA
· PCI Express 3.0 Bus Support
· Windows 8 & 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Linux, FreeBSD x86OS Certification

Display Support:

· 5120x3200Maximum Digital Resolution*
· 2048x1536Maximum VGA Resolution
· Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 Standard Display Connectors
· 4 displaysMulti Monitor
· YesHDCP
· InternalAudio Input for HDMI
· GTX 980 Graphics Card Dimensions:
· 4.376 inchesHeight
· 10.5 inchesLength
· Dual-widthWidth

Thermal and Power Specs:

· 98 CMaximum GPU Tempurature (in C)
· 165 WGraphics Card Power (W)
· 500 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W)
· 2x 6-pinsSupplementary Power Connectors

Will be following this with another post today as a very nice bitspower package turned up.

So following on from the card a small care package also turned up from Bitspower, all the stuff I needed and the blocks for the GPU’s.

Items were various connectors, more than shown in pictures, as well as 2 very very nice Nickel Finished In Golden reference 980 GTX blocks. I went for white back plates though so I could customise them like I have the GPU block, also got the pump heat sink and shroud for the build in white. You can view all of the Bitspower range here

So waiting on the model to cut the case, I decided to get the white back plates done why I was waiting, here is what I done in Photoshop.

So taking that design and laying it down was not as easy as I hoped, but after a few attempts on left over gold colour backplate this is what I was left with.

I am very happy with how they came out and the tie in with the CPU block well, I was going to add the red and yellow parts of the Lewis Hamilton 2014 helmet, but thought I have the tubing and fluid that will use that colour coordination anyway. Will be posting more regular updates as more and more bits arrive.

Sorry it’s been a while since an update, I have had a big delay in waiting for the model to actually be shipped to stores, now saying June!!! Such a bad delay that I thought I would get a few things done in advance and even took the opportunity to be entered into a case mod competition on another case.

Anyway I suppose I can start stripping down the case anyway.

Having case number 44 of 500 adds to the theme a little and fits within it, having already done this in a previous build I already know it’s a very daunting task.

Not really an easy task but we have to start with the basics.

Also worth noting here are the sticky strips, best bet is to make sure you heat up the area on back panel to loosen the glue on the strips, which will aid in lifting the back panel off.

Now Just a case of stripping out the front bays…

I really hope the other half does not turn up soon. :P

After getting this far its best to stop really, don’t want to really mark up the cut for the radiator until the model is here or I get a reply from minichamps about measurements of it, so I thought why not get to painting a few things as the warmer weather is here.

Custom rad grills turned up also so I Thought it was time to give a few things a rub down and prep for painting.

Primer down, and I did manage to do the single 120mm rad grill.

So I have the colour matching to the logos on case done and I will be matching the radiator and other grills to this colour as well, then colour sanding, matt lacquering and smoothing down, so stay tuned, will be posting a few more things over the next couple of weeks.

Back again with a small update, had some issues but finally this turned up for the build, from OnPole.com

It took an eternity for minichamps to get it to market, but OnPole was superb in that they got it to me within 2 days of it hitting there store, let’s take a closer look at it.

Overall the model is really nice and I have to say minichamps have done a fine job of replicating the race car and they should of with the time it took to get to market. For you F1 fans out there, you should check out OnPole’s website for memorabilia.

I do have to say though getting the model, presented another issue, the 240mm radiator I had planned to use to mount the model above is now too small as the car over hangs it, so I still can not cut the part of the case I want due to the fact I have had to order a 280mm radiator. So I am going to have to redo the radiator again :( oh well.

Ill post some more pictures of the car before mounting and a few bits tomorrow of what else has arrived :)

As promised a small little update on what turned up

Big thanks goes out to the razer guys for supplying me with the full Chroma set for this build, RGB keyboard, mouse and headset to customise how I want which is great. Let us take a look at the headset first shall we.

The headset feels nice and robust, also I love the little slide in and out mic, not sure on the plan for this yet, but I will think of something.. next up the mouse.

I don’t really need to say much about the mouse as the Deathadder has been around for a while, yes this has rgb and yes a fester sensor. But as most of us know this has been a tried and tested mouse for years. Ono the keyboard..

The blackwidow keyboard has also been around for while, but in its current form it has switched over to mechanical keys.

Razer use their own exclusive keys on the mechanical side of things.

Little RGB light down the bottom as well as RGB on the keys.

As expected they have a nice curved feel to them, before I pull the keyboard apart I thought I would try out the software to try out the colour combinations.

Just for fun, but it seems there are quite a few possibilities with the keyboard setup, I like the fact you can also customise the keys to any colour you want, but also set up macros. Anyway time to strip down..

Bottom casing with rubbers removed, Just got to clean up the glue residue and move onto the prep for paint, things are starting to happen now the model arrived so expect more updates soon.. also for those interested here is the link for the chroma products.

So despite temps hitting over 32 degrees here in the uk over the last few days I have given myself a deadline for the build and had to work in the heat. So It was time to do a few things, including cut the main outer panels on the level 10 mobo section

Tape down, mask on and lines drawn and ready to cut.

The width is due to keeping the main frame of mobo section hidden (were the bolts go) I had to repeat this process with the L section too.

With the l panel I wanted to keep the lines, but remove the mounting areas for the GPU cover.

Now that’s all done, it is time to spend quite a few hours with the file, before preparing for paint.

I know working with the case I should of normally taken my watch off ect, but due to these pieces being painted there is not much point so even if bits of paint flake off, it does no really matter (hence the use of normal white tape instead of Green or yellow masking tape.

Also had to cut a few small pieces I needed to make a cover plate for the mounting of the radiator and also a strip for the radiator. I have had to change the radiator out for another due to the fact the models dimensions were larger than quoted to original so other rad was smaller.
Also here Is a sneak peak of the PSU cover I have (thanks to Primochill).

That’s today's post, watch for some more soon.

So yesterday was pretty productive, first I spent over a few hours rubbing the cut panels down, phew it was hot to so had to jump in the shower twice I got that sweaty.

Still got to go other it with some 1200 to do final prep for paint , but its too hot for that, so off I went to my zen master to sought out the keyboard and mouse (my airbrush mentor)… ekkk boy was I way ahead of myself here… I would not even attempt to post the results up here as my mentor did warn me not to attempt anything small and detailed yet, but lets just say I had to re rubdown the mouse in the heat and ended up having to let him do both after suffering hand cramps from all the rubbing down I done yesterday.

Anyway enough of the hand cramp crap before you lot start commenting it was from watching stuff on the internet :P here is how the mouse and keyboard frame turned out.

Mouse and keyboard are themed around lewis Hamilton's helmet to tie in with the theme…

I cant believe how nice it came out to tie in with the mod, but then I suspect that’s down to the master (I bow down to your teachings and knowledge).. things are starting to move along on this build now, just need to get cpu bought (don’t tell the misses how much it costs though) to start the main loop.

Just a small little update with some pics of the keyboard close up.

As you can see from photo, what you cant see from the first ones is the keyboard is covered in flakes all over, here are a few more shots.

I think it looks amazing and the issue I have is that I think I am addicted to flakes, I have to say despite the price of them, they do add something to the paintwork... ill leave you guys with another sneak peek.

Now looking at the mouse a bit closer you may notice the edges are not smooth, this is because they guy that is teaching me redone the mouse after my mess up on it, but he just smacked me in the face by saying you need to learn more first and redone all artwork on palm and button section of the mouse in flakes (red HAM is done in red metalflakes only) enjoy for now

Another small little update for you guys, some goodies this time, big thanks goes out to hyper X team for supporting me with these goodies.

So memory and SSD wise going into this build we have the 256gb Hyper X predator M2 SSD drive, this is standalone rather than with pcie adaptor, the good thing is the MSI X99 Xpower AC contains a M2 turbo slot, which should theoretically provide much higher speeds with this drive than the actual pcie adaptor and I cannot wait to see it in action. The memory is a Predator - 16GB Kit* (4x4GB) - DDR4 3000MHz CL15 Intel XMP and finally the 2X SSD’s are HyperX 256GB versions.

Due to the motherboards layout of the M2 slot I am going to have to cover the current logo on the Predator M2 SSD otherwise it will look upside down in case, a Minor thing, but if I can see it, then it simply will not do.

Both the SSD’s will be covered, too and again, maybe you will see them maybe you will not, but it still matters to me, if I know it is there it is not good enough.

MMM memory and some bitspower boxes, could only mean one thing.

OMG 1 hour later (yep it took that long as one side of the spreader was stuck to stick almost like it was cemented there, I had to be so careful with this, heating up spreader with hair drier why feeling modules temp to make sure both did not get to hot, lift up a small piece then reheat again.

Bitspower spreaders ready to be attached, so as normal had to do some cutting with the heat pads.

Finally we are there, now these will be put under some memory Waterblocks so they wont be visible in build, but as it’s a dedication build to F1 and lasts years F1 champion and constructor champions, I thought I would just add something, again maybe not visible when built, but I will know its there.

Now why I was attaching bitspower items, I thought I better get the GPU blocks on the 2 Nvidia 980 GTX cards.

As I showed in the pictures before, I went with the Gold style block and the white backplate.

This was the original design, but I did decide to change one thing for the GPU backplate that will be sitting on top.

How about some Heat reactive material for the Nvidia claw  I love the way it reacts to heat now before I move any further at this point I need to check some clearances in the rig so lets get these cards and motherboard in and work out the layout.

Ha ha ha that moment you realise the GPU will not be able to fit in the top slot oops, ok time for a quick rearrangement.

Now that’s better, now let’s see how it hooks up in the case

That’s better, gone a bit over the top with the Primochill raceways, but it’s just a test at the moment, let’s throw some connectors on there

Just messing about checking connection options, waiting for the gpu multilink to turn up so I might as well move onto another piece to do before continuing on.

So a big thanks goes out to the guys over at Primochill for the couple of custom plates I have received the first one is to cover the PSU mount, I’ll show the second one once I get onto it, for now though I need to do some cutting to the case, time to whip out the dremel and one of my smaller used cutting disks that’s worn to a small size.

Scary moment taking a Dremel to this case, but it needs to be done as I need whole in this area to allow the rad inlet and outlet pass through the case to be routed around the back of it.

This is the mock up plate in place (what the radiator will be mounted too, although raised above), just have to work out tube placement when the pass through connectors get here, this is a tight case to work with from the beginning but I am attempting to keep the tubing inside despite the two small pipes that will come out of the rad into the pass through connections.
That’s all for today but will be back soon with more updates as I try to get this ready for insomnia 55 to be in exhibition area.

Another small little update for you guys,

The panel I cut out for mobo section are finally ready, the lacquer has hardened so time to get a few little bits done.

Ermm it looks the same, well in fact it is, it’s the closest I could match to the case, although saying that there is one slight difference in the panels.

Yes its metallic silver rather than a flat powder coat :P, so really all that’s left to do is mount the pieces onto the case with the window risers.

Now they were ready to go, also as I have the mobo tray out, I thought I would go ahead and put the Bitspower SLI bridge in place, with the CPU block.

The loop is not final as I am experimenting still with it, although I have to first organise the mounting of the rad on the gold plate on the case as well as mounting the pump, res and f1 display into the ODD, remember its going to be quite a task on this as I don’t want the loop to hang out the case, but also want a way to insure I can take the mobo tray out still without draining the system. Stay tuned for more updates soon.

Tiny update, please ignore quality of the pics as I took them on phone, first up mock fitting the radiator to see how it sits.

It’s only a mock up (support brackets were made from a bit of hard line tubing temp to get the right size for the job), going to replace with carbon fibre effect steel ones, you may have also noticed the pump and res mounted in ODD bay, this is done like this so I can still open the bay to fill ect ect. The mount is temp (behind pump and res) why I wait for real carbon fibre panel to turn up.

Also, you may have notice the rad has 90 degree connectors, well the tubing will be coming around the side and going into the connectors behind which then passes into the case will go through inside and pop out the motherboard section. This should give you a rough idea of what I am trying to do.

Before I go, I’ll leave you with a shot of how the etching on the back panel is coming along.

So far so good, still some other things to add in there, but these are smaller and smaller things to do and with everything going to plan, I just need to ensure I nail it.

Back soon with more on this build.

Sorry about the lack of updates guys, got quite a bit going on including a planned move of home to a bigger place (from 1 bed flat/apartment to a 2 bed house with garden), which off topic means I can only get better with my modding as I now will be able to build a little workshop… :)

Anyway back on track and first up, I have to say thanks to MAX keyboard for the custom key set, I did want white, but system is not quite ready for that yet so they were kind enough to supply some of their transparent keys for the keyboard.

I only had a few keys customised though, but love the result.

Minor customisations, but I still like it, but of course I will be even more happy once the white backlit keys are ready to be made.

Moving onto the main rig I decided to start doing the hardline, it has been a mad process, due to there being two pipes that are long, twisty and go from inside the mobo section, the return from GPU going out through mobo tray opening along the inside of case to the back of the pass through at the back of the radiator. Then the last tricky one will be from the back pump, all the way from the pump in the ODD bay, out through the gap in this section and along the inside and out into the tray to the memory block.

Thank god for the Primochill bender, made process a lot easier, anyway here are some pics of how the inside of the motherboard tray is looking.

I may make changes to this, but its roughly what it should be, I know the 2 pipe in from mem block is not something that makes sense really, but I like how it looked so I will be keeping it.

There are a few other things I need to test out with this plan, but for now I like it.

Now why I am here I just thought I would quickly test rad grill/model mount to see roughly how it looks.

Looking at this, despite the writing on the model being the right way up, I am not 100% sure it looks right so Ill flip it around to see what it looks like.

Ermmm, see not 100% sure on placement up or down, what do you guys think?.

Before I leave you today to get stuck in with some more pipe bending let me just show you how the engraving is coming along.

Slowly but surely she is coming together, one thing that is on my mind is my own deadline of the 20th to finish the build to get software ect installed to be on display at i55. Let’s hope I match the deadline.

So have been quite busy with the project, so I’ll just run through the things I have done.

So as we have seen the poles for window mount on the case, let us attached the windows to it shall we.

One simple task out of the way onto the next one, this time it was back to finishing the loop.

So on this build, I wanted no angle connectors inside the motherboard section and also want to ensure that the tubes were one piece, boy did I not realise what I had let myself in for, do you want a clue… well here are the total tubes including the bends for the build.

So tubing aside its going well, although I have to say its been a bit down heartening knowing that I have to pull all the tubes out to give them a polish after mocking up. Let me show you why. By using an earlier pic before final tube was put in place.

This tube end to end is one piece and runs along the back of the case inside, now look at all the bends after I remove the tubing.

I can tell you straight taking these out and putting them back in was a complete nightmare and a almost like a brain puzzler :P time to move on from the puzzler now.

Second on the agenda was the front plate for the odd, I had a piece of dark smoked acrylic lasered with Mercedes logo, but there was an issue, due to the way the ODD bay opens, if this was fixed to the ODD it would interfere with the correct operation as the edge would just hit the case when trying to open. Simple solution is to grab out the dremel and table router accessories.

With the 45 degree angle router part in the table it was just a case of taping up the surface that was going to be flat down when using the router and sliding it through the end result is this.

As you can see there is now a 45 degree angle on the edge that sits near to the main part of the case which will make the bay still open as intended.

Faceplate on front of the ODD, not final though as I plan to blacken it out so it’s not transparent, and yes that is the F1 style rpm, gear and info device that reports cpu usage, temps ect.

A couple of other things what had to be done were done, first lay down the vinyl for the build, this luckily for me is a simple one as I have a plotter to do this.

List of participants that helped to create this rig and build…

Now for the vinyl from nose cone from last year’s champion winning team and driver

I am starting to love the way this is coming along, but before I leave you on this post, I think I should show you the amazing piece of hand engraving done, remember like all my previous builds I am lucky to have a wife that is very artistic when it comes to engraving.

All done with 1000s of dots to create what you see, simply amazing, here is the picture she used for reference.

You can see her art on www.xtreme-etching.co.uk. Sorry about late posts it has been hectic around here, but I will keep you updated on the progress as much as I can as I reach the latter stages of the build now.

So after yesterdays work spent a little time messing about with the f1 wheel display behind the ODD panel after blacking out surrounding areas, this is what it looks like.

So my last few days were spent leak testing and just ensuring everything was running as it should be.

Few things to do first was a quick power up.

Love the way this is coming out, and the mobo section has surpised me as all that light in there is coming from the CPU block.

I had to drop the ev down – 4 to get this picture otherwise it would be just one big glowing white thing in the center.

This is how you see the block when its all bright, of course once finished I will need to take more proper pictures to show the block and the light from cpu block. The next picture should show you in a better way how much light comes off the cooler into the compartment.

That’s how light it is in there, you may have noticed the backplate nvidia claw logo has change colors. This is because its made out of some nice heat reactive material. I did have heat reactive paint, but it had too much of a yellowing effect. So I rubbed it down and put the heat reactive vinyl down instead. Oops I nearly forgot to put this in, here is what one of the hyperX SSD’s looks like, you may have glimpsed it before but here is a better picture.

Last but not least, added the two tributes to the back panel, the one for #keepfightingmicheal and for the sports most recent sad loss #JB17.

Until next time.

Hi guys, really sorry about the lack of updates on this went through big home move and had to take rig (not fully completed to show at i55) here is a few shots of it on display at the show. I will follow up with final pictures once I have completed the tubing change over.

Will follow up with more as soon as I get desk built and change over a few things, for now enjoy.

Sorry about any updates, changed a few things round on build (we moved home and popped out a little one).. anyway ill start with some shots of the mouse/keyboard on desk.

will follow up with full shots of whole rig once monitor arrives

Congratulations on the little one! Looking forward to the full shots, lots of details to take in on this mod!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OvRiDe

Congratulations on the little one! Looking forward to the full shots, lots of details to take in on this mod!

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thanks just waiting on monitor can clean it up too (been sitting idol why prepping house) I literally got it running took it to a show got back from show and moved 3 days later its been a crazy few months... also got another 2 projects planned one starwars and one 4k entertainment rig... but got to get final shots as i say done on this before starting them.

So its been a massive year for me hence the lack of finished photos going up, one thing leads to another and as things normalise for me again I thought I would add some shots of the rig at the end. To cut it short rig has been to plenty of places (sort of on tour) had a few issues (cracked GPU block) and would like to give a big shout out to Alphacool for stepping in to resolve these quickly. Moved home and wife gave birth to our son Aston John Patrick B (or AJ as we call him). So it has been a very crazy year and only now starting to settle, anyway enough of the issues I have had ill just leave some photos here for you guys.

And that’s all folks, hope you enjoyed the rig, the changes it went through and time to crack on with my other projects its been a crazy year for me, but a very happy one.

Whoa!