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[MNPCTech] Project: Rebel Alliance CMII

Andrew_K
Level 7
Hello everybody!

As some of you may know, I have been working closely with Bill Owen at MNPCTech over the past year learning and soaking up as much as I can as his intern. We have done several case reviews and mod guides together, and it is time for me to step it up a notch and take on a big themed build.



- Theme -



This is going to be influenced by oldschool Star Wars, and specifically Rebel Alliance equipment. I love the look of their gear, machinery, technology, and spacecraft, so this will take many ideas from that. We're starting with the Cosmos II, and will end up with something that looks dramatically different in the end.


I first must thank CoolerMaster for the sponsorship of the Cosmos II and Silent Pro Hybrid 1300w powersupply, EK for sponsoring the watercooling components, Lutro0 for sponsoring their beautiful sleeving work, Mayhems for supplying their world class coolants and dyes, Cheapskate for dedicating his time into designing custom waterblocks for the 680s, Brian Garrity for his time as the camera man for the upcoming video of this project, and of course Bill and MNPCTech for everything he has taught me and given me during my time working with him.












- Components -

Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Intel 3930k
Quad SLI GTX 680 Classified's
32gb of Corsair Dominator 2133mhz
CoolerMaster Silent Pro Hybrid 1300w
512gb Vertex 4 SSD
3x 3tb Seagate 7,200rpm storage drives
Cosmos II
Full dual loop EK watercooling setup with custom GPU waterblocks designed by our very own Cheapskate

  • Supremacy Elite socket 2011 Nickel CPU block
  • R4E Nickel CSQ mobo block
  • 2x Ram Dominator X4 blocks
  • 2x 480 XT radiators
  • 2x DDC-3.2TP pumps
  • 2x X3 150mm res
  • Black Nickel fittings
  • Custom Classified blocks by munkeybutt

Time for the pics to do the talking!


The Cosmos II



It's a bird. It's a plane...



Cosmos II opened up - I hate that mess of useless crap dangling there.



The build will feature MNPCTech's new Cosmos II Full Acrylic window side panel! Available soon for order. This is a serious chunk of acrylic!



A few components going into the system



Classified unboxing



These cards are bigger than 690's...



Shiny!



Why is quad sli not overkill? 6000x1080-across-three-monitors-gaming is why. Even the Rebel Alliance has to game from time to time!


Stripping down the CMII for some modding.



Taping off the top to cut room for a 480mm rad.



Lining up the top rad



Cages removed to make room for a 480mm rad in the front



Creating the mounting system for the 480 in the front bezel



Rad mounted into front bezel. I will be doing more in between the rad and the edges to make it more connected.



Front rad mounted in the case



I wanted to do something special with the edge frame work, so I decided on cutting out slots and putting some modders mesh behind it



Clamping down the mesh for some epoxying



This stuff is the best for all kinds of modding. Epoxy of the gods I say!



Removing the stock top panel mesh



Mounting a hinge on the top panel for some flap movement



Watercooling time! Supremacy 2011 block and black nickel fittings



I love the frosty tops on these blocks!



DDC's and tops
105,107 Views
96 REPLIES 96

Andrew_K
Level 7
-- Updates 1/1/13 --


Thanks for following guys! Here are some updates on what is in the works...




Measuring out pieces to make dual res holder from 1/4" thick Black Opaque acrylic sheet



Custom Dual Res tube holder for the EK Res X3s



EK Res X3s, ready for mounting



What remains of the factory front I/O, this was part of the CM II's top panel. This will flip open.



Modified "Laurey" style cabinet hinge, this spring loaded, and found at WoodCraft, http://www.woodcraft....ount-Pair.aspx



Spacer for hinge made from 1/8" acrylic, this will be painted later



Dual EK Res X3s mounted. This location will be ideal when it's time to fill the two loops.



The flip cover, creates easy access for inspecting the loops, if ever needed in the future.



The rear cover flips open now too!



I wanted to use an ipod touch for monitoring and fan control. This will be mounted in the front top panel and running through the Bitfenix Recon phone app.



Making the front phone mount



Initial looks of the front phone fan control module. Think Luke Skywalker's targeting computer ;)/>



Custom shroud for the reservoirs



-- Update 1/6/13 --

Update time! I appreciate the comments and follows guys! I'm very dedicated to making this a very clean build internally, which is why shrouding everything is a must. I also want to keep the interior of the case very open and uncluttered, so there will be next to nothing inside the main compartment other than the mobo and what's attached to it. No drives, pumps, anything located here. It's all about the aesthetics!


Cutting 1/4" thick cast acrylic to use as a shroud for the lower portion of the chassis



1/4" acrylic over lower portion which will be easily removable with thumbscrews, 1/8" acrylic shroud on back wall will hide liquid tubing



The mid section has 1/2" thick acrylic floor so it's flush with the outter edge of the chassis



Using weld-on to attach lip to the tubing shroud for the back wall of the chassis, this will be painted later to match the exterior of the case.



Temporarily installing Mnpctech's CM II clear panel to determine the two 120mm fan hole openings in the removable lower chassis shroud






The two 120mm fan hole openings are aligned with opening in the clear panel



The epoxy on the side bezels has dried and I really like how they look with the mesh



Now it's time to do the same thing with the non-window'ed side panel. Cutting the double layered panel was a bit of a challenge, but it's cleaned up and time for more epoxy. I plan to mount an acrylic Rebel Alliance logo on the mesh and illuminate it.


As far as the custom classified waterblocks are concerned, Cheapskate has made great progress (though he has reminded me how complex these little buggers are going to be ;)/> This is current design phase with an "X Wing" style backplate that will have the Rebel Alliance logo in the red circle. The layers in the pic are backplate, full copper block, acrylic top, and stainless top cover.








More to come soon! We'll have a video worklog as well, so make sure you subscribe to MNPCTech's Youtube Channel!

Mankz
Level 10
Welcome!

This is looking pretty awesomesauce already

Love the subtle ques from the X-wing

@Mankz, How are you! :cool:

some of the pc case modding products we may be using for this project



Fighter Pilot Toggle Switches, http://www.mnpctech.com/spdprtToggle.html



To re-assemble the Corsair 900D chassis, I used these Black Powder coated PC chassis pop rivets



http://www.mnpctech.com/Pop_rivets_for_computer_case.html

Pop Rivet Gun

http://www.mnpctech.com/Pop_Rivet_Guns.html



Creating the riveted exterior

Black PC Sleeving Kit

http://www.mnpctech.com/PC_Cable_Wire_Sleeving_Kit.html

Mankz
Level 10
I am a busy little bee thesedays.

Man that is looking really good. cant wait to see the finish product and then hopefully watch the video of it as well!

Andrew_K
Level 7
Time for another update!


Taping off a section of the side panel to cut an opening that will be backed with mesh and a Rebel Alliance logo



Mmmmmm hot plastic spray



Cleaning up the back side of the opening - not an easy task with the over engineered cosmos II side panels



The triple layer madness has been dominated.



Time to clean up the cut with a hand file



The side panels just feel really bland from the factory, so a few more additions will help to add some character to the Starwars tech feel



To mount two of the three 3.5" drives, I'll be using 1/8" cast acrylic for a mounting plate



The drives will be hidden behind the PSU and attached with thumb screws



The stock support was removed and a custom beam was created with 1" thick acrylic which the hard drive mounting plate attaches to



For the rear case fan, the stock grill was removed with a jigsaw and 18 TPI bi-metal cutting blade



I'll be using a combination of a custom one-off grill and Mnpctech 120mm Overkill ring. I have yet to decide on exactly what combination, as a few options look good.











Dropping in the EK waterblocks for a preliminary test fitting.



Spacing things out in the case. Subsequently Bill finds out I'm OCD about watercooling tubing and fittings 😛



Getting up close and personal with the preliminary fitting



Everything is coming together nicely. The front will be covered by a huge 480mm machined grill and shrouding around the edges up to the fans. Materials TBD



Cable management will be super clean as we have created a custom acrylic plate that the mobo is mounting on, and this allows for slots to be cut behind the mobo instead of next to it avoiding a visual mess.


More coming soon! Thanks for watching.

Zka17
Level 16
I like this project! Specially curious how the top and inside will come out... - good job so far! :cool:

Giannis996
Level 9
i like your setup ..im waiting more pics !!!
Project Name: System Specs:
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Black Edition
Prossesor: Intel Core i7 4820k
Graphic Card: Asus GTX Titan x2
*Power Supply: Cooler Master V850
Ram: 32Gb Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133Mhz
Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D
SSD: 2x Samsung Evo 250Gb Raid 0
HDD: 2x Seagate Baraccuda 2TB

Mankz
Level 10
Im not normally a fan of those CSQ blocks, but the full set of them on that board do look rather nice...

#jealousy