First Hardline Build - O11D XL + EK Front Distro plate

Distracted · 18 Dec 2020 at 14:15

AlienXX said:
Well that its the new thing I learned today! Thank you
LOL my trusty old CaseLabs M8 (my last rig) didn't have one of those now that I think about it...

Noooo, the verge was wrong, you were right. The link in my comment takes you to the video. It is atrocious.
Forgive me, I was making an attempt at humour

AlienXX · 18 Dec 2020 at 16:30

Distracted said:
Noooo, the verge was wrong, you were right. The link in my comment takes you to the video. It is atrocious.
Forgive me, I was making an attempt at humour

LOL I know the video... Its infamous.
I definitely needed more caffeine before replying. T'was good humour, well played. In my defence, I was up very late last night... well that's my story *cough* and I'm sticking to it

Troezar · 18 Dec 2020 at 18:20

AlienXX said:
LOL I know the video... Its infamous.
I definitely needed more caffeine before replying. T'was good humour, well played. In my defence, I was up very late last night... well that's my story *cough* and I'm sticking to it

Careful with that coughing, you'll get yourself quarantined

Mike_J_Smith · 18 Dec 2020 at 23:17

I’ve got an xl on order and plan to put in the side distro plate but will be interested to see how you get on with this. Any particular reason you went for the front distro?

For the motherboard, is there a way of knowing which motherboards are slightly larger and would fit like yours? I’d want to avoid that.

AlienXX · 20 Dec 2020 at 19:57

Mike_J_Smith said:
I’ve got an xl on order and plan to put in the side distro plate but will be interested to see how you get on with this. Any particular reason you went for the front distro?

For the motherboard, is there a way of knowing which motherboards are slightly larger and would fit like yours? I’d want to avoid that.

Motherboard manufacturer and reseller product pages typically list the dimensions and you can then cross check against the ATX standard (Google will confirm the standard size for ATX form factor).

I went with the front distro plate for a few reasons... I like D5 pumps, I liked the aesthetic (front distro plate vs side distro plate) and also because most of the tube runs except for the two bends required for the CPU will essentially be straight for my build as I am using some 90 degree fittings on the rads and the GPU.

AlienXX · 20 Dec 2020 at 20:02

Distro plate installed... a bit fiddley (to use a technical term) as I don't have petite hands and some of the spaces where fixings (screws and nuts) are required are very tight spaces and neuro-surgeon steadiness seems like a must.

Anyway, job done (eventually)

AlienXX · 20 Dec 2020 at 20:46

CPU Block done...

Mike_J_Smith · 20 Dec 2020 at 21:09

AlienXX said:
Motherboard manufacturer and reseller product pages typically list the dimensions and you can then cross check against the ATX standard (Google will confirm the standard size for ATX form factor).

I went with the front distro plate for a few reasons... I like D5 pumps, I liked the aesthetic (front distro plate vs side distro plate) and also because most of the tube runs except for the two bends required for the CPU will essentially be straight for my build as I am using some 90 degree fittings on the rads and the GPU.

Thanks for responding. I’ll bear that in mind. Good luck with the rest of the build!

AlienXX · 20 Dec 2020 at 21:13

Mike_J_Smith said:
Thanks for responding. I’ll bear that in mind. Good luck with the rest of the build!

Not at all

Also it usually is only the top tier flagship motherboard products (Desktop boards / gaming boards) that can be a little larger than standard ATX, otherwise Workstation or Server boards usually are genuine E-ATX boards etc. For the most part the vast majority of desktop / gaming motherboards will be standard ATX size.

OC2000 · 21 Dec 2020 at 08:35

Looking good so far. I was seriously contemplating that CPU block, but went with the mono block instead.

Some things about the distroplate that maybe useful for you though.

When filling the system the first time, the pump will make weird clunking sounds on that distro plate. I was dreading a faulty pump. Its normal though and will go away once its fully lubricated.
Make sure the pump PWN head is not plugged in to start with so it will run 100% which will help it bleed a lot faster. If its plugged into a header it will barely move.
At full speed with my setup up (4900 RPM) the flow rate is 1 gallon per minute. To make it barely audible it needs to run around 3500 rpm which is 0.60 gallon per minute which is a good flow rate.
Its a pain to drain, so make sure you choose the right coolant first go.
The RGB cable on the distroplate is not long enough to neatly get to the motherboard, so make sure you either have an extension or splitter if you have multiple A-RGB devices.

Good luck on your build.

AlienXX · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:59

GPU block done

AlienXX · 21 Dec 2020 at 21:59

OC2000 said:
Looking good so far. I was seriously contemplating that CPU block, but went with the mono block instead.

Some things about the distroplate that maybe useful for you though.

When filling the system the first time, the pump will make weird clunking sounds on that distro plate. I was dreading a faulty pump. Its normal though and will go away once its fully lubricated.
Make sure the pump PWN head is not plugged in to start with so it will run 100% which will help it bleed a lot faster. If its plugged into a header it will barely move.
At full speed with my setup up (4900 RPM) the flow rate is 1 gallon per minute. To make it barely audible it needs to run around 3500 rpm which is 0.60 gallon per minute which is a good flow rate.
Its a pain to drain, so make sure you choose the right coolant first go.
The RGB cable on the distroplate is not long enough to neatly get to the motherboard, so make sure you either have an extension or splitter if you have multiple A-RGB devices.

Good luck on your build.

Thanks for the tips! Very much appreciated.

butter30 · 22 Dec 2020 at 09:54

AlienXX said:
Ok so before getting into the weeds of setting up the loop, I wanted to do a quick functionality test. A very basic build to make sure the main components worked out of the box and to see if my 'blind' BIOS upgrade has worked.

Its Alive!!!!

This looks amazing

AlienXX · 22 Dec 2020 at 11:13

butter30 said:
This looks amazing

Far too kind...

These early pics are not indicative of what I'm hoping to achieve, not even using my intended monitor etc. but I can say with certainty that this case would facilitate a very neat air-cooled build and overall is very easy to work with.

AlienXX · 22 Dec 2020 at 11:19

OC2000 said:
Looking good so far. I was seriously contemplating that CPU block, but went with the mono block instead.

The RGB cable on the distroplate is not long enough to neatly get to the motherboard, so make sure you either have an extension or splitter if you have multiple A-RGB devices.

Thanks you! I literally got these after your advice.
D-RGB extension cables and D-RGB splitters.
Ordered and received in less than 24 hours

AlienXX · 22 Dec 2020 at 11:30

Straight runs of hard tubing... how to do it?

Soft tubing is easy as you can bend as you need it but with rigid tubing there is not really any possibility for this as you have a rigid piece of plastic that needs to be cut a little longer than the physical space that exists between the opposing fittings due to the insert distance on each fitting (roughly 5mm for each end).

I'm guessing I would need a bit of trial and error and ultimately need to get it accurate enough such that I can get the tubing into each end of the fitting and then from there screw the fittings into my rad and waterblock or rad and front distro plate etc.

Anyone got any thoughts or tips for me?

Lots of YouTube tutorials on bending PETG but not many on the practicalities of doing straight runs with it.

I'll post some pics later on to better support this question.

Many thanks to all in advance of your suggestions.

AlienXX · 22 Dec 2020 at 12:00

Next job is prep the rads... as they're new, I'm going to follow the guidance from EK and rinse them out a few times with basic tap water to get rid of any leftover ‘material’ from the production process and then rinse again a couple of times with de-ionised water. https://www.ekwb.com/blog/useful-tips-part-3/

BTW this is another excellent resource for info on all aspects of water-cooling:
https://www.ekwb.com/guides/

AlienXX · 25 Dec 2020 at 19:33

My Drain solution.

A little bit of progress... forgive the lighting in the image.

mods1965 · 26 Dec 2020 at 10:14

Coming on well. I only have two 240PE's in my O11, so you have got some serious cooling potential for your system!

AlienXX · 26 Dec 2020 at 16:11

mods1965 said:
Coming on well. I only have two 240PE's in my O11, so you have got some serious cooling potential for your system!

Hope so