GIGABYTE 30th Anniversary Mod Challenge - Orange Nexus

[FrozenQ42]

The Build



A "nexus" , while traditionally defined as a hub connecting various things, can also be defined as a collective of ideas, all culminating to a certain point. This project serves to do just that, as I'll be incorporating most of my favorite ideas and techniques that I've accumulated over the years. There are two key factors in the patterning and/or scheme of this project.

- The first, as is most obivous, you can see in the header image, the scheme is very reminiscent of the Asiimov pattern, a very popular weapon skin from CS:GO. Being a CS:GO player myself, this has always been my favorite skin, and I've been itching for the opportunity to do something with it.



- As always, the design must incorporate the hexagon, which is a staple for the design scheme of our business.



The Specs

Case: In Win 909 - Silver Aluminum
CPU: Intel 6800K
Motherboard: Gigabyte X99 Phoenix SLI
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB 2666MHz
GPUS: 2x Gigabyte GTX Titan X
SSDS: 2x Intel 730 Series and Samsung 950 Series M2 SSD
HDD: WD 2 TB Black
PSU: InWin Signature 900W
Fans: Corsair AX120's - White LED

Cooling
- CPU Block: Watercool Heatkiller Pro IV
- GPU Blocks: EK Titan X Full Coverage
- Radiators: Alphacool Nexxos ST240 and 360
- Reservoirs: 1x FrozenQ LE-2016 Reservoirs

[FrozenQ42]

Reserved for Final

[DDCustomMods]

I love builds that utilize orange color. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Just over a week left before the deadline so work hard

[FrozenQ42]

I love builds that utilize orange color. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Just over a week left before the deadline so work hard

I know right? It's really something you don't see a heck of a lot of, so super excited to have finally had the chance to do an orange build. The Gigabyte X99-Phoenix literally brought this build together for that reason.

[DDCustomMods]

I know right? It's really something you don't see a heck of a lot of, so super excited to have finally had the chance to do an orange build. The Gigabyte X99-Phoenix literally brought this build together for that reason.

I didn't actually look up the motherboard.... I just did and man that's a sexy color scheme!

[Duality92]

but I don't want to compete against you, QQ

[DDCustomMods]

but I don't want to compete against you, QQ

You and me both man! My skill level is starting to push me farther down the list *laughs*

[FrozenQ42]

The new beauties that will be going into this build.







New Components and Test Fitting

X99 Phoenix SLI from Gigabyte. Honestly, this has to be my favorite board I've ever had the pleasure of working with. It's not often you get a motherboard that perfectly fits the style of your build. Lest we not forget, the board has a ton of features, which in a later post, once the build is complete, I'll do a short review on.









Corsair Dominator Platinum Memory. I've always been a fan of Corsairs memory, for two reasons. I am a big fan of the simple, yet sleek design that doesn't look out of place in most builds. They offer pretty much everything from low profile, to large high performance in a variety of colors that work for various schemes and if they don't (in this case the Dominator Platinum), it's usually designed in such a way that it's neutral but still lends to the "high quality" look you want in a build like this.

The second is quality. I think I've probably used over 20 Corsair memory kits over time, and have not once had a single problem that required an RMA.





Some pictures of me test fitting the board and memory into the internal case frame just to see how it looked.











- - - Updated - - -

Painting the Case

Got the outer frame of the case removed. Honestly, this is by far one of the nicest things about this case. The super thick aluminum shell comes off the internals by just a few screws. For modding purposes, this is an extremely nice feature.



Getting ready to get a coat of primer on here.



White pearl base coat applied.



After the base coat dried, Dan got to work on the vinyl detailing, applying some gloss black vinyl on the front and top.



Skipped ahead a bit here, but here's the finished product after he was done with it. After this it's going to be readied for clear coating, to protect the paint and keep the vinyl details from peeling up.



Custom GPU Backplates

I was really excited for this part, because it's so simple and yet lends a really nice design element to the build. I started by measuring out the mounting holes on the GPU, and laser cutting a test piece.



The whole thing is made from two layers of 1/8" acrylic, the top being a really nice quality matte black. I used a pretty standard solvent to adhere the two layers.



Dropped and glued the colored inserts in.



And there you have it, much nicer than just the bare card showing in the middle of the case. The plate attaches to two of the free holes on the GPU that the water block doesn't use.



Next were going to get the internal frame put back in the case, and we'll get to work installing parts!

[FrozenQ42]

Putting everything back together!



I decided since that we weren't using all the HDD bays that the space would be better suited to making a nicer looking sponsor logo light box. Pretty easy to drill out the rivets and remove this part. In some cases the rivets can really be in difficult locations, but this was pretty straightforward.



Laying the aluminum frame next to the internal frame.



Securing the internal frame back into the case.



The two Antec TruQuiet 120mm fans I'll be using for the lower radiator. (Note: These later got changed out to Corsair AF120's)



Sleeved UV orange with Ultimate Personal Computers AEGIS Sleeving.



Attached to the dual radiator and ready to drop in.



Lower dual radiator secured and ready to go.



Lining up the decorative shroud that I made for the bottom portion. This will cover all the metal bits from the fan and radiator mounts, and also conceal where the GPU power cables connect to their extensions.



Peeled off the protective film revealing the matte black surface, and glued in the orange inserts.



Attached the side panel with the hex design.



Gluing the orange inserts into the hex design.



All finished!



Final shot with the side shroud reattached.

[NavyChief]

Looking great!

[DDCustomMods]

Looking great! I personally really like the design on the exterior portion of the case. Never been a fan of the hexagon.... but I think the grey pattern on the front really brings the black and orange together.

[FrozenQ42]

Special thanks to the guys over at In Win for providing one of their new Signature Series power supplies. I generally don't care too much about power supplies so long as they work, but this beauty has a full brushed aluminum casing, which goes perfect with the case.







Some white AF120 from Corsair. I've used these in a few builds now, and apart from them moving a lot of air, and being more toward the quiet side, I think they give one of the best "fan/blade" lighting effects.



Attached 3 of those to the rear triple radiator.



Zoom out of all the fans installed. You'll notice I replaced the ones in the lower radiator just to make everything match better.



I cut a matte black grill for the front here, as I thought the bare metal X frame up front looked a little silly.



Hardline fittings! Time for the fun stuff!



The first run goes from the GPU up to the triple rad, and was pretty straight forward using two 45 degree bends.



Underneath the GPU's I had to do a pretty tight to the floor run for the feed from the pump to the first radiator. The system goes Pump > Dual Rad > GPUs > Triple Rad > CPU > Res





Here you can see the most fun little part, where I had to run a U shaped bend to get from the SLI bridge adapter down to the lower radiator. Nothing really lined up so this was the best way to tackle this.



Here you can see the run from the CPU to the reservoir which had to be split between into two pieces using an adapter.



Obligatory leak testing!



And there we have it in it's current state. Up next is the remainder of the decorative acrylic panels for the back and top sections.

[crowTrobot]

Hi, just a couple of friendly reminders as the deadline approaches:

1.) All required photos have to be uploaded up at http://event.gigabyte.us/mod2win/login/ as well.
2.) Modder Profile and worklogs must be completed to be considered for final selection.
Completing Your Worklog:
-Post images and a description of your mod progress to the thread you created in the Modders Inc. forum under GIGABYTE 30th Anniversary Mod Challenge.
-If you are entering with a completed or 'in progress' mod:
*You must be able to provide a full worklog from start to finish with images and a description.
*Your mod must not have started earlier than June 1, 2015.
*Your mod cannot be an entry from a previous GIGABYTE Mod Contest.

Completing your Modder Profile:
-Requirements for mod submission:
*The title of your mod entry.
*A description and concept of your mod entry.
*At least five pictures of your final mod entry with external and internal aesthetics (preferably high resolution, jpg file format, maximum size 1MB).
*At least one picture of your final entry with clearly recognizable GIGABYTE components (must be specified).
*One picture of your final entry with a hand written time-stamp for verification.

-Submitting your completed mod:
*Press the Complete Profile button under your profile - Complete Profile page.
*Once you complete your project, this will be considered your final submission and you will not be able to make further changes to your profile page.

Entries that do not satisfy all stated rules on this page will be automatically disqualified.

Cheers! Thank you for your participation and good luck in the competition.

[FrozenQ42]

Alright! The final update is here, and we're 100% complete. Enjoy.



As I usually do with all my sponsored builds, I like to incorporate their logo's somewhere on the case. I though it might be a cool idea to laser etch them on an orange plate and light it up. The cut out in the middle is to install a temp sensor LCD readout. Which is going to be for monitoring the general temp of the inside of the case.



Installing a white LED strip which will edge light the sponsor plate.



Plate installed with matte black shroud to cover the standard HDD's



Another angle.



I didn't like the small area near the SLI bridge that was just flat bare metal. So I came up with an idea to do an acrylic inset graphic of the word WARNING, as it appears on the Asiimov skin.



Peeled off.



Installed!



Hard to see here, but I installed a matte black mid plate to hide the cables going into the back of the motherboard (USB and whatnot) as well as some of the power cables. There is a bank of 3pin power connectors right behind that, and I didn't like how visible they were when the smoked side panels were on.



Here it is in all it's glory, with the final step done. I added an L shaped cover to the side of the rear radiator to mask the light from the LED's on the side of the fans and just to give an overall cleaner look in the back.

I want to add a small 30th Anniversary portion down near the PSU bay, so I'll probably get that done tomorrow and then reshoot some final photos!

[crowTrobot]

Looking lovely, good luck!