Aurora R8, Experience of Buying

---

@GTS81 wrote:

Watching online videos thought me one thing: a jig is needed.

---

An inexpensive way to do it is to just clamp down anything laying around with a straight edge, like a scrap wood board, over the material to be cut and run the jig saw along the straight edge.  You can mark with a ruler how much of a setback you need from the blade before you clamp it. It won't cut as clean as a big blade but still pretty good. 

@GTS81   Still looking at the 1000D? Isn't your Cosmos C700M suppose to have reached your office by now?

Not considering the 1000D, just interested in how long it takes for Corsair to make a $5 accessory available, for a $500 case. They seem to have adopted the Dell customer service business model. Cosmos landed yesterday, in a very large box

---

@Anonymous wrote:

just interested in how long it takes for Corsair to make a $5 accessory available, for a $500 case. 

---

I think I recall reading somewhere that stock for these type of parts usually comes in towards the very end of every month and, with the radiator tray, sells out pretty fast.  But you don't have to worry about that anymore.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=MqbpamQbI4c&fbclid=IwAR02IvRd5WpvST1R079gA2uiXf666_tcYZNfQzTaXKYm9E9xYQabJY5A1RA

Watch as Maki role (Alex modder supreme) pulls out the tray on the 1000D. Is that the tray you are looking for?

@GTS81    . . . pulls out the tray on the 1000D.

That is a dual - 4 x 120mm tray with two 480 x 86mm thick radiators

Note that with 480mm up top, there is no room for a (big) front radiator. However, that is a nice distro plate.

The standard top tray is 3 x 140mm. With that, you may be able to put up to 45mm rad up front with push/pull config. I was looking for a single 4 x 120mm down the middle, and I was going to put a 360mm rad across the back three fan locations, leaving plenty of room for the push/pull front rad.

Is that the tray you are looking for?

Not any more . . .

So near yet so far. Spent the evening cutting out the window for the back CPU bracket access. I could live with that little kink at the corner when the Dremel overshot. Then I made a bad choice of using my impact driver to drill the holes because I thought the lower speed would help. Turns out that after 6 holes, my concentration wavered and one mis-angled hole led to anxiety which then led to a slip and that was it. Ruined.

If I used the dremel+plunger, I could have avoided the mis-angling of the bit.  But there's the acrylic-melting-speed of the tool even at its slowest.

Probably need to carve out a big hole there for the 24-pin instead of trying to go hole-by-hole. This back panel mod is the first but probably won't be the last. I'll likely be making another one when I start building the custom loop.

@GTS81    Probably need to carve out a big hole there for the 24-pin instead of trying to go hole-by-hole.

Yes, individual holes for the 24-pin cables would be very nice, but might be a little aggressive for the first 'Dream Build', until you get your machine shop setup (table saw, drill press, etc.).

EDIT: this would be compact enough to store inside the Cosmos box . . . and it is on sale

Here is a tube vid that will be helpful for my panel.

Cosmos Build 

Did you take the paper covers off of your plexi? As you can see in the above vid, it is a lot easier for layout, measure and design if you can draw right on the paper covers.

@Anonymous 's photo.  I almost want to open all those boxes for you. It's like staring under a Christmas tree where someone forgot to wrap all the presents. 

@r72019   I almost want to open all those boxes for you.

   yeah, it is pretty much looking the same. I am absolutely crushed at work right now, so I am waiting to have the time to enjoy the project. I did pull the Cosmos out of the box to inspect for any dings or damage . . . none found. Hopefully tonight I can get some measurements and make some decisions on loops, radiators, pumps, reservoirs, etc. Still cogitating over fans    At this point, I am really pleased that I ended up going with the Cooler Master case. It is very impressive 'in person'.

@Anonymous :

I envy you for those handles on the Cosmos.  And I'm pretty sure the graphics card and mobo boxes are really big in real life, just that the Cosmos box dwarfs everything. How big does it look next to your Harley?

@Anonymous , @r72019 :

I've put the ambition for a custom back panel on hold. Although a table saw or circular saw can give me near perfect straight line cuts, I'd still run into problems with internal cutouts and finer features. Maybe in the future when I can invest in a CNC machine like a Shapeoko.

Apparently the experience with the anaconda in the R8 is working out well here:

MDPC-X PET Sleeving + MC Custom 16 AWG + MC invisible combs + Clockwerk Industries HPS Panel Mount Combs = Death by $5 shipping.

Pretty much mounting tape for now.Need to order more combs.

And yes, I underestimated the length needed. May run out of sleeving before I'm done. Perfect time to order even more sleeving and combs. I also realized that all these fancy combs have to be installed before crimping the other end. So maybe I should just go all in with the aluminum ones from Clockwerk Industries.

@GTS81   Apparently the experience with the anaconda in the R8 is working out well here

Looking very nice! Those are the two 8-pin CPU power cables, correct?? Are those Panel Mount Combs 'open' or 'closed'? They are really nice looking, but I would definitely need to go with the 'open' version. Those colors are a perfect match to your case. That will end up looking super awesome.

Death by $5 shipping.

   I needed to order a fan/radiator tray for the bottom of the Cosmos, just in case I am able to get a radiator to fit down there. It is $9.99 for a tray, and $19ish for shipping. If I add a second tray, the shipping is $21ish, so I ordered two, just to feel better about the shipping cost. The key is; they actually had the fan trays in stock.

I went to pull out the MSI X299 Creator last night, and it is really heavy (compared to the XPS mobo). It was wrapped in some kind of electro static discharge cross-hatched packaging with all kinds of warnings about the boards sensitivity to static electricity. Scary enough that I did not open that packaging . . . ordered 3 wrist bands. Any advice in this regard? I did not do anything special when I was modding the pseudo Alien. Is it as sensitive as the scary warning package made it seem, or is that over-kill?

Tearing her down . . .

@Anonymous :

Looking very nice! Those are the two 8-pin CPU power cables, correct?? Are those Panel Mount Combs 'open' or 'closed'? They are really nice looking, but I would definitely need to go with the 'open' version. 

Thanks! Yes, the cables were meant for the 24-pin as I cut them months ago but when I placed the PSU in the case, I noticed that 640mm isn't enough for that.  So I made them into the 2x8 EPS. Only to realize that I did not order 4+4 EPS connectors . These are closed combs. I started out wanting the open combs, watched HPS' video, and then got hypnotized into ordering the closed ones. 

Any advice in this regard? I did not do anything special when I was modding the pseudo Alien. Is it as sensitive as the scary warning package made it seem, or is that over-kill?

That's why I'm starting to call Dell parts that still function after all our crazy work on them as McLeod the immortal, from Highlander.

Scary warning is not overkill. The problem with electrostatic discharge is that it ranges from fully killing the part to causing minor damage. RMA process would reveal ESD issue and then it becomes a headache to get the part exchanged if the vendor isn't willing to give you a free pass for improper handling. That might not be the worst because with minor damage, you will run into intermittent problems like freezes, random restarts, reduced overclocking headroom, etc.

With my R8, I used a simple Rosewill grounding strap, making sure I regularly touch large unpainted metal objects whenever I re-enter my work space (I page out a lot when the kids or wife hollers for me to step away from this "illegal" activity).

3 grounding straps sounds ok but are you going to have your wife and Linus working on your Dream Build with you?  Maybe invest in a grounding mat like this?

so I ordered two, just to feel better about the shipping cost

At least it added only $12 to your order. I had the same thought about saving on shipping from Slovenia on a solo item so I had their customer service add a $68 CPU waterblock to my order.

Tearing her down . . .

Some Cosmos-specific questions for you:

1. Do you leave the glass panels on? Do they swing around wildly when you move the case when they are unlocked?

2. Adding a radiator to the basement sounds good, but don't forget the space needed for fittings and tubing.

3. Are the handles and feet shipped installed? I still have my case feet in the packaging because I won't be able to hide the case back in the box once they get installed.

Looking forward to the pics.

@GTS81 

1. Do you leave the glass panels on? Do they swing around wildly when you move the case when they are unlocked?

The magnetic latch on the panels seems pretty secure when closed. I lifted off the panels first thing and stored them downstairs. I can get a "window" panel for the backside for $60. We will see how good it looks when done

2. Adding a radiator to the basement sounds good, but don't forget the space needed for fittings and tubing.

Understood. I will be doing a lot of 'test fitting' before I buy any of the expensive stuff.

3. Are the handles and feet shipped installed? I still have my case feet in the packaging because I won't be able to hide the case back in the box once they get installed.

Installed.

How did the Pinewood Derby go?

Is this Intel trying to cut paper losses?

https://semiaccurate.com/2020/01/20/more-intel-layoffs-coming-in-february/

@r72019    Is this Intel trying to cut paper losses?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯           just as long as they send my CPU