is this even possible.....yes lol

bloodheaven · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:58

Ok folks please be nice this is my first time on joining a forum rather than just reading....

this is going to be my epic build log.

first let me tell you i'm no whizz on the computer scene just thought it would be fun to try lol.

my first pc was a old dusty packard bell.
3 years after owning and using it i decided to open it up.
once it was open i cleaned it and added 4 usb ports on a pci card to it...
i was off like a hacker in the night (lol). man it was cool like a drug i was hooked 2 weeks later my new motherboard arrived. then the case, gpu, hdd, ram ,psu and a whole load of lights and led fans (pointless but fun at the time).
so my overheating, brightly different coloured, light show of a pc was built.
ll my fans were pointing in towards it whats wrong with that. :/
i wrote a small review for future reference and began to plan my next build.

so here is the plan i finished i wanted......
12 fans
on 2x6 channel controllers
water cooling
2 seperated loops (1 for just cpu and 1 for just gpu(s))
2x360mm rads (1 each....obviously)
2 pump + res (combo hopefully)
a good heavy duty pc
powdercoated case
most important to me is i didn't want to change the outside.
i want it to all be inside the case (tricky i know).

so the specs have to be at least good enough to play crisis.
asus m4n82 deluxe
amd phenom II BE 3.4ghz
8gb g-skill ddr3
4x500gb raid 0 setup
2 gtx 470 or better in sli
power supply of around 900w

so thats the plan which i started about 4 months ago.. all measurement have been taken 4 times....so i'll post some pics as i go along anybody with any ideas hope on in... i'm all ears.

thanks for reading i'll be on 2moro with a few pics hopefully

bloodheaven · 18 Oct 2011 at 22:46

ok so heres the completed shopping list

watercool HK rev 3.0 water block
2x120mm white fan guards
4x samsung spinpoint f3 sata II 500gb 16mb cache
red cable ties
anti-kink coils 3/4" red and white
2.5mm cable braiding red and white
xspc dual ddc bay reservoir
xspc 1/2" id 3/4 od red and white
2x xspc rs360 black triple radiator
2x laing ddc pump 12v swiftech mcp350
5mm LED to molex ready white and red
20x g1/4 - 19/13mm black nickel plated screw on fitting straight (and 4 right angle to be safe)
heatshrink 3.2mm red and white
lian li expansion card holder pci-01r
power connectors red 24pin, 8pin
2x zalman zm-mfc1
2x EK-fc470 plexi
6x litre bottle ultra pure water
2x 100ml base corrosion block
2x ball valves brass(will this be a problem down the line? mixing materials)
2x evga nvidia gtx 470 1280mb gddr5
2x coolermaster sickle flow 120mm red led
2x bitfenix spectre 120mm
4x phoyba g-silent 120mm red led
2x 4gb G.skill ddr3 pc3-10666 1333mhz ripjaw cl9 (9-9-9-24)
motherboard asus M4n98td-evo
cpu phenom quad core 3.4ghz BE think its the 965 well i hope it is
case lian li a77b (the daddy himself lol)
power supply coolermaster 1000w m silent pro

that should be it, maybe theres stuff i've missed but i'll work it out along the way...
if you spot something is missing please let me know!

Adsta · 18 Oct 2011 at 23:06

Hey buddy welcome to the forum

I will admit I havnt read the thead I vast detail and I'm about to go to sleep so im rather phased at the moment. But one note IMO having 2x 360 rads is overkill its a cool idea going for the separate loops will keep the temps of your CPU and gfx very nice indeed. But I mean a 360 rad for one CPU just seems over the top. If you go for a decent 240 or heck even a 120 would be more than enough for a single loop on a CPU. Something like the xspc rx range would do nicely

plus dropping down a rad size for your CPU would save a bit of space so mounting inside the case would be easier

Oh also why you going for 4x 500gb hdds ? Why not just get 1x 2tb hdd will prob be cheaper

Ps (my last ninja edit) I don't see any mention of tubing or compression fittings/barbs

its hard to watercool with no tubing or fittings

no_1_dave · 18 Oct 2011 at 23:28

Change CPU loop to 120.1 rad to save space
Change SLI 470's to 570's as the 470 is old now
Ditch the 2TB raid setup, that will be very annoying further down the line. Instead grab an SSD for OS install and programs. Maybe a 500GB for game installs and a 2TB (or 1TB) storage drive.
Maybe i5 instead of AMD on the CPU side? Personal preference I suppose...
Biocide

You didn't post a budget but these changes shouldn't inflate the price too much and if you're doing a full build like you are you may as well spend that little bit extra to get it spot on

bloodheaven · 19 Oct 2011 at 06:05

adsta nice to meet you thank you for posting a reply it's good to see people are interested in this.

bloodheaven said:
xspc 1/2" id 3/4 od red and white
20x g1/4 - 19/13mm black nickel plated screw on fitting straight (and 4 right angle to be safe)

those are the tubing and compression fitting.

no 1 dave i respect your point of view.
as for the 360 rad everything has been made inch by inch to fit.
this pc will be called "Blood Of Heaven".
got a mate that is a graffiti artist kinda like banksy.
he's going to "tattoo" the name in simple text on the side of the 2 rads.
i went with the 470 cause i am still on a budget.....as crap as that sound.
i never like to talk about how much it costs...lol
the price jump between 2x470 and WBs to the 2x570 and WBs is quite a leap.
last but not least your going to love this......the 4 500gb is so i have a good set of backups...in the future i'll upgrade 2 to ssd 128gb maybe raid 0 for os, 2 to 2tb files movies music and 1x 500gb<<<this one will be stock rotated. so i always have a month of backup one from a week ago, 2 weeks etc... (5 sata ports in total).wish i could afford to do this to begin with but hey.
thanks for the input though it keeps me on my toe i'll try and post a "sketch up" so you
can see the plans for postioning and air flow, it should also explain some of the crazy chioices i've had to make.
hopefully be back on before tonight
thanks again to both you guys!

Adsta · 19 Oct 2011 at 09:02

All I am saying about the HDD's was cost more than anything.

This is 32quid normally for a 500gb HDD

This is 65quid for a 2TB HDD

So you could buy 2 500gbs or you could buy a 2TB. That means if you where planning to buy 4 500gbs. You could actually buy 2x 2TB's for only a few quid extra going on OCUK prices. That doubles your HDD space or just one big drive and one big backupdrive. Then when you do make the move to SSD. All you will need is a SSD to put your OS on and your set a speedy SSD for bootup, programs and maybe the odd gamer (depending on size) plus a huge storage space which you already have

yea I completely didnt see that tubing and fittings last night

bloodheaven · 19 Oct 2011 at 14:29

ok so adsta is super cool and i have to eat my hat it would seem your right.
so i have got the 2tb instead. thank you mate
last time to try and win here adsta..... will the performance of 4 500gb in raid 0 or 1 2tb solo be noticably different till i get ssds!
ok so to kinda clear up a few people thinking i'm mad. i made a quick scetch to give an idea

i will have 2 rad in the bottom 9 5.25 bays leaving 3 bays free at the top.
got the 2 cages houses 3 hdds each mounted just below the gpu where the bottom fan of the rad will blow.
the psu top right and the dual res pump system in the 2 bays above the rads!
last but not least i will have 2 zalman fan controllers on the top of the case.
in total there is 3 bays on the top 1 for temp sensors when i buy that!

ok fingers crossed should have an update for you guys 2moro or 2night depending on how much work i put in!
thanks to everyone who reads this!

Adsta · 19 Oct 2011 at 15:02

ok so I have had a chance to read through the post a bit more in depth now. (keep in mind I am not as experienced as some guys on this forum are

) but I think I know a fair bit.

So you are planning to WC 1 CPU in a single loop. 2 GTX 470's in a another single loop. You are also using a dual res pump combo. So with regards to fittings I count that up to 12 fittings you shall need. 2 for CPU, 4 for Pump/res combo (since you are using 2 pumps), 2 for each rad (so 4) plus 1 for each graphic card. Reason I say 1 for each graphic card is as you are having SLI and looking at that drawing the cards are pretty close together (my guess 1slot space) so imo having an extra fitting and tubing between to two could be hard (prone to kinking the tubing) You could use a SLI block which will link the two quite easily. The Koolance VID connectors are pretty nice from what I have seen, or the EK SLI waterblock (you need to buy links for each card though for the EK). Even if you go down tubing it thats 14 fittings. Not 20

so you could save a few pennies there.

As for performance of the HDDs. I have to honestly say I have never used a raid config. Never seen the point or use. I backup things like photos and music to an external HDD I have on my network. That does what I need with regards to backing up soo yea. So I have no idea really. All I know is that when I got an SSD to have Win 7 and primary programs. I have never seen W7 boot up so fast in my life and programs on the SSD run very fine.

Also with the rads being where they are on that drawing, tubing along with fittings might get very tight in that area very quickly and you might stuggle to get tubing to both rads without kinking the tubing. I don't know how deep the case is but keep that in mind.

um what else.... oh yea 6L of pure H20 ? I really dont think you need that much id personally just buy 3 maybe four. I guess depending on how much tubing you actually use. But there is no way you are going to require 6L of it. I'd also put a mention in for Mayhems coolants in replacement of the H20. Very nice looking coolant and from what I have read very good at keeping temps down. Plus you can get it premixed in red

oh yea and fan wise what you planning to do with 12 fans ? are you sticking all 12 on the 360 rads in Push Pull or 6 on both rads and 6 somewhere else.

no_1_dave · 19 Oct 2011 at 15:13

This is overkill.
If sharing the same res then there is no benefit using 2 loops.
Cut it down to 1 loop with a 360 res and a 240 res, use a single D5 pump with EK top and spend the savings on an SSD or 570s.

Edit:
I used to have 2 raptors in raid 0. Yes it was fast but very annoying when it came to re-installing/reformatting.
I now use an SSD, a 1TB game installs drive and a 2TB storage drive. Far easier and faster.

Adsta · 19 Oct 2011 at 15:50

I will agree with no 1 dave it does seem a bit overkill for 1 CPU and 2 GTX 470s. If you really wish for the dual loops id go with a 360 for the GFX and a 120 for the CPU personally. Or tbh even if you buy a decent rad like RX 360 that would prob be enough for the lot in a single loop.

That would give you more space in the case, save money as you won't need a extra pump extra fittings larger res etc.. and put the money towards a SSD or as mentioned newer gfx cards. Although personally I'd put it towards an SSD.

bloodheaven · 19 Oct 2011 at 16:59

ok so good news and bad news....
no 1 dave
adsta
bad news first. the full rig was ordered and is on route so i cant really change things now...
i wish i had more patience. but hey it will all work out and upgrades will be made as and when i can afford, hopefully not to long but i do appreciate all your input guys please don't think i'm just shoving you's to the side!
"i love you guys man.....dude...awesome lol"
i really needed to order it so i can start the build got 1 week off to complete it! fingers crossed
been asking around for hand outs from my friend (more like begging than asking

)
so the good news.....
got 3x19" monitors from a friend so i ditched the 15 and scrubbed them down, they look like new, maybe not the best, but hey they were pratically free.
also found a company for my powder coating so the case arrives 2moro and goes straight to them hopefully get it back by monday just in time to start.
made a bracket from aluminum from to house the 2 rads inside exactly 120mm wide for the fans...
while i remember ok here is the air flow system thats on the paper....
second thought i'll post a better sketch of the air flow later on tonight guys
the idea is the cpu and gpus will be steady on full load at 30c and 42 max after 3-4 hours at full load! this is maybe praying but my maths are normally quite good! lol
speak later guys
sorry for jumping ahead with the order but need to get started!

bloodheaven · 24 Oct 2011 at 08:26

ok so i have ben a busy bunny with all the cable sleeving.
mobo, gpu, psu, ram, all watercooling and cpu all arrived.
case comes back at 9:30 today from powder coaters.
1 more delivery due before 12 oclock today so fingers crossed by 12:30
i'll post a pic of the powder coated pc....woooooo hoooo
whilst waiting for the case went ahead and put on the waterblocks

not bad so far...
today i should post 2 or three times if all goes well.

bloodheaven · 24 Oct 2011 at 14:09

powder coating looks very good.
front of dual res and pump...

got the tubing cut and fitted...

my cables...

finally got it booted and installed win7
booted it up and checked the temps before putting in the new gpus
you can also see the name on the rads now

Adsta · 24 Oct 2011 at 16:05

Looking pretty nice

Must say the red and white is a bit too loud for my taste. But looking good.

Once you got it all up running let us know what sorta temps you are getting

no_1_dave · 24 Oct 2011 at 19:51

Looking good

malfunkshun · 24 Oct 2011 at 20:44

Stacked radiators? if the water runs through them sequentially with no blocks in between they wont be very efficient. Well, the first one will, because rads work better when the delta between the water and ambient is higher. If I am reading this correctly the second rad will be doing very little....especially as it will be taking pre-cooled water and pre-warmed air.
However, beyond that, the rest of it looks very nice.

bloodheaven · 24 Oct 2011 at 22:07

it's late but i will attempt to clarify the three fans between the rads are sucking air into the column behind.
from the column it splits into 4 roughly. 1/4 of the air travels right through the "heaven rad"(which is there to cool the cpu) and the 3/4 travels left through the "blood" rad and through the hdd rising up and out the case in 1 of 3 places....the fan at the back or one of the 2 fans above the psu!
hope this clears it up slightly will be posting a few "so close to finished" pics 2moro
might need some help with the acrylic window from you guys cant find anyone that cuts custom windows?
till 2moro thanks you guys!

bloodheaven · 25 Oct 2011 at 23:05

lol......i'm loving it.....
it's so much faster than my old pc and the three screen just set it off!

theres my mx revolution and saitek cyborg....

front view and finally

beasting guts lol

everything still in "testing mode" but its kinda finished just need the window straight out my coils and take away the drip catcher lol.
but after i do the touch ups i'll take some more photos.
also incase you wondering my cable management skills are quite poor...

ok so temp time remember all my fans are controlled by the zalmans on top.
so this is with them on lowest quietest setting for all fans these temps represent it being on for about 3 hours not doing to much, installing all my programs, drivers, games etc.

Adsta · 25 Oct 2011 at 23:28

Them some fine temps I have to say. Welcome to the world of water cooling

Get that bad boy on some prime tests and benchmarks

bloodheaven · 26 Oct 2011 at 10:19

adsta you might have to help me setup the benchmark and stuff go some problem
tried running it on triple screen without sli and it was jumping around
and prime95 is good to use or do you know one thats better?
i need an acrylic sheet for the window but it doesn't look like there is any company that cut holes out need to cover the side but with a hole for the fans?
thanks adsta