Build Log: Fred The Ripper - Watercooled RGB Threadripper

Tom B · 22 Aug 2017 at 20:02

This build will be replacing the one in my signature

Case: Aerocool P7-C1 (white)

Threadripper 1950X
Gigabyte Aorus Gamin 7
32gb Trident Z
980Ti (From current build)
EVGA G2 750w (From current build).

My current machine is way too loud so I'm going for watercooling with lots of rads (overkill!) with fans on low RPM.

The case has been modded to enable it to fit a thicker rad in push/pull. I have 2x XSPC RX360 rads (front/rear) and a XSPC EX240 (top).

I currently have the CPU, RAM, CPU block and motherboard on order. Hopefully they will be arriving soon. At the moment, I've been designing the look and planning where I need to drill holes for my pump/watercooling.

The colour scheme is black/white with green lights/accents:

One of my pet peeves with cases is the rear IO cables. If you want the window visible so you can see in, you can see the cables coming out the rear. However you try to manage it, it looks messy.

Solution: Radiator on rear:

Here's how I will be positioning the case on my desk (note: I have not attached the bottom panel, it will be on its white stand)

With the extra radiator on the rear, all the rear IO cables can be run down and hidden behind it. I'm going to drill some holes in the rear of the case to pass tubes through. I'm going to have three (or six) fans on the rear radiator...

And this causes a problem: I cannot plug things into the GPU if it's behind the fan, and I cannot pass the watercooling tubes back up into the case as the connectors are where the PSU is. I want all drains at bottom so I can fill by turning the case upside down, my pump/res will be under the shard.

My solution: Wait a minute, those are fake fans!

I was able to pop out the RGB LED's shroud and I have removed the fan blades/motor from the casing. There's enough room to run a tube inside the fan. I'll hacksaw out the bottom and top sections of the translucent plastic ring to allow tubes and cables run behind the radiator, "inside" the fan, with it looking the same as the rest. I'm going to do this for the two bottom fans on the rad. What's more, the LED lights still work and I can put back the parts of the clear ring that will be visible.

I have some more (different) fans arriving for pull fans on both 360 rads, as these don't look very nice from behind as the lighting is lost.

Will post updates once the rest of my build arrives. I expect the last thing to be the EK threadripper block which is arriving at OcUK on the 25th.

Tom B · 29 Aug 2017 at 20:15

My CPU, Motherboard and RAM arrived, I thought I'd do a video build log rather than just photos:

esK` · 30 Aug 2017 at 21:29

Either you're a fairly small chap or that Threadripper box is chuffing massive!

bagleyboy · 30 Aug 2017 at 21:33

That case looks amazing, love the green colour scheme. Please tell me you're sticking with a Nvidia card for it.

Vince · 30 Aug 2017 at 22:48

Subbed, I like the look of this and am also interested in what you can do with the memory. I can't seem to get the same kit, albeit two of them running stable at 3200 yet.

mods1965 · 31 Aug 2017 at 06:45

That's some cooling you have going on there! It will be interesting to see what RPM you can run at.

Tom B · 31 Aug 2017 at 15:43

esK` said:
Either you're a fairly small chap or that Threadripper box is chuffing massive!

I think it's perspective, it's less that a cubic foot. I'm skinny as you can see in the video but I'm 5'11 so not that small really!

bagleyboy said:
That case looks amazing, love the green colour scheme. Please tell me you're sticking with a Nvidia card for it.

Yes, I should have mentioned that in the video, I'm using my existing 980ti. I don't game as much as I used to (hence going for threadripper) and the only real upgrade is a 1080 Ti. I refuse to upgrade every generation on principle so I'll probably be getting a 1180ti (or 2080ti, whatever it's called) once Volta Ti cards are out.

mods1965 said:
That's some cooling you have going on there! It will be interesting to see what RPM you can run at.

I'm hoping I can run the fans on low. The fans I'm using have low/high settings and aren't PWM but they're quiet on the low setting, with 3 rads I'm hoping I can just keep them running on low under load.

Vince said:
Subbed, I like the look of this and am also interested in what you can do with the memory. I can't seem to get the same kit, albeit two of them running stable at 3200 yet.

I've got 32gb Trident Z 3466mhz CAS16. No idea how it will run, but it should run at either 3466 CAS 16 or I might be able to get 3200 at CAS 14 from it. I don't expect there to be a lot of difference between the two and the 3466 was £60 cheaper.

Still waiting for the CPU block before I can do much else unfortunately.

Vince · 31 Aug 2017 at 16:01

Tom B said:
I've got 32gb Trident Z 3466mhz CAS16. No idea how it will run, but it should run at either 3466 CAS 16 or I might be able to get 3200 at CAS 14 from it. I don't expect there to be a lot of difference between the two and the 3466 was £60 cheaper.

Still waiting for the CPU block before I can do much else unfortunately.

Yea I have that very same ram only 8 sticks rather than 4... I'm not really having much luck with it 3066 is stable, 3200 is bootable but not yet stable for me. 3466 is a pipe dream (at least for me on the Taichi)

This does have 1 caveat - I have no idea what I am doing

Tom B · 2 Sep 2017 at 19:34

Next part of my build log, explaining rear radiator along with how I'm planning to drain and fill the loop.

Tom B · 5 Sep 2017 at 16:51

I've done a few of the holes but I'm going to put that together in a longer video.

I ran into a slight problem with my top radiator- There was about 1.5mm too little room to fit the motherboard. To fix it, I had to countersink the screws into the top radiator fans

Tom B · 9 Sep 2017 at 17:39

I drilled several holes in the case for the pump and various fittings/tubes. Take a look how I connected the pump to the rad, a mix of all different colours and types of fitting all chained together, works though without leaking., and it's hidden away under the shroud.

ALXAndy · 10 Sep 2017 at 11:49

You need a Dr Drop badly.

Tom B · 10 Sep 2017 at 16:47

ALXAndy said:
You need a Dr Drop badly.

Do you think I have too much length or restriction for the D5 pump to manage? Or because it will make seeing leaks easier?

ALXAndy · 10 Sep 2017 at 17:25

Tom B said:
Do you think I have too much length or restriction for the D5 pump to manage? Or because it will make seeing leaks easier?

It will show leaks with a drop of pressure. You pump in 0.6 bar and then watch the needle. It's just so much easier than keep putting water in there. I mean the only thing it doesn't do is tell you where the leak is but mostly you can hear it.. One thing you need to learn fast about fittings is how ungodly tight you need to crank on them to stop them leaking. It requires some force.

Tom B · 17 Sep 2017 at 21:39

Finally finished the build, will post a video after I've finished editing it but here's it built:

Excuse the messy room. I had everything all over the place during the build.

Tom B · 23 Sep 2017 at 11:54

A few more pictures from a better camera:

Tom B · 23 Sep 2017 at 13:19

Vince said:
Yea I have that very same ram only 8 sticks rather than 4... I'm not really having much luck with it 3066 is stable, 3200 is bootable but not yet stable for me. 3466 is a pipe dream (at least for me on the Taichi)

This does have 1 caveat - I have no idea what I am doing

I know it's rather late, been busy with work and had to wait for some additional parts but after selecting XMP it worked at 3466 without any other configuration. Perhaps it's because you're using 64gb.

Vince · 23 Sep 2017 at 13:29

Tom B said:
I know it's rather late, been busy with work and had to wait for some additional parts but after selecting XMP it worked at 3466 without any other configuration. Perhaps it's because you're using 64gb.

Cheers for that, I think you are right. I knew I would have to make some concessions for running all 8 modules and to be honest I could probably get them there or close with some voltage but then I would have to spend ages tweaking and messing around making sure it's stable. Years ago I would have been willing to sit there for hours on end running stability tests and benchmarks but those days are long gone.

Edit: Forgot to say that your build is looking awesome. Good job