Projekt Kraken

[V4NT0M]

The first part of my "new" build arrived today so I thought I would build up to the build log with a blow by blow account of purchased items as it's not all set in stone, probably boring for most! Will probably be doing the actual build around the beginning of August.

This will be my first watercooled build, I'm moving everything from my old case to the new case. Though I have got rid of my WF3 7970 and bought a reference 290 so I can easily fit a waterblock.

The kraken was a monster from the deep.

I currently have a blue motherboard, blue led ram and blue leds bathing my case in a blue light (current rig here). Theoretically giving that underwater feeling. I'll move all of this over to the new case which will be a Corsair Air 540, I like the clean look of the front portion of the case, nothing else looks as ready for a nice clean build to me.

I'll be using green UV liquid for watercooling and green fans to cool the rads and eventually the case. Feels like it will look like tentacles and fins of a monster from the deep Oh and green alchemy PSU cables should complete the look.

I haven't got a pre-filled basket to show the full setup as I'm trying to cut down on price by going through the MM when I can. That said I'm pretty set on the layout below:

The res/pump will probably actually go on top of the PSU but I might also go for a res in the front of the case at the back. At the very least the pump will be around the back I think.

I decided to exhaust out of the font as it will display a nice bank of fans and so far as I can tell won't make much difference to temps with fans bringing in air constantly, and it means that I'm not intaking bunch of hot air across the motherboard and other components.

Mayhems UV fluid will be my liquid of choice and I am thinking of going with Nanoxia fans as they fit well with the theme, though I have also consider green wing boost 2 fans.

Any suggestions or advice is welcome




Without further adieu the first component to arrive is the 290 backplate from coldzero, thankfully I got my order in just before they shut down the website to generate new stock

 

[V4NT0M]

Thanks, I'll be buying more filters and possibly tights!

I'll probably end up trying it both ways, will see how it looks before I set it all in motion.

 

[V4NT0M]

The forums decided to double post for me!

 

[V4NT0M]

Some bits and bobs arrived today, £55 from the MM.

 

[V4NT0M]

Just a quick update, got some velcro strips so I can hopefully make the top filter mesh easy to attach/move/clean. Got a bunch of stuff coming this next week including... Drumrolll...

The great guys at Nanoxia have sent me some fans to use in my build. So they get a mention up above, I'll get images of them up as soon as I receive them.

The more stuff I get the more I want to just get on with this but I've got so much on this next few weeks I won't have the time to do it yet!

 

[V4NT0M]

More stuff!

Got a nice little stash going on!

Probably won't be using the wing boosts as I'll be getting the fans from Nanoxia, but I was thinking of doing some push/pull possibly.

 

[V4NT0M]

Picked up some things today:

First off the fans from Nanoxia, thanks again to those guys for supplying them

And secondly a PWM -> Analog signal converter from Tealc which will make it a lot easier for me to get all of these fans connected to my board!

 

[V4NT0M]

Just testing the fans and the fan converter, it's working a charm and the fans are extremely quiet, I'm sure the sound will pick up a bit once there's some restriction from filters and radiators.

The 120mm fans push a lot of air and are also really quiet.

Also forgot, I got the filter mesh yesterday, seems like a really light mesh, might need to double up.

Will likely be opening a new build thread about the time I build this rig as I've got another project I'm going to put together too.

 

[V4NT0M]

No it's not from OCUK, I just compared it to the filter that's in the front of my Z9 case and it is much finer and that filter catches so much dust!

I think one layer should do me fine for the top and back fans. But I guess we'll see how it goes, I think I'll see if i can mesh over the spare PCI slots or blank them out with tape as someone said above I'm pretty sure a lot of dust will creep in that way.

If you search for fine insect mesh you'll be able to find it, cost about £3 for 3 meters of the stuff.

 

[V4NT0M]

I'll have more pictures for this build in the next week or so, got the Air 540 delivered the other day and got a 290 waterblock from the MM. Just ordered the rest of the bits and bobs and they should all be delivered this coming week.

Just gave the radiator a clean out with de-ionised water.

Still pondering whether to get a new mobo as I bought some tactical tracer ram which I think would go really well but it just will not work with the D3H.

 

[V4NT0M]

I made a start today, have to wait until tomorrow before the EK fittings come but I thought I would get a headstart by installing what I could so far, removed some stuff from the back side of the case and put in the fans and rad and sorted some cable management.

First to assemble the res:

Put together the rad:

Then put some stuff in the case:

The top 140mm fans give only enough room for the rad but I'm confident they will bring a lot of fresh air straight onto the rad in the front.

 

[V4NT0M]

Got everything in tonight and began leak testing. Used a paperclip to jump the PSU in the end as the bitspower tool didn't come in time. I have more photos on my camera but will need to wait until the pc is up and running before I get those posted.

I gather all of these little bubbles will work their way out in time:

One final question, the pump seems to work fine and quiet but if I turn it up 4 or 5 it churns the liquid up into a bubbly soup. I know 5 on the pump won't be required, just wondering if it is indicative of another problem.

z87 G1 sniper motherboard would look so awesome on that, nonetheless it looks amazing mate.

I did look at getting a sniper mobo but I'm not sure it is compatible with the tactical tracer which I'm quite taken with.

 

[V4NT0M]

Bubbles are working themselves out of the tubes just fine, no leaks so far. Quite easy to see if there are leaks with the uv fluid as I have a uv torch at the ready. Really happy with the D5, very quiet. Can't wait to get it up and running tomorrow and test out temps God willing nothing goes wrong.

 

[V4NT0M]

Still need to get a few things done... More pics coming soon.

The major problem I'm having at the moment is that the fans on my rad are making some weird clicky type noises, very high speed. I think I'm going to have to change out for the wing boosts I have but will need to order another.

Secondly the backplate I got from coldzero was missing it's mounting screws so I have to wait for them to come before I can get the GPU looking all nice.

Finally I really need to tidy up the cables in the back they are a mess atm.

 

[V4NT0M]

No gaskets, I think I'll take off one of the fans and give it a looking at.

It's Mayhems UV Green it's exactly what I wanted

The lighting is just some blue LED lights, some cheap ones from china and a bitfenix alchemy, they're both just blue but they put out some nice UV rays.

 

[V4NT0M]

I had a good fiddle with the fans last night, the fans themselves make little noise, the problem seems to be when they touch the rad they resonate in some way. For now I've put a couple of the Alpenfohn fans on, they're really quiet and already have a rubber frame.

 

[V4NT0M]

Are you running through that PWM converter? try running them at high speed direct from fan headers because it could be the modulator that is causing the fans to click.

I was only running them through a PWM splitter but tried it direct to the socket too.

I think the clicking noise seems to be vibrational rather than the fan motor as I took them all off the radiator and they made little but air noise. The only thing I could do is insulate them from the radiator in some way but to be honest I mounted in some of the Alpenphons and they go much better with the look of the case and in general I am happier with them.

Will just have to see how they perform.

 

[V4NT0M]

Really only waiting on the backplate screws atm, a little annoying that I can't finish up!

Going to try some push pull, got a gasket coming to mount the fans on the front with less noise hopefully. Also got some actual dust filters for the fans as the mesh I got is a little too fussy to get in place somewhere.

Anyways here's some of the pics I took putting it all together, hopefully it won't be long before I get the screws so I can take some time with some nice final build shots.

Also, I was going to get black compression fittings but it was hard to find them in stock so I decided to go for the shiny nickel and I am so glad I did now. I think it looks much better than black would have.

Also so glad I decided to go for compression fittings, I'm sure plenty of people do fine with barbs but the way the tubing goes on I was glad of the extra feeling of security from the compression fittings. I got them on a special offer too so they were less than £2 a pop

Attaching the 45 degree connectors to the CPU block:

Then to the board:

GPU block went on and in easy, really looks sleek

Some of the tubing in place, sometimes a little fiddly to get on but all in all pretty easy.

Pump ready to receive the fluid.

The fluid, Mayhems X1 UV Green!

 

[V4NT0M]

Any pics of the UV green coolant in action?

You mean like here?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26743790&postcount=37

 

[V4NT0M]

Did a bit of overclocking tonight.

Currently got a modest 4.5GHz on the 3770k and 1150 on the 290.

Temperatures when gaming can get around 50 - 60 degrees. Are these temps ok?

3DMark:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3804281

Edit, just installed trixx for extra vdcc and got it up to 1195:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3804754