james mods | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 29 Mar 2023 22:48:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png james mods | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Seasonic SYNCRO Q704 Gold Carbon Custom Build! https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/seasonic-syncro-q704-gold-carbon-custom-build/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/seasonic-syncro-q704-gold-carbon-custom-build/#respond Sat, 01 May 2021 11:00:01 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=513489 After our hydro dipping success, we build a full-on custom rig in the Seasonic SYNCRO Q704

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Following on from our earlier video explaining the process of hydro dipping with the Seasonic SYNCRO Q704 case, today we are building a system inside the Q704, themed around the black and gold colour scheme of the hydrographic film used in part one. Custom gold carbon sleeved cables and an exotic hard tube custom cooling system will perfectly complement the high specification, all-AMD build that we have in mind.

In keeping with the gold carbon fibre hydrographics theme, subtle highlights have been planned for this system including custom sleeved cables and the coolant used in the custom cooling loop. The Seasonic SYNCRO Q704 chassis is equipped with a Seasonic SYNCRO CONNECT DGC-750 power supply and CONNECT Module, to assist system builders with cable management organisation. Shorter stock modular cables than usual are supplied with the Seasonic CONNECT module, making it easier to create our custom cables.

The orientation of the 24-pin cable connection on the CONNECT Module doesn’t work well using the “out-of-the-box” cable with our choice of motherboard, so a new custom length cable is made. We were able to re-purpose the stock PCIe and EPS power cables as the length is ideal. To make the stock cables suit our system theme, each wire was individually removed from the connector housing, sleeved with MDPC-X Gold Carbon and Liquid Gold PET sleeving then re-assembled. The cables look great and this method saved a huge amount of time compared with making custom cables from scratch.

System Specification:

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme
  • Memory: 16GB (2 x 8GB modules + 2 x Dummy modules) Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3600
  • Graphics Card: AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT reference design
  • Storage: 1TB XPG Gammix S50 Lite PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 SSD
  • Case: Seasonic SYNCRO Q704
  • Power Supply: Seasonic SYNCRO CONNECT DGC-750 with CONNECT Module

Cooling – Full EKWB Custom CPU and GPU Loop:

  • Pump/res: EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 120 DDC PWM D-RGB – Acetal with TBE 300 reservoir tube
  • CPU Water Block: EK-Quantum Magnitude – AM4 Copper + Acetal
  • GPU Water Block: EK-Quantum Vector RX 6800/6900 D-RGB – Nickel + Plexi
  • Fittings: EK-Quantum Torque HDC 12 – Black Nickel
  • Tubing: EK-HD PETG Tube 10/12mm
  • System Fans: 7 x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 High Speed
  • Coolant: One-off mix of Mayhems Aurora Black Gold

A high specification system such as this requires advanced cooling. An EKWB full custom cooling loop was built to cool both the CPU and GPU, using a full cover EK-Quantum Vector RX 6800/6900 D-RGB block for the graphics card and an EK Magnitude – AM4 Copper + Acetal block for the CPU. Mayhems mixed us a one-off bottle of their end-of-life Aurora Hydra Black Gold coolant for this project; the fluid was only used for a short time, then drained and flushed from the system, but it looked great for the video.

Overall, the build went well, the final appearance turned out exactly how we had hoped it would. The dark gold carbon look is very stealthy, while the gold sleeved cables and gold looking RGB lighting added some bright highlights which complemented each other very well. The outside of the case also has a custom look with the gold carbon hydro dipping that we did in the previous video. We are very happy with how the system looks, but what do you guys think?

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: The Seasonic SYNCRO Q704 case is well equipped for building a custom system, and we are very happy with how everything turned out. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Hydro Dipping the Seasonic SYNCRO Q704! https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/hydro-dipping-the-seasonic-syncro-q704/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/james-dawson/hydro-dipping-the-seasonic-syncro-q704/#respond Mon, 19 Apr 2021 11:00:55 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=511929 Seasonic's Q7 case gets dipped - we try hydro dipping at home!

The post Hydro Dipping the Seasonic SYNCRO Q704! first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
If you are a regular to the KitGuru website or YouTube channel, you will have seen some of the custom builds and modding projects of ours over the past five or six months. Today, my task is to build a new system inside the Seasonic SYNCRO Q704 chassis – a unique case featuring an inverted internal layout that also comes bundled with a Seasonic power supply, as well as the CONNECT Module that functions as a cable management hub.

A process I have been interested in for a while but never found the time to try out is hydro dipping, so I’m going to take this opportunity during this build to practice this new modding technique. In the video, I walk through the process from start to finish to give you guys an idea of how to set up hydro dipping, see what is involved and understand how difficult (or easy) it is.

To begin hydro dipping, you will need to invest in some equipment, but none of it is expensive so don’t worry. Hydro dipping is quite an inexpensive hobby, the hydrographic film used in the process costs about £8 per meter but there are a few other things you will need to purchase to get going. You will also need some consumables that will have to be re-stocked regularly too.

To Hydro Dip at home you will need the following:

  • The parts you want to Hydro Dip – these can be plastic, metal, wood etc.
  • Hydrographic film.
  • Scotch Brite pads or fine sanding pads to rough up the surface of your part.
  • Spray primer.
  • Base coat spray paint.
  • Clear coat lacquer.
  • Activator for the film.
  • A tank or container for the water.
  • Water heater such as an aquarium heater.
  • Basic tools for dismantling parts if necessary.
  • Masking tape for masking off areas that you don’t want to be covered by the Hydro dip.
  • Respirator face mask.
  • Disposable nitrile gloves.

It is possible to hydro dip all kinds of solid materials such as plastic, metal, wood etc. The surface of ABS plastic can be directly hydro dipped, but metal and wood need to be painted first for optimal adhesion of the hydrographic film. Recently, during our Intel NUC 9 mod project, I covered spray painting techniques here, the same method applies for painting parts before hydro dipping.

Once you have your parts prepped and painted you are ready to start hydro dipping. To begin, cut the film to a size that will comfortably cover the part you are dipping or just a little smaller than the opening of your tank to allow for expansion fo the film. Very slowly and carefully lower the film into the water, just so that it floats on top, do not let the water go over the top of the film.

You can determine which way around the film should be placed on the water by pinching the film between two wet fingers, the film will stick to one finger, this side of the film should face the water. Leave the film in the water for about a minute to fully hydrate and then liberally spray activator over the film/tank opening until the film turns into a liquid.

Once the film is activated, very slowly lower the part down into the water at an angle of about 40⁰-45⁰ until fully submerged. Swish the part around under the water to disperse the remaining film, lift the part out and if everything has been done correctly, your part should have the image or pattern from the film transferred to its surface.

When you are happy that the dip has worked, rinse the part under cold water for about 5-10 minutes until all the slime (leftover PVA) has been removed from the surface. To protect the hydro dip print, dry the part fully and apply a clear coat lacquer. Let the lacquer dry and you are done, it really is that easy!

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Hydro dipping at home can be a success if you follow the steps in this video. Are you tempted to try it out? Make sure you come back for part two to see this build completed.

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