[New Build Almost Complete] First time building a custom loop. All comments welcome.

Stu @ MSD

Stu @ MSD

Stu @ MSD

Associate
Joined
21 Feb 2012
Posts
200
Location
Blackpool. UK
Hi guys,
Been around the forums and overclocking since the celeron and MMX days, but only recently got into the whole benchmarking thing and decided it was time to build a new machine up with some watercooling headroom, so, here we go.

Case:
Corsair Obsidian 800D

Mobo:
Asus Maximus Extreme IV - Z

CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600K

GPU:
3 x Sapphire Radeon 7970's

RAM:
16GB of Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz

HDD:
2x OCZ Vertex 3 Sata 6 SSD
2x 1TB Western Digital Velociraptors

PSU:
XFX Pro 1250w Black gamer Edition

Optical:
Pioneer 12x Blu Ray Combo Drive

Monitor:
3 x Dell UltraSharp U2410 24" LCD

OS:
MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit


Cooling & Monitoring

CPU Block:
EK Supreme HF Plexi EN

Radiator:
1 x EK Coolstream XT 360mm Copper Fins - Single Circuit

Reservoir:
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25 with pump inside

Pumps:
Alphacool VPP655 - D5 Pump

Fans:
3 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM - AP15s on the radiator.
3x Corsair 140mm fans around the chassis.

Fittings:
Bitspower compression fittings

Tubing:
Masterkleer 59117 3/8" in red.

Coolant:
Feser Aqua - Ultra Pure Water

Controller & Monitoring:
Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 Pro
Coolant temp monitored before and after radiator.

Lighting:
LED's and a UV inverter so far.


Basic hardware and case...
P1020586Medium.jpg


+ water cooling parts.
P1020602Medium.jpg


Case unwrapped..
P1020613Medium.jpg


Some parts unwrapped...
P1020623Medium.jpg


360mm radiator installed with 3x Scythe GT Ap15's
P1020620Medium.jpg


Temperature monitoring for radiator inlet and exhaust
P1020619Medium.jpg


Installing EK water block on the MOBO.
P1020625Medium.jpg


P1020624Medium.jpg


Some pipes, and mobo installed.
P1020626Medium.jpg


Sata hotswop bays are quite ingenius and lovely to wire up.
P1020627Medium.jpg


Then a cover makes it all neat and tidy.
P1020628Medium.jpg


Ready to power up...
P1020632Medium.jpg


Up and running...
P1020635Medium.jpg
 
Sorry, thought I had taken far more pictures than that, will get some more tonight of pumps and reservoiur setup etc.

Comments on the above build are very much encouraged, good and bad.

Moving forward...
I want to deal with the following jobs...


  • Install my Aquaero pro tonight
  • Placement of the OCZ Vertex drives. (I think on the shelf below the 7970's would look wicked.)
  • Add a drain port somehow. - ideas welcome
  • Tidy up the wiring some more
  • Purchase and install cooling items for GPU's.
  • Figure out best way to fit a second rad for GPU's. (External is a viable option)
  • Investigate and purchase better 140mm fans.
  • Investigate wether chipset cooling is worthwhile on this MOBO
  • Investigate and purchase better 140mm fans.


Advice always very welcome. :)
 
panyan said:
really nice build :D

will you be watercooling the 7970's? :)
Click to expand...

Sorry, yes, I dont know why I didnt alude to that properly in my post, I cant currently find anyone with three GPU blocks and backplates in stock that I fancy so am just awaiting and researching for now whilst also trying to figure out placeement options for the second rad that will be required.

Its alos a nice gentle learning curve just doing the CPU for now. :)
 
Some more pics for now...

Interior with 2x SSD's installed. (ignore 2 temp monitor wires, will be moved when new aquaero is installed)
P1020663Large.jpg



P1020654Large.jpg


P1020641Large.jpg


P1020650Large.jpg



lrlcr said:
When you watercool the gpu's, make sure the lowest one is the lowest part of your loop, then you will have a drain port on the bottom of your gpu.
Click to expand...

Now that, is a great idea! Thanks very much for the tip!
 
lrlcr said:
That's what I have in mine, just need a funnel to empty it.

I also plan on sorting a full port at some point, just unsure where...
Click to expand...

jinxpad said:
Looks great mate well done, although as mentioned here you're going to definitely need to add an extra 240/ 240+120 to your loop when you start cooling those 3 GPU's.

I've heard you can fit a 360 in the bottom, but I haven't actually seen it yet, a 240 you can definitely get in there. Both will require case chopping though if you want to keep it all internal.

Good choice of PSU btw :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments guys, you know, I am very STONGLY considering an external mount for these rads when I do the GPU's. That way I can just have done with it and mount 3x 360's with 9 nice quiet fans. Job done, silent computing at last.

The more I think about it, the more damn sense it makes!
 
jinxpad said:
3 x 360s? Where would you put the 3rd? Or do you mean 2 x 360 internal + 1 external? If so I think you might want to consider adding a second pump to make sure you get good flow through all of that.
Click to expand...

Sorry, what I mean is 3x 360s in a nice external housing, probably even reservour and pump in it too, so all i have in the PC is the loop itself.
 
pgi947 said:
If you want 3x360 external, get a Phobya Nova 1080, check my build log for pics of it. Works out a fraction of the cost of 3 individual 360's and Phobya do a nice range of stands and enclosures for it that include pump and res mounting options ;)

Edit: also with the nova 1080 is the option for a 4x180mm fan bracket, meaning less wires and less noise over 9x120mm fans. I opted for 4 x 700rpm 180mm G-Silent fans.
Click to expand...

Thanks, will bear it in mind and have been looking at those this morning... :)


stulid said:
Last bunch of photos look great mate:)
Click to expand...

Thank you.

inSilica said:
I have the same bayReservoir but just to give the heads's up. Looks like a D5? with a molex which I'm not sure the Aquaero can drive ...
Click to expand...

Thanks, no it cant, sadly the Aquaero was a last minute decision after the rest had already been purchased.
 
Thanks guys,
I am planning the radiator system at the moment, but for now I want to do some serious benching and monitoring of the CPU so i can figure out how much energy this rig can deal with long term at the moment.

I managed 5.2ghz very stable* last night so pleased with that, but want more. :)

* My stable =
Super pi 1m
Super Pi 32m
IBT on high for 10 runs
Prime 95 12 hr blend with 85% of ram used up.
 
OC2000 said:
I've currently ordered 2x EX 240 rads which I'm hoping to stack together with 6 GT AP 15s on their side at the bottom. I currently have an RX 240 horizontally placed there on my 800D, but not happy with the cooling results. With 2x EX 240s I'll effectively have a 480 rad at the bottom. I'll cut 4 fan holes on the side panels for air intake/ exhaust.

I've not seen this done before, so really hoping to all fits. On paper it does, but I'm no engineer and hope I haven't missed anything out.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting, I look forward to seeing it.
 
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