Q6600 Water Cooled Build Log

Monstermunch

Monstermunch

Monstermunch

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Joined
7 Mar 2005
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Eating PI
Welcome to my build log...

I've been struggling with my old Gigabyte DS4 motherboard and underpowered 500w PSU for a while now...

So I decided to upgrade & water cool at the same time.

New Parts so far:
Q6600
Asus P5K Premium - Black Pearl Ltd Edition
Silverstone OP 750W
Optiarc SATA DVD-RW

Existing parts:
2gb Geil Ultra PC6400 C4
Akasa Eclipse 62
2 x Seagate Barracudas
Akasa Fan Controller
Scythe Ninja
Loadsa Fans & other Bits

I intend to go for a PA120.2 loop to cool the Q6600, but first to test all the new stuff to make sure it works...

PICT0139.jpg

Out with the old.... Case stripped down & cleaned out ready for the new... I decided to move the DVD drive down next to the floppy to leave room for the bay reservior to fit nicely in between


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New Mobo in all its glory... Fully stacked & well laid out... U can even get the ram out without removing the gfx card unlike on my old board!


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The first minor hiccup... The backplate to the Scythe Ninja, obviously scythe decided to use some industry grade epoxy resin in their sticky pads... This took me the best part of 20mins to get off my old mobo & u can see the circuitry imprint on the pad from the old mobo!


PICT0144.jpg

First stage of the build, testing with my existing air cooling setup... After a bit of cable management, but as u can see I desperately need some heatshrink, sleeving & some new colour cables to finish the look.


PICT0001.jpg

The watercooling stuff arrives :eek: Scratches head :confused:
Here is what I bought:
D-Tek Fusion CPU Block (c/w nozzle kit for Quad Core)
Laing DDC2 Pump with Custom Alphacool Acrylic Top
Thermochill PA120.2 Radiator
3x Yate Loon D12SL Fans
XSPC Single Clear Bay Reservior
XSPC UV Blue Tubing
Loads of Cable Braiding & Heatshrink
Loads of Barbs & Clips etc


Next step... Installing the Fuzion nozzle kit & sorting the cables out (which is a damn site easier to do now rather than later...
PICT0002.jpg



Next onto the rad... Decided to follow the manufacturers guidelines and flush it with just hot water instead of vinegar... Which worked fine & only took me about 20mins.

So 10+ flushes later, the rad is clean & the fans & grill are fitted
PICT0146.jpg



After a bit of hammering... the rad eventually fitted (snugly) at the top of the case & I used the grill to make a template out of card for cutting the top of the case
PICT0147.jpg
 
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Right, here we go with the next step... fitting the rad into the case :( .... which was easy.... NOT!

Firstly after measuring up for like 1/2 hour I used my template and cut the hole for the fan grille... Only problem was my jigsaw was at my father in laws (typical)... So i was lumbered with using my Dremel...

Dremels are okay for certain jobs, but I wouldn't advise trying this with one... I used a thick piece of glass as a straightedge and got a nice finish... But went through about 20 dremel blades (most of which are now embedded in my head, hands & ceiling!)
PICT0013.jpg

As u can see, a reasonably nice finish... (apologies for the poor qual pic... was taking on the fly, so didnt have time to check them)
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The big problem... I was kinda hoping that the rad would slide in sweetly with a bit of gentle persuasion, oooh how wrong i was... After about another 20minutes of messing around with a measuring tape I set out to injure myself again with the Dremel :rolleyes:
PICT0012.jpg

I had to cut this section out to allow the rad to drop down low enough to be inside the case... Steady hands & goggles required!


And finally, mounted in the case :cool:
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Next step, onto the motherboard, CPU & waterblock...

First some more cable tidying:
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Next step... Lapping the CPU....After 20 mins, the lovely Q6600 now looks like this:
PICT0010.jpg

(again apologies for poor pic, but I think u can make out how shiny my booty is!)


Next was to get the rest of it stuck into the case, finish up another couple of hours of cable management, cut & fit the tubing and then onto the leak test!
PICT0016.jpg

& yes I have ordered another nice Yate fan to replace the ghastly orange one at the back of the case!
 
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Main build now finished!!! :cool:

Here is what she now looks like:
PICT0153.jpg


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Well, im reasonably impressed so far...


Next step... CLOCKING & a nice custom side panel to finish the look! :D
 
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Hopefully (when I get my floppy drive sorted) i'll be doing a bios flash this weekend, updating all the drivers and try to get superpi down a little!

I'd like to get it below 12secs, but dont think thats possible, unless the CPU will reach 4ghz or more!
 
bilston said:
so whats the temps like?
Click to expand...

Temps are:

39deg Idle
67deg 100% Load
But thats with 1.63vcore

The temp im most shocked about is the case temp, cos I have my fans sucking air in through the rad into the case... But Case temps are hovering between 24 & 28deg according to the probe on my fan controller.

System is 100% orthos Stable at 482x8, anything above that it craps out at the moment, but will be doing some more tinkering around this weekend cos im still hoping for 4ghz :cool:
 
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MilanoChris said:
Is lapping really worth it?
Click to expand...

Yes... will give you between 3deg & 10deg lower temps depending on how bad the IHS is to start with...

Mine wasnt that bad, but went straight from air cooling to water together with probably the best thermal paste on the market so I cant tell you the exact difference with this one ;)
 
Yea, I got a fancy bay reservior, with some UV reactive Blue liquid & a couple of Blue LED's looks the business with the water bobbling around at the front...

Just showin off the size of my Epeen really :p
 
Datamonkey said:
no answer to my too many volts could it kill the chip question :(
Click to expand...

The only real way you can kill it is with temps, which are related directly to volts... But generally from things i've read up to 1.6vcore is fine as long as you can cool it properly...

You will notice from my cpu-z screeny that the actual vcore is 1.6 & not 1.65 as set on my mobo due to vdrop...
 
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Big.Wayne said:
Nice Job Monstermunch!

How long have you been into watercooling as that all looks quite complicated?
Click to expand...

Been into building PC's for years...

Clocking about 5 years...

Watercooling... this is my first attempt! ;) Just read a bit about it and had some great advice from people like weescott
 
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Vogon said:
Aha nice one :)
Soon to WC my setup in an Eclipse case, but for me theres no room for the rad in the roof, the Galaxy PSU is one reason, the other is I want the PA120.3 rad :)
So mine will be external.
Temps look quite high for just the CPU in the loop, even considering voltage ... but then I am used to dual core temps not quads :)
Click to expand...

Yea... sorry also forgot to mention that my temps have dropped rapidly since I first posted the build.

I decided to go for a different thermal paste... I hate the Shin-Etsu paste with a passion, it is so completely non-user friendly is is unbelievable and I would advise against buying it... It may be one of the best themally performing pastes on the market, but if you cant get it applied properly then whats the point...

I bought some Arctic Cooling MX-2, which is by far the most workable paste I have ever used...

So after using some proper thermal material remover and surface purifier I applied the MX-2 & used a blob approx the size of a small grain of rice, then smoothed it & removed the excess with a clean razor blade and managed to get an extremely thin coat evenly applied with about 3/4 of the applied paste removed.

After it was all installed I checked temps with the voltage set slightly higher to give me more stability, the temps were approx 6 deg cooler at idle and 7 deg cooler at load :cool:

Now idles at around 38 deg ;)
 
Well one final push of power has given me some slightly better clocks and results, but that's it... There is no more power to give, pretty much all maxxed out now :(

superpi231107.jpg
 
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