Log [COMPLETE] X300-M(AX): A watercooled sandwich style X300M build! [5.6-5.9L, 12V!]

[Curiosity]

@msystems If those barrel connectors had a right angle variant I'd be all over them. Alas.
The pigtail I bought to use specifies 12V4A which is probably iffy, but I haven't noticed any issues so far.
Definitely better than the garbage buildables I was using before.

 

[Danlopez1222]

I Just bought one of these from amazon, I'll let you know how good the build quality is-

 

[Curiosity]

Side panels; GET
I'm kind of feeling it might be worth it to beef up my exterior panels to be 1.5mm instead of 1mm for the top and bottom with .8mm for the side panels, I guess I can accept the volume hit lol.

Now to make the small fitment tweaks (enlarging the power button hole so it can be mounted, audio, some minor clearance tweaks), install WC, and it'll be done!

 

[msystems]

Looks sweet.

Ill be honest I like the hot rod or naked Ducati look of a big cooler coming off the x300 though

 

[Curiosity]

Spent the afternoon tweaking the build to prepare for watercooling. Finally notched the front panel enough to fit the radiator, found an orientation that lets me plumb in the m.2.
I'll need a different screw for that corner to fix the kinking, but otherwise the loop seems good to me. Everything fits in the bounds of the case as expected.
Found a break in my riser from bending it too much, but I need to replace it with a different version anyway so I'm not too bothered aside from the time loss.

 

[BustinTriples]

Just read through this all... this is amazing. Very cool to see the iterations. Impressive range of skills on display here!

 

[Curiosity]

My riser finally had it with my abuse, and kicked the bucket. Ordered a new riser direct from ADTlink, but because I'm going to dreamhack Dallas at the beginning of next month I bought a new 4x riser+ m.2›pcie4x dyer riser to get the computer working Ina general sense in case the ADTlink part didn't cone in time.
Also added in the GPU block.

 

[msystems]

Looking good. Thinking of painting it?

 

[Curiosity]

Looking good. Thinking of painting it?

I've been back and forth on If I want to or not.
On one hand it would protect the metal, on the other I like the bare metal look and think some surface rust could look cool.

Today I got replacement top and bottom panels made of 1.5mm steel, somehow I accidentally ordered them in alu previously.
Also got some acrylic planels with updated venting but somehow messed up the mounting hole placement slightly so I'll need to update and reorder those.

 

[Curiosity]

I'm still waiting for my replacement riser to come in, but I made it to Dreamhack Dallas 2022!
I'm using a generic M.2 to PCIEx4 adapter + a PCIEx4 to x16 riser to make it work for the time being, which means I can't close the side panel for the gpu or officially call this build done quite yet.
once that's in and situated though, this will officially be build complete!

Temps in this config are about 70C for both CPU and GPU under gaming loads, which I'm happy with. Maybe an A12x25 or something could improve it a little but I'm not too concerned.

 

[Valantar]

I'm still waiting for my replacement riser to come in, but I made it to Dreamhack Dallas 2022!
I'm using a generic M.2 to PCIEx4 adapter + a PCIEx4 to x16 riser to make it work for the time being, which means I can't close the side panel for the gpu or officially call this build done quite yet.
once that's in and situated though, this will officially be build complete!

Temps in this config are about 70C for both CPU and GPU under gaming loads, which I'm happy with. Maybe an A12x25 or something could improve it a little but I'm not too concerned.

Looks great! What is that secondary monitor btw? Kinda looks like a modded iPad?

 

[msystems]

Its pretty great you are seated next to some monster case to really show how compact the build is!

 

[Curiosity]

Looks great! What is that secondary monitor btw? Kinda looks like a modded iPad?

It's an iPad LCD + Shell, and an adapter from AbuseMark.com top brea the eDP into DP + power
Been using it since Quakecon 2015!

 

[Valantar]

It's an iPad LCD + Shell, and an adapter from AbuseMark.com top brea the eDP into DP + power
Been using it since Quakecon 2015!

I've seen those adapter boards used before, but didn't know they could fit into the iPad shell. that makes it a lot more practical! I would think a cover glass or 3D printed bezel would be a further improvement, but I guess 7 years in you probably don't see the need

 

[Curiosity]

I've seen those adapter boards used before, but didn't know they could fit into the iPad shell. that makes it a lot more practical! I would think a cover glass or 3D printed bezel would be a further improvement, but I guess 7 years in you probably don't see the need

I actually used to use standard ipad replacement glass, but since this is an old version of the adapter it's a full size display port and it sits slightly higher than the surface the glass mounts to, causing it to bow and eventually break!
I at one point had some plate glass cut to shape and that was great until it broke when my PC was shipped once.
I attached some example from 2015 and 2018, the Ncase is the older pics.

I've been thinking of making a new version as a second copy, this time using the type C board, or maybe just the miniDP version.

 

[SFFMunkee]

Welp, time to find a non-working iPad with a good screen.

 

[Curiosity]

Welp, time to find a non-working iPad with a good screen.

iCloud locked models are probably the move!
Iirc you'll be wanting a ipad 2/3

 

[Curiosity]

Unrelated to the display, I have some weird power issues that after talking to EOSPOWER are likely due to a poorly constructed cable on my end, so I'll need to rebuild that before I can really load up the GPU again.

I don't think any hardware has been damaged tho.

I also got my new riser in the mail so after work today I'll be getting that properly installed into the case

 

[SFFMunkee]

Unrelated to the display, I have some weird power issues that after talking to EOSPOWER are likely due to a poorly constructed cable on my end, so I'll need to rebuild that before I can really load up the GPU again.

I don't think any hardware has been damaged tho.

I also got my new riser in the mail so after work today I'll be getting that properly installed into the case

Which cable was the suspect?

 

[Curiosity]

Which cable was the suspect?

The output from the PSU to all devices, but specifically the three +12vdc wires I was using for the GPU.
The guess is it wasnt making full contact with the pins on the PSU creating hotspots, which softened the plastic connector allowing the pins to shift making the problem worse over time.
Talking with revocases on the discord I think I'm gonna replace the OEM connector with MR30 pigtails and just use those instead.