A few words: I joined OverclockersUK when I started this built for some advice and comments. However the account processing time is took too long. I finished my pc before allowed to post a thread here 
So here it is (with the recorded build log). The build log pictures have quite bad quality (used phone), but the end result ones have better quality (used a proper camera). Though my photography skill sucks.
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Hi guys, let's get started with my pc building experience: 0,5 PC built.
My current PC was built 6 years ago together with a friend of mine. He did most of the work actually. I did not keep the PC very well maintained, but somehow it survived. It was AMD built, 600e.
I have no DIY exp. I have been studying business my whole life, my work is business related as well. I can assemble IKEAs though
This new one I've decided to build on my own. I know I'm inexperience, but I'm very ambitious. I want a solid, well designed and good looking case to house a fully water-cooled rigid tubing beastly (non 4K) PC. I will use my PC for mostly gaming, then some music production and slight video/image editing. I plan to OC both CPU and GPU. Let's see if my build gives enough heat room for some nice and tight OC!
After some research, the IN WIN 909 came up, but as it's not even released yet, and the released price will be at ~450€. I decided not to wait (seems too much for just a case, how ever awesome it is, now I cry every nights having not waited).
OK, let's talk components:
PC
Case: IN WIN 904 Plus
MOBO: Initially ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO, now ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE
PSU: AX 760 80+ Platinum Modular
RAM: 2x 8 GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 CL10
CPU: i7 4790k
GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti ArticStorm (huuuuuuuuge)
SSD: 1TB Samsung 850 EVO
HDD: 6 years old 1 TB HDD, seagate something I think
Monitor: LG 29UM65-P (overclocked at 75hz) (ill upgrade to 34UM95-P when I have more money)
Fan controller: NZXT Sentry 3
Water cooling components
Radiators: 2 x 140mm Alphacool NexXxos ST30 + 120mm Alphacool NexXxos ST30
Fans: 2x 140mm NOCTUA NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM + 1 x 120mm NOCTUA NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
CPU water block: Alphacool NexXxoS XP³ Light - Acetal Nickel
Pump + reservoir: Alphacool DDC pump Laing Ultra set
Hard tubes and normal tubes
Fittings and adapters
LEDs
Before I began, I did A LOT of research (over the course of 3 months) about the case. I KNEW how difficult it will be to pull of this build basing on my non existing experience. But I'll do it anyway
The general plan:
Flow as follow:
Pump + res >> GPU >> 120mmRad >> CPU >> 2x140mmRADs >> Pump + Res
--------------------------------------------
20.7.2015
The case arrived, time for admiration and early measurements:
Nothing to do now but wait
--------------------------------------------
29.7.2015
Water cooling components arrived
Time for some more early assembling and measuring!
First of all, the combo stack RADs + Fan
I want to do a stack Fan/Rad/Fan/Rad pull/push config at the low right bottom intake of the case.
WTFFFF? Really Alphacool? You have to mess the logo up? :'(
Looks like it's going to fit!
Now on to the back RAD (this will push the air out)
Initially looks ok
Ran into a major problem here
As you can see, the fitting holes are too close to the MOBO, and 1 were blocked, so I have to change from Fan/Rad to Rad/Fan and put the rad side way to the right for some clearance. But for now I don't have 5cm M3 screws. I'll get some later.
And of course, I forgot to order pump and reservoir
---------------------------------------------
19.08, UPDATED! With pictures working now
06.8.2015
Ordered pump and reservoir but they are out of stock, have to wait
All other components arrived! Let's assemble what we have!
First MOBO + CPU + Water block, easyyyyyy
Then SSD, RAMs easyyyyyyy
Then GPU, wow this thing is heavy, there's no place for the cane. Screw it, Imma find some other solution later
There is just enough clearance for the stack RADs!!!!!
WAIT A MINUTE!!!
See them SATA ports and POWER_LED, POWER_SW pins? ( a bit dark)
They completely block any attempt to push the stack RADs into place!!!!!!
Welp, ladies and gentlemen, time for our first compromise: Bye bye ATX Hero, Hello mATX GENE
For that, we will wait!
-------------------------------------------
12.8.2015
ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE arrived
Still no pump and res
Much more space now. BUT, 2nd compromise: the MOBO is still blocking the 2nd RAD, we will have to be satisfy with 1 RAD and pull/push fan config((((
-------------------------------------------
13.8.2015
It is now 4.a.m
I'm too tired to take pictures. Just vomited from newly painted plastics and rubbers. Ate 2 boiled eggs. Vomitted some more.
Cable management is still no where to be found, cables EVERY where, can't close the glass panels.
I'll go to sleep, have to work at 8 a.m tomorrr..... today.
It is now 11.48 p.m
FINALLY!!! Most of the stuffs is done, except for the back rad ( still waiting for the M3 screws, pump and res)
AHA! You thought I forgot about the fan controller, didn't you!
And the back cable management, glass panel closes almost nicely, still have to give some tough love to completely close it though
Don't worry, you won't see anything inside without the flash. It's black glass panel
OK let's call it a successful day and go to sleep. Also, let's not forget to support the GPU so it won't crash the whole thing
Good night!
----------------------------------------------------
18.08.2015
Alphacool confirmed shipping, should receive the rest of the water cooling components on Friday.
They were generous enough to provide me a free GELID Solutions GC Extreme thermal paste. The funny thing is, I paid before they said it was free because of my delayed shipping, so they add another one for free Quite good customer service so far.
It is 11 p.m
Apparently I forgot to plug in the second USB port of the case, AND my fan setup is pushing air out instead of pulling air in. Gotta change those.
DONE
I was not satisfied with how the ATX 24 pin power cable looks. So I made an effort of taking everything out and reroute the cable. MUCH better now IMO
-----------------------------------------------------
19.08.2015
2 more days to go, I'm becoming very impatient.
Let's test my tools if they are can cut and bend the acrylic tubes!
FIGHT 1: Acrylic Tube VS Mini Hack Saw (black banana for scale and political correctness)
Acrylic Tube 1 - Mini Hack Saw 0. I'll have to get a bigger hack saw from somewhere tomorrow
FIGHT 2: Tag team Acrylic Tube + Bending Silicon VS Duct Tape + Gf's Hair dryer
Acrylic Tube + Bending Silicon 0 - Duct Tape + Gf's Hair dryer 1
Not the best bend ever, but no blister or bubble, which is fantastic
-------
14.09.2015
So fast forward. Apparently I didn't plan well enough for hard tube to fit in this build. So I used normal tubes instead.
One of the 140mm NOCTUA fan died, already sent it back for a replacement.
I added a red rigid LEDs stick on the ceiling of the case.
Originally I wanted to control it with the fan controller, however, it couldn't because of reasons. So I plugged the LEDs to Cha_fan2 port on the Mobo instead. When CPU reaches temp of 55, the red LEDs in the case lights up, keyboard and mouse have game profile with red LEDs; and desktop screen changes automatically to red theme. So basically game mode
When CPU temp drops to 30, everything revert back to UV purple, normal mode
Overclocking and temperature
Overclocking:
CPU: stable at: 4.7 Ghz at 1.285v (I didn't push or try to find the max)
GPU: Default clock at 1026MHz Boost 1114MHz, default memory at 1753MHz. OC to 1276MHz Boost 1364MHz, memory at 1803. Stock voltage
Temperature:
CPU: idle 35 C, max load 75 C
GPU: idle 34 C, max load 63 C
imo this is quite good result consider this case has ****** airflow, also my cable management is not the best. I plan to reroute the tubes after 6 months.
Noise wise, a slight hums when idle, and just a bit louder when gaming. I'm really satisfied with the noise level, probably even better when I get the replacement for the 140mm fan to complete the push/pull setup.
Performance:
I only tested it with Firestrike and got 16610, don't know if this is good or bad for my build: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8351871
Overall I'm happy with the build. It was quite stressful for first timer, but now that I have experienced it. The next one should be much easier and better!
Let me know what you think. Or if you have any question, please ask
Thanks
So here it is (with the recorded build log). The build log pictures have quite bad quality (used phone), but the end result ones have better quality (used a proper camera). Though my photography skill sucks.---------------------- --------------------------
Hi guys, let's get started with my pc building experience: 0,5 PC built.
My current PC was built 6 years ago together with a friend of mine. He did most of the work actually. I did not keep the PC very well maintained, but somehow it survived. It was AMD built, 600e.
I have no DIY exp. I have been studying business my whole life, my work is business related as well. I can assemble IKEAs though
This new one I've decided to build on my own. I know I'm inexperience, but I'm very ambitious. I want a solid, well designed and good looking case to house a fully water-cooled rigid tubing beastly (non 4K) PC. I will use my PC for mostly gaming, then some music production and slight video/image editing. I plan to OC both CPU and GPU. Let's see if my build gives enough heat room for some nice and tight OC!
After some research, the IN WIN 909 came up, but as it's not even released yet, and the released price will be at ~450€. I decided not to wait (seems too much for just a case, how ever awesome it is, now I cry every nights having not waited).
OK, let's talk components:
PC
Case: IN WIN 904 Plus
MOBO: Initially ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO, now ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE
PSU: AX 760 80+ Platinum Modular
RAM: 2x 8 GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 CL10
CPU: i7 4790k
GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 980 Ti ArticStorm (huuuuuuuuge)
SSD: 1TB Samsung 850 EVO
HDD: 6 years old 1 TB HDD, seagate something I think
Monitor: LG 29UM65-P (overclocked at 75hz) (ill upgrade to 34UM95-P when I have more money)
Fan controller: NZXT Sentry 3
Water cooling components
Radiators: 2 x 140mm Alphacool NexXxos ST30 + 120mm Alphacool NexXxos ST30
Fans: 2x 140mm NOCTUA NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM + 1 x 120mm NOCTUA NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
CPU water block: Alphacool NexXxoS XP³ Light - Acetal Nickel
Pump + reservoir: Alphacool DDC pump Laing Ultra set
Hard tubes and normal tubes
Fittings and adapters
LEDs
Before I began, I did A LOT of research (over the course of 3 months) about the case. I KNEW how difficult it will be to pull of this build basing on my non existing experience. But I'll do it anyway
The general plan:
Flow as follow:
Pump + res >> GPU >> 120mmRad >> CPU >> 2x140mmRADs >> Pump + Res
--------------------------------------------
20.7.2015
The case arrived, time for admiration and early measurements:
Nothing to do now but wait
--------------------------------------------
29.7.2015
Water cooling components arrived
Time for some more early assembling and measuring!
First of all, the combo stack RADs + Fan
I want to do a stack Fan/Rad/Fan/Rad pull/push config at the low right bottom intake of the case.
WTFFFF? Really Alphacool? You have to mess the logo up? :'(
Looks like it's going to fit!
Now on to the back RAD (this will push the air out)
Initially looks ok
Ran into a major problem here
As you can see, the fitting holes are too close to the MOBO, and 1 were blocked, so I have to change from Fan/Rad to Rad/Fan and put the rad side way to the right for some clearance. But for now I don't have 5cm M3 screws. I'll get some later.
And of course, I forgot to order pump and reservoir
---------------------------------------------
19.08, UPDATED!
With pictures working now06.8.2015
Ordered pump and reservoir but they are out of stock, have to wait
All other components arrived! Let's assemble what we have!
First MOBO + CPU + Water block, easyyyyyy
Then SSD, RAMs easyyyyyyy
Then GPU, wow this thing is heavy, there's no place for the cane. Screw it, Imma find some other solution later
There is just enough clearance for the stack RADs!!!!!
WAIT A MINUTE!!!
See them SATA ports and POWER_LED, POWER_SW pins? ( a bit dark)
They completely block any attempt to push the stack RADs into place!!!!!!
Welp, ladies and gentlemen, time for our first compromise: Bye bye ATX Hero, Hello mATX GENE
For that, we will wait!
-------------------------------------------
12.8.2015
ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE arrived
Still no pump and res
Much more space now. BUT, 2nd compromise: the MOBO is still blocking the 2nd RAD, we will have to be satisfy with 1 RAD and pull/push fan config
((((-------------------------------------------
13.8.2015
It is now 4.a.m
I'm too tired to take pictures. Just vomited from newly painted plastics and rubbers. Ate 2 boiled eggs. Vomitted some more.
Cable management is still no where to be found, cables EVERY where, can't close the glass panels.
I'll go to sleep, have to work at 8 a.m tomorrr..... today.
It is now 11.48 p.m
FINALLY!!! Most of the stuffs is done, except for the back rad ( still waiting for the M3 screws, pump and res)
AHA! You thought I forgot about the fan controller, didn't you!
And the back cable management, glass panel closes almost nicely, still have to give some tough love to completely close it though
Don't worry, you won't see anything inside without the flash. It's black glass panel
OK let's call it a successful day and go to sleep. Also, let's not forget to support the GPU so it won't crash the whole thing
Good night!
----------------------------------------------------
18.08.2015
Alphacool confirmed shipping, should receive the rest of the water cooling components on Friday.
They were generous enough to provide me a free GELID Solutions GC Extreme thermal paste. The funny thing is, I paid before they said it was free because of my delayed shipping, so they add another one for free
Quite good customer service so far.It is 11 p.m
Apparently I forgot to plug in the second USB port of the case, AND my fan setup is pushing air out instead of pulling air in. Gotta change those.
DONE
I was not satisfied with how the ATX 24 pin power cable looks. So I made an effort of taking everything out and reroute the cable. MUCH better now IMO
-----------------------------------------------------
19.08.2015
2 more days to go, I'm becoming very impatient.
Let's test my tools if they are can cut and bend the acrylic tubes!
FIGHT 1: Acrylic Tube VS Mini Hack Saw (black banana for scale and political correctness)
Acrylic Tube 1 - Mini Hack Saw 0. I'll have to get a bigger hack saw from somewhere tomorrow
FIGHT 2: Tag team Acrylic Tube + Bending Silicon VS Duct Tape + Gf's Hair dryer
Acrylic Tube + Bending Silicon 0 - Duct Tape + Gf's Hair dryer 1
Not the best bend ever, but no blister or bubble, which is fantastic
-------
14.09.2015
So fast forward. Apparently I didn't plan well enough for hard tube to fit in this build. So I used normal tubes instead.
One of the 140mm NOCTUA fan died, already sent it back for a replacement.
I added a red rigid LEDs stick on the ceiling of the case.
Originally I wanted to control it with the fan controller, however, it couldn't because of reasons. So I plugged the LEDs to Cha_fan2 port on the Mobo instead. When CPU reaches temp of 55, the red LEDs in the case lights up, keyboard and mouse have game profile with red LEDs; and desktop screen changes automatically to red theme. So basically game mode
When CPU temp drops to 30, everything revert back to UV purple, normal mode
Overclocking and temperature
Overclocking:
CPU: stable at: 4.7 Ghz at 1.285v (I didn't push or try to find the max)
GPU: Default clock at 1026MHz Boost 1114MHz, default memory at 1753MHz. OC to 1276MHz Boost 1364MHz, memory at 1803. Stock voltage
Temperature:
CPU: idle 35 C, max load 75 C
GPU: idle 34 C, max load 63 C
imo this is quite good result consider this case has ****** airflow, also my cable management is not the best. I plan to reroute the tubes after 6 months.
Noise wise, a slight hums when idle, and just a bit louder when gaming. I'm really satisfied with the noise level, probably even better when I get the replacement for the 140mm fan to complete the push/pull setup.
Performance:
I only tested it with Firestrike and got 16610, don't know if this is good or bad for my build: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8351871
Overall I'm happy with the build. It was quite stressful for first timer, but now that I have experienced it. The next one should be much easier and better!
Let me know what you think. Or if you have any question, please ask
Thanks
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