Associate
Parallax:
"A displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines"
This of course has absolutely nothing to do with this build, but it's a cool name for a computer!
So, welcome.
This my 4th personal gaming rig and my 2nd water cooled one. It is not a complete new system as I will be re-using some parts but the main components will be new. I'm changing from the AMD 970 platform to Intel Z97. It's the first Intel gaming system I have built for myself and it will be used 100% for gaming. Please bear this in mind when reading over my component choices as I haven't taken these lightly.
Existing parts:
Corsair 450D: I bought this around a year ago, replacing my Thermaltake Chaser A41. This is the best looking mid tower in my opinion and can fit a ton of kit inside while having good air flow. I haven't seen many 450D builds online so hope this is new for some of you.
Samsung 840 evo: I have a 120GB for the OS and all programs and a 500GB for my most played games. I do have a 3TB HDD where I have all my game downloads backed up but I only connect this when Transferring files.
EK supremacy: I am using this in my current build. While I don't have another block to compare this with, It keeps my CPU cool and looks awesome. I did plan to buy the Evo but I doubt I would gain that much performance that would justify buying the Evo kit.
Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz: I have never needed more than 8GB of memory, and since this rig is for gaming only, there is no need to upgrade. Spending £200 on a better, larger memory kit wouldn't make as much sense as spending £200 towards a better GPU or CPU.
Hardware Labs Black Ice GT Stealth: I currently use a 360mm version and will be adding a 240mm which will be going in the front of the chassis. These radiators are great in my opinion. Quite inexpensive but have a high fin density at 30 fins per inch.
New Parts:
MSI Z97 Gaming 5: This board offers all the features I need. Decent overclocking ability, good onboard sound and a great aesthetics. It fits my black and red theme well. Going for a higher spec like a Gaming 7 wouldn't be worth it for me.
Intel i5 4690K Devils Canyon: Yep, it's only a quad core and I will be dropping 2 threads moving to this from my AMD FX-6100, but for gaming it's a perfect chip which will well outperform my AMD one. I did consider the 4790K but for £100 more, the higher thread count may not be worth the few extra fps I may get. It would be better spent elsewhere. I won't be using this PC for anything other than gaming so it suits me.
EVGA GTX 980 SC: I considered a 290X but Tahiti is getting on a bit now. Maxwell offers way more in terms of technology, efficiency and overall performance. Being way more power efficient, it runs much cooler meaning I can push my overclock as far as the chip allows. I will be able to max this card out without any temperature issues. I also considered 2 970's in SLI, but I would like 4 usable GB's of memory and not having to worry about scaling and compatibility issues. I will be gaming on a single 1080p 144Hz monitor. No surround gaming here.
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular: I wanted a reliable power supply and this one has concrete build quality, it is semi-passive and the cable connections provide extra soft light. Not a huge fan of the cables themselves though.
EK-FC980 GTX Acetal: I was thinking of going with the plexi one to match the rest of the build, but it isn't a full cover block. The Acetal version is. Getting the backplate to match of course.
EK X-TOP D5 Plexi including PWM pump: The D5 was an obvious choice and the clear top matches the CPU block perfect.
Corsair SP120 + AF120: Have opted for the performance edition fans all round, for the radiators and the rear exhaust. Don't really need to explain this choice but I will say they look great and are highly optimized. I will explain the orientation of these fans later.
Primochill Clear acrylic tube 13mm OD: Speaking from experience this stuff is a nightmare to bend and get right, but it's so rewarding. I use it in my current build and it looks great.
Bitspower z-multi 170mm: Its a reservoir, looks cool and is made well. Don't need to say much more about that.
Fittings: These are a bit of a mish-mash. Primochill matte black Revolver fittings for the rigid tubing. A Barrow 'Q' fitting as a bleed at the bottom most part of the loop. Barrow blanking plugs, rotarys and extensions. If you have never heard of Barrow, their parts are identical to Bitspower's and are in fact made in the same factory by the same company albeit they cost half the price.
Coolant: I have decided on Mayhems Pastel Red. I use Pastel Blue in my current build, it has very even colour and I haven't noticed any settling or gunk build up in the loop.
Cables: I am not a huge fan of the EVGA PSU cables. They aren't completely sleeved and the parts that are look rotten with horrible black sleeving and thick heatshrink. The plugs are colour coded too! As the PSU connections are proprietary, they can't be modded easily. What I plan to do is tidy the cables at the PSU end as best I can and use my existing Akaska black sleeved cable extensions.
There wont be much in the way of visible cables inside. The CPU power cable is well tucked up in the corner, the GPU uses only 2x 6 pin cables and finally theres the motherboard power cable. The other miscellaneous cables will be kept mostly out of view.
By using my cable extensions, I can't route the cables in the back in the most tidy of ways, can't get the side panel on either so the decision to use these have forced me to make other decisions. I have made a few compromises but through the planning of this, these seem to work in my favour.
Mods: I have decided to mod the rear side panel. I will cut a square hole out maybe 250mm x 250mm. I could leave the panel off completely but there is a bit of flex in the case so this would not be a good idea. This mod ties in with the fan orientation I have planned.
I want this system to be as cool and quiet as possible, and to do that I need all radiator fans drawing cool air in. 3 fans puling air in through the top and 2 in the front pushing air in that way. Keeps the temperatures lower in turn keeping the fan speeds lower. If things do get a bit toasty though, I have plenty of scope left to tune the fan speeds.
The image below is an early design but it gives you a idea of the fan orientation.
It may seem odd that there are 5 intake fans and 1 exhaust, 2 if you count the PSU as this will be mounted fan facing upwards. Many people bring up the argument of positive vs negative pressure. I am more than happy to debate this but I will just outline my reason for this config. Of course this config will maintain positive pressure but there are plenty of places for air to escape this case. The rear of the case has ample venting and by leaving the PCI express covers off this will be even better.
By cutting the hole in the rear side panel, it doesn't only give me space to let excess cables spill out of, It will let a lot of air escape too. With this in mind I think that the case would run at neutral to slightly positive pressure while getting rid of as much heat as possible, while keeping quiet. It should also keep the case relatively free of dust.
Best things is, this will only improve the aesthetic as I wont see that back side of the case, and the inside will look super tidy
I am not removing the 5.25” drive bays like a lot of people do as it seems to support the top of the motherboard tray, but I need to make a hole in the base of the drive bay due to the design of the loop, plus I will be removing some metal brackets and mounts which aren't needed.
I am doing some internal panelling which I've never done before. I want the build looking clean and tidy with minimal detail. I am using 1.5mm plasticard (styrene plastic) which will cover around 95% of the visible interior. For ease I have cut smaller panels which fit together and will stick to the case interior with the stickiest double sided tape I can find. There are seams in the plastic but this will be hidden with a layer of paper card on the top. I have found card with an almost identical colour and texture to the paint job on the case. I have test fitted the panels I have cut and finished so far and they fit perfect thankfully. I will try and get some good pictures of this feature.
For ambient light, I am using flexi white LED strips on the inside of the side panel that will be cut and solder connected and will run off a 12v feed from the PSU through a 5v reducer. The source of the light can't be seen. I hate seeing light sources in PC's, it's nice to see just the reflection.
This all covers the design and concept of the build. It isn't anything special, just a neat and tidy looking gaming PC that will get the job done well.
In the next part I will go through the build process talking about the good and bad parts. I'll post more pictures as I go along and hopefully it won't take too long to complete. I am doing this in my spare time and will update this log when I can.
Feel free to ask any questions below and I will get back to you all.
Also, if anyone would like to see my current rig, feel free to ask.
Thanks for taking an interest.
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Smexy!
All I need is the GTX980 (for G-Sync) to go with it