Twin Turbo "Black Edition"

Afternoon all.

After completing the Hybrid solution for the ASUS GTX 970 Turbo cards In a White/Black and Red theme i'd thought i'd turn my attention to Gigabytes Version of the card- which is primarily Black with Blue.
I've kept Alphacool up to date with the Turbo mods and informed them that i'd be doing he same for Gigabytes version (aint gonna lie, almost exactly the same design with the same through of process to Hybrid cool) and they were Kind enough to lend a hand or two GPX blocks - Thus the Black edition concept is born !





Everything will be watercooled in this build unlike the first, which used a Air CPU cooler and AIO unit. Although I will do a shot with an Air Unit installed just for a direct colour contrast to the first



Parts List

Intel i5 6600k- Recieved[
MSI Z170 Gaming Carbon - Recieved[
SLi Gigabyte GTX 970 Twin Turbo - Ordered
Samsung 950 Pro 256GB - Ordered
Seagate SSHD 2TB - Recieved[
Corsair Vengeance LPX Blue 2666hz 4x4GB - Recieved[
Super Flower 650W Platinum Black - Ordered
PHantek Eclipse P400 - Ordered
NZXT Hue+ & Grid+ V2 - Ordered
WingBoost 2 140mm Black/Blue x4 - Ordered

Received the Alphacool parts today, if my son gives me the chance- i'll get some snap taken

Alphacool Parts List

NexXxoS XP3 Lite Plexi
NexXxoS GPX 970 M11 x2
250 & 150 D5 Eisbecher
Alphacool D5 non PWM
XT45 120mm
ST20 280mm
120mm Susurro Black/Blue 1700 rpm x2
13/10mm Deep Black softtube fittings
ST20 280mm
120mm Susurro Black/Blue 1700 rpm x2
13/10mm Deep Black softtube fittings

Cheers for sending the parts

Received a package from Alphacool at the start of the week

will have to find some time to snap all of them with the camera but but son seems to approve. Although he and my cat are missing the Ducky Shine keyboard from the previous build





Did a very rough sketch layout, last build worked in the tight space due to the Swiftech AIO keeping a bare minimum of tubing and connnections. this time around it'll be different.



I have a feeling the Eisbecher D5 block will be a little to wide between the GPU shroud and the Rad at the front, I do have the smaller 150 version which could be placed higher up. May have to swap out for a DDC version- being a little slimmer.

Soft Tubing is being used this time around, will have to see if hard tubing could be used afterwards.

Is 360mm of rads (2x120 + 1x120) going to be enough for a pair of 970s and a CPU? Maybe the additional air cooling on the 970s will swing it or maybe I'm just inclined towards overkill

Cenedd said:

Is 360mm of rads (2x120 + 1x120) going to be enough for a pair of 970s and a CPU? Maybe the additional air cooling on the 970s will swing it or maybe I'm just inclined towards overkill

Click to expand...

We shall see

Wasn't my idea to fully watercool the build, would have been a like for like of the previous build but with a dark side and a Different Vendor for the Hybrids.
Alphacool said to go for it, and ditch the Swiftech AIO.

Reason why I went for the 45mm thick 120mm rad.
Then again you see pre-built systems flogging 120mm AIOs on i7s and Card vendors shipping dual GPUs on a single 120mm.
Personally i'd of likes an extra 120mm in there at least. Will have to check once the mobo is in to see if I can squeeze on up top.
Both rads will be acting as intakes with the top fan and GPU fans as exhausts.

Well, if nothing else that's one way of settling the question. It seems impossible to give exact answers and this seems a regularly asked question so a growing list of "I did this, I got X°C" is probably going to be of help....even if it's "I did this...you, shouldn't!". Let's hope not though!

Plan to install all on air, OC and a bench, then Hybrid the GPU only to mimic the First Light Asus Build, then go full water and test the temps.

Forgot to say the Front Rad is 280x30mm, not ideal but should help .

check of the volumes is 1851mL/1851000mm3 ( 280x30mm+120x45mm) vs 1168mL/1168800mm3 (240x27+120x25) found in standard AIO units. But Time Will Tell

Worst case you might be able to swap the front 2x140 for a 3x120 (or even 3x140) if you can remove the panel in the PSU shroud and slot it in - looks like an Enthoo case, so I'm guessing you can. If you ditched the pull fan on the 1x120 you might get another 120 in the top, possibly a 240 even. Just thinking worst case. Hopefully you won't need to; rads do get more efficient as they get hotter.

NZXT S340 case, in theory it can be done by cutting through the PSU tray and using the HDD space but will be using it.

seems the 120mm should clear a MIN of 150 watts worth and the 280mm a Min of 350 watts, all based on 30mm thickness, single fan and fans with a medium speed rating 1800-2200rpm.

Sounds like I'm just being pessimistic then. Also, just found the 970 Turbo OC is only 150W TDP not 250W like I'd been assuming....which will help just a tad!
Besides that, if it gets hot enough to make the case glow, it'll just look cool

Looking forward to seeing how this one pans out as I enjoyed your previous build.

Out of interest have you sold that one on yet?

Cenedd said:

Sounds like I'm just being pessimistic then. Also, just found the 970 Turbo OC is only 150W TDP not 250W like I'd been assuming....which will help just a tad!
Besides that, if it gets hot enough to make the case glow, it'll just look cool

Click to expand...

I wasn't going to put a temp sensor in but as you've brought it to the back of my mind, I'm going to chuck in the spare one I have for the cooled part of the loop. Interacting to see that compared to Ambient temps
I know my own rigs runs a 120.4 rad with an i7 and its 3c off amb when running prime

Petelock said:

Looking forward to seeing how this one pans out as I enjoyed your previous build.

Out of interest have you sold that one on yet?

Click to expand...

Yeah, sold. Bit of a loss and wife told me I should have kept the keyboard . worst yet, he missed the first bidding as it closed at an awkward temp , so lowered the price. Said he would have paid a lot more for it as well.

Annoying however, it does seemed to have served it's purpose in getting you on the custom building ladder.

Onwards and upwards fella!

what was worst is that it was dropped.... massive dent on the box. took out the two cards and a ram chip (came out the socket) . Granted i've learnt to double box the next one, but as for internal packing. hand anti-static bubble wrap and blocks to stop anything moving.
Also nicked a shock indicator from work and stuck it in, normally ship these with ROVs for insurance etc. Came back red, my guess would be dropped from at least a foot high.

I was so worried about shipping with the skylake PCB and heatsink as the cards were so secure and blocked I, left me gutted. Took a trip up to the guys place on the weekend to strip it down and put in new two cards. least he was shown hows it done and how to refill. Also knows GPX blocks can be reused for new cards

Hoping insurance pays out soon

WOw, super bad luck for your first venture. Still, as you say hopefully the insurance will come through soon and it gives you lessons for next time.

Enough of the past, get on with the new build!

Speaking of which, new build will be in Phanteks P400 case. With the Alpha res/bump combo its to wide to fit in the gap between the rad and the cards, the Swiftech AIO just fitted. Went against the H440 as its to large and the P400 is almost a like for like , with an extra 140mm up top.
Might be able to get away with Push Pull but will have to see

Spent some time Saturday taking some Shots on my camera of some of the parts that have come in. Just awaiting on a delivery from OCUK and the 970s

Just snaps I took off my phone in the mean time. Love the D5-Res combo! hope the 250 version fits





to lazy to use SketchUp in work so paint it is. Just as its a new case with the same sort of layout, just being able to house the D5 Res Combo long with what I roughly worked out, Push Pull set up with WingBoost 2 fans.


Case also allows 2 140mm up top compared to the S340, will have both Rads inhaling Cold air with the top and GTXs expelling it.

Looking good. I definitely like the idea of the rads working with cold air. I'm about to go the same way via a case change to the Phanteks Evolv glass sided variant. The pred 360 will go on the front.

Are you going to leave the case black or try and work some blue into it?

Petelock said:

Looking good. I definitely like the idea of the rads working with cold air. I'm about to go the same way via a case change to the Phanteks Evolv glass sided variant. The pred 360 will go on the front.

Are you going to leave the case black or try and work some blue into it?

Click to expand...

I think it may need a tough of blue like the S340. just simple, maybe the PSU cover being Blue.
Starting to think I may change the black tubing to clear as Blue Coolant is on order, but have always been put off by clear tubing and its staining and the Blue tubes just look aweful.

I wish now I looked harder at the spacing and swapped the case around before the order as I'd of gone with Hard Tubing

Evolv looks amazing, but would gone for it not the bump up in price. Just seen the glass version... wow. cable management needs to be on top form !!!!

Looks like Alphacool have done you proud!
I really like the idea of their full-frame fan gaskets. The only problem is they only do 120mm and everything I've bought is 140mm Would be interested to know if they're any good though.

How thick is the pump top though?! Is it just the picks or is it unnecessarily thick? (I usually end up with a cramped build as it is!)
Trying to work out the return feed and anti-bubble mechanism on that res too. Is it bottom return through a shower screen? Does it draw for the pump from two thirds of the way up the res? Should look good filled and lit though.

Cenedd said:

Looks like Alphacool have done you proud!
I really like the idea of their full-frame fan gaskets. The only problem is they only do 120mm and everything I've bought is 140mm Would be interested to know if they're any good though.

How thick is the pump top though?! Is it just the picks or is it unnecessarily thick? (I usually end up with a cramped build as it is!)
Trying to work out the return feed and anti-bubble mechanism on that res too. Is it bottom return through a shower screen? Does it draw for the pump from two thirds of the way up the res? Should look good filled and lit though.

Click to expand...

Yep only wanted the GPX blocks to Hybrid cool the Gigabyte cards. haha, They pushed politely to cool fully water cooled and drop the Swiftech AIO system.
I did take detailed shots of the Res with my Camera but will try to grab one on my phone for you later today. It does explain why the block is quite thick!
Believe the inlet (Has the fitting on) goes in to half way and 90 up into the small tube which has a cap on the end and make it look like a sprinkler.
Then there is a hole off-centered were the outlet draws the liquid through the Bubble screen into the pump and then out. It also has an access port on the back to allow pump priming/filling. Im guessing this is used when the Top port of the res is used and there is no way to fill the system up.