[OcUK Back Room Project] Custom Water Cooled Small FF PC

TheFuzz

TheFuzz

TheFuzz

Associate
Joined
2 Apr 2016
Posts
19
Location
Stoke On Trent
Introduction
Hi all, I'm one of the Techs here at OcUK. I usually specialise in building the smaller systems that we sell. So when the time came for me to build myself a new system I decided to make a project of it.

My aim is to build a custom water cooled system in a case which you would not normally see water cooling outside of an all in one cooler.

To that aim I've started this project log, along with the loop I'm also planning to do some additional custom painting on the case and the Rad (I may do some other bits depending on my mood).

I'll update the thread with my parts list next.
 
Components
Ok on to the parts list.

First the parts I've got so far, a big thanks to the guys who have helped me out so far (you know who you are, and I will be bugging you for more bits later!):
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Gene
CPU Block: EK Mono block
Radiators: Salvaged out of the bin (every little helps)
Pump & Res: XSPC Combined unit (we've not used this yet as far as I know so we'll see how it functions)
PSU: 850W Superflower Modular Power supply (great as I only need to use the cables I need)
Case: Corsair Carbide Air 240 (This I will be painting to break up the black a bit)
Paint: Lots of it

Now the bits I still need to source:
Ram: 16GB Avexir Red DDR 4 2400mhz (I'm a sucker for glowing RAM)
Storage: M.2 Drive (of some sort) & SSD for storage (again whatever I can get my hands on)
CPU: Intel Skylake I5 6600K (would like an I7 but budget limits me, I should get a decent clock out of it though)
WC Fittings and tubing: Will be using 13/11 tubing and fittings to give me as much flex as possible in the case. I'll know what fittings I'll need when I get the system mocked up.
GFX Card: Aiming for a 970 reference card so I have the option to water cool the card later on if needed.

I've no doubt that I may alter some of the bits that I've yet to get to fit with budget and such. As it is I've got enough bits to start the project, so for now bring on the paint!:D
 
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Rad Prep Work

Right then this is the work that I managed to get done yesterday lunchtime.

I'd already leak tested the rad to make sure that it wasn't going to give me any surprises. It was also good to flush out any gunk that was lurking inside the Rad.

So here is the 'before' photos...
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First job was to touch up the odd little bit of copper that is showing on the fins (took a couple of mins with a black marker pen and now looks good as new!).

Once that was done the next job is to mask up the parts of the rad that I want to keep black. From my experience this part is the most time consuming. Good masking will save an absolute headache later on!

I also screwed in some M3 size screws to protect the rad screw threads. The paint I'll be using needs to have a fair few layers sprayed on to get the effect I'm after. So a bit of prevention now will save work later.

Once the Rad was all masked up I began the process of rubbing down the areas I'm going to paint. Using a medium fine scuff pad I've rubbed back the black paint to give my primer paint layer something to grip to.

After a good 40 minutes masking and rubbing back I've got the Rad ready for it's first coat of paint.

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Now all I need is for the my paint to arrive...
 
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Good to see new life for old parts. Always seems painful to have stuff that was state-of-the-art go in the bin.

Looks like your prep is good. I thought you were off painting after recent case spraying hassle?!
 
Only off painting big cases! As long as I haven't got to fix anything on this one I'll be happy! The cobra case paint job was one of those 'murphy' cases - anything that can go wrong will... and it did, quite a lot actually! :rolleyes:

This isn't my first custom loop but it is the first one in a case this small which makes it more interesting. I've got everything laid out in my head how it should fit but until I get to the mock up stage I won't know for sure and may have to come up with something else (all part of the fun really!). :)
 
It does seem to be some sort of season for everything going wrong.

There's always more space in your head! :D ...some of it is used to store the colourful vocabulary you'll use later when stuff doesn't fit ;)
 
Now that sounds familiar. To that end, I've a lovely set of tungsten carbide bits for a Dremel :D you'd be welcome to borrow if you were local. 20 different shapes for £17 and very good. They do a nice job of 'adjusting' delrin feet as well as steel. Can post a link to a rainforest related site if it's of interest and not classed as competition.
 
Case Prep

Next job on the list before the painting is the case prep.

This is one of those jobs that is really tedious but also most crucial. Like the Rad this involves masking off the areas that I don't want painted.

The Corsair 240 Air case I've chosen really helps me out here for several good reasons.

1. The panels I want to paint are secured by thumbscrews.
2. The grills and dust filters are fixed to panels via screws and clips.
3. The panels are plastic without any kind of coating on them.

I've started with the base panel of the case (as a precaution - if it goes wrong no on will notice).

Pictures of progress to follow...
 
Case Prep Pt2

After much cutting of masking tape and using the patience of a brick, I've got all three panels masked up ready for a light rub down followed by some plastic primer!

Base Panel (top panel looks the same but inverted)

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Front Panel

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After two light coats of clear plastic primer the black plastic takes on a metal appearance. They then get another very light rubbing down to smooth out the primer coat ready for the next layer.

They end up looking like this.

Primed Panels

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Still waiting for the rest of the paint to arrive now! :mad:
 
Painting the Rad and Panels PT1

Now that I have (some) of my paint, which arrived this morning I can move on to the next phase of the paintwork.

As I had left the Rad ready for a layer of Primer that's what I'll start with.

The Rad got two light layers of grey primer (with a light rub in between) and ended up like this

Rad with grey Primer

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The same process was applied for the panels which had already had a coat of plastic primer applied.

Panels with grey Primer

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After letting the primer layers dry they were given another light rub and the base silver metallic layer was applied. This coat will provide a base and also help bring out the colour in the next layer (a lovely Candy Apple Red - when it gets here! :().

This paint layer was applied a bit thicker than the primer needing only one coat & some touching up to get a nice finish.

Metallic Silver Layer

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At the moment this is as far as I can go with the paint so it's back to sourcing components for a little bit! :D
 
Thanks! The paint finish is really nice so far on the rad.

Thanks to a generous donation I now have my fittings sorted out! :D

CPU & RAM is also sorted now, So I can work on the core system tomorrow and see what it can do!
 
Core System Overclock Testing

Whilst I've been waiting for the rest of the paint to arrive (:mad:), I've moved on to messing around with the core parts of my system (CPU, RAM & Motherboard).

So, having 'borrowed' the bundle test bay in Repairs, I set up the brains of my system and had a play to see what kind of speeds I can get my CPU up to.

*I'm using our test all in one cooler, which should behave much the same as a water loop.

After some low speed testing to get a feel for the chip I ramped it up and got an impressive 4.8GHz @ 1.32V with a max temp of 56 degrees C. Not too shabby so far!

Once the system is all together I can fine tune my Overclocks on the system for best thermal/ CPU performance. :D

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