(Very) Basic Bench Rig

[t8y]

Hi all.
long time poster, first time build-logger..
while ive my share of builds over the years, ive never felt the need to share too much.
thought that this one might appeal to some.

this is probably the easiest of my recent projects - a benching station, of sorts.

basically, im sick to death of pulling cases apart and undoing my cabling work whenever i feel like tinkering, want to play with multiple GPUs, or if i kill some hardware.. the actual case is getting in the way.
so, building a testing station has been something id wanted to do for ages, but never go around to.
also, wanted to get into some dedicated benching, so i can finally stop the endless cycle of killing/rebuilding of gaming rigs (ALWAYS happens just prior to a LAN too!)


it didnt really need to look pretty, as a motherboard box/piece of foam/clean table area could do the job just as well..
basically, i needed it to be simple (and cheap), able to hold a few HDDs, the PSU and some tools etc underneath, aswell as having its own integrated watercooling system for cpu.
no plans to add any gpu cooling to the loop, as i dont plan on hanging onto gpus for too long (regular upgrades).

so, with that in mind..
brought the idea up with local OCAU member, d1ng0d4n, whos usually all to happy to assist with my destroying of pc parts..
he kindly donated an old thermaltake motherboard tray from a discarded project of his own. perfect for the job, nice thick steel and even has bracing on each end, very solid.

i had some of the cooling parts (tygon tubing, ek tube res, yateloon fans etc) spare already for this, but need to source some more (block, pump, rad, barbs).

so;
i measured up the mobo tray, sketched some rough ideas on designs/dimensions that would fit what i was wanting it to on some scrap paper, and set to it.. no fancy CAD designs here!

anyway, how about some pix, they will explain it all much better


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so, its 3 pieces of MDF, with a mobo tray bolted straight on top. i did say it was basic, right..
old AT psu used for test fitting *like a glove!*
sadly the mdf split there on the middle edge (same on other side). ah well, will still hold fine.. again, its not about looks!
also cut hole in mobo tray for easy cpu mounting bracket access etc


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other side. lian-li hdd cage there i had spare. the empty space on the right is where the h20 gear will be mounted.
should be able to fit a 420 radiator (possible a 480 with some overhang off the edges..) but am going with a 360 rad as its a cpu only loop, and that allows me to use the 6 yateloon hispeed 120mms i already have in push/pull - should be more than enough.


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and skipping forward a few days.. sorry! a nice coat of paint and the res mounts fitted there too. shiny new ax1200 PSU fitted also. the way its wedged in there, i had to fit the PSU before the mobo tray.


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aaaand being put to use with parts from my mini-pc, as it had PSU issues (have since resolved).

have a couple of deliveries coming in the next ~week or so to complete the first iteration of the build (rest of the cooling, some PC parts to abuse ) - updates on those when they arrive.


Any questions on it feel free to ask in here.

[_Ben]

You could alternately use something like this
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=16044

[Loadingdread]

Yeah, but whats the fun of buying one? Looks pretty good man i wouldnt mind making something like that aswell.

[t8y]

seen those. looks cheaper than mine lol..
mine cost me essentially nothing but the time it took to make (not long), and actually has PCI slots, so the GPUs dont just flap in the wind, so to speak

mine might be a tad more impressive when the radiator, pump etc mounted..

[t8y]

first lot of deliveries arrived today..

Click to view full size!

currently messing around with nlite to get the ahci drivers built into xp.. no floppy drive, gah
so havnt really had chance to play around with it

[Loadingdread]

Looks like you have some fun times ahead man! Looking forward to seeing the finished product in all its glory

[Liighthead]

nice
much more todo? :P
i should upgrade my motherboard box ( for benching rig ) to something like this.. sometime

[t8y]

well 360 rad, pump, pump top, silver are on the way. lost the tracking code but it shouldnt be far off, its part of a combined order with a mate, he will worry about that for me
have the block (as pictured), res, tubing, fans etc already
edit: and barbs will be coming soon too, forgot about those

need a radiator mount of some sort though, but i guess it can just either sit there looking pretty until i get one, or ill whip something up out of some scrap metal - or something..

[t8y]

still testing, but its been fun sofar;
5ghz validation
its "validation stable" atm. havnt tested it at all.
edit: superpi 1m, its an ok time. not that its much of a test, but its late and time for bed lol, no time for anything else.

will try and get this speed at least superpi/wprime stable or something i guess, wont really push the clocks much higher until all the water gear arrives.
still, 1.41v for 5ghz aint bad sofar

will make a good kick-off point for more clocking/testing tomorrow night

[t8y]

finished product..

Click to view full size!
rads held there currently with 3M double sided tape til i can get a proper rad mount from somewhere..
gam, TKR all sold out, pccg dont seem to do them.


been pulling some nice figures today, 5.4ghz benchable sofar..

had the case around at a mates and back while assembling etc., holds together quite well when travelling. pretty happy with it overall.

[CrimsonFury]

Nice setup. Show us some more pics of the finished build (different angles).

Gammods should have the XSPC rad brackets in mid week. They look like this: http://www.xspc.biz/radstand120mm.php

[t8y]

no worries, a couple more..


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goin hard on the h50..


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now has a pile of 120mm fans over the cpu area, been doing tests for the hwbot.

sorry, didnt goto the effort of moving the thing to see the other angle lol

[tunksy]

I like it! well done mate!

[d1ng0d4n]

Should've told me you put up a log . Good to see my old hacked up Xaser bits being put to use

Was a fun night with all the new water gear on Saturday. Good to see it clocking well

[t8y]

oh yeah, i did a log after all .

wasnt going to but i had all these pics anyway..
thought it might inspire some more people to upgrade their current benching platforms from the block of foam/mobo boxes most use, haha..

yeah was a good night (got that sub 7 sec superpi finally) right up until that gpu died..