Coolant

Well I forgot to say I finally broke down and got an SSD.

I also got a 120mm radiator stand. This way I don’t have to have the rad zip tied in the case.

And some Mayhem’s Pastel Light Red coolant and some Red Dye. Oh ya and I got tubing but didn’t take a pic. After I redid everything here are some quick pictures.

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Some came out good others not so much. Last thing to make is the mid plate and I’m still waiting on 2 fan grills.

Fans

Not much progress yet but I got my fans in.

18 Yate Loon High Speed fans

Testing the first batch.

They all work!

2nd batch.

All good again.

Wiring is a mess. I will be removing the molex connector plugs because I don’t need them with the fan bus’.

Now I’m just waiting on the fan grills to arrive and for my acrylic supplier to respond back about laser cutting the parts.

Cheers till then.

Watercooling on a Budget… It can be done!!

I hear from a lot of people that watercooling is way too expensive for them to do. Well I am here to tell you that they are wrong.  You can get an affordable loop if you know where to look.

 

The first thing to remember is that if you are a budget builder, you can not be afraid to buy used. I read over 10 different forums and many of them have “For Sale” sections. Many of these items I’m going to show you can be found there for less than 1/2 their retail price.

 

CPU Block

I found a great CPU block for less than $20! The OCZ Hydro FLow HF-MK1 CPU block can be found on Amazon.com for $19.99 and free Amazon Prime shipping. It comes with 2 sets of barbs, hold down screws, thermal paste and brackets for Intel LGA775 and 1366 and AMD 754/939/940/AM2. No need for anything extra if you buy this block.

 

Pump

One of the best pumps out there right now is the Swiftech MCP 355 12V DC Pump and you can buy it on Jab-tech.com for $66.95 which is 16% off its normal price. Yes I know this pump looks expensive but, you can find this exact same pump on forum classifieds like HardForums.com for $30-40 depending on the seller. This pump can put out 50,000 hours which means it will outlast your build. We will use this pump with a bay reservoir to reduce the clutter in the case.

 

Reservoir

I am very big on reducing the clutter inside the case. Having a bay reservoir where the pump can actually be mounted to it does just that. The XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25″ Reservoir for Laing DDC bay reservoir does just that. You can get it over at Jab-tech.com for $39.95 which is 38% below retail. You may be able to find this in the forums but they are very popular and no one really likes to get rid of them. With this reservoir you simply take the pump top off your pump and screw the pump onto the bottom of the reservoir, screw on 2 barbs (see the barbs section) and your good to go.

 

Radiator

Swiftech knows what they are doing when it comes to watercooling. Lately I have found great deals on their MCR 320-QP-K 360mm radiator. You can buy it on Jab-tech.com for $49.95, which is 13% off the retail price, or you can pick it up on a forum for about $30. I picked this radiator mainly because of supply and demand. There are so many of them out there and so many people selling them, it makes it very very easy to get a great deal on one. Just remember to ask for pictures so you can see that none of the fins are bent and it isn’t scratched up too bad. One thing to note is that radiators do NOT come with barbs so you will have to purchase them separately but radiators do come with enough screws to put fans on 1 side of it. (A push or pull configuration)

If a 360mm (3x120mm fans) is too big for your case you can always go with the Swiftech MCR220 240mm radiator found on Jab-tech.com for $41.95 or pick it up on the forums for about $20-$30. Again, I picked a Swiftech radiator purely because of supply and demand which means you can save money and get a decent radiator.

 

Barbs

Barbs can seem like the most costly item because they are so small and sometimes you need lots of them. We will only need 4 for this setup so you can get some nice Bitspower G1/4″ Matt Black 3/8″ fittings for $2.75 each on Jab-tech.com. Lots of people sell these on the forums for anywhere from $1-$2.50 but because we only need 4, there really isn’t a reason to hunt them down. One thing to note is that the CPU block comes with barbs so if you want all of your barbs to match then you need to pick up 2 more of these. Bitspower is the #1 brand for watercooling barbs so you are buying the best out there. You shouldn’t skimp on barbs because cheap barbs cause leaks which causes your system to fry.

 

Fans

You can buy the most expensive fans out there and they will just barely beat some trusty Yate Loons. Jab-Tech.com has Yate Loon 120mm High Speed fans for only $3.85 a piece! Your saving 70% off the retail price!! These aren’t Scythe Gentle Typhoons but they do the job just the same for a budget build. And don’t think that they are going to be crazy loud because they aren’t. They are actually super super quiet at full speed.

 

Tubing

Since we picked 3/8″ Barbs we need 3/8″ tubing. ClearFLEX 60 3/8″ ID tubing is exactly what we need and Jab-tech.com has it for $.99 per foot. You should buy 5-10 feet just to be safe. Its only a few bucks and if you ever decide to upgrade your watercooling kit to include your GPU then you won’t have to buy more tubing. Clear tubing is best known for using colored coolant but I reccomend staying away from it because its expensive.

 

Coolant and Additives

Don’t use it! As I said before, its expensive. You will want to use distilled water and a Antimicrobial Silver Strip which is found on Jab-tech.com for $5.94 for an 8″ strip (plenty for what we need). You should put this in your reservoir and what it does is keep your system from growing algae and whatnot.

 

 

I hope this helps you see that watercooling really isn’t that expensive and I will bet that once you completed your first watercooled system, you will never want to go back to air cooling again.

 

Until next time,

Cheers

Pump and Reservoir Holes

Next up are the mounting holes for reservoir and pumps.

This measurement is actually wrong. Its 1 3/16″ between the 2 holes, not 1 1/4″

Here it is drawn on the stand. These holes match both a DDC and MCP pump. DDC pump is sideways though but I won’t be using one. The holes in the middle are for the EK Res. I like theirs the best and they only need 1 mounting point per res holder.

I could also make holes for the DDC pump to face the correct way but as I said, I won’t be using it.

More soon.

Rad Grills

I got the design in for the rad grills.

 

The guy will be starting to cut soon. Can’t wait!

 

I got the quote from Delvie’s Plastics. Materials will cost under $30 which is great. The only thing is that I have to cut the fan holes myself. Shouldn’t be too hard as long as I take my time.

 

Cheers till next time.

DIY Radiator Stand

So I am getting a test bench from and Italian maker but it has no watercooling options. So I got to thinking about a radiator stand because the test bench is a mini test bench, no WC options.

I saw the Phobya stand and I really really liked it. Which fits 3x 3.120 rads or a 4×180 rad, but its $90. And they have a smaller one, which fits 2x 2.120 rads and its $60.

They have options which are great. You can mount your res and pump to the outside or inside of the rad stand.

So why can’t I make it out of pelxi? So after a few hours in sketchup. I came up with this.

Inside the rad stand. You can see where the Rads go.

Outside the rad stand. Here you can see where the fan holes need to go.

I actually think I may be able to just cut the openings by hand and then just use some modders mesh to cover the holes. That will be way cheaper in the long run as I won’t have to ship the plexi out and pay for a laser cutter and I can do it in 1 big piece.

Here is how I will cut the fan holes. All I did was make an X across where the fan hole needs to be (mounting hole to hole) and then drew a 2 5/8″ hole there. Delete the parts that are outside the fan hole and there you have nice rounded corners. Should be easy enough to make if I take my time.

As of right now the feet are 8″ long and 2″ wide.

Total dimensions are :
1′ 7″ tall
1′ 5″ wide
4″ deep (might make this 5 for thicker rads)

All materials are 1/4″ thick acrylic.

So I’m going back to the acrylic idea. 1/4″ is more than thick enough to handle the weight of the rads. + I will have rad grills made to give it some more strength.

The new feet. I’m 100% sure these will keep it sanding.

And the cutouts for the rads.

I got replies for the aluminum and just having the main pieces cut will cost over $140 so alu is out.

I just sent some emails to plexi companies to get work done. Hopefully I’ll have a reply tomorrow
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Homemade Lite-Brite

I stumbled on this Instructables article a few months ago for how to make a Giant Lite-Brite. Once I saw this I remember playing with the normal old school Lite-Brite as a kid. I got to thinking that my 2 year old would love this. So the planing began.

I found a wood crate at work measuring roughly 3′ x 4′ which is a perfect size. Now I have to start planing my materials.

Amount of Acrylic needed
Light Switch
Plug
How to stabilize the acrylic sheets (Well kind of, I know how to stabilize them on the edges. Need to figure out how to do it in the middle.)
Rubber backing needed to cover the holes
Lights (2 or 3 sets) (Black light for florescent)
Fans (2 in the bottom only or 2 top 2 bottom or 3 in bottom and vents up top)
Acrylic Vendor
Size of Acrylic Rods (1/2″OD, 3/4″OD or 1″ OD)
Spacing for holes (Depends on the size of rod)
Wire Terminals (Sold out online at a few stores)
Wire size (Probably 12 AWG)
Cable Management (Probably going to use P-Clips)
Moulding (this will hold in the top layer of acrylic and make it look clean)

Here are some pictures of what I have done so far in SketchUp.

Front

The blue box in the top right is the wire box for the switch.

Inside bottom

You can see the 2 92mm fans that will pull air into the box. Will probably move to 3 fans in the bottom and have vents in the top.

Bottom

The fans have grills over them so my daughter doesn’t get her finger in there.

Switch Side

Single Pole Double switch at the top and the IEC plug
Channeling

These channels are 1/4″ wide which is enough to get the plexi in. The 2 front pieces will have the holes it it and be spaced 1″ apart. Then 1″ back will be a solid clear piece of plexi as the backstop.

Still loads more work to come.

[Review] Tt eSports MEKA G Unit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Introduction

The MEKA G Unit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is one of the newest products out of the Tt eSports by Thermaltake lab. This keyboard has all of the features a gamer would want from a gaming keyboard without all the fluff that some other keyboards have. Now let’s take a look at what this device has to offer.

Specifications

• Interface: USB
•  Operational system: Windows® 7/Vista/XP
• Number of Multimedia keys: 7
• 2.0 USB port: 2
• Mic-In &SP Out jacks
• Switch lifecycle: 50 Millions
• Switch brand: Cherry Black switch
• Cable length: 1.5m military grade cable
• Detachable palm rest
• Body dimension (LxWxH): 430x160x40mm

 

Features

• Detachable USB Cable
• Backlit keys. 3 individual white illumination sections for 4 levels and pause-breaking lighting design.
• USB hub & Audio jacks
• Macro Capability
• Normal/Game Mode switchable. Win key disabled in Game mode to avoid any accidental pressing.
• ISS (Instant Switch System) advanced macro key shifting fiction allows Gamer to reach all 60 macro keys within one profile.
• Up to 20 macro keys (12 fixed & 8 unfixed) per profile and total up to 60 macro keys with 3 profiles.
• 7 media hotkeys to provide gamers the instant control of audio sound.
• Up to 1000Hz polling rate which equates to 8x quicker than regular gaming keyboard.

Packaging

Packaging looks great. The box itself is very eye catching and points out lots of the features.

The back displays those features on the keyboard so that you can have a better idea of what it offers. Several of the main features are displayed in 15 different languages on the back which is great for the international market.

What’s inside?

Once we get into the box you will see the CD/manual case and a snapshot of what the GUI setup looks like. It points out all of the things you can change like macro key assignments, backlight key lighting and profile settings. Having 3 profiles is really great for gamers because you can have different hotkey setups for your favorite games. Or for generic gaming you can switch to Gaming mode to disable/enable different functions like disabling the windows key. (No one likes seeing the start menu pop up when you’re trying to crouch.

Under the details flap you will find the keyboard wrapped in a protective plastic wrap. It is also tucked into a cardboard insert to ensure it does not slide around. This is great to see because no one wants their product scratched up in shipping. Under the keyboard is the USB cable, wrist rest and carrying bag.

A Closer Look

Once we pull everything out you can notice the Tt eSports logo on everything. It looks very tasteful to me. Some companies slap their logo every 2 inches on their product but luckily, Tt does not. I can say that I am a huge fan of the carry bag. This really puts Tt ahead of others because they include something to protect your investment with instead of throwing it in your backpack.

Here you can see how everything fits in to its place. There is a separation at the bottom of the bag that you can’t see. This keeps the keyboard from rubbing against the wrist rest. And at the top left of the bag you can see the small compartment for the USB cable.

The USB cable for this device is pretty awesome. I have owned well over 10 different keyboards in my time and I have never seen one that was sleeved. This shows me that Tt is really paying attention to the small details for this device. It even comes with a Velcro strap attached for easy bundling.

From left to right on the back of the keyboard you will see the cable management U-Channel. Next to that you will see the mini USB input which is where the data/power cable for the keyboard plugs into. In the middle there are 2 USB 2.0 ports. These are great for USB sticks or even your mouse. It’s a great addition because I hate bending down to put a USB drive or USB HDD in to my tower. And finally on the far right you have your audio and mic inputs. Also a great addition if you don’t have a long cable on your headphones or if you don’t want to run the cable over with your office chair.

Here you can see the 12 macro keys. The spacing from the main keys is great. You can easily reach over to spam your med macro key while still moving. I never really used macro keys before for MMO gaming but I found it very easy to learn and make it second nature. You can also see some of the backlit keys. CTRL, Shift, W A S D and the spacebar on this side of the keyboard. The Caps Lock key is illumined when active. This is great for gamers but for daily drivers that just like the feel of a mechanical keyboard this really isn’t helpful. A nice improvement would be if all the keys were backlit and maybe the key gaming keys were a different color. That way it would satisfy both crowds.

On the other side of the keyboard you can see that the arrow keys and 4 8 6 2 keys are backlit. The Num Lock and Scroll lock are illuminated when active. On the top right of the keyboard you can see the 7 media keys and the brightness level key. They are easily accessible and work with a single touch. Nothing to complain about here.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Fast response time when gaming
• Sleek look
• Normal/Gaming mode
• Multiple profiles for macro keys
• Onboard USB and audio ports

Cons:

• $129.99 MSRP
• Loud when typing
• Limited amount of keys are backlit

Even though this is the first mechanical keyboard that I have ever used it was very impressed. I am used to the consumer grade keyboards which sometimes make gaming difficult but after using the mechanical keyboard my gaming experience changed dramatically. Overall I give it a 4/5 because of 3 things. Number one being that it the keys are not fully backlit. The second thing being that it is really loud to type on. So loud that you can hear it in the next room. And the third thing being the price. For me spending around $75 for a peripheral is OK but at $130, I think it will scare away some of the mid level or even younger gamers.

This product was provided free of charge for the purpose of this review.

Supplies, Rivets and Sleeving

Sorry I haven’t updated in a few weeks. Its not that I have been busy its just I haven’t done much work. I am still waiting on the rest of the plexi to arrive. Been 2 weeks and I’m still waiting. Anyways… here is what I have done.

I got my Orange tubing in.

I also ordered a Rivet Nut Setter. Basically its a bigger pop rivet gun.

So with that I got the threaded rivets and drilled my old holes.

Used the tool, which I actually had to read the directions for, and voila! A steel threaded hole. These will hold up much better than the aluminum.

2 more 2TB Green HDDs

A 120mm fan for the mobo side of the case.

Sleeving… I ordered the FlexO from FrozenCPU because it was “cheaper”. The quality wasn’t great but I could afford it. I decided to do a sleeving comparison for my fellow modders and when I ordered the other brands I got my hands on some MDPC-X sleeving. No wonder everyone uses it. The color is amazing and its only $0.22 PER FOOT!! That’s 1/3 the price of the FlexO. The only problem is that it takes 2 weeks to get  Germany to USA. USA to me. I wish Nils would ship to APO/DPO but he doesn’t so I have to deal with that.

Here is a comparison between the FlexO and MDPC-X

You can see on the HDD I bought some Orange vinyl film. Its pretty transparent so I have to put 2 layers down to get the color I want.

Since I had some of the MDPC-X I started sleeving the ATX power. I might add a few more black wires to the mix.

And that’s it. I just put in an order to get the rest of the sleeving that I need form MDPC-X and I’ll use up what I have left here.

Cheers till next time.

[Review] Raidmax Aeolus

AEOLUS
More than cool

“Aeolus defines itself as “the ruler of the winds.” This Raidmax gaming case delivers a fresh visual design as well as exceptional functional use. This properly cooled system keeps a constant stream of air moving throughout the entire case at all times which is vital for proper function and longevity of electronic components. The 430mm depth of chassis supports longer VGA cards and removable HDD cage allows more room for a larger sized power supply. Tool-free and cable management allow for easy assembly at all times. Rule your PC world with Aeolus.”

Packaging

The box looks just like any case box. I got the impression that Raidmax wanted to show off the color accents on the case by the color choices of the box. On the back side of the box there are some key features about the case. Also on the side of the box there is a “Basic Specification” section that gives you some hard numbers about the case.

The case packaging was pretty standard. 2 closed-cell foamed end pieces held the case in place inside the box. The case was wrapped in a thick plastic bag to keep dust off the case and to keep it from getting scratched.

A Closer Look

I really like the look of this case. It has a slight “futuristic” look to it without looking or feeling cheap. Older Raidmax cases were very flimsy and cheap feeling. Well that was not the case here. The quality build of this case is something you would expect from a $100+ case.

The case comes with a very limited amount of mounting hardware.

After taking the side panel off you can see how the fans, PCI slot covers and the 5.25″ bay locks all match. By removing the front rear HDD cage there is 315mm f space for your PSU. Having the HDD cages mounted to the bottom of the case gives you 430mm of space for those huge video cards.

The 5.25″ bay have a tool-less mounting system works well and is not flimsy.

Moving to the bottom of the case, you can see the PSU vent has a filter. It is well made and not very flimsy. To the right are the 2 HDD cages. The bays to the left are removable by taking out the screws located under the case. The HDD slides are rather flimsy but once installed the are sturdy. You can mount a 3.5″ or 2.5″ HDD to the slides.

My biggest problem with these HDD bays is that they are not stackable. There is no way to get a PSU in and have both HDD cages installed. Also the left HDD cage covers up the PSU cable management hole. I stacked them and you can see it would work out well. Even when I installed a system my GTX 560Ti had more than enough room to fit with the HDD cages stacked.

Inside the top of the case there are two 120mm fans held in with 4 pressure clips. These enable quick and easy mounting. During shipping one of the fans came loose and damaged 2 of these clips so now the fan is not completely secure. You can also see the very large CPU cutout in the motherboard tray which is not removable.

The front of the case has one 120mm clear LED fan in it with the option of mounting a second 120mm fan in the bottom mesh area. The bottom fan would blow directly onto the HDD cages where the fan in the middle would blow directly onto where your video card(s) would be.

The rear of the case has a single 120mm fan with holes to mount a 80mm fan. Below the fan are 7 expansion slots that are covered by some eye catching blue mesh cover. These covers match the fans and tool-less mounting system.

The front I/O panel is what you would expect from an case. It has 2x USB 2.0, 1x ESATA, headphone and mic jack, power and reset buttons. The top of the case has a flat area to put things like a USB or ESATA external HDD or to charge your small USB accessories.

The 5.25″ bay covers have a “One-Click” locking system that I have not seen before. They are built very well and have dense dust filters which will keep a lot of dust from coming in through the front of the case.

I was not a fan of the doors on this case. Only the back panel had a grove that acted like a handle. The window side had nothing which made it difficult to take off. The windowed side panel can have a 120mm fan mounted to it which is not included with the case.

Installation

System Specs:

• OCZ ZX Series 1000W PSU
• Gigabyte 880GA
• AMD AthlonII X4 640
• 4GB DDR3-1600
• 80GB WD HDD
• EVGA GTX 560Ti
• Lite-On SATA Dual Layer DVD+R Lightscribe Drive

 

Installing the system was fairly easy. As I said before, I had to remove the rear HDD cage because my modular PSU would not fit. Cable management is limited. All of the holes are in the right spots but the space behind the motherboard tray is very tight. Also there is no CPU power hole so the cable must run across the board.

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Here you can see that stacking the HDD cages would be a huge improvement. There is roughly 2 inches between where my GPU ends and the HDD cage starts.

Conclusion

In the past Raidmax has been a “cheaper” build case but the Aeolus is anything but that. Despite a few design flaws, this case is a step in the right direction for Raidmax. You can pick this case up for $69.99 at Newegg at the time of this review. With a few changes I think this case could be an awesome case.

Pros:

• Sturdy design and construction
• Matching fans, PCI covers and 5.25″ bay hardware
• Tool-less 5.25″ bay locks
• Large CPU cutout
• Good placement of the cable management cutouts

Cons:

• No USB 3.0
• Flimsy HDD slides
• Non-stackable HDD bays
• Small amount of space behind the motherboard tray for cable management
• Fan clips are not high qulity
• Side panel door does not have a handle

After considering the pros and cons of this case, I give it a 6 out of 10. I really do like this case but some changes need to be made to it.

After looking at Raidmax’s website I see there is a new “VL Version” is out. The newer model replaces the USB 2.0 with USB 3.0, adds space behind the motherboard tray for greater cable management, adds handles to both side panel doors and adds a mounting device to enable you to stack the HDD cages. With these changes I would give this case an 9/10.

This product was provide free of charge by its manufacturer for the purpose of this review.