Switch 810 first time water build (Project Penguin)

Alz_D

Alz_D

Alz_D

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Thought I would share this with you. It's not as slick as 99% of the builds on here but I am happy with it. So here goes:

This is what I started with. Loved the HAF and it has been served it's time well. If it only had a bigger window then I may not have changed (I fell in love with the switch case to be fair).



So I went out and bought the following... The EK kit is fantastic by the way especially for someone who hasn't done anything like this before.



The Switch 810 isn't to everyones taste I know but I like it. It is a bit bigger than the HAF X.



The EK kit comes with 3 Gelid fans which have gone in the roof of the case.



The radiator in the top of the case (it came out and had to go back in after this photo because it turns out that you have to flush them before installation - NOOB ALERT)



Here is one of my favourite parts :D and the EK cpu block. Fitting went ok although I think the instructions could be better - or I could be a bit smarter :rolleyes:



Motherboard in the case



Another arty picture of the block on the board in the case....



A cat :p



This was the first attempt at building a loop. I should have actually spent more time planning than I did. Was not happy with the way it looked at all. So I put the computer upstairs and sulked for a couple of days :mad:



But it's all ok because I found the time to fix it.I boughtt an EK single bay res and after several pints of Fosters (I wish I was joking and I do not recommend this process) I built the following. And filled it.... and some coolant went on the carpet.. and the bed and I got lots of air in the system (see earlier warnings about alcohol and watercooling).









Now that it is done I am a little sad as I like tinkering so much. Already waiting for EK 7950 blocks to come into stock and thinking about changing the coolant colour although the red is in theme with the rest of the kit.

Below is a screen print after running IBT. It's a dirty overclock of 4.5 @ 1.32 Vcore and that is the next thing on the list of things to sort out. Got to get into the 5Ghz club :cool:



And my Heaven 2.5 score - will be higher when the cards get wet.




I hope you like the build. Thoughts and opinions are welcome. It's ongoing and will no doubt look totally different in 6 months.

Finally - To any one thinking about water cooling but worrying that it is too difficult - Just go for it. Really isn't as difficult as it looks. The sticky guides in the watercooling section are really usefull and there are plenty of people on here on hand waiting to help if you get stuck. Thanks to everyone who replied to my threads ;)

All images uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
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They are in the roof of the case under this:



Have to run them pulling air as an exhaust though. No way they would have fit as push on the inside. Seems to work ok :)
 
Gonna get some new pics up tonight. I have re done the loop and added two EK 7950 waterblocks and another 120 radiator. Changed the coolant to Mayhems Ice White which looked amazing until it mixed with a little bit of the red which was hiding in the pump (despite flushing it) . It is now almost baby pink. Oh well... the kids seem to like it so its staying like this for now. Have to say it was easier to fill / bleed than the ek coolants red was. Thought it would be other way around. Just leak testing now. I still cant believe how quiet it all is :p
 
Updated 07/04/2012

Here are some more pictures - The fluid used is / was Mayhems Ice White. As you can see I had a little accident in that some of the EK Red was hiding in the pump so now I have fluid that looks like a McDonalds strawberry milkshake :rolleyes:

Anyway it is styaying like this for now until I can afford to buy more fluid etc.

Pictures where taken with a phone this time so sorry if they not as high quality as the last ones.

Here is the new loop being leak tested. Looks pretty white here to be fair.



The colour was exactly what I wanted



Really white



But oh no.... what's this???



It's defo gone wrong :p



And here is another one



And another



All images uploaded with ImageShack.us

I'm happy with the loop anyway. And it's neat and tidy. Graphics cards hit 32 degrees under heaven 3.0 and the cpu is as before pretty much. And it is so quiet!! :D
 
Thank you very much for the comments. Going to finish off tidying the wiring and putting the fan controller in tonight if I get a chance. I also have a bitfenix red led strip to fit into the roof. Then i need to clock the two cards and see how high I can get the cpu.

Then when all that is done then I might actually play some games :D
 
All back together and working :D leds fitted in the roof and everything. Must say I am really happy with the way that it has all turned out. Thank you to everyone that has answered questions etc for me. Prob many more to come :p
 
Sorry about the terrible quality pics but this is what it looks like at night. I know that this is some peoples idea of hell with all of the lighting but it is just what I wanted and it CAN be turned off!!

It is not orange in reality - that is a side effect of pants photography :p







All images uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
nzxt is such a sexy case for a watercooling rig, nice job(not on the pink solution though :P).

very similar system to what i have planned when ivy bridge arrives!
 
very good build,ive got nzxt phantom coming and gonna start my 1st water loop thinking of the rs240/rx240 kits only gonna do the cpu for starters
 
Good job, really liking the white case, it's interesting what you learn along the way :)

I'll admit I'm no expert in watercooling but it seems odd to me you have the loop going from the Res > Pump > Radiator top > CPU / GPU > Radiator baydrive > back to Res.

Wouldn't it help temps to have it Res > Pump > CPU > Radiator top > GPU > Radiator baydrive > back to Res. Why would you need it going to the radiator first from the pump? This would lead to increased GPUs temps as it travels down from the CPU. Unless your overall temps are fine and I should be asleep already! My own CPU only loop is Res (XSPC X2O 200) > Pump (EK DCP) > CPU (EK Nickel Plexi) > Rad (Black ICE SR-1 360) > back to Res.
 
FMTopfan said:
Wouldn't it help temps to have it Res > Pump > CPU > Radiator top > GPU > Radiator baydrive > back to Res. Why would you need it going to the radiator first from the pump?
Click to expand...

I think I asked this question a few times during the build to various different people. I know nothing when it comes to the subject but:

Jokester said:
The waterblock should be immediately after the radiator / the water is coldest after the radiator - Insignificant
The water leaving a radiator will be the coolest point in a loop - but the difference between the hottest and coldest will be small. For example, in a loop with low flow rates (0.5gpm) 250W of heat will only raise the water temperature through a block by 1degC. So even with a high end CPU, plus SLI/CF fully overclocked and at full load (say 750W in total) the total increase in water temperature in the loop is only 3degC. Running a higher flow rate will decrease this by 1-2degC (refer to the flowrate myth) so the difference is even smaller.

It's not worth routing tubing any route other than the shortest and neatest route.
Click to expand...
He does - So I took the advice. Apparently the water temps don't vary that much throughout the loop so I went for what I thought was most practical / looked how I wanted. I also added 2 x blocks for my graphics cards and even then my temps have not gone much higher maybe only a few degrees even though they and the cpu are overclocked.

sockky said:
This has 100% persuaded me to get the switch 810 with that EK kit :p

looks amazing dude
Click to expand...

Thank you :) - get the case. You won't regret it. The only other case I would have considered is an 800D but I am glad I went this way. The EK kits and the Overclockers own V kits as well are fantastic value. If I did it again and I am being honest I prob would have gone for the V12 kit which costs a little over the EK kit but is more customizable from the beginning (OCUK will swap and change components to suit requirement). It already comes with GT fans which I have paid extra for and I believe a bay res which i paid extra for. I would also say don't mix white and red coolant :rolleyes:
 
Btw, was this your first H20 CPU + dual-GPU build? Quite an achievement if so :). Unless your changing components, I can't see why you'd change the loop in another 6 months but if you do I hope you keep this log going.

I remember watching a [old] video that got me interested in watercooling. To this day I don't know how that single northbridge tubing over the RAM heatsink fits into the loop, I should have found out by now. Check out those beefy tubes! Magically makes them look shorter too compared to ours!



Jokester's explanation sounds right as a high flowrate will quickly loop back and remain cool (so long as rad is always dust free), I can't directly compare lower rates as I've only had one water build. Plus his good tip of keeping the tubing going through the shortest possible root - does mean re-thinking my idea of drilling holes into the combi room to ensure my next radiators (maybe XSPC EX560's for dual-GPUs/CPU/Mobo) won't turn this study into a greenhouse as keeping aircon on is expensive. Heat has to go somewhere and it ain't going to be this south-facing room come summer time.
 
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