Build Log: Project Rampage II (Caselabs STH10)

Build Log: Project Rampage II (Caselabs STH10, 780TI Tri SLI)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic74gyYGoRo

Project Rampage II: Caselabs STH10 Build


Project Rampage II Latest Images:


Top Chamber Side Panel


Overall Shot of the Mid Chamber Loop (Motherboard and GPUs)


ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Loop Order


Dual D5 Pumps with Bitspower D5 Mod Kit and V2 Pump Top (Mid Chamber)




Tri SLI 780TIs


After more than a year I complete Project Rampage, I am back again. Not much changes in my components. It will be more of a change of casing and addition of radiators to this built. Color scheme of sleeves might change but will be making use of the remaining, red/black/white sleeves I have.

Links to various Project Rampage Logs and Achievements

VR Forum Project Rampage Build Log

Winner of Guru3D Rig of the Month March 2013

ASUS ROG Project Log Forum

Overclock.net Project Rampage Build Log

Official ASUS ROG Case Modding Forum

Above links are places where I would share my project logs and gather information on technical issues faced during the period of building Project Rampage.

Shortcuts to various build progress

Custom Spraying GT15s
Building Caselabs STH10
Back Panel Fittings
Poweradjust 2 Mounting Plate Prototype
Hex Radiator Grill
Poweradjust 2 Mounting Panel
Side Panel
DIY Lightbox


Project Rampage II Details

This project log will consists and document the progress of Project Rampage II. There will be frequent updates of the progress and sharing on technical issues faced and modding ideas to the fellow forum members.

I had made my order of Caselabs STH10 and its color will be the same as my current 800D which is black and white.

I had requested for the color of the interior to be full black. I did thought of getting total white but white will be harder to conceal stuffs. So I requested for custom color combination and It will look like my 800D but with upgraded and increase of space.

Rig's Components:
Intel i7 3930K
ASUS Rampage 4 Extreme
Corsair Vengence 1600 8 X 4 GB
Gigabyte 780TI GTX X 3 (Triple SLI)
Kingston Hyper X 3K 120GB SSD X 3(Sponsored)
3TB Seagate Barracuda
Seasonic X1250
Caselabs STH10

Current Watercooling Components
Bitspower Summit (LGA2011) Clear Plexi
Bitspower Universal Galaxy 4DIMM Clear Plexi (Nickel Replated)
Koolance RIVE Waterblock
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 water block X 2
Aquacomputer Kyrographics Acrylic Glass Nickel 780 TI X 3
Aquacomputer 780TI backplate X 3
Swiftech MCP655 (Speed Control) X 3
Bitspower D5 Mod Kit Matt Black X 3
Bitspower D5 Pump Top X 3
EK 250 X2 Reservoir
Lamptron Touch (controlling LED strips)
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 Pro (fan controls/LED Controls)
Aquacomputer Aquaero 6 Pro (fan controls/Pump Controls)
Aquacomputer Poweradjusts 2 USB X 3 -5 (pump controls/fan controls)
Aquacomputer Flow Sensor
Aquacomputer LED Amp (custom)
Bitspower Compression / Rotaries / Extenders Fittings (silver shining)
Koolance QDC / SLI Vid Connector Fittings (silver shining)
Phobya Extenders (silver shining)


Proposed Changes of WC Components

4 Radiators:
Phobya G Changer V2 360
Alphacool Monsta 360
Alphacool Monsta 480
Additional D5 Pump with Bitspower Mod Kit/ Bitspower V2 Pump Top



Proposed Fittings and Tubing
E22 10/12mm Acrylic Tubing (Clear)
Bitspower Multi Link Adapter C47 X 36

Proposed Blocks/ Backplate
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 Waterblock X 2

Fans
Gentle Typhoons X 11
Enermax Magmas X 12


Filters
Demciflex Caselabs 4 X 120mm Flexbay
Demciflex Caselabs Btm Chamber X 2
Demciflex Caselabs Flexbay 360 X 1
Demciflex Caselabs Top X1

For the fans setup, I am minimizing the use of fans as my rig is in my room and so is my baby as well. Dont wish to have a turbine or engine room and disturb my baby's sleep. So I propose to set all of my raidator fans as Push only.

Placement of Components

Radiator
2 X Radiator - Bottom Chamber
1 X Radiator Flex Bay

Reservoir
Motherboard Chamber

Pumps
Motherboard Chamber

 

Did up a sample of how my STH 10 will look like


Same color scheme as my current Corsair 800D but just different casing.

For my order of Caselabs STH10, I had order the following additional accessories.

- 2 X 480 Radiator Stand
- 1 X 360 Flex Bay Radiator Mount
- Silverstone USB 3 I/O Panel
- 3 X 5.25 Inch Bay Mounting (Short, adjustable)

As you can see from the sample image of how my STH10 will look like. The ventilated doors will only be at the bottom chamber. I am intending to mount all of my radiators down at the bottom chamber.

My top chamber will be used to mount all of my 5.25 inch devices which includes the following.
- Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 Pro
- Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 XT
- DVD Optical Drive
- Lamptron Touch (still considering if I should migrate this to the new casing as LED light controller)

Reason for the device to be mounted at the top is to be able to hide all of the unsightly cables, temperature probes and PSU cables at the top leaving the mid chamber free from unwanted sight of cables.

I might also create custom mounting holes for HDD cage to be place at the top chamber as well. But for now, I only have 1 X HDD and 2 X SSD which all can be mount behind the mobo panels.

Right now I am considering the following radiator to add on to my current radiator which is EK XTX 360 and EK XT 240 (Will replace my EK XT240)

1. Alphacool Monsta 360
2. Alphacool Monsta 480
3. XSPC RX360
4. EK XTX 360
5. EK XTX 480
6. EK XT 360
7. EK XTX 480

I am intending to install either 3 X 360, 2 X 360 with 1 X 480 or 2 X 480, 1 X 360 Radiator. I might be overkilled in getting 3 Radiators, but that is put in place just in the even I decided to add in my GPUs in my loop.

 

Proposed Radiator Mounting
Flexbay 120 X 3 (Front): EK XTX360
Bottom Chamber (Bottom): Alphacools Monsta 360, Alphacool Monsta 480.



Fans config I am planning to go Push config only as the rig be in my room with my baby sleeping in it. Really hoping dont wish to turn my bedroom into a turbine room. For those with babies will know, babies wake up at the slightest sound... I dont even dare to cough at times cause my baby cfm will wake up and cry and my wife would give me the Death Glare....


I had also contacted Bitspower Taiwan and will be ordering fittings directly from them. Shipping is a lot cheaper than PPC and discounts is given if quantity hit a certain amount. Below list is items which are shared by me and Hianyiaw whom is working on his WC loop also. But his items are more pricier than mine. So I guess my pockets will burn a smaller hole than his.

Lets have a look what we are ordering muahahaha....



Bitspower Order List
1. G1/4" Silver Shining Multi-Transfer Adapter BP-WTP-C03 X2
2. G1/4" Silver Shining Multi-Link Adapter BP-WTP-C47 X44
3. G1/4" Silver Shining Temperature Sensor Stop Fitting BP-WTP-CT X1
4. G1/4" Silver Shining Stop Fitting BP-WTP-C06 X15
5. Silver Shining T-Block BP-TMB X1
6. G1/4" Silver Shining CaseTop Water-Fill SET BP-WTP-C04 X8
7. Crystal Space L-Block BP-LB-CL X2
8. G1/4" Silver Shining T-Rotary IG1/4"X2 Extender BP-TR-C X1
9. silver dual g1/4 extender 20mm BP-WTP-C72 X2
10. silver mini snake style dual g1/4 extender BP-MSR X5
11. silver aqua pipe 1 BP-WTP-C17 X1
12. dual d5 mod top Pom version BP-2D5TOPP-BK 1
13. dual/single d5 upgrade kit 250 black Pom cap BP-D5TOPUK250P-BKCL X1
14. z cap II with 3 g1/4 BP-WTZPC2-BK X1
15. silver anti cyclone adapter BP-WTP-C46 X1
16. g1/4 silver d-plug set mini BP-WTP-C28 X5
17. Silver valve with black handle BP-MVV-SLBK X1
18. silver anti twist adapter BP-DR-C X2
19. O-Ring Kit For Bitspower Dual D5 MOD TOP (Deep Red) BP-ORK2D5MT-DRD X2
20. O-Ring Set II BP-WTP-O502-BK X1
21. G1/4" Silver Shining Mini Dual G1/4" Extender BP-WTP-C42 X2

 

Today went down to Sim Lim Tower (my local hardware tools heaven) to purchase the following items.

- SKIL Heat Gun
- 1500 & 2000 Grit Sandpaper
- Small File for filing the tubes
- 4 X Gentle Typhoons AP15

As for now I am leaning towards for push or pull config only. If I were to mount Push Pull config, I believe my wife will kill me for having a turbine in our room.

Beside the noise factor, the the width of the Fans + Rads would be 25mm + 80mm + 25mm X 2. It will be 260mm back to back which I believe STH10 internal frame width is only 246mm.

If I were to do pull or push config, the total thickness of the rads and fans are only 210mm which gives the rads some breathing space.

But I might be considering to acquire 3 more Gentle Typhoons to my EK XTX360 to do push and pull config which are mounted in the flexbay of STH10.

I had also gotten an extra pair of QDC from a fellow modder (I sold him earlier but he found he had no use for it)

I have two more female QDC coming from US. The female threaded QDC which I ordered from Hong Kong is OOS.

I ordered from linkecomputer which is based in Hong Kong. I email and asked if they still have stock for it. They told me there are stock for it. After I paid, they email me notifying me that the stock had the wrong SKU on it and was the male variation. So had no choice but to make a refund for it.

But right now I have 5 pairs QDC and the plans for them are.

1 Pair QDC: Filling Port
2 Pairs QDC: Bottm Chamber Radiators
1 Pair QDC: Top Chamber Aquaero 5 Blocks (For easy separation and removal)
1 Pair QDC: Spare

Right now, I had also increased the numbers of fittings needed as I am leaning towards creating the same parallel fitting design on my board but with different design.

I am leaving the design aside for now till my E22 tubings arrive.

I had ordered 5m of Acrylic Tubings from E22 and hope that is enough for the build.

 

I had also done up the layout of flow and components placement for the new build.

Components Layout


Tubing Loop Layout



The above loop layout is almost identical to my current loop. But I be using the acrylic tubing to create some special bends in my built.

 

For Project Rampage II, I had purchased most of the stuff/ equipment for the built.

I had ordered fan hubs, fittings, cable management clips, fans from Performance PC. It is due to arrive very soon, hopefully this week.

For my fittings, I had also placed my order of close to $450 SGD worth of fittings today from Bitspower Taiwan.

As the Bitspower C47 Silver Shining are out of stock at the moment. I will have to wait for the stock to replenish before they are able to mail over by EMS.

For Bitspower Silver Shining C47 fittings alone, I had ordered 36 pieces of them. I had also order 8 additional pieces of Bitspower 90D Rotaries and 4 pieces of mini D Plugs from Performance PC.

Reason I gotten the 90D Rotary and D Plugs from PPC, is because Bitspower Taiwan are selling much more expensive compared to PPC.

I had also bought all of my fans for my built.

11 X Gentle Typhoons AP15 (7 Reused from current built)
3 X Enermax Magmas

Fans Assignment
480mm Monsta Radiator - 4 X Gentle Typhoons
360mm Monsta Radiator - 3 X Gentle Typhoons
360mm EK XTX 360 Radiator - 3 X Gentle Typhoons
Top Intake - 3 X Enermax Magmas
Rear Intake - 1 X Gentle Typhoon

Airflow
I am creating a Positive Airflow in my rig which all of the fans will be doing intake (Except for btm chamber radiator fans).

In order to keep the dust at bay, I am ordering Demciflex Filters for my built. Demciflex had served me very well for the last 2 years on my HAF X and current Corsair 800D.

I will show the steps on dismantling Gentle Typhoons in the next post with some pictures. Hoping that with the pictures link, it could give some guidance to people who are trying to paint their Gentle Typhoons.

 

Painting Gentle Typhoons
I had took some images for reference, hope it will be useful for fellow forum members/modders who are keen in coloring their Gentle Typhoons.

Removal of Sticker (voiding of warranty)


Use a lighter/ heat gun to heat up the stickers to ensure no residue left behind for easy removal of the sticker.


Close Look at the C Clip


I used two tweezers and a magnet to remove the C Clips. Magnet is used to attract the C Clip it if the C Clip were to fly out (It does happens very often)

Holding onto the fan blade, I used one tweezer to hold one side of the C Clip and used the other to ply it open. Do note that the C Clip will be very likely to fly away so make sure get the magnet close to the C Clip when removing.

If you lose your C Clip = $20 down the drain.

Dismantled Gentle Typhoons


After dismantling you will have the following parts. Pls keep them in zip lock bag to prevent any item lost.

- Gentle Typhoon Frame
- Gentle Typhoon Fan Blade
- 2 X Ball Bearing (one with fan blade, one removal from the rear of the fan frame)
- 1 X Spring
- 1 X C Clip

Completed Gentle Typhoon




After dismantling the fan blades, use the spray paint and paint the blades. One tip, paint the blades in thin layers. Wait for each layer to dry before applying the next.

After the blades are painted, fix the blade back to the fan frame. Do remember to use the magnet as well when fixing the C Clip.


Thank you for viewing.

 

Was busy spraying color on my newly bought AP15 and Enermax Magmas for the past two days.

Gentle Typhoon and Enermax Magmas



Came home today and guess what arrives. My Female Koolance VL3N Barb had arrived. Been waiting for the past 1 week plus for it. Right now I have a total of 5 pairs of QDCs, I might order 2 more pieces of VL3N Female Threaded and 1 more piece VL3N-MG Male Thread to have 6 sets of QDC with 1 pc as draining tool.

Koolance VL3N 3/8 Barb


Koolance VL3N Quick Disconnects (G1/4 Threaded, Compression, Barb)

 

Was busy the whole weekend, and looking forward for my Caselabs STH10 arrival.

It finally arrives yesterday evening.


Rushed home like a young boy to open his present. When got home, I saw the package lying at the doorstep. Freaking huge package.

Opened the package and found out something amiss....

Some of the parts that I had ordered separately are all in white instead of black.

I had custom the black and white colors, Exterior all white except for flexbays are all black.

Interior wise, all black.

The parts that I ordered all came in white,

- HDD Cage
- Short 5.25 Adjustable mounts X 3
- 480 Radiator Stand X 2


Even the 4 sets of 5.25 mounts are white too....

Worst case is, the HDD cage is bent!

I had yet to fix them up and yet so many issues. So discouraging.....

So I sent them email notifying them about this issue and hope they could give me a solution...

As I need to drill some holes for reservoir mounting, I cannot fix up the whole case yet.

So visually, I see no errors or faults on the casing so I am hoping nothing goes wrong with the panels.

 

In order to be able to fix up the case, I will need to get the Chassis Divider holes to be done. I had no confidence in getting it done without scratches onto the case so I had to send it down to MOPC today.

At MOPC, all thanks to Kenclass he had helped to give me more ideas in my built include the mounting of holes.

Instead of just drilling 2 X M3 Holes for the reservoir clips, Kenclass suggested me to drill G 1/4 holes instead.

In total 3 X G1/4 holes were drilled which I will further explain the use of them later.

As for now, I am waiting for the replies of Caselabs and hope they can help to resolve the issue by replacing the parts...

I am expecting a few shipments in the upcoming weeks when includes,

- 2 - 3 Koolance QDC,
- 40m of Red Sleeves
- 20m of Grey Sleeves
- 30m of White Sleeves
- 20m of Orange Sleeves
- PCI E Connectors (Red)
- Cable management clips
- PCI E Extension cables (80CM) X 4
- 1M LED Strips (White) X 2
- 3PIN Fan Cable (80CM) X 2
- Enermax Magmas X 4
- Heat Shrinks (Red/Black/White)
- ATX Modding Tools
- 3 Pin Male Connectors (Black)
- Bitspower Fittings (close to $800 of fittings combined with Hianyiaw)
- Demciflex Filters (For Caselabs STH10)

I had also bought additional fans recently.

5 X Enermax Magmas
1 X Corsair Airflow Ram Cooler

The ram cooler is to be used with my row of 3 Aquacomputer PowerAdjust 2 USBs. As there are no aircooling solution for the Poweradjusts so I intend to use the ram cooler to cool them.

In total now which includes my incoming orders of 4 X Enermax Magmas, I have the following number of fans.

- 12 X Enermax Magmas
- 11 X Gentle Typhoons.
- 01 X Corsair Airflow

I am intending to do Push and Pull for my 360 Front Flex Bay radiator, and Pull config for both rads at the bottom.

Fans Config
6 Magmas - 360 XTX Radiator (Flexbay - Push and Pull)
4 GTs - 480 Monsta (Btm Chamber - Pull)
3 GTs - 360 Monsta (Btm Chamber - Pull)
1 GT - Rear Exhaust
3 GTs/ Magmas Top Intake

I will have a total of 6 spare fans GTs/ Magmas which I will decide again when I gotten hold of the Monsta Rads. I am still hoping I could do a push and pull config for both the Monstas.

 

Spent a total on 3.5 hours just to fix up the STH10. Took my time as I dont wish the screw driver to go flying and scratch the case.

Fixed up the Main Frame of the STH10, Its MASSIVE



After fixing it up, I started to plan for the relocation and placement of the HDD cage and 5.25 inch bays.

Completed STH10

 

Been buying all the stuffs required by this Project Rampage II for the past 3 weeks.

My orders from Demciflex had finally arrive today, and expecting for my Bitspower fittings to arrive today as well.

Been lurking at Tao Bao and hooting lots of modding stuffs there. It is modder's heaven there as they have lots and lots of items over there for modders.

I am just hoping that the quality of the sleeves to be on par with MDPC.

I had decided to acquire another Aquaero 5. I bought this off from a bro in VR Forum which he said he had no use for his Aquaero 5 XT. So I gladly told him I could have made full use of it.


Collected from him and found out that it came with black faceplate and also waterblock which is very sweet deal for me.

I also bought 1 X Poweradjust 2 USB, 2 X Poweradjust 2 Ultra, 1 X Aquaero 5 Waterblock and also some additional cheap phobya stop fittings and dual G1/4 transfer adapters.

Right now I have dual Aquaero 5 with 5 X Poweradjusts 2 USB/Ultra

Some might comment that AQ6 is coming soon in Oct. But since I had bought AQ5 Pro and 3 X Poweradjust and their accessories, I dont wish to waste my time and money to puchase the AQ6 which I think will easily hit $300 for the highest end model.

I might be running both if the AQ5 Pro and AQ5 XT independently since I wont be utilizing the USB 2 ports anyway. I am not sure if its possible but I will tryout soon to test the working condition of the newly bought AQ5 XT.

I might be customizing the Triple Bay flex bay panels in order to hold the 5 X Poweradjusts (if I were to buy over the 2 X Poweradjusts) as the color of the mounting bay for Poweradjusts seems to have a ligher shade of black comparing to the rest of the faceplate of my STH10 and the Aquaero 5.

 

Sneak peak at what arrive today at my door step.

Bitspower Fittings


My Haul


Jayson's Loot


My Platoon of Fittings (more in my current rig)


Above fittings that are either bought or spares. I think I have more than 80 - 90 fittings in my current rig. I guess I am more or less ready for the migration really soon.

 

Today came home early and decided to get something done. Since my demciflex and fittings had arrived. So decided to fix them up.

Since most of the components are still in my rig or still yet to arrive. So I decided to work on the tube routing behind the motherboard tray.

The whole idea is to keep the motherboard tray as neat and clean look.

Tubings and fittings on motherboard tray


Inlet to Reservoir + Fill Port


Decided to use this G1/4 Reservoir Inlet port as a fill port as well.

Fittings used for this setup

1 X Bitspower Mini D Plug (Front Side)
1 X Bitspower T Joint Rotary
1 X Bitspower 30D Rotary Extender
1 X Bitspower Case Panel Fittings
1 X Bitspower 30D Extender
1 X Koolance VL3N- MG (Male Threaded QDC)
1 X Koolance VL3N-F10 (Female Compression Fitting QDC)
1 X Koolance Inline Filter


Installed a pair of QDC so that I could allow coolant to flow into the reservoir instead of flowing to the radiator.

Reservoir Inlet + Fillport



Reservoir Outlet + Pump Inlet + Reservoir Drainage


The set of fittings allows the coolant from exits from the reservoir and re enters to the pump. The bottom of the bottom T Joint Rotary is planned to be used as a drainage for the reservoir.

Fittings used for this setup
2 X Bitspower T Joint Rotary
1 X Bitspower Case Panel Fittings
1 X Bitspower Mini D Plug (Front Side)
2 X Bitspower Stop Fittings (One Installed)
1 X Bitspower Ball Valve (Yet to install)
1 X Bitspower Multi Link Adapter (Front Side)
1 X Koolance male to male G
1 X Koolance SLI Vid Connector

I had decided to use full tubing for the rear panels and will be using full acrylic hard tube (E22) at the front of the casing.

This is so that I could installed Quick Disconnects to allow removal of components/ draining possible easily.

 

As I was trying to do a leak test for both of my Aquaero 5 blocks. I found out the blocks have issues with accepting Bitspower/ EK/ XSPC/ Phobya fittings. Only koolance fittings are able to fit in nicely... Highly suspect it is due to the thread size.

I had no choice but to order more of the G1/4 10mm Koolance extenders from Tao Bao.

 

Went to buy some acrylic today as wanted to DIY myself a lightbox. Planned earlier to get a modding firm to make me one, but decide to DIY myself instead.

While waiting for my acrylic to be cut, I had an idea to create mounting bay for my 5 X Poweradjusts 2.

So I made a quick calculation of the dimension of the Poweradjusts Mounting Bay, and ordered the required acrylic.

After gotten the materials, I sat down and start to think how could I mount them and how should I design it. After designing them, I rush down to get it laser cut out.

Here are the end results. This will be mounting horizontally on the top chamber side rail.

Front View of Poweradjust 2 Bay


Rear View of the Poweradjust Mounting Bay with Project Rampage Logo


(Do note the rear panel's protective sheet has yet to be peeled off)

After getting them laser cutted, I found out that the mounting holes are slighting off .... Guess I have to manually use hole file to file the holes bigger...

But since this is just a prototype, I will leave it as it is for now. I will have to think of ways on how to mount this little Poweradjust 2 mounting rack onto the case.

 

Stated earlier that I will be working on a Lightbox for my STH10.

I did a few failed prototypes which results in lots of materials destroyed.

This is the closest or best I had done up so far. Personally I will try to DIY myself as much as I can as it gives me a sense of achievement especially when all works well.

Below is the blueprint for my lightbox, it is not a full midplate lightbox due to I be mounting a Flexbay Radiator on the front.

Blueprint of the STH10 Lightbox


Will post the completed lightbox once I collect my materials and get them fix up tonight.

 

Had new plans for my EK XTX 360 radiator and also the top chamber 3 X 120mm fan holes.

Instead of using those off the shelves fan grill, I decided to make my own.

Used illustrator to draw out the rad grill and screw holes.

Planned Radiator Grill EK XTX360



Laser Cutting of Hex Rad Grill

 

After done up my drawing for the hex radiator grill, I sent them for cutting. Cut 2 pc of them with two different sizes of hex. When place 2 pc of different hex sized of holes together it will create a contrast between two of them.

Hex Radiator Grill


Hex Radiator Grill Showing Full Length


Hex Radiator Grill Color Images


I had also done up the side panel for the Poweradjust which I will take the pics tonight

 

Been busy for the past week with my fan grills, light box and also the top chamber side panel for my 5 X Poweradjusts 2.

I am glad to announce the completion of all of the stuffs above.

I had been busy for the past weekend creating new cables for my Aquabus, resleeving the 3pin fan extension cables, USB cables and custom myself a new PSU molex extension cables for my 5.25 devices (2 X Aquaero 5 and 1 X optical drive / Lamptron Touch)

I had also bought lots of stuff from Tao Bao and had received partial of the $300 SGD shipment which includes lots of modding stuffs.

Since right now both my Aquaero 5 has blocks for them, it will bring a total of 9 waterblocks in this loop.

I also had bought a Aquaero Flow Sensor to monitor my flow rate.

With the increment of components, I will have to plan my loop again which I had done up the planned loop. I am planning to install the Flow Sensor either at the top chamber or at the back panel.

Updated Loop Order