[Build Log] 1 Case, 2 motherboards

OracIe

OracIe

OracIe

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10 Jun 2013
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A Titan X, a 970 and all under water...It's going to either break mentally or financially :eek:

I have so many computer components laying about and I'm always moaning about something I'm not happy about.

I recently decided to undertake a HTPC build, with an ITX X99, Titan X but wasn't happy with it all, temps weren't good despite me using an AIO and I've had a custom water cooled itch I needed the scratch.

Time to start again and do it properly.

I stumbled across the Phanteks Enthoo MINI XL case on OCUK and found that it could support dual motherboards - I'd seen some cases support this before and the idea intrigued me, so I started to look more closely.

As fate would have it, OCUK were offering a January Promo:

  • Phanteks Enthoo MINI XL Case Clicky
  • Power Splitter
  • Dual motherboard conversion kit
So today I snapped it up with a couple of other bits, paid a bit more for Sunday delivery like an excited school kid!

So, the idea is as follows:

PC 1: mATX X99 - Asrock X99M Extreme 4 - i7 5930K - 16GB RAM - Titan X - Samsung Pro 950 256GB M.2 - 500GB SSD and 2TB HDD

PC 2: ITX X99 - Asrock ITX99E a/e - i7 5820K - 16GB RAM - GTX 970 - Samsung Pro SM951 M.2 - 500GB SSD, 2TB HDD

I have most of the components above, so I figured why not.

Now the watercooling! I used lots of AIO's but never had the guts to do full watercooling - but hey, I'm going try it - what could go wrong?

The idea is to strip down my Titan X and 970, add water blocks and get the bits for the CPU's - the plan is use one big loop to cool the lot... :eek::eek:

CPU block for the ITX motherboard, it's the only ITX x99 build in the world, and it uses special narrow mounts, but EK have my back!

12604952_10154030346532189_982021856351441834_o.jpg


I also found this fitment by Bitspower, it's cool so I'm going to use it!
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I could use some advice on the cooling side, in terms of tubing, radiator sizes, fittings and what not - haven't a clue so I'm going to have to invest some time looking into it.

Looking to get this build done by the end of Feb so it should move reasonably quickly! :)

More pics tomorrow...
 
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This is madness, madness I say! :D

Seriously though, definitely keeping an eye on this as it will be worth it if not just to look at a PC that is more powerfull than all the computers I've owned combined. The fact that there are two in one case is just the icing on the cake.

Too cool this what radiator configuration are you going to use as if the systems are stress testing or running at full at once it's going to generate quite a bit of heat. Still I'm sure you have this covered and I can't wait to see it :D
 
Looking forward to this, I've got the same case and I'm also planning a dual system setup but for slightly different reasons. I'll start my build log shortly. Would love to know where you plan on putting the radiators and what sizes.
 
There's no reason or benefit to put a radiator in-between every water block as the coolant temparature throughout the loop will be constant, just do whatever is neatest. Also in general the outlet from a reservoir will be at the bottom with the top as a natural fill port, if you want coolant to go in the top and out of the bottom as part of the loop then it's worth getting a multiport top and some internal tubes.

Love the ITX X99 boards, I just got one for a tiny project too, it will look great with it's mATX counterpart :)

JR
 
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Thanks guys and thanks JR for the info on the loop.

I'm going to wait until the case arrives so I can visualise things.

Sadly, despite me playing the order for the case at about 10AM yesterday and paying for Sunday delivery, my order is still 'processing' so I'll give OCUK a ring in the morning as they aren't open today! Should have received it today though :(

I'll update the thread [With pics!] in a couple of days :)
 
You did well getting that case for that price. I think i paid that back in November just for the case on it's own. I then had to buy the ITX upgrade kit separately and this was before Phanteks did the power supply splitter unit which is very handy.
 
That reminds me, I have a CORSAIR RM1000 - It's never let me down and it's not that old, but I have small concerns that it may not be upto running both systems at full whack.

I've seen the conversion kit allows for a small SFF PSU to go at the back, botton window side, now I do have a SFF PSU which I could use (Strider 600) but all the review have said you need to get longer cables and it can end up looking quite messy, which I'm keen to avoid.

I'm wondering whether to sell the RM and Strider on the MM and get a 1500+ Watt PSU and use the Phanteks power splitter.

By my calculations you've got

2x GPU which will probably draw a potential max of 450W at full chat
Then you've got, say 150W per mobo? So thats 300W and then more for disks, pumps and fans..

Could be tight..

What would you guys do?
 
That Corsair PSU should be OK. The two cards you've got are both nvidia, they don't pull the same sort of power that AMD cards do. Is it a Corsair RMi series? Can you find out how much wattage each system pulls through the PSU?
 
Sadly not the RMi, just the RM. Yup the Titan X and the 970 are both maxwell so reasonably good with juice. I have a UPS which can tell me power draw so I may run a few tests before I hook it all up!

That said, despite me having a RM only, it does have the link functionality and I have all the cables..
 
If you do fancy selling it let me know as I need a PSU and I'd like to get one that can handle an R9 390 with the potential for watercooling and adding a second card in the future.
 
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