Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Hello everyone. I just wanted to share with the EVGA community, a project which I have worked on the past week in collaboration with DeeBeeCustom which involves building a watercooled HTPC inside the Fractal Node 202 case. The parts include:Fractal Node 202 HTPC CaseGigabyte GTX 1050Ti LPIntel Core i3-6100Asrock H110M-ITXCorsair SF450 SFX PSUSamsung 850 EVO 500GB-------------------------------------------------- There are quite a few things I wanted to try and achieve with this build. I wanted to attempt to see if custom watercooling would work inside the Node 202 as I have seen some awesome builds on the net where people have managed to squeeze custom loops into their own Node 202. I also didn't want to purchase super high end hardware and hopefully be able to reuse most of the watercooling components from my previous hardline project. Since the build was going to feature custom watercooling, I felt that without a window, it would be a bit pointless and I really wanted to be able to see all the tube runs etc. so a window was also a must for the build. Anyways onto the Progress Logs: The Case When the Node 202 first arrived, It was slightly larger then I expected, however was still neat, compact and designed very well to fit almost all standard off the shelf component. The GPU compartment especially was extremely roomy and could fit almost any graphics card on the market. Here are some shots of the case   The Side Panels Upon inspecting the case, the Node 202 using a pretty interesting system to install the panels. It consists of a shell like structure for the component side of the case that is held with 4 screws on the back side panel which is one piece of metal.The shell also consists of a plastic layer and a thin metal layer held on via these tabs on the corner. As cutting through both layers would be tedious, I decided to undo the metal tabs to remove both metal panels from the front and back side panels.  Internals Looking inside the internals, the Node 202 has its front IO board located in the front of the GPU compartment as well as a power cord running from the rear of the case to the power supply compartment. When attempting to fit the 92mm magicool radiator, it would consistently bump into this front IO board due to the thickness of the front USB cables. Since I didn't really require front USB or audio cables due to the small size of the case and the fact that the rear IO USB and audio would suffice, I decided to cut this PCB board so to only have the power button. This made room for the 92mm radiator as well as enable space for a Deepcool RGB Module to be mounted in the gap. For the watercooling tubing to fit, I also had to remove the 2.5inch drive bay to allow space for tubing to run through the tiny gap as well as cables from the SFX PSU to fit.  Mounting the components The removal of the 2.5inch drive bay meant I had to mount the SSD in a different location, after many attempts I discovered that it could be sandwiched in the gap provided for cables coming out of the PSU. The space between the PSU and the case was exactly the same length as the 2.5inch ssd, which ensured it had a snug tight fit. I also realised that this meant the cables coming out of the PSU were covered which was a bonus. Mounting a 92mm radiator on an 120mm fan mount slot meant that I had to create some adapter to allow for 92mm holes. Therefore I measured a piece of acrylic that could be held in place by the 2 of the 120mm holes as well as accommodate for the 92mm radiator.  After mounting the radiator and the Noctua 92mm fan, I realised the height meant that the fan would be directly exhausting into a solid panel which obviously was not good. Therefore ventilation would be needed on the windows panel to allow for hot air to exhaust outwards. I also discovered that the gap between the 92mm fan and the case was extremely useful in tucking away molex cables and other small cables from the RGB module as well as the front IO PCB. A small orange acrylic piece is also added to fill in the void left behind from the lack of front USB 3.0 and audio.  Cable management As you probably already know, the Node 202 does not have any rear compartment to stash cables away, and they all have to be routed internally. Therefore, if I choose to put a windowed side panel, cables would definitely be visible. So I decided to cut some acrylic pieces to act as a way of hiding cables in the motherboard area. I also wanted to stay consistent with an orange/black theme and was thinking of continuing the Valkyr Warframe theme of my old build but then realised that the logo/text did not work so well, which eventually resulted in simply cutting a black acrylic piece to cover the bad choices I made. The acrylic pieces were mounted onto the EK Monarch RAM modules which I found convenient and another piece to cover the rear IO using double sided adhesive. Overall, I think this allowed most of the ugly looking cables near the motherboard area to be covered, except for the bulky 24 pin cable.   Watercooling Loop The watercooling loop is probably the hardest challenge I encountered. There is no dedicated mounting spots whatsoever for any sort of pump or reservoir and choosing which pump, res and which location to mount them took up most of my time. In the end I decided to go for a standalone SPC60 pump from EK as well as a Primochill Flow indicator as a small reservoir. This was because the SPC60 pump was compact yet powerful, requiring only a 4pin fan cable to power it, and the Primochill flow indicator could hold enough volume of liquid as well as having 4 ports to work with, enabling me to fill/drain the loop using a T-line.  Another acrylic piece had to be cut to allow the SPC pump to be mounted as well as using the last 120mm fan mount holes to attach the acrylic piece to. The Flow indicator was the hardest to mount and required a really ghetto system of using an Ikea metal bracket, combined with a sponge for leverage, all attached to a plastic piece that's attached to the rear GPU PCIE bracket area. For this system to work, I also had to part with a Low profile version of the 1050Ti from Gigabyte as it only has a height of about 68mm, leaving me more then 70mm of space to work with. A combination of soft and hard tubing was also used as I found it easier to work with soft tubing for the motherboard area and hard tubing to give the Primochill flow indicator some rigidity and support. Some final touches included adding a backplate to the LP 1050Ti with an EK badge that came from the stop fitting attached for some sleek looks. It also meant the PCB of the GPU would be covered and not visible through the window. 
post edited by Bee666 - 2017/07/17 20:21:11
|
Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/07/17 18:36:51
(permalink)
Acrylic Window The acrylic window was probably the most enjoyable part of the project. It meant I could finally try out my new Dremel rotary tool as well as showing off the watercooling components inside the case. I started by roughly measuring the dimensions of the components inside the case and deciding which parts I wanted to hide and show. After marking those measurements I went ahead and cut the shell of the Node 202. As a first time using such a tool to cut the panel was an exciting experience. Although not perfect, It is something which I will attempt to improve on as I gain more practice.  I also decided to remove the top ventilation component of the Node 202 to give it some paint in a glossy orange finish, as well as cutting a hole for the ventilation of the 92mm fan.
After cutting the panel, came a lot of sanding to smooth down the edges. Now if the project didn't have a deadline, then I would have dedicated an entire day to smoothing out the edges to make sure they are perfect. But that is something I will keep in mind for personal based builds in the future.  3mm Acrylic was then measured and cut to fit the shell of the Node 202. I also cut out some triangular holes to allow for some ventilation. The panel was then spray painted on the rear with glossy black to create a border to cover any unwanted cuts or edges from the shell. This is also when I decided to go with a simple bird theme for the build. After this, double sided tape was used to attach the acrylic piece to the shell. The reason I decided to go this easy route is that to access the internals, the entire shell would be removed anyways, so this permanent method of attachment won't really affect the functionality.   Front Panel Detailing When browsing online retailers for parts specific to this build, a clearance was occurring for a ton of old water cooling parts, with Bitspower silver shining 45 degrees for $2!! had to pick up a few of those for future builds as well as FrozenQ stuff for a few bucks!. I saw the nova core reservoir rails for $0.99 for a set of 6 and had to pick up a few just in case they could be used for something in this project and it did come in handy for some fine detail work. Was deciding between using a combination of black and fluorescent orange rails but ended up deciding to use 3 fluorescent orange for both sides, using super glue to adhere them to the acrylic panel.   Rear Panel Now for the rear panel, I didn't manage to snap much photos if any at all of the process as winters in Australia meant shorter days with less sunlight, thus more focus on getting the project complete. However a rundown, I used 2mm black acrylic which was measured and cut into shape using an acrylic cutting knife as well as using the provided protection sticker to stencil out the text and bird logo. The 4 holes on the corner was then drilled to match the holes of the original panel. The panel was then painted in two layers with orange for the logo and white for the text. I then cut out triangular ventilation in the same position as the original rear panel to allow intake for the radiator, GPU fan and PSU fan. To minimise dust, I did purchase some wired mesh in which were cut to size and painted orange. They were simply attached to the panel on the other side using hot glue which was fast and efficient. Once the panel was completed, I then proceeded to check if it would attach to the case. NOPE, TROUBLE, the default screws from the Node 202 case were far too short, due to the excess 3-4mm gap gained from the thickness of the acrylic and the hot glue. When I attempted to attach the panel, it began to flex at the mounting points as they were too short. Looking through my screw box all I could find were radiator screws from an EK radiator, but to my luck, the screw had the exact same thread size as the default Node 202 screws and they were 27mm in length more then I need. So using those screws and some rubber washers taken from a Phanteks Enthoo ITX case, I was able to attach the panel to the case despite the screws being much longer then required. Meh, at least it means it'll have more support right?  Final Touches & Loop Filling Now looking at the current state of the Node 202, I realised the front io portion was missing details and decided to use the triangular off cuts from the ventilation to add a bit of detail to the front. So I sanded, painted and then attached them in a randomised order using super glue. Now I regret not polishing them further and ensuring the edges were perfect straight & smooth, but that is something I have learnt now and will definitely keep in mind to do for future builds. After testing to ensure everything fit together perfectly, it was time to fill the loop. This is the first time filling a loop using a T-line and it was quite interesting in what I gained from it. The need to consistently tilt the case in all angles to try and tease the air bubbles into escaping the system with air bubbles rising to the highest points of the loop. After a few hours, the major air bubbles were out, leaving only the tiny ones which I ran the system for over a day straight which cleared them out eventually. 
post edited by Bee666 - 2017/07/17 19:55:21
|
Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/07/17 20:06:04
(permalink)
|
Cool GTX
EVGA Forum Moderator
- Total Posts : 31034
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2010/12/12 14:22:25
- Location: Folding for the Greater Good
- Status: online
- Ribbons : 123
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/07/30 07:01:20
(permalink)
Very nice Rig with a small case 
|
rjohnson11
EVGA Forum Moderator
- Total Posts : 102427
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2004/10/05 12:44:35
- Location: Netherlands
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 85
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/07/30 08:58:50
(permalink)
Outstanding small form factor build.
|
Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/07/30 18:38:41
(permalink)
Cool GTX
Very nice Rig with a small case
rjohnson11
Outstanding small form factor build.
Thanks Guys =)!
|
PietroBR
FTW Member
- Total Posts : 1202
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2013/09/14 06:40:52
- Location: Brazil
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 7
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/08/01 05:00:41
(permalink)
Nice job. A hell of a project. 
|
Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/08/02 04:36:38
(permalink)
PietroBR
Nice job.
A hell of a project.
Thanks! First time trying to water cool in such a narrow and slim case, luckily the forward planning worked out well otherwise it may have to be scrapped midway through.
|
rjohnson11
EVGA Forum Moderator
- Total Posts : 102427
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2004/10/05 12:44:35
- Location: Netherlands
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 85
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/08/03 22:30:28
(permalink)
Bee666
PietroBR
Nice job.
A hell of a project.
Thanks!
First time trying to water cool in such a narrow and slim case, luckily the forward planning worked out well otherwise it may have to be scrapped midway through.
Outstanding skills to water cool in such a small form factor.
|
xixou
New Member
- Total Posts : 69
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2014/06/04 12:26:32
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 3
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/08/04 10:33:12
(permalink)
|
Bee666
New Member
- Total Posts : 83
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2015/04/27 01:31:12
- Location: Australia
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 6
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/08/04 21:39:48
(permalink)
rjohnson11
Bee666
PietroBR
Nice job.
A hell of a project.
Thanks!
First time trying to water cool in such a narrow and slim case, luckily the forward planning worked out well otherwise it may have to be scrapped midway through.
Outstanding skills to water cool in such a small form factor.
Haha, still got lots more to learn (which is what makes it all fun in the end) And there are some very talented people on this forum which continues to inspire me  xixou
cute bbird ^^
Thanks! although it is looking a bit grumpy at the moment 
|
XrayMan
Insert Custom Title Here
- Total Posts : 73000
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2006/12/14 22:10:06
- Location: Santa Clarita, Ca.
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 115
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/09/09 22:38:31
(permalink)
Good job.
My Affiliate Code: 8WEQVXMCJL Associate Code: VHKH33QN4W77V6A   
|
V1tech
New Member
- Total Posts : 13
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2014/03/22 18:28:37
- Location: Dallas, TX
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 0
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2017/09/17 18:52:31
(permalink)
Wow, I didn't think you could make a windowed version of this tiny case look good. This is awesome!
|
nobuo780
New Member
- Total Posts : 84
- Reward points : 0
- Joined: 2018/12/04 13:41:04
- Status: offline
- Ribbons : 0
Re: BBIRD - Fractal Design Node 202 Watercooling
2019/03/08 19:19:36
(permalink)
Thanks for posting your awesome work! It has given me great ideas to custom mod my own node 202!
|