Ongoing I blame MediaPortal ;) (1 Viewer)

[Jay_UK]

Well......

I have done a rough build (temporarily assembled everything) and powered on!!

I initially had random issues with detecting the RAM.... turned out to be the motherboard. Amazon did an amazing/incredible service of swapping it (emailed at 5pm, replacement board arrived 10am next day!)

New motherboard fitted and powered back on.

No bangs!

Everything powered up ok, bar the bluray drive which I blew (power fitted the wrong way!)

As stated above, this is a rough fit, which means the copper blocks aren't ground flat/smooth, I have not used any thermal compound (accept direclty on the CPU/GPU), the heatsinks aren't annodised black...so overall the thermal conductivity isn't there yet

But I thought I would run Prime95 and FurMark to see what would happen. At stock voltages I could only get the CPU to 60degrees (Prime95 for 2 hours), with the GPU peaking at 70 degrees (Furmark for 1 hour). If I undervolt the CPU I drop the temp by 10 degrees

The hottest item is the Northbridge chip which hovers around 40 - 60 degrees!

I am fitting some vent/fan grills in the top/lid and base to allow for natural convection/heat loss

All the machining is done, once I am happy with the assembly, I will do the prep and get it all anodised.

I will post some pics later this week.

J.

 

[Peter2]

Good to know you're still at it!

 

[SpudR]

There's me thinking I could smell the crispy bits
Looking forward to the finished article though...

 

[eetaylog]

Thats going to look fantastic once its anodised, be careful though it can scratch fairly easily!

How did you get the bluray driver power round the wrong way? Surely the socket is one-way only?

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

The power connector (pins) are keyed.... but my custom cables didn't use a power connector, just a simple 0.1" connector (hence is not keyed).

I have since changed it to be a keyed connector - so will only go on one way now

I am wary of the front panel being scratched... I might see if I can give it a clear matt coat of lacquer.... but I'll see how I get on with it first - Could always re-anodise it if it gets scratched.

J.

 

[SpudR]

Any more piccies Jay?

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi guys,

Apologises for the quietness.... I did have loads of pic but due to a technical problem, I lost them all

I have managed to round up the piccies I have...so enjoy

The unit is now all built and working great... completely silent

Yes I know the PSU is upside down... I was trial fitting it

USB front mount port

Sudden jump to the case being anodised black and all assembled!!

These are the vent holes I cut in the lid. They are massive as they are some spare fan grills I had laying around so thought I'd use them. When I have more stuff laser cut, I'll get a new lid done with better/more creative vents.

Very poor picture of the front panel (camera was on its side)

Close up of the front panel once brushed (lanished)/anodised with the USB port

The insides (with one bank of 3.5 "disks fitted - only two disks out of the 3 per bank, and only a single 2.5" out of 4 disks) - Cabling needs tidying up - this was a test run

More pics to follow....

J.

 

[Jay_UK]

The last few pics for now

The space in the top right is where the second bank of 3 x 3.5" disks go (if I ever need to fit more)

Thats it for now, I will take some of the unit in my TV shelf.

For saying this was a scratch build from nothing, and I have never built one before, I think it turned out alright

I'm now toying with a passive client (but will buy a case) lol

J.

 

[SpudR]

We like the shiny shiny

 

[emphatic]

Amazing. *slowclap*

Emph