Kiwi's Squad Build / Refresh

1kiwi · 22 Mar 2017 at 03:33

History & Purpose of the New Build

It's been about 6 years since I've upgraded my entire PC so after convincing the wife I finally started to order some parts. I play allot of Squad which is built on the UE4 engine and very very CPU hungry. Sadly I'm CPU limited and need something that will push me beyond 4.7 and improve clock for clock performance. I also feel like Sandy is finally starting to show it's age so it makes sense to upgrade

Old PC:

Single Loop:

PA120.3
PA120.2
XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo V2
EK-LT - Acetal
EK Water Blocks EK-FC Block and Backplate
EK Compression Fittings
Mayhems Pastel - Orange Coolant

Kit

Modded Lian Li G70
Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q
2600K @ 4.7Ghz
Gigabyte Z68X-UD7-B3
Corsair Vengeance 16GB
MSI Reference GTX980Ti
Asus Xonar DX
1 X Samsung 256GB SSD Pro
1 X Crucial MX200 1TB SSD
OCZ Gold 850w Power Supply

These pictures were taken the last time I put my loop together for the 980Ti launch. Watercooling is very expensive so I typically try and time my upgrades around the nvidia Ti launches. I've run both crossfire and SLI before and if you ask me these setups are more trouble than they are worth - it's also double the cost which can get prohibitive give how expensive GPU full cover blocks are

1kiwi · 22 Mar 2017 at 03:34

Latest Build Pics - Last Update: 2nd April 2017

1kiwi · 22 Mar 2017 at 03:41

Reserved

1kiwi · 22 Mar 2017 at 03:41

Start of Build Log

New parts:

Cooling:

EK-FC Titan X Pascal - Acetal
EK-FC Titan X Pascal Backplate - Black
EKWB EK-Supremacy EVO CPU Water Block (Nickel Acetal)
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease
Rockit 88 - Black Body × 1 with Re-Lid Kit - 1150 × 1 (enables you to delid the CPU lid to reapply thermal paste to the internal heat sink improving contact and reducing temps)

PC Parts:

Intel Core i7-7700K Quad-Core 4.2 GHz Kaby Lake LGA 1151
G.SKILL F4-3200C16D-16GTZ TridentZ 16GB
ASUS ROG Maximus IX Hero Z270 LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI M.2 USB 3.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition

Having already pre-ordered the 1080ti I decided to put the card in before watercooling it as I had seen a user who had gone straight to watercooling in the UK only to find that his card was dead. The card works well however I'm excited to get the waterblock on.

I'm away for the rest of the week but will post pics of progress when I start building on Friday

niro750 · 22 Mar 2017 at 06:45

Looking forward to this

1kiwi · 23 Mar 2017 at 04:16

Been researching fan and pump controllers tonight and mechanisms to monitor my loop temperature. It's been a while since I've looked at this but one brand keeps coming up in the forums; Aquacomputer Aquaero. I want to move away from my existing fan controller to something more hidden and found the Aquacomputer Aquaero 5LT to be highly recommended. To monitor temps I'm looking at a Alphacool Eiszapfen Temperature Sensor which should screw into the port on my XSPC D5 Bay Res. Here's a pic of the controller.

I did look at other internal fan controllers but none of them seemed to offer the level of software control that Aquaero does. Let me know guys if you disagree or have any additional thoughts - given build day is on Friday this will likely be an addition after I have the build setup but it's something I've wanted to do for a while given Los Angeles can get pretty warm.

HazardO · 23 Mar 2017 at 14:50

Hey kiwi, not sure if you're aware, but I've just been forced into a custom water setup after my EK predator 360 leaked.

It leaked at the CPU water block (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-supremacy-mx-wc-796-ek.html)

The base part of the blocks have the retention bracket pushing them onto the CPU, but then the top part of the block is then just screwed on top of that. When mine cooled (Copper base acetyl top), water would leak from between the retention bracket and the top of the block (which is also subjected to any mechanical stress if you're moving tubing about). It may have just been a dodgy o-ring, but I feel much more comfortable with my Raystorm PRO where the top and base of the cooler are both held down by the retention bracket.

I've not got my GPU in the loop, so for monitoring I'm just using the motherboard's PWM CPU header and one of these so that all 3 fans run at the same speed:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-pwm-fan-hub-ca-009-pt.html

Anyway good luck with the build mate. (Maybe look at getting a new keyboard?

)

orbitalwalsh · 23 Mar 2017 at 15:01

1kiwi said:
Alphacool Eiszapfen Temperature Sensor which should screw into the port on my XSPC D5 Bay Res. Here's a pic of the controller.

just plumbed one in myself. Using a Strix E board and only has one sensor, just under where a second GPU would go in... such a stupid place.

Comes with a male to male in the packet which i didn't know about so have a spare lol.

Hasn't leaked at that point, and like you, i've attached to outlet port of the rad. Will leak test the system tonight

1kiwi · 23 Mar 2017 at 20:47

orbitalwalsh said:
just plumbed one in myself. Using a Strix E board and only has one sensor, just under where a second GPU would go in... such a stupid place.

Comes with a male to male in the packet which i didn't know about so have a spare lol.

Hasn't leaked at that point, and like you, i've attached to outlet port of the rad. Will leak test the system tonight

Cool! Any chance you could send a picture? I'm not married to the idea of plumping it to my rad

1kiwi · 23 Mar 2017 at 20:49

HazardO said:
Hey kiwi, not sure if you're aware, but I've just been forced into a custom water setup after my EK predator 360 leaked.

It leaked at the CPU water block (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-supremacy-mx-wc-796-ek.html)

The base part of the blocks have the retention bracket pushing them onto the CPU, but then the top part of the block is then just screwed on top of that. When mine cooled (Copper base acetyl top), water would leak from between the retention bracket and the top of the block (which is also subjected to any mechanical stress if you're moving tubing about). It may have just been a dodgy o-ring, but I feel much more comfortable with my Raystorm PRO where the top and base of the cooler are both held down by the retention bracket.

I've not got my GPU in the loop, so for monitoring I'm just using the motherboard's PWM CPU header and one of these so that all 3 fans run at the same speed:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-pwm-fan-hub-ca-009-pt.html

Anyway good luck with the build mate. (Maybe look at getting a new keyboard? )

Hello mate!! That sounds rough regarding your block. I'm assuming your block was defective. Reason why I want to alphacool is that I was interested in the software. Does the device you linked work with a PWM pump?

1kiwi · 24 Mar 2017 at 03:57

Few packages arrived over the week but I'm unfortunately short a CPU

It should come tomorrow but it's put the build back a little.

HazardO · 24 Mar 2017 at 07:59

1kiwi said:
Hello mate!! That sounds rough regarding your block. I'm assuming your block was defective. Reason why I want to alphacool is that I was interested in the software. Does the device you linked work with a PWM pump?

It's got it's own power drawn from sata power so I guess it probably would, but it only takes one pmw input so it's more suited to turning one CPU fan output into many (upto 11 apparently) rad fans using the motherboard's temperature probe and fan profile settings. I've just got my D5 pumps on the lowest flow settings at the moment.

1kiwi · 24 Mar 2017 at 19:00

HazardO said:
It's got it's own power drawn from sata power so I guess it probably would, but it only takes one pmw input so it's more suited to turning one CPU fan output into many (upto 11 apparently) rad fans using the motherboard's temperature probe and fan profile settings. I've just got my D5 pumps on the lowest flow settings at the moment.

I see the Swifttech version is also pretty popular. http://www.swiftech.com/8-WayPWMsplitter-sata.aspx

I think this one also supports PWM control of pumps

HazardO · 24 Mar 2017 at 19:10

1kiwi said:
I see the Swifttech version is also pretty popular. http://www.swiftech.com/8-WayPWMsplitter-sata.aspx

I think this one also supports PWM control of pumps

Looks like it's basically the same thing. One input from PWM CPU motherboard output and drives multiple fans using sata power. You couldn't use either to run pumps and fans at different speeds.

1kiwi · 24 Mar 2017 at 19:20

HazardO said:
Looks like it's basically the same thing. One input from PWM CPU motherboard output and drives multiple fans using sata power. You couldn't use either to run pumps and fans at different speeds.

That's what I'm thinking. The Aquaero seems like the best solution on the market. I'll try and get on discord if/when my new PC is up. Do you still game on Sundays?

1kiwi · 24 Mar 2017 at 23:35

Build time! It's getting late here (had to wait for the CPU to arrive) so I'll try and get the CPU and GPU prepped tonight and do the rest of the cleaning, install and loop tomorrow morning.

1kiwi · 25 Mar 2017 at 01:34

First step, delidding the CPU. Let's hope I have not created a $250 paper weight

1kiwi · 25 Mar 2017 at 05:27

Installed the CPU block. Compared to my previous LT block I found the instructions to be lacking a little. I.e., the plates you have to install are not marked so you have to guess regarding thickness. The screws which you install for LGA 1511 are also not clearly differentiated from the other screws. Other than that it was fine and not that different from any other install

orbitalwalsh · 25 Mar 2017 at 08:15

Forgot to take a pic but no leaks and works fine on ASUS T_Sensor headers .
Does add a few cm on though. Should work anywhere really

cable length is just right to

HazardO · 25 Mar 2017 at 10:31

1kiwi said:
That's what I'm thinking. The Aquaero seems like the best solution on the market. I'll try and get on discord if/when my new PC is up. Do you still game on Sundays?

Looks like it's going to be a cracking build mate.

I should be around Sunday afternoon.