20% project

This week I have continued work on my presentation.  The due date for the project/date to present is next Wednesday.  The date has come up very fast and I am not as close to completion with my presentation as I would like.  I plan to spend a lot of time on my presentation this weekend.  I have been working on my presentation since last week, but I have not found a solution to some of the problems I have been describing.  In my presentation I am worried because I do not have any humor.  In class we talked about good TED talks and we found that most of them have humor.  I have found it very difficult to integrate humor into my topic mostly because I need to make my jokes funny to people that are not tech savvy but I need to stay on topic.  I am also still worried that I will be very nervous during my presentation and that could effect the quality of the presentation.    

20%

This week I have continued work on my presentation. We have been watching a lot of TED talks in class and I think it is helping me understand what I need to do in order to give a good and effective presentation.  At this point I am still afraid that my presentation will be boring.  that is because I have not planned any humor in the presentation.  This was something I saw a lot in many of the TED talks we watched in class.  I am also worried that I will appear very nervous during the presentation.  This is because I was very nervous when I presented my topic proposal.  One of classmates even commented that I looked nervous.  I expect that I will be even more nervous during my upcoming presentation because I will be speaking to more than just my classmates.  But ultimately I am very optimistic for my presentation and think it will go very well.    

20% project

This week I have sent more time on my presentation.  I Know that I am passionate about the topic but I am afraid that I will be too nervous and not show my passion for the topic.  I believe that nervousness may be the worst part about my presentation.  This important because if am a nervous it will effect all of my presentation.  To prevent this from becoming too big of a problem I think that the best solution is to practice my presentation as many times as possible.  I also think that it is really important to practice my presentation in front of some kind of an audience. Other than that I believe that the presentation will go very well. On another note, a student asked me if I will be showing my product by itself or in my computer.  I have not thought about this yet, but i think it is very important.  I would like to show it inside my computer, but the problem with that is my computer is very large and heavy and it would be difficult to take on and off stage.  

20%

Last week I predicted that I would have finished the website.  I have accomplished that goal and the website is ready to go live.  The website will probably be up this weekend or some time early next week.  Now that I am done with the website, I have completed most of the project.  Now, I have started making my presentation.  It should be a TED style presentation.  In my presentation I plan on explaining how I first started working with computers.  My first computer was an HP pavilion.  I used my computer mostly for games, but before long my games began to run slow to the point that they were unplayable.  But I did not want to buy a new computer.  It was then that I decided to research what component was slowing down my computer and upgrade it.  Since then I have upgraded every component in my computer 3 or more times and have been building, modding, and overclocking computers on a regular basis.    

20% project

Last week I predicted that I would have a basic layout and plan for the website by this week. I have continued work on the website and I now have a basic layout.  Above you can see a basic concept of the storefront. I currently have the basic design of the store with out any pictures or major optimizations, but I have created the first product on the store.  I would like to also offer a version with a 120mm radiator to increase compatibility and offer the product at a lower price.  You may also notice that I have a separate category for spare parts.  I felt it would be a good I idea to also sell some of the parts I use so that people can upgrade the cooler independently.  By next week I plan to complete the website.  To do this I will add another product model, pictures on the home page and of the products, and customize the website to make it more attractive.    

20 Percent

Last week I said that I planned to work on the website.  I predicted that it would not take very long.  But I have found that it will take longer than expected. This is because I plan to design the website so that a person could  customize the cooler to better suit their needs.  Now I am adjusting my plan to included the added time on the website.  I plan to have a basic layout by next week and then I hope to be done by the week after that.  While I am disappointed that it is taking longer, I think that it will improve the quality of the website and make it more user friendly.  I have also been using the cooler everyday in my computer and it definitely increased performance and temperature of my CPU.  But I am afraid that some people may not know how to properly use the cooler.  It is possible that somebody without experience buys the cooler and does not know how to properly install it.  This damage the cooler or other valuable components.

20 percent

As I mentioned last week I planned to spend my time finding out how to sell the cooler. I need a way for a person to order one of these coolers and be able to customize it.  Without the ability to customize the cooler it would lose most of its value.  That made it impossible for me to sell them on ebay.  eventually I decided that a custom website was the only way. I plan to use squarespace to set up this custom website.  I chose squarespace because it allows me to create a store with customization products.  Also I have very little experience with website building and squarespace is easy to use.  But this still leaves another issue.  publicity, I don't know how people will find my website.  I do not yet have any ideas how I can reasonably promote the website and or cooler.  I plan to work on this, and hopefully I will have an idea by next week.

20% project

This week I have finished benchmarking the cooler.  I have also overclocked my CPU.  Right now I am running my Intel core i7 3770k at 4.5 GHz with 1.350 volts, But I have not finalized the overclock. Based on the benchmarks I have run I cooler performs well but is also very expensive.  Therefore my best selling point is the customization.  As you can see from the picture above the cooler has a very clean atheistic and the customization allows it to match any computer.  I really think that this cooler is ready and I am almost done with the project.  I am now going to start focusing on a website or some other way of marketing the cooler.  By next week I expect to have a plan on how I expect to market the cooler.

20% project

As you can see from the picture above I have the cooler installed and am currently testing it.  So far I am very pleased with the aesthetics.  The option to customize tubing color sets it a part from any prefilled cooler.   So far the performance is good, but not outstanding.  As you can also see I am using a different graphics card.  This card creates less heat and exhausts warm air outside the computer.  This has also only given a minor performance increase.  To test the cooler I run prime 95 until the temperature plateau's, to simulate a maximum load.  I then run various games.  This simulates a normal load on the CPU.  For the burn in test I am also running Furmark on the GPU to simulate a full system load.  I am also running each test at low and high fan speeds.  I have not yet changed pump speeds. I plan to do that last.

20% project

As you can see from the picture above I have installed the cooler in my computer.  It passed the leak test and I decided it was safe to install. When I was installing it I noticed the water block does not have a back plate.  This is uncommon for CPU coolers but should not be an issue because it is a water block and therefore a low pressure mount. The cooler also runs very quietly.  Immediately on boot I can hear the pump, but after that the cooler is almost inaudible. It should also be noted that I opted to power the fans through a fan controller integrated in my case instead of plugging them into my motherboard.  I originally did not plan to do this, But one of the connectors was too faraway on the motherboard.      

20% project

This week I have finished assembling the cooler and started leak testing.  I began the week by installing the tubing.  I did this while the cooler was in my computer so that I could find the appropriate tubing lengths. once I installed the tubing and hose clamps I removed the cooler to fill it with coolant. I filled the cooler with coolant away from my computer as to prevent any damage.  To filler the cooler I first filled the reservoir then drained that into the rest to the loop.  I had to do this multiple times to fill all of the cooler.  Then I used an old motherboard and positioned the cooler away from any components to leak test it. I wrapped paper towel around the fittings so I would be able to tell if a leak occurred.  To leak test it I had the pump run for 24 hours.  The pump needs to be plugged into a motherboard or some kind of power source to run.  That is why I used an old motherboard.      

20% project

This week I have taken a break from assembling my cooler and focused on other factors that may effect the performance of the cooler.  One of these factors is other heat sources in the computer.  The CPU is not the only hot component but it is the only one being cooled by the cooler.  This problem is unfortunately unavoidable.  Because of the almost limitless combinations of hardware a computer could contain, it is impossible to design one product to cool more than one component, and have it work will all computers.  That is why I have been testing to see what can be done about this problem.  Above is a picture of a Nvidia quadro k6000, one of the GPUs I have been testing to see how other components affect performance of my CPU cooler.  I have found that video cards often exhaust hot air into the case and heat the air being blown through the radiator of the CPU cooler.  This can be limited by using a video card with a blower style fan such as the one above.  This will exhaust air outside the case.

20% project

This week I have re-installed my CPU.  Now that all the thermal paste has been remove it is safe to install it in the motherboard again. to do this you need to release the lever and then carefully drop the processor into the socket.  It is important that you install it the correct way.  A small triangle in the corner of the heat sink should line put with a notch on the socket.  It is important to note that dropping the CPU into place should take no force it will fall into place without any push.  If this does not happen do not push on the CPU that could cause the delicate pins on the motherboard to bend. If the CPU does not fall into place remove it and try again.

20% project

This week I prepared my CPU for the new cooler.  First I had to remove the CPU from my motherboard.  Then I used a paper towel and rubbing alcohol to remove the thermal paste.  It should also be noted that one must repeat that process on their current cooler after removal.  Thermal paste is an important part in any cooler replacement because microscopic consistences in the heat spreader and the heat sink prevent heat transfer.  That is why it is important that some kind of liquid conductive to heat secure the bond between the heat sink and heat spreader.  But choosing a thermal paste can be very difficult because it is important to find a product with the right viscosity.  This can very based on the pressure of your heat sink mount.  I am using a liquid cooler and therefore a low pressure mount.            

20% project

This week I have been very productive.  So far I have finished preparing the rad and waterblock.  I have also installed the fans with the rad.  In the picture above you can see the rad but not the fans.  This is because I have mounted the fans behind the rad in a pull configuration.  I was forced to do this because I do not have enough clearance between the motherboard and the rad to fit the fans.  The fans are mounted on a ventilated section of the case just outside of the main compartment but not outside of the case. This gives me even more room and allows me to mount an even larger rad.    

20% project

Since my last update I have received the new fans (corsair air series sp120 high performance edition).  I have tested them; they are the right fans and are are working properly this time.  I also begun to prepare all the parts to be installed.  As you can see In the picture above I have have installed the barbs in the radiator.  The barb on the right is slightly higher than the barb on the left.  This is due to a manufacturing defect with the barb.  I makes the barb very difficult to screw in fully.  But it is still possible to screw the barb in all the way.  You will need a towel or something to protect the barb and a pair of pliers or a wrench.  I was able to get the barb all the way in and I believe that it will not leak.

20% project

Over the past couple of weeks almost all of my parts have arrived.  I decided to cancel the fan because I do not think it is the right fan.  I previously ordered the Bitfenix spectre pro pwm but the performance of that fan is not optimal for this application.  That is why I have decided to change the fans to corsair sp120 high performance edition.  I ordered these fans just before school released for the holidays and they arrived Dec. 26th.  The picture above is what I received. And if you have ever seen corsair fans you will know that is not a corsair fan.  I received one oem NZXT fan and one AF oem corsair fan.  Both are the kind of fan that come in a case, not the high quality fans I was expecting.  They clearly sent me the wrong fans.