Caselabs SM8 Build - EVO IV

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Thanks for the kind words guys...

Another bummer.The card for the build came in and I had specifically ordered the reference card. The card they sent me was an OC boost edition, which though better, does not allow me to use any damn water block on the market. I have called and asked them to work it out....and I hope to solve it soon....hopefully.
 
Update: The motherboard has finally ben ordered and is on the way to me. I guess I should get it today or tomorrow.

Most of the watercooling stuff came in yesterday and I should start working on the loop oder soon. The XSPC AX series is a beauty. Super stuff. Also new pump and some extra fittings as well as a new set of case feet. I will update with some photos soon.

Fk is still to send me my new GPU. The supposed courier they sent has been at the Delhi hub for the last 4 days and they expect me to believe that everything is alright.

I wonder when we will ever learn about Customer service. I have followed up with them and they seem to think its usual. No more FK orders for me from now on.
 
Finally, my board got in...

Presenting the center piece of this whole build....

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Well, I give you the........box which holds ....well, the motherboard...

And the XSPC AX 480 came in as well. With some other things, which I will show you guys soon. I started my first build with a 240. The second with a 360 and the third now, with the 480....I dont think its going to get any bigger than this, but you never know.

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I have always been a bit critical about XSPC, specially about their fit and finish. But with the AX series, they have done a superb job. Well done XSPC.

I also changed out the case feet for something a bit lower and also a bit more elegant. The case labs feet were great, but they are a bit boring..

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And finally, a look at the filter at the bottom. This was salvaged from a Lian Li bay drive, which is kind of bent out of shape. The filter comes off in less than 2 seconds, so makes it easy to clean.

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Best of luck for your build.
just one word Awesome !! :):)[DOUBLEPOST=1371750461][/DOUBLEPOST]Best of luck for your build.
just one word Awesome !! :):)
 
Thanks Sujit and doubtfire. I am hoping for the best as well. V2 of the mid plate will be what I concentrate on this weekend. Next week hopefully will be the sleeving.
 
Started work on the sleeving this weekend and am happy to report that everything that I could do is done. Sata, Sata power, Molex, 24 Pin, 8 Pin and PCIE, all the cables that can be ready are ready. Why?, because I am awaiting the sleeve that I need for the rest of it. But for now, heres what I have finished.

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Nice and neat, with no heatshrink this time around. I was using the same PSU that I used for the last build, so this took twice the time it would normally take, as I had to first remove the old sleeve and redo some of them as well.

I know some of you are probably waiting to see whats inside that big Asus box...well, here it is:

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This is going to be the centre piece of the build. And heres some more:

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And heres a quick pic of the monster rad thats going to cool this setup:

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As you can see I can probably go push pull in the future if required. Those fans are the GT AP-00 fans, very few of which were made for confirmed orders on one of the forums. The run at around 2150 as compared to the 1850 that the GT AP15 runs. Its almost as quiet to boot. Great fans and I just dont want to paint them or mess with their acoustics at all.

I am also almost done with ver 2 of the mid panel. I hope that it will be finished by tomorrow. I also need to get the RAM to match the rest of the color scheme. Maybe some CF vinyl?
 
I had ordered the sleeving about a week ago and kudos to Nils at MDPC, the sleeving is already here in India.

So, presenting the color scheme for this build, like you guys didnt already know, but here it is:

6u8Keyc.jpg


Unluckily due to too many issues, I am unable to sleeve the PCIE cables. The Antec 850W comes with a splitter on the 8 Pin, which goes into another 8 pin and all my sleeving knowledge and practice till now has not helped me to clear this issue. Secondly, it just looks disastrous when connected to the GPU, so I decided that this is the only part where I will have to use extensions to overcome this problem.

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Adding a bit of grey also added a bit highlight to the black and made the transition a bit easier:

6u8Keyc.jpg


Next I need to work on the 24 Pin and 8 Pin. I have already sleeved the black cables, only the highlights are left now.

I also put in some work on the mid plate and I am proud to say that it is now ready. I cut off about an inch from the new piece to make sure it fits into the case. The mistake I made in my first try with the new piece is to measure from end to end, not taking into consideration the lip at both ends of the case. This lip made it impossible for me to install the mid plate, without putting it in diagonally. And with the motherboard installed, thats more or less impossible.

Cutting an inch of the whole pice makes it easier to install straight up and also easier to remove. I guess we live and learn.

I am still at sea with the GPU as I returned the previous one and got a refund, but now I dont have anything..
 
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The colour theme grey , black and yellow are looking very good. And your sleeving skills are mind blowing... Superb.

And the big Asus box was containing an Asrock Motherboard....??????

Let me guess you are also adding few digital voltmeters to "V-Probe" connectors.

And are you planning to add stock VRM water block in the loop or using another water block or just leaving the on-board VRM heatsink as it is ?
 
Thanks Rakesh. Where have u disappeared these days anyway.

To answer your question, I am currently using a multimeter to check voltages when ocing, but am happy to incorporate some ideas that you may have. Let's discuss this in a bit more details. And yes it was this lovely board in the big ass asud box. After using only ROG boards for around 4 years it's a bit difficult to adjust to something new. But thankfully this board seems to be doing a good job.

I won't be using the inbuilt water cooling as the barbs are a half hearted attempt. Tubes won't stay on easily and the size you need to use is a bit odd as well. It seems to run quite cool with the included fan anyway.
 
I was here all the time as a silent viewer..

And your choice of regarding the Asrock board is very good.. And my self being an ASUS user, i can understand switching to other brand is difficult.. but this particular board is real promising.

As per idea of connecting voltmeters to V-Probe connector, If you want i think i can arrange a female connector for V-probe, i have seen like one in a Xorex machine.
With one multimeter you can monitor only one voltage pin.
And the normal digital voltmeter for PC can only read up to 1 or 2 decimal places only.. but i think while OC you need voltage reading up to 3 decimal places or more. Let me talk with few of my friends and if possible find out if such digital voltmeter are available or not ..
 
I was wondering if it was possible to have a permanent display of the Vcore....maybe a small screen with vcore points plugged in? More as a mod then for overclocking.
 
So how does this thing work. It has 3 leads, one of which is ground and one is power. The third goes to the vcheck point?
 
Red = +12v , Black = Ground and Yellow = Vcore pin... that's it

Single wire to Vcore pin and voltage is read in respect with common Ground.[DOUBLEPOST=1372331194][/DOUBLEPOST]After concerting with a friend this 4 digit volt meter will read voltage up to 2 decimal place only.. for exact Vcore voltage reading you need 5 digit voltmeter with reading range up to 3 decimal place . He suggested this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Digits-Hi...462?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33828cb0be
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-0-36-B...255?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d387034f[DOUBLEPOST=1372331656][/DOUBLEPOST]And this one fits your colour theme

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yellow-LED-...595?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec81b051b[DOUBLEPOST=1372332182][/DOUBLEPOST]And i think so ,these pins will fit perfect in V-Probe connector.
xHhl7d1.jpg
[DOUBLEPOST=1372333220][/DOUBLEPOST]Yeep these pin will work with this connector.

v-check-points.jpg
 
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Bikey, Gold sleeve is hard to find, specially good quality stuff.

Rakesh, thanks for the help, I am surely going to look at it. The last one you linked has four wires. Again confusion.

Ok, update time.

First off, got the CPU installed. This is the one where I de lidded it. Runs nice and cool now. I made a mistake of using Liquid pro between the block and the CPU. It still has not come off fully.

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Those yellow caps look beautiful.

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I just could not find a good set of ram, which was black or black/yellow. Out comes the trusty carbon vinyl and on it goes.

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I also got my new GPU, presenting the GTX 770. The Zotac one with the aluminium body appealed to me more than the DC II, though I heard good things about it. I am not one to go crazy on a GPU so I really dont care as long as I get a nice looking sturdy card.

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Next up, I got to finish all the sleeving, then work on the loop and finally the bottom panel. The bottom panel goes last as thats one part where I hope to finish it without any mistakes. So that will take some patience and time this time around. I will be reworking Ver 2 rather than making a new one though.
 
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