Soldato
Hey guys,
Im in the process of giving my computer a really good overhaul. Since i bought my first batch of components from OcUK waaaaaaay back in 2011 i have never stopped buying, selling and swapping bits and bobs. My case is hardly ever closed for longer than a week and to be quite honest im sick of it. The only component left from my original order is my 2600k and even though its a great little chip its getting the boot too.
The current specs of my machine are:
Intel 2600k CPU
MSI Z77 Mpower Mobo
16Gb Avexir Yellow Mpower RAM
Asus 7970 DirectCU ii TOP GPU
Corsair CX750M PSU
240Gb OCZ Agility 3 SSD
2Tb Seagate barracuda HDD
LG Blu ray drive
Corsair H80i
Corsair 300r Windowed Case
2x Akasa Venom 140mm fans
4x Akasa Venom 120mm fans
So as you can see its not a bad machine, it plays all the games i like reasonably well and it looks tasty too, i really like the black and yellow theme. However, it just doesnt excite me, im not proud of it in any way, to me its just a case full of "that will do" components. I want to build a rig that im proud of and that i can stick under my desk and leave alone for a good long time.
I will be keeping the 300r, i really like this case and i will be keeping all the Venom fans and the H80i. I will also be keeping the Avexir ram because im going to stick with the black and yellow theme.
The components im off out to buy tomorrow are:
Intel 4670k CPU
MSI Z87 Mpower MAX mobo
1000w PSU (im not to sure whch one yet, Stulid has given me a few to look at)
2x EVGA 780ti Superclock GPUs.
Im then going to cram it all back into the 300r with my Mpower ram, venoms and H80i and post a rake of pictures up here for you all to look at.
UPDATE 1: I have just got back from my shopping trip and i bought all the stuff on my list, i did have a last minute change of heart and went for the 4670k instead of the 4770k. Im back at work now for an hour or so and then im rushing off home to play. Since my machine wont be up and running until late tonight because im back at work this evevening ill update the thread with pictures tomorrow.
UPDATE 2: Well I will start by saying I built the system into my 300r and instantly hated it. It just didn't look right. I went back to the store and forced them to take back the 4760k I had installed and do me a deal on the 4770k which I wanted to get originally before the check-out monkey made change my mind (long story). I also picked up the Corsair 540 case, which may I add is incredible, so much room for my fat fingers I didn't even drop one screw!!!! easily the best case I have ever owned, it is very well thought out with lots of nice touches, the modular SSD case on the back is a stroke of genius. It seems to me everything corsair do at the moment is golden. I still love my 300r so ill be keeping hold of it for something else.
I have put the machine together and now I need to braid the cables and over the next few weeks because the GPU cables on my EVGA psu are red and I cant be having that. I am also going to add a water loop, I am going for a fat 280 radiator at the top and a skinny 360 at the front. I am going to wait for a couple of weeks to see what various manufacturers do in the way of blocks for the 780ti's before I decide what CPU block to get but I will definitely be using Mayhems Sunset Yellow fluid, clear tubing and black compression fittings and I am still uncertain about what pump and res to get.
The spec is now:
Corsair 540
MSI Z87 Mpower Max
i7 4770k @ stock
16Gb Mpower RAM
Evga 780ti Superclocked dual SLI
1000w EVGA fully modular psu
I will add pictures as soon as possible I know its difficult to get an angle on what if done without them. I will also try and keep on top of this thread a bit better but its difficult with work and the fact I keep changing my mind. Any input regarding braiding and pump and res would be helpful.
UPDATE 3: I have just ordered all the parts for my water loop, ive gone for this lot:
EK X-RES 100
Hardware labs stealth 280
Hardware labs stealth 360
EK Supreme Clean CSQ Acetal and nicklel cpu blocks
2x EK FC780 GTX Ti - Acetal and nickel gpu blocks
2x EK FC780 GTX Ti backplates
EK black compression fittings
Mayhems Sunset Yellow fluid
I ballsed up on my order to OcUK last night, i chose the wrong gpu bridge, but a quick phone call to them this morning put it right. After seeing guys on this forum using similar blocks to mine with tubing between them i thought id do the same, as my blocks are all black i think it will look good to have a flash of yellow between them.
The stuff i ordered from OcUK should be here on monday so i can atleast start fitting the rads, cpu block and pump and res. The stuff for the GPUs are coming direct from EK so they might not be here until the end of next week
.
Once i start on the loop ill take a load of pics and post them up here.
UPDATE 4: Some poor quality pictures, courtesy of my Galaxy S3 of this build in various stages:
The first set of pictures were taken after I had just installed the new components into my Corsair 300r
So while it all went together well and the general black and yellow theme was flowing there was a few things I didn't like.
1. The second card was getting toasty and throttling back, even if I changed the thermal settings in EVGA Precision X to 90deg it would top out.
2. Even after removing the HDDs from the cage and moving them up into the optical bays, airflow was still minimal at the bottom of the case.
3. I didn't like how the silver casing of the Blu ray was visible and how I couldn't completely remove the now empty HDD cage.
4. I couldn't fit the side panel fans as the left one was partially blocked by the H80i and the right one kept catching on the VGA power cables.
So that's when I decided the Corsair 540 would be ideal, a lot more airflow for the 780Ti's, a nice clear side panel (the 300r is interrupted with fan grills), the Blu ray drive is hidden as is the PSU.
The next 2 pictures were taken after I had transplanted the build into the 540 and one again are poor quality.
After swapping to this case I was immediately happier but I didn't like the way the H80i drew my eyes away from the under lying theme of the build, it hides a lot of the board. It was always my intention to water cool but just not as immediately as this.
The next picture and video is one I took in the dark to see what all the lights looked like, the board has a thin strip of white light that runs all the way down the left hand side, you cant see it thanks to my crap phone camera and the H80i.
I like how it looks, its a shame I am going to lose the Geforce lights on the 780Ti's as I really like them.
No funky sound track in this video guys, heavy breathing courtesy of 30 B&H a day and numerous trips up and down the stairs
That's it for now guys im just waiting on deliveries, ill keep posting as things arrive.
UPDATE 5: My stuff from OcUK arrived yesterday so I set to work fitting everything I could. I ran into a few problems along the way, I will go into more detail through the course of this update.
Here is a picture of all the stuff, minus the Haribo because I scoffed them while I was unpacking the box
My next job was to stick the anti vortex foam in the res as you will see in the next lot of pictures, I really like this res it feels very solid and well made.
After that I set about building the brackets and adapter plate onto the pump base.
Then I popped it into the case. EASY PEASEY!!!
Next up I thought I would install the radiators, this required a trip out to find some slightly longer bolts as the ones that came with the rads were not long enough to go through the fans, the case and catch onto the holes in the radiators. Unfortunately the only ones I could get my mitts at such short notice were silver, I will change these for black as soon as possible.
The front radiator (the 360) went in perfectly it fit like a glove and then I noticed a problem, i would not be able to use a bog standard compression fitting. The HHD mount, which you cant remove is too close to the rad and there is no way you can get the tube over and then tighten the fitting up so a 45 degree adapter was put on my shopping list. No big deal.
I then offered up the 280 to the top of the case and it didn't line up at all well. Either the case or the rad is not straight because its off at an angel ever so slightly. I managed to get a few long screws down to hold up the rad and then just used fan screws to hold the 140 vipers in place. Its sturdy enough and once i have changed the long screws to black will look fine.
The gap between the radiators, in the top right corner of the case is NIL. They are touching. They are not forced together but the are snug, luckily the fins on the 360 are protected by the shroud so the 280 doesn't touch them.
After I was relatively happy with the fittings of the rads and fans i put the block on the CPU and started on my loop.
A quick picture of how the front looks at the moment.
Another thing that in going to have to do is drill a small hole in the 140 exhaust fan as once its installed in the rear of the case it blocks the holes for the side panel thumb screw, small oversight on Corsairs part but nothing major.
Ive ordered a few extra fittings from OcUK to help with the routing of the tube for the GPUs but i cant do much more until the blocks arrive from EK and according to them it could be anywhere between 1 or 2 weeks!!! Arrrrrgh!!!
UPDATE 6: Shorlty after i posted my last update i recieved an email from EK saying my blocks had been shipped, according to the dpd tracking website they are currently working their way across Germany. I doubt i will get them on friday and i have a busy weekend so ill probably get to fit them early next week.
In the mean time i thought i quickly rig up the loop for the cpu only so i could us my machine until they arrived.
Here is a quick snap of my loop just using some De-Ironised water and a picture of "the twins" hopefully this is the last time you see them fully clothed
Im in the process of giving my computer a really good overhaul. Since i bought my first batch of components from OcUK waaaaaaay back in 2011 i have never stopped buying, selling and swapping bits and bobs. My case is hardly ever closed for longer than a week and to be quite honest im sick of it. The only component left from my original order is my 2600k and even though its a great little chip its getting the boot too.
The current specs of my machine are:
Intel 2600k CPU
MSI Z77 Mpower Mobo
16Gb Avexir Yellow Mpower RAM
Asus 7970 DirectCU ii TOP GPU
Corsair CX750M PSU
240Gb OCZ Agility 3 SSD
2Tb Seagate barracuda HDD
LG Blu ray drive
Corsair H80i
Corsair 300r Windowed Case
2x Akasa Venom 140mm fans
4x Akasa Venom 120mm fans
So as you can see its not a bad machine, it plays all the games i like reasonably well and it looks tasty too, i really like the black and yellow theme. However, it just doesnt excite me, im not proud of it in any way, to me its just a case full of "that will do" components. I want to build a rig that im proud of and that i can stick under my desk and leave alone for a good long time.
I will be keeping the 300r, i really like this case and i will be keeping all the Venom fans and the H80i. I will also be keeping the Avexir ram because im going to stick with the black and yellow theme.
The components im off out to buy tomorrow are:
Intel 4670k CPU
MSI Z87 Mpower MAX mobo
1000w PSU (im not to sure whch one yet, Stulid has given me a few to look at)
2x EVGA 780ti Superclock GPUs.
Im then going to cram it all back into the 300r with my Mpower ram, venoms and H80i and post a rake of pictures up here for you all to look at.
UPDATE 1: I have just got back from my shopping trip and i bought all the stuff on my list, i did have a last minute change of heart and went for the 4670k instead of the 4770k. Im back at work now for an hour or so and then im rushing off home to play. Since my machine wont be up and running until late tonight because im back at work this evevening ill update the thread with pictures tomorrow.
UPDATE 2: Well I will start by saying I built the system into my 300r and instantly hated it. It just didn't look right. I went back to the store and forced them to take back the 4760k I had installed and do me a deal on the 4770k which I wanted to get originally before the check-out monkey made change my mind (long story). I also picked up the Corsair 540 case, which may I add is incredible, so much room for my fat fingers I didn't even drop one screw!!!! easily the best case I have ever owned, it is very well thought out with lots of nice touches, the modular SSD case on the back is a stroke of genius. It seems to me everything corsair do at the moment is golden. I still love my 300r so ill be keeping hold of it for something else.
I have put the machine together and now I need to braid the cables and over the next few weeks because the GPU cables on my EVGA psu are red and I cant be having that. I am also going to add a water loop, I am going for a fat 280 radiator at the top and a skinny 360 at the front. I am going to wait for a couple of weeks to see what various manufacturers do in the way of blocks for the 780ti's before I decide what CPU block to get but I will definitely be using Mayhems Sunset Yellow fluid, clear tubing and black compression fittings and I am still uncertain about what pump and res to get.
The spec is now:
Corsair 540
MSI Z87 Mpower Max
i7 4770k @ stock
16Gb Mpower RAM
Evga 780ti Superclocked dual SLI
1000w EVGA fully modular psu
I will add pictures as soon as possible I know its difficult to get an angle on what if done without them. I will also try and keep on top of this thread a bit better but its difficult with work and the fact I keep changing my mind. Any input regarding braiding and pump and res would be helpful.
UPDATE 3: I have just ordered all the parts for my water loop, ive gone for this lot:
EK X-RES 100
Hardware labs stealth 280
Hardware labs stealth 360
EK Supreme Clean CSQ Acetal and nicklel cpu blocks
2x EK FC780 GTX Ti - Acetal and nickel gpu blocks
2x EK FC780 GTX Ti backplates
EK black compression fittings
Mayhems Sunset Yellow fluid
I ballsed up on my order to OcUK last night, i chose the wrong gpu bridge, but a quick phone call to them this morning put it right. After seeing guys on this forum using similar blocks to mine with tubing between them i thought id do the same, as my blocks are all black i think it will look good to have a flash of yellow between them.
The stuff i ordered from OcUK should be here on monday so i can atleast start fitting the rads, cpu block and pump and res. The stuff for the GPUs are coming direct from EK so they might not be here until the end of next week
.Once i start on the loop ill take a load of pics and post them up here.
UPDATE 4: Some poor quality pictures, courtesy of my Galaxy S3 of this build in various stages:
The first set of pictures were taken after I had just installed the new components into my Corsair 300r
So while it all went together well and the general black and yellow theme was flowing there was a few things I didn't like.
1. The second card was getting toasty and throttling back, even if I changed the thermal settings in EVGA Precision X to 90deg it would top out.
2. Even after removing the HDDs from the cage and moving them up into the optical bays, airflow was still minimal at the bottom of the case.
3. I didn't like how the silver casing of the Blu ray was visible and how I couldn't completely remove the now empty HDD cage.
4. I couldn't fit the side panel fans as the left one was partially blocked by the H80i and the right one kept catching on the VGA power cables.
So that's when I decided the Corsair 540 would be ideal, a lot more airflow for the 780Ti's, a nice clear side panel (the 300r is interrupted with fan grills), the Blu ray drive is hidden as is the PSU.
The next 2 pictures were taken after I had transplanted the build into the 540 and one again are poor quality.
After swapping to this case I was immediately happier but I didn't like the way the H80i drew my eyes away from the under lying theme of the build, it hides a lot of the board. It was always my intention to water cool but just not as immediately as this.
The next picture and video is one I took in the dark to see what all the lights looked like, the board has a thin strip of white light that runs all the way down the left hand side, you cant see it thanks to my crap phone camera and the H80i.
I like how it looks, its a shame I am going to lose the Geforce lights on the 780Ti's as I really like them.
No funky sound track in this video guys, heavy breathing courtesy of 30 B&H a day and numerous trips up and down the stairs
That's it for now guys im just waiting on deliveries, ill keep posting as things arrive.
UPDATE 5: My stuff from OcUK arrived yesterday so I set to work fitting everything I could. I ran into a few problems along the way, I will go into more detail through the course of this update.
Here is a picture of all the stuff, minus the Haribo because I scoffed them while I was unpacking the box
My next job was to stick the anti vortex foam in the res as you will see in the next lot of pictures, I really like this res it feels very solid and well made.
After that I set about building the brackets and adapter plate onto the pump base.
Then I popped it into the case. EASY PEASEY!!!
Next up I thought I would install the radiators, this required a trip out to find some slightly longer bolts as the ones that came with the rads were not long enough to go through the fans, the case and catch onto the holes in the radiators. Unfortunately the only ones I could get my mitts at such short notice were silver, I will change these for black as soon as possible.
The front radiator (the 360) went in perfectly it fit like a glove and then I noticed a problem, i would not be able to use a bog standard compression fitting. The HHD mount, which you cant remove is too close to the rad and there is no way you can get the tube over and then tighten the fitting up so a 45 degree adapter was put on my shopping list. No big deal.
I then offered up the 280 to the top of the case and it didn't line up at all well. Either the case or the rad is not straight because its off at an angel ever so slightly. I managed to get a few long screws down to hold up the rad and then just used fan screws to hold the 140 vipers in place. Its sturdy enough and once i have changed the long screws to black will look fine.
The gap between the radiators, in the top right corner of the case is NIL. They are touching. They are not forced together but the are snug, luckily the fins on the 360 are protected by the shroud so the 280 doesn't touch them.
After I was relatively happy with the fittings of the rads and fans i put the block on the CPU and started on my loop.
A quick picture of how the front looks at the moment.
Another thing that in going to have to do is drill a small hole in the 140 exhaust fan as once its installed in the rear of the case it blocks the holes for the side panel thumb screw, small oversight on Corsairs part but nothing major.
Ive ordered a few extra fittings from OcUK to help with the routing of the tube for the GPUs but i cant do much more until the blocks arrive from EK and according to them it could be anywhere between 1 or 2 weeks!!! Arrrrrgh!!!
UPDATE 6: Shorlty after i posted my last update i recieved an email from EK saying my blocks had been shipped, according to the dpd tracking website they are currently working their way across Germany. I doubt i will get them on friday and i have a busy weekend so ill probably get to fit them early next week.
In the mean time i thought i quickly rig up the loop for the cpu only so i could us my machine until they arrived.
Here is a quick snap of my loop just using some De-Ironised water and a picture of "the twins" hopefully this is the last time you see them fully clothed
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which fans do you plan to use?
