DFI X48-T3RS in a Lian Li A17

SquidgyB · #1 21-06-2008, 02:06

Here's the final stages of my build, the second time I've filled this case in the last few months.

The first time I had an Asus P5E3 Premium Wifi, and no matter how many things I tried I could not get it stable, even under stock speeds, so that went back, and now, finally, I have a T3RS and the memory should arrive next week.

Here's all the kit involved:

Lian Li A17B
DFI Lanparty UT X48-T3RS
QX9650
Thermalright TRUE 120
IFX-10
EVGA 9800GTX
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Silverstone OP850
Scythe Kama Panel
2 x Scythe bay fan
A bunch of yate loons
Akasa pax case silencing stuff

The Case from the front (sorry it's a bit crap light wise, I'm no photographer

):

A view of the messy bit first... I do like the way cables can be routed in this case, it allows for a really clean setup on the business side, as you'll see in just a moment:

Top down view:

The rest are just various views descending further into the case:

And lastly, the reason the maint heatsink isn't yet installed:

Yup. When I took it apart to RMA the P5E3, I touched the lapped surface on the TRUE 120 and didn't realise until the other day

Here's a better view of the staining/corrosion:

(I realised here that my phone takes better pictures than my girlfriends "5.2 megapixel" camera

)

I lent my lapping kit to a mate, and now he says he's "put it in too safe a place" to remember where it is :P Bless 'im, he's as scatty as I am, so I can't fault him too much. I only hope he finds it before the memory turns up, else I might be a bit miffed

There will be more pics when it's closer to completion. I'm planning some more heatsinks in there, definitely an HR-05 SLI IFX for the northbridge, a HR-11 and an Arctic Cooling Accelero 9800 for the graphics. I'm not going to void the warranty on the memory by getting a themalright on those, though I'm tempted. I will however either find a way of mounting my OCZ cooler (there's not enough gap between the memory and graphics card to fit it with the supplied mounting mechanism), or just a fan or two above the RAM.

I think the Arctic cooling might have to wait a month, because I'm now planning on stepping up to a 9800GTX+, provided the price "slash" they're planning means that I'll only have to pay postage on the card, I might as well.

Clunk · #2 21-06-2008, 02:52

Great job on the cabling

I have that scythe karma panel, it has been a godsend in this MM case

Those finger prints should come off with a bit of isopropyl or some other solvent?

Kelainefes · #3 21-06-2008, 03:21

If you got trouble installing the OCZ ram cooler, you could move the card in the second PCI Express slot.

To clean the base of the CPU cooler:

Quote:

Salt, Vinegar, and Flour. Dissolve 1 teaspoon salt in 1 cup white vinegar. Add enough flour to make a paste. Apply the paste to copper and let sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse with clean warm water, and polish dry.

Lemon and Salt or Baking Soda. Make a paste of lemon juice and salt, and rub with a soft cloth, rinse with water, and dry. Or use a slice of lemon sprinkled with baking soda. Rub copper with the lemon slice and rinse with water and dry. Vinegar and Salt. Pour vinegar over the surface Sprinkle salt over the acid and rub in the mixture. Rinse with warm water and polish dry.

Lemon Juice and Cream of Tartar. Make a paste of lemon juice and cream of tartar. Apply, leave on for 5 minutes, and then wash in warm water. Dry with a soft cloth.

SquidgyB · #4 21-06-2008, 03:30

Thanks, I'm quite chuffed myself at how the cabling turned out

The copper hasn't turned green, but the blotchy bits in the centre lower half are definitely corrosion, you can see it when you watch the reflection off the copper

I know I don't have any isopropyl nor vinegar in the house, I do have tomato sauce but I'd prefer not to! Me mate should find the kit this weekend, otherwise it'll be a trip to boots or something (I assume that's the most likely place I could get isopropyl?)

Kelainefes · #5 21-06-2008, 03:34

Update the page! The info i posted at first was incomplete, now it's edited.
I reckon you will find a lemon somewhere.

Clunk · #6 21-06-2008, 03:35

On your camera, there should be a macro function, it's usually a little picture of a flower or something. Enable that and you should be able to do good close ups

SquidgyB · #7 22-06-2008, 18:53

I treid a little tomato sauce (!), and it did remove a tiny bit of the corrosion, leaving tiny little clean spots of copper in the center of each spot of nastyness, but it didn't do anything to the fingerprints. No matter, my mate has found the lapping kit so I should get that tonight at some point.

I don't want to move the graphics card to the bottom in the name of good airflow, as well as the USB headers being in the way and the card would get in the way of the board's on/off switch, reset and lcd display. I've got a nice plan for the arctic cooling heatsink for the card that involves a bit of modding, I'll post pictures of the whole thing as they're ready.

Here's a few teaser pics:

I wonder if anyone can spot what the big black thing is/was!

I'm going to gut along the pencil marks, making a sort of cowling/air duct, which holds the two 120mm fans just above the graphics card. It'd be pointless to install it now because of the way the 9800GTX cooler works, sending all the air out of the back. When I install the arctic cooling kit then it'll come into play, expelling the hot air so it doesn't muck up the temps on the rest of the system.

The green rectangles show where the two 120mm fans sit, and the ble lines are where I'm going to place a kind of wall to direct the airflow, as well as giving it a little rigidity where itsits on the side of the 5 1/4inch bays.

I also tidied up the cables at the back a bit more, they make more "sense" now and don't put pressure on the back panel as much as they did:

The earlier pics of the base of the TRUE120 were taken with the macro setting on, it just really is a shit camera (or a shit photographer!)