Snedie's Loop / Mayhem's Aurora Time Trial
- Thread starter snedie
- Start date
Right just a quick summary of events. I'll be making some changes to my loop in order to add my CPU, this will include adding a 120mm radiator as well.
I will run the benchmarks before and directly after this mod, using the EXACT same coolant drained from the loop (put right back in bottle, poured right back in). I'm hoping the 120mm rad will dissipate the heat from the CPU and bring the temps down to the original benchmark scores.
I dislocated my knee at work on Saturday (6th time, still isn't funny
), so progress on this is going to be slow. Feel free to ask for any info you'd like, especially if you'd like a particular benchmark running before I make any mods 
[edit] Although I'm certain I have enough of the original coolant to fill the loop, I have purchased another bottle just in case I need any more, however the amount needed is likely to be less than 100ml at best so tainting of the original Aurora will be minimal. Question, how "full" should a res be?
I will run the benchmarks before and directly after this mod, using the EXACT same coolant drained from the loop (put right back in bottle, poured right back in). I'm hoping the 120mm rad will dissipate the heat from the CPU and bring the temps down to the original benchmark scores.
I dislocated my knee at work on Saturday (6th time, still isn't funny
), so progress on this is going to be slow. Feel free to ask for any info you'd like, especially if you'd like a particular benchmark running before I make any mods [edit] Although I'm certain I have enough of the original coolant to fill the loop, I have purchased another bottle just in case I need any more, however the amount needed is likely to be less than 100ml at best so tainting of the original Aurora will be minimal. Question, how "full" should a res be?
Last edited:
Final benchmarks done before CPU added to loop. Just compiling the data now, should have it posted in an hour. No camera available to take pics with, but Aurora is still looking good. I'm unsure if the new light in this room has made a difference or not, but my res seems a little more translucent than it did a few weeks ago, when I drain the loop I'll be able to see if the fluid has lost any pearl density or not from what it looks like in the bowl I should think...
Look out for the update
Look out for the update
Update.
There will be no upgrade now, seems I have lost my tube of thermal paste
I'll get some more ordered this week. I'm also looking to buy an I7 combo from the MM, if that goes through I'll be moving onto that from my i5. Main reason is for the motherboard as it supports dual x16 PCI-E lanes, which will hopefully give me a little better performance from the 5970's at this resolution.
There will be no upgrade now, seems I have lost my tube of thermal paste
I'll get some more ordered this week. I'm also looking to buy an I7 combo from the MM, if that goes through I'll be moving onto that from my i5. Main reason is for the motherboard as it supports dual x16 PCI-E lanes, which will hopefully give me a little better performance from the 5970's at this resolution.
Last edited:
It's official, got myself an I7 bargain on the MM thanks to Mr.Kay
With the addition of a 120mm rad (and hopefully a 240mm Thick, if not Thin) temps should normalise right around the same as they where. I may end up running one of the fans with no fans on it, or just very low 800rpm ones.
I'll post up pics later this week of the dismantle, and the rebuild. To keep the thread on topic I'll post this up in another thread as a build log.
With the addition of a 120mm rad (and hopefully a 240mm Thick, if not Thin) temps should normalise right around the same as they where. I may end up running one of the fans with no fans on it, or just very low 800rpm ones.
I'll post up pics later this week of the dismantle, and the rebuild. To keep the thread on topic I'll post this up in another thread as a build log.
Right.....so the new rig has been built. Just one screw up on my part, I placed the res at the lowest point in the loop, so every time I shut the system down air rises right back up to the rad. I'll sort this tomorrow, and get some benchmarking done. Right now, just got to sit and see if any leaks crop up
Rebuilt the loop now. I'll get some benchmarks done tonight, the loop now consists off:
- 2x 5970 full cover blocks (EK Copper Plexi)
- 1x Full cover i7 block (EK Copper Plexi)
- 1x EK 4.0 Pump (800l/hr)
- 1x EK 250 Basic Res
- 1x EK 360 Radiator (with 3x Akasa Apache 120mm+ 1x NoctuaNF-P12 120mm fans)
- 1x 240mm radiator (2x Akasa Viper fan)
- 1/2" ID 3/4" OD Tubing (Tygon Equivalent)
- 3/4" OD EK Compression Fittings (7x)
- 45 Degree rotary fittings (1/2" ID EK) (5x)
- 1/2" ID EK Barbed fittings fittings (2x)
- 100ml (Approx. measurement taken with the jug used to fill the loop) of "new" "Aurora Tharsis Red" to account for the addition of the new radiator and CPU block.
Pictures posted under week 5.
{Ninja Edit} One thing to note, when I dismantled the loop I found quite considerable deposits of the "pearls" in all of the fittings. This is to be expected though, as any coolant does penetrate the threads, hence the requirement of rubber o-rings to prevent leaking threads. This minor build-up hasn't affected the performance physically or visually however, as can be seen throughout the previous tests.
- 2x 5970 full cover blocks (EK Copper Plexi)
- 1x Full cover i7 block (EK Copper Plexi)
- 1x EK 4.0 Pump (800l/hr)
- 1x EK 250 Basic Res
- 1x EK 360 Radiator (with 3x Akasa Apache 120mm+ 1x NoctuaNF-P12 120mm fans)
- 1x 240mm radiator (2x Akasa Viper fan)
- 1/2" ID 3/4" OD Tubing (Tygon Equivalent)
- 3/4" OD EK Compression Fittings (7x)
- 45 Degree rotary fittings (1/2" ID EK) (5x)
- 1/2" ID EK Barbed fittings fittings (2x)
- 100ml (Approx. measurement taken with the jug used to fill the loop) of "new" "Aurora Tharsis Red" to account for the addition of the new radiator and CPU block.
Pictures posted under week 5.
{Ninja Edit} One thing to note, when I dismantled the loop I found quite considerable deposits of the "pearls" in all of the fittings. This is to be expected though, as any coolant does penetrate the threads, hence the requirement of rubber o-rings to prevent leaking threads. This minor build-up hasn't affected the performance physically or visually however, as can be seen throughout the previous tests.
Last edited:
Just fine, was absolutely sure that thing was going to spray water all over the place, but sure enough it works just fine....so fine in fact that I went and used another, that "Mr.Kay" provided me with a main board I got from him, to go between the pump and the Res.
In the end I just went a bit "ad-hoc" with the loop design, and just went with what worked. The Haf-X doesn't exactly have a lot of room internally, and because 3/4" OD tubing doesn't like to bend very much mounting the res externally would have been difficult, so where you see it in the current pic is pretty much where it originally was, except now it is primarily supported by the pump.
The new motherboard is fantastic, I've hunted high and low for an affordable board with the PCI layout (and speed) that this board has. Low end PCI allows me to place the sound card below the GPU's rather than between (so it isn't getting cooked any more), and the PCI-E lanes are dual x16 so it's technically faster. Would like to point out however, just for the "Ultra high spec fan boys", performance wise, moving from an i5 (4Ghz) and x8/x8 PCI-E to i7 (4Ghz) x16/x16 PCI-E has yeilded no benefits FPS wise (BF3, Skyrim, Heaven Bench), but I'll give credit where it is due and say that microstutter seems to have been alleviated....but weather that is due to the i7 or x16/x16 PCI-E I'll never know
*Edit made to my previous post.
Last edited:
Got a video taken, two versions are available, raw feed from camera and another which is "fixed" using the youtube video editor (brightness/contrast/sharpness):
Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8saHx5fPm0
Fixed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5miqNnUeOjk
You will notice that in the Res there is a "silver" patch, this is from when I ran the Aurora coolant with the res only half full. Some of the "Pearls" deposited here as the coolant washed up the sides with turbulence from the return hose. It seems to be fading even now after a few hours of the res being filled completely, I'll be sure to mention how this pans out as I go along. If I have a need to drain the loop again in the future, and these pearls are still in place, I will try using a swab to remove them.
Another thing to note, staining from this coolant seems to be fairly strong once the loop was drained. However, I did test this a while back when I first got the coolant by leaving a small amount in a plastic jug, and after 2 weeks it washed out perfectly fine. I couldn't give a definitive answer as to if the staining is permenent to the rubber/plastics used in the tubing and res until I come to flush the loop with hot water and DI water, which I don't plan to do now until the end of the year: Or when this coolant looses its effect.
Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8saHx5fPm0
Fixed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5miqNnUeOjk
You will notice that in the Res there is a "silver" patch, this is from when I ran the Aurora coolant with the res only half full. Some of the "Pearls" deposited here as the coolant washed up the sides with turbulence from the return hose. It seems to be fading even now after a few hours of the res being filled completely, I'll be sure to mention how this pans out as I go along. If I have a need to drain the loop again in the future, and these pearls are still in place, I will try using a swab to remove them.
Another thing to note, staining from this coolant seems to be fairly strong once the loop was drained. However, I did test this a while back when I first got the coolant by leaving a small amount in a plastic jug, and after 2 weeks it washed out perfectly fine. I couldn't give a definitive answer as to if the staining is permenent to the rubber/plastics used in the tubing and res until I come to flush the loop with hot water and DI water, which I don't plan to do now until the end of the year: Or when this coolant looses its effect.
Last edited:
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 810
- Location
- East London.
So is the current advice from mayhems still not to use aurora for a 24/7 pc. Show pc's only?
According to his website, yes. I can't speak for Mayhem's, or Mike here, but as far as I am concerned, as long as you follow the advice on his website you can't go wrong.
From what I've seen around the web regarding this fluid loosing it's effect, it always boils down to some odd anomaly with a particular loop, the common being:
- Dead spots (Res is the main culprit)
- To low of a flow rate, again resulting in the pearls coming out of suspension in the slowest areas
- Restrictive blocks: People using jet plates, or blocks with micron grade fins
- Obstacles: Lots of 90 degree elbows, way to many rad's (often done so they can use less fans, so less noise
- Drain ports: These have to be the most common culprit of anything, the pearls simply accumulate in the drain tube and don't come out again
The only problem I have at the moment is when I shut the loop down, the pearls naturally fall out of suspension over night. Not a major issue in the slightest, as soon as the pump kicks in the pick right up again (almost instantly). However, they seem to be building up around my res now that I have it laid down, not sure what to do about that at the moment.
Also just to note, benchmark results will be posted this afternoon guys
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 810
- Location
- East London.
According to his website, yes. I can't speak for Mayhem's, or Mike here, but as far as I am concerned, as long as you follow the advice on his website you can't go wrong.
From what I've seen around the web regarding this fluid loosing it's effect, it always boils down to some odd anomaly with a particular loop, the common being:
- Dead spots (Res is the main culprit)
- To low of a flow rate, again resulting in the pearls coming out of suspension in the slowest areas
- Restrictive blocks: People using jet plates, or blocks with micron grade fins
- Obstacles: Lots of 90 degree elbows, way to many rad's (often done so they can use less fans, so less noise
- Drain ports: These have to be the most common culprit of anything, the pearls simply accumulate in the drain tube and don't come out again
The only problem I have at the moment is when I shut the loop down, the pearls naturally fall out of suspension over night. Not a major issue in the slightest, as soon as the pump kicks in the pick right up again (almost instantly). However, they seem to be building up around my res now that I have it laid down, not sure what to do about that at the moment.
Also just to note, benchmark results will be posted this afternoon guys
Thanks for your reply, look forward to the bench.
I just have liquid and fitting to get and im undecided on both hence my asking
Thanks for your reply, look forward to the bench.
I just have liquid and fitting to get and im undecided on both hence my asking
No probs mate, if you have any issues just ask on the forums. Mike (the guy who make's (owns?) Mayhem's dyes) is active on here and usually chimes in on Mayhem threads (he's been a major help to me), I'm also happy to give any advice I can with this coolant, and water cooling in general.
A good tip before you build your loop, try get it so the Res is vertical with pump connected to the bottom. This way, when the "pearls" settle when the pump is off, they go into the tube. They then instantly get churned back into the fluid as the pump kicks in. I have mine horizontal at this point in time, and although 99.9999% of the pearls are taken back up again, there is a faint lining on the bottom and sides of the res.
{edit}
Fittings: Depending on your budget, go with compressions. One, they look fantastic in any build, especially with 3/4" OD tubing on them**, secondly they are secure as hell (I can't even pull the tubes out), lastly the Aurora Peals don't build up on them as much as they do with barbs*
*Barb's have a larger taper to the ends, to allow you to push the tubing over them. As the fluid passes into the barb some of it naturally catches this tapered edge and deposits the pearls. I ran barb's for nearly 3 weeks without any issues, and the buildup was minimal at worst, so if you can't afford compressions don't worry about any issues with Aurora, after three weeks it looked just as good as it did out of the bottle.....which reminds me, SHAKE THE BOTTLE FOR A GOOD TWO MINUTES!!!!
, it really does make a difference.** It's harder to see Aurora through 3/4" tubing than through say 5/8", so you need to decide weather you like the look of thick tubing, or more visible Aurora.
Last edited:
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 810
- Location
- East London.
No probs mate, if you have any issues just ask on the forums. Mike (the guy who make's (owns?) Mayhem's dyes) is active on here and usually chimes in on Mayhem threads (he's been a major help to me), I'm also happy to give any advice I can with this coolant, and water cooling in general.
A good tip before you build your loop, try get it so the Res is vertical with pump connected to the bottom. This way, when the "pearls" settle when the pump is off, they go into the tube. They then instantly get churned back into the fluid as the pump kicks in. I have mine horizontal at this point in time, and although 99.9999% of the pearls are taken back up again, there is a faint lining on the bottom and sides of the res.
{edit}
Fittings: Depending on your budget, go with compressions. One, they look fantastic in any build, especially with 3/4" OD tubing on them**, secondly they are secure as hell (I can't even pull the tubes out), lastly the Aurora Peals don't build up on them as much as they do with barbs*
*Barb's have a larger taper to the ends, to allow you to push the tubing over them. As the fluid passes into the barb some of it naturally catches this tapered edge and deposits the pearls. I ran barb's for nearly 3 weeks without any issues, and the buildup was minimal at worst, so if you can't afford compressions don't worry about any issues with Aurora, after three weeks it looked just as good as it did out of the bottle.....which reminds me, SHAKE THE BOTTLE FOR A GOOD TWO MINUTES!!!!
** It's harder to see Aurora through 3/4" tubing than through say 5/8", so you need to decide weather you like the look of thick tubing, or more visible Aurora.
Well my pump (DDC10w) and reservoir (Phobya Balancer silver/nickel 150) came in post the other day. In haste i ordered ID 3/8 and OD 1/2 which when i got it was far too thin a tubing for my liking so i will get thicker for sure.
I have decided to with compressions after all, however lol, the ones i seen that will compliment my build are pricey at £7 a pop (bitspower). The main concern was the liquid as that too in the aurora would have been the icing on the cake for the build so to say. I had been to the Mayhems site and seen their no no for 24/7 use and along with your thread here have been keeping a lazy eye on your progress.
I see you have put a lot of effort in to it here, top marks mate.
Thanks for the support
Those bits power compressions look fantastic, was thinking to get them myself, but the cost just on those was going to run me up to £100
. I went with the black nickel EK compressions, you can see them in the video's under week 5 I believe (Direct Link).Don't forget to post us up some pic's/vids of your build
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2011
- Posts
- 810
- Location
- East London.
Thanks for the support
[/URL]).
Don't forget to post us up some pic's/vids of your build
Yeh i will be doing a full build log once i got all the bits in, case needs to be modified for a XSPC monster RX360 rad and a RX240. Gonna try and do a different colour too. Everyone uses red, blue, white and some yellow..... will have to get creative lol.
How do you find the aurora with light reflection?