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

[TheFuzz]

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.

 

[TheFuzz]

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!

 

[TheFuzz]

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...

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.

Now all I need is for the my paint to arrive...

 

[TheFuzz]

Sorry about that... Slight technical hitch! Will sort as soon as able

 

[TheFuzz]

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!

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!).

 

[TheFuzz]

It does seem to be some sort of season for everything going wrong.

There's always more space in your head! ...some of it is used to store the colourful vocabulary you'll use later when stuff doesn't fit [/quot

Oh it will fit... one way or another, most likely another but it will fit in the end

 

[TheFuzz]

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...

 

[TheFuzz]

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)

Front Panel

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

Still waiting for the rest of the paint to arrive now!

 

[TheFuzz]

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

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

Panels with grey Primer

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

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!

 

[TheFuzz]

As long as you take your time in prep and don't rush the painting you can get a really nice finish without having to spend a lot of money!

 

[TheFuzz]

Thanks! The paint finish is really nice so far on the rad.

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

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

 

[TheFuzz]

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.

 

[TheFuzz]

Painting The Rad & Panels PT2

At long last the final set of paints has arrived!!!

Now I can get on and finish the painting on the panels and the Rad.

Having given the panels and Rad a quick clean to clear off any dust, I started to apply the candy apple red base coat to the metallic silver layer.

The trick I found with this paint is to not to use a lot of paint in one go but use lots of layers. I found the best method is to apply a thin layer and wait a couple of minutes to go tacky then apply another layer on top.

It takes a while, and after much painting (and a good 20 minutes to come down from the ceiling - even with the paint extractor on full the fumes are a bit strong! ) I've managed to get a nice coating on the Panels and the Rad.

Candy Apple Red Base Coats

After letting the paint dry and after a light rub, I moved onto applying the clear coat which will protect the paint and also bring out the shine on the paint.

After a couple of thin layers followed by a final thick coat the panels were left to dry again (I managed to get a coupe of good layers on the Rad but the last layer threw up an issue and is need of repair (curse of the paint strikes again! )

I've posted the picture of the Rad with one of the good layers on before it all went wrong.

After letting the panels dry I unmasked one of the panels to see if the effort has paid off...

After cleaning off some of the glue residue from the masking tape - I'm pleased to say so far so good!

With the rest of the panels drying and the repair work on the Rad also under way I can start on actually putting my build together now.

Stay tuned folks!

 

[TheFuzz]

Building the System PT 1

Now that most of the painting has been done (and repaired... again) it time to move on to actually building the system.

The first thing that I'll do is get the motherboard prepped and the Mono block installed.

This is actually quite straight forward to do. The first thing was to remove the stock motherboard Mosfet Cooler and rear mounting bracket (The rear bracket is reattached to help mount the Mono block). Once this was done the cooling strips are applied to the chips on the motherboard and the thermal paste applied to the CPU after being installed in the board.

The Mono block is then fitted onto the motherboard and the whole thing is carefully flipped over and the main 4 retaining screws are screwed in. The rear mounting bracket is reapplied and fixed back in place using the new screws that come with the Mono block. Once checking that the Mono block is secure but not over tightened the Ram is installed. At this point I also fitted two G1/4 45 Degree rotary fittings onto the Monoblock.

Prepped Motherboard

The motherboard was then fitted into the case and the PSU was also installed. The Front Panel wires were connected and cable managed. Two Nosieblocker Fans were installed in the front of the case and connected to the fan headers on the motherboard.

The 24 pin ATX/ 8 pin CPU & USB 3.0 Header were also connected and cable managed.

around the back of the case the Power cables were attached to the PSU, being a modular PSU I can only install the cables that I need giving me more space and less cable to manage.

The ION Res/Pump I mounted in the back of the case (I really would have liked it on the front side of the case but after measuring it wouldn't have fitted ).

After finding the right spot I measured and drilled two holes in the case that would let me secure the pump mounting bracket to the base of my case. The pump was secured with two nuts and bolts which holds the bracket nicely in place.

Once the pump was mounted and fittings fixed I started tubing up the build.

Originally I wanted to use 13/11 size tubing and fittings but after doing some testing I found that I could use 16/11 tubing and fittings and still get the bends that I wanted.

This was also lucky as I had been donated a ton of fittings which were 16/11 and found some tubing off cuts long enough for my needs!

After fitting and cutting the tubing I got the build tubed up leaving just the Rad to mount.

Front View

Rear View

 

[TheFuzz]

Thanks, it's about to get a bit better!...

 

[TheFuzz]

Building the System PT 2

Ok, back to the build!

After fixing the paint job on the Rad and having the final layers of clear coat applied to it, the Rad is ready to be installed.

The Rad was attached to the front of the case (after putting up some resistance), behind the two noise blocker fans.

I then used two 90 degree rotary fittings (one with a black spacer attached) to give me the angles I need to attach the tubes to the Rad.

This was the part I wasn't looking forward to. I knew that it would be a tight fit and awkward as heck to get the tube onto the fittings, and Boy was I right.

In the end I attached the tubes to the fittings first, then screwed the fittings into the Rad using my favourite tactic of tempered brute force and a pair of long nose pliers. Not elegant but it did the trick!

At this point I was going to fit the storage drive and GFX card but I couldn't wait to get the loop filled with some Blood Red fluid and get the painted panels back on to see what it would look like.... So I did!

With the tubing now complete I moved on and fitted my Samsung M.2 Drive and my Asus Strix 970 GFX card.

After adding a few cable ties here and there to organise my cables and an overnight leak test (which I'm pleased to say it passed) I arrived at the following...

None too shabby so far!

There is just one last detail that needs adding... The final piece of painting!

I'd ordered a stencil with the original plan of adding a graphic to the Monoblock. Due to various reasons (item didn't arrive for ages & I got bored waiting) that didn't happen.

However there was a plan B so here it is... Ladies & Gentlemen may I present the small but powerful Red Dragon!

I will say that the OCUK Painting Curse was in full flow whilst painting the Dragon (less said the better ) and in the end I had to rework the image so that the dragon was graded from light grey (smoke effect almost) into a dark red. Not what I originally intended i'll admit, but with 'necessity being the mother of all invention' (in other words I ran out of Red paint) I don't think it turned out too bad at all.

Now that it's all together I can start to work on seeing what I can get out of my GFX card with an OC & my CPU OC...