8pack Hypercube - build log!!

[Shawy]

Hi guys.

As promised in the 8pack Supernova build log here's the next build log in the 8pack series. And this time it's the baby of the group: the Hypercube!



There's a few things missing from the photo - waiting for the rest of the parts to arrive!

and what's this.. doesn't look flatpack this time…

 

[Shawy]

Lightnings though. Great clockers(You should know ). If you want the best but are on a strict budget, it's not a huge sacrifice to make if there's two or three of them.

The customer decided to stick with the original spec 780s - but we bumped them up to lightnings anyway (8pack has a soft spot for the lightning series cards for their OC potential ).

 

[Shawy]

Troll posts this early in a thread? Are we in GD

Best part is, it's 100% down to the customer what spec they want. We can help and guide them as much as possible, but in the end we build the system they ask for.

 

[Shawy]

Slightly overdue update, but here it is!

The case:


This one came preassembled


so some disassembly was required


And here's what all the commotion has been about:


well, that's the box it comes in. Here's the card:


Stunning cooler


Quite beefy


With the weird light thingy on it - you can tell I've done my homework on the card


The family


Time to get naked!




Did somebody say naked?


Naked party!!


..aaaaaaaaaand back to normal..


All matching acetal and nickel blocks


Not much orange left


Time for a quick test fit


Looking good


And everyone's favourite part - the acrylic


Not only is that the only acrylic used in this build, it's also the end of this update.

Stay tuned for more.

 

[Shawy]

If a third Lightning turns up in the MM I'll be all over it... Despite my little moan up there ^^^ They perform absolutely faultlessly for gaming. Got any more for sale 8Pack???

Almost a shame to cover that board with waterblocks, I really liked the orange

I've got a dead one sitting on my desk if that's any use..

Don't worry about the orange though, more will be added pretty soon.

 

[Shawy]

Don't suppose you'd fancy donating the reactor/backplate would you if it's destined for the bin?

I'm guessing pastel orange fluid?! What kind of rad space are you going with? I can see the 360 in the first picture but I've no idea what sort of space you get to work with in there

You could've done, if our department wasn't so efficient - the card had been sent off to MSI by the time I got to my desk! Next time, maybe.

Orange fluid, yeah. The original spec called had 3x360 rads and a 240 rad, but I managed to move things around a little and squeeze in a 4th 360.

 

[Shawy]

Quick little update for you guys with the final water block.

8packs processor installed, one of the best 4770ks out there.


Covered up


I do love matching blocks. Especially when they're EK clean CSQ nickel acetal.


There's even a cut out of the motherboard block to fit around the CPU block!

Nice touch, though something is still missing that I'll get to later.

Time to plan some fittings


Planning 2 vertical lines down, if only the CPU block holes lined up with the motherboard block holes.


Took a 90° rotary as well as a male to female rotary to match the height of the blocks


As always, it's a bloody tight squeeze


Yup, tubing's in there


Done.


Next up, the radiators. Already flushed them, see the Supernova build log for details because I'm too lazy to repost them.

Noise blocker eLoops. So quiet.


And, of course, the 8pack grills


Now, I'm really quite picky about tubing in watercooled systems. The less I can see, the better. So with a rad in the top and bottom of the case on full view, I really didn't want to have tubing trailing down from them. So I had an idea..

ignore the red fitting, just using it to test

The fittings were too tall to fit underneath the rad, so I had to use some standoffs



And the same planned for the top rad


And a quick look of how it all will look.. The tubing will be nicely hidden behind each radiator and routed to the back section out of the way.


That's it for this update, more to come in the next couple of days.

 

[Shawy]

Thats a good looking case. Will have a look at caselabs, very tempted by one of those. Whats the spec you've gone for?

Also, how the hell do you do those really close fitting 90degree fittings?? I spent like an hour trying to get one to fit and gave up...

I'll have to get ScottiB to tell you about the case.

As for the fittings, I've developed a lobster tight grip and have no feeling left in my fingers or thumbs due to the 1/2" calluses I now possess.

Now I know where all the bitspower angled fittings went!
Looks very nice and promising.

Yeah, I have a bit of a problem when it comes to 90° rotaries..

 

[Shawy]

When you set up your cards in water cooling builds shawy what do you prefer serial or parallel?

Parallel.
In my own systems, I even put the CPU in parallel with 2 GPUs - that's just for aesthetics though.

On to today's update - been a while since the last one as I was away on holiday, but it's a good one!

And it starts with this rather blurry picture:


As this case came pre-assembled, some disassembly was required.


Midplate marked out


and cut


close up of the holes, cut with a stepper drill bit


and the best hole I have ever cut


couldn't have been any more accurate.


also mounted the Aquareo to the back of the motherboard tray



Now on to my favourite part.. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed 8 circular markings on the mid plate arranged in 2 squares.. but how many of you realised those were mounting holes for the pumps?!


TADA!

This originally started out as a joke, but the more I saw it, the more it made sense.


They fill up some empty space, as well as cleaning up the tubing runs

And they used the pre-existing cable management holes to make things easier.


Testing to make sure they're level

The bench was not.

But the pumps were


That's it for this update - though I would like to plug my own personal build log that I have just completed. Click the sig to take a look.

 

[Shawy]

Well that is different!

Just wondering if you consult with the customer on all the modding throughout the build process? So you started out joking with them but they liked it and that was that!

Yeah, 8pack is in constant contact with the customer to let them know what's goin on and to keep them updated. All part of the 5atar service.

That looks amazing, had no idea those pumps worked when sideways?? May have to alter my build now...

Yup, as long as they're not starved of water, then can be used in any orientation. Some bay reservoirs even mount them upside down, though that's not recommended outside of those reses.

 

[Shawy]

Any more updates? Pretty please?

Yeah, sorry. Didn't realise it had been so long since an update.

On to the tubing


As always, I get myself into very tight spaces.


It was hard enough to cut the tubing down there


And it turned out impossible to fit it, so I had to remove the fittings from the rad to fit the tubing on


And then refit the fitting - one of the many benefits of rotaries!


And here you can see the nice short, hidden run


The disadvantage of hiding the tubing from the front of the case, was the tubing needed to be routed from the other side of the rad. Multi port rads would have been great (if they'd fit), but rotaries and extensions are the next best thing.


This run went across the radiator


to the GPUs


Back to the other side


The HDD caddy had to be modified to fit the tubing through


No kinking


and the first loop is finished.


For the second loop, I had to remove some fittings to fit the tubing on once again


for another piece of hidden tubing


Perfect.


and from the other side


I originally wanted all vertical lines here. But the blocks just don't line up. So I thought I'd keep things parallel at least


and at the other end of that tubing is another tight squeeze


I'm not sure which was harder: trying to fit the tubing onto the fitting, or trying to take a picture through the case


Again, I had to remove the rad from the system to fit the tubing


Worth it though.


Some more tight spots linking the rads together



And some more rotary fittings


And there's loop 2 done!


As you can see, or rather can't see, everything is nice and clean with most of the tubing hidden from view.


Just got to fill her up next!

 

[Shawy]

A lot of thought must have gone into planning that.

Did you plan it beforehand or just play it by ear?

Most of the first day of this build was spent measuring, test fitting, and just sitting on a stool staring at the case. I do put a lot of time and effort into these big builds, and I'm glad you guys can tell.

I knew from the start I wanted the rads facing the wrong way to hide the tubing, and then the rest sorta fell into place. When I said earlier about mounting the rads on their sides being a joke - it was more of a "I need to mount the reservoirs like this to make everything come together, but that's not the normal way to mount a res". It cleaned up the tubing massively and filled a huge empty space inside the case, and just happened to be an unconventional way to mount the reservoirs.

Sometimes you've just gotta think outside the box - but keep the watercooling inside the box. External set ups are just yuk.

 

[Shawy]

That is really rather brilliant, cant wait to see it filling up etc.....a vid would be fantastic lol.

As 8pack said, the system has shipped and I didn't record any videos. There really wouldn't be that much to see, most of the tubing is hidden in the back section. It wouldn't be very exciting.

Nice build, but shouldn't those holes be grommeted?

They can be, but there's no real need for it. All of the holes were filed down nice and smooth and touched up with some black paint (not that you can see it).

 

[Shawy]

Actually. A video would have been hilarious. I'll remember to film it next time.

And here's why..


The fluid absolutely ****ed out as soon as I filled the res.

Upon closer inspection, I found the fault.


Yup. I forgot the o-ring. What a plonker.

It get's better though. In my attempt to empty the reservoir into the loop to reduce the fluid split all over my desk, I turned the pump on and, you guessed it, shorted the pump and killed it.


My apologies for not having that on video for you guys.