R&D
58 MAXIMUM PC MAY 2020 maximumpc.com
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NEXT, IT’S TIME TO MOVE on to the motherboard. This
presented a number of problems. First up was the block
itself. Phanteks is fairly new at the waterblock game, and
rather frustratingly, the block has two cables that you
need to attach to control the RGB lighting at the top and
bottom, and then find a way to route around the board.
And then there was the hard drive. As we mentioned
earlier, we didn’t have the necessary tools to remove
the heatsink, so that left us with just one option: Simply
don’t reinstall the stock motherboard M.2 heatsink.
Ultimately, that does mean you lose out on a little RGB,
but let’s be honest—does that really matter all that
much? We don’t think so.INSTALLING THE 120MM RADIATOR was a nightmare—
the shot you see below isn’t even the correct orientation
yet, as the ports are facing the power supply. We ended
up moving it 90 degrees clockwise, so the ports face the
window instead. This enabled us to mount our pump in a
better position, to allow for easier tubing runs. You may
have also spotted that it’s not a Corsair power supply. We
intended to use a Silverstone Strider, but even as an SFX
power supply, it was too tight against the power supply
cover. In the end, we went for the Corsair SFX PSU as it’s
a bit shorter than this one. We’ve also removed the kettle
lead pass-through cable, as it’s almost impossible to
plug it in while attached to the case. You first to plug the
pass-through into the PSU, then reinstall it to the case.THIS IS THE POINT we found out it wouldn’t all fit. It’s
always smart to keep a few fittings out to see if you’re
going to run into any conflicts, and this is a prime example.
Pump in, radiator in the correct position, reservoir sorta
right, angled fitting in. Will the glass panel fit on? No.
Back to the drawing board. Infuriating doesn’t quite
cover it. Especially as a lot had to be removed to move
it back. This was also the first time we began to get an
idea as to what tubing runs would be going where. Unlike
most cases, where you can easily plan your tubing runs,
the Shift X has a split compartment, with each segment
consisting of half the case. With the motherboard on one
side and the graphics card on the other, deciding how to
position your tubing runs can be difficult.FINALLY, WE COULD TURN OUR ATTENTION to the
motherboard itself, and it was clear fairly quickly that
there were going to be some major issues here with
regard to cabling. In fact, between that top-left corner
and the fan, we’d somehow have to run an eight-pin
power cable, plus all the fan cables, and the RGB cables.
And then, of course, there were the tubing runs to fit
in, too. The most obvious route—and something we’d
eventually commit to—was to go straight through the top
plate, around the rear I/O, and then down to the graphics
card, although that would require some significant
cutting and a pass-through to get working.MOTHERBOARD PREP RADIATOR FITTING
FITTING INFURIATION CABLE AWARENESS