Project Thief - CaseLabs TX10-D Dual Workstation/Gaming Build - Gulftown and SB-E

[stren]

wow incredible ...after i make my personal pc im up to build a server pc..and you inspired me possitive!!

Massive case you can combine 4 computers in there LOL

Yeah easily - I reckon it's about 6x the size of a midtower, maybe up to 20 mITX builds lol.

[stren]

Alrighty the fedex guy came, so here's some unboxing action:



Woooh packing







Opened some boxes - the front rad is an ex560 - not quite sure why this was the first 560 rad that XSPC made.



Mora 140.9 revealed - way thicker than the EX of course



Can you say quick disconnects?

[stren]

2nd update of the day:-

So I played around with my own version of the big slappy mod for the Iwaki - the idea is you tap the cylinder res for a much larger feed for the pump. The pump can't be on it's back so you need a nice slow 90 degree bend. The tough part is then getting down to the 5/8 OD pipe that is the inlet to the Iwaki. Here I used 1" pipe going to a 1/2" female converter fitted with a 5/8" brass barb. I butted the barb up right against the inlet and stretched some 0.5" tube over it:



The feed may not be quite as good as the original big slappy as that only had a bout 3/4" of 5/8 inlet tube, vs this 2.5" on this version. However the downpipe is 1" instead of the 3/4" that was used. So hopefully the extra width balances it out a bit. Here's a photo of the original big slappy:



and amuseme's version:



We'll see I might change to what they did, I feel like it might have better performance.

Also started spray painting test colors on a dead GT. I made a quick spray booth:





Done - there's some metallic flake in the paint, the color isn't quite as orange as the tube though:



Reassembled (kinda)





Then a final comparison with it mounted on the 120 rad (this rad is just for the motherboard block loop). The rad will be painted silver to match:



So what do you think? Are the colors close enough? Both are slightly off. I wonder if I can get a color match from the powder coat supplier. I think I'll look for a different red at the least tomorrow. The match does depend on the lighting though.

[stren]

Got some more today seeing as I got done with my deadline yesterday. I wanted to get the 120 rad painted to match the fan to see how it looks and what fittings to go with. So I started sanding down the brand new gt stealth:



Masked it off and applied primer:



Then painted a matching cover to dress up the fan a little:



While I was waiting for paint to dry, I put together the quick disconnect pairs, some will mount to panels with a g1/4 fitting on the other side, while some screw directly into radiators:



Then I realized I need two more pairs...

I also did some work on the pump mounting. I added a drain port to the inlet tube and mapped out the cuts I wanted to make to the base panel. Air has to flow through the base panel, so there has to be some cut outs. Because the pump will vibrate, I'm worried about making the noise worse with a floppy piece of metal, so I was thinking to stiffen it with two 1" by 1/4" steel bars screwed underneath the base plate (these are the two dark shaded strips. I'll have to add some rubber strips to try and isolate the baseplate from the frame also.



Here's a quick look at the painted rad from earlier with the fan on top:



And here's a piece of acrylic that was laser cut and then painted to match. The dimensions aren't quite right though:



Not sure whether to do something like this or not. I don't think I should use the zerg symbol anyway as it doesn't match the theme, but it's fun to play around.

Originally I had wanted to paint all the fans, then I got lazy and thought, well I'm more likely to screw them up by painting them (imbalanced rotors and all), plus they won't be seen so who cares. So I took a look to see if I could justify lazy or not - here are the stock typhoons showing:



Here's one painted typhoon just rested up in there. Obviously the space around the fan (fan adapter) would be painted silver too so it would blend better. The red can't be seen too well though:



So I figure I have four options:

A) leave the GTs stock (lazy and quieter but looks ugly)
B) paint the GTs housing only and leave the rotor grey (quiet but stands out less
C) paint the GT fully (risks noise from a now unbalanced rotor and doesn't look much better than option b)
D) paint the GT fully and add some white LEDs to actually show the metallic red rotor off a little bit

What do you all think?

[stren]

The results are in:
A - 2
B - 7
C - 0
D - 6
Other suggesions:
- not paint and add leds - 2
- paint the housing and add leds -1
- paint hubs only and add leds -1

I liked some of the suggestions - I think what I'll do is actually not paint, and use red LED's to light the blades. I'm going to do a test run in the next couple of days. I'll also create a plate to attach the fans too that will cover some of the ugliness so only the blades will be seen. I can then create some back lit patterns. I need to check how much room is left in between the fans and the metal panel though.

Meanwhile I mounted the 140x9 radiator (without fans as I'm waiting on delivery), and checked the QDC's:



Unfortunately there is not enough room - only about 3/4" to make the 90 degree turn:



Luckily I had a non rotary 90 spare that could help out:



A rotary there would inevitably leak due to the weight of the QDC. I don't like the restriction of that tight 90 though so I may end up taking the QDC off of the radiator and putting it in line instead. I decided to leave it for a bit though and work on tapping the reservoir. The parts I need came in, so now it's time to build a makeshift tap handle lol.

[frisianbear2002]

Very nice setup

[stren]

Very nice setup

Thanks Dude!

[stren]

So I received some more primochill LRT tubing that is definitely a different color than the previous stuff I have. It's not aging or the supplier because the existing stuff I have is of different dates and different suppliers. I contacts ppc's and they said to email primochill (although I do wonder if they shipped me feser by mistake). Either way we'll see what primochill says.



The difference looks 3-4x worse than the photo shows.

Also got some parts that were correctly manufactured (EK D5 top and lots of drain ports):



Bunch of fill ports:



I also got done with the clearcoat on the radiator so I could finally take the masking tape off:



Then I built a quick and dirty tap handle:



We'll see how it works, I may have to buy one but thought I'd try this first.

I attached the D5 top to the res with a rotary male to male connector. There was about 3/8" gap between the mounting plate and the motherboard tray though, so I picked up a rubber table leg weight distributor that felt like it would be good for damping vibrations. It's just the right size to hide behind the mounting plate. I had to shave it down a bit though as it was more like 1/2":



Here it is hiding:



If it's visible from the window, I'll have to replace it, but I think it's good. Here it is with the plate bolted down lightly (the barb is temporary):



Here it is mounted from the front:

[frisianbear2002]

Hmmmm santa claus is comming to town hahahaha getting better and better.

[stren]

I made a review of the TX10. I hope it's helpful and that people like it. It's not exactly professional (iphone ftw) but I tried to do my best with what I had. To give you an idea of the scale of the case - I'm 6ft 5, so it's pretty big.

http://youtu.be/3a7kKKPs6J8

Let me know any feedback you have to improve it (or future videos). This case is a tough subject to review, simply because there are so many things to cover. I don't particularly like the ending, I'm thinking of adding on a real conclusion, but for all being one take I think it's decent :thumb:
Stren!