unlike water cooling builds, mondays suck
now also with top mesh and acryl panel. everything completely assembled, but you never know how long it takes until some slight change 'needs' to be made.
Because i still have to get more optimal screws for the top rad/fans, the upper meshfilter bulges slightly. not sure if i will use it in the long run, seems like the mesh is a bigger problem for airflow than the hole-design. but in terms of temps, i don't notice a difference.
this was another idea on how to install the pump/top/res combo, but it would not fit because of the bracket is designed to also fit on 140mm fans, which is clearly too big here.
early testing with old parts and random fans if it's at all possible to fit all the planned part in the case
that's how it looks with all the old parts. what's nice here is that if an standard ATX mobo is used, the bottom rad with fans fit right under it. as i would later find out, that's not the case with microATX, so that the max ram height of 35mm that is specified by Coolermaster actually applies.
the is an important picture, because it shows the small USB3.0 extension cable which is crucial because without it, the front USB would be worthless. i was 5 bucks on ebay. I believe the only reason why Coolermaster doesnt have the 240 rad compatibility on the bottom(when the case is not used on its head), is because normally the front-USB cable would interfere with it.
the process of testfitting (now with the actual parts) took quite a while since the case's hole design allows for so many possibilities, but at the same time many of them would not work with all parts assembled. so it is a lot of trial and error in the beginning.
what i settled with for the first iteration. the pic looks a bit nicer bc it's made with an actual camera and with daylight.
before the filling of the very first iteration of the build. noteworthy is how some parts are much cleaner than they will become in the following pics. also im using a different intake for the pump there, which also works, but doesnt make use of the filter in the reservoir.
on the left/ frontcover you can see how i apparently used the wrong screws to put the IO-panel in place. this is fixed now and at least at the front, the magnetic mesh sits relativly flush.
following are many somewhat redundant pics, which hopefully cover the interior from all interesting angles.
the given space for cablemanagement is surprisingly generous in the q500l. what makes it messy however is that i am not using a modular PSU, so that i have more space in the lower front of the main chamber, where some modular PSU's might interfere with the bottom rad fittings
basically i added 3 new items from aquacomputer: - replaced vpp655 pump with a D5 PWM
-replaced CPU block with cuplex kryo Nickel/Nickel
-added farbwerk 360 RGB controller (which also allows me to plug in the Alphacool Eiszapfen water temp sensor)
besides these additions i also did some minor fixes like for example: - top rad is sitting slightly deeper and more to the right what allows more space in the valve area
- fixed power LED not working ( one pin disconnected), which can only be fixed when the rad is disassembled
- fixed that one of the upper top/pull fans would only work when setting at 100%. just had to replace its cable.
-slightly changed orientation of the bottomRad->CPU tube, so that the flow impeller is better visible from different angles
-cable management slightly improved, but far from perfect
i think this was right after finishing the most recent upgrade, before i started filling it up again
...sideview left. with the slightly changed tube orientation, the flow impeller is now better visible from this angle.
after refilling. the added (aqua computer) farbwerk360 is visible here in the top left corner, behind the valve.
another look at the back with it's cable mess. i wonder if some extension cables, especially for vga and main mobo power connector would make it either more organized or impossible to close the backpanel. remember im working with a non modular PSU here, so i cannot remove any of the cables or use shorter ones
in the aquasuite software this is now set up as the vaporwave profile
i think the best way to utilize RGB in the build is with 2 colors, where the mainboard is outline by its build in rgb and by the rgb strip that is directly behind the bottom rad. like it's obvious from the angle, the other rgb strip for the contrast color is in the right corner.
i guess an upper angle generally looks more flattering on this build, because it kind of hides the thinness of the vga pcb. perhapt i'll add a backplate some time later. the specific 1080 is one of the few that didnt come with one, even FE cards had a cheap plastic one iirc.