[Build Log] Back To Water!

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its great love it bits

Thanks.

Love that GPU to CPU bend! Looking forward to see some colour flowing through it

Same mate. That bend worked out looking better than expected.

Looking good. how easy is hard tubing?

I wouldn't call it easy at all. If you wanted to use fittings for all the changes of direction then that would be easy but it's super expensive and looks worse Imo. I'm glad I ordered extra tubing for making mistakes. Takes abit if planning and lots of trial and error. A bending kit helps but really not that important.

 

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thats bang tidy, well done fella.

Thanks mate.

Ak ok, think i'll give it a miss then

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy now it's done but it would have took maybe 5 mins using normal flexible tubing and a lot lot cheaper.

 

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Well the end result looks excellent mate, pro bending!

Thanks glad it's getting such good feedback. Normally the tubing ends up looking better once collant is running through it.

how did you find doing the bending\measuring?

looks amazing but I'm always put off with water cooling as I don't like the flex stuff you can use and would much prefer the bending method

I was finding it very difficult as the ram, cpu and gpu blocks were so close with lots of changes of direction to keep all the tubing running vertical or horizontal but using fittings to allow the bends to work out further apart helped loads. I wish I had taken a photo of my first attempt to compare.

Absolutely brilliant job! You should run a masterclass

Thanks it's turned out better than I expected.

 

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Thanks mate my aim was to keep it looking as neat as possible to have mounted the top rad the opposite way around to how you would normally and the front rad so the ports are in the lower chamber.

I now have the headache of trying to get it all connected up in the lower chamber as it's very very tight. I spent a hour or so today trying to figure it out and made a little progress but I seem to need a never ending supply of fittings to get it to work.

 

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Had a delivery today.

A second 780ti. This one is a EVGA SC. Along with a new block and 2 backplates for both cards.

They all fitted together with edge of the pcb colour coded black. Weighs loads.

Bit skint now but should finish it by end of month. Just need fittings I think now and my psu cables to be returned from pexon as had a incorrectly made 24 pin cable.

 

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Small update

So when I started buying bits for this build not only did I decided it would be a good idea to spend £20+ on a sli bridge but to buy one that was the wrong length for my motherboard.

So plan b was a basic cable my mate got included in his motherboard.

As you can see it looks terrible and with the lengths taken elsewhere in the build it couldn't stay like that. I also couldn't bring myself to spending another load of money on these over priced items.

So went ahead and pulled the Evga bridge apart.

And back together with ribbon cable folded to length.

Thanks.

 

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Cracking looking build, that loop is fantastic.

Thanks.

EK blocks just look simple and stylish. It's easy to see why they are the most popular choice.

Totally agree mate it was a easy choice. Just wish it was a bit cheaper.

nice mod mate

Thanks.

Fantastic build as well you know. I've been waiting for the ATX mid tower to come out because I thought I'd struggle to fit everything in the mATX but you've done an excellent job here. Looking forward to seeing it with the coolant in and up and running. Where are you putting the drives? Also what are you doing for a fan controller? Finally, any pics of the pump and res installed? I'm incredibly nosy.

Yea it's a bit of a squeeze. Drives I'm using a 250Gb m.2 drive that will be mounted between the gpus on the mobo itself and a 250gb samsung evo 2.5" behind the motherboard on the proper mounting point. I have a NAS so no need for any storage drives. Fans will be run off the included controller that's hidden behind the mobo which is controlled via the cpu header on the mobo. So they will all spin up and slow down depending on cpu temp.

I've not mounted the pump and res yet as it's so tight the loop in lower chamber needs to be finalised before I can drill the case. Will need to wait a few weeks till I get paid again to order more fittings.

Don't worry about the questions it's nice to have people show interest.

 

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Well I don't want any pipes running at any angles so must be either horizontal or vertical and because of this the bends looked messy. The way around this was to use some fittings to allow space between bends.

I know it seems a bit anal but I feel keeping it all uniform would make it look neater in the end. The lower section is a bit of a headache but getting there slowly.

 

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Update.

Had a few hours trying to figure out how to get it to fit it all in the lower chamber. I think I've got it figured out but not had all my power supply cables back from pexon yet but I think it will fit.

First I had to make a little extra room in the front to allow a fitting to sit right. This is outlet from main chamber to inlet on roof radiator.

This is outlet from pump to inlet on front radiator. Just fits but worked out very expensive for one connection.

It's super tight down there. Still need to sort out cable on pump.

And finally outlet of radiator in roof to inlet on pump that also connects to the drain and fill port.

Thanks.

 

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Small update.

Got around to sorting out the pump cables today. Stole idea from Deathjester and his build here to wire the pump directly to the power supply as I didn't want to have any molex plugs used in the build at all.

So to start with I needed a plug to connect to the power supply so I sacrificed a molex cable which I felt was the least important cable to cut up.

I then removed the molex from the pump, stripped the cable back and soldered them together. After covering with heatshrink.

Then shortened the blue cable and sleeved it all in black.

Just waiting for payday before I can finish the build now.

Thanks for looking.

 

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Tiny update.

Got my 24 pin back from pexon today as was not working correctly but I think it's OK now. I'm not sure if the - 5v light not lighting up is a problem?

I also picked up some distilled water to have a go cleaning my rads with a mayhems pro kit.

Ended up leaving them for 24 hours which didn't seem to cause any issues. I did remove some of the plating on the stop fittings I used though so it's plenty strong enough to clean the inside of the radiators. One was pretty clean and one had some old blue coolant but they are both nice and clean now.

Will hopefully have the fittings needed in the next 10 days so can get the build finished. Would like to do something with the side panel as the window is really small but not quite sure what yet.

 

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Right need opinions on which you guys think I should go for?

This is stock window to compare.

Option 1.

Option 2.

Option 3.

Option 4.

Any other ideas you may have or tweaks to the above?

 

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Option 1!

Thanks

I'd say option 1, but maybe align the front edges of the window to follow the angles on the front of the case?

Hows this? Will replace this in the last page.

Option 2 would get my vote. Love the look of this man, awesome work

Thanks I do think its between option one and two.

Will also add this into the mix as option 4.

Ive contacted parvum to see about getting the acrylic inlaid into the panel like the stock one.

 

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With all the comments below ive revised option 1 to allow more of the hardware to be on show. Still waiting on Parvum to get back to me with a quote.

They all look good man. I'd be tempted to keep the window as simple as possible to go with the clean minimal layout in side - maybe that's just my OCD talking lol.

Yea I know what you mean mate.

The revised option one is the way to go I think, it looks great!

Thanks.

Option 1 defo, the brain prefers symmetry apparently !

For the actual window I will be more precise than my paint skills.

Option 1, but maybe extend it towards the back of the case? as it seem from the original picture that you miss the back of the PC.

Thanks for pointing that out I totally agree now thinking about it so have revised again with larger window that should allow view of all hardware.

Yeah that's what I meant, looks good option 1!

Thanks.

 

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Update

When buying parts for this build I paid extra to get the XSPC rads over the cheaper ek version for the white colour. That was a waste of money now.


Over the course of the build though I've knocked the rads about abit bit fitting and removing over and over. I also thought the white didn't match anything else internally so thought abit of a make over was in order.


First they got stripped down.

The screws needed a touch up.

I had the outer casing painted at a local body shop in a colour called stealth from the current Ford ST3.

I also gave the core a touch up with some satin black paint before reassembly. They should tie the inside together better while having something different to other builds.

Last of the fittings have been ordered from caseking and am in talks with parvum over the side panel so it's getting close.

Thanks for looking.

 

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Nice job on the rads mate, looks real clean.

Yea they are not perfect but a lot better than I could do.

The rads turned out great!

Thanks.

The paint job on the radiators looks excellent. I also like the look of the sleeved pump. Keep up the great work

Thanks.

That radiator finish is superb m8

Cheers hope to have this fired up for leak testing this week then just got to sort out lighting and the window.

 

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Update time.

Bigger update today.

First was a quick test of the system with the second card in and all went fine.

Then one of the last jobs on the build is to mount the pump. I soon realized though there was no way I could tighten the nuts on the mounting bolts as there is next to no room in the lower section now.

So I first thought I could maybe solder the nuts to the bracket but that failed miserably so went to plan B.

First was to remove some paint and scratch the bracket to create a key.

Then put the bolts through just to hold the nuts in place so they don't move while it's setting.

For holding the nuts I'm using some jb weld as it goes rock solid so should be ideal. It comes in two parts that must be mixed together.

After 24 hours it was set solid and ready for a lick of paint. Then to reassemble.

After that I got it built up ready for leak testing.

As you can see the pump is very tight and hidden away down the bottom. The only way to see the level of the coolant is the little gap down the side of the psu with a torch.

And this is where I'm at now. A 24 hour leak test running the mayhems cleaner through the system and so far so good.

Just got to flush it through tomorrow a few times before refilling with grey coolant and connecting up the power cables.

All comments welcomed. Thanks for looking.

 

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Yes it is very hard to photo but once I've done the cable management I will take some photos of the rear.

 

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Haha, good stuff, looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks.

Lovely build and love the pictures. It gives such a clear idea of your thought process. Keep up the good work Are you going to spray that PSU cover the same colour as the rads?

Thanks I could do with a better camera. Might get professional photos done when finished. Nah I really don't want to take it all apart again as it's a total pain to put together being so tight. Also unlike larger phanteks cases it's not removable so may need cutting and drilling to remove. It took two people to push the pump into place which I thought may cause vibration but even on level 5 it's near silent which is good.

I'm still in talks with parvum regarding the side panel and I'm yet to sort out lighting.

 

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Update.


I had to make one last adjustment to a cable which was the power cable for the fan controller (That is getting replaced due to it not controlling the fans correctly). It was alittle too short to make a neat job of the cables on the rear.

Cut and added some cable in making it a few inches longer.

All done.

And finally a teaser shot of the interior. Ive got lighting to sort out inside and the side panel to do but im pretty happy with it.

Once finished should be getting some better photos taken.

Thanks.