Scratchbygge - 3dMania by Grim

Hello and welcome to my second attempt at a proper scratchbuild.
The idea started a little over a year ago when I started getting more deeply interested in computer modding and styling, and since then I've tried and failed at a custom build.
Learning from my mistakes and taking what I know and adapting it to my new project brought me here. The log will be in english as it is also posted on international forums.

Introduction

The case will be 3D-printed in full, with the exception of the larger panels where I will either have them laser-cut, or dremel-cut. It will fit a full-size ATX motherboard, space for 3 radiators and also some room for a hardline custum loop. The case will be mashed with different video-game references - Which ones will be uncovered along the way, but if you with for anything special (And 3d-printable) just shout out suggestions and lets make this as messy as possible.

The 3d-printed parts will be made using PLA+ plastic on a Makerbot Replicator 2, and for the laser-cut parts I am still looking for a local supplier, if not I'll order it somewhere.

Here is a quick and dirty render of what it should resemble once it gets put together.

The frame of the case will be matte black, and the motherboard tray will either be pastel blue or matte white (have not yet decided).

Hardware
Motherboard: Asus z170 Sabertooth S
CPU: Intel I7-6700k
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 4x4gb, 2800mhz
Storage: 1 Intel 535 480gb SSD, 2xSamsung 850 PRO 128gb in raid 0, 2x samsung 850 PRO 256gb
PSU: Corsair AX760

Cooling
1 EK 360 PE
2 EK 240 SE (Slim)
1 EK D5 Revo
1 EK Supremacy EVO Clear / Nickel
1 EK-FC 1080 FTW - Nickel
1 EK-FC FTW Backplate - nickel
A huge amount of different EK fittings and adapters
10 EK Vardar 120mm fans

I know my triple-rad settup is way overkill for single GPU + CPU, but my plans are to expand to SLI in the future. I also like a silent system so having the fans run at 800 rpm is ideal for me.
I also plan to paralel-cool the GPU and CPU. From what I can tell there should not affect the performance that much, given that I use low-resistance blocks and have a powerful pump.

I have a custom acrylic motherboard tray on the inbounds in pastel blue, as well as pastel blue mayhems dye.
Perhaps I should paint the fans and / or SSD's in a orange / red color? That would also break apart from the blue.. Could also change some of the interior sheets and walls to break or or match the color.

Here are two different color-mashes that I am looking at. I really wish I was better at using CAD or design software. Luckily I found Tinkercad, which is perfect as I can also make both 3d-printable and laser-cuttable designs, sadly the color and lightning-effects are non-existant.

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I might have to change the "middle" panel color to something different. I still have not decided if I am going to mount the SSD's flat in the bottom, in front of the motherboard, on vertically in the mid-panel, behind the reservior and tubing. I have a total of 5 SSDs, might not end up using all either. Don't know if Raid 0 is worth the hassle or not.

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I have finished building the frame and started applying the primer to it, so that whatever color the frame gets it's the same.
You can probably tell from the pictures that I have used different types of PLA for printing.

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The white on is regular PLA+ plastic, chosen for tensile strenght and sturdiness. The black is a carbon-fiber-metal-mashup, and thus it allows some current to run through it. I intended to use this for some pieces that are connected to the PSU and motherboard in other to have grounding, just like you would in a metal case (PSU Screws into the metal-frame). The silver is a FlexPLA that is very strong, but not as brittle as regular PLA can be. This is to dampen vibrations and allow to reduce surface-tension across the build. When the mid-plate (which is made from a wood and metal-combosition) is in place, it will connect all the black and silver allowing "movement" in the frame to be transfered to the softer beams, while still having the firmness from the hard PLA frame.

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Priming - Stage 1 of 3

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The frame

After finishing coating the frame in white I treated the frame with a hardening, glossy coating. Must say that the results are better than I expected. You might not tell from the pictures but it is both harder and have a glossy finnish, and feels extremely smooth to touch.

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Doing some testing on the frame shows that the stability is very good. When applying a 5kg preasure on one side, the frame does not twist more than 0.5 cm, which is way within what the materials can handle. The frame is sturdy enough for me to sit on, so am not worried about it not holding up.

I recieved a shipment of goodies from EK the other day, but I haven't had the time to pick up the parts yet. Pictures to come :thumb:

Also considering changing the layout to have the graphic card vertical instead of horizontal. What do you think about this

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(Please ignore the very professional made drawings of the tubes, I somehow ruinied those in the model and if I try to change them it just gets f***** up.
vs

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Did some testing on the static discharge capability of these beams, and I must say that it sort of works. If I build up any static and touch any metal connected to these, there is nothing powering down (testing on an old GT9800-card), but if I don't have the frame attached to these beams the computer reboots from the static charge. Seems like I got it to work as I wanted!

Big update

All panels, cables and materials are now ordered, and I am finalizing the puzzle and fixing some small details, While waiting I have had a little side-project going.

I have an old Razer BlackWiddow keyboard from 2010, the old version with real Cherry MX Blue, instead of their own rip-off brand. Now the keyboard have started to become a little dull and booring, and some keys where finally starting to give out (WASD + QE/1234). I decided it was about time to fix that, so I soldered off the switches, replaced them with switches I got from /r/mechanicalkeyboards. I also changed the springs in these switches to 75g springs because I like a little harder keypresses. Makes mashing buttons feel more... raw?

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While at it I decided a paint-job would do good, so I started at it. Sanding an edge to the cover-plate and them giving it a quick spray with some random White acrylic paint I had lying around. I do have a new keyboard on the way in, so I only did a few layers of paint and primer. I plan to do more custom stuff with this later on.

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Hardware

I finally got all the hardware I am using for the build gathered, and stored in the workshop at my job. I choose to do the build here as we have more tools than I have at home, more space and mainly I can make as much noise as I want without worrying about bothering anyone.

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Putting it together

While waiting for the remaining panels to arrive, I started putting it togheter, to test that all the parts are working as intented and to test the OC potential.

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With a stock intel cooler and therefore no CPU OC, I managed to get a stable +110 core (On Slave bios on the FTW) resulting in a 2188 stable core clock. I didnt test any higher as this point, as thermals was starting to be an issue (77 *c with 100% fan speed). I tested the vram in increments of 25 untill I started to get either Artefacts or lower score, and ended upp on +575. Got to 600 untill I saw errors so I just backed to last working config. These numbers gave me 25 700 graphic score on the 1080 FTW on Air (Open bench, 100% fan speed, 18 *C ambient).
With no internet on the computer it will have to wait untill I am home to validate the result.

Time for some custom cooling!

After making sure all the pieces are working I have started on the next part, assemble all waterblocks and test the loop layout.

Stay tuned for more :thumb:

Tack för dina
Här kommer lite fler bilder! Kommer plocka isär den igen ikväll, slipa, polera och fixa lite innan jag börjar sätta ihop den igen.

Panels have arrived!

All of the laser-cut acrylic-sheets I've ordered finally arrived. Now it's time to remove the cutouts and do a test-fitting to see that everything aligns as intented :thumb:

I got these panels cut by David Chugg over at thelaserhive.com. Really good help in sorting out the files and fixing anything that is hard to cut / use.

The side-panel with the cutout for the window, looking into the case. Also several smaller pieces being cut out from the middle-area to reduce wasted materials. Some of it will be used

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One sheet of black details and acents, some letters and extra pieces I might want to use

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And the crown-jewel. The front-panel with my beloved Claptrap

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Oh and my sleeved cables also arrived! The joy! Finally all pieces are home and I can put it all together.

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Everything seems to line up properly.

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I have to print a few new adapters as some of the ones I made where a bit to thick / slightly misaligned. Might be due to plastic warping / melting acrylic. Will print them today at work!

Front-window fits like a charm

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I.O panels reachable from top

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Now the next step is to take the panels down, fix the cable-management and then clean it all up.
I will have to sand and polish some of the sheets as some seem to have gotten scratches on them, and I'll have to sand down some edges to fit some of the cables I am using.

Any tips on how to sleeve one of those USB3.0 internal connectors? They are to thick for any sleeve I have seen, but I don't like the ugly plastic-look of the cables.

I will take some better photographs once I've fixed up some of the panels and adapters, so that I can make everything fit as I want it to.

Det är intressant och kul, eftersom man är rätt fri att skapa vad man vill. Gäller bara att hålla koll så att alla delar passar ihop och vara varse om att det tar rätt bra med tid att printa. Ramen till chassit tog väl ca 120-130h. Mest för att jag skrev ut i 0.1mm layers och med hög densitet, men också för att det tar längre tid än man tror om man vill ha rätt kvalité och hållbarhet.

Kan ju printa 0.3mm i upp till 90mm/sec-hastighet, medans jag printade 0.1mm med hastigheter mellan 25-50mm/sec. Nackdelen är att det blir mindre flexibelt och spricker lättare / lagren delar på sig om man printar stort och snabbt, samt att detaljerna sinar.

Det skulle nog gå att slipa under rinnande vatten, det har jag faktiskt inte testat. Synd att du inte såg tråden tidigare
Problemet är väl att PLA-plast blir mjukt vid ca 120* och smälter vid 160*. Om man slipar det minsta intensivt så blir det fort så varmt just i ytan, så istället för att slipa bort, så smetar man ut det till en jämn yta, som sedan stelnar igen och blir extremt hård.
Det funkar rätt bra att göra så på raka ytor, om man vill jämna till det / ge det en blankare finnish, men om man behöver sanda bort ojämnheter eller förstora något så är det nästan så att man vill använda ett rivjärn av något slag.

Tack för dina positiva ord!

Jag har printat vissa delar i 100% density, och dessa är så hårda så att man kan gänga dom (med självgängande skruv, 1.25+ mm gängstorlek). De böjs inte speciellt lätt och tål att vridas rätt bra, men när man väl kommer till "brytpunkten" så går de rakt av. Det är väl lite som järn i egenskaper. Väldigt hård men inte jätteflexibel.

Ramen som jag printade är stadig nog att jag kan lägga en 30kg kartong på den utan att den ruckar.
Har du möjligheten, prova! Borde funka rätt bra för dina byggen då de (jag sett i alla fall) är småa och kompakta. Perfekt om man kan göra delarna exakt som man vill ha dem

Med en liten bäbis att ta hand om blir det inte alls mycket tid till över att göra annat, och jo större hon blir jo mer tid tar hon också. Nu har jag äntligen fått lite tid att fixa smådetaljer och göra datorn mer färdig.