ACW Illidari Battlestation

From our archives.

The build was commissioned in early 2021. The inspiration for this build came from the game World of Warcraft, specifically the color scheme of the Illidari faction and the Black Temple environment. However, this build has been given various names by customers, suppliers, and photographers - such as Joker Build, Slime Aquarium, Hulk, LSD, and Wimbledon PC.

💎 The goal was to build a high-end, fully water-cooled computer with a wide range of uses - a gaming rig, a home multimedia center, and an occasional video editing station. The computer was to be built with such headroom that it would not require any performance upgrades for a long time. After a lengthy discussion, the client personally selected the case, the type of tubing, and the color scheme. We selected the components with regard to the customer’s needs, availability, and suitability for the build itself, both technically and aesthetically.

Back for service after 5 years

🧰 Back in December 2025, the unit was returned to us for inspection, an upgrade, and to resolve minor issues with the Bluetooth module. Over the years, the coolant had clearly degraded, resulting in a change in color and consistency, as well as algae growth around the fill port on the distribution plate. After reaching an agreement, we picked up the unit from the client in Dunajská Streda. The deadline was: “Back by the holidays,” and that’s exactly what happened. We got to work:

❄️ As usual, we started by blowing dust off the chassis internals and heat exchangers. The original CryoFuel coolant (in terrible condition) was drained, and we performed a chemical flush of the entire loop, as well as mechanical cleaning and resealing of the CPU and GPU blocks and the fittings that had been tampered with. Of course, with the blocks removed, we have done a fresh paste job for both chips and replaced all the thermal pads. After reassembling the loop and passing a pressure test, new coolant was added, this time Aquacomputer DP Ultra Green. It is slightly less aesthetically appealing, but it is more chemically stable and better suited for long-term, maintenance-free operation.

💽 We’ve added a new Samsung 990 Pro 4TB system/gaming drive, the original HP EX950 2TB SSD will be used for movies, and the 512GB 980 Pro - now in an AKASA PCIe adapter - will handle regular backups of the OS partition. We’ve also replaced the failing PCIe WLAN/BT module with a new Archer TX55E. Finally, the standard procedure: UEFI/BIOS firmware update, OS installation, drivers and applications as requested, stress tests, and transport back to the client.

⚡ Since the client uses the system primarily for multimedia purposes and older games, it still has plenty of performance to spare. Assuming there are no premature failures of the CPU or other hardware, we can happily conclude by saying:

🍀 Ad Revidendum 2030 🍀