Cerby (cerberus)

ussie · 8 Aug 2014 at 21:35

Just want to share my recent and first WC loop with you guys. Everything is from OCUK! except for the "M" monster logo you'll see on the side of the case.

I've had this pc setup from ocuk for a while and on monday I decided to get some WC parts and put together my first WC loop and here are the results!

Here is the build prior the Water cooled upgrade:
CPU: AMD Piledriver 8350 @ 4.8ghz GPU: Asus Matrix 7970 Platinum
Motherboard:Crosshair V formula Z RAM: Corsair Vengeance Red 16GB
CPU cooler: Kraken x60 with Akasa Vipers
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 Sound card: ROG Xonar Phoebus

Here is the water cooled parts for the upgrade
XFX Radeon R9 290 DD Black Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDBD)
XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo V2
EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal
Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos HF for Socket AM3/AM2
Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 360
Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTX-Lite 240
Three Fan Bundle - Akasa AK-FN058 Apache Black Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM
EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Backplate - Black
Mayhems Pastel - Mint Green Coolant 1L
EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X Reinforcer - Black
XSPC Hose Cutter (0-25mm)
Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear
Mayhems Ultra Pure H2O Watercooling Fluid 1L
Bitspower Crystal T-Block - 180 Degree Water Cooling Accessory
Akasa FLEXA FP3S 3 Fan PWM Controller (AK-CBFA06-30)
XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome)
XSPC PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin)
XSPC G1/4" Plug (Chrome)
XSPC G1/4" 10mm Male to Male Fitting (Black Chrome)
Aqua Computer Ball Valve Female Thread G 1/4 without Fittings

It's very messy in some of the photos (cable wise) but that's something I sorted out at the very end. I had another thread in which I was basically quering about the loop and getting help from some members, i'd just like to say thank you to the community for the help and support.

Here are the photos!
http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/Ussie_Ayub_Khan/slideshow/Custom watercooling loop upgrade

cwgk91 · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:00

Looks sweet! Embed the photos though! That way its easier to see the awesome

What voltage have you got the 8350 at? You could probs push it a bit further than 4.8 with that much rad space

ussie · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:14

cwgk91 said:
Looks sweet! Embed the photos though! That way its easier to see the awesome

What voltage have you got the 8350 at? You could probs push it a bit further than 4.8 with that much rad space

All done! and the volts im currently on is 1.392 I believe (this was since I had kraken x60)
You are most likely right, with what I have installed now I should be able to get some nice clocks on my cpu+gpu I see you are running 5.15 thats nice! what are your settings at? You also have crosshair V formula like me, such a good board! and your a fellow nzxt phantom user

your RAM speeds are also brilliant! and I shall be needing an SSD upgrade soon as currently im on 25x samsung

Finners · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:30

Nice build fella!

Just out of curiosity, is the plate on the XFX DD that covers the VRM's and memory plastic or metal?

ussie · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:36

Finners said:
Nice build fella!

Just out of curiosity, is the plate on the XFX DD that covers the VRM's and memory plastic or metal?

cheers!

The second plate that covers the vrm/memory is plastic and comes with its own thermal pads.

cwgk91 · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:42

ussie said:
All done! and the volts im currently on is 1.392 I believe (this was since I had kraken x60)
You are most likely right, with what I have installed now I should be able to get some nice clocks on my cpu+gpu I see you are running 5.15 thats nice! what are your settings at? You also have crosshair V formula like me, such a good board! and your a fellow nzxt phantom user
your RAM speeds are also brilliant! and I shall be needing an SSD upgrade soon as currently im on 25x samsung

It needs a large increase in volts generally to get past 4.8Ghz. The way I'd recommend is by bus overclocking (if you havent done that already!). Then once youve got the highest bus frequency you can post with, whack in 1.5v and 5Ghz and see how it goes! If it works, then reduce the volts.

Cheated on the ram, bought some corsair vengeance and manually put in the XMP profile

SSD makes a MASSIVE difference. Honestly cant quite believe the difference in everything. Got windows and multiplayer games on the ssd for fast load times and everything else on my mechanical one

ussie · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:47

cwgk91 said:
It needs a large increase in volts generally to get past 4.8Ghz. The way I'd recommend is by bus overclocking (if you havent done that already!). Then once youve got the highest bus frequency you can post with, whack in 1.5v and 5Ghz and see how it goes! If it works, then reduce the volts.

Cheated on the ram, bought some corsair vengeance and manually put in the XMP profile

SSD makes a MASSIVE difference. Honestly cant quite believe the difference in everything. Got windows and multiplayer games on the ssd for fast load times and everything else on my mechanical one

Corsair Vengeance RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600Mhz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10R) is what im using for ram, I might give the 5ghz+ a shot. I did hit it when I first made this build in january/february but realised it's just too hot and too high of a voltage once you go past 4.6/4.8ghz. What are you using to cool your cpu?
I've not got too much experience overclocking ram, only the cpu but even so i'm not too amazing at it...yet

learning still. I like to view other peoples settings and try something similar myself and tweak things around. I'd probably have to try on tuesday when I have my next day of work. N yeh! SSD's make a massive difference, OS and big games on it, one of the biggest performance changers

cwgk91 · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:57

I was using the OcUK fathom (a cooler master eisberg res/pump/cpu all in one block) with a 240mm rad - now been cannibalised for my 4790k rig so am waiting to buy a corsair h100i methinks... Or go full WC loop with my 290xs... but don't tempt me

It does get v hot once past 1.4v, but now with a load of rad space and a good block you should be good to go. When i was running it at 5.1Ghz, prime95 would always fail without question on core 6 straight away, but it would pass Asus realbench every time - admittedly getting quite toasty at 68C once...

ram overclocking scares me I have to say since I don't understand it - one reason why I buy higher rated stuff and use the xmp profile!

cwgk91 · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:58

Also, I like how we have the same sound card on our (almost) identical builds. Mine even started with an HIS 7970 Ghz...

ussie · 9 Aug 2014 at 00:21

cwgk91 said:
Also, I like how we have the same sound card on our (almost) identical builds. Mine even started with an HIS 7970 Ghz...

7970's, that card did me good for a long time! i've given mine to my brother since I made this WC loop and I love the soundcard it's perfect for me especially the mic and cable extentions for my headphones.

Dam that is toasty!! I thought it's not good for amd cpu's to be reaching 60C or higher?

darth.mader · 9 Aug 2014 at 07:14

Very green

cwgk91 · 9 Aug 2014 at 08:23

ussie said:
Dam that is toasty!! I thought it's not good for amd cpu's to be reaching 60C or higher?

Exactly, thought there was meant to be a thermal shutdown, hence why I wasn't checking it all the way through, only noticed the max on real temp after! Still no lasting damage, but definitely wouldn't recommend it!

jimbaw · 9 Aug 2014 at 12:25

I wasn't too sure about the mix of colours at first but once the side panel and the lights are on, it looks really nice!!

ussie · 11 Aug 2014 at 01:01

jimbaw said:
I wasn't too sure about the mix of colours at first but once the side panel and the lights are on, it looks really nice!!

Thank you

, i've got rid of the yellow akasa viper fans also btw

its all black fans/green coolant/LED

next I think ill do a blue or red

mrham4321 · 11 Aug 2014 at 14:02

More builds need green LEDs, looks really smart

WalderX · 11 Aug 2014 at 17:17

Looks great dude!

JCX50 · 11 Aug 2014 at 19:12

Can't believe you removed the lovely XFX cooler! Nice looking build!

ussie · 11 Aug 2014 at 19:21

mrham4321 said:
More builds need green LEDs, looks really smart

yeah green looks nice! (its also the easiest and most pleasing colour scientifically for the eye)

JCX50 said:
Can't believe you removed the lovely XFX cooler! Nice looking build!

I must say it's sad to remove that xfx cooler, I think over the years they have definitely improved the design of the cooler of theirs looks and performs pretty decent. (I've kept the cooler but I doubt i'd ever use it)

JCX50 · 12 Aug 2014 at 20:45

You should use the cooler as a display piece.

Disco_P · 13 Aug 2014 at 00:11

It's a bit of an odd mix of colours but once that side panel is on and the green lights are shining then you can't really tell. Though the ram does stick out a little, but that is probably me being overly picky.