The DarkC0d3r marking out #2

Okay guys so...

I got SOME work done, well it doesn't really count as work but oh wells; it took some time (:

So marking out the spot for a 360mm radiator.

Tools

Outline done

Drilling holes marked out

Lines where I cut, and DONE

Now to put it to the test, I get a small torchlight and place the 3x 120mm fans onto the 'template'.

I shine it through the holes and see if the fan holes are aligned with the ones I marked out, see the black dot?







Well, it passed the test, I'm happy (:

It's good to get cut any day.







So that's it for now, stay tuned for more.

Sapphire 5770 vapor-x; a closer look

Hey guys!

I'll be providing a closer look on a Sapphire 5770 vapor-x v.2

 The card itself.

 Heatsink and Card separated.

The famous 'Vapor-X' cooling system, looks a little simple to me (:









So here's the thing I was looking for, some T.I.M is already applied onto the GPU die. As you can see on the right side of the card there is a column of Sapphire's exclusive "Black diamond Chokes".

They are hidden inside the aluminium encasing which double as a heatsink.



Bad job Sapphire, didn't solder them in properly, but shouldn't do much.

Up close, at first I thought they were massive metal heatsinks glued on but they can't be removed unless you have a soldering iron, which I am not prepared to buy and do (:

On the top of the GPU die and the right side of it are 4 ELPIDA ram chips, there are 4 on the other side of the PCB as well. 

Adds up to a total of 125mb of RAM in each chip, sweet :)

Measured up; It turns out to be just 18cm, which is approximately 7.1 inches. That's pretty damn short! A short video card is a good thing, it doesn't cover your SATA slots and it's easier to manage.

Time to measure up the GPU dimensions.

I am wanting to watercool this monster but sadly it isn't reference design, meaning the Chokes and VRM are not in place, though they are improved they aren't reference.

So it's pretty much 45mm x 45mm, which is why it's a 45nm architecture GPU

45mm on the other side too.

I'm guessing this will be compatible with a 

Swiftech MCW80.

It's a universal waterblock so it should do fine (I hope)

I'll also have to throw in some RAM sinks, Don't need heatsinks for the Chokes and VRM as first I can't find them (LOL) and the Chokes have custom heatsinks.

This video card also has Crossfire support for dual and quad fire set-ups, pretty sweet.

Also comes with a beautiful matte black painted PCI backplate which perfectly suits the connector color, the matte black should blend perfectly with a black painted case.
Nah just kidding, I just did a little paint job (:






So there it is, the Sapphire 5770 vapor-X with a closer look.

I will post up an overclocking under-water review along with benchmarking some time later.

Thanks for looking people :)

The Darkc03r marking out

Hey guys!

Just a small update, I'm going to begin some of this planning for doing the hardwork.

First of all I'm going to introduce some mod-items I bought.

Well, permanent markers are a MUST for modding, you can't do very much without these. Pencils, textas, fine-liners or whatever just fail miserably.
Permanent markers are just hardy, though they don't come cheaply.
But I bought these for 5 yen, just like 73c, these are pretty high quality, the 2 ends are Chunky and soft tipped, I'll be using the chunky tip for marking out on rough surfaces.

And the most exciting item? Double sided foam tape, this stuff is ULTRA STICKY, and the foam works pretty well for noise dampening.

So it works dual purposes to both dampen vibrations and to stick, pretty sweet.

Made by Nikto, oh yea!

You have to peel some non-stick paper off one side, the inside-side is already adhesive with no stick.

The relatively thick foam layer, the bad side though is that trying to take this stuff off is very hard, 1 it's sticky and 2 it's more powerful than the foam material, so if you rip it off the foam comes in shreds and taking it off will result in a sanding session.

Bought this beautiful stuff in 2 different sizes/width, suits my different needs.

Pump noise cancellation here I come : )









Now here comes my blabbering on about fan placements and mounting.

I made a Sketchup model at one point I really couldn't be bothered to finish it, as I am an amateur in Sketchup so I decided to do this in real life.

So here it is:

I took this picture just the afternoon after I took the pictures of the modding tools. This is NOT what it's going to look like, the PC will be placed on a side down position.

The reason why?

I want to make a side down PC chassis for a change; and that's not the only reason. Water cooling and the installation of hardware is just so much easier downwards than through the side, water cooling also becomes very very convenient and placement of items such as pumps and reservoirs is easier.

Starting off with the 3x120mm fans at the 'top', to accommodate a 360mm radiator, things I love about these cases are there are sheets of metal begging to be cut at.

The funny thing though is that the design on this sheet of metal is pretty sweet, you see that H? The edges of the H can very very comfortably nestle a 120mm between them.

Pretty cool yea? Now all I need to do is mark out the holes, saved me the pain of having to do it myself : )

And that 120mm fan at the 'back' of the case, I will be cutting out an extra hole OVER the 2x80mm fan holes at the back, (yes, it can fit one) and marked out the cutting lines. Just need a boring weekday to do this stuff.

And finally 2x120mm fans at the 'bottom' of the case, this will accommodate a 240mm radiator (I'll be using the XSPC rx240 from my scout build).










So this leaves the front panel and the side panel, my options with this? I am thinking of placing the power supply in the 5.25" bays, it ALMOST fits, a snug fit always means I don't need screws. A slight mod will make it fit nice and snugly.

As with the sidepanels, the sidepanel which I am resting the PC on will have rubber feet drilled onto them, screwed onto the main framework and sealed with screws, and along the sealing edges I will apply some of that double sided foam tape to reduce vibrations/noise.

With the sidepanel at the top, I am thinking about a clear window, maybe with a dark or coloured tint depending on what Gammods has to offer.

Well anyways I'm beat, that's all for this update.

Stay tuned for more.

Killer Cases #3

Corsair 600T

NZXT H2

Bitfenix Survivor

Computer Case fans.

Computer Fans

Xigmatek 120mm XLF series fan.

The usual computer case end-users have under their table have a 120mm fan at the back, slots for a 80mm fan at the side and a funky plastic front cover. Thankfully most people have moved onto better cases with better fan compatibilities.

For people who hang around in computer forums notably Overclock.net, fans are a crucial part to a computer especially if it's running precious powerful hardware which need to be protected from overheating.

When I say 'fan' in a computer, people usually think about that thing on the 'motherboard chip'. That is the CPU heatsink and it's not entirely a fan. A case fan attaches onto the case with screws or other methods such as the special rubber isolation mounts which are popular nowadays with fan production companies.



Good things about a fan?

Fans are only there to provide airflow to the hardware inside the computer for the various heatsinks in the computer, such as the CPU heatsink, the usually passive heatsinks on the northbridge, southbridge and Mosfets (the black cube like components which usually are on the left side of the CPU socket and sometimes on the top),
The Heatsinks NEED air to move through the metal fins which dissipate heat through MOVING air.
The Fans displayed are Enermax Apollishes, some look for dazzling looks on their fans.

Is it worthit?

Unlike junk-food, too much of it is NEVER bad; that's if you're an overclocker trying to reach a record-breaker on an i7 980x CPU.

Fans are not always a MUST for a computer, but it is recommended to have atleast ONE fan at the back of your case to extract hot air which may mingle inside your computer case.The guy who built the computer shown on the right truly is crazy, no computer doesn't need that many fans. The average computer case fan costs $12, it can get as low as $3 and can reach $50 if you wish to have all the features a fan can haven such as LED lighting, silence, looks and amount of air the fan pushes.



What to look for when you buy one?

Computer case fans can be bought in most computer stores and vary in price. Most consumers should look for mainly 2 things, NOISE and PRICE. Most people just want a working computer which doesn't make too much noise and  doesn't empty a wallet.

The specifications of a fan can be seen on the company's website or on the packaging of the fan, but these are not always reliable, many statements have been proven wrong such as Coolermaster's claims of 'silence' in some of their fans.

You should also look at compatibility, the common case fan is a 120mm fan, others can be 140mm, 80mm and can get as big as 400mm. You should measure the 'fan holes' in your case which can be distinguished by a circular or square like grille with 4 circular holes on each corner. Use a ruler and measure the distance between 2 holes (not diagonally) and you should round that number off to 40mm, 60mm, 80mm, 92mm, 120mm, 140mm or higher fans which aren't in most computer cases.

If you still are not sure about noise and compatibility and miscellaneous points about case fans you should check out forums such as Overclock.net, the link to it is on the left. They should guide you to which fans are best to buy.