Project "reDEFINEd" - Fractal Design DEFINE R2 XL [26/07/14 PROJECT START]

[humanityBG]

Hey guys!


A while back I had great talk with the guys from Fractal Design and we agreed to start a mod together! They sent over the Define R2 XL, which for it's low-price is an absolutely fantastic case, even without modding!


First of all I'd like to thank the sponsors of this project, before we move on to the modding.


Fractal Design, Noiseblocker and Primochill were kind enough to come on board for the build and I can't thank them enough! Without them, this project wouldn't be the same! Fractal supplied the chassis, Noiseblocker sent over an army of E-Loop fans, because why run anything other than the most gorgeous fan in production? And Primochill are going to be supplying the watercooling goodies that will keep this beast cool!





Here's the final concept for the build (The Primochill D5 CTR Phase II reservoir will be on the back wall)










Hardware list:

• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme - x79

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Processor

• (12M Cache, up to 3.80 GHz)

• Graphics card(s): KFA2 GTX770 LTD OC "White Edition"

• Memory: GSkill Ripjaws Z, 32GB @2133MHz

• Power Supply: EVGA NEX 1500W Supernova (got a great deal, don't judge me, plus planning additional GPUs at some point. )

• SSD: Samsung 250GB 2.5-inch 840 EVO SSD

• Storage drives: Seagate Barracuda, 2TB @7200PM, 64MB Cache

• Sound card: ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus Solo

Cooling will be done via:

• CPU Block: EK Supremacy, LGA 2011

• Radiators: EK Coolstream PE-360 (x2)

• Pumps: 2xD5, still undecided on brand, probably EK

• Fittings: Primochill Revolver Rigid Compression fittings

• Tubes: Primochill PETG 1/2'' OD Hard-tubing

• Reservoir: Primochill D5 enable CTR "Phase II" (more info later)

• GPU Block: More info later

Here are some of the glory shots of the products they sent me:


Fractal Design Define R2 XL:














Noiseblocker E-Loop 120mm fans:








Here's my small army of E-Loops!





The package from Primochill will arrive at a later date, but expect some juicy photos of the goodies as well!


So, without any further delays, lets move on to the mod of the case!






The entire chassis is gutted out, and replaced with a fresh, new, 2mm thick Aluminium inner-frame which I whipped up a while-back. Dual 360 radiators (can safely fit push-pull with thicker rads) go in the bottom, HDD's will be mounted in the back in a special sheet-metal bracket. Motherboard is rotated 90 degrees to face the top of the chassis, where I've offset it by 60mm to allow ample room to route the cables behind the custom made I/O cover-slash-PSU mount.


The front bezel and feet will be replaced with a sheetmetal version of the first and a new plate that will act as a base for the chassis. Both made from 2mm aluminium. (Still not ordered since money, sadly, doesn't grow on trees...)


So, after I finalized my plan, I went and gutted the case.





The white material inside is actually a 5mm thick PVC sheet which I had in mind to use before I decided to go all out with aluminium.


And here is the actual aluminium frame itself:









(more on the cubes in a bit)











Sorry for the phone pics but my DSLR wasn't with me when I needed it... I'll retake the photos when I get a chance!


Now, the cubes are something I got from a buddy of mine, Jim Weist from Clockwerk CaseMods. He is such an inspiration and has been very helpful through the entire process. Big shout out goes to him!


Here are the cubes he shipped to me from the US, he actually sells these and they are rock solid! The frame doesn't budge at all! 3/8'' cubes (9.525mm) tapped at all sides for M3!







He'll also be hooking me up with a nice custom reservoir (which you might have spotted at the very top of the chassis, over the CPU)







I hope you guys liked the way this is starting off. I'll try to keep the updates coming as fast possible and you guys can expect one by the end of this week the new frame will go inside the chassis!


Cheers bros!

[doyll]

Looking good! Will be following this.

[humanityBG]

Looking good! Will be following this.

Hey man! Thanks for the kind words! First post here so I"m still getting my bearings around the forum Should have an update tomorrow/sunday once i am done adjusting the panels

[killjoyjim]

Love what you are doing Keep the pic's coming. .
WELCOME TO PUREOC

[Smiki007]

Great start, looking forward for more pics. BTW love those NB fans.
PS. Welcome to Pure OC.

[xelosia]

Welcome to PUREOC looking forward watching this build progress thanks for posting

[Cyberburnout]

Aweesome stuff. THanks for stopping by and sharing your project. We look foward to seeing it come together and you becoming a regular part of the community.

[vinman]

Very Nice of you to share your build with us
I like what I see so far and welcome to Pureoverclock

[humanityBG]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome guys! Got a new update for you!

After waiting for my Dremel metal cutting wheels to arrive (the 38mm, thick ones for the SpeedClic) I finally got around to finishing the cuts needed to fit the frame inside the chassis!


So, here are some photos of the thing assembled (but not bolted together so don't get shocked by the gaps, they wont be there when it's all mounted together).


Keep in mind there is still a lot of filing to be done and lots of cuts as well, this is by far not complete, not by a longshot.

Left a little cut out in the "front" cover so that I could easily access my rads whenever I need to.


Them e-Loops tho!


That whole back panel is going to be cut away and I will be making something unique with the back, as well as the front (more on that later).


Rear 360 rad mount, the Clockwerk Case Cubes that Jim was so kind to hook me up with and the fan cable hole on the radiator plate.


Cut-out for the IO panel (motherboard is rotated 90 degrees up, but I do not want to have cables going out of the top of the chassis... I mean come on... Also using Rivnuts (again, thanks to Jim for the idea!) for the motherboard standoffs.


CLOCKWERK CASE CUBEZ YO!


Those channels are going to be backlit...can't wait to see how it's going to look IRL!


e-LOOPZ!


Whole chassis is being assembled via Rivnuts and M3 button head screws. Easy dismantling for painting woot woot! (just noticed the not-so-drilled-out rivet ... whoops XD



Other than that I'm going to get some quotes on some thing that need to be cut still... HDD/SSD brackets for the motherboard tray, the new "feet" if you can even call them that, and the new Front and Back bezels (original Fractal bezel just made from 2mm aluminium, because, you know... I can...

Here's the design for the feet (still need to add mounting holes:


And here is the flat view of the Front/Back bezel (case wont really have a front/back panel, nor side panels for that matter...


Here is the "bent" version.


Sheetmetal FTW!


Hopefully you guys liked the update. More soon!

[humanityBG]

Woho, finally an update!


Got the parts that I designed in a big package the other day but didn't really have any spare time to install/mock up them!








Here's the front bezel made from aluminium (mirrored in the rear as well)





A shot from the side, you can see the two bezels and how they extend over the top. I also have all the internal framing installed along with the motherboard I/O cover/PSU mount.








Quick shot at the back of the MB tray and the new HDD/SSD combined mount. I'm not sponsored by Seagate/Samsung but I believe in giving credit for great products where credit is due


















The Fractal Design logo on the base plate, sadly couldn't fit the snowflake due to size limitations





Also big shout out to Peter Brands (L3p) and Scott Bruins for hooking me up with some great looking grills (the aluminium base) but sadly when designing the inserts for them I made a little mistake and accidentally made them one idea smaller than they needed to be so I will have to get the edited files out for laser cutting again... whoops...
Great thing about these grills is they wont block ANY of the airflow to my E-Loops so I don't have to worry about choking them. Anyone who owns e-Loop fans knows how much they hate that airflow being blocked...





Hope you guys like the concept and how it's coming out so far. Next up is mounting the whole thing together, some final filing to make it all fit perfectly and after that it's out for paint! (Still haven't decided between anodizing and powdercoating though, there is time!)Also I'll post some DSLR photos when it's all assembled together.


Cheers!

[killjoyjim]

This is a fantastic build. Keep it coming.

[Smiki007]

Great build, keep publishing the progress.

[xelosia]

Looking really nice waiting on more updates