It's getting real hard!

[savagesam117]

It's been a long time coming and i've finally done it. I've purchased everything apart from a couple of extra fittings I will need as they were not in stock and the coolant, i'm not sure what colour i'm going to go for yet. A big thanks to student finance, after I bought everything I needed, paid for accommodation, etc I had a little left over so I thought i'd treat myself and by a little it only bought me the tubing and fittings

There's not really going to be any modding, as well, I simply don't have time at the minute with Uni taking up most of my time. The main reason for this is to stop me upgrading before new tech next year. So I sold my 980Ti before I lost a load of money on it and bought a couple of Waterblocked 7970's which should see me through.

I'm going to be using these parts:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Monsoon PETG Tubing 13/10mm (ID 3/8" OD 1/2") 4x90cm - Clear= £11.99
• 1 x Monsoon Hardline Pro Bender Kit 3/8 x 1/2 (13mm) - Value Bundle= £54.95
• 1 x PrimoChill Revolver Compression Fitting Acrylic Tube 13/10mm grooves 10 - Black= £49.99
• 2 x Mayhems Pastel - Ice White Coolant 1L= £14.99
• 2 x PrimoChill Revolver Compression Fitting Acrylic Tube 13/10mm grooves - Black= £5.99

Total: £158.89
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​

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All going into an Air 540 case. I do need to order some different braided cables as my current ones are black and red which looks awful, this will be done some time next week when I can find some that won't cost me an arm and a leg!

Got some bending stuff through the post today, I seem to have lost my bank card so couldn't go out and buy a heat gun otherwise I would have started this evening.

It's all very pretty And the OcUK mouse mats make for a great place to shoot pictures! Need a bigger one. Not going to lie, I do really like taking the pictures, only reason I do this.

Tube cutter:


Deburererer:


Measure bending things:


I do have some ruler things with screws too but they have gone missing between when I opened the post this morning and now.

Some cards, I didn't realise how much cards with blocks on weighed!!:


Fittings, pretty!




And 3 packs of 900mm in length tubing, in case, ya know, something goes wrong!


I also got a sound card as a gift from my nan for helping her over the summer which was very nice of her!



Here is how my PC currently stands:

 

[savagesam117]

I always like hardline build logs so I look forward to seeing this one take shape. Also that deburrer looks like a pretty beefy piece of kit

Yeah it is, it's rather heavy for what it is too!

I thought i was on some porn site with that title.

It was intended I promise

Very clean build, I really like it! By the way how does the sound card perform?

I can't stand the way it looks at the moment, that bottom tube, the way it looks when you take off the side panel.. It's horrific!

I've never owned any other sound card to compare but I noticed the difference instantly and transformed music and bought a whole new level to gaming. I would never go back to onboard.

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I'm a bit unsure how to go with the tubing, whether to go for a parallel loop from the CPU down to the cards, then bend round to the back to rads and pump or in series and have it like that.

As far as temps go, I don't care, I just like how it looks so as long as it's silent and looks good, I'm happy!

I think I may make a start tonight with a bit of planning, still need to buy a heat gun so no bending unless anywhere that would sell one is open still?

 

[savagesam117]

Dunno if you found one, but B&Q sell them, dunno how much, probably not that much to be honest!

Nah. I've well and truly lost my card so i've just ordered on from the rainforest with prime

 

[savagesam117]

So we get to see tomorrow or tuesday, on how this turns out.

Won't be tomorrow, i've got to give presentations all day. Possibly a bit Tuesday, if not, it'll be completed at the weekend as i'm off, can't remember the last weekend I had off

 

[savagesam117]

The Bahco pipe cutter you are showing is for copper tubing is it not? I wouldn't recommend using that on acrylic you'll just shatter it. Jnr hacksaw and a reamer for the inner/outer deburring is what you want.

It is yes, but providing you don't tighten it right up, which you wouldn't anyway it works just fine. The PETG seems to be pretty robust too, I'm very surprised after using it as a light sabre to attack my brother with, it just creates some nasty red marks.

And the deburrer is specifically for PETG, so no, that's the one I want personally. Just goes on a drill and works really well, nice and even inside and out. I've tested it all and I'm happy

Really looking forward to starting it now, can't really envision a route without the parts in the case though.

 

[savagesam117]

Time to start bending

Today my presentations finished earlier and went a lot better than I was expecting so was able to get out early and make a bit of a start on the build.

I went home to find my heat gun didn't turn up, so I went and bought one.



First it was a case of stripping everything out of the H440.



Then got rid of all the crap in the case, drive cages, HDD holders, anything else I didn't like the look of. I want to get rid of the drive adapter things in the front but they look pretty handy so I may just buy a bit of acrylic to cover that up with.

The amount of space in this case is great!!



I didn't want everything laying around so I popped the radiators and stuff in. Once fitting the 280 up top I think I'm going to get a 240 as it's pretty close to the back of the motherboard and just to make my life a little easier and it look a bit neater.



I tied up a little, well put it to one side so I couldn't stand on it all. Then started with the fun stuff

Let things warm up and got the bendy things out again.


Now lets get bending!!

I cut a piece of tube to mess around with, get a feel of how hot it needed to be and how it bended. The one on my right was my first bend, which I was quite impressed with!


Then it all went a bit downhill as my parents were rushing my to stop making noise, who sleeps at 8pm!?

I'll let the pictures do the talking for the rest of them. There are quite a few.









This one went horribly wrong, far to hot. Needed to turn it down a little.




I found that I was bending too quickly which was causing it to go a bit thin and stretch too much. Glad I bought loads of tubing now.



This one turned out alright but still a bit flat




The inside isn't kinking or deforming though, which is good.
**oopsy you don't want to see the rust on my golf**

 

[savagesam117]

So it's my birthday!

I can't sleep but can't make noise otherwise i'll wake my parents up. So I done a bit that wouldn't involve bending or making much noise. The bit between the two cards.



Then couldn't resist a few pictures whilst I was there.. Maybe I should learn how to use this camera properly first..





I never even knew that the CPU block had Supremacy MX written on the side.





More tomorrow.. I hate not having my PC

 

[savagesam117]

Are you using the silicone insert when doing your bends? It really doesn't look as though you are which is why it's collapsing when you bend.

That's what that thing is for!! Thanks I'll have another go later with it in and see how that goes.

 

[savagesam117]

Also worth watching the guide video's on how to use that monsoon kit you've got. It's an excellent bit of kit when used correctly, provided you measure accurately and always work from the centre line of the fitting and tubing.

You're best off getting a bit of mdf that you can mark out your tubing run on, and screw the mandrells down onto that and get the bends as accurate as possible. Otherwise you'll end up wasting a lot of tubing, or it'll look a bit messy.

I've still got a tube in mine I need to redo because I'm not happy with it, and I spent a good while measuring and marking it out. It's a patient mans game this hardline tubing malarky.

Probably would be a good idea but not very manly is it!?

I did think about that, I went to buy some and the only bit I could buy was bigger than my car and didn't have time to wait for them to cut it.

Yeah, I tend to get bored half way through building my PC, but need to make sure I don't as I want to do it right first time.

Happy Birthday
Nice to see you making progress with the system but for the love of all thats good take your time bending the tube. It should be hot enough so that if you loosen your support on it it will bend by itself. Still though it's looking good as the white/black colour scheme does look very nice.

Also, I never knew that it the CPU block had writing on the side of it as I just assumed they would be like the EVO blocks and be blank.

Keep up the smashing work and I look forward to seeing more updates, also enjoy the rest of your birthday (Don't burn your tube though)

Thanks!
Yeah I plan to have a good evening doing it tomorrow and get everything measured up. And then start bending some stuff I actually need. The rushed bit I done last night was me just reaaallly wanting to try it see how hard it was.

Happy birthday and love the colour of motherboard, makes it stand out so much.

Thanks, it doesn't look great close up as some idiot at work touched it when it was wet, then tried to correct his finger print with paint and it ended badly, I was annoyed and just stuck it on.

 

[savagesam117]

I got bending properly this evening.. getting a bit better at it now.

I had a plan the other day where it was going to use pass through fittings and having everything going into the back tray and hiding the lot but it's not possible with fans and other bits. I am going to do it with one fitting on each fan as it will make things much neater but only time will tell when I think about the loop a bit more but I've got a rough idea so far.

I went and bought some MDF as said above, it was needed after watching a few videos,



Screwed down my first bender ma' bob.



Measured out the lengths from the CPU to the GPU. Then went for my first bend.







Popped it in, it sat a little too high to line up properly.. You can see it points down a little, this was rectified with the deburererer tool, it's great for taking off little amounts!



This was when I trimmed it down.



Went for the second bit which was a bit more complex but measured up and got everything set up and measured on the MDF.



Started again (My parents were getting annoyed by this point )





Not to bad I don't think



I did make the second bend in this and it went really well, turns out when I went to line it up, i'd bent it the wrong way.. I didn't take a picture as I forgot but not it happens!

More tomorrow, starting to enjoy it now! I love the precision and work you have to put in.

 

[savagesam117]

I'm getting better!

I got fed up with the stupid measuring things and thought i'd do it my own way, which for me, works much better!

I took my spare Vernier caliper from work, it is pretty handy.



I was thinking this would look cool, which I think it does but I didn't take into account the fans luckily they fit at the front behind the mesh which doesn't ruin the looks a massive amount. it's a couple of mm too long in the middle between the two bends but luckily I used my 90 fitting to get it to fit.



I got a bit carried away with bending and this was my best bend I've done so far... I'm real proud of this one.







I was so 'stoked' on this it was unreal.. I was showing my parents, how didn't give a crap and looked at me like a weirdo!

Then she turned around and said "Why do you just buy one premade!?" I wanted to slap her..

Got my two axis game on, it worked this time!





I think it's look pretty sweet now. The camera angles make the bends look a lot more out than they actually are.





I got my fluid through from OcUK today.. Ordered a few more fittings from another company as OcUK didn't have them in stock which haven't turned up yet

Hopefully it'll be done by the weekend and i'll have the weekend gaming if the weather turns out as the weather people say.

 

[savagesam117]

I really want to go hardline on mine, after seeing so many people do it.

I've been umming and arring for ages now, took the plunge and I'm so glad I did

Those tubing runs look excellent. You must have spent a lot of time measuring them as they look very precise and neat with no collapsing.
Can't wait to see the rest of the build log as the build is coming on in leaps and bounds.

Excellent work

Yeah, it did take a while, i'm a perfectionist so it will all be getting redone as I get better but for the time being this will do and i've only used 1 pack of tubing so far! I'm getting a new PSU with fancy cables for christmas from my parents.


Thanks everyone else for the comments!

 

[savagesam117]

Little update, nothing major:

I've ordered more fittings from another water cooling company in the UK which are awful as I still haven't got my fittings.. Not a happy bunny!! Can't go another night without my PC and no work this weekend means loads of gaming so i've put it back together with my soft tubing as the last two bits of tube.

Here's a little peak of what one tube looks like



I'm not giving anything away as i'm quite proud of this

I'm not so happy about my RAM, seems one stick has died and will only boot with 1 stick in, so i'm going to have to grab some more, it's tempting to get the Sabranco board and Mobo but that'll be too much white and £200 for a Z97 board!?

I'm now off to enjoy some AC when it finishes downloading!

 

[savagesam117]

Thats a damn shame about the watercooling fittings (I think I know those fiends you speak of ) and the dud stick of RAM.
As for the Sabranco board there may be some deals on it in the Black Friday sales. Also the picture of the tubing looks very nice (I'm not sure if the photo is of white tubing or clear with white coolant)

Looking forward to the next update and I hope your fittings arrive soon

Yeah i've never used them before and will never use them again.

The Ram is back in now in a different slot and working so I think one of the channels is dead

It's clear tubing with Mayhems Ice White fluid.

Sabranco can be had for about 160 if you shop around

Yeah I know but still £160!? I'd be happy to spend that or more on a newer board, Z170 or X99 but not on Z97.

Lovely colour and i been so tempted, but i wouldnt have a clue what way to do my loop.

There is a picture of it in the watercooled pc's thread.

Got to love Mayhems!

When I started, I didn't have a clue either, I was just winging it. Then realised I wanted a pretty simple but still something that would challenge me then went from there. Like the tube between the two rads, I was going to do a straight tube but thought i'd mix it up.

 

[savagesam117]

Still no fittings this company are so **** and not even any confirmation emails. I'm going to chase it up tomorrow I didn't have the time today.

Tempted to buy a black and white board from MM as I think it'll look a little prettier but maybe a different PSU will come first, I don't think I can wait another month to get one for Christmas.

Going to order a couple more fittings and a pass through fittings for the bottom side, if it won't clash with the PSU, then it's all about cable management and I'm done!

I do think my loop design is a bit boring though

 

[savagesam117]

Remember that the loop wont be the only section of the system that people look at and you don't want the tubing runs to be too distracting. From what you've posted though it looks fine

It's a shame the fittings haven't arrived, also what black and white board are you buying (MSI/ASUS etc)

I've got a 120mm Rad sitting here which i'm tempted to put in as the loop looks a little one sided but I think it'll just clutter it so i'll probably leave it out.

It's the MSI Krait SLI one. I'm not sure if I want it or not. It just wouldn't be so much white around the CPU area. I love this Asus board, it's been great so far.

Great progress so far!

Thanks bud

Mayhem's Ice white is a winner, got any lighting plans? some subtle uv to make it pop even more?

Yes I do indeed.. My current lightly strips have decided to stop working when I popped them into the new case but I'm going to order more and have a nice white glow as it's really dark at the moment.

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My sound card has a horrible red light which is putting a red tint on the fluid inbetween the cards so i'm going to have to modify it as you can't turn off the settings.

What do you guys think of maybe adding a little grey? Grey centre on the fans, black white and grey cables? Little things like that, just to spice it up a little.

Board change to this?

 

[savagesam117]

Love the Krait boards, very tempted to do the X99 one if thats the way i go...
I have so much i want to do with my pc and very little budget to do it in haha

Tell me about it!

I don't think that the extra radiator would look cluttered but I do like the look of the Krait motherboard. My only issue is that it's MSI and my experience with MSI hasn't been the "greatest". As for the sound card I can't wait to see what the mod is and I like the idea of a splash of grey in the system.

Oh really? I've only had an MSI 290x Lightning card and that was amazing!

I'm not sure what my plan is with the sound card, hopefully it's just red LED's that I can change for White ones!

+1 for krait mobo, fits perfect to colour scheme...

Will have to see how payday goes before I buy it I think, if it's still available. I really want to get my second car on the road as my little Polo is so slow I think that's going to take priority but I am selling a few bits so maybe.

I've spent so much money on my brother for Christmas which I kinda regret now as I could have spent it on myself and he would have been happy with an SSD!!

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On a plus note,

I did miss a parcel today and the last thing to turn up is the fittings so one can only hope!!

 

[savagesam117]

Send them back and grab that SSD for 99.99 on sale on here then looks a class deal!

I've got him an SSD.. And a new motherboard.. and a 4770k.. and a new case..

I've bought one of them for my laptop though

 

[savagesam117]

Come on ladies, there's enough of me to go around

 

[savagesam117]

Get some more piccys up for us to chew on please...

Tomorrow.. Tomorrow is the day!

I get my fittings from the post office. The loop comes apart again.. My other rad goes in.. I've got a lot planned..

Got in touch with Pexon today about some cabling