Dark Base Pro 900 Water Cooling Build (Updated: 01/12/2020 - Phase 4)

Drazek · 14 Oct 2020 at 00:35

Hmm so my ASUS RTX 3090 STRIX OC is about to arrive soon (hopefully this week) - which means my case mod is about to enter it's 4th version!

I'm planning to replace the rads with 2x Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTS420 rads like @JayGee did to his case and redoing the pipework.

Along with the 3090, I've already upgraded the motherboard, cpu, ram and powersupply also...

JayGee · 14 Oct 2020 at 06:25

Drazek said:
Hmm so my ASUS RTX 3090 STRIX OC is about to arrive soon (hopefully this week) - which means my case mod is about to enter it's 4th version!

I'm planning to replace the rads with 2x Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTS420 rads like @JayGee did to his case and redoing the pipework.

Along with the 3090, I've already upgraded the motherboard, cpu, ram and powersupply also...

Good choice.

Robzere31 · 25 Oct 2020 at 14:44

Quick question, did you ever try the top rad with it blowing air out of the case?

I know the vents on top aren't great, I'm still debating how to set mine up. All my previous builds have been setup to extract air from the top, the idea of blowing all that hot air back into the case just doesn't seem right somehow.

I can see me modding the top top & front door to aid airflow in the future.

JayGee · 26 Oct 2020 at 19:17

Robzere31 said:
Quick question, did you ever try the top rad with it blowing air out of the case?

I know the vents on top aren't great, I'm still debating how to set mine up. All my previous builds have been setup to extract air from the top, the idea of blowing all that hot air back into the case just doesn't seem right somehow.

I can see me modding the top top & front door to aid airflow in the future.

With my DBP900 build I have the top fans/rad pushing air out and I've done so w/o modding the top cover. It's probably not optimal but it works.

Drazek · 30 Oct 2020 at 09:24

Robzere31 said:
Quick question, did you ever try the top rad with it blowing air out of the case?

I know the vents on top aren't great, I'm still debating how to set mine up. All my previous builds have been setup to extract air from the top, the idea of blowing all that hot air back into the case just doesn't seem right somehow.

I can see me modding the top top & front door to aid airflow in the future.

My top rad fans all push air out of the case. - I have tried them as intakes but wasn't sure if that was the best way because the heat exiting the rear would naturally rise upwards and probably get sucked back into the case from the top.

Drazek · 30 Oct 2020 at 09:26

JayGee said:
With my DBP900 build I have the top fans/rad pushing air out and I've done so w/o modding the top cover. It's probably not optimal but it works.

I found that with the top cover pulled completely off, my Temps dropped significantly, the small holes on the sides and tiny slits near the rear just aren't good enough to allow all the hot air to flow outwards.

This is why I copied @Bone9 and cut the slits out making them large holes on the top and rear of the top panel which has aided heat exit a lot more with the top panel attached.

Drazek · 30 Oct 2020 at 09:28

oops did I not post a pic in here of the new ASUS 3090 STRIX OC?

I'm waiting for the new EKWB Waterblock to arrive for my 3090 in November and my new Alphacool NexXoS ST30 420 radiators and EKWB flat resevoir to arrive so I can rebuild my system into it's next version with a vertical mounted GPU also

JayGee · 30 Oct 2020 at 11:30

Drazek said:
I found that with the top cover pulled completely off, my Temps dropped significantly, the small holes on the sides and tiny slits near the rear just aren't good enough to allow all the hot air to flow outwards.

This is why I copied @Bone9 and cut the slits out making them large holes on the top and rear of the top panel which has aided heat exit a lot more with the top panel attached.

Yep, as I said, leaving the cover as is is not optimal - but if you don't want to mod the cover for aesthetic reasons or otherwise then it's still workable at the cost of higher temps and the attendent limitations that arise from that (i.e. OC'ing potential is limited when everything is buttoned up).

Edit: Gratz on the new card!

Drazek · 1 Dec 2020 at 17:00

I've started building my current Case/PC's final form - Phase 4, the final phase!

My next machine after this will probably use a new case, though I suspect I'll re-use a lot of the water cooling parts. (sorry for the blurry images, it was sometimes past midnight when I took these and I didn't realise they were blurry. lol)

Upgraded Specification:
i9-10850k @ 5.1ghz w/ EKWB Water Block
32gb g-skill 3600mhz cas 16 Memory
ASUS RTX 3090 STRIX w/ EKWB Water Block
ASUS Maximus XII Motherboard
ASUS ROG THOR 1000w PSU

Watercooling Parts:
Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 420mm Radiator V.2
Corsair iCUE QL140 RGB - 3x per radiator
EK-Quantum Kinetic FLT 240 D5 D-RGB
Phanteks Glacier D140 Distro Plate (on order)
Phanteks Vertical GPU Bracket (on order)
EK-Velocity Digital Addressable RGB CPU Water Block - Nickel + Plexi (on order)

Robzere31 · 1 Dec 2020 at 18:34

I ended up getting the dremell out & cutting the rear vents at the back of the lid out altogether. You can't see it when all reassembled & certainly helps the hot air escaping.

With 2x 420mm rads installed gaming, temps reach,

CPU around 60c
GPU 45c
Water 32-34c

Robzere31 · 12 Dec 2020 at 12:59

Drazek said:
I found that with the top cover pulled completely off, my Temps dropped significantly, the small holes on the sides and tiny slits near the rear just aren't good enough to allow all the hot air to flow outwards.

This is why I copied @Bone9 and cut the slits out making them large holes on the top and rear of the top panel which has aided heat exit a lot more with the top panel attached.

This is what I ended up doing with the top of the case.

Drazek · 30 Dec 2020 at 17:55

Robzere31 said:
This is what I ended up doing with the top of the case.

Not bad, nice big hole there! What did you use as the cover? Looks like one of those magnetic fine mesh covers

Robzere31 · 30 Dec 2020 at 18:00

Drazek said:
Not bad, nice big hole there! What did you use as the cover? Looks like one of those magnetic fine mesh covers

Its the mesh filter cover from my old Phanteks case.

Thinking of doing similar for the front door, I have the mesh panel from the old case & as its concaved if I fit it from inside it will be flush to the outside of the door.