# The Green Blooded Vulcan



## PopcornMachine (Oct 18, 2011)

When I first saw the NZXT Vulcan, it love a first sight.  I was looking a good reasonably priced MATX case, and it was very cool looking.  Although perhaps not the intent of the manufacturer, it looked Star Trek Vulcan to me.

Mine has gone through several changes over the last year and a half.  First with air cooling and two HD 4830s in crossfire.  Next came an ECO CoolIT. The theme was blue



 



Then disaster struck when I first attempted a custom loop earlier this year. I got an XPSC RASA kit and was leak testing.  And boy did I find one.  My MSI X58M was soaked in blue fluid, and after two weeks of trying to booting again, I gave up.

Four months later, with nothing better to do, I gave it another shot and it started right up.  Guess it just needed a long time to dry out.  So I proceeded to water cool it again, now with an HD 6950, and had success.  But it didn't quite come out the way I had wanted.





I ran out of blue tubing, and I didn't like having to remove the handle to put the radiator on top.  And while I like my reservoir/pump combo, it took up booth my optical drive bays. Clearly changes were needed.

Since I was going to redo the loop and move everything why not do something special.  The radiator would go on the back and the combo unit in the lower front. Also, I had been playing around with the side mesh panel and tubing.  I didn't need the 200mm fan there any more, so what could be done with it?







I removed the small grommets for attaching the fan, and widened the holes with needle nose pliers and snipping off the excess.  Then put in larger grommets to handle 1/2" OD tubing.  

And I also thought back to the original Star Trek.  Bones often referred to Spock as a "green blooded vulcan".  So that completed the plan.

I replaced my Antec TriCool blue fans with green, ordered green tubing, green lights, some right angled fittings, and various other components.  And I have finally gotten to work.

I switched from 7/16" OD tubing and went with smaller 3/8" tubing. It would make my plan easier and I think looks better on a small case like this one.  I read in several places, including a post by sneekypeet in this forum, that it would fit on 1/2" fittings if warmed and stretched.

Vulcan stripped and handle back in place.





Radiator fitted with right angle fittings and 80/92 to 120 fan adapter.















My helper.





Changing out blue lights for green in the front panel.





Reservoir/pump in place with mounting tape.





Motherboard back in.





Heating the tubing with very hot water and then stretching again with the handy needle nose pliers.










And acutally leak testing.










More to come.


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## MT Alex (Oct 18, 2011)

I like it, makes me wish I had another rig to put together.  How mobile is it going to be?  Watch out when walking by doorknobs, it would suck to hook a tube around one

Also:

_[Around camp fire singing "Row Row Row your Boat"] _
*Kirk:* Come on. Spock... Why didn't you jump in? 
*Spock:* I was trying to comprehend the meaning of the words. 
*McCoy:* It's a song, you green-blooded... Vulcan. You sing it. The words aren't important. What's important is that you have a good time singing it. 
*Spock:* Oh, I am sorry Doctor. Were we having a good time? 
*McCoy:* God I liked him better before he died.


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 18, 2011)

MT Alex said:


> Watch out when walking by doorknobs, it would suck to hook a tube around one



Yes, well I guess you could say that I'm thinking "outside the box". 

Will have to be careful though.


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 19, 2011)

Not too worried about the tubes really.  I like the way it looks.

The problem I'm having now is hooking up a monitor.  The radiator is in the way.


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## n0tiert (Oct 19, 2011)

nice rig, but for me the tubing sideways would be critical.....
why not using the upper holes ?


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 19, 2011)

n0tiert said:


> nice rig, but for me the tubing sideways would be critical.....
> why not using the upper holes ?



I'm aware of the potential problems with the tubing and how it traditionally would be done.

Trying some thing different to make it look like a strartrek-borg kind of thing.

I personally like it, but will be making changes.  We'll see how it works out.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 19, 2011)

That is a killer way to water cool a vulcan but didn't it have enough room at the top for the rad?


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 19, 2011)

brandonwh64 said:


> That is a killer way to water cool a vulcan but didn't it have enough room at the top for the rad?



The first pic on top shows the rad on top, but I didn't like it without the handle.

Gotta have the handle.


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 19, 2011)

PopcornMachine said:


> The first pic on top shows the rad on top, but I didn't like it without the handle.
> 
> Gotta have the handle.



I meant on the inside. I have seen a RAD that actually fits inside the Vulcan on the top.


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## Batou1986 (Oct 19, 2011)

Love the colors reminds me of this which is also awesome.


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 20, 2011)

brandonwh64 said:


> I meant on the inside. I have seen a RAD that actually fits inside the Vulcan on the top.



Not this one.  I tried.  It would have to be a very thin radiator.



Batou1986 said:


> Love the colors reminds me of this which is also awesome.
> http://img.techpowerup.org/111019/ALMS458GT.jpg



Thanks.  That is one cool car.


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## Chryonn (Oct 20, 2011)

If you haven't thought about it already, would you consider using 90 degree elbow pieces to reduce the amount of tubing and potentially make it neater?


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 20, 2011)

Chryonn said:


> If you haven't thought about it already, would you consider using 90 degree elbow pieces to reduce the amount of tubing and potentially make it neater?



Yes, I was actually looking into that.  But what I would like to know is if there are any elbows or angled fittings that lock in place, or don't swivel.

Thanks.


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## Chryonn (Oct 21, 2011)

you might wanna try something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12mm-1-2-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item25623e773f

apologies for localising it to the UK


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## Darkleoco (Oct 21, 2011)

Looks pretty cool, just how light is it with the rad and everything else installed?


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 21, 2011)

Darkleoco said:


> Looks pretty cool, just how light is it with the rad and everything else installed?



It's not that heavy.  Still mobile. 

Thanks.


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