Good to know at least, maybe I'll just migrate my spare machine with a 3070 instead and have the Slate as a Htpc/gaming. Good thing the paint was just plastidip, from white to original paint in no time. Still a great case, but nothing can be perfect.
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Completed SLATE-CASE AQ >>Status Update - Finalizing Order Fulfillments!
- Thread starter TaylorChiller
- Start date
After finally recieving all the parts for my build i finally finished my very first watercooled build.
A few notes on building is the case,
Is it me or does the anodized parts scratch real easy ?
The passthrough for the fitting wasn't large enough , had to drill it out a bit further , like 2 mm more
It could also be just a bit more to the outside in terms of location, it is touching the back of the gpu
But it was a really fun ride building in it.
Parts used :
7700x
b650e-i
32 GB ddr5
7900xtx
EK watercooling parts and fans
A few notes on building is the case,
Is it me or does the anodized parts scratch real easy ?
The passthrough for the fitting wasn't large enough , had to drill it out a bit further , like 2 mm more
It could also be just a bit more to the outside in terms of location, it is touching the back of the gpu
But it was a really fun ride building in it.
Parts used :
7700x
b650e-i
32 GB ddr5
7900xtx
EK watercooling parts and fans
i think you win the Clean AF award. i didn't even know you could route the PSU cable back up and around like that.
My understanding is that anodizing creates/increase more durable protection layer compared to say, painting or powder coating.
It shouldn't scratch easily - unless by a harder material.
Thanks !, that 24 pin took me a whole day , you have about 8mm of clearance.
Would definitely recommend going with 17 awg wires instead of the 15 awg i used.
Alternately, running clean unsleeved 16AWG stranded wires with PFTE or silicone jackets would give you back a lot of clearance
Not really, it is actually completely opposite. Anodizing (unless it is hard) just changes the appearance (color) and/or passivizes the parts (bare aluminum would oxidize and dull over time), it doesn't increase durability and parts are equally prone to scratches as bare parts would be.
Painting adds a protective layer, how scratch resistant it is depends heavily on the type of paint/lacquer (there are softer and harder types) and powdercoating is like painting on steroids, thicker layer of harder paint and fairly scratch resistant (there are of course various grades).
Hard anodizing is a different story, but much more expensive and usually used for specialized applications. I doubt anyone uses it for PC cases.
Finally!! Finished my build!! I had been waiting on custom cables and a cablemod 180 12vhpwr adapter to be able to complete it. Man is this case stunning! I forgot how good it looked with the panels on because I've been using it since November without them! Imgur album below:
There are eight quick disconnect fittings in the loop. I can completely remove the radiator/fans, gpu, and motherboard all without draining the loop! Im going to hook it up to several external radiators I have in a seperate room (to cut down on the heat in my room during summer), so having qdc's are a must. It makes doing maintenance so much easier! I ended up going with one 60mm x 280mm radiator instead of the two 30mm x 280mm radiators I had been running for the past several months. I feel like the one fatty rad is a better solution. I plan on typing up a critique on the case and my build experience with it soon (to give Taylor some data to use to iterate on the design).
There are eight quick disconnect fittings in the loop. I can completely remove the radiator/fans, gpu, and motherboard all without draining the loop! Im going to hook it up to several external radiators I have in a seperate room (to cut down on the heat in my room during summer), so having qdc's are a must. It makes doing maintenance so much easier! I ended up going with one 60mm x 280mm radiator instead of the two 30mm x 280mm radiators I had been running for the past several months. I feel like the one fatty rad is a better solution. I plan on typing up a critique on the case and my build experience with it soon (to give Taylor some data to use to iterate on the design).
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NICE! What was the factor for moving the power switch up top?
To make it easier to reach when I turn it on. Man does that sound lazy when I read it back
! I dont use a traditional desk/monitor setup though, I have a wallmounted oled and sit in an armchair 5' away and have my pc on the floor under the display, so I turn it on from a standing position.
hmmm, that's not 100% accurate. a bare aluminum part (e.g. made from AlMg3) has a hardness of just 70 to 80 HV. The anodizing layer for "normal anodizing" has a hardness of 200 to 400 HV and for "hard anodizing" it is 400 to 600 HV. The problem is, that the layer is very thin (usually <25um for normal anodizing) and the surface is very smooth so that if you touch it with a part of the same or higher hardness (e.g. screwdriver, other anodized parts, etc.), scratches/marks become obvious pretty fast, especially on darker colors. Powder coating (at least the one used on most of-the-shelf cases) is actually not harder but more "flexible" than anodizing, plus the layer is much thicker wich makes it much more forgiving.
back to the case: in order to prevent scratches on anodizing, try not to touch the parts with anything hard&sharp like screwdrivers, glas, fittings, etc. and put something soft under the case during building
It looks like you just have the 25mm fans. Do they do a decent job of pushing air through that 60? Or did you have to adjust the fan curve higher compared to your old dual 30mm setup?
After waiting 2 months for my Ultitube 50 glass reservoir, I finally finished my build! I'm pretty sure this is the smallest D5 tube reservoir available. This or the Barrow D5 box are the only D5s that will fit this case. I had an EK glass tube in there before but it was sqeezed against the PSU cage. The Ultitube is 6mm thinner and gives me about 1mm clearance.
I found a low profile power cable on Ebay, it's plug is 8mm shorter than the included cable and allowed me to flip my PSU to this orientation. Prior to installing the cable I had the PSU on the opposite side and had to reverse it's fan to match air flow with my case fans.
After realizing how big of a PITA the undermount cables are when working on the PC, I bought extensions for all my cables. Now I don't have to reach under the case to unplug anything. I do love the look of the single exit cable port. I made a custom air filter using nylon mesh. The dual 140mm fans bring in a lot of dust quickly, filter definitely helps without decreasing air flow much.
I made my own PSU cables with 18awg silicone wire. Super flexible and easy to work with. I still need to finish my GPU cables though, waiting for 12 pin connector stock. Also made a extra 2.5" Sata mount for now. Eventually I'll replace it with a 4tb m.2 when prices drop, maybe put a little 3" sensor display there.
Specs-
13700k
Asrock PG/ITX Z790
RTX 3080 FE w EK block
Corsair SF750
Aqua computer Ultitube 50 D5
2x Intel D3-4610 3.84TB SSD
1tb Samsung 970 Pro nvme
1tb Samsung 960 Pro nvme
280x45 Alphacool v.2 Radiator
4x Noctua iPPC 140mm fans
I found a low profile power cable on Ebay, it's plug is 8mm shorter than the included cable and allowed me to flip my PSU to this orientation. Prior to installing the cable I had the PSU on the opposite side and had to reverse it's fan to match air flow with my case fans.
After realizing how big of a PITA the undermount cables are when working on the PC, I bought extensions for all my cables. Now I don't have to reach under the case to unplug anything. I do love the look of the single exit cable port. I made a custom air filter using nylon mesh. The dual 140mm fans bring in a lot of dust quickly, filter definitely helps without decreasing air flow much.
I made my own PSU cables with 18awg silicone wire. Super flexible and easy to work with. I still need to finish my GPU cables though, waiting for 12 pin connector stock. Also made a extra 2.5" Sata mount for now. Eventually I'll replace it with a 4tb m.2 when prices drop, maybe put a little 3" sensor display there.
Specs-
13700k
Asrock PG/ITX Z790
RTX 3080 FE w EK block
Corsair SF750
Aqua computer Ultitube 50 D5
2x Intel D3-4610 3.84TB SSD
1tb Samsung 970 Pro nvme
1tb Samsung 960 Pro nvme
280x45 Alphacool v.2 Radiator
4x Noctua iPPC 140mm fans
Sorry for the late reply Baka. Its been unusually hot the past two days, 77F in ohio in april when it was 42F the day before lol, so I wanted to be sure of things before I replied.
Temps are worse with this setup compared to my dual 30 rad setup. Putting on all the case panels definitely is contributing to this though, especially the tempered glass panel. I was running the dual 30 rad setup without any panels.
I have the fans set as exhaust, so theyre pulling air through the rad and they do a great job. The fin spacing on this alphacool nexxos rad is very wide so there isnt much restriction at all.
Im going to hook up some more external radiators in a seperate room, plus another D5 pump so im not concerned. If I was to run off of only the radiator inside the case, id have to get some Noctua industrial fans and another perforated side panel. I am running my 4090 overclocked as far as she'll go at 1.1 volts with the power limit wide open so if I were to undervolt and run at a more normal clock I would see acceptable temps with the setup as is.
I wish I would have tested the dual 30 rad setup with the side panels on so I could have a more definitive answer of which is better, one big radiator or two thinner radiators.
With the coolermaster riser id be able to jam two arctic slim 140s at the back of the case. Since I ended up not wanting to put them in I didnt get it.
No worries! I have a decent idea on performance with the duals on mine but I may have to redo the setup since the coolant hits about 39c under load and I too, am a little worried once the summer heat comes. But it's nice to see the other setups and performances and gives ideas for the 2.0 lol. Sick build btw!
First Look. May do a video. Needs better cabling, but PSU is too new for Cablemod. The fittings on the side of the CPU WB is a "mini res" so I can see if I'm low on water and also the fill port.
Asus ROG Strix X670E-I MB
7950X3D w/ EK CPU/Pump/Res Block
4090 Zotac Trinity OC w/ EK Rack Block
Cooler Master V1100 SFX Platinum
2 x EK 280mm x 30mm Radiator
4 x Artic P14 Slim
Bitspower/Barrow fittings.
Asus ROG Strix X670E-I MB
7950X3D w/ EK CPU/Pump/Res Block
4090 Zotac Trinity OC w/ EK Rack Block
Cooler Master V1100 SFX Platinum
2 x EK 280mm x 30mm Radiator
4 x Artic P14 Slim
Bitspower/Barrow fittings.
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