Project : The Return (Prodigy WC build)

I've been out of the PC 'scene' for a very long time and I'd say the last rig that you could call in anyway 'custom' involved a Juno P6 case so that should give you an idea of how long ago it was. If I recall correctly it involved a Slot A Athlon on a K7M motherboard but hey ho


So after bumping into an old mate online who suggested it might be good to get back into a bit of gaming I thought I'd give it a go. Space is an issue for me so, with his help, I ended up down the itx route. Initial build involved a Pentium K and GTX750 but this soon proved to be inadequate so the upgrades began to where we are today. I've done everything thus far but there is more to go


Current Spec -
MSI Z87i Gaming AC
Intel 4690k
16gb Corsair Dominator Ram
Palit GTX960
2x Kingston 120gb SSD's
1x 500gb mechanical

All of the above was originally in a Silverstone Raven RVZ01 but I was struggling to keep it reasonably cool and quiet whilst overclocked so I decided to go down the wet route. I've seen a few examples of AIO's wedged in that case but I didnt like the look of it as it seems compromised at best so I decided to change cases. After some googling for inspiration I opted for a bitfenix prodigy which was rather cheap in a "This week only" thing on ocuk.



I then raided the members market for some watercooling gear as I'm tight

I picked up the following for a very reasonable price
EK-XRES 100 D5 Vario
280mm SR1 Rad
EK-Supremacy CPU Block

The member I bought it off was kind enough to send me a pile of compression fittings, tube, etc etc so I was landed.

It was at this point I realised my first mistake.. 280mm rads dont fit in prodigy's.. Doh! Thankfully some more googling turned up a Koolance 280mm shroud that would work so this was duley ordered and mounted in the top of the case with some 140mm Aerocool shark red fans (chose purely because I like the look of them, turns out they are actually ok!)



The chap had sent me xspc tubing but after reading about some issues on these forums I opted to change it for some primochill kit in clear red as I didnt want to run dye in the loop. So after working out where I wanted the pump (Keeping in mind I may add a 120 or 140 rad in the front in the future)..



Mounted the pump, started braiding (red and black theme) and started the tubing. I had to go for some rotary's as the tubing didnt want to take the route I wanted to without kinking. I bought some alphacool ones that had a leak rate of about 50% so I'm less than impressed with them!



Once the tubing was finished I filled it up and resolved leaks as I went, not many and mostly caused by my fear of stripping the very short threads.



Left this running for a day or so until I was happy and then began moving my kit over.



It was at this point I decided not to do any braiding as I plan to change my PSU. Its a silverstone SFX450w item and wouldn't really cope so well with a future graphics upgrade so thats next on my list.

I've mounted the SSD's on the front of the motherboard tray and put the 2.5" mechanical down the side of the PSU for now. I did have a thought about turning the SSD's upside down and running the cables underneath but the cut would have been significant at the seam for the mobo tray so I stuck the normal way.

Then got it all fired up with no issues, Yay




I did buy a temp guage with a g1/4 plug that instantly caught fire lol..



only a fiver so I'll grab another


So thats where it stands right now and I'm pretty pleased with it.


Its currently running at 4.4ghz with 1.22v and even running linpack on it wont push it over 52c with the fans at 7v.


So near future plans are

New PSU, probably full ATX but as short as possible as the only hiding space is around the psu.
New graphics card. I'll wait for the ti's to come out and try and nab a vanilla 970 cheaply. This will then be put under water.
Probably add a 120 or 140mm rad to the front panel which will necessitate a replacement front cover thats a grill.


Overall I'm pretty happy with how this has turned out given that I'm remarkably out of touch with the whole scene

Just a quick test. I know linpack isn't the favored way of testing these days but it seems to hold it ok

Great work in a very small space! Looks brilliant. Get a modular PSU and some custom cables to complete the look!

Thanks

Been looking at it this morning and I'm thinking of ditching the usb/audio connectors etc and moving the power switch somewhere. I don't really need them on the side panels and those cables are pretty hard to tidy. I could then add a window to that side of the case also.

Really nice build mate, doesn't look like you have been away from system building for a long time at all. Defo need a window to show off such nice internals!

Nice stuff, although I have to ask what's your GPU upgrade going to be if it won't run on the Silverstone 450W SFX? I have the Gold-rated one and runs my original Titan with a modest OC more than fine.

Looking good so far. I love these compact builds. They always look so tidy.

very nice build mate

LePhuronn said:

Nice stuff, although I have to ask what's your GPU upgrade going to be if it won't run on the Silverstone 450W SFX? I have the Gold-rated one and runs my original Titan with a modest OC more than fine.

Click to expand...

That's interesting! I'm looking at grabbing a 980 hopefully. I'd also like to get a modular psu as I've very little space to hide unused cables and I'm really not happy with the cables to the ssd's.


I've picked up a 140mm rad for the front from the MM so that's the start of the next batch of building. I e also got some led strips that I intend to mount in the top of the case.

Lumeycom said:

I'm looking at grabbing a 980 hopefully. I'd also like to get a modular psu as I've very little space to hide unused cables and I'm really not happy with the cables to the ssd's.

Click to expand...

Imagine my surprise when I got the modular unit and I used every single cable one day I'll make up some custom cables that are perfect length and only have the 2 SATA power I need.

But yeah, bear in mind that power supply requirements are overstated to allow for those who buy cheap no-name Chinese units and everything explodes. Provided everything stays in spec, look at the numbers: 75W from the PCI-E slot, 75W from the 6-pin PCI-E and 150W from the 8-pin PCI-E. That's 300W for the Titan at full load, which you'd never get outside of stress tests and benchmarking. That leaves me 150W for the Sandy bridge i5 and everything else. With a bit of an OC, I'm right in the gold-rated efficiency sweet spot, so it's all good.

So provided you don't OC the hell out of the card, a good 450W PSU will be perfectly fine all the way up to a Titan X. Of course, Silverstone and Corsair to 600W SFX PSUs now and they'll give you more breathing room if you want it.

Little update

I know its only a GTX960 but it was bothering me it not being under water and it had a reference type cooler on it that got a little noisy when gaming so I set about finding a soloution. Nobody makes a compatible block for 960's (well bitspower do for a few very specific cards) so I thought I'd grab a thermosphere off the MM and take my chances.

Turns out the reason its not compatible is down to the placement of just 1 capacitor near the power connector. It was no big ordeal.. I did initially think of soldering the cap back on the other side of the PCB but opted for a little dremel 'shaving' instead. Stripped the block apart and put a little radiused notch in the backplate.



Fits alright and I already have a reasonable VRM sink so I think I should be ok.



Added another black ice SR1 rad to the front in the shape of a 140mm, probably not needed but it was cheap (MM again!). Did try turning the rad around on the top and tried a few different routes but settled on it as is. Seems to flow ok. Return is going to the backside of the pump/res.



So my flow is Pump > 140mm > 280mm > Cpu > Graphics > Pump

Its possibly not 'ideal' but all the reading i've done seems to point to loop order making bugger all difference anyway. I've got the pump on 3 at the moment and its dead quiet and seems alright.



Also changed the psu for an ATX one as that sfx one was quite loud when under load.

So thats pretty much it for now.

Great build, take the EK sticker off the GPU block!

If I'm honest I didn't even notice it haha

Update coming.

Machine has done me well but the graphics have been a little lacking so I bagged a 980 on the MM and currently have it wedged in with the stock cooler on it. I've ordered a 980 waterblock and a few extra fittings so at some point I'll be rejigging the loop a little.

Possible problems I can see is that the 980 is 'taller' than the 960 (remember its itx so the card is vertical) and it may foul the rad in the top.

Also the card is so much longer so I'm going to have to get clever with the small rad on the front or ditch it all together. Not sure how well it will cool with just a dual 280mm rad so I'd rather keep them both and my fans at 7v where I cannot hear them.

Managed to get a bit done tonight.

As I thought the waterblock did interfere with the rad at the top so I've had put the rotarys on the outside of the block which isn't ideal. Thankfully the door still 'just' fits on so its all good.







Dog seems to approve of the new desk too..