Project: Radiolaria

orbitalwalsh said:
Ethereal Res mounts
Click to expand...

The one made by Singularity Computers? Yeah I saw that one however I'm not sure it'll fit as it's a 60mm mount and the Aquero reservoirs are 75mm in diameter. Also how do they mount exactly? They just seem to be grabbing the res, rather than the res and pump resting on it so hoping the rubber grip stays in place without it sliding down over time with the added weight of the pump and adapter and the coolant.

The only way I can see this particular res fitting in this case is by fashioning a custom bracket or modifying an existing bracket such as the EK or Alphacool brackets to make it fit.
 
Last edited:
Small update. I bought the Alphacool Universal 120/140mm bracket for my pump. If I mount it to the vertical radiator and fans (With the radiator mounted behind the motherboard plate and the fans mounted in front, i.e having the bracket mounted on front of the fans) then I won't have enough space for the fittings. If I mount the fans behind the motherboard with the radiator (Like I've seen a couple examples of people doing, which works but does squeeze the front panel connectors behind the motherboard plate) it will fit fine. The issue either way however is the top of the reservoir will line up with the vertical radiator's inlet's so it will be difficult to get fittings and tubing routed.

I'll give it a try anyway, otherwise I'll have to go an EK's option. Because the 3 radiator's are very restrictive I also want dual pumps, and since the AquaComputer stuff is chunky I might just go with the Dual D5 top from EK with a reservoir screwed on top instead.

It looks like this:

EKRES-X3-150-Lite_fit2_800_v1.jpg


I contacted EK to ask if the RGB reservoir's they sell would fit and they said:

"You could combine the standalone RGB reservoir with the dual pump like this:
ncETOEWaZc5jjwjDGJu5HYkRd

The RGB bottom will only be in black, sadly as we were informed about it. But you have the multiport top in white if you like it - https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-res-x3-multiport-top and you will need it for having IN port on the TOP of the reservoir if you wish.
Click to expand...

That might work, especially with the Ethereal Res mounts as @orbitalwalsh mentioned. It's a bit of extra effort to just get an RGB reservoir but I kinda like it. I'll have to see!
 
Here is a bad diagram I slapped together in Paint with everything except the res/pump, fittings and tubing installed to get a rough idea of my loop order.

bad_diagram.png


I didn't indicate which sides of the top and bottom rads the inlet and outlets are as that's part of the planning, to see how the loop will look. I could also go with the X-Flow rads. I have not bought the top or bottom rads but expect to go for two more Hw Labs Black Ice Nemesis 360 gts, either normal or X-flow depending on what would be easier.


There's no SLI Terminal blocks for the Phanteks Glacier GPU blocks so I will just cut some of the hardline tubing instead to the right size for the 3 slot size needed. I couldn't find the right size for my fittings that is sold so I'll cut my own instead, I'll be using a parallel layout.

The longer screws that came with the Phanteks Halos do not fit my Radiator, which uses M4 screws. I need screws a few mms longer than the ones that come with the Rad, so I'll probably need 35mm M4 screws to account for the Halos thickness. I might need longer screws if I end up sticking with the Aquacomputer Resthe Alphacool pump mount as it'll take off a few mm's.

The other issue with the Aquacomputer reservoir/pump combo is that with the unit put together along with steel brackets and the alphacool mount, not to mention filled with 440ml of coolant, I'm not sure if that vertical motherboard mount is strong enough to support it along with vertical radiator and fans all mounted together! That's why I'm leaning towards the EK res and pump and losing the AquaComputers cool Fountain effect. I also want to use the Sky White Primochill Coolant, the fountain effect would have looked even cooler with it.
 
Last edited:
HoneyBadger said:
That’s some impressive kit!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I hope it turns out well!

Currently deciding between X-Flow or standard Black ICE Rads for the top and bottom and trying to decide which ones will be easier to deal with for my loop order. This case initially looks great for watercooling, but when you add more than one 360mm rad and more than 1 GPU it starts to feel a bit overcrowded, its just a few design decisions that let it down, but then again I am going for serious overkill although it's a ROG case that I should be able to push to the limit...but I digress

After that I can start figuring out the res. I also need 35mm M4 screws as the ones that come with the Halos are a smaller thread size for my Black Ice Radiator.

Picked up a used AX1200i as I now intend to keep my existing system. Might need to get the bitfenix aftermarket cables but honestly I might just get away with the Black Corsair cables as they won't stand out. Will just have to wait and see.
 
Christmas Update:

I gave up trying to hack a bracket for my Res/Pump such as the Alphacool Universal bracket, although very strong I didn't feel confident over time as the Res and Pump are much heavier than the EK's kit and the mobo tray is a lot more flimsy than my Silverstone TJ07's solid steel tray! The AquaComputer Aqualis Res/Pump I already have has a nice chunky borosilicate glass tube and the rest of it is very high quality machined chunky acetal. Add the 450ml of fluid and mount it to a slightly flimsy feeling motherboard tray with a 360mm radiator and fans mounted on the other side and I didn't want to push it.

Instead, I picked up the following:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £248.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​


I really wanted to get the RGB reservoir but I figured this would be simpler for mounting and one less pair of tubing issues to worry about. You simply screw the res into the Dual pump top using the included fitting.

After receiving the Dual Pump kit I immediately realised due to the slot location for the x16 pcie slot for my bottom gtx 1080ti I might not be able to fit the unit without having to eliminate the 360mm radiator out of my build completely! However I decided to install a waterblock on my GPU and test it out. With the GPU installed in the 3rd PCIe slot (x16) I don't have enough clearance for both a radiator and fans. I saw other builds in this case where they have mounted fans at the bottom of the case for push/pull so I've decided to simply put my fans in push under the case and I can then still fit that bottom 360mm AND have SLI AND have the Dual D5 Pump xtop. The downside to this is I probably will need to remove the dust filter out of the bottom of the case, which is ok because the bottom of the case has a mesh grill so acts like a filter anyway.

The Black Ice Rads are quite restrictive so that's why I went with a dual pump setup and also I love overkill as you can probably tell by now.

So it looks like this build might work out nicely, with just a compromise or two here and there.

I'll post pics later and hopefully will have progress in January.

See you next year!
 
Happy new year everyone!

Just bagged this and 2 more hwlabs Black Ice GTS 360's as well:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £64.43 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​



Also getting black and white cables from cablemod using the coupon I got with the motherboard for my Corsair AX1200i :)

Will sleeve the pumps and fans and install rads and getting this build moving! It all arrives tomorrow!

Primochill Vue Sky White still not released so that will be the last part of this. I have 4 huge bottles of distilled water so can at least leak test and run the build with it until it comes out, assuming I actually complete this build by then!


I need to plan a drain loop. That bottom rad will be a pain for draining and the vertical rad will be upright so that might be challenging for draining as well as bleeding. I'll need to work out where to fit a bleed port. I can fit one to the bottom GPU and one to the pump outlet and hopefully it won't make draining too difficult...
 
Last edited:
Shamelessly bumping this thread as I realise its been just over 6 months since I last posted. I haven't progressed further with this build due to the Pump mounting issue! However will be trying to progress with it soon.

One of the 1080ti's has a block fitted, the other needs to be fitted once I remove it from my other system I have been using since my last update. The PETG tubing route is very straight forward, the issue is just the pump mounting. The standard non-ROG version of the case would have been easier to use in hindsight, or since I'm using hindsight here, a different and bigger case entirely that supports what I'm doing !
 
Update!

Stopped being lazy, got the 2nd 1080ti blocked and connected in sli with two small petg tubes I measured. There was some sag from the GPU which has relieved doing this which I'm pleased with as I was going to use a bracket that came with the case to stop the sagging, which I won't have to use now!

Slight issue, that bottom 360 rad isn't going to fit, unless I put the vertical fans behind the mobo tray as you can see in the pics below. The only issue I found doing that will be tightening the hardline fitting after putting the petg tubes through that vertical rad but if I get my measurements right, I can remove the rad, fit the tubes and tighten the fitting and fit the rad with the fittings already on the rad and just hope the tubes end up where I need them to!

Finally, the real issue with this build is whether that huge EK dual pump and reservoir combo will fit in the case with the long gpu's and the bottom 360mm rad. I'll have to move the bottom fans to the underside, which means the bottom dust filter will probably have to go.









free upload image
 
Smffy said:
Good list of goodies but I don’t know why you felt the need for dual pumps with such slim radiators in a small case...

But then according to you it’s been 6 months and all the hardware is sat doing nothing still which I find quite strange to say the least.
Click to expand...

You don't *need* an M3 in London, because you spend most of the time stuck in traffic or average speed zones and congestion charging zones, but you don't see everyone driving 1L Fiesta's and Prius's in London lol.

The case isn't small, it takes E-ATX motherboards like the one I have, so I'm not sure what your point is. Project logs here are overkill, that's the point of them. I like overkill, it's not a matter of need, it's want. I wanted it and because I can afford it, in the build it goes. Also if you know the Black Ice radiators they are the most restrictive rads on the market, even against much thicker rads, but that is, beside the point. That wasn't why I chose the dual pumps, I've always used dual pumps, sometimes because of potential failures, as unlikely as it may be and sometimes because I felt like it and I saw the dual pump contraption and I bought it.

The build has sat for 6 months because I work and do other things that take priority, you might find it strange, perhaps but people IRL have different lifestyles!

But feel free to criticise.
 
The rad's do fit, I've seen someone fit thicker black ice rads in this case which prompted me to choose it. They also put the fans and rad behind the motherboard, with a thicker rad and still managed to make it fit. The only difference is the pump and res I'm using but even so, having put the pump on top of the bottom rad and fans under the case I can make it work without any mods or cutting. Seeing someone else do it and doing it yourself is a different matter. But what's the point of a project log if it's not challenging. There's project logs here of people doing a lot more with a lot less and making it work, that's what it's all about. It's an art form.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom