First WC Project - Ground Up

[cahonis]

Hi all

I have worked my a**e off over the last year, missing out on social occasions etc. for which my company rewarded me with a decent bonus for once, yippee!!

So I decided to treat myself to a brand new system and take the plunge with watercooling. I've done numerous air builds over the last 10 years or so with varying levels of success on performance & noise and fancied a new challenge.

Here's what will be making up my new system:

Corsair Obsidian 800D Case
Corsair RM Series RM 1000 '80+ Gold' 1000W PSU
6x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM Fans
OcUK Extreme Intel Core i7 4770K @ 4.6GHz+ Extreme Overclocked Bundle
Options for above:
TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit
XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock
Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI FORMULA Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

HIS HD 7950 IceQ TURBO
EKWB FC-7950 Nickel Plexi Full Cover Waterblock
Plextor M5 Pro 256GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-256M5P)
XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo V2
XSPC EX360 Crossflow Radiator
XSPC EX240 120mm Radiator - Black
Mayhems X1 UV Red Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L
Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 13/10 - Clear
Aqua Computer Ball Valve Female Thread G 1/4 without Fittings
Mayhems Fine Silver Kill Coil
XSPC Fittings (Black Chrome)
Lamptron FC-5 v3 Fan Controller
Red LEDs 3v

All the kit is being delivered over the next couple of weeks so I'll add photos of all the shiny new kit when it arrives and then update as I progress through the build.

Looking forward to any advice/criticism on the build as I plod along.

Can't wait!!

 

[cahonis]

Delivery of most of the kit has arrived, still waiting for the PSU, fan controller and a couple of fans, but I have enough to get started with.

Boxes of gifts:

Spoiler

Now to start unpacking & installing:

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Sorry they're so boring, more build pictures over the next few days, with components!!

 

[cahonis]

Nice case choice! My friend had one that he modified to include a built-in reservoir in the op drive bays

No res mods for me with the D5 thank goodness but I have had to modify the lower drive bay area to fit the 240 rad in.

I have to say I was quite surprised there isn't any allocation to fit a 240 rad in this case. It will take a 360 at the top and a 120 at the back and that's it.

That's my only complaint with the case so far though.

 

[cahonis]

Managed to begin fitting the rads today, after a bit of a fight with the bottom drive bay cage:

Spoiler

The top 360 was a lot easier to fit, still waiting on delivery of fans though
Apologies for poor picture quality:

Spoiler

Was hoping to get the D5 fitted as well but bit of an issue with it.

Hopefully have some more updates tomorrow

 

[cahonis]

OK, so not made a huge amount of progress, certainly not as much as I'd hoped.

Managed to get the motherboard fitted though
OCUK Extreme Bundle unboxed:

Spoiler

Thermal paste applied:

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Waterblock fitted:

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Motherboard mounted in case:

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At this point I realised my proposed loop from the 360 rad at the top to the motherboard was going to be problematic.
I originally planned for a 90 degree fitting from the rad which obviously isn't going to happen so thought I would have to 90 degree connection from the mobo inlet:

Spoiler

Only snag here is that the plastic housing restricts rotation. I'll know for sure when I connect it all up but I'm hoping it will look neat.

Going to have to return the XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo as the faceplate was scratched to hell:

Spoiler

I've tried contacting XSPC to see if they'll send a replacement faceplate but had no response so far. Guess I will have to RMA it - more delays....
Still, the PSU isn't likely to be available until mid-November so no rush

 

[cahonis]

OK, so lots of delays.

Still waiting on Corsair to get their arse in gear and provide stock of the RM1000 PSU. Also waiting on Lamptron to provide stock of their FC5 v3 controllers.

In the mean time decided to put the block on my 7950, easier than I thought it would be:

Now wondering if anywhere makes a red LED that will fit between the back of the card and the backplate....

 

[cahonis]

I really hope someone else has made this mistake, otherwise I shall feel both foolish and lonely

I didn't check my order enough times apparently. Fittings are all 1/2" ID 3/4" OD - tubing is 3/8" ID 1/2" OD. That being said, no one else noticed it on my kit list in the OP

Initially I really wanted the smaller tubing but seeing the mobo & rads in the quite large case I think the thicker tubing will look better. Also, changing the fittings is too expensive, the tubing not so much

 

[cahonis]

Got my (almost) final package today

Corsair RM850 PSU, Lamptron FC5 V3 fan controller, tubing, SSD mounting bracket and magnetic case filters.

Major items I've been waiting for were the PSU

Silent power, yes!

and the fan controller

Also got the (correct size this time!) tubing. So now I can really start the build process.

Just need the red braided PSU cables to come into stock and then I shall have everything!

Of course now I don't have as much spare time as I'd like to get the build done but hope to get a bit more of a move on with it now.

I'd just like to say a big thanks to 5UB who has been extremely helpful with my various order changes and swapping out items in my order that were taking too long to turn up (Corsair's fault, not OCUK's )

More updates coming (quite) soon

 

[cahonis]

Started sleeving the fan cables:

Only 5 more to go, plus the res/pump cables & temp sensor cables.

 

[cahonis]

So finally started to put the loop together:

And a leak test:

Which was successful so I'm very happy.

Further updates soon

 

[cahonis]

That's a lot of TIM on the CPU!!!

Also did you buy the GPU blocks recently?

It looks a lot thicker in the picture than it actually is!

Got the GPU blocks about 4 weeks apart. Build was originally going to be a single GPU but had to wait for some kit so ended up buying another! Got one directly from EKWB and the other from another vendor as OCUK don't sell them

Loving it so far! Anything you're still waiting for?

Thanks Nope, have everything now, well, will do tomorrow when my red braided cable kit from Corsair turns up

:Looks great! Far neater than my feeble attempts

Thanks I'm trying to keep it as tidy as some of the more professional looking builds I've seen on here!

Looking good, might want to keep an eye on the tube between the CPU and motherboard block, it looks like it's trying to kink.

Yeah, it seems to have gone like that about an hour after I fitted it.
I warmed the tubing up in hot water then cooled it wrapped around a jar for a few minutes. It looked OK but now I'm not so sure
Might have to drain the loop if I see any problems and redo that part of the loop but the flow looked good during leak testing so I have my fingers crossed. I've got some 45' fittings left over to use if I need them

 

[cahonis]

Was going to say the same about the possible kink on the tubing between the mobo and CPU block... You could fit a couple of 90 degree fittings and some of those acrylic tubes if you wanted to be super cautious and neat... Still looks amazing though mate

Yeah, I left it overnight and it's slightly worse so I am going to drain the loop and put in two 45' fittings I've got left over to reduce the bend

 

[cahonis]

Agree with above 2x 90° connections between the CPU block and the board cooling with a short section of pipe between. Acrylic is OK if the connections are in line and not slightly off set a short section of pipe would allow for any differences in height.

Think I'll just use the 45° fittings I already have, this build has already cost me a small fortune

 

[cahonis]

Well the 45° fittings don't work, still get a kink

Typically, the 90° fittings are out of stock so looks like the build is on hold until they come in stock again

 

[cahonis]

I substituted XSPC 90° fittings for some EKWB ones I found that are almost identical:

Note the abundance of tiny bubbles coming out of the CPU block - that took me over 3 hours to sort out

Anyway, the loop is complete, just need to do some tidying up, get some extender cables for the temp sensors so I can route them around the back and find some subtle lighting to use around the CPU block and case.

Apologies for the poor picture quality. I spent nearly 7 hours straight working through problems - I was soo tired & it was dark by the time I had finished and using a flash was horrible:





I'll update with some daytime pictures and temps once I get it sorted over xmas (hopefully!).

 

[cahonis]

What was the reason for putting the gpus so far down?

To reduce the gap between them so I could use an interconnect rather than additional tubing.