PARVUM FURIA

[JR23]

Thank you to Parvum Systems, Noctua, ASRock, Silverstone, HyperX and Li-Heat for your support with PARVUM FURIA, i'm very excited to be moving forwards with this!


The time has come for another project, just a little one for me to try new things and push some boundaries. This will actually form part of a piece of work for my Engineering Degree and is being treated as a continuation from PARVUM MATE, implementing the same wild ideas but with a strong focus on power density and spatial efficiency.

So instead of starting with a case cutting it up and then trying to fit the most stuff inside it with an insane waterblock this time i'll start with the internals and work outwards. The waterblock will form the spine eliminating all redundant components along the way to achieve something far more powerful, more refined and much smaller. Every part will be modeled and digitally assembled to ensure no space is wasted, consequently it will be a few more weeks until physical progress is made but work is very much underway.


Intel i7-5820K
ASRock X99E-ITX/ac
HyperX DDR4
HyperX Predator M.2
AMD Radeon R9 FURY X
Silverstone SX-600G
Noctua NF-A14 iPPC x2


Secretly i'm hoping to pack everything into something not just 30% smaller than MATE (my actual target) but sub 10l with the inclusion of a 280mm rad to keep things as quiet as they can be. So to achieve that more than fancy packaging alone will be needed. Eliminating the need for a 2.5"drive, hence some cables and access to the SATA ports was always going to be a big help to reduce size and increase footprint so an ITX board with M.2 was a must.

So naturally an X99 board seemed appropriate! Well not exactly, it is very excessive however the unique board layout drew me in. It's rare this side of a workstation board to see memory slots parallel to the PCIe but I have a feeling that will be very useful when it comes to watercooling.

It did also mean a beast of a CPU would be required, for this little build 28 lanes were more than enough so I went for the 5820K with its hexacore glory, I couldn't be more excited for 12 thread ITX.

IDK why, but, dual ethernets!

Also the much needed M.2 slot with all that lovely PCIe bandwidth.

I was overwhelmed with curiosity at what may be under the little heatsinks and the potential of making a little tiny waterblock. It's tight but i'm definitely going to attempt to include the VRM's, chipset and M.2 into the monoblock.

As always the first parts to land in my hands were from Noctua, I can't think of anything better for the task!

I did a few rough dimensioned sketches when deciding which parts to go for and, well a 280mm rad seem like the obvious choice for the layout I have in mind, but now these fans look gigantic! The motherboard will easily fit inside the fan box with room to spare.

Well I think that sets out the theme and objectives of the project, I was unsure at first whether to hide the blue of the board but as it's quickly becoming one of the least popular colour choices i'm going to stick with it! Maybe one day it will be mainstream again like yellow and brown.

JR

 

[JR23]

Thanks everyone, glad to see your as excited as I am, I ran out of multi-quotes trying to respond to you all! The red and black wire goes to a CMOS battery which I may relocate or just sleeve and put it back or it may be just totally obscured by water block magnificence! I'll have to see but it definitely won't stay all awkward and red.

X99 Mini ITX...serious drool.

Have been toying with the idea of using this board in Asteria II, but since you're using it now I feel compelled to do something else. And with B Neg using the Maximus VII Impact in Celestial I'm running out of choices!

The ASRock is just awesome, they knew exactly what to add and what to take away. 2011-3, M.2, dual ethernet is just a master stroke for ITX and it's a really well finished professional looking product. In the exclusively premium ITX expensive but not feature overdosed sector the EVGA Z170 Stinger would be the only other i'd consider personally.

I am curious as to how quiet the industrial noctua's are, I was tempted to get some of those....

They are awesome fans, 3-phase motors make a huge difference to how slow they can run and they just exude quality and attention to detail like nobody thought possible for a fan. Even the badge over the motor is aluminium not a sticker. Obviously with the huge operating range they do get loud, but it's just the most refined pleasant loud you could expect and at any given RPM they seem quieter than most other fans. Aside the rather extreme price which is justified by the quality alone it's hard to say anything bad about them.

Can't wait to see this build up and running, it's going to be on a different level cramming all that gear into such a tiny case! Hopefully include a few steal-able ideas as well

I'm not sure how much will be steal-able, I guess that depends how you could hustle into making them.

This build log should be good, love the look of the Noctua fans with the Chromax addons. Also, it's surprising that the board has two ethernet ports
It will be interesting to see how you are going to fit all the components in

IKR two ethernet, I barely even have broadband. Exactly how I will fit everything in i'm not sure but my best guess is it will be somewhat like a sandwich of waterblocks and PCB with a PSU and pump nestled along side with a big side order of radiator. That might be ontop or to the side I don't know yet but there will definitely be a very solid feeling block of acrylic and copper somewhere.

EK have a ILM adapter plate for their Supremacy blocks so I think we can guess at least 1 of JR23's component choices

EK Supremacy EVO Nickel X99 by any chance?

I'm not too worried about ILM support, whatever I use will get augmented into a giant slab of acrylic and hardware, i'm no stranger to just developing my own mounting interface. Not everything is confirmed just yet and there are still a few emails floating around out there so it's hard even for me to know exactly what components I will get but there are certainly some good options.

JR

 

[JR23]

The Stinger does look great, but I can't help but feel the lack of a long M.2 slot was a major oversight, especially give the price. If I could I've go back in time I'd grab a Z97 Stinger - that thing was just superb.

I've yet to find any proper benches to show how much real-world performance you lose from being only dual channel on this board, but it's a small sacrifice I'm sure. But oh what could have been if Asrock when Mini DTX with this and crammed the other 2 DIMM slots in

Oh I see, another mind-meltingly impressive monoblock, is it?

Baited breath, dear sir, baited breath.

I can't help but think the lack of an M.2 slot on the impact was a major oversight too. I have the Z97 Stinger which is awesome, i'd definitely get the Z170 too. I think the pro gamer has an M.2? which seems pretty sweet for the price but, it's no X99.

Yeah another monoblock, I want to include the VRM's, chipset and memory this time though time for lots of layers!

JR

 

[JR23]

Over the past few days parts have been arriving for FURIA, I popped everything together for a quick test run and it all seems to work well. Not a great score because I didn't feel like pushing my new 5820K when it just had an NH-L12 sat loose on top of it narrow ILM FTW!

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7823550

Not to mention some sketchy half broken Crimson drivers and a shady W7 SP0 installation. I'll take some photographs tomorrow and get a full update in for you guys.

JR

 

[JR23]

Hello all! The sponsor list for FURIA is now looking a little more complete with the addition of Bitspower and XFX who have very graciously supported the project with some of their products. Lots of packages have been arriving over the past week and I now have a full build of parts ready to go.

Progress over the next few weeks should be very fast, after taking an initial look at all of the parts most of them will be stripped down, carefully measured, modeled and virtually assembled. After that I will design and build the chassis which will integrate many many things to create a tiny slab of intense watercooling. I have some ideas in my head on how it might work but for now lets take a look at everything which will be going into FURIA!

Bitspower have provided all of the 'stock' watercooling parts for this project, some will no doubt get reworked beyond recognition once integrated into the loop and the dragon count may see a slight reduction.

Aside from the legendary fittings I really hadn't seen first hand many Bitspower components so I was excited to see one of their Leviathan radiators.

Of course adding Noctua was obligatory and made for a serious aesthetic combination, I hope together they deliver the performance to match.

Not entirely necessary but some neat blue additions to clean things up.

A sneaky preview of the blocks!

Before those go on lets take a look at the HyperX kit!

I love M.2, so tiny, so fast, no cables. 240GB is easily big enough for Windows, GTA V and Farm Simulator, what else do I need?

Now the important part, from which the project takes it's name, the great Fury X kindly sent by XFX.

Probably not going to stop with the unscrewing just yet....

...3 warranty stickers and 30 screws later...

Complete with many DisplayPorts (my favourite), HBM and bacon dispensing power connectors.

But what will power the Fury? There could only be one solution, it had to be the Silverstone SX600-G for it's staggering power density.

Despite using several of these SFX PSU's it always staggers me just how small they are, so here it is next to another small thing.

...and another small thing! and a very big radiator.

That just leaves one thing, to combine all of the bits into one small form factor lump of X99, DDR4, M.2, HBM and watercooling, a strong combination.

Hopefully I can spend the rest of my weekend taking this all apart and doing lots of CAD. See you all soon and I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the parts as much as me.

JR

 

[JR23]

I got really excited for a second thinking Bitspower have done a proper monoblock for the X99-ITX like their ones for the Maximus Impact, so I'm a bit disappointed that it's actually "just" a chunky plexi block that connects separate CPU and chipset blocks together.

But that does mean I won't be disheartened when you sack it all off and craft some beautifully-designed pieces yourself

Although the Bitspower deep blue and Asrock sky blue are clashing in my eyes something terrible.

This will be a beauty - can't wait to see what acrylic madness you come up with.

Sure, I will definitely be turning it into a single piece block, as it stands its just way too big. I'd like it to be contained within the height of the IO. Then have the GPU sat either above or below the motherboard, most likely above so it sits in plane with the memory block.

I haven't decided yet exactly what to do with all of the blues, I doubt the memory slots will be even slightly visible but annoyingly the memory spreaders and DDC heatsink don't match either. The DDC heatsink is very close to the original ASRock heatsink blue so maybe i'll get some black spreaders. I want to stick with matt black, bright nickel and one of the blues. If I do use any fittings they will be nickel rather than royal blue. I still have to choose sleeving and coolant so that could tie it all together either way.

JR

 

[JR23]

Look at the hardware *drools*
Seriously though, this is going to be a small but beefy system, also one part that caught me out is the shade of blue as It looks to be a great match to the blue of the Chromax pads on the Noctua fans

Yeah, I ordered every MDPC blue and grey available as well as some black Bitspower spreaders, i'll take a look at everything together and see which I feel works best. Between that and dyes i've got lots of options to even it out now.

JR

 

[JR23]

Don't worry guys, while the updates have been slow progress has been substantial! Coolant is in and leak testing is complete although I have to part the 'block' once more to fit the components. Hopefully today it will be 90% complete, i'm saving up a huge collection of photo's for a super-update, but for now here's a glimpse of what's going on!

JR

 

[JR23]

I think there is time for a small update before sleepy time, not everything just yet but a good chunk of progress to keep you all entertained, hopefully!

Straight in with the cutting at Parvum HQ, unusually we didn't actually use our swarf sucker for any of FURIA's parts. The reason for that was the tiny 1.5mm single flute tool used for the o-rings could barely reach out of the foot which surrounds the action. But on the positive side we got to see far more action.

So this is the first of 5 main layers which make up FURIA's monoblock, cut from 10mm frosted perspex this has all of the features from Bitspowers original CPU and motherboard block top.

And this is layer 2! Joining the coldplates together and sending the coolant off to where it needs to be for the next layer. It's sealed with just two 1.6mm o-rings and fills out all of the free space on the motherboard.

Screws, lots of screws, actually not 6-32 UNC this time but the rather more conventional M3 and M4 variety as used by Bitspower. Just nice simple oxide black steel screws with plain socket countersunk heads.

I actually changed the CPU block top design somewhat to allow for better packaging in the block. Coolant comes in through the centre, passes through the original jetplate and fins then leaves through both sides simultaneously not dissimilar to the original however rather than having the two sides then join asymmetrically they both flow out into the block with identical bends.

Time for layer 1 and layer 2 to be mated together. Actually I missed out a boring half day of work where I made all of the o-rings and tapped all the holes right here, but you've seen that before, right MATE?

At this point lots of the screws are missing because they thread into a coldplate, simultaneously applying pressure to multiple seals.

These are the original Bitspower parts going into the reworked block, the board block is M3 and the CPU M4.

First the jet plate presses into it's locating features, then the coldplate is placed over the top with original o-ring in place.

Much the same story for the motherboard block only without a jet plate.

Then flipped and lots more screws added, some of which were cut to length so they could utilize the most thread possible in the copper.

So this is the side which the motherboard sees.

And these are all of the components which went into the first major stage of the monoblock.

Once that was complete a 3rd layer was added, this is actually the only 15mm thick part in the build and is used to mate the two main parts together and leave a big enough gap for the GPU to fit in among it all.

5 M4x30mm screws attach layer 3 securely to layers 1 and 2. 4 further M4 threaded holes then attach the entire assembly to layers 4 and 5.

That pretty much completes this one tiny sub-assembly!

Just for some scale you can see it here mounted to the motherboard. The 4 pronounced screws hold it directly to the ILM socket, applying pressure to the CPU while smaller screws are inserted from the back of the board to mate it securely with the VRM's and chipset.

So there we go, phase 1, or 2 or whichever complete and presented!

JR

 

[JR23]

Thanks guys, this is just one tiny piece of the monoblock, more coming soon.

Daaaaaamn that's some fine work, looks absolutely stunning! One quick question though: When you make custom blocks like this, what are the temps like compared to the standard components? Part of my head says better, part says worse and part is saying identical, so guess at least part of me is right

Awesome work though, can't wait to see the finished article in all its perfectly machined beauty

It's quite hard to say exactly how it compares as we don't build a loop just to test things beforehand, in theory the performance will be identical as for the majority of parts the features remain the same, they are just all combined into one part.

One huge difference though is the flow rates and restriction of the loop as a whole, because there are no unnecessary bends and any changes in cross section are gradual. Plus the actual loop is really really short with barely any difference in height so a normal DDC gets a huge amount of flow. That actually can make it very difficult to bleed because the air loves to just fly around with the coolant so we really haven't given much attention to how well optimized the pump volute is.

In order to keep the complexity and thickness down in this build the two sides of the pump aren't actually sealed from each other in this, still the pump is way too fast! I may try to get hold of a low RPM DDC from a Predator or something similar to calm it down, but actually it's running great! After a full full day of benchmarking the GPU temps peaked at 32°C with the two fans at 900RPM.

JR

 

[JR23]

You could always 7V it. I know that DDCs are supposed to have a starting voltage of 9V but I ran an 18W DDC off a 7V molex mod for quite some time and it never failed to start or run. Also quieter as a bonus. Currently run the same pump 5+ years later off an Aquaero at 8V and it's also fine.

I have tried a 10W DDC on 7v before but it just didn't seem interested in starting at all, that was when we were trying to find a quieter solution for MATE. In the end a PWM variant resolved all issues for that and with that ASRock board it ran great off the CPU header slowing right down to 2000RPM with 40% PWM. Also I had the same issue with Chocolate Box which again is now running an EK 3.25 PWM. So I thought I would repeat that however the PWM on this motherboard is relatively poor and just doesn't get on with the DDC at all, anything below 77% and it just starts turning off and on repetitively.

I want to try and find the open vein design low wattage DDC from certain EK products, my friend had one with an MX-res that was astonishingly quiet. When I have the desire to rebuild this a little then i'll hunt for one of those and wire it to the PSU at 12v.

That makes sense, cheers JR! So you need to run the pump fast to push air out of the radiators, but slow to stop it flying straight through the reservoir... Can see why that would cause issues Still, when it looks that awesome an extra hour or 2 getting the air out is more than worth it

That's seriously cool, I'm running a full fat 360 + X-Flow 240 with fans (water temp controlled) peaking at 1200RPM and the GPU is usually around the 40°C mark :/

I've been working with 8 Pack doing a Fury X build in a VEER1.0 over the last couple of days and that's actually running in the 50's under sustained load, but with 500RPM fans. We've come to the conclusion that actually because the Fury X in FURIA is surrounded by waterblocks on all sides it really creates a good thermal environment. And actually it just seems like a good sample of the card that overclocks well.

JR

 

[JR23]

I'm back with part 2 of the super update! This time I won't be showing absolutely everything as it would really detract from the final post, essentially the entire build is one big waterblock hence this will be largely details.

In the last update we looked through layers 1, 2 and 3 hence we are picking it up on the much much bigger layer 4! Here you can see what is essentially the GPU block top, power delivery portion on the left and core to the right.

Just like MATE in FURIA a DDC is mounted directly to the waterblock only this time rather than a 15mm block cut from both sides with a 5mm lid there is a stack of two 10mm blocks each machined from only one side. This is the lower portion of the pump top containing just the volute and holes through to the final layer.

The memory waterblock also mounts directly to the lower face of layer 4, exactly the same height as the GPU which gives some idea of just how small this build is and why the motherboard section had to be so thin.

Layer 5 which forms the 'front' face of the build joins everything else together distributing and linking each little channel, the reservoir and fill port are also in this level.

Because the GPU top originally had a copper plate covering the bridge between GPU core and power delivery elements of the block the two identical features original in the top of the top could easily be moved up to this level.

As mentioned earlier the pump top was split over two 10mm layers, this is the upper part which feeds and exhausts from the pump volute. The two sides of the pump are not positively sealed from each, not only due to size but also because the part over the pump impeller the o-ring would mate against is so thin I was concerned that it would leak. So instead of making an entire plate thicker and increasing the size of the build by 5mm mass was left behind to distribute the flow.

A small finger of layer 4 extends over the radiator ports however to keep the build as small as possible the in and out channels to the radiator had flow directly over each other.

Both layer 4 and 5 have a channel cut along to one of the ports and an intermediate layer seals the exposed channel forming two passages to the radiator ports within 25mm thickness.

Layer 3.5, 4 and 5 were all screwed together and the GPU coldplates added.

That just leaves the memory block which actually presented some substantial complications. In order to assemble the two main pieces the cold-plate had to be attached the RAM even though it seals against layer 4. Not to complex in itself however it meant the screws had to pass all the way through layer 5, 4 and into the coldplate, 25mm. Finding M2.5x25mm countersunk socket head black screws is not an easy job. Hence the coldplate had to be tapped out to M3.

A few days before I planned to assemble the build I decided tapping to M3 was the best way forwards, drilled the old threads out with a 2.5mm (the tapping diameter for M3) and then immediately sheared a tap in the first hole. Getting that out was impossible hence I had another block sent from a niche european retailer who can be bothered to stock awkward parts like memory water blocks from Bitspower (props for being rapid). This time things couldn't go wrong so I found an extremely gradual taper tapped and employed lots of cutting compound.

Thankfully it went awesome and the build could continue! The tap survives for another day!

Time for some coolant, I had no idea how it would appear in the block so just to get it started I added some Mayhems blue dye to X1 clear for the leak testing.

After spotting a small leak early in the filling process I managed to pinpoint a small bur one one of the tapped holes between layer 4 and 5 holding them apart. Quickly drained and re-assembled things went very smoothly considering the immense complexity and shear quantity of seals.

Yeah, i'm not about to make it obvious how it works or appears as a whole

Right then, with the one watercooling part and leak testing out of the way it's time for some sleeving. No less than MDPC-X b-magic, grey mkII, shade 19 and black!

Because things were so tight surrounding the GPU there was no room to have the cables sleeved where they leave the dual 8-pin PCIe's. So I choose to use all black insulated 16AWG wire and join them as tight to the GPU as possible where they are hidden deep inside some other stuff.

Now with everything complete there really isn't much to show without showing the whole build. So here is the big piece. Most of the loop, graphics card, reservoir, pump, fans, rad mounts, PSU mount and to the right it's clear where the smaller piece mates via the memory block and layer 3.

And this is the baby piece, the motherboard hangs down directly over the GPU and each of the tiny cables flow round into the PSU.

I suppose next time we will be seeing the full build! There are some little details to complete, figuring out how it stand and a neater riser cable solution but the build is running and performing magnificently, decimating builds several times it's size!

Firestrike - i7 5820K @4.4 Fury X @1200/540

JR

 

[JR23]

Absolutely incredible. Would be interested in clarification of the DDC cut outs across layers as I'm planning something similar (much less grand and impressive but containing two DDCs) for Parvum to cut. I can see the classic whirl where the impeller sits, just not seeing the part on the next layer where you say it deliberately doesn't fully seal.
My plan is essentially to integrate something similar to XSPC's dual DDC top into the end of my block but have the input and output where I want it. My wife should probably lay the blame at your feet for inspiring this course of action...but I won't tell her if you won't!

Sure it's quite simple once you see it and figure how they sit together. So the semi-spiral volute is cut into the bottom side of layer 4, the inlet and outlet are cut all the way through...

...and they go straight through into the bottom of layer 5. The inlet is coming from the res here on the right and straight into the centre of the pump, flowing through the impeller/volute and out through the thin slither which aligns with the channel on the left.

The inlet and outlet sides of the pump aren't fully sealed from each other coolant could sneak through the tiny gap between layers 4 and 5. There will definitely be some efficiency/head pressure loss but that wasn't a huge concern. The reason why they couldn't be sealed from each other is the piece left in layer 4 is really thin and would bend under the pressure of the o-ring, so the o-rings go all the way around the whole thing.

Here you can see how the layers fit over each other a little more clearly. This view is looking down from above level 5 so the front is solid with channels in the back, then the next layer has the pump volute open on the back, the pump then screws on behind that with original o-ring.

Well that's certainly made me look like an incompetent ape, cheers for that JR Haha fair play though, that is some absolutely top level craftsmanship on the blocks / reservoir / beastly lump of nerd porn, always astounds me how you can cram a full loop into such a minuscule space. Just the planning stage and figuring out how to run the loop through that many separate layers would have caused me a major brain implosion, without the ball ache of actually trying to put it together with that little room for manoeuvre! Thought I'd done well fitting a loop into an ATX case

Yeah figuring out where the coolant will go is one weird headache, then how the build can actually be assembled is another. Placing each screw so everything seals, everything can be done in order and one doesn't pop out in the middle of some coolant on the layer underneath is something else. But after doing all that, the build just had to work out. There was only one mistake made and that was just leaving enough clearance for the GPU cables to come out, luckily I realized before final assembly, actually as soon as I saw the parts cut and managed a decent work around.

I keep saying I can't believe how much effort goes into these build but it is clearly worth it as teh waterblocks look smashing with the blue coolant running through them, also you have done a great job at sleeving the cables (I'm surpised at the tight bend radius to get them to the GPU being effected by the sleeving).

Not that I don't like watching the build log but I'm glad the wait is almost over to see the full system as I can't wait in anticipation much longer

It wasn't entirely down to how tight they had to bend but just the shear added cross section of sleeving for the 16 wires on the end. When you look where they come out they have to immediately bend straight around avoid the memory block which mounts to the open hole above the GPU. Then they have to fit inbetween the pump and the GPU, quite a tight gap. I made them join together right at that point so everything you can see without really trying is sleeved. The splits are hidden under more cables too so it was quite a neat way out for the PCI power.

Great Firestrike mate for water cooled Fury X. Very nice.

I managed to find another 500 points since then, the CPU had some more to give and it really helped with the combined result. Just could use a mental 10 core now to smash away the physics result! Actually perhaps the HBM could find a more comfortable clock, it would go higher but it didn't seem to be beneficial but maybe it hadn't made it to the next bin with 560.

Firestrike - i7 5820k @4.6 Fury X @1200/540

JR

 

[JR23]

Hi a quick question regarding the Bitspower monoblock for the X99E-ITX/ac. What fittings / threads are there on the top of the CPU and VRM/Chipset blocks? Are these push-in/Barb type that compress down when the Combining top-plate is screwed in place? Or are they threaded - if so, what size of fitting?

I am considering this MB but already have the Heatkiller IV block with ILM adapter, so I am looking at the VRM & Chipset block as a separate part, and all destined to go into a nCase M1. I know this would mean buying the Bitspower unit complete, but has anyone tested the performance of the Bitspower CPU block vs the Heatkiller IV?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Mike

Hi Mike, the Bitspower monoblock is assembled with push fittings. The CPU block is just standard Bitspower and the VRM/Chipset block again is just a plain simple two piece block. They each have two IG1/4" ports. The monoblock is supplied with 4 fittings exactly like the bottom half of d-plug mini fittings. They thread into the CPU and motherboard block and have bosses with external o-rings sticking up. The monoblock presses over the top, there are no threads in the bottom side of the monoblock just clean counterbores to push over the fittings.

I don't know how the Bitspower block compares to the Heatkiller IV but there is nothing preventing you from using the Bitspower VRM/Chipset block along with the Heatkiller. There isn't any branding on it either so it won't really look out of place, it's just a nice simple block.

Apart from having pretty dumb PWM fan control I can't fault the motherboard at all, even the overclocking is great, good layout particularly with the M.2 and memory parallel to the PCI. I'd definitely recommend that, it does feel like a quality product.

Thanks JR. That really helps - I'd not seen the channels that lined up as I as looking for something that matched the shape of inlet and outlet. The model helps there. What are you using to model in out of interest? I've just started having a play with SketchUp to help get a better idea of layout but it would be interesting to know what the proven software is!

It sounds like the pump seal is a complete non-issue given your benchmark results...but on a purely academic basis; could you (if it had proved necessary) use either gasket paper or liquid gasket (LS-X even) as it shouldn't give the pressure problems but should hopefully seal it and still be dismantleable. I've had cause to use it spot or two of LS-X and it doesn't seem to cause contamination issues and was removable from threads years later. Just a thought should it ever be necessary.

I use Solidworks, I could probably draw more complex things than we can cut, it exports nicely, the renders are reasonably good and it's just quite a complete logical package. Oh, for this loop the pump is still way too effective, it operates fine. It could be sealed with something for sure although I wouldn't as it would be very noticeable, even a little grease or oil really changes how the surface of the frosted looks.

This isn't the only way we can/have made pump tops, it was just an effective way to integrate it into this part being two 10mm layers rather than 15+5mm like MATE. If you wanted a custom dual DDC top, I wouldn't personally recommend doing it this way especially if you can work with much thicker acrylic. Bitspowers dual DDC top has a bridge inlaid between the two pumps, that actually seems like a great way to do it. Just figure out where the pumps need to be, i'm quite happy with our semi-spiral volute.

JR

 

[JR23]

Also, have you considered the Swiftech MCP-50X pump? Runs cooler than the DDC and is fairly quiet under load. Thermalbench did a review a while ago and it came up well against the established units.

One of these will be shoe-horned into a nCase M1 with ASrock board + a Pascal based card (probably the Titan based HBM-2 version, depending on length of the new GTX 1080/1070 Ref cards).

Cheers

I don't think we will see a new version of every X99 motherboard, or even a huge revision. The original boards can support the new CPU's with a BIOS update which ASRock have already released, just like Ivy-E on X79. I think there will be an occasional refresh for the popular ones that may add a few more M.2's or simple things to make them more competitive with Z170.

I did look at Swiftech's pumps however they all appear to be similar spec with a 1200-4500RPM operating speed over PWM, exactly the same as what I have now. The issue is any PWM below 87% on this board causes the pump to repetitively turn on and off so 4000RPM is realistically as slow as it goes.

So I will try to find a slower 6W DDC from an EK kit of some form and use that. One of my friends has a Predator I may steal that

JR

 

[JR23]

This will be the last update before my project is submitted, but these aren't necessarily final photographs, so don't take it as the end. There are still some little open ends to take care of, maybe some more consideration to how it stands and definitely a better fitting riser cable (hence why it's not shown). However it is very much operational and running excellently, it has vastly exceeded my expectations of size and performance. I hope also you will appreciate why I didn't post assembled photo's last time! I hope you enjoy the confusion of figuring out how it all fits together without narration, hopefully by the end it will be clear. Sadly again I don't have the time to narrate everything out but if you have any questions feel free to fire them on here!

JR