my first watercooled build i7 4ghz

rick fowler · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:44

well its finally finshed and thought i would redo my build log as it was quite long and it would take ages to read it all so here we go hope you enjoy.The main items that are being cooled and worked on are

i7 920 DO @4ghz
Asus gtx 285

the new install will consist of

Laing DDC 3.2 with XSPC Res-top
Thermochill PA120.3
Watercool Heatkiller 1366 Copper
1/2"Barbs x 8
XSPC clear/Uv Blue Tubing x8
Thermochill Reducers x2
Koolance 285 Block
Silver Kill coil
Dual Uv Kit x 1
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1450 x 3
Zalman MFC1 Black

this is what the pc looked like before make over

so i stripped down the pc and gutted all the insides out of it all read for this lot of goodies to go in

so onto the next stage of the build here's my gtx 285 and the koolance waterblock very shiney and nice looking

so here's what the card looks like inside before any cleaning up,littel wiggle to the left and right and bingo off she popped,on a side note i did leave the pc running for an hour or so just on the chance it would losing the thermal paste a bit.seemed to done the trick.

next cleaning and installing the block.

rick fowler · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:45

so here we are gpu cleaned

so here we are with the thermal pads on the block

and here we have the gpu done.

even tho i got a good camera it has the habit of picking up every little detail:S

next is to put it all back together

i will add i did have to add more paste as when i did a check for contact it only touched a little on one corner so lucky i checked,fingers crossed that will be ok now.

next up will be the motherboard block

after a chat with brad regarding not using a backplate the measurement of 19.6mm is the recommened tightness,anymore and you will bow the mobo

so here's a what it looks like with the killer block installed,
i had to turn it 90c as was touching the caps shame really but never mind.

next up put the fans on the rad
fairly straight forward job,after a few discussions ect regarding which way these should go i decided to have the fans blowing into the case cooling inside rather the than blowing air out.

so with the cpu.gfx card and rad/fans ready i decided to make a start on installing these in so here's a pic of what it looks like so far

so i thought i would install the fan controller in and get the fans wired up out of the way,fairly easy job

just incase you where wondering where i put all those cables ect here's a back view,i don't think i could get it any better really.

right now was the time to install the gfx back into the case.

looking good so far don't you think,got to amit the cpu,gfx blocks do look sexy against the mobo.

ok so here's the inside of pc now with all blocks rad and fans installed,now's the time to decide on how we approach where to put the res/pump.

after a lot of talking and swearing at where to add the pump/res,i decided to attach it to the harddrive frame work using one of these

ok now was the time to install all the tubing and get this up and running

so here's a few pics of the install of the uv tubes.

they do look a bit loose thats coz i wanted to make sure all was looking its best,plus have you tried get these off when they are so tight fitting lol.

rick fowler · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:46

so next was to add the pump/res using the l plate i added eariler

after adding some foam under the pump and behind the res to stop any rattles is looking a lot more level now.

so i added the final tubing in now and here's what we have.
think its looks quite neat and tidy

so now came the time to hotwire the psu(using the green and a black connetion of the plug)to fire up the pump/res and added the distilled water,after a while we where up and running.

well after a while i noticed i had my first problem the water was not running past the gfx card very well,so i had a look and noticed that the barbs i used for the gfx where to long,so after a while chatting to brad,we came to the idea of cuttting a mm of the ends of each barb(old skool mods lol)anyway it was worth a try and and it payed off soon as i turned psu back on it shot straight through,cool now i can get all the air out,to be honest i didnt have to move case much it did it all itself.

so after all that i installed the uv lights and here's the final pics im sure you lot have been waiting for.

this pic i think is my best ever shot,i love it so much its my wallpaper for my monitors

here's my desktop setup now with my new g15 keyboard.

well the last bit was to do see how the temps would be at idle,very impressed 37c,38,40,41.

any noise nope not all quite as anything which was allso my aim cool and quite.

here's a pic of the temps at full load at 4ghz

it dont go above 65 had it running for a while and not gone above it,when i had the old settup with the titan fenrir it was going crazy,temps right upto 97c.
so i am well chuffed at doing what i was aiming for.

cool and quite

ps cheers brad for all your help.

mcalladine · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:54

wow thats awesome ! i really want to put watercooling in my antec 900 now ! not a lot of room though

bifday2k · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:55

wow nice and neat, loving it.

Very nice temps on the cpu, especially as u have that gfx card in the same loop too, well done.

Thats a lot neater then my new setup will probably look lol.

PaulyD · 11 Aug 2009 at 12:58

Looks great there dude, great effort on first build

Richard_ · 11 Aug 2009 at 13:05

Wow that looks very nice ... never had a watercooled system. 10/10 for effort

RIZZEE · 11 Aug 2009 at 13:07

very nice, especially for a first wc setup, plus it looks rather nice in the HAF

RJC · 11 Aug 2009 at 13:08

Very nice

PermaBanned · 11 Aug 2009 at 13:18

Interesting choice of fans. It was my understanding that the S-Flex 800 RPM was quieter, and more powerful. How do they perform?

rick fowler · 11 Aug 2009 at 13:36

they perform very well cant even hear them at all,at first i had to check they where running lol

3t3P · 11 Aug 2009 at 18:12

very nice for a first build

Can I ask how you rate the revoltec UV cold cathodes? THey look great

Sayso · 11 Aug 2009 at 18:19

wow looking good, the heatkiller and koolance blocks go well together.
great build!!

JonJ678 · 11 Aug 2009 at 18:36

Xtreme love the scythe gentle typhoons, the 800rpm s-flex may well be quieter but they're not going to push air through a radiator as well.

Very nicely done Rick, you've done yourself proud.

A bit jealous of the heatkiller block, it looks beautiful

Dr Who · 11 Aug 2009 at 19:00

I don't think you will maintain those cpu temps once the GPU is under full load, may wish to change the pipes to cpu>gpu>rad so that the cpu isnt receiving the hotter water from the gpu.

But nice build all the same.

JonJ678 · 11 Aug 2009 at 19:11

Doesn't work like that Dr Who, the entire loop equalises at one temperature. Loop order means nothing, you just need reservoir before pump to help filling then the shortest tubing length to marginally improve performance

Don't worry about it though, most people seem to make that mistake. cpu -> radiator -> gpu is suggested fairly often

PermaBanned · 11 Aug 2009 at 19:34

JonJ678 said:
Xtreme love the scythe gently typhoons, the 800rpm s-flex may well be quieter but they're not going to push air through a radiator as well.

Very nicely done Rick, you've done yourself proud.

A bit jealous of the heatkiller block, it looks beautiful

Gentle Typhoon:
- Air volume at full speed (12V), CFM ±10% 28.2
- Noise level at full speed (12V), dB(A) 9.0

S-FLEX 800RPM
- Sound: 8.7 dB(A)
- Air flow: 33.5 CFM

The S-FLEX have a greater CFM and a lower noise output...

Also, what the hell happened to 'test your loop out of the case for 48 hours first'?

JonJ678 · 11 Aug 2009 at 19:37

CFM means close to nothing when pushing through a radiator, static pressure is the relevant figure and you haven't quoted it for either.

The sound readings are meaningless without a distance from source specified, 9dB at 10m is a lot louder than 20dB at one meter.

So basically your quoted figures fail. Testing it out of the case remains a good idea, but I'm not sure many people do anymore. If I hadn't, I'd have not caught the crack in my supreme top though, so I will continue leak testing personally

Sayso · 11 Aug 2009 at 19:42

There is no way the S-flex 800s have 33.5 CFM i bought 8 of them for a push pull config and they were poor, even next to your hand you could barely feel any airflow..they are silent though

toxicredcat · 11 Aug 2009 at 22:44

Just finished watercooling my i7 920 today and yours looks loads better than mine