The Sleeper

Hi all and welcome to my project log, as you may have gleamed from the above graphic the title for this modding project is 'Sleeper' as in a stealth-performance pc, subtle on the surface but a beast within.

Before I get underway with describing my plans a little bit of background. My name is James, I live in Canberra, Australia. I am 21 and a uni student, I have currently taken time off from uni to study a course in 3D Animation for Games and Film and that is mainly what this pc will be used for (3DSMax) and of course a bit of gaming when I get the time. This will be the biggest modding project I have undertaken (though by standards here the results will probably be pretty tame, though that is kind of what I am aiming for ;))

I will be starting with the unassuming Lian Li PC7077 aluminium case which looks not unlike this model I threw together in SketchUp to help with planning:

I am currently working on the sketches of what I am planning to do with the case but I haven't finalised any placements as of yet. At this time I think it would be prudent to list what will be going into the case.

• Intel q6600 Quad Core CPU
• 4gig Geil DDR2 PC6400 Ram
• Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P Motherboard
• ~Nvidia 8800GTX (or.. something to replace my 7800GTX)
• 3x300GB SataII HDD
• Creative Audigy II ZS Soundcard
• (Green is already purchased, Red is yet to be purchased)
  

The more exciting part of this mod is the 'stealth' watercooling system which I will be assembling:

• Hardware Labs Black Ice II XFlow Stealth 240 Radiator with 2x Scythe Silent 120mm Fans.
  
• Swiftech Apogee GTX CPU Block
• Swiftech MCW30 NB Chipset Block
• Swiftech MCP655-B Pump
• Alphacool Cape Bullseye Reservoir

Some basic design ideas I will follow for this mod:

1. Maintain the bushed aluminium finish of the case.
2. The colour scheme will be black as much as possible with blue highlights.
3. Lighting will be minimal
4. All items will be made to appear as minimalistic as possible, either obscured when they are turned off by tinted perspex or subtly integrated into the case.
5. Silence is golden; all fans used will be as silent as practical.

So some of the ideas I have planned include:

1. Dark perspex half-panel window, will completely obscure the internals except when lighting is switched on.
2. Front mounted radiator hidden behind an AC Ryan Radgrill (all internal to case)
3. 7" LCD mounted behind dark perspex so it is invisible when switched off.
4. Handles for lan carry.
5. Side mounted res window.
6. Black & UV Blue watercooling theme
7. Hide mobo behind modding mesh panel

I had an idea for the tubing within the case to further the 'stealth' look of the watercooling system. I am using 1/2" Clearflex tubing and had some wire management stuff left over from a previous mod. I test fitted some off-cuts and I think it looks pretty great:

I think that once the UV lights and blue UV reactive coolant is on it should make a pretty tidy little effect, looking hopefully something like:

That's about all I have time to work out at the moment but I should be updating this project regularly over the next fortnight or so as the project gets underway. As I am trying to maintain the finish of the case and with almost all of the components either here or on order it should be a quick run through to completion once I finalise the design.

I am especially looking for feedback on best practice for cutting the aluminium without ruining the finish, any feedback on the watercooling loop or of course any awesome ideas that you feel like sharing :D

+rep looks like a nice concept, and that tube looks AWESOME!!!!!!

yes i really like that blue lit tubing effect. +rep. i'm going to assume by sleeper you mean look innocent but will "rape" your pc in a virtual drag track. if so then why the gigabyte board? is this the model? why not go for 680i?

Very nice start of a worklog!

This will be a interesting worklog *subscribed* That tube looks awesome!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spawn-Inc

if so then why the gigabyte board? is this the model? why not go for 680i?

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Nope, its the Pro version of that board [here]
The DS3 Pro is a really stable overclocking board, the newer boards are not quite as polished.

I have a 965P-DS3 and if you are using the DS# board, you WILL need a fan on the Nrothbridge heatsink.
Even at idle it gets too hot to touch, however by putting a small fan on it, it now runs at a temperature that is much , much cooler.

Here's the heatsink standard:

And with the small fan I bought at a local PC shop:

It just screwed straight into the fins on the heatsink and on the motherboard you'll see a 3 pin plug label NB Fan right next to the Northbridge. I'm yet to shorten the fan wires to be neater, but I will get around to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bucko

I have a 965P-DS3 and if you are using the DS# board, you WILL need a fan on the Nrothbridge heatsink.
Even at idle it gets too hot to touch, however by putting a small fan on it, it now runs at a temperature that is much , much cooler.

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Thanks for the heads up however I have the Swiftech MCW30 Chipset Block lined up for NB cooling so it will be on the watercooling loop.

Looks interesting *subscribe*

I really like that tube, can't wait to see how this turns out :)

So I went shopping on Friday and picked up a few bits and pieces that I will need. I got some more of the wire management wrap for the coolant tubing and I got a few enclosures to use for an air intake and a control box. The air intake one is this:

I'm in the process of cutting the dark black centre out, I will replace it with some AC Ryan mesh I have lying around and will mount the top half of it on the side of the case as a passive inlet for the radiator. I will probably shape some clear acrylic on the inside to somewhat separate the watercooling system from the rest of the case.

I should have some pictures of the pieces in mock-up tomorrow (I'm about to go to work tonight so unfortunately I won't get anything done today) but with half an hour on the dremel and some sanding the pieces should be ready to mount.

So I have come a fair way with making the passive air intake and I have a few pictures of it to show. If you look to the post immediately above this you can see how it started, after about 20 minutes of dremeling and some tin-snips and mesh it now looks like:

You can see the bluetak on the mounting feet through the mesh which is the light spots, there are a few imperfections in the mesh which I will take care of before I glue it in.

This is a mockup, using the aforementioned bluetak, to show the sort of placement I will be going for. At the moment it is sticking out quite a way, once I am finished and cut the hole and drill the mounts I will be trimming down the back so it will be about 2cm thinner and shouldn't stick out quite so much.

This is the other enclosure I mentioned which will be countersunk and used for a control box for the lighting switches and at the moment the plan is a mini 2.5" lcd.

I also picked up a USB Interface Kit from Jaycar which will allow me to monitor 5 digital inputs and 2 analogue which will be used for a couple of different sensors around the case.

I have almost decided on the case layout for the cooling, at the moment thinking about mounting the radiator and fans in the front of the case in the 5.25" bays at the bottom: