Project: The Elephant in the Room
- Thread starter foop
- Start date
I still have no concrete idea of what I'm going to put in this case. Fortunately I've managed to find a great procrastination tool. Drawing bits of the case should keep me busy for hours.
(That's the mostly decorative cage that goes in the front around the pump mount. The slots at the rear are one of the possible positions for the 2.5" SSD sleds.)
(That's the mostly decorative cage that goes in the front around the pump mount. The slots at the rear are one of the possible positions for the 2.5" SSD sleds.)
When I first read that line I thought you said "into" not "onto".
I was going to say "yeah, I have seen Japanese hotel rooms smaller than that".
And suddenly I'm an inspiration
Enjoy the procrastination in CAD, pretty sure half of the year of planning and drawing for my project was switching between 7mm and 8mm ventilation holes!
Ok, so the procrastination is probably over. I now have to think what I'm going to put in here.
I'll start with the cooling, because - as always - there's new tech just over the horizon. I'm wondering whether it's worth waiting for Ryzen and the 1080 Ti.
I'll start with the cooling, because - as always - there's new tech just over the horizon. I'm wondering whether it's worth waiting for Ryzen and the 1080 Ti.
So, cooling. First things first. What radiator? I'll think first about the GPU side of things. This side of the case has space for a 4 x 140mm (560mm) radiator. It would be rude not to. I'll think about the other side next, because there's the issue of whether I want to keep the drive cages. This would reduce the space available for a radiator.
Criteria for choosing a radiator:
I have a look at how it will fit.
Hmm, not great. With the ports at the bottom there's only 37mm gap between the ports and the side of the PSU. With fans on the back in push/pull, I can't take cooling tubing up over the PSU - it would have to go straight towards the front of the case and I don't think there's space for two runs of tubing in there. I can't use the ports on the bottom (facing down), or back (facing out of the case) because there's not enough space.
Hmm.
Choices?
Criteria for choosing a radiator:
- Nice and fat
- Inlet and/or outlet at the bottom of the radiator. There is no way I'm turning this case upside-down to drain things. I don't think I can turn it upside-down. It weighs as much as my son.
- Some sort of port at the top (either inlet or outlet in a crossflow radiator, or an extra drain/vent port).
- Good performance over a range of RPM in push/pull.
- Not a stupid name.
I have a look at how it will fit.
Hmm, not great. With the ports at the bottom there's only 37mm gap between the ports and the side of the PSU. With fans on the back in push/pull, I can't take cooling tubing up over the PSU - it would have to go straight towards the front of the case and I don't think there's space for two runs of tubing in there. I can't use the ports on the bottom (facing down), or back (facing out of the case) because there's not enough space.
Hmm.
Choices?
- Use a thinner rad. Maybe the UT45.
- Use a shorter rad, either a 4x120mm 480mm, or a 3x140mm 420mm and mount it at the top to give more space underneath. Take the tubing out of the bottom of the radiator. Or over the top of the PSU if the rad is short enough.
- Mount it the other way up and use the extra port in the rad as a drain at the bottom.
- Something else I haven't thought of yet.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 18,512
Go monsta ! No actual performance gains over the UT60. Although not sure if its made in the size you want . white too
2/3. Definitely good for draining but as it looks like you've spotted, not good for bleeding. There are some rads with a bleed screw at the far end that might solve this - I think it may be Alphacool at that. Otherwise, some of the Black Ice series seem to have ports everywhere - not sure if they're both ends though.
If you're draining, depending on why you're draining, you could always leave the rad full. If you're just changing something in the loop, you're only worried about it not leaking out everywhere. If you want to completely change the coolant (colour for example) you'd have to unscrew the rad to get the last out rather than invert the case. Another option for you - it's slightly unorthodox but necessity being the mother of all inventions and all that. Get a wet/dry hoover (mine's a Vax but you can get a cheap one for £37) and just suck the coolant out if you need it all out. Good idea not to apply full vacuum to the system though - ie don't seal it on, just let it suck from a tube held in the nozzle.
5. You can always either take the name off with a solvent (depends on if it's painted/power coated or etched on) or at worst, paint over it.
I've been double-checking the fit for a 560mm RAD with push-pull fans. With the ports at the bottom, it fits but there's nowhere to put the pipework.
If I'm going to keep a 60mm thick, 560mm radiator, I have a few options
Abandon push-pull and just have fans on one side :: The way the fan/radiator mounting plates are inset into the sides of the case, if you want fans on only one side of the radiator it has to be the outside. This would mean a choice of having the fans running in pull, or having them pushing hot air into the case. Neither sounds great.
Also, the pipework will inevitably run past the back of the radiator and disrupt airflow a little.
Turn the radiator the other way up :: There's a bit more room at the top of the case, but it's not helped by there being a 140mm fan in the way. I can ditch that because there'll be enough air leaving the case - in face, I really need more air coming in to balance the radiator fans.
I'd have to put a drain on the bottom of the radiator. That's ok, the Alphacool UT60 has a port there. I think I can just fit a right angle fitting and a tap or a quick release there.
Alternatively, I can always
(That's a 90 degree fitting on the outlet port for size)
If I'm going to keep a 60mm thick, 560mm radiator, I have a few options
Abandon push-pull and just have fans on one side :: The way the fan/radiator mounting plates are inset into the sides of the case, if you want fans on only one side of the radiator it has to be the outside. This would mean a choice of having the fans running in pull, or having them pushing hot air into the case. Neither sounds great.
Also, the pipework will inevitably run past the back of the radiator and disrupt airflow a little.
Turn the radiator the other way up :: There's a bit more room at the top of the case, but it's not helped by there being a 140mm fan in the way. I can ditch that because there'll be enough air leaving the case - in face, I really need more air coming in to balance the radiator fans.
I'd have to put a drain on the bottom of the radiator. That's ok, the Alphacool UT60 has a port there. I think I can just fit a right angle fitting and a tap or a quick release there.
Alternatively, I can always
- Use a 45mm radiator
- Use a shorter radiator (4x120mm or 3x140mm, or 57,600 mm2 vs 58,800 mm2 cooling area)
- Buy a cheap wet/dry vacuum cleaner
Do the maths for the rad comparison (I'd do it for you but...I can't be bothered ). Work out the volume of each and you get a reasonable comparison of their cooling capacities. Bigger is always better but that includes thickness provided it doesn't diminish air flow too much.
Personally I'd do both. Ditch the push/pull as all the figures I've seen suggest you don't get much performance boost from it (10% ish IIRC) - not enough to justify doubling your fan costs. Which could be substantial if you're talking many fans, many rads and fans that perform well without sounding like a jet plane.
Rad fittings at the top for ease of bleeding. That said, with a bleed port at the other end, you'd be ok. Could also use it as a drain if it's at the bottom...so whatever fits best then really.
). Work out the volume of each and you get a reasonable comparison of their cooling capacities. Bigger is always better but that includes thickness provided it doesn't diminish air flow too much.Personally I'd do both. Ditch the push/pull as all the figures I've seen suggest you don't get much performance boost from it (10% ish IIRC) - not enough to justify doubling your fan costs. Which could be substantial if you're talking many fans, many rads and fans that perform well without sounding like a jet plane.
Rad fittings at the top for ease of bleeding. That said, with a bleed port at the other end, you'd be ok. Could also use it as a drain if it's at the bottom...so whatever fits best then really.
It's been a couple of months and I've managed to achieve almost nothing, at least as far as the build is concerned. Mostly because we've had builders in covering everything with a fine layer of dust. But also because I've been building five water-cooled quad-Titan machines for work (more of which later, if I get round to it).
At least that's allowed plenty of time for AMD to release the Ryzen line. And for nVidia to release another two top-end versions of the 1080.
Anyway... my original plan was to have a separate pump and res because there's so much space in the case. I bought a couple of Monsoon MMRS pump housings and Aquabus-fitted D5 pumps. Then I discovered that the pump/res space in the front of the case isn't as big as I thought.
My current idea is to have an MMRS modular reservoir and pump next to each other on each side at the front of the case.
It'll be a tight fit, though.
At least that's allowed plenty of time for AMD to release the Ryzen line. And for nVidia to release another two top-end versions of the 1080.
Anyway... my original plan was to have a separate pump and res because there's so much space in the case. I bought a couple of Monsoon MMRS pump housings and Aquabus-fitted D5 pumps. Then I discovered that the pump/res space in the front of the case isn't as big as I thought.
My current idea is to have an MMRS modular reservoir and pump next to each other on each side at the front of the case.
It'll be a tight fit, though.
No progress at all for four months. Unexpectedly being dragged off to hospital at the end of May did kind of get in the way of things.
That aside, I'm now the owner of two Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 420mm radiators. They have a billion G1/4 ports on each radiator, which is what I wanted - I can mount them with the inlet/outlet at the bottom and they still have a port on the top I can use to bleed air out. This is important, because the final machine is going to weigh a ton and I don't want to have to be rocking it about to get rid of bubbles.
A little boring as received...
Masked up and ready for abuse.
That's better.
I'm going for a "white and unpleasantly bright orange" colour scheme, with notes of bright yellow. It should be striking, at least.
The fan is a Corsair ML140 Pro LED White 140mm Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan. I tried them on one of the quad-GPU water cooled machines I built for work, and I liked the airflow and noise. It's just balanced on the radiator there. When I tried to attach it, I discovered that the jig Alphacool use to make their screw holes bears only a passing resemblance to the spacing on 140mm fans. Ho hum.
That aside, I'm now the owner of two Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 420mm radiators. They have a billion G1/4 ports on each radiator, which is what I wanted - I can mount them with the inlet/outlet at the bottom and they still have a port on the top I can use to bleed air out. This is important, because the final machine is going to weigh a ton and I don't want to have to be rocking it about to get rid of bubbles.
A little boring as received...
Masked up and ready for abuse.
That's better.
I'm going for a "white and unpleasantly bright orange" colour scheme, with notes of bright yellow. It should be striking, at least.
The fan is a Corsair ML140 Pro LED White 140mm Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan. I tried them on one of the quad-GPU water cooled machines I built for work, and I liked the airflow and noise. It's just balanced on the radiator there. When I tried to attach it, I discovered that the jig Alphacool use to make their screw holes bears only a passing resemblance to the spacing on 140mm fans. Ho hum.
Reservoirs
With so much space I decided to go for separate pumps and reservoirs. I quite like the look of the Monsoon modular system, so I thought I'd give that a go.
These are the parts for the bottom part of a reservoir. I'm going for an asymmetrical look, with a 50mm tube at the bottom and a 100mm tube at the top.
The bits mostly look nice, although the finish on one of the end pieces was disappointingly not the same crisp white as on the other.
It all fits together nice and intuitively. I then had to wait for the 100mm tension bars to come in stock at OcUK before I could assemble it completely and mount it on the side of the central plinth in the case.
The plan is to have inlet and outlet at the bottom of the reservoir and the other four holes blanked off. There's no baffle in the bottom of the thing to stop bubbles recirculating, so I guess I'll find out if baffles do anything useful or not.
Mounting involved drilling yet more holes in the plinth. Of course, the mounting bolts interfered with the plastic slides that hold the hard drive cages. I took a Dremel and Stanley Knife to these to carve some space and allow everything to fit together without fouling.
With two independent cooling circuits, I repeated the whole thing on the other side of the plinth.
Meanwhile, I set the actual components up on a bench table and installed Windows. I plugged the Aquaero 6XT in, and tested the two D5 pumps I bought. One was fine, but the other had a completely borked USB interface and ran uncontrollably at high speed while the PC beeped "USB device connected ... USB device disconnected ... USB device connected ... USB device ... " Thank you once again, OcUK customer support, for a speedy and efficient RMA.
With so much space I decided to go for separate pumps and reservoirs. I quite like the look of the Monsoon modular system, so I thought I'd give that a go.
These are the parts for the bottom part of a reservoir. I'm going for an asymmetrical look, with a 50mm tube at the bottom and a 100mm tube at the top.
The bits mostly look nice, although the finish on one of the end pieces was disappointingly not the same crisp white as on the other.
It all fits together nice and intuitively. I then had to wait for the 100mm tension bars to come in stock at OcUK before I could assemble it completely and mount it on the side of the central plinth in the case.
The plan is to have inlet and outlet at the bottom of the reservoir and the other four holes blanked off. There's no baffle in the bottom of the thing to stop bubbles recirculating, so I guess I'll find out if baffles do anything useful or not.
Mounting involved drilling yet more holes in the plinth. Of course, the mounting bolts interfered with the plastic slides that hold the hard drive cages. I took a Dremel and Stanley Knife to these to carve some space and allow everything to fit together without fouling.
With two independent cooling circuits, I repeated the whole thing on the other side of the plinth.
Meanwhile, I set the actual components up on a bench table and installed Windows. I plugged the Aquaero 6XT in, and tested the two D5 pumps I bought. One was fine, but the other had a completely borked USB interface and ran uncontrollably at high speed while the PC beeped "USB device connected ... USB device disconnected ... USB device connected ... USB device ... " Thank you once again, OcUK customer support, for a speedy and efficient RMA.
The main time you'll be swearing is just after you fill it, when you're trying to get the air out. One D5 even at low speed will happily pull the bubbles from inlet to outlet, let alone two of 'em! How much thread do you have in the inlet after a fitting is screwed in? If there's enough, you could screw in a clear tube to make the inlet come out nearer the top - maybe at the middle ring if you want it more hidden.
You can either thread your own tube (if you have acrylic tube and a G1/4 die) or OCUK have some.
Bitspower (white only) https://www.overclockers.co.uk/bitspower-g1-4-deluxe-white-aqua-pipe-i-wc-65p-bp.html
The EK tubes are clear but don't specify they are G1/4 threaded. Look like it and probably are but may be worth asking OCUK. Two sizes available: 40mm (out of stock) and 140mm: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-internal-tube-12-16-140mm-wc-838-ek.html
Ah, that's worth knowing, thanks.
I'm not at home at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that there's enough thread left on the inside to do that.