Rated: 95% (12 votes)
Loading ...Purple ‘Project Violet’
bassdominator
Project Violet Introduction:
*** PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK OR
IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS ! ***
I named my rig ‘Project Violet’ in May when I purchaced 6×30cm UV CCFL’s and 20×3mm UV led’s,
it seems to have spiraled from there.
Rig spec :
- Q9450 @ 3.47 Ghz
- OCZ Flex XLC 2×1GB @ 1151mhz
- 700W OCZ Sli PSU
- 74GB Raptor
- 2x 320GB HDD’s
- Zotac 8800GT AMP @ 756/1164
- X-fi Audio Sound
- Liteon 20xSata Drive
- Zalman ZM-MFC1+ (Fan speed controller)
- PCI-E Exhaust fan
Loop 1 : Swiftech MCP655 Pump -> Thermochill PA120.2 Rad -> Blackice GTS240 Rad ->
D-Tek Fuzion WB -> D-Tek Fuzion quad injection nozzle -> Swiftech MC30 N/B WB ->
Swiftech MCRES Reservoir : Masterkleer 7/16″ tubing : 2x Scythe 110cfm fans :
2x Tt Thunderblade fans : Feser Blue Fluid.
Loop 2 : Swiftech MCP350 Pump -> BlackIce GTS120 -> ASUS 3a Mosfet WB ->
ASUS 3a Mosfet WB -> OCZ Flex PC8500 -> OCZ Flex PC8500 -> XSPC Reservoir top :
Tt Thunderblade fan : 3/8″ Masterkleer tubing : 1/4″ UV Blue tubing : Feser Red Fluid.
Firstly a few piccys to show where I have got to so far…
Might make my next case from scratch using some wood and alu, not going to be a conventional pc case shape though…
The list below will show some of the mod projects that I have done to the case, not in any order 
<Second loop>
All working so far… <fingers crossed> had a major hassle finding some 6mm barbs, not yet got the right size smartcoils for the 3/8″ ID tubing (mosfets) but couldnt wait to plug it all together. Found 2 very slow leaks from the mosfet blocks but all sealed now.
<Going Purple>
Okay finally decided to do something about the drab matt black paint on the Stacker, half yay through spraying it at the moment ‘Fiesta Metallic Purple’ (thought it was a fitting color).
Sanding powdercoating is not fun, it takes ages, hard as sanding steel, takes about as long too…
<Mirrored Internals>
I Brought some mirrored styrene from ebay for £3 removed the back mesh, cut out the shapes required and then stuck it to the inside of the case. Redone as wasnt happy with the finish around the fan.
<Top Radiator, now another twin fan rad> - Dropped temps by 4-8 Degrees C
I have seen people fit twin fan radiators in the top of the Stacker 83* series but with the sole purpose of cooling mosfets and ram i thought a single fan rad was more than enough…
Scrap that put the small rad on the back fan to make way for a twin rad to cool CPU, Northbridge and soon the Graphics card.
<Fan led switching>
I found which cable supplied the led’s only with the + supply and ran new cables to a switches, then supplied the switches with 12v from the molex supply. I did this with all 4 fans and wired my blue CCFL’s to one of the switches.
<Tidier Sata cables>
Removed the black tubing, cut the cables and soldered then taped around the wires to tidy.
<Improved front fans airflow (x2)>
Its the origonal 5.25″ surrounds with polycarbonate fronts, holes cut and sanded using 1500 grit wet and dry, took ages to make both but has much better airflow now, Raptor HDD dropped by 3/6 Degrees C!
<Replacing side panels with polycarbonate>
Using the origonal inserts I drew around and cut out the polycarbonate to match sizes and then used existing screw holes to fix, wet and dry used again to 1500 grit.
<Custom filter for Radiator>
Stacker 83* cases with base mounted rads suck up dust like you would not believe so because no filters are commercially available to my knowledge I made one using polycarbonate and cloth mesh, just removed the filter to see how much dust it stopped from entering my pc after 2 months (see 3rd piccy)
Nice…
<Noise reduction>
Watercooled rigs are quiet and thats one of the main benefits but I decided with some leftover Dynamat from my car, I could improve on the noise levels.
<Mounting the Radiator>
The hole in the base of the stacker is nowhere big enough for a thermochill radiator so I had to carve up my nice new £150 Case <cringe> The Rad holder is Alu from B&Q with silicone washers.
<illuminated UV Reservoir>
5×3mm UV leds in Poly again, stuck to the base of the reservoir, the effects were pretty impressive I thought for a random experiement… (piccy shows old purple fluid)
Some of the things that I am planning for the future…
- Finish 2nd WC loop for Mosfets and Ram
- Another 2GB 1150Mhz Ram
- White mesh respray to Black
- Case respray to Dark purple (not Violet!)
- Raise case by 2″ with custom metal base so rad can be lowered
Anyone in the market for Watercooling parts I highly reccommend Adrian @ Specialtech, he helped me alot along the way.
And if you are buying ram OCZ provide the best after sales support I have come across for any PC components to date.
Lippy
WARNING : When using a stanley knife always cut away from yourself! rofl 
Il add some random construction pictures at the bottom for anyone who has a stacker or just wants to see construction pictures etc…
Looks pimpin’. Super colourful too.
Oooh very nice, loving the tubing/kink coil combination!
I like the way you modded your finger to match!
Wow nice rig! I really liked the custom FX you have achived with the UV L.E.Ds illuminating the reservoir!!
Also i think what you have done with poly carbonate sheet to replace the mesh looks great! I have read about how strong that stuff is online!!!
I noticed that you had modified a small fan - to cool the ram i presume, how effective is that? Cheers :0)
Nice PC, I like the way it glows so brightly, im thinking it cost you a few pennies to build and a fair few hours to make it look like it does!
The fan is an 80mm fan which has had its shell removed so that I could use it to cool the ram and circulate air over the MB until I get my second WC loop finished. Rad is in just need Mosfet blocks and another pump.
Cheers for your feedback/comments guys.
Might get side panels and top panel polished (chrome effect) any comments?
Very nice!! I like the tubing and overall lighting. Well done mate!
very nice mate, at least you cut your finger and not the water colling pipes lol
*** DONT FORGET TO RATE, PLS ***
Cheers for all your comments and kind words, Im half way through the 2nd watercooling loop now and it will be completed soon (ish), il update piccy of mods since when loop is done
How’s the finger? school boy error that one mate! but live and learn eh we’ve all done it, well I have 
Loving the UV stuff mate i’m a bit gutted now I got an Antec P182 SE as you can’t actually see inside it and don’t really wanna ruin those stainless side panels!
Oh and surely you can push that Q9450 further than that on water!
(Lippy: cheers for rating)
The Q9450 Chip has a low tollerance to temperatures and also a 450mhz FSB wall supposedly and 3.47Ghz on 4 cores suits me, runs pretty quick!
Yeah proper no brainer on the thumb issue still…
Antec P182, I was looking at that one when choosing a new case but people said the stacker was bad for water cooling so im out to prove them wrong with 2/3 loops and 3 rads when finished!
Cut the side panel anyway! you only live once! use poly and a rubber trim you cant go wrong… or see link below, looks nice with clear window
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=162&products_id=21558
how in gods name did u remove the top Panel or did u just drill the RIVETS
DONT drill anything! Il email you and give you a few hinters!
may i ask how much the water cooling system cost you all in all
Yeah sure the first loop was £52 for the thermochill rad, MCP655 pump £50, £30 Black ice 240, £36 D-Tek Fuzion CPU block, £20 Swiftech NB Block, £12 Reservoir, £10 tubing, £4 Coils, £8 Feser Fluid, £5 UV dye (added extra), £10 Scythe fans, £10 Thunderblade fans Total… £247 (oops didnt realise it was that much)
2nd loop Blackice120 £30, Feser fluid £8, Mosfets £44, Tubing £12, Coils £8, Thunderblade fan £5, DCC pump £30 & reservoir top £18 Total £155 hmm…
Why do you ask?
how did you wire up those fans to the switches. i really like the idea but with having a switch to:
on/off (overall system)
fans
all lights
wc setup
or would that be impossible?
The fans are all wired up to the 6 fan speed controller, all i did is wire up the led’s in the fans to the switch that controlls the 2 30cm Blue cold cathodes and the other 3 switches controll the 6 30cm UV CCFL’s.
If you wanted to wire the fans so that you can switch them off then you could wire them through a 2 pin switch and only connect the + to the input and output of the switch… is that what you were after doing?
Switching WC setup is a bad idea, lights are easy, just wire the +’s to the output and run a nice fat input from the molex connector!
You got a rig on custom pc?
How did u remove the top metal panel because mine isn’t cooperating at all though a only have a stacker 831 so i dont know if it’s different
I sent you an email, you need to take out 4 screws in the side then the 2 in the back inside the handle, it slides backwards then needs lifting upwards.
Email me your mobile number if you like and il call you later today, (myne is a Stacker 831 also I think) Dont put your number on here if at all.
Mate just to say you could have powered all that with a corsair 550w vx psu single 12v rail it powers my 9800gtx+ with 2hdds and athlon x2 fine anyway good pc mate well done
(Could have, getting another GPU soon hopefully though and it uses more power than you’d think, PCF and Custom PC suggest having spare power for future upgrades)
Cheers for the comments
I love your pc. The colours are pretty different to what we see everyday and this makes it unique. Great job and I like the powder coating. Now all you have to do is put that gpu under water 
HI Bass, thanks for the comment on my blog by the way. Also there is another post up with a few more pics. Your rig is looking sweet but i didn’t see what mobo your using( just out of interest) the other thing is about the mirrored styrofoam you said you got from ebay, is it easy to fit? It looks pretty tidy in the case, might try to use it myself in my case, i’ve got a decent idea for using it.
Cheers for the feedback, getting a new GPU before submerging in H2O
The Mobo is a P5K Pro, the mirrored styrene is really easy to work with, not brittle and bends and cheap, I really like’d it! Whats your idea for the foam?