Project MiniMe - Smallest (ever?) Watercooled mITX PC

[oliverw92]

Here is the other fan, the Cluster. I have always had a softspot for this one! With the white LEDs it looks stunning.



The observant among you may notice something is missing! The aluminium ring around the outside has been removed and sent off for powdercoating (yes i am that picky!)



It was very easy to remove the middle bit, just had to unclip the top of the fan and twist the ring out.



Now onto some actual modding! Here are the new cubes for the corners of the case. I first of all cut the cubes on the laser cutter, but this time did not try and laser any holes. The issue with lasering the holes was that the plastic would reform straight after, meaning there was no hole basically. When i tried to drill it out, the bit would skid in the hole, ending up with a wonky screw! This time i made a jig on the laser cutter that held the cube perfectly straight. IN the bottom of the jig was a hole. I lined up the drill bit with this hole and clamped the jig down. This meant that the cubes were drilled perfectly straight.



The missing corner is intentional. This is for a 3mm LED to go into. To do the holes, i clamped the cube in a vice on its corners and drilled straight down.



Here is what the cube looks like with an LED in.



So that is the end of the update really. Now for what is currently happening and will be shown in a few weeks time!

Progress is happening with the laser cutting and powdercoating. Marcus should be lasering the mesh front and back this week, hopefully powdercoating them by the end of the week. I have sent him the top of the psu, the case feet, fan grill, motherboard i/o backplate, GPU backplate and fan ring for powdercoating. The mesh + these things will be done in:



(image courtesy of marcus)



Everything else is going to be done in this one! (i.e. the aluminium/steel frame). This is called Blue Ice explosion and should be with marcus next weekend so in 2 weeks we should have all the lasering and powdercoating done!

You can see more pics of this finish here: http://www.powderbuythepound.com/cat...oducts_id=1976


Until next time!

[Pob255]

Please let us know what you think of the appolish fans when you get one up and running.

[oliverw92]

Will do, i plan to set up the loop outside of the case next weekend and test which fans give the best temps. That is, if my hard drive arrives by then. You will have to keep guessing what it is

[TAKTAK]

http://oliver.stirk.org/WorkLogs/Min...-09%200003.jpg

Rest in peace my gamer

and on the screw side of things, they don't know of any in your specific locale

doesn't mean they aren't there though, but does mean that they are probably more expensive

[laywill]

Wow, apart from staggered awe at the mount of sponsored stuff you have got: the attention to detail is just crazy on this build.

Who / where are you getting the powder coating done? I know it gives a far better finish than laquer coated paint by miles - so its information which could always be useful forthe future ;-D

Looking good!

[oliverw92]

The powdercoating is being done by Marcus at WatercoolingUK, he is also doing the laser cutting.

Thanks for the comments!

[oliverw92]

Update #17

No i'm not dead! Just been having a few issues with things thats all. The biggest was that my iMac died. I use the iMac for all work related things including posting worklogs (i have a nice workflow of programs that allow me to really quickly do updates and also keep track of photos) so i did not want to release an update without using the iMac since it would be a pain to keep track of things.

My other issue is that i havn't heard from the lasercutter/powdercoater in over 3 weeks, which is the only thing holding the project up now. I've practically given up on him now, so i have done some revisions in 2D Design and i'm preparing to order some white 5mm acrylic to make the shell this week. The main problem with not hearing from him, however, is that he has half the stuff for the project (feet, fan grill, PSU top) so i need to get this back or i'm a bit stuffed!

So i'm hoping to have the project wrapped up by the end of next weekend, not sure if this will happen or not since there a few good parties scheduled (mainly a boat party on the Thames tomorrow!) and i may not be in a very good state for modding! Still i will try my best.

I have been doing some laser cutting since a few things needed changing (fillport was in the wrong place etc etc).

I also did a test run of MiniMe outside of the box with all the wcing. The only leak was from the Bitspower Crystal T Block, when i had a look there were cracks running through it so i ordered another one.

My Crucial 64GB SSD also arrived! This is the prize i chose after winning the extended project competition at school with my previous build, The Bloo Box (photos can be seen in the first post of this worklog). Can't wait to start testing this thing!



New side panel with all my sponsors.



Switch Plate



Front lower fan grill and rear upper fan grill (both made of tinted acrylic)



Front lower fan grill



Crucial SSD!







This is the new rear panel design. Originally this was going to be steel, but since i appear to have lost the laser cutter, this will now be acrylic.



And the new front panel.

Finally i have another sponsor to announce! This will most likely be the last sponsor since this build is coming to an end.



Roccat will be sponsoring me with:

Roccat Kone - Amazing gaming mouse!
Roccat Sota - Mouse mat
Roccat Vire - Gaming earphones
Roccat Apuri - Desktop management utility

[format]

Amazing work. You're pretty lucky with so many sponsors!

[oliverw92]

Yeh tell me about it! I couldn't have done it without them!

[oliverw92]

Update #19

We are nearing completion! I spent a few hours with the acrylic laser cutter this week and got the shell busted out (given up on the aluminium/steel shell now). It is now glued up, nearly all the smoked acrylic done and just waiting for a few screws and the stuff from the powdercoater (i heard from him - he hopefully shipped the bits today!). I also got a new toy in the post today, a softbox/lightbox combo for taking even better photographs. This thing is amazing for £50! It can either be used as an overhead light for large things, or you can put it on a desk and it stands up like a mini tent, so you open a little door on it and you can take pics of small things with excellent lighting. Doesn't come with a stand, so i use one of the cymbal stands from my drum kit. Works perfectly! Anyway, i hope you can see the quality of photos has MASSIVELY improved now.



Decided to take some better shots of the SSD (the originals didnt do it justice!)



More SSD goodness!



An E8200, for the hell of it.



Completed sponsors side panel. Made of 5mm white acrylic for the outside ring and 5mm smoked for the inside.



Few pictures missing here, dunno where they went. At this stage i had the front, base and back capillary bonded with dichloromethane (this stuff can take 600p/inch^2 after curing for 24 hours, although it bonds instantly). I test fitted the PCB, drive bay and rear exhaust at this point.



The CD drive fits perfectly!



Here are some of my crazy designs realised by the laser cutter. There are loads of holes in the smoked acrylic, hard to see due to the shadows.



Switch plate installed



Another shot of the front



Close up of the fan controller and its mount. You may notice it is 'floating', this is because one of the bolts for the feet come up right underneath it, so i had to jack it up 5mm off the base.



Now to the rear of the case. This is a ventilation grill, which also acts as a rear window giving a view of the tubing in the back. The acrylic is translucent, the backing is still on the other side at the moment, however, to stop it getting scratched.



On the left is the 60mm fan vent and on the right are the PSU mounting holes and vent holes.



Side panel on! You can also see the PCI hole.



Switches installed. The two empty holes are for the potentiometers for the fan controller.



And now to some shots of the finished shell! For all the previous photos in this update i was using my new softbox as a lightbox - putting it down on a table and using it as a tent to take photos of small things. I now attached it to a cymbal stand and used it to light up a larger area. These photos have had NO editing at all, believe it or not!



Showing off the sponsor panel



Yes, some screws are missing, these are coming tomorrow. You can also see the top with the fillport and radiator hole.



And a view from the back with the blank right panel.



Some people were asking for me to put something in to give a scale of the case, so here is an AA battery next to the case!



And put even more scale on it, this is my new toy on the left (the softbox) on the cymbal stand. The shell is actually ontop of the amplifier i made two years ago. Can see the corner of my keyboard too.


Tomorrow is wiring and sleeving day (hopefully)! Will try and get as much done as i can, kinda busy though. Friday i have a half day so i will be busy busy busy on this! Until next time!

[chuckskull]

Looking good mate.

[Zhaoman]

Yup looks beautiful dude! This whole thread has been inspiration for an SFF build

[Knoxville]

Very nice work dude, I used to run a watercooled Shuttle a little bigger than your system and it was a major pain fitting everything into such a small case so to see so much being crammed into an even smaller case will be impressive to say the least

[oliverw92]

Thankyou very much for the kind comments!

[Biscuit]

I love the concept and the overall feel of the case but the sponsors panel ruins it a bit for me. Im not saying they shouldnt be there as its clearly an obligation but they should definately all be centered and or made smaller.

[oliverw92]

I have a plan for that, i have a replacement blank panel that i can put in when i'm using the PC for every day use etc. Some photos will also have no sponsorship panel.