Overview / Usage

This is my design submission for the PC Mod Level Up Challenge. I have been a large supporter of nuclear power generation due to the sheer capacity it has to cleanly generate power for millions of people. The unfortunate downside for conventional nuclear reactors is that they generate radioactive waste and are in fact an old technology at this point. As I thought about the theme, "Future of Innovation" I thought of two directions that I could take the project; thorium reactors or nuclear fusion energy.

Thorium reactors are in fact an old technology that never got off the ground. Several companies are working on modular type systems and while that may be the near future I don't believe it to be in the spirit of the theme.

Nuclear fusion is one future for power generation that fits with the "Future of Innovation." Nuclear fusion itself is an old technology and we have been able to produce the reactions for many years/decades; however, a self sustaining reaction that creates more power than it consumes is the ultimate goal and the future.

Methodology / Approach

My approach to this project is how to best emulate what a nuclear fusion power plant could look like. In the fusion plant everything surrounds and supports the reactor, just like the CPU in a computer. As such this mod will feature lots of components that are non functional(unless I can find a reason to add function) to pipe things into the area of the CPU.

I plan to design and 3d print a shroud to go over the CPU cooler (waterblock) that looks like a Tokamek fusion reactor. As the center of the piece the tokamek will need to have extra lines going into it to include the fuel supply, blanket gas circulation, plasma exhaust and heat recovery. To make this look fit best I plan to hardline watercool the system. Using hardline will allow me to use metal tubing so it will be indistinguishable which are actually the coolant lines and which are there to support the mod.

The GPU (ROG Strix) will be come the Fuel Recovery System for the plant. This will feature the plasma exhaust, Tritium return, fuel supply and Deuterium supply lines. I plan to use a full water block on the GPU so that I can 3d Print a shroud to cover the front of the card. This will allow me to add extra "ports" for all the lines going into or coming out of the unit.

The coolant reservoir will be the Tritium Recovery System.

To incorporate the PSU into the build I intend to remove the lower shroud incorporated with the case and turn the PSU into the power out generator. supporting the mod will be a 3d printed turbine housing that shrouds the power cables from view. I plan to use a drive bay in the case as a steam generator to "pipe" in the heat recovery lines and "pipe" steam to the turbine. I may also look more into "molten salt" storage and convert to a more futuristic system as opposed to steam generation and turbines. (I am of course an engineer so... Turbine go BRRRRRR)

I plan to laser etch the glass panel to help label some of the components inside, while also incorporating vinyl labeling so that all of the lines are identifiable. I don't want to hid the case interior so the etching will need to be very subtle.

As a note for the water cooling; I do not yet know how I can incorporate the radiators into the design but plan to use a 240mm and a 360 mm rad for cooling. The water loop will feed the CPU-GPU-Rad-Rad-Reservoir.

I plan to paint the interior of the case to match the industrial setting of a power plant in a grey tone. If I have extra time I may try to paint the back panel as a cutaway tokamek reactor to showcase the build on the exterior.

A final note about myself. I build my own desktop PC back in 2012 featuring an i7 3770k which is still my daily rig. It features a custom water cooling loop which currently only has the CPU in it as my original GTX 570 became obsolete for the games I play. Aside from that build I have only helped a friend do some final troubleshooting on his build and I have never modded a case before. This will be a fun endeavor.

Technologies Used

Components:

Intel Core i9 12900k

ASUS ROGT Strix RTX 3070

Silent Base 802 White

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Cooling:

I plan to use AlphaCool components as I can get them quickly and they have water blocks for both available GPUs.

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Tools:

Hobby Knife

i3 Style 3D printer, manufactured by HicTop

PLA filaments

60w CO2 laser

Drill

Sander

Airbrush

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