Project:: Cosmos SKULLTRAIL

First time here on THW so just thought i'd stop by and show my face, say Hi and show my new prod log

Its a work in progress so any comments, good or bad welcome!

Anyway without further ado, its that time again to get a commissioned project up and running for the Coolermaster stand at Multiplay i34 which doesn’t leave much time so expect this one to take shape pretty fast once all the background stuff is out the way.

There are four major sponsors which I’m eternally grateful for and have all supplied some killer hardware so i’ve first of all got to thank those involved for making the mod possible and vow to hopefully do them all justice.

Sponsors Include:
Coolermaster
Intel
Zotac
HWLabs








System Spec:
CM Cosmos S
CM Ultimate UCP 1100watt PSU
Intel Skulltrail Motherboard
2x Intel QX9775 Quad Core Extreme CPU’s (Socket 771)
2x Zotac 9800GX2’s
4GM RAM

Watercooling:
By me

So, let the games commence







Guess this is a bit of a give away but hey, i like vents

All stripped and ready for anodising



I didn't get anywhere near as much as what i'd planed today but i did get both vents mounted ready to be stuck in place after the panels are flattened and sent for powder coat to give better finish for paint but no real hurry as the painter is on holiday next week

He did drop some of the paint off today which as always is pretty much just like a new car so i'm happy with that.

I dunno, i seemed to spend more time looking at the damn thing today than getting into my usual attack mode but i seem to have more of a game plan so i guess all was not lost

Oh yeah i borrowed a Cosmos 1000 side panel off my mate Tom so i didn't have to deal with the mesh panel in the Cosmos S which was a big help

looks like SOMEONE'S having fun!

Time to get a bit work done on the three Coolermaster Aquagate's and the replacement reservoirs

Got all three res's stuck together using my new found friend Poly Weld with FB barbs fitted all seems fine but will be leak testing before final fitting.

And a couple of shots of the new look Aquagate in a standard Cosmos S which i did a while back for testing.........and i should point out that only 2 will be used in the system and the other is for another mod.

Its a bit of a headache choosing which blocks to go for CPU's and NB due to hose routing but after much head scratching it looks like D-Tek FuZions for CPU's and a DD MC-Chipset block with a modded mounting bracket will be best.

So, decided to make myself a nice little mounting bracket for the MPC-Chipset block.....

Started by scribing the shape onto a 3mm piece of aluminium then took the original MPC mount to mark hole alignment.

Not sure if there's time to get it anodised black or whether i'll just have to paint it but either way it looks OK and fits like a glove.

BTW, you might of gathered, i'm playing catch up here just to get the log up to date but not much more to go

Got the side panels back from powder coat today which is a great way of flattening down the standard brushed aluminium and a great flat base for primer so its time to start attaching the vents.

Had to use that 2 part metal stuff to attach a couple of bolts to the back side of the vent to enable it to be screwed down.

I also got hold of this Terotape and Primer which gives the vent a nice cushion to sit on which hopefully eliminates paint cracking when the side panel flexes.

So anyway, this is how it looks and now i've got a night of bodging and wet sanding ahead to blend the vent into the panel then get it into primer ready for paint.

Just did a test fit with the chrome bits on to see what the whole thing looks like in black.

Thanks mrplow99

Good and bad news today!

Got the panels back from paint today and one turned out fine while the other had a few little reactions which the painter put down to water caught in the vent from wet sanding so its got to be re-done which is a bit of a pain but these things happen i guess.

Here some pictures of the good one.........the other is already being re-sanded.

OK that's it do date and thanks for your patience while i played catch up.

I'll update as and when so hope you enjoy following it through as much as i am making it and if anyone is at Multiplay i34 in August it will be on show there...............if i get it finished that is!

Again, my apologies for all waiting for the wet stuff to start taking shape but there's not much i can do until the chassis gets back other than to make the black bits blacker and the shiny bits shinier

So, in keeping with the black / chrome of the vents.........

i love it

Not sure if this is in the shops yet but the nice people at Coolermaster sent me a couple of their new Ultimate UCP 1100W PSU's to play with so got one hooked up to the Skulltrail already and is working a charm............very very quiet

Also Zotac contacted me this morning and have another GX2 being shipped for tomorrow so i can eventually get this HUGE chunk of copper strapped to them (weighing in at 2180g i think they will need some kind of support made)

That is some impressive work. I would appreciate it if you could be more detailed about the kind of tools you use along the way.

Well....that case will have more water than the Sahara. In another though will pack more punch, that the Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabue all together.

Good Lord. Keep it coming and good luck !!

this is tight as a ducks arse hahahaha. id love to do something like this

We had guests up all weekend that just wanted to drink and drink..........which don't make them bad people in my book and i participate best i could but all i really wanted to do was sit and admire how well the case is looking.

Chrome vents match the chrome Cosmos rails like perfect - let me get the paint machine polished tomorrow and i'll try and get some better pictures...



In keeping with the black / chrome theme and thanks to Eddy i got a couple of Nickel-Plated EK-FC9800 GX2 SLI Blocks expressed over and set about getting them fitted.

Took about 2 hours in total but time flies when your enjoying yourself - they do look a bit naked without the covers on so after a little trimming i re-used the covers though i'll have to find some way of fixing them properly because there nothing to actually fix them to but i'm sure i'll find a way.

Also had the front bezels anodised (cheers Tom) but they were to dull so had them painted and clear coated which looks much better and got the Aquagate ones fitted though the it was starting to get dark out and the pictures aren't the best but you get the idea.

Oh yeah, the board with all blocks added now weighs in at a staggering 6670g

aww he musta lost track of time =[
gj though, had fun looking through

Taken all of the above on board about the SB being covered by the cards i had to make some serious decisions.

The dilemma has always been that in order to run Skulltrail with two GX2's in a Cosmos they have to use the top two PCi slots due to the PSU location directly below. (see here)

The good news was the reply from Intel that its fine to use the top two PCi slots - the bad news is that in order to do so i would have to remove the card covers so as not to obscure the SB fan too much.

There was no way around it so not much point in dwelling on the "what ifs" so took the covers back off the cards and got them mounted and tbh i'm quite liking being able to see all of the blocks and running the hose through the cards is looking a strong possibility and should look pretty cool if i can pull it off.

Just did a quick bit of hose routing to show how this would look...

Anyone see anything i don't because you start to become blind to the obvious but i think im good to go with that.













Right, i think i can move on now and finally put the GFX card issue to bed

Well, one last thing........just made some nice little spacers to replace the plastic ones that kept popping out and now keep the cards much more stable and parallel









I've been in touch with Coolermaster and they are going to do there best to get me a set of Black quick release buttons over so fingers crossed on that one.

Anyway, best get one of the sponsors names up in lights as they donated a couple of GX2's

Its not the finished article but got a couple of clear LED's behind the Zotac bezel just to see how it looked with the plexi in place which i hope they are happy with.....

that thing is looking sick. I envy you, do you get to keep it? anywho i noticed it doesnt seem to have an optical drive? also its a shame they didnt send you any gtx280's.

PS: you;ve made a case i dont normally like look really good (Still prefer the stacker!).

I'd planned on going orange and purple for the two loops but orange UV dye is such a hard one to get right its becoming a real pita even with the help of Rob at watercooling chucking me practically every known orange UV dye known to man over i still can't seem to get it right.......

Anyway, my troubles might have accidentally been taken care of while looking at Fan controllers.

I came across the Sythe Kaze Master 5.25inch Fan Controller which i thought a couple of them could be modded into looking like the front blank plates given their use of one way black plexi fronts

So anyway i added the silver hex bolts to the front of them and got them mounted which fit in absolutely perfect.

Although the pictures don't show the true colours, the fan speed digits are in bright green and the temperature reading is bright blue so i think that's going to be carried through into the two water loops which will make my life a whole lot easier.

Anyway enough talk and on with some pictures......

Stiil waiting for rads to turn up so no water just yet though thought i'd post some random pictures of the case of how it will end up looking minus the green / blue fluids.........just wish i could capture better how nice the paint turned out

This is just a show.it was like im watching a movie on tv

Also its so stupid.I think everybody just laughing as i amNo any professional sound card,no any good optical drive.its just cooling and its just a exaggeriaton.

But you have suponsors...

youv'e inspired me

Slight problem - me and Willie at HWLabs got our wires crossed and i ended up with chrome GTX240 and GTX360 when i actually needed an X-Flow GTX360 for the top but as there was no time to get one over i ended up using a black X-Flow GTStealth.

I'm also still waiting on the Intel logo for the front bezel and the black quick release buttons from Coolermaster, both of which should be here tomorrow so i'll get those fitted as and when but should be well on schedule for Multiplay i34 on Friday.

Still can't get the 4" TFT working using an Apple DVI to s-video dongle but i still got a few days to try and get that sorted one way or another!!!

Apart from that, i got both loops routed and filled with both Aquagates taking care of things no problem and everything's running nice and cool

Few other minor little bits and pieces but i got to admit i'm more than happy with the outcome both inside and out





















http://www.coolercases.co.uk/skull/skull_2200.jpg

i think you should just have a sheet of plastic or something over the side for i34. everyone will be able to actually look into this beast and cream themselves. i wish i was goin haha

WOW just WOW, thats a true Harley-Davidson.

dude u have or too much free time or too much money or a sick mixture of both ehehehehhe.


really nice work


and i used to think my system was great.