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Project Excessive: Cosmos 2 extreme water cooling system
Hi.
I'm starting a rather extreme water cooling system, inside a Cosmos 2.
I'll keep this thread updated as I go on with this build; it's not likely to be totally finished until near October when the last components go in, 2x Geforce 690GTX's and 2x WD raptor drives in an array for gaming.
I call it, Project Excessive
Before we get to the geekystuff. A few notes.
Firstly: The starting point is already a nice system. However due to recently beating two types of cancer and currently being treated for side effects of massive radiation exposure, I have decided to treat myself. I'm well aware most people would consider the starting point an "excessive" computer already; I have lots more kit to go in here.
Secondly: Apologies for the colour balance in the photos. I'm using the camera in my S2. I'll get decent pictures of the build when done. But before then you shall have the S2 camera photos, and you shall appreciate them.
Third: This is my first proper water cooling build. While I've messed around with custom air funnels for cooling before, this is my first proper water cooling build.
Fourth :Text in red is where an issue arose or my original plans were wrong.
The Goal
The goal here is to overclock this i7 to ~5ghz while stable without roasting the CPU.
This cooling system is going to be expanded and I will be using custom thermoelectric components. I aim to have a stable running temperature when NOT overclocked of ~281.15-285.15 Kelvin. (8-12°C, and you people who use Fahrenheit can go learn the Kelvin scale). How low I can go is limited by condensation, however its possible I'll seal the board with an Oil to counter this. Ideally I want to be able to pull 600W+ of heat out of this system.
Other notes
While this is my first water-cooling build, I have been overclocking/upgrading and tinkering with PC's since I was 7 or so (I'm now 25).
I will be playing a lot of games on this system. I will also possibly be doing some research if I get round to it.
I detest my room getting hot and hotter as I game for long and longer time periods. So, behold the quest for the ultimate cooling system.
Its worth noting, I've gone full nerd on this cooling system. I'm putting my physics degree to good use.
1. The starting point.
For people who haven't seen a Cosmos 2 or seen it next to an object that shows the scale:
1.
My desk is a dining table from Ikea. A large flat surface, all you need! The Cosmos 2 won't fit under it.
Most of you will notice the floor-stander speaker. This is one of two; a pair of Mordant-Short 916i's. The PC has an optical out to a Sony STR-DB850. I got fed up of terrible computer speakers, so opted for the real thing.
The keen amongst you will notice the antenna. This is a standard TP link antenna. The Cosmos 2 has so much metal in it; it really does create interference with wireless. Nowhere near enough to make them stop working, but if you don't have great signal and you use VPN's to connect to the office. I'd recommend an antenna. Else your error rate will be significantly higher compared to no cosmos 2.
The keener amongst you may notice the headphones. These are a pair of Ozone Gaming Gear Spark Stereo Gaming Headset. These are connected via a Logitech USB sound card, which I had left over from a pair of Logitech G330 Gaming Headset. I found the G330's uncomfortable as you couldn't adjust the Yaw on the headphones, so they tended to bend one's ears backwards. Rather uncomfortable.
Plus I sat on them, so...
I use these for Mumble and Skype. Basically VOIP software only.
The keenest amongst you may notice the Bumble Bee.
All hail the Bee.
The PC currently weighs between 25-30kg. The case weighs 22kg when EMPTY. You cannot easily take it to a LAN party.
1.1 Current hardware.
Currently the hardware inside the Cosmos 2 is:
Now with that said, lets focus on the pure, unadulterated geekdom.
1.2 The upgrades
This is the first batch upgrades.
2.
People always like to see a photo, so there you go.
I've left some stuff off as Overclockers have yet to deliver some goods. They were not in stock upon point of ordering, I was well aware of that. So far the service has been excellent.
I've also left off the coolant, tubing and connectors as they're boring. You'll see them when the build is done.
So here's a list of current components.
This is broken down as:
Total cost of upgrades: ~£1650
Total cost of PC (excluding screens/mouse/keyboard/speakers):~£4,000
More hardware will be added to this over time, check back for updates.
I would also recommend a snack while assembling this from the start. Doing the proper cabling (even in the Cosmos 2, which has plenty of space) took me several hours.
I will not be water cooling the 6850HD's. While they're good cards, I'm not spending 50% of their value on a waterblock. Bad long term investment (oh the irony).
Some people have asked me why I didn't go for a ROG motherboard (Asus Republic of Gaming) or the ASUS Rampage.
The answers simple. My friends have had bad experiences with ROG boards, faulty bios on arrival, dead chips on arrival. Lots of RMA's. While it's not fair to slate a company due to one bad batch, its stress I don't want at the moment.
As for why not ASUS Rampage?
I have a Cosmos 2. Space is not an issue. Performance is.
The Xpower Big Bang 2 has dimensions: 34.5cm(L) x 26.4cm(W)
The Asus Rampage iv has dimensions: 30.5 cm x 27.2 cm. (I presume L by W)
That may only be 4.5 cm difference, but that's the difference between a useable PCIE slot, and one which you can't because the motherboard is too crowded.
1.3 New Hardware installs.
The new RAM is in, and I'm now rocking 32GB of RAM. While RAM isn't at all hard to install and 32GB is totally excessive; the main joy now is that quad channel architecture is now active. Hurray!
Update 28/7/12
The new OCZ vertex 4 is in and it is fast. I thought the Intel 320 series was fast. This is... :O
It's almost worth quoting Lonely Island about a certain "pants" incident, but not quite.
The new PSU is in. The OCZ 1250w beast. It's a modular design one and its rather good. For those unfamilar, the modular design means you can just not plug cables you don't need into the PSU. You get a bag to keep them in.
Both reservoirs are in, and so is the Aquaero computer.
This is where we hit a snag.
To install BOTH reservoirs and the Aquaero requires 3 front bays.
The Cosmos 2 has 3 front bays. It also has 2 hot swap drives. (Lockable front bay hard disk enclosures).
Sorry Coolermaster, but these are terrible. The connecters (power and SATA) are plugged in/unplugged when one closes/opens the door. They are stubborn to align. Also this means if you have some idiot friend who doesn't understand computers they could very easily open this door if you leave it unlocked. If you're pc's on they'll wreck one of your HDD's. Hurray! Add in the fact that the keys are generic, easily replicated and the lock is really weak... and its not secure at all.
So that hot swap bay had to die. In fire. With petrol.
After removing that, one would assume that these take up the same space as a 5.25" drive bay, given the colossal size of the Cosmos 2. You'd be wrong.
The 2 bays are 1cm short of the space required for 2 5.25" bays.
So out comes one of my DVD writers. Two DVD writers are very necessary. What happens if you're reading data off one disk and want to burn a DVD? OR you're installing a non Steam (yay)/non Origin (boo, PoS) game which comes on DVD's? Do you really want to sit there and change DVD half way through, and then possibly a 3rd time when the installer demands disc one again?
No you don't. You need 2 drives!
Sadly I now only have one DVD drive, until I find a slim fit DVD drive. Its such a hard life.
Additionally there are insufficient screw holes to mount a 5.25" drive. So you need to get a drill, and attack that Cosmos 2 drive enclosure. I would recommend a tape measure too. Just drilling and turning the enclosure into Swiss cheese wont ensure a happy case which lasts.
This leaves you with a problem.
As I said, I removed one 5.25 drive bay and I'll be looking for 2 slim line ones in its place.
This leaves you with a gaping hole, too small for a 5.25" drive.
3.
To counter this, you need a U shaped structure, on its side, that's approximately 2 mm thick at right hand side.
You then rotate this 90' on the side: [
This is to rest the Aquaero computer on and to raise it to the level of the pre-made screw holes.
Also I'll be putting a gauze mesh below the DVD drive to the Aquaero. This will allow ventilation and separate the heat from the Aquaero (hardly any) from the rest of the PC.
But this chamber must be acoustically dampened. It is a way in to the PC (there will have to be a slit for the leads) which means that the noise will be able to escape. So bring on the dampening foam.
Chances are I'll end up sealing this slit once the leads are all in with liquid silicon style window sealer.
1.3.1 Aquareo 5 controller
As I previously mentioned the orignal plan was to use a gauze/filter to allow air flow.
I decided against that and just decided to seal the front of this housing unit.
4.
5.
6.
7.
There's the 4 views of it that I've taken. The Aquareo will be mounted in the front, 6.. This will then be mounted in the hot swap drive bay. Which is terrible, and needs to die.
While some of the current Aquaero features wont be used, the plan is to include a second separatewater-cooling loop and pump to keep the HDD arrays cool, so the fans have to do minimal work. This loop will use some of those features.
But that requires modding of the bottom of the cosmos.
Also more paychecks, unless anyone feels like donating to this project.
Also, this Aquaero housing was made with the help of my Uncle, while I can come up with measurements and make crude designs, I'm no where near as skilled as he is with making models, so many thanks to him.
Bonus points to anyone who can identify the red books.
Onto the reservoirs.
It is not optional to have two for this setup. It is compulsory. You'll see why later.
Currently they are empty, but they smelt so terrible I've removed the bulkheads and I'm letting them air.
When you screw them in, only two of the holes aline with the drive enclosure.
1.3.2 General Hardware Installs
8.
4 is a fan LED power cable.
The screws at 1 & 3 align. There is one behind the clip above 3, and the screw below 2.
This however you cant get at unless you make screw 3 & the unlabeled one miss their holes.
Currently there are anti vibration washers around screws 3 & 2 (and the unlabeled one, lets call it 5).
2 is a soft plastic one.
3 is a hard one, the kind you would commonly associate with motherboard standoffs. However they work well as anti vibration washers. Does it do anything? Probably not.
Probably a barely detectable rattle is reduced as the computer ages. However for ~£1-£2.50 a pack of 50 (2p-5p a washer) its not going to break the bank/budget. If it does anything its a win!
1, (both of them) have been inserted in part of the clip. To do this isn't hard, you just have to bend the clip. If this was original design or not, I doubt (as a 5.25" drive screw hole doesn't fit there) but it fits nicely into the Koolance tanks if you bend it. This secures the tanks so, viewed from the front, there is now 1x screw on the left side and 2x on the right.
The right has quick lock clips. I'll show these later, but you can still fit 1 screw in.
If you don't bend this clip (which doesn't do irreparable damage to the case) then the water tank pivots about two points. Which if the case is moved will lead to sloshing. This jolting movement when being transported leads to impulse knocking on the connectors. Never a good thing.
9.
This is how not to cable tidy. While out of sight, and out of mind in a Cosmos 2 is easy.... put some workmanship in. Don't do what I've done. Don't do this. I feel this has to be pointed out so you know what to avoid.
Really I'm taking one for the team...
But that was the old PSU. The new ones in, cabling is a lot tidier, honest.
10.
This is the Noctua's installed in the top. If you see the 2 screws left of the Bee, one above and one below; these are the two you need to remove to install the 3rd fan. From other forums people have struggled with this. So there you go.
1.4 Next Hardware upgrades
The next upgrade will be:
Watercooling parts 11/8/12
2.0 Airflow
While this is a watercooled system, the airflow is still very important.
The airflow layout is as follows:
12.
If you look at the actual airflow, position 1 has 3 fans capable of 92.3 cubic metres/hour airflow.
Which in theory means you need 276.9 cubic meters/hour max capacity air flow into the case.
However, then you need to add in the resistance factor of the radiator, and revise the 92.3 m^3/h figure. This means you'll have to hardcap some fans with resistors & run them at 60-70% to get the balance right.
I'd tell you the answer, but then you'd have nothing to work out for yourself.
On that note, I'm off to install some of the upgrades.
Airflow Update 28/7/2012
After installing the fans, there were several issues. Disappointing start.
Turns out the fan in position #1 was a 140mm fan. Apparently I forgot to measure this rear vent. While a 120mm will fit, you get a gap each side of the fan which air can flow in/out of in an uncontrolled fashion. This leads to a) noise, b) reduces your efficiency. I'll be ordering an NF-P14-FLX fan to compensate for this. Let that be a lesson. Check your fan sizes!
#8 presented a problem too. My original plan was to have 2x F12's here. But there's a catch.
The HDD array fans you will almost never want running on full RPM. Low is fine.
The NF-F12's have a 4 pin plug. The Cosmos 2 built in controller has 3 pin plugs. This means I'll have to use ports on the Aquaero fan controller to control these. It also means I have to get adapters to be able to plug them in. They come with a Y splitter. Currently I've daisy chained two Y splitters together, leaving two 4 pin female fan power plugs free to power the NF-F12's.
Installed in the holder:
13.
You have to remove the rubber pads from the NF-F12's which is a shame, but your choice is push hard on molded plastic which is part of the Cosmos or take them off. Given the pain in the arse factor that it'd be to get a new fan mount for the HDD array, I chose to remove the rubber pads. These NF-F12's are in position 4. The HDD array, position 8, now has 1x NF-S12B, and 1x stock CM fan.
Position 4 is now controlled by the motherboard and 8 the Cosmos 2 fan controller.
Or I put these in position 4, plug them into the motherboard with extension cables and let the bios handle it.
As I have a spare NF-S12B which was for position 1, but as some fool (100% not me) didn't check the fan size, it's too small.... I chose to put this in position 4.
End results is: 1 more NF-S12B is needed in position 8; this allows both to run at 600-900 rpm for less noise. This also moves 2 NF-F12's to the graphics intake, and allows for motherboard controlling. Freeing up cosmos controller ports and keeping Aquaero ports free for the thermoelectric fans.
All Noctua fans are now in, save the ones which will be added to the thermoelectric components (yes, plural).
2.2 Radiator fan mounting.
I've stuck this in its own section to draw your attention to it.
If you look at picture 11, left of the left noctua (and right of the bea) is an oblong hole. The screws in the noctua's pass through here to get to the radiator.
Except that they dont actually match the blackice radiator screw holes.
Also they are too big for case screws. So unless one uses the mounting rails (boring) how do you get them in?
The answers easy.
8 of the 12 screw holes align. There is no need for 12 screws to be used. Most the weight is at one end. Make sure this fits and its fine.
So to mount the 3rd Noctua, given that the screws dont align and the hole is too big for case screws & the rubber mounts. What do you do?
Simple, you get 2 washers.
You put these washers on the rubber pins, (any OD is fine, provided the ID is m3/4 standard).
You now have this:
14.
15.
use 4 of these to mount the 3rd Noctua and problem solved.
2.2 Acoustic Dampening
This will be done towards the end.
3.0 Water cooling
Some of you may note that I'm using the Mayhem Aurora Galaxy to leak test.
This is because it has a colour. I have 5L of distilled water to wash out the Case & Mobo with once the tests are done.
3.1 Pump mounting
Remember that EK mounting plate that was ordered? The one which you read and thought "What is this joker doing, ordering a mounting plate which doesnt fit his pump?"
Well, the answer is, this jokers mounted his pump onto the plate and turned the plate in to a spring loaded dampening system.
Pictures to follow. The spring suspension is still being finished. Pictures soon. Suspension springs are still being made. Currently varying length cable ties do the job but that's not neat.
3.2 Tubing
3.2.1 First tubing iteration
As previously stated this is my first watercooling attempt. Somewhat in at the deepend, but I find that best.
I'm using compression not barb fittings. This is due to 2 main reasons.
1: I dont like how they look.
2: I'm a big chap(TALL NOT FAT GRRRRRRR) I do not have small hands. Barbs would create a headache.
This was the first tubing attempt.
Structure?
There was none.
16.
3.2.2 Second tubing iteration
17.
The cable ties are temporary measures to reduce strain on the pipes. I'll be building a supporting structure.
The only differrence between this and the layout I'm running now, is I replaced a cube 4 splitter with a alpha cool T splitter as I was having issues with the compression fitting. The cube splitter didnt allow for maximum compression. This was due to size limitations of the 3 compression fittings used. The 4th port was unused.
3.2.3 Third tubing iteration
Generally I'm happy with the second layout. The problem is the supporting structure. Its going to be a pain to build one, and its going to be a pain to install it.
So to counter the need for a supporting structure. I'm going to try to retrofit copper pipes to all of this. This will mean I'll be able to lose some 90' angle fittings. Overall weight will go up, but the copper pipes will support themselves once anchored to the case.
I'm debating whether to do this ahead of graphics cards or not, currently it looks like I will as, there's very little out there which challenges 2x 2GB 6850HD's. Plus copper pipes would MASSIVELY increase passive cooling.
So stay tuned for this one.
3.3 CPU Loop
3.3.1 First iteration CPU loop
As shown in picture 16, this is a look follows this progression:
..................../======= RAM loop
[Pump]=====<
....................\======= CPU loop.
In theory great, the bit splitter Y cuts the pressure from each input in 2 rather well.
Upon exiting the CPU the loop does this:
RAM=====\
...............>=== Main Pipe.
CPU=====/
The CPU loop pushes through lots of fluid, quickly, at ~?x the speed of the RAM loop. (Figures to be confirmed when my Aquacomputer flow monitors have arrived from ze Germans.)
3.3.2 Second tubing iteration
3.4 RAM Loop
3.4.1 First iteration
As shown in picture 16, this is a look follows this progression:
..................................../========RAM Block 1-4 IN####Out===\
..................../=======< RAM loop.............................................>====\
....................|..............\========RAM Block 5-8 IN####Out===/..........> CPU loop.
[Pump]=====<.................................................................................../
....................\======= CPU loop.===============================/
This was probamatic.
In theory great, but in practise there's an issue. The top of the RAM blocks (entrance of 1 & 5 + exit of 4 & 8) is the heighest point in the loops. This makes air pool here. Ignore the detached tube. This much air pooled here after 12 hours of testing. There was still flow in the ram coolers, but not as much as I would have liked.
To ensure greater CPU flow, the RAM loop needs to have a smaller OD & ID tubing. But I've not worked out what yet, so for the moment they have the same.
18.
If you roate the RAM exit loop Y splitter, you can make the splittler CPU loop exit the highest point. This makes the air feed through to the radiator and then resesvior. But doing this with 1/2" ID tubing WILL cause the compression seals to fail and after a while you'll have a blowout.
So if you have < 1/2" ID tubing which isnt a thick OD too, you can do this.
If not, dont use this pipe layout, use a more precise one.
To counter for this I'll be unstalling a 4 way splitter at the top of each of these (Ideally entrance and exit). Leaving 2 exits blocked with a bulkhead will allow me to unscrew one at whim, and top up the fluid/let air out
BEWARNED THOUGH, once air has pooled here. It is not at room pressure. It is ABOVE room pressure. Once you open the bulkhead it WILL shoot out. If you stop the pump you'll notice that the bubble expands in size. This is the pump increasing static waterpressure and compressing the air.
Due to this I'm having to actually replace all the piping and buy in more connectors to do a propper piping layout.
As Apem pointed out, this looks cack, but there's bigger issues.
1) The space it take sup, its eating into reserved the Thermodynamics space.
2) The torsion of these pipes is large enough that ironically the torque causes the compression fitting in the block to unscrew and then you have a leak.
3) Airflow is distrupted. This will matter for the thermodyanmics.
4) Given the torque some pipes can slip out if the PC is moved. This means you cant take it to LAN parties!
3.3 North-bridge cooler
To be added once I work out how to remove the current heatsink, or I'll just attach it to the heatsink.
3.4 Graphics Loop
(To be completed much later)
4.0 The Thermoelectrics
Possibly to be shown later.
5.0 Overclocking
The final stage!
Currently I do not overclock this chip. The motherboard does some overclocking for me however.
This is a very nice feature of the Big Bang Xpower 2. If it detects an i7 3930k/3960x it will overclock your cpu to 3.8GHz (I think 3.9 for the 3960x) on the fly, as you use more resources. I'm not sure if other boards do this, but it's a nice feature.
Turns out this is a bit of software called "Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Monitor" available from the Intel website. MSI bundled it in with the Motherboard drivers. If you have an i5/i7 it supports it probably. Take a look.
It undervolts/underclocks your cpu when you're not using it much, and overclocks it when you are. Keeps temperature down.
There is also the OC genie. But I dislike it.
The MSI Control Center doesn't report the same numbers as the bios (you can run the bios in windows with this board/bios) so I'm skeptical that it actually works. Meanwhile CPU-z reports numbers which jump all over the place.
6.0 Cooling results
I'll post various results here and update as I have more.
Without thermoelectric components
6.1.1 First iteration tubing cooling results
There are no results. There was too much spillage. Never tested properly.
6.1.2 Second tubing iteration cooling results
By this point all fans are in (as of 27/8/2012 the airflow diagram needs to be slightly updated).
Currently with the radiator fans on high, I'm hitting 38'c when gaming for ~5 hours.
On low I'm hitting 45-48'c.
This is very dependent on the temperature of the environment. External air temperature for those readings was about 25'c.
#2 reservoir temperature cools to below below CPU temps all the time.
Graphics cards (with new thermal paste on) rarely hit above 60'c.
6.1.3 Third tubing iteration cooling results
Questions?
Hi.
I'm starting a rather extreme water cooling system, inside a Cosmos 2.
I'll keep this thread updated as I go on with this build; it's not likely to be totally finished until near October when the last components go in, 2x Geforce 690GTX's and 2x WD raptor drives in an array for gaming.
I call it, Project Excessive
Before we get to the geekystuff. A few notes.
Firstly: The starting point is already a nice system. However due to recently beating two types of cancer and currently being treated for side effects of massive radiation exposure, I have decided to treat myself. I'm well aware most people would consider the starting point an "excessive" computer already; I have lots more kit to go in here.
Secondly: Apologies for the colour balance in the photos. I'm using the camera in my S2. I'll get decent pictures of the build when done. But before then you shall have the S2 camera photos, and you shall appreciate them.
Third: This is my first proper water cooling build. While I've messed around with custom air funnels for cooling before, this is my first proper water cooling build.
Fourth :Text in red is where an issue arose or my original plans were wrong.
The Goal
The goal here is to overclock this i7 to ~5ghz while stable without roasting the CPU.
This cooling system is going to be expanded and I will be using custom thermoelectric components. I aim to have a stable running temperature when NOT overclocked of ~281.15-285.15 Kelvin. (8-12°C, and you people who use Fahrenheit can go learn the Kelvin scale). How low I can go is limited by condensation, however its possible I'll seal the board with an Oil to counter this. Ideally I want to be able to pull 600W+ of heat out of this system.
Other notes
While this is my first water-cooling build, I have been overclocking/upgrading and tinkering with PC's since I was 7 or so (I'm now 25).
I will be playing a lot of games on this system. I will also possibly be doing some research if I get round to it.
I detest my room getting hot and hotter as I game for long and longer time periods. So, behold the quest for the ultimate cooling system.
Its worth noting, I've gone full nerd on this cooling system. I'm putting my physics degree to good use.
1. The starting point.
For people who haven't seen a Cosmos 2 or seen it next to an object that shows the scale:
1.
My desk is a dining table from Ikea. A large flat surface, all you need! The Cosmos 2 won't fit under it.
Most of you will notice the floor-stander speaker. This is one of two; a pair of Mordant-Short 916i's. The PC has an optical out to a Sony STR-DB850. I got fed up of terrible computer speakers, so opted for the real thing.
The keen amongst you will notice the antenna. This is a standard TP link antenna. The Cosmos 2 has so much metal in it; it really does create interference with wireless. Nowhere near enough to make them stop working, but if you don't have great signal and you use VPN's to connect to the office. I'd recommend an antenna. Else your error rate will be significantly higher compared to no cosmos 2.
The keener amongst you may notice the headphones. These are a pair of Ozone Gaming Gear Spark Stereo Gaming Headset. These are connected via a Logitech USB sound card, which I had left over from a pair of Logitech G330 Gaming Headset. I found the G330's uncomfortable as you couldn't adjust the Yaw on the headphones, so they tended to bend one's ears backwards. Rather uncomfortable.
Plus I sat on them, so...
I use these for Mumble and Skype. Basically VOIP software only.
The keenest amongst you may notice the Bumble Bee.
All hail the Bee.
The PC currently weighs between 25-30kg. The case weighs 22kg when EMPTY. You cannot easily take it to a LAN party.
1.1 Current hardware.
Currently the hardware inside the Cosmos 2 is:
- 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 ram, in 4x4GB sticks.
- Big Bang-XPower II
- An Intel i7-3930K (3.2-3.8ghz, will explain later)
- An 120GB Intel 320 SSD
- Various HDD's
- 2x Noctua P12's
- 2x 2GB 6850HD's
- 1x H100 Corsair water cooling block & loop.
- A TP-Link PCIE wireless card.
- 2x Samsung DVD+/- writers.
- An 800W PSU
Now with that said, lets focus on the pure, unadulterated geekdom.
1.2 The upgrades
This is the first batch upgrades.
2.
People always like to see a photo, so there you go.
I've left some stuff off as Overclockers have yet to deliver some goods. They were not in stock upon point of ordering, I was well aware of that. So far the service has been excellent.
I've also left off the coolant, tubing and connectors as they're boring. You'll see them when the build is done.
So here's a list of current components.
- 1x - Official Overclockers UK Elite Gaming Mug (Thanks 5UB) full of coffee
- 1x - Koolance CPU 370 CPU Waterblock installed
- 1x - Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Xtreme 360 installed
- 8x - Koolance RAM-33 (Single DDR/DDR2/DDR3/SD) installed
- 2x - Koolance TNK-501 Single 5.25in Bay Reservoir, Rev.1.1 installed
- 1x - Aqua Computer Aquaero 5 PRO LCD Fan-Controller installed
- 1x - Aqua Computer Aquaero 5 PRO Aluminum Front Bezel - Black installed
- 1x - Alphacool Laing D5 Vario Pump 655 - NO TOPinstalled
- 1x - Alphacool HF D5 TOP - Clear Plexi G1/4 1x - EK-D5 X-TOP CSQ - Acetal installed
- 1x - 120mm Noctua P12 (Vortex Control Quiet) installed
- 1x - 120mm Noctua S12B (Silent) installed
- 2x - 120mm Noctua F12 (Focused flow) installed
- 1x - OCZ 1250w PSU installed
- 1x - 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 SATA 3 SSD installed
- 2x - 8gb Corsair Vengeance kit, (2x4GB) installed
- 1x - OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm Used. Blade appears to have gone rusty, disappointing.
- 1x - Akasa acoustic dampening material Unused as of yet
- 6x - Koolance Sliding 180-Degree U Connector installed
- 4x - Bitspower Silver Shining Y-Block Fitting With Triple G1/4" Ports (BP-YB) installed x1
- 2x - XSPC HighFlex Hose 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 19/12.7mm, 2m, Clear used
- 3x - Mayhems Aurora - Galaxy Purple Coolant 1L ~2L installed, ~0.5L split, ~0.5L in reserve.
- 26x - Koolance Nozzle Single, Compression for 13mm x 19mm (1/2in x 3/4in) installed
- 1x - EK anti vibration mounting plate installed
- 1x - Alphacool mounting velcro installed
This is broken down as:
- #1. Essential. You will need this for coffee or coke. Not optional.
- #2=>10 The primary water cooling kit.
- #11=>13Air cooling.
- #14=>16 New hardware.
- #17=>25 Connectors, tools and other.
Total cost of upgrades: ~£1650
Total cost of PC (excluding screens/mouse/keyboard/speakers):~£4,000
More hardware will be added to this over time, check back for updates.
I would also recommend a snack while assembling this from the start. Doing the proper cabling (even in the Cosmos 2, which has plenty of space) took me several hours.
I will not be water cooling the 6850HD's. While they're good cards, I'm not spending 50% of their value on a waterblock. Bad long term investment (oh the irony).
Some people have asked me why I didn't go for a ROG motherboard (Asus Republic of Gaming) or the ASUS Rampage.
The answers simple. My friends have had bad experiences with ROG boards, faulty bios on arrival, dead chips on arrival. Lots of RMA's. While it's not fair to slate a company due to one bad batch, its stress I don't want at the moment.
As for why not ASUS Rampage?
I have a Cosmos 2. Space is not an issue. Performance is.
The Xpower Big Bang 2 has dimensions: 34.5cm(L) x 26.4cm(W)
The Asus Rampage iv has dimensions: 30.5 cm x 27.2 cm. (I presume L by W)
That may only be 4.5 cm difference, but that's the difference between a useable PCIE slot, and one which you can't because the motherboard is too crowded.
1.3 New Hardware installs.
The new RAM is in, and I'm now rocking 32GB of RAM. While RAM isn't at all hard to install and 32GB is totally excessive; the main joy now is that quad channel architecture is now active. Hurray!
Update 28/7/12
The new OCZ vertex 4 is in and it is fast. I thought the Intel 320 series was fast. This is... :O
It's almost worth quoting Lonely Island about a certain "pants" incident, but not quite.
The new PSU is in. The OCZ 1250w beast. It's a modular design one and its rather good. For those unfamilar, the modular design means you can just not plug cables you don't need into the PSU. You get a bag to keep them in.
Both reservoirs are in, and so is the Aquaero computer.
This is where we hit a snag.
To install BOTH reservoirs and the Aquaero requires 3 front bays.
The Cosmos 2 has 3 front bays. It also has 2 hot swap drives. (Lockable front bay hard disk enclosures).
Sorry Coolermaster, but these are terrible. The connecters (power and SATA) are plugged in/unplugged when one closes/opens the door. They are stubborn to align. Also this means if you have some idiot friend who doesn't understand computers they could very easily open this door if you leave it unlocked. If you're pc's on they'll wreck one of your HDD's. Hurray! Add in the fact that the keys are generic, easily replicated and the lock is really weak... and its not secure at all.
So that hot swap bay had to die. In fire. With petrol.
After removing that, one would assume that these take up the same space as a 5.25" drive bay, given the colossal size of the Cosmos 2. You'd be wrong.
The 2 bays are 1cm short of the space required for 2 5.25" bays.
So out comes one of my DVD writers. Two DVD writers are very necessary. What happens if you're reading data off one disk and want to burn a DVD? OR you're installing a non Steam (yay)/non Origin (boo, PoS) game which comes on DVD's? Do you really want to sit there and change DVD half way through, and then possibly a 3rd time when the installer demands disc one again?
No you don't. You need 2 drives!
Sadly I now only have one DVD drive, until I find a slim fit DVD drive. Its such a hard life.
Additionally there are insufficient screw holes to mount a 5.25" drive. So you need to get a drill, and attack that Cosmos 2 drive enclosure. I would recommend a tape measure too. Just drilling and turning the enclosure into Swiss cheese wont ensure a happy case which lasts.
This leaves you with a problem.
As I said, I removed one 5.25 drive bay and I'll be looking for 2 slim line ones in its place.
This leaves you with a gaping hole, too small for a 5.25" drive.
3.
To counter this, you need a U shaped structure, on its side, that's approximately 2 mm thick at right hand side.
You then rotate this 90' on the side: [
This is to rest the Aquaero computer on and to raise it to the level of the pre-made screw holes.
Also I'll be putting a gauze mesh below the DVD drive to the Aquaero. This will allow ventilation and separate the heat from the Aquaero (hardly any) from the rest of the PC.
But this chamber must be acoustically dampened. It is a way in to the PC (there will have to be a slit for the leads) which means that the noise will be able to escape. So bring on the dampening foam.
Chances are I'll end up sealing this slit once the leads are all in with liquid silicon style window sealer.
1.3.1 Aquareo 5 controller
As I previously mentioned the orignal plan was to use a gauze/filter to allow air flow.
I decided against that and just decided to seal the front of this housing unit.
4.
5.
6.
7.
There's the 4 views of it that I've taken. The Aquareo will be mounted in the front, 6.. This will then be mounted in the hot swap drive bay. Which is terrible, and needs to die.
While some of the current Aquaero features wont be used, the plan is to include a second separatewater-cooling loop and pump to keep the HDD arrays cool, so the fans have to do minimal work. This loop will use some of those features.
But that requires modding of the bottom of the cosmos.
Also more paychecks, unless anyone feels like donating to this project.
Also, this Aquaero housing was made with the help of my Uncle, while I can come up with measurements and make crude designs, I'm no where near as skilled as he is with making models, so many thanks to him.
Bonus points to anyone who can identify the red books.
Onto the reservoirs.
It is not optional to have two for this setup. It is compulsory. You'll see why later.
Currently they are empty, but they smelt so terrible I've removed the bulkheads and I'm letting them air.
When you screw them in, only two of the holes aline with the drive enclosure.
1.3.2 General Hardware Installs
8.
4 is a fan LED power cable.
The screws at 1 & 3 align. There is one behind the clip above 3, and the screw below 2.
This however you cant get at unless you make screw 3 & the unlabeled one miss their holes.
Currently there are anti vibration washers around screws 3 & 2 (and the unlabeled one, lets call it 5).
2 is a soft plastic one.
3 is a hard one, the kind you would commonly associate with motherboard standoffs. However they work well as anti vibration washers. Does it do anything? Probably not.
Probably a barely detectable rattle is reduced as the computer ages. However for ~£1-£2.50 a pack of 50 (2p-5p a washer) its not going to break the bank/budget. If it does anything its a win!
1, (both of them) have been inserted in part of the clip. To do this isn't hard, you just have to bend the clip. If this was original design or not, I doubt (as a 5.25" drive screw hole doesn't fit there) but it fits nicely into the Koolance tanks if you bend it. This secures the tanks so, viewed from the front, there is now 1x screw on the left side and 2x on the right.
The right has quick lock clips. I'll show these later, but you can still fit 1 screw in.
If you don't bend this clip (which doesn't do irreparable damage to the case) then the water tank pivots about two points. Which if the case is moved will lead to sloshing. This jolting movement when being transported leads to impulse knocking on the connectors. Never a good thing.
9.
This is how not to cable tidy. While out of sight, and out of mind in a Cosmos 2 is easy.... put some workmanship in. Don't do what I've done. Don't do this. I feel this has to be pointed out so you know what to avoid.
Really I'm taking one for the team...
But that was the old PSU. The new ones in, cabling is a lot tidier, honest.
10.
- = The OCZ Vertex 4 in the HDD tray.
- = The most useful thing you will ever own. I have no idea what this is called. Its a tube, which bends, which you plug into an electric screw driver. You plug a screwdriver head in the other end. What I'm trying to say is its a flexible extension. It can bend to 90' and you'll find it so useful its not funny. Get one.
- = The Noctua F12's installed on the side of the Cosmos. You have to unscrew the panel from the inside, then use a bit of force (A BIT) to remove it. Once you remove the inside panel, you can put the noiseless plugs which Noctua supply in. I kept the rubber pads on to reduce noise at high RPM. Attach an extension here and you can run these via the motherboard. Then you can use the bios to control it. As its an MSI board/bios, you can alter the bios in windows. So its easy to fine tune their speed.
This is the Noctua's installed in the top. If you see the 2 screws left of the Bee, one above and one below; these are the two you need to remove to install the 3rd fan. From other forums people have struggled with this. So there you go.
1.4 Next Hardware upgrades
The next upgrade will be:
- NF-S12B x1
- NF-P14-FLX x1
Watercooling parts 11/8/12
- Phobya 4 Port 1/4" Thread Fitting : Silver/Black x6. installed
- XSPC 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD (13-19mm) High Flex Tubing : Clear x4m used
- 90° Compression Elbow Fitting for 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD (13-19mm) Tubing : Black Nickel x12 installed
- Alphacool 1/4" Thread T Piece with 3 Female Threads : Chrome x2 installed
- 1/4" Thread 60 Degree Rotary Fitting : Black Nickel x2 installed
- 1/4" Thread 30 Degree Rotary Fitting : Black Nickel x2 installed
- EK EN PSC 1/4" Thread Compression Fitting for 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Tubing : Silver x2 installed
2.0 Airflow
While this is a watercooled system, the airflow is still very important.
The airflow layout is as follows:
12.
- = Noctua S12B, Silent, intake fan. Incorrect fan. NF-P14-FLX is needed instead.
- = Stock 200mm fan that comes with the Cosmos 2. I believe this to be a Cooler Master Mega-Flow fan. 700RPM, 186 cubic metres per hour and a 19 dB(A) noise level. This is a rather good, very quiet fan. I use it as an intake. For the moment.
- = 3x Noctua P12's and the radiator. These P12's speed can be "hard capped" via a resistor, where you physically reduce the energy available to them, or controlled via a fan Controller. Currently I use the cosmos 2 controller to control the radiator fans. I may change these to the Aquaero, but probably not. I'll be using that to control other fans.
- = This isn't particularly obvious from my masterpiece drawing, but this is a side intake in the Cosmos 2. There are two stock fans here, which previously were cooling the HDD array. (Again, Coolermaster fans, rather silent, reasonable airflow). I'll be upgrading these to Noctua fans. Which ones depend on how pleased I am with the new batch.
- = This is a reservoir. A Koolance TNK-501. See #5 in the upgrades list.
- = This is a reservoir. A Koolance TNK-501. See #5 in the upgrades list.
- = This is the Aquaero controller.
- = This is the HDD array. It is cooled by 2x Noctua F12's. There is a separate compartment here, and if you look at the cosmos 2 link, a separate side intake for the lower compartment. The PSU then spits out the air.
- = These are 2 DVD writers. It might be worth me pointing out that this is not to scale
- = This is the PSU fan exhaust.
- = This is the pump. It is in this compartment as I will be sound dampening that compartment, just to make sure it is VERY quiet.
If you look at the actual airflow, position 1 has 3 fans capable of 92.3 cubic metres/hour airflow.
Which in theory means you need 276.9 cubic meters/hour max capacity air flow into the case.
However, then you need to add in the resistance factor of the radiator, and revise the 92.3 m^3/h figure. This means you'll have to hardcap some fans with resistors & run them at 60-70% to get the balance right.
I'd tell you the answer, but then you'd have nothing to work out for yourself.
On that note, I'm off to install some of the upgrades.
Airflow Update 28/7/2012
After installing the fans, there were several issues. Disappointing start.
Turns out the fan in position #1 was a 140mm fan. Apparently I forgot to measure this rear vent. While a 120mm will fit, you get a gap each side of the fan which air can flow in/out of in an uncontrolled fashion. This leads to a) noise, b) reduces your efficiency. I'll be ordering an NF-P14-FLX fan to compensate for this. Let that be a lesson. Check your fan sizes!
#8 presented a problem too. My original plan was to have 2x F12's here. But there's a catch.
The HDD array fans you will almost never want running on full RPM. Low is fine.
The NF-F12's have a 4 pin plug. The Cosmos 2 built in controller has 3 pin plugs. This means I'll have to use ports on the Aquaero fan controller to control these. It also means I have to get adapters to be able to plug them in. They come with a Y splitter. Currently I've daisy chained two Y splitters together, leaving two 4 pin female fan power plugs free to power the NF-F12's.
Installed in the holder:
13.
You have to remove the rubber pads from the NF-F12's which is a shame, but your choice is push hard on molded plastic which is part of the Cosmos or take them off. Given the pain in the arse factor that it'd be to get a new fan mount for the HDD array, I chose to remove the rubber pads. These NF-F12's are in position 4. The HDD array, position 8, now has 1x NF-S12B, and 1x stock CM fan.
Position 4 is now controlled by the motherboard and 8 the Cosmos 2 fan controller.
Or I put these in position 4, plug them into the motherboard with extension cables and let the bios handle it.
As I have a spare NF-S12B which was for position 1, but as some fool (100% not me) didn't check the fan size, it's too small.... I chose to put this in position 4.
End results is: 1 more NF-S12B is needed in position 8; this allows both to run at 600-900 rpm for less noise. This also moves 2 NF-F12's to the graphics intake, and allows for motherboard controlling. Freeing up cosmos controller ports and keeping Aquaero ports free for the thermoelectric fans.
All Noctua fans are now in, save the ones which will be added to the thermoelectric components (yes, plural).
2.2 Radiator fan mounting.
I've stuck this in its own section to draw your attention to it.
If you look at picture 11, left of the left noctua (and right of the bea) is an oblong hole. The screws in the noctua's pass through here to get to the radiator.
Except that they dont actually match the blackice radiator screw holes.
Also they are too big for case screws. So unless one uses the mounting rails (boring) how do you get them in?
The answers easy.
8 of the 12 screw holes align. There is no need for 12 screws to be used. Most the weight is at one end. Make sure this fits and its fine.
So to mount the 3rd Noctua, given that the screws dont align and the hole is too big for case screws & the rubber mounts. What do you do?
Simple, you get 2 washers.
You put these washers on the rubber pins, (any OD is fine, provided the ID is m3/4 standard).
You now have this:
14.
15.
use 4 of these to mount the 3rd Noctua and problem solved.
2.2 Acoustic Dampening
This will be done towards the end.
3.0 Water cooling
Some of you may note that I'm using the Mayhem Aurora Galaxy to leak test.
This is because it has a colour. I have 5L of distilled water to wash out the Case & Mobo with once the tests are done.
3.1 Pump mounting
Remember that EK mounting plate that was ordered? The one which you read and thought "What is this joker doing, ordering a mounting plate which doesnt fit his pump?"
Well, the answer is, this jokers mounted his pump onto the plate and turned the plate in to a spring loaded dampening system.
Pictures to follow. The spring suspension is still being finished. Pictures soon. Suspension springs are still being made. Currently varying length cable ties do the job but that's not neat.
3.2 Tubing
3.2.1 First tubing iteration
As previously stated this is my first watercooling attempt. Somewhat in at the deepend, but I find that best.
I'm using compression not barb fittings. This is due to 2 main reasons.
1: I dont like how they look.
2: I'm a big chap(TALL NOT FAT GRRRRRRR) I do not have small hands. Barbs would create a headache.
This was the first tubing attempt.
Structure?
There was none.
16.
3.2.2 Second tubing iteration
17.
The cable ties are temporary measures to reduce strain on the pipes. I'll be building a supporting structure.
The only differrence between this and the layout I'm running now, is I replaced a cube 4 splitter with a alpha cool T splitter as I was having issues with the compression fitting. The cube splitter didnt allow for maximum compression. This was due to size limitations of the 3 compression fittings used. The 4th port was unused.
3.2.3 Third tubing iteration
Generally I'm happy with the second layout. The problem is the supporting structure. Its going to be a pain to build one, and its going to be a pain to install it.
So to counter the need for a supporting structure. I'm going to try to retrofit copper pipes to all of this. This will mean I'll be able to lose some 90' angle fittings. Overall weight will go up, but the copper pipes will support themselves once anchored to the case.
I'm debating whether to do this ahead of graphics cards or not, currently it looks like I will as, there's very little out there which challenges 2x 2GB 6850HD's. Plus copper pipes would MASSIVELY increase passive cooling.
So stay tuned for this one.
3.3 CPU Loop
3.3.1 First iteration CPU loop
As shown in picture 16, this is a look follows this progression:
..................../======= RAM loop
[Pump]=====<
....................\======= CPU loop.
In theory great, the bit splitter Y cuts the pressure from each input in 2 rather well.
Upon exiting the CPU the loop does this:
RAM=====\
...............>=== Main Pipe.
CPU=====/
The CPU loop pushes through lots of fluid, quickly, at ~?x the speed of the RAM loop. (Figures to be confirmed when my Aquacomputer flow monitors have arrived from ze Germans.)
3.3.2 Second tubing iteration
3.4 RAM Loop
3.4.1 First iteration
As shown in picture 16, this is a look follows this progression:
..................................../========RAM Block 1-4 IN####Out===\
..................../=======< RAM loop.............................................>====\
....................|..............\========RAM Block 5-8 IN####Out===/..........> CPU loop.
[Pump]=====<.................................................................................../
....................\======= CPU loop.===============================/
This was probamatic.
In theory great, but in practise there's an issue. The top of the RAM blocks (entrance of 1 & 5 + exit of 4 & 8) is the heighest point in the loops. This makes air pool here. Ignore the detached tube. This much air pooled here after 12 hours of testing. There was still flow in the ram coolers, but not as much as I would have liked.
To ensure greater CPU flow, the RAM loop needs to have a smaller OD & ID tubing. But I've not worked out what yet, so for the moment they have the same.
18.
If you roate the RAM exit loop Y splitter, you can make the splittler CPU loop exit the highest point. This makes the air feed through to the radiator and then resesvior. But doing this with 1/2" ID tubing WILL cause the compression seals to fail and after a while you'll have a blowout.
So if you have < 1/2" ID tubing which isnt a thick OD too, you can do this.
If not, dont use this pipe layout, use a more precise one.
To counter for this I'll be unstalling a 4 way splitter at the top of each of these (Ideally entrance and exit). Leaving 2 exits blocked with a bulkhead will allow me to unscrew one at whim, and top up the fluid/let air out
BEWARNED THOUGH, once air has pooled here. It is not at room pressure. It is ABOVE room pressure. Once you open the bulkhead it WILL shoot out. If you stop the pump you'll notice that the bubble expands in size. This is the pump increasing static waterpressure and compressing the air.
Due to this I'm having to actually replace all the piping and buy in more connectors to do a propper piping layout.
As Apem pointed out, this looks cack, but there's bigger issues.
1) The space it take sup, its eating into reserved the Thermodynamics space.
2) The torsion of these pipes is large enough that ironically the torque causes the compression fitting in the block to unscrew and then you have a leak.
3) Airflow is distrupted. This will matter for the thermodyanmics.
4) Given the torque some pipes can slip out if the PC is moved. This means you cant take it to LAN parties!
3.3 North-bridge cooler
To be added once I work out how to remove the current heatsink, or I'll just attach it to the heatsink.
3.4 Graphics Loop
(To be completed much later)
4.0 The Thermoelectrics
Possibly to be shown later.
5.0 Overclocking
The final stage!
Currently I do not overclock this chip. The motherboard does some overclocking for me however.
This is a very nice feature of the Big Bang Xpower 2. If it detects an i7 3930k/3960x it will overclock your cpu to 3.8GHz (I think 3.9 for the 3960x) on the fly, as you use more resources. I'm not sure if other boards do this, but it's a nice feature.
Turns out this is a bit of software called "Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Monitor" available from the Intel website. MSI bundled it in with the Motherboard drivers. If you have an i5/i7 it supports it probably. Take a look.
It undervolts/underclocks your cpu when you're not using it much, and overclocks it when you are. Keeps temperature down.
There is also the OC genie. But I dislike it.
The MSI Control Center doesn't report the same numbers as the bios (you can run the bios in windows with this board/bios) so I'm skeptical that it actually works. Meanwhile CPU-z reports numbers which jump all over the place.
6.0 Cooling results
I'll post various results here and update as I have more.
Without thermoelectric components
6.1.1 First iteration tubing cooling results
There are no results. There was too much spillage. Never tested properly.
6.1.2 Second tubing iteration cooling results
By this point all fans are in (as of 27/8/2012 the airflow diagram needs to be slightly updated).
Currently with the radiator fans on high, I'm hitting 38'c when gaming for ~5 hours.
On low I'm hitting 45-48'c.
This is very dependent on the temperature of the environment. External air temperature for those readings was about 25'c.
#2 reservoir temperature cools to below below CPU temps all the time.
Graphics cards (with new thermal paste on) rarely hit above 60'c.
6.1.3 Third tubing iteration cooling results
Questions?
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