Project: Irrational Exuberance

Cenedd · 4 Jul 2016 at 14:47

Neutrino101 said:
I will probably end up making up the cables myself, will have a look at paracord, I hadn't thought of using it but it is worth an experiment at least to see what it looks like.

At the risk of sounding like I'm self-advertising

there's a pic of the paracord sleeved front panel cables I did as my first attempt on post 83 of my project. Click the pic for full size image. I've since crimped new pins on the audio cable. Heatshrink could do with being more even in length but you learn as you go. Main advantage is the cost but I prefer the more cloth-like appearance vs the shininess of 'normal' sleeving. It can snag a bit on sharp edges though.

Backplates but no cards?! That's like rubbing salt in the wounds!

Neutrino101 · 5 Jul 2016 at 17:42

The Asus X99 Deluxe 2 arrived today with the i7-6900K and the EK-Monoblock, the Haribo was however absent from my order!!

Pictures below showing the ASUS Deluxe 2 with the Monoblock Fitted, I went for the black Acetyl/Nickel block as I though it would go better with the black white theme than the bright Nickel/Transparent option.

For those wondering why the X99 Deluxe 2 looks a bit different with the block fitted its because you have to remove the substantial stock Mosfet cooler/heatsink to fit it.

The motherboard also comes with tonnes of extra goodies like a thunderbolt card, built in wifi, m.2 cards, extra fan controller etc which I will photograph if any one wants to see them.

Hopefully tomorrow the flexible tubing/fittings and drain valve for the lower compartment should arrive.

Neutrino101 · 5 Jul 2016 at 21:56

Has anyone got any experience of U.2 SSDs? I have been looking at the motherboards U.2 port this evening and now have a sudden desire to use it.

Neutrino101 · 7 Jul 2016 at 14:51

Today I have assembled a drain valve that I intend to place in the lower compartment between the bottom 2 radiators. the plan is to simply undo the plug and attach a piece of flexible hose before opening the tap when I wish to drain the system. This is the first time I have bothered with a drain valve so I am open to suggestions if people think I have under or over engineered it. The plan is to have flexi tubing hidden in the lower compartment as it will be out of view and make maintenance much easier.

I also learnt an important lesson about puppies and PC building today. Don't place anything edible where the puppy can find it. Unfortunately my flexible tubing now has a few too many holes in it after the puppy found it whilst I was on the phone

Will have to order some more...

Cenedd · 7 Jul 2016 at 15:00

Looks about right to me. Expensive business drain valves.

You can also do it with a pair of QDCs but it doesn't work out much cheaper. I did a male QDC sitting on a spare pump outlet port (pump was conveniently at the lowest point and block had two in, two out in different orientations). Left the dust cap on and put the larger female QDC on a length of spare hose. Largely immaterial given that you've already got the parts but there you go *shrug*

Neutrino101 · 7 Jul 2016 at 15:11

Cenedd said:
Looks about right to me. Expensive business drain valves.

You can also do it with a pair of QDCs but it doesn't work out much cheaper. I did a male QDC sitting on a spare pump outlet port (pump was conveniently at the lowest point and block had two in, two out in different orientations). Left the dust cap on and put the larger female QDC on a length of spare hose. Largely immaterial given that you've already got the parts but there you go *shrug*

Your right about them being expensive, I hadn't expected it to be quite so expensive when I decided to put it in. For anyone reading this and considering a drain valve the parts above come to about £46! Up to you to decide if it is worth it.

Cenedd · 7 Jul 2016 at 15:29

If you have a spare port in a conveniently low place, the QDC method is:

£14 male QDC
£14 female QDC with some spare hose on the end.

Doesn't have the backup of a stop fitting though - relies on the QDC to stay sealed. Otherwise, the cheapest way is:

£1.55 Stop plug

£7.99 ball valve

£1.79 Male to male connector

£3.95 T-piece

3x£3.49 13/10 fitting. Two for T-Piece and one for drain hose.

Total: £25.75

It's the Bitspower styling that's pushed the price up.

Neutrino101 · 8 Jul 2016 at 15:51

More parts arrived today, a pair of GTX 1080 FE's, the ram, m.2 SSD, pump and PSU. Case is now expected at the start of next week so should be able to start and make some proper progress shortly.

Cenedd · 8 Jul 2016 at 16:28

Hmm, yeah a case. How did I miss that wasn't present in any of the pic? :?

At least you've got something to bolt onto those backplates now!

You meant M.2 SSDs? Yeah, I know something about those. The 950 pro is a great drive. I'm assuming you'll be putting it on a PCI-E M.2 card unless that motherboard is hiding a socket on its backside. You might want to consider one of the PCI-E cards that has some cooling as those 950s get fairly toasty under load - like north of 60°C toasty. You can knock about 10°C off them by sticking VGA heatsinks on them but if you're getting an adapter, there's a few that have cooling designed into them. I think the Angel Wings PLX1 (name and model from memory - could be wrong) has this and also Aqua Computer have release a range with either no cooling, passive cooling or a water block.

I've heard that with an adapter card, you're not able to boot off them. Not sure if that's true as mine are onboard and RAID 0'd. You may well be able to boot off another HDD (or SSD) but have the OS stored installed on the M.2 for speed. You'll want to turn UEFI boot on, legacy boot off, Secure Boot on and Fast Boot on for the best boot speed into Windows 10 (or 8 for that matter).

Neutrino101 · 8 Jul 2016 at 16:58

Cenedd said:
You meant M.2 SSDs?

I am also looking at U.2 SSDs but the options are very limited currently. Pretty much just Intel 750 series in 400GB, 800GB and 1.2TB. That 1.2TB is tempting however.....

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/solid-state-drives/ssd-750-brief.html

The Asus Deluxe has got 2 U.2 ports so could mount a lot of fast storage if I want to without having to use a PCI-E add in card. It does have a single M.2 slot hidden on the right of the board however it mounts vertically rather than horizontal. Also came with a bundled PCI-E M.2 adaptor.

Neutrino101 · 8 Jul 2016 at 18:15

Just finished adding the backplates to the 1080 FE's. The EK black acetyl blocks and backplates are looking very smart. Should go well with the overall Black/White theme for the build. Will link them together with some white Primochill Revolver fittings and acrylic tube.

Cenedd · 8 Jul 2016 at 18:35

You only got two so you could photograph both sides at once, right?

Cenedd · 8 Jul 2016 at 18:39

Vertical mounted. Definitely well hidden! SATA, SATA Express, PCI-E, U.2, M.2. It's so nice when all the manufacturers agree what the connector should be!

Neutrino101 · 10 Jul 2016 at 13:07

I have a question for everyone as I am in two minds about this myself. Does the Dominator Platinum RAM look good against the white/black of the motherboard which will be matched with white/black cables, white/black fittings and a white/black/ case or should I paint the RAM white?

Any thoughts?

BornEvil · 10 Jul 2016 at 13:51

I would not paint them, it's a good amount of grey/silver around the motherboard so would not really be out of place.

But if you want a personal touch, then it will still look nice in white.

Bluntwrapped · 10 Jul 2016 at 14:30

Looking nice so far

If you're thinking about painting your ram to match I would use Plastidip spray or vinyl wrap, that way you can easily remove it later.

Cenedd · 10 Jul 2016 at 15:09

What BornEvil said. It goes with the heatsink under the cpu.

abui1806 · 10 Jul 2016 at 15:47

I would not paint them. I think Dominator looks good with black/white theme.

Maverick2332 · 10 Jul 2016 at 16:18

That dog is adorable, what make/model is it?

faceman123 · 10 Jul 2016 at 18:03

looking forward to the end result