Fractal R3 Viper

nick.lidgett · 14 Jan 2013 at 16:05

Ok so i didnt do a project log when i first put this machine together but ive made a few changes this last week or two and decided to upload a few pics to show you all my progress. There wont be any major changes to this build for a good while as im not sure about water cooling in the R3. Maybe ill add a fan controller at some point.

My Specs are;

i7 2600k @ 4GHz
Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU cooler
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev 3.1
16Gb Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz
MSI 7950 Twin Frozr III @ 1100/1500
1000w OCZ PSU
LG BluRay
OCZ Agility 3 SSD
2 Western Digital Caviar Blue HDDs
1 Western Digital Caviar Black HDD
3 Akasa Viper 120mm Case fans
3 Akasa Viper 140mm Case fans
Akasa White Cold Cathodes and R3 windowed side panel.

This was before i installed the Viper fans, side panel and cold cathodes

The rest of these pictures are in no particular order;

so there we have it, 18 months on since my original order from OCUK and she is done (for now).
Let me know what you think, i know she is nothing special compared to some of the build on here but im very happy with her.
So thanks to the guys at OCUK and thanks to the people on this forum who have answered my questions and guided me to this point.

nick.lidgett · 17 Jan 2013 at 15:50

no i just got my wifes hair dryer and heated one stick of ram up, then very carefully with the handle of a kfc spork prized the heat spreader off and cleaned away the glue.

nick.lidgett · 17 Jan 2013 at 21:04

blitz_911 said:
That's a massive heat sink on the CPU. Looks good tho and I see you managed ti get your hands on the windowed side panel. They do look mint. Got a new mb today and bread boarded it and we are go so I'm gonna finish my build tonight

I say water cooling is def the next step but the r3 is quite flawed in a lot of ways u won't see until you've tried. il put the pics up with what I've done when I'm fin.

Yeah its pretty gigantic must be 5-10mm clearance to the side panel, i took me 3 months of hunting and waiting for stock to finally get it, i was going to make one myself but the fractal one is flat, no ridges or seals or screws so it was worth the wait.

Hurry up and get yours done before i go and buy a 900d lol

nick.lidgett · 21 Mar 2013 at 11:50

UPDATE:
After seeing Blitz 911s watercooled r3 i decided i wanted to have a bash at it however i could not find a way of doing it i felt happy with so after some thinking i flogged my R3 to a mate and bought an R4.

I have just placed an order with OcUK that should be here tomorrow, here are is the list of my parts.

MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
EK Water Blocks EK-FC7970 CSQ
XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4
EK-Supremacy - CPU Waterblock - Copper Plexi
Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 280
2x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB)
Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 240 - XFlow
EK Water Blocks EK-FC7970 Backplate - Black CSQ
Mayhems Pastel - Sunset Yellow Coolant 1L
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
XSPC HighFlex Hose 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 19/12.7mm, 2m, Black
XSPC HighFlex Hose 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 19/12.7mm, 2m, Clear
EK Black compression Fittings

So i should be able to get most of this done tomorrow depending on dpd, ill post pics as soon as i can.

I was going to alternate the colours of tubing so it went yellow, black, yellow etc, but now im not sure, any suggestions?

nick.lidgett · 23 Mar 2013 at 01:17

Ok well i got everything today and got started i ordered 10 EK 1/2id fittings and got 9 and 1 smaller one so rather than wait for OcUK to do something about it early next week i just shaved some of the tubing down, works well.
Everything else went to plan, i have a small air bubble in the cpu block but its not effecting temps.
Idles at 23-25 and not above 43 on IBT, However this is on stock Mhz and volts.
The gpu also idles at 23-25 i have not gamed on it yet as run out of time tonight.

I will update with some pics tomorrow or sunday.

nick.lidgett · 23 Mar 2013 at 01:18

Wiry said:
You will love that Msi board, I've got it and the quality is just superb, not to mention the awesome looking heatsinks. And to answer your question, I think that might be overpowering it a little with different coloured tubing, but I might be wrong.

I love the way it looks, not had a right good play with it yet but will do over the weekend.

nick.lidgett · 23 Mar 2013 at 14:56

Picture time

case stipped

GPU and cpu cleaned of paste and gpu stripped

res stuck in hole out of the way

new board

board with cpu and block on

added the new ram

close up of ram

boad in case

heat pads on 7950

gpu block on

back plate on

front rad in

ALL DONE

Various picture of temps at stock Mhz and Volts.

Im very happy with my first attempt at water cooling, yes there are things i would have done differently now i know what im looking at but she will do for the meantime.

Let me know what you think.

nick.lidgett · 24 Mar 2013 at 09:21

I was nervous taking the gpu apart as i had never done it before lol i ran heaven 4.0 past night on the highest settings and it didnt go above 40oC so imho opinion its well worth it. The avexir ram looks sweet the lights are pretty funky lol ive got 2 rads a 240 up top and a 280 in the front.

nick.lidgett · 25 Mar 2013 at 15:42

Didzi said:
Nice setup Nick.
What made you choose the MSI board over an Asus or Gigabyte?

colour