Associate
If I had known about this section sooner I would have taken more pics. Finished this build on Monday 03/02/14
The system configuration:
Corsair 550D
Intel i5 2500K with Alphacool NexXxos XP3 Lite Waterblock
MSi Z77A-G43 Gaming
Asus GTX670 DirectCU II with EK Waterblock
256Gb Crucial m4 SSD + 500Gb Toshiba HDD
Enermax Platimax 750W PSU
Swiftech Maelstrom Dual Bay Reservoir + 2x MCP35X PWM Pumps
ST30 140mm and 240mm + UT60 240mm Alphacool NexXxos Radiators with Akasa Viper, Phobya G-Silent Slim and Noctua NF-F12 fans respectively
Primochill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT 10-13mm (ID-OD) Tubing
Koolance QD3 Quick Disconnect Couples
Mayhems Ultra Pure H20
Mayhems Silver Kill Coil
I already had the UT60 240mm and ST30 140mm radiators along with the Maelstrom Reservoir + Pump Combo so only added the ST30 240mm radiator with Phobya G-Silent Slim fans because any thicker fans wouldn't of fitted. The fans are great, they have decent pressure and even at max speed are relatively silent. I am using Noctua's low noise adaptor that came with my NF-F12s on them and they are virtually inaudible as a result, need to place my ear directly over them to notice the sound they produce.
The GTX670 is an item I got from eBay since I fried my old GTX580, one VRM produced flames as I ran an OCCT stress test. Wasn't a pleasant experience, thankfully the new 600 series from nVidia have good voltage control thanks to the Speed Boost they have implemented and it is not as easy to do what I did so I am looking forward to see how far I can push the card.
While I was adding a new radiator to the system I thought I would get some quick disconnect connections because I found it frustrating to remove the broken GTX580 from the loop. Now I am able to get the ST30 140mm radiator out easily which blocks access to the motherboard and can isolate the CPU and GPU quickly. It does make the loop less "clean" but my previous loop being far more neat and tidy was more of a pain to work with when removing components so I favoured better workability of the system over looks.
To get the UT60 240mm radiator to fit in the front of the case I needed to cut a section out of the case at the bottom and also in the 5.25" bays. I originally did this with a tin snipper but the result was not so good so after receiving a Dremel 3000 for Christmas I decided to clean that up with this upgrade. After a much quicker and better mod to the case with the Dremel I added some old sound absorption mat to the edges to protect the radiator from scratches and decided to kit out the rest of the case with some extra sound absorption. Now the case has sound absorption on the top and bottom in addition to the factory fitted sound absorption on the side panels.
My Corsair 550D emptied and prepared for the build:
The bits I put into it:
The build as the weekend progressed:
My Workspace:
I am very happy with the build. The system is very quiet with the PWM controlled pumps at 1000-1200RPM. Getting some awesome temps when stress testing without an overclock so am looking forward to the overclocking this will allow. My temps after running prime 95 and Unigine Valley Benchmark together:
The system configuration:
Corsair 550D
Intel i5 2500K with Alphacool NexXxos XP3 Lite Waterblock
MSi Z77A-G43 Gaming
Asus GTX670 DirectCU II with EK Waterblock
256Gb Crucial m4 SSD + 500Gb Toshiba HDD
Enermax Platimax 750W PSU
Swiftech Maelstrom Dual Bay Reservoir + 2x MCP35X PWM Pumps
ST30 140mm and 240mm + UT60 240mm Alphacool NexXxos Radiators with Akasa Viper, Phobya G-Silent Slim and Noctua NF-F12 fans respectively
Primochill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT 10-13mm (ID-OD) Tubing
Koolance QD3 Quick Disconnect Couples
Mayhems Ultra Pure H20
Mayhems Silver Kill Coil
I already had the UT60 240mm and ST30 140mm radiators along with the Maelstrom Reservoir + Pump Combo so only added the ST30 240mm radiator with Phobya G-Silent Slim fans because any thicker fans wouldn't of fitted. The fans are great, they have decent pressure and even at max speed are relatively silent. I am using Noctua's low noise adaptor that came with my NF-F12s on them and they are virtually inaudible as a result, need to place my ear directly over them to notice the sound they produce.
The GTX670 is an item I got from eBay since I fried my old GTX580, one VRM produced flames as I ran an OCCT stress test. Wasn't a pleasant experience, thankfully the new 600 series from nVidia have good voltage control thanks to the Speed Boost they have implemented and it is not as easy to do what I did so I am looking forward to see how far I can push the card.
While I was adding a new radiator to the system I thought I would get some quick disconnect connections because I found it frustrating to remove the broken GTX580 from the loop. Now I am able to get the ST30 140mm radiator out easily which blocks access to the motherboard and can isolate the CPU and GPU quickly. It does make the loop less "clean" but my previous loop being far more neat and tidy was more of a pain to work with when removing components so I favoured better workability of the system over looks.
To get the UT60 240mm radiator to fit in the front of the case I needed to cut a section out of the case at the bottom and also in the 5.25" bays. I originally did this with a tin snipper but the result was not so good so after receiving a Dremel 3000 for Christmas I decided to clean that up with this upgrade. After a much quicker and better mod to the case with the Dremel I added some old sound absorption mat to the edges to protect the radiator from scratches and decided to kit out the rest of the case with some extra sound absorption. Now the case has sound absorption on the top and bottom in addition to the factory fitted sound absorption on the side panels.
My Corsair 550D emptied and prepared for the build:
The bits I put into it:
The build as the weekend progressed:
My Workspace:
I am very happy with the build. The system is very quiet with the PWM controlled pumps at 1000-1200RPM. Getting some awesome temps when stress testing without an overclock so am looking forward to the overclocking this will allow. My temps after running prime 95 and Unigine Valley Benchmark together: