Project : Primo Midas

MorleySA · 28 Oct 2014 at 17:12

colinmcr said:
Well gents, I am stuck at work and having to get paid OT for staying offshore for another week.

So while searching the web I discovered one Asus Z10PE-D8-WS in stock...

So I bought it

I think I'll do a Midas II log for you all when the time comes, waiting for the ram to come to retail and then decide exactly which Xeon V3 I can buy as a pair.

So watercooling suggestions please dual Xeon's and dual 780ti's to start, I need to go dual loop now me thinks. But would welcome some advice.

What case do you think you'd go for? with the specs your going for i'd think a Caselabs case??

colinmcr · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:02

MorleySA said:
What case do you think you'd go for? with the specs your going for i'd think a Caselabs case??

Enthoo is compatible, I want to use it but I do really like the Caselabs for sure. Would certainly give some breathing room.

jimbaw · 29 Oct 2014 at 23:25

I've currently got an ehtoo primo as well and my next one will definitely be a caselabs sma8

Smrtka · 29 Oct 2014 at 23:51

That Z10PE-D8 WS mobo is insane ! Very nice build btw

colinmcr · 4 Nov 2014 at 16:42

Just to let you know where I'm at...

The following items I have purchased

Asus Z10PE-D8-WS motherboard

Dual Xeon V3 14 core CPU's (Had to source out with UK)
Dual Alpenföhn Sella CPU Cooler's (One from Stulid via MM) These are only for testing prior to finalising WC setup.
Monsoon Hardline Pipe bending kit
Monsoon Acrylic Black Hardline tubing and conversion kit for existing fittings
WD 6TB My Cloud Mirror NAS Storage
Corsair K70 RGB MX Red Keyboard (My ducky I can't get used to so we'll see)

Want/Need

Ok a few questions have been asked about the case, now I'd love to use the Enthoo Primo, but if it's not going work, I'll have to definitely consider Caselabs, they are stunning cases for big rigs like this.

Also I've written to some companies to get sponsorship, my outlay already has been quite expensive, but if I don't get any then hey ho !

Companies written to...

Crucial
Plextor (can anyone guess what for?)
EKWB (Fairly obvious one, considering how much of their hardware I've used)

I still need to aquire

2nd EKWB Supremacy Gold CPU waterblock
Some more conversion kit fittings for Monsoon
Most importantly the RAM, jeez its no cheap ! Sitting on the fence with that at the moment.

Well anyway lads that's my situation, so quick question.

Should I do a new log? I'm thinking I should really, no one wants to trawl through ten pages right?

So keep your eyes peeled followers, Midas evolution over the few months

Alternateline · 5 Nov 2014 at 09:33

All the pics look great, wow!

colinmcr · 27 Jan 2015 at 20:16

Hey folks, its been a while...

Just letting you know I've had some serious setbacks with the Z10PE-D8-WS. First board sat for a long time before I even opened the box, when I did open it I found CPU1 socket protective cover was off and on close scrutiny it somehow damaged several pins. Luckily I was able to warranty return it and get another.

I mounted the new one to my old CM Stacker removable MB tray for test purposes. I bought an EVGA P2 1200W PSU because I couldn't bare to strip down Midas while its busy Folding.

Much to my dismay I haven't been able to get it to post. I flashed the BIOS and several other things but no joy. This was all in the last few days before I returned back to working abroad.

I've had a response from Asus support who suggest that the RAM I bought was not suitable (even though its sold as server ram). It was non-ECC however, so I'll be trying again in a few weeks this time with correct RAM, once I find it.

I must apologise to anyone who was hoping for more progress, what with me renovating a house and working away (too much). I just can't get it together and I really wanna try out my Monsoon Hardline kit !

doyll · 27 Jan 2015 at 23:41

That's life.
Good to hear you are still working on it.

Mal X · 2 Feb 2015 at 22:33

that PC looks fantasic..WOW.

gold yellow and black go together so well

theMilitant · 3 Feb 2015 at 00:04

Cool! Very well thought out and clean. Well done.

colinmcr · 20 Feb 2015 at 17:21

Very small update I just got back from working abroad to find my new Crucial 32GB ECC Ram waiting for me. I've installed it to the Asus Z10PE and I've got a successful boot

Just off to install the OS on my Plextor M2 and maybe we'll see some real progress for the changes I've got planned .

doyll · 20 Feb 2015 at 20:28

Welcome home! This is going to be a beast of a system!

colinmcr · 20 Feb 2015 at 20:40

Oh yes it is I just ran Cinebench

kaku · 20 Feb 2015 at 23:17

That is ridiculous. I'm afraid to ask the price!

colinmcr · 21 Feb 2015 at 17:45

*UPDATE*

kaku said:
That is ridiculous. I'm afraid to ask the price!

Yes best not ask, I don't want my wife to see !

I did try getting some sponsorship but no luck, I guess I need more builds under my belt.

Here are some images from today, I've started the strip down and had it all running but on air only atm. Much bigger board that the X79 Deluxe.

So here's how she used to look

Now some new images of today

The test rig setup I used before stripping down Midas

Now going into Midas

That's it for today, I did plug in my old GTX 680 just to check its all still working after installing the board in the case.

I noticed I have an EK Supremacy Gold and an EK Supremacy EVO Gold, they look a little bit different but nothing too drastic.

A little bit of me thought to just keep the cpu's on air but I'm considering just using flex tubing again instead of the hardline I bought. I might save the hardline for a rainy day !

Cenedd · 22 Feb 2015 at 20:27

Very nice. You've inspired my upgrade itch...but I think I'll be waiting for Skylake. Definitely stick them underwater; it'll be quieter. The wife might not ask questions if the sound of two cpu fans shrieking doesn't attract her attention! ;-)

jimbaw · 22 Feb 2015 at 21:59

very nice indeed! love how big that board is

and go for hardline tubing!! you've taken midas apart so you might as well go all the way! and I think it would definitely attract the attention of a few sponsors if you went for it

paulo7 · 22 Feb 2015 at 22:59

Those photos are intense!

colinmcr · 23 Feb 2015 at 08:12

Cenedd said:
Very nice. You've inspired my upgrade itch...but I think I'll be waiting for Skylake. Definitely stick them underwater; it'll be quieter. The wife might not ask questions if the sound of two cpu fans shrieking doesn't attract her attention!

Yeah Skylake is very tempting if the rumours are true about hidden features. I'll be following up this build with a change to my x58 rig, using my x79 but with some changes to the theme! Oh and I'll get some pics of the blocks up later today.

jimbaw said:
very nice indeed! love how big that board is

and go for hardline tubing!! you've taken midas apart so you might as well go all the way! and I think it would definitely attract the attention of a few sponsors if you went for it

I'll give it a go, but feeling Bitspower fittings might have been a better choice for Hardline, Moonsoon stock is so hard to come by these days.

paulo7 said:
Those photos are intense!

Thanks man, glad you think so. Hoping to improve them with a proper lighting setup and background. Currently my conservatory is the place I use but the light changes so quickly at this time of year.

Just wondered guys do you feel I should continue updates on this thread or would you prefer a new thread to follow?

Cenedd · 23 Feb 2015 at 12:47

You could ask OCUK to split the thread but it's sort of an evolution of the original project anyway. It's just admin really but might be relevant to people that haven't read the original Midas project and for some reason don't want to.