Worklog: Project Ione

mashie · 10-19-2005, 09:11 AM

Instead of posting random threads all over the forum I will just post the full worklog here instead...

Project Ione will be the replacement for both Anemone and Udat. Anemone has simply started to reach retirement age after more than three years of active service as HTPC. Udat didn't reach my performance expectations so the RAID controller and HDDs will be moved over to this project while the rest will be sold as a single unit. This means Ione will be a HTPC/Fileserver combo.

To keep the Anemone legacy this MDVA will be a main part of the mod.

Step one of all projects, to find and hunt down suitable hardware:

Pentium D820 (dual core 2.8GHz)
Supermicro PDSGE motherboard
2 x 512 MB DDR2 PC4200
XFX GeForce 6600 128MB dual DVI + HDTV dongle
Tagan 480W modular PSU
And last but not least the canvas...

A Silverstone LC-17 HTPC case.

It was primarily selected for it's dual optical drive bays so both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray can be installed if needed next year.

This is something I have not used in a proper casemod for over four years - a fullsize ATX motherboard. This Supermicro PDSGE was the result of five hours of dedicated searching. Most motherboards were either EATX, had Xeon CPUs mounted at the very front edge or lacked a video port (AGP/PCIe).

Not too exciting rear panel, the six USB ports will come in handy as well as the gigabit ethernet port. I promise none of them will be ripped off even if I don't intend to use the onboard sound.

This is the main reason this board was selected, two 64bit PCI-X 133MHz slots to park the Broadcom BC4852 RAID controller in. Then a dedicated 32bit PCI bus for sound and TV cards. last but not least a PCI Express x16 slot for future proofing the videocards.The PCI Express x1 slot is shared with the onboard Intel gigabit ethernet controller. As discussed here this motherboard will not become the bottleneck in this system anytime soon, which unfortunately can't be said about the Epia M10000 currently in Udat...

This is how my home cinema looks as of today, the central piece is a Panasonic 32" SDTV that was the high end back in 2000. To the left you can see Anemone standing on top of Tranquillity which has starting to grow some vegetation...

When the worklog is completed I will post a pic again and there should be a fairly different look by then.

To the left of the sofa we have my precious, the slowly but steady growing DVD collection... Another seven or eight films and another bookcase is needed.

mashie · 10-19-2005, 09:13 AM

Finally time for the first update in this log...

First out a little bit of watercutting action in a familiar pattern. The 4mm thick aluminium front was very close to the limit for 2mm holes though.

This is one half of an array block cut in 3mm copper. As you can see it shouldn't have any problem keeping eight harddrives nice and cool.

A quick assembly to show how they will be installed. It is in total 3.2kg copper in that pic

JB Weld will be used for final assembly since the amount of heat needed to solder is out of my reach.

Last but not least, a big box of fun arrived

Thermochill PA120.3 radiator
Thermochill 6" reservoir
Laing D5 pump
Pabst 120mm fans
Swiftech Storm block
12' 1/2" Tygon R-3603
2' 3/8" Tygon R3603
DangerDen fillport
Analog T-Balancer for PCI slot
Zerex additive
A crapload of hoseclamps

2 sheets of 50mm corrugated sound dampening foam (also useful as backdrop for now)

That's it for now, time to start planning the layout of the radiator box.

mashie · 10-19-2005, 09:14 AM

Update time.

The original plan to use JB Weld to assemble the blocks has been revised after some feedback that it will become brittle over time. Instead gasket filler is the winner and together with all 16 screws in place I see no way how it will come apart with the pressure generated using normal watercooling.

First block done, the second is still curing. The holes for the barbs are threaded with 1/4" BSP. Originally th eplan was to use 3/8" barbs and tubes for these blocks but after receiving the 1/2" to 2 x 3/8" T fittings that plan was revised instantly. The ID of the 3/8" sections are just 5mm so now it will be 1/2" fittings and 3/8" tubing. It will be interesting to get the tube on but most things can be solved with a bit of violence

The TDX block is just there as a size reference...

mashie · 10-19-2005, 09:15 AM

Update again.

What you are looking at here is a 1/2" T fitting and a 1/2" to 2 x 3/8" T fitting. The ID of the 3/8" section didn't impress me much at all with cross section of 19.6mm² compared to 58mm² for the 1/2" section.

The plan was to use 3/8" in parallell for the array blocks but with the flowkiller above changed those plans.

The second block has been assembled and cleaned up. Here we have a test fit to try out the screws I after a lot of issue got hold of and to see how much that has to be cut away on the 1/2" barbs to make them fit properly.

Barbs trimmed and installed with silicone adhesive. The 3/8" Tygon was a challenge to get over the 1/2" barbs but they got there in the end.

An unexpected issue occured, all the tubescrossing over each other ended up too thick to make the array fit in the right direction. And where the barbs now are is not a good option... Back to the drawing board.

Ok, a quick fix, let's put the blocks in series instead using 1/2" tube. As I wrote above the cross section in a 1/2" barb is 58mm², well the cross secton of the channels inside the array blocks are 54mm² so no major loss of flow. Actually I wonder if it even can be noticed with a Swiftech Storm in the loop.

New attempt and this time the array did fit in the correct position...

10-19-2005, 09:11 AM	#1
mashie Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 149	Worklog: Project Ione Instead of posting random threads all over the forum I will just post the full worklog here instead... Project Ione will be the replacement for both Anemone and Udat. Anemone has simply started to reach retirement age after more than three years of active service as HTPC. Udat didn't reach my performance expectations so the RAID controller and HDDs will be moved over to this project while the rest will be sold as a single unit. This means Ione will be a HTPC/Fileserver combo. To keep the Anemone legacy this MDVA will be a main part of the mod. Step one of all projects, to find and hunt down suitable hardware: Pentium D820 (dual core 2.8GHz) Supermicro PDSGE motherboard 2 x 512 MB DDR2 PC4200 XFX GeForce 6600 128MB dual DVI + HDTV dongle Tagan 480W modular PSU And last but not least the canvas... A Silverstone LC-17 HTPC case. It was primarily selected for it's dual optical drive bays so both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray can be installed if needed next year. This is something I have not used in a proper casemod for over four years - a fullsize ATX motherboard. This Supermicro PDSGE was the result of five hours of dedicated searching. Most motherboards were either EATX, had Xeon CPUs mounted at the very front edge or lacked a video port (AGP/PCIe). Not too exciting rear panel, the six USB ports will come in handy as well as the gigabit ethernet port. I promise none of them will be ripped off even if I don't intend to use the onboard sound. This is the main reason this board was selected, two 64bit PCI-X 133MHz slots to park the Broadcom BC4852 RAID controller in. Then a dedicated 32bit PCI bus for sound and TV cards. last but not least a PCI Express x16 slot for future proofing the videocards.The PCI Express x1 slot is shared with the onboard Intel gigabit ethernet controller. As discussed here this motherboard will not become the bottleneck in this system anytime soon, which unfortunately can't be said about the Epia M10000 currently in Udat... This is how my home cinema looks as of today, the central piece is a Panasonic 32" SDTV that was the high end back in 2000. To the left you can see Anemone standing on top of Tranquillity which has starting to grow some vegetation... When the worklog is completed I will post a pic again and there should be a fairly different look by then. To the left of the sofa we have my precious, the slowly but steady growing DVD collection... Another seven or eight films and another bookcase is needed. __________________ mashie

10-19-2005, 09:13 AM	#2
mashie Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 149	Finally time for the first update in this log... First out a little bit of watercutting action in a familiar pattern. The 4mm thick aluminium front was very close to the limit for 2mm holes though. This is one half of an array block cut in 3mm copper. As you can see it shouldn't have any problem keeping eight harddrives nice and cool. A quick assembly to show how they will be installed. It is in total 3.2kg copper in that pic JB Weld will be used for final assembly since the amount of heat needed to solder is out of my reach. Last but not least, a big box of fun arrived Thermochill PA120.3 radiator Thermochill 6" reservoir Laing D5 pump Pabst 120mm fans Swiftech Storm block 12' 1/2" Tygon R-3603 2' 3/8" Tygon R3603 DangerDen fillport Analog T-Balancer for PCI slot Zerex additive A crapload of hoseclamps 2 sheets of 50mm corrugated sound dampening foam (also useful as backdrop for now) That's it for now, time to start planning the layout of the radiator box. __________________ mashie

10-19-2005, 09:14 AM	#3
mashie Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 149	Update time. The original plan to use JB Weld to assemble the blocks has been revised after some feedback that it will become brittle over time. Instead gasket filler is the winner and together with all 16 screws in place I see no way how it will come apart with the pressure generated using normal watercooling. First block done, the second is still curing. The holes for the barbs are threaded with 1/4" BSP. Originally th eplan was to use 3/8" barbs and tubes for these blocks but after receiving the 1/2" to 2 x 3/8" T fittings that plan was revised instantly. The ID of the 3/8" sections are just 5mm so now it will be 1/2" fittings and 3/8" tubing. It will be interesting to get the tube on but most things can be solved with a bit of violence The TDX block is just there as a size reference... __________________ mashie

10-19-2005, 09:15 AM	#4
mashie Cooling Savant Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reading, UK Posts: 149	Update again. What you are looking at here is a 1/2" T fitting and a 1/2" to 2 x 3/8" T fitting. The ID of the 3/8" section didn't impress me much at all with cross section of 19.6mm² compared to 58mm² for the 1/2" section. The plan was to use 3/8" in parallell for the array blocks but with the flowkiller above changed those plans. The second block has been assembled and cleaned up. Here we have a test fit to try out the screws I after a lot of issue got hold of and to see how much that has to be cut away on the 1/2" barbs to make them fit properly. Barbs trimmed and installed with silicone adhesive. The 3/8" Tygon was a challenge to get over the 1/2" barbs but they got there in the end. An unexpected issue occured, all the tubescrossing over each other ended up too thick to make the array fit in the right direction. And where the barbs now are is not a good option... Back to the drawing board. Ok, a quick fix, let's put the blocks in series instead using 1/2" tube. As I wrote above the cross section in a 1/2" barb is 58mm², well the cross secton of the channels inside the array blocks are 54mm² so no major loss of flow. Actually I wonder if it even can be noticed with a Swiftech Storm in the loop. New attempt and this time the array did fit in the correct position... __________________ mashie

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