Build Log : [StarBug] - Semi Watercooled

Gittins

Gittins

Gittins

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23 Nov 2009
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362
Location
Blackpool, England
Right here goes, fist time watercooling and I have been reading up lots of info over the last few months, also it has been a little bit of time since I last built a couputer and my gaming experience is getting poorer and poorer from not having a computer that can cope with the emmence graphics of todays games.

I have built a few computers before and i'm not partial to the countless hours of research and I mostly learn as i go along and learn from my mistakes, but there comes a time when everyone is in need of a bit of advice, so here I am with questions on watercooling and general overclocking and this thread will hopefully be helpful to me and record the process until the build is complete.

Loved the white and black PC build's going around and have decided that i would go for that look but mostly a black look! ;)

I have decided on a whole new build and have a go at watercooling, I have so far bought the following components for my PC, components for the watercooling and will add and edit this when new parts are bought or scraped. I will also add a 'to get list' or 'wish list' for other parts needed.



PC Componants
  • Coolermaster Cosmos Pure Black
  • Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
  • Intel i7 920 D0
  • Corsair Dominator GT (3x2GB) PC3-16000C8 (2000Mhz) With Fan
  • OCZ Vertex Limited Edition 100GB SSD (OS)
  • Intel X25-M 80G SSD (OS) SOLD
  • Sappire HD4870 x2
  • Be Quiet! 1200w PSU
  • Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (Storage)
  • LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA

Watercooling Components

  • Swiftech Apogee GTZ SE
  • EK Acetal-Nickle Full Board NB/SB Block For UD7
  • Black Ice GT Xtreme 240 Radiator (Too Big)
  • 2 X Black Ice GTS Stealth 120 Radiator
  • 2 x XSPC RS Black 120
  • Swiftech Laing D5 Vario Pump (MCP655) (Not Needed)
  • Laing DDC-1Plus Ultra Pump 18W (MCP355)
  • XSPC 5.25" Acrylic Dual Drive Bay Single Loop Reservoir
  • White 7/16" Tubing
  • 12 x Bitspower 7/16" Matte Black
  • 1 x Bitspower Twin Rotary 45 Degree 1/4" Matte Black
  • 5 x Bitspower 45 Degree Twin Rotary Fitting - Matte Black
  • Koolance In-line drain valve SPL-XUFY58

PC Components To Get

  • Sound Card Unknown Yet - Possibally Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series 7.1
  • Fan Controller - Scythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25" - Black

My current stage in the build process is the fitting of the EK NB/SB and MOSFET Waterblocks, As you can see in the picture below. I have already fitted the Swiftech Apogee GTZ SE.

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I have used Arctic Silver 5 for the CPU block but I am going to use Arctic Silver Ceramiqué for the the EK Blocks.

Today I have installed the NB/SB and MOSFET EK waterblocks and now the motherboard is installed into the case, all when quite well!

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Shame I can't paint the motherboard black :(

So far so good, think my next job is to get all the hose and fittings sized up, I'll update when i get round to this soon :cool:
 
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Yeah got the matt black 7/16" compression one's, still waiting on delivery for the 5 x 45* rotary connections but they should be hear by Wednesday hopefully lol
 
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Wanted to stick with the black theme but I've personally always thought the clear plexi block's look a bit cheap and tacky.

When I ordered the CPU block, from the pictures on OCUK I thought it came with chrome and also black center part and thought they were interchangeable, this was not so :(

Thanks for the comments!
 
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Project name fails hard. Only way a project could be called starbug is for it to be built into a case that resembles said spacecraft.
 
Loving those blocks, I was on EK's website earlier and I saw them there.

The mobo does look odd in a black case though!!
 
paradigm said:
Project name fails hard. Only way a project could be called starbug is for it to be built into a case that resembles said spacecraft.
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You mean your reading fail! 1+ Fail for pcAnywhere

It's the computers name not project name! It's named that because it's predecessor was called Red-Dwarf and that was the first computer i build for myself.

Also if you was meaning computer name fail since when did computers names mean that it had to look like what it was named?! i.e. OCUK computer system bundle's hardly look like Viper's or Tridents! :D
 
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I'm not going to be using the 240 and maybe not use the two xspc radiators. Also only using the MCP355 pump. I'm going to overclock but not to high and not going to be water-cooling the graphics card as it's only there temporarily.

Probably going post a picture tonight to show how i propose the water loop and if anyone has any better solutions
 
Oh, so are you planning on a single loop only?

Iunno, I would have put graphics card and chipset on one loop with only one xspc rad, then the CPU on a dedicated loop with both black ice rads.

Also, I can recommend getting a core-only block for your graphics card, that way you don't have to waste money on a full-cover block for that specific card, and you can use it for every single card you put in.

Even when heavily overclocked the memory modules never get hot either way.
 
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Gittins said:
You mean your reading fail! 1+ Fail for pcAnywhere

It's the computers name not project name! It's named that because it's predecessor was called Red-Dwarf and that was the first computer i build for myself.

Also if you was meaning computer name fail since when did computers names mean that it had to look like what it was named?! i.e. OCUK computer system bundle's hardly look like Viper's or Tridents! :D
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Where did you mention it was the PC's name? Where? Oh wait, you didn't, so reading not fail then. And PCAnywhere? WTF did he do wrong?

How am I supposed to know what your previous machine was called?

And I'm possibly one of the biggest Red Dwarf fans going, and even I'm not sad enough to call my PC Kryten, Lister, Rimmer, Ploymorph, etc etc.
 
paradigm said:
Where did you mention it was the PC's name? Where? Oh wait, you didn't, so reading not fail then. And PCAnywhere? WTF did he do wrong?

How am I supposed to know what your previous machine was called?

And I'm possibly one of the biggest Red Dwarf fans going, and even I'm not sad enough to call my PC Kryten, Lister, Rimmer, Ploymorph, etc etc.
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Is trolling aloud on here!?

Sound's like you really just want an argument for your mistake of being wrong!

Like I previously said, I never once called this project starbug and clearly in the title it states build log. If you would have asked why the name starbug was mentioned you would have received a simple answer like in my previous post, but instead you had to try and be smart :P

It's just the name so I can recognise it on the network, sorry for being "sad" but in future if I want your opinion I'll ask for it, or rather not.

Strawberry said:
Oh, so are you planning on a single loop only?

Iunno, I would have put graphics card and chipset on one loop with only one xspc rad, then the CPU on a dedicated loop with both black ice rads.

Also, I can recommend getting a core-only block for your graphics card, that way you don't have to waste money on a full-cover block for that specific card, and you can use it for every single card you put in.

Even when heavily overclocked the memory modules never get hot either way.
Click to expand...

Thanks strawberry that's well worth thinking about, maybe I'll do that when I upgrade the graphics card. Going to try show some idea's of the loop tomorrow.
 
Starbug name gave me the impression that this build would be yellow, I got really exicited:P
But hey, not a huge disapointment.
I love that board, and case.
 
Yeah I think people are being a little bit harsh about the epic fail of the name of the project - it's a very rare build that actually looks like what it's named!

Anyway moving on... looks great, I've been looking at those blocks (well similar for a different mobo) on the EK website this week - they have some great looking kit on there! I think Gigabyte take the same approach as Noctua in regards to their balance of style and performance... :p
 
Tiamat21 said:
Starbug name gave me the impression that this build would be yellow, I got really exciited:P
But hey, not a huge disappointment.
I love that board, and case.
Click to expand...

Lol the "original starbug" was green hehe

Thanks for the comments

Anyone any thought's on the loop?
 
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