Project Log: TUF Amethyst

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Update #13

TUF Amethyst Motherboard Sponsor. ASUS SG

M8 AMS 360 Placement:

- This update mostly revolves around AMS 360 radiators.
- Related mostly on its G1/4 POM piece design, 144mm width & 404mm length.
- Always do a physical measurements & visual analyst prior to bolting down on "Oversized/Overwide" radiators.
- If double confirm is not enough, triple confirm it. As physical damage are usually irreversible.
- Fitting in the radiators wasn't easy & does requires some thinking.
- Will cover the restrictions faced & just fits.
- As M8 is a double wide casing, I will do the explaining by mentioning Mobo side & PSU side.

Bottom Radiator Restriction #1:

- This happens for both bottom radiators at both ends.
- Due to rad length 404mm & G1/4 pom piece design, this radiator can't clear the threading insert & screw coming up from the castor wheel assembly.
- I countered mobo side bottom rad by changing my fans to pull instead of push & psu side bottom rad by adding phobya 20mm thk shrouds.

Bottom Radiator Restriction #2:

- This happen on both top & bottom radiators for the PSU side.
- Clearance issue while mounting the 3nos front 120mm fans using CL's flex mount design.
- I have tried countersunk screws but there is still 1mm of protrusion from the countersunk head as CL's flex mount design is not meant for countersunk screws for flush fit.
- The 1mm protrusion from the countersunk screw is a possible threat to scratch the rad, thus I didn't use them.
- So I tapped the fans to M5 thread but securing only 2 screws each fan for top & bottom fan mounts.
- The clearance from fan mount to rad is almost as good as less than 1mm.

 

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Bottom Radiator Restriction #3:

- This happens only for the bottom rad over at the PSU side.
- PSU side chamber width is much smaller than the mobo side & having a overwide rad is tricky.
- The restrictions comes in 3 areas.
- Mobo tray have a shield plate which hides the CPU block retaining plate from sight.
- The 2nos lowest standoff to mount the shield plate.
- The mobo tray itself at one of the lowest corner.
- I have already anticipated this thus explains the 3nos of rad on initial plan out trying to skip some tedious part of work.
- So the trigger for the 4th rad have already been done, might as well get M8 to its maximum possible raddage for my build.
- AMS 360 Cu is already half the cost of M8, getting it to fit by modding M8 is definitely a must to uphold its ego.
- Had just completed the mod & have the gutted area sprayed to matching color even though it will be covered away from sight by a row of 120mm rad fans.
- Have catered a little more clearance instead of the exact fit for possible options in cable routings through a less than 5mm gap.
- Haven't have time to penknife off the remaining burrs but squeezed it in for this update.
- Test fit will likely be over the coming weekend if time permits.

 

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M8 AMS 360 Snug Fit Compilations:

- Other than the above 3 points on restrictions, I will say M8 is designed perfectly for AMS 360.
- The pics will explain for the delay in my rad mounting progress, took me alot of referencing, aligning, measuring, brain cracking, nerve racking & finally all 4nos rad mounted.
- Enjoy~

 

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Overall Radiators Viewing:

- Some pics to show the radiators awesomeness.
- Nothing beats this sense of satisfaction of having my aim of maximising the raddage capacity in M8.
- Fitting all 4nos AMS 360 in can be considered a milestone in the journey of conquering M8.
- However I do realised that I have shrunk M8 significantly after putting in the radiators & pumps.
- The remaining space left was somehow alarming considering this a double wide caselabs.
- The rhaspberry purple definitely starts to take its shape & I am truly pleased I made the correct decision on the purple/grey ratio.
- The rad fins showing is not done & have plans for them.
- Leaving them naked for this presentation is purely to excite people who have been readying their shopping cart with mouse cursor standing by on the "pay now" button.
- Top chamber
- Bottom Chamber
- Mobo Side
- PSU Side
- Front Side

Thanks all for viewing~

 

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Update #14

TUF Amethyst Motherboard Sponsor. ASUS SG

A MIXTURE OF EVERYTHING:

Will like to apologise for the delay of updates. Been tied up with commitments & this log is one of it which requires quite some brainstorming.

It have been a lot of consideration prior to execution as I believe in planning x3 & execution x1. Don't really enjoy the redoing part & un-necc redundant cost going to a failed attempt.

The modded mobo Tray:

- Can't really google out anyone doing 4x AMS on M8 & squeezed off the trigger by just agar agar. I was lucky my estimations all went well.
- Was more than pleased to have this mod going to welcome in the 4th AMS 360 cu.
- Nothing beats the sense of triumph over M8 raddage capacity.
- Even though I didn't stick to the orientation provided by Sven on the AMS but my raddage is well above wattage converted to heat.

Doing up the Drain System:

- Been a real thinker figuring things out for 4x AMS 360 quad pass totalling to 16 passes of rad paths.
- Knowing M8 is a double wide heavy weight champion, the only way is a double drain.
- Fitted up the route of hard tube to directly link the top rad back to the bottom rad.
- This also shows my main route of system > top rad > bottom rad without the use of x-flow.
- X-flow is totally off my chart as I prefers raw pron of AMS Cu despite knowing the several sacrifices.
- Fitting in 4nos AMS Cu will void the use of upper & lower cable management holes/gap provided by M8 to route cables in from PSU to mobo vice versa.
- I also did a physical leak test on the radiator loop to know what I am up against.
- 4x AMS with Koolance RP combo is a killer for bleeding.
- Bleed time without blocks will take at least 3~4 days while my previous is a 5mins bleed.
- Drain time requires 30mins for 90% drain out on both chamber using a water vacumm while my previous is a 1min drain.
- All extra effort with escalated costings goes to AMS but worth every penny on the quality nonetheless.
- Pics in sequence of Mobo Chamber Drain > PSU Chamber Drain > Radiator loop leak testing

 

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Assembing of GPU Blocks/Backplate:

- Dismantling of Zotac Ref cooler is a breeze & don't requires any twisting of the thermal paste.
- Discovers that the vram & voltage regulators are isolated passive low profile heatsinks on thermal pads.
- I reckoned a huge drop in temp conversion after these gpus are blocked up.
- Sven didn't want to firm up the fitting of these blocks to my cards & it have been a mystery to me. Nonetheless it all fits perfectly.
- The appearance & quality is more than anything I have seen online.
- I know I have to do something to have a regular peek on this beauty & it is this thought alone that set me back by 2 weeks.

 

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Assembly of CPU block & GPU Bridge:

- The AQC Cuplex Kryos XT was reviewed/commented as the hardest to assemble.
- I was surprised at all those comment, it took me less than a minute to assemble. lol
- I viewed this CPU block as the easiest to assemble by far any I seen or handled.
- All the threads was well made & having the hex stand off to guide the cpu blocks frame down was a flawless engineering example.
- In fact its so easy & requires so little effort that I just pop it in forgetting to take pics.
- The bridge is also flawlessly milled on the o-ring grooves which I can easily fit the O-rings in while safely inverting them downwards for the assembly without them falling out.
- Really love the M8's removable tray which saved me a lot of trouble on assembly.
- The total setup of mobo tray is speechless, coming from a 4mths+ color planning to assembly is just fulfilling.

 

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Solution to get a Glimpse of GPU Blocks:

- I am firmed till date on this project to stick to standard layout to avoid inverting all the logos & wordings.
- However, stealing a glimpse on the GPU block's glory is a must.
- Thus I went with a mirror bottom grill to reflect the upskirt view of the blocks.
- The plan went along neatly & result is satisfying being able to see the block whenever I need to steal a glimpse on its beauty on regular addiction fix.
- Did my own hand drawing before converting to cad.
- Requested for CNC laser cut, thus explained the ultra thin bezel among the honeycomb for high flow.
- Other cuts can easily be found but thickness is somewhat less glam & breakage of bezel is high.
- These breakages can commonly be found on Coldzero's grills.
- The laser cuts are flawless as it melts/fused the edge of every cuts seamlessly with waves.
- Also did a 45degrees angle mill along the outer edge to give a mirror feel.
- Will employ the use of a single light stick to invert sequence light between GPU block & mirror grills.
- In order to fit the radiator below the mobo, I have to raise the radiator up to clear the castor wheel's mounting. Thus the original plan of push becomes a pull instead.
- However my main concern was the SLI bridge clearance issue & it cleared nicely.

 

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Current Progress:

- Majority of issues cleared remaining the return tube route of PSU chamber back to mobo chamber connecting to AQ5Pro.
- Cabling works will be the worst & time consuming part I reckoned.

Thanks all for viewing~