Please help spec me a £4k gaming rig

[Papablu]

Weeks I believe, end of September earliest and it would add around £300 to the build costs which isn't worth it for what the OP wanted. Plus he wanted a system now rather than later to game on.

My understanding is in a years time, maybe sooner this current PC will then go to the OP's son and he will build another super computer which will also mean new GPU's, CPU, RAM & possibly OS options by then to play with.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

This particular setup, with a lower overclock on the CPU (Down to 4.5 for absolute stability) has given me a 1,000 point increase on 3DMark11 with just a small overclock on the cards. What I'm getting out of this system is plenty enough for me not to be worried about the upcoming X99/DDR4/Ivy-E. The increase I'd get from that isn't worth the extra money at this time.
Everything I've tried on this rig has run immaculately so I'm happy with the choices. So is Elliot, my son, he's a bit eager to get hold of it though

Currently he's got a X51 R2,with a GTX 760Ti which he's happy with but obviously he knows he's going to be better off with this rig. I do wish I'd have got him a normal PC though, for the upgradability. Hence why he'll have my hand me downs and my daughter who's 11 will get his X51. She wants to play theHunter with me so this reason is probably the biggest push for me to get another pc in due course.

 

[Papablu]

Ah yes the white pc is gorgeous. I've got a couple of pics of that saved for inspiration

The wiring on my rig needs sorting big time but it's not worth doing until I get everything sorted. This issue was that everything was tightly clipped together and to get to a molex or any other wire I had to unclip 'everything'. Just to get the original LED out of the system I had to take every cable tie off to release the one wire. This will definitely be getting sorted out as soon as I'm done with the draining of the loop. I hate untidy wiring and it's driving me nuts just knowing that it's like that at the moment.

Where that green scheme pc has the res is where I currently have my NZXT RGB LED controller. Attached to the back of the case. Seeing that res there makes a lot of sense. I would love to get it into the front of the case at some point but not this particular res, I'd want a taller res in the front.
I had thought about mounting it externally and maybe getting a twin setup but I also like the way the green res comes out the top of that PC, that would work well for me especially with a twin res setup.. I don't mind modding the case at all, I have all the tools for that sort of stuff and I find it a crying shame to have the res hidden away. It's one of the focal points of any watercooled pc IMO.

I really do like the idea of that res popping out the top and the way the pc currently looks I think it'll suit it a lot.
When I get these fittings done I'll get the wiring sorted and we'll go from there Curlyriff. I'd like to try something like that as my res, as you can see, is just stuffed in there, lost at the bottom looking really sad.

Thanks once again for all your help buddy, I really do appreciate your time and effort to do this for me. Being a newb to water cooling and pc's in general for the last 10 years or more it's difficult to get into the loop. Yeah that was bad

Once those wires are sorted I can then get those pics and we'll have a better idea of what we can do.

 

[Papablu]

The other plus of having the Res popping out the top other than looking cool is that it makes refilling a dream. We can then change the place where drain tube runs which would be off your front rad but the tube would be hidden and you should be able to get a Y-connector in then.

I got a 90° rotating fitting and some compression fittings last night for the loop drain off the res. All mismatched as they didn't have the same colour of everything. That's ok though because I can still have that on the res as well as a Y off the front rad for draining. The more the merrier

Cable runs for you of course are always going to be a little tight. Mainly due to the extensions used. Custom cable/cable lengths are also a great way to save space. They will cost you around £100 but in my opinion on this build and with the space would be a great investment.

Yeah those bitfenix cable extensions look good but take up so much room. It would be better to have cables exactly the right length to avoid all that clutter and free up the space for the mods. I spent this afternoon getting the cables grouped and it shows that there's enough room for that res up the top right.
I took out the NZXT controller and I've fitted that inside a cupboard underneath the pc for now.
I cut off a few of the ties to see how things looked and wow, what a mess.
I also took out the SSD tray and started to unplug everything. May sound lame but to me it was a big deal

A couple of hours later I was about half way through separating the cables.

And pretty much grouped here, easy enough to work with the separate sections now but there's quite a few wires I can't do anything with until I remove the res and obviously drain the loop. Those SATA cables are a mare to work with. But at least we can see some daylight in there and once the rad is moved to the top right those cable groups can go into the bottom left.

My res was actually only partly installed and was leaning forward by about 15° so I had to get that seated in properly for now and at least it's now using both bolt points and no longer being shoved forward by the tubing and cables behind it.

Glad your up for modding, we can certainly get a custom mount for your NZXT, there is a lot of spare space in corners on this case.


Edit: P.S. you can tell you like the res at the top, you referenced it Three times.

No need for the mount for the NZXT now so that's out the way. It's actually easier to use now and tomorrow I'll mount the bracket in the cupboard so it's nice and solid.
lol yeah the res thing is something I'd thought about before but to be honest I thought it would be laughed at. Thankfully I've now seen it and it looks great, actually I'll shut up now before I do it again

Also, some white perspex at the bottom to make the false floor would be great like that one pictured. Just cut it to fit and rest it in for now since we may be revisiting that space later. .

A false floor is definitely on the cards but my bottom card with the fittings goes down low, even dipping under the top of the SSD mounts. They will for sure have to be cut off to even get the floor in there.

A second pump is also a must have especially aesthetically for me. I've got some sheet metal strips that I can make brackets out of for the res and pump.

Well I just had a parcel delivered so I'm going to have a look at these fittings now Once I get my LED's sorted in the case (Single ones on the cards) I'll get some pics. It's looking better though.

Oh yes, almost forgot. ocuk have found a triple parallel for me and hopefully it'll fit, it looks like it will.
Does this sound right :

For use with motherboards with PCIe x16 slots 60.9 mm (2.4") apart (1st in 2nd card) and 40.6 mm (1.6") (2nd and 3rd card)!

I can't put the link in because it's a direct competitor to ocuk.

 

[Papablu]

I've actually got a couple of external drives which I could use after a reformat as they were for my Macbook backups as I use that for work a lot. I'd never really thought about using them for this PC but I'm trying to keep the SSD free of anything but gaming on this one. Most of my pics (PC's) and video stuff goes straight to the D drive and if that wasn't there all the time I would end up not plugging in the external and cluttering up the SSD. I'm a lazy git once I've sat down.
I think if I was using the PC in a more traditional way, on a desk then the external would be a great idea and I'd likely go for that. I do wish I could get rid of some of that cable though.

Let me dig out a picture I was sent by ocuk with the HDD in place on my case and why I asked them to fit it in the back.
My initial plan was to put the false floor in straight away and this pic put a stop to that idea.

Here you go. There's not enough room to have the fittings on the bottom card with the HDD in place. Then with the fittings on there's not even enough room to slide in a false floor without cutting out the mounting points.

Sorry for the tiny pic.

I can't understand how that triple bridge is on that pc in the pic you posted with the fittings and that HDD ?

Had a look and found it. Not a bad price and in stock as well. And yes that is exactly what is needed. But yeah it's this one right:

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/media/cata...c-terminal-triple-parallell-z77_front_600.jpg

That's the one buddy, and thanks for the confirmation. I've asked them to get that for me. It'll be a sturdier option than the adjustable fittings. I hate the little rubber gaskets around the outlets on them though, they come off so easily as you're trying to place it on the block.

Ok, so what am I going to need to get the res setup as a twin one. Do I need a different pump or should I just get one bigger res and pump setup in place of my current one ?

 

[Papablu]

I reckon the one loop will be OK Curlyriff, I can see the benefit of having two separate ones for sure but that would make it a bit more complex and at this point I think I'd like to just be able to plumb into this loop.

In regards to the twin res it depends entirely on what you want to do with the set-up. Do you want to do separate loops for the CPU & GPU's? You wanting them to sit side by side for the looks and make a custom window so they are visible with two tubes out the top of the case?

Is it for performance or purely aesthetics?

Performance would be good because I'm doubting the current setup is actually good enough for the three cards when they are pushed, but aesthetics is equally important because of where it's situated.

That picture is a good example of what sort of size and setup I'd like, but I think going for the same size as I have now would make more sense financially, at least for this build

So lets base it on going with the same res and pump as I have now. I want to get the top of the res out of the case by a couple of inches so I can keep an eye on levels. No need for a window because the back is not seen at all where it's sitting now.

I can't quite picture the way this works yet so I'm going to have a look on youtube and see if there's anything similar I can see running.

 

[Papablu]

No problem. Maybe the discussion for dual loop can be had when you move to hardline and/or the next build you do mate. Although dual loops are more about aesthetics than real performance gains. We are talking maximum 2 degree difference between the two loops.

Sounds like it's not really worth the extra effort then and like you suggest we can always get it set up in the next build which will have more room for a more extravagant loop.

Honestly a single D5 for this loop shouldn't be a problem.

But running dual D5 can increase hydraulic pressure by around 20% which when you are plumbed through a restrictive CPU block or Mobo (your motherboard in this case would be the weak link/most restrictive) and may be where you will see some performance improvement.

Well if the single res and pump is enough for this system then I'd go along with that to keep the costs down and that will mean I can get on with the move a lot sooner.

I would suggest not to go over an inch out of the case. It will look like a chimney for the case which aesthetically may not be too pleasing. It should be easy enough to experiment. Showing 10mm of fluid I think would be ideal.

Cool, thanks for the input again Curlyriff, I can understand why you say that. Have you got any pics of a setup that you can see a protruding res out the top from a front perspective buddy ?

I usually fill my res to about 10mm from the top. If I let it get below half way I do find that temps suffer which, from what I was reading the other day, shouldn't really happen?

Anyway, as long as I can see about 10mm of the coolant that would be good. I did also consider putting the res on the outside of the case, at the rear sitting on that mesh, because where I sit I can fully see that position. With a UV led inside the res and using UV coolant (which I currently have as they didn't have normal coolant) I would have a very good view of it in any lighting conditions. It's usually dark in the lounge so that would work out well. Like you I'm not (any longer) that keen on UV in the case but a small amount of it to use as a visual aid would be ok for the res.

 

[Papablu]

Well here's where I'm at with the front of the PC now. Looking a bit better than it did and it's nice to put my own touches to it.
The floor has been flattened down to accept a false floor. Rather than cutting off the mounts I managed to push them down flat which saved on mess but killed the old fingers.

The adjustable Bitspower fittings were added between the cards and now the cards sit on a straight line. I'll still be getting the triple block but at the moment I'm thinking I'll stay with this setup as I like it being a bit more open. I had to replace a dripping fitting on that front left hand top rad connection. I also took the opportunity to fit a coolant temp sensor to the loop.

Quick disconnects were added at the CPU and bellow the cards going into the left hand rad to make life easier and I think they look good.

I added a 90° to the end of the CPU one and that lined up perfectly with the edge of the top card so this will be a breeze to get the acrylic tubes fitted.
Cards are now obviously isolated and easier to remove with the disconnects allowing them to be taken straight out without draining the loop.

I've not relocated the res and pump yet because I will be getting a water chiller soon and I'll do that at the same time. I find that when playing heavy load games like Metro Redux the coolant can get up to 67°c so I'd like to keep the temp down to around 30°c when gaming.

Once again, thanks for you help and advice Curlyriff, without it I'd have not got this far.

Edit : Forgot to mention all tubes were replaced with Primochill 16/11 as the other ones were all dirty and scratched.

 

[Papablu]

Hey Curlyriff, thanks a lot mate. I'm pleased with how it's gone so far and yeah I'll get that image from the front tomorrow. I tried to get some today but the light keeps bouncing off the perspex window and you can't see inside when it does so I'll try darkening the room tomorrow and grab some more, see how it comes out.

Those attempts today were slightly off centre too so I'll turn the pc around to the camera and get it straight on. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

[Papablu]

Here you go buddy, it's not the best pic as there was a bit of dust on the window and the rads need a bit of a clean but you can see the cards are sitting a lot better now.
The lighting is way more than it actually is too, I used a manual mode on my camera to over expose the image in order to capture the darker areas a bit more so that makes the LED's a bit bright.
I'll be adding a small mask around the outside right and top edges of the window to hide the light gleam a bit more and the LED temp thingy will be incorporated into that so only the numbers will be seen. I'll likely be doing that in a minute as I've gotta mask up a painting anyway.

 

[Papablu]

Depnding on your camera, you can also change the white balance to make darker things seem brighter, while keeping the light things as they are.

...I think...

Thanks Ucof, You're right and I can also edit the images in RAW mode which changes the white balance etc like it's still on the camera. Thankfully I had that because the pics just weren't coming out the way the PC actually looks. It's quite subdued in real life, understated but the camera just doesn't get it right.

Although I must admit it's not the camera at fault, it's my use of it that's faulty. It's been a while since I read up on the instructions or looked at any photography tips because I had the camera purely for one purpose and I only needed to know one set of settings if that makes sense.

I use the Canon EOS60D and I've got 3 lenses for it but taking pics of lit up PC stuff is just beyond my expertise.

 

[Papablu]

This is more like how strong the lighting is in the PC with a darkened room. It's not as in your face as it appears in the above pics.

I've also added a black mask around the edges as mentioned previously to get some of the glow off the edges where the led's are and to frame the led temp readout.

It took me about 120 pictures to get the image that reflects real life environment colours. Well at least I've learnt a bit more about my camera now, although I don't know which settings I was using when I took this picture

 

[Papablu]

Looks beautiful my friend. Makes my system seem rather boring now, haha.

In regards to your water chiller. What are your thoughts/plans on that then?

Makes me want to redo my whole rig and a) only got it and b) haven't even paid for it yet lol.

Thank you very much buddy.

For the chiller I just need a fairly low wattage unit, maybe a 350-500W size and I'll add some more cupboards up the corner of that wall and put it in there. I know it needs a bit of air around it but as this will be a permanent position I'll get it vented through the wall to the outside so there should be enough air circulation around it.
Being close to the PC should mean I'll be able to hook it straight up to the pump and then back to the normal loop.
I've read that it's pointless having rads as well as a chiller because the rads will make the coolant room temperature but that's fine by me. I don't need to drop it to icy levels and I just want to maintain that room temperature.
These three cards heat up the coolant a lot especially when playing the hungry games so if it stays around 25-30° that would do perfectly. Do you think it would achieve that ?

Under load at the moment it pushes up to over 60° with a couple of games.

Looks great, nice job with the build.

Thanks very much EdGey , I appreciate it. Although it's not entirely my build, it feels like it is after stripping it down numerous times and redoing quite a lot of it. It's been fun though and I have learned a lot from it especially with Curlyriff's guidance.

 

[Papablu]

A bit more modding today with a false floor from acrylic sheet sprayed black on the bottom to reflect the lights and some 5mm hole aluminium sheet, shaped and cut to fit around the back to protect the kids from sticking their little fingers in or to protect the pc from them, that's more likely.

That's almost it now until I get the chiller, which will be hopefully at the end of the month when I get paid, and then hard tubing to be done which I'll likely wait for a couple of months when I get bored with the current stuff.

Time to try to enjoy it although we were told today that the baby will be here by the 15th of this month so I better make the most of these 11 days.

 

[Papablu]

Hold on to them days and enjoy the system looks great, seems like ocuk really don't hold back with customer service.

Thanks a lot Harry and yeah the customer service has been excellent from ocuk, there was never any doubt that they would sort out the issue in some form or other. Them days seem to go way too fast so I totally agree, a special time.

Still looks stunning. Floor finishes off nicely. Grill is a compromise I guess. I think it would look better if you created a boxed shape that matched the front of the case. Of course much more work but would finish it off.
.

Thanks buddy. I did think about the squared off grill but when I get the extra cupboards in then it's likely that I'll need to think of something else anyway. I didn't want to spend too much at this point as I'd need at least two or three sheets of the mesh to go with the squared off finish.

In regards to the chiller. I would say if you went for something like this;

Then you would be looking to get the temps down by around 50%. With that you could drop the numbers well. You would probably hit your OC barrier before temps made an ounce of difference anyways.

Yeah the HC500 was the one I was looking at. OCUK used to sell chillers but it looks like they don't any longer, sadly.

What sort of temps should I be reasonably expecting under heavy load with my setup at the moment ? Does the current 67° (Max so far) sound about right and can I carry on gaming at these temps ?

To me it seems a little too hot and I can barely touch the back of the fan outlet when it hits these temps.

The main problem will be noise. You will need to sound insulate the cupboard really well and vent direct outside as you stated as a minimum. The second problem although minor depending on how you see it is the electric cost. This will eat around 400w of power itself.

The noise is my main concern for sure but I do like to game with either headphones on or the speakers loud so that will make it a little easier. But the last thing I want is some intrusive buzzing and fan noises detracting from the experience.
Do you have any other ideas for bringing down the temps buddy ?

 

[Papablu]

What if I was to fit a Koolance Exos-2.5 (EX2-1055) to the wall near the pc, would that do the trick ?

 

[Papablu]

Well ignore that last question as I'm going to try to put together something more personal. I'm thinking 2 quad fan rads each in a 2 up 2 down config rather than 2 single width lengths of 4 if that makes sense ?

So 2 separate units like this, joined at the centre on the horizontal line

[][]
[][]
----
[][]
[][]

Instead of the more common rads that would be 2 strips of 4 and joined vertically.

[] []
[] []
[] []
[] []

These would give me 4 inputs on the left hand side to add fittings and tubing directly lined up to the pc as it would stand on the right hand side next to the TV. Mounted onto the wall.

So I'd need 8 good 120mm fans which I'd go for the same as the one in the rear of my PC, the red cloverleaf as they are superbly quiet.

I then want to add a twin res and pump setup onto the front of this. So two reservoirs that would take up a good length of those rads with the fans sucking air through the reservoirs and pushing it through the rads.

Does that sound like a legit thing to do, would it work ?

 

[Papablu]

Forget all that rad stuff as I've opted to go with the Chiller again. Pricing up all the rads, fans, connections, reservoir & pump it all came to around the same price as a chiller and the chiller will be more likely to give me the lower temps I need.

I ordered the HC-500A and the required adaptors plus two more female and male quick disconnects. I should be able to get the job done on Tuesday this week. I just hope I have enough coolant to get it done.

EDIT : Well that was a pointless post as the chiller purchase fell through after a mess up by an auction site and paying friend site.

 

[Papablu]

PC's finally finished and my temps are down to 34°c under heavy load gaming so I'm really pleased now.

I did end up having to replace four 90° fittings as they were totally useless and dripping coolant. I replaced all my system fans and they simply weren't up to the task of cooling this pc and that alone without the exterior setup brought my temps down to 48°c max. Some of the choices made for the initial build were questionable to say the least especially when it was rebuilt with 3 cards as the standard to work from.

The expense of getting this on the wall cooling solution has been pretty substantial, much more than I imagined but worth it. Now I can concentrate on using it and getting on with my house renovations. I'll get pics sorted in the daylight tomorrow if anyone's interested.

Cheers for looking,

Mark.